Direct vs Representative Democracy: Local Elite Capture vs Poverty Relief, Child Welfare and Basic Public Education

“How do we explain our findings that redistributive spending that mainly benefits the poor is significantly larger in representative democracy than in direct democracy? We argue that the most likely explanation is that direct democracy is more prone to capture by (rich) local elites than representative democracy.4 In direct democracy, local elites are able to deter the entry of political parties, in particular pro-poor left-wing parties. Moreover, poor people are often relatively isolated and less organized collectively. These reasons thus make it very hard for the voices of the poor to be heard (Robinson 2010). In addition, the typical absence of a secret ballot in town meetings means that the local elite can control the voters (Baland and Robinson 2008) (Hinnerich and Pettersson-Lidbom 2010-10-20).”

Representative democracy “increases political participation, redistributive spending, and the size of government. The estimated effects on public spending to the poor (poverty relief, child welfare and basic public education) are on the order of 35-70 percent while the effect on political participation is between 150-200 percent (Hinnerich and Pettersson-Lidbom 2010-10-20).”

Direct democracy “is more prone to capture by (rich) local elites than representative democracy (Hinnerich and Pettersson-Lidbom 2010-10-20).”

Hinnerich, Björn Tyrefors; Pettersson-Lidbom, Per. 2010-10-20. “Democracy, Redistribution, and Political Participation: Evidence from Sweden 1919-1950.”

(Hinnerich and Pettersson-Lidbom 2010-10-20)

State capitalism

The Economist is hosting (2012-01-29) an excellent, robust online debate “state capitalism is a viable alternative to liberal capitalism.” The moderator Adrian Wooldridge is reporting from Davos.

Ian Bremmer, Founder and president, Eurasia Group argues against the motion,
“State capitalism is not simply an economic system. It is a political invention designed to ensure that market activity and wealth serve the interests of the state and those who run it. This is the primary reason that it will not become a viable alternative to liberal capitalism.” He defined “state capitalism” as a “political construct in which the state is used to promote the interests of the political elite.” Extend the definition of the term to include any country that has a large state-backed country, he argues, and you end up lumping Norway along with China.”

Nation states operate most efficiently and effectively as a mutually agreed upon buffer between the market and civil society protecting the most vulnerable resources (human, natural, etc) from the excesses of either the market or civil society. In late capitalism, even without state-capitalism, public policies are already tightly aligned with market concerns thereby dissolving this protective buffer zone with unintended consequences on vulnerable resources for which the market is not answerable. Who will be answerable when state-capitalists do what the most efficient capitalists do, make more profits by taking risks, and ultimately err and plunder to the advantage of a few and the loss of the majority? What entity of governance can ensure equilibrium in trade relationships between capitalist-state-owned oil industries and democratic market liberal nation states?

Wikipedia code: {{Good article}},

I am entranced by wiki tools.

Wiki codes are improving constantly in pace with wiki content.

When I find a tiny chunk of data that is not tied to an index I sometimes feel compelled to link it hoping that it will help someone else or even my future self. It might save time later.

Wikipedia lets me do that.

I can correct someone else’s minor error. They can correct mine.

I can make a major change to an article and someone else can make a major change to mine.

When I want to learn better practices in codes I can look up a {{Good article}} for examples.

The wiki article on Einstein is one of those.

Space and time.

So my question today was:

What happens to wiki codes in other platforms like wordpress?

WordPress cleans up irrelevant codes but what can it keep?

The Internet provides us with unlimited space for data but our everyday lives are constrained by space and time.

While waiting for an electronic device to respond to a question, a snow flake carried by a gust of wind lands on a window pane then slowly melts and disappears.

<p style=”padding-left:30px;”>&lt;ref&gt;{{Citation|title=The universe in short|first1=Stephen W.|last1=Hawking|publisher=Bantam Books|year=2001|isbn=9780553802023|page=26}}</p><p style=”padding-left:30px;”>&lt;/ref&gt;</p>He declined the presidency of Israel in 1952.

Einstein said “Politics is for the moment, equation for the eternity.”

<ref>{{Citation|title=The universe in short|first1=Stephen W.|last1=Hawking|publisher=Bantam Books|year=2001|isbn=9780553802023|page=26}}

</ref>

He declined the presidency of Israel in 1952.

<ref>{{Citation|title=The universe in short|first1=Stephen W.|last1=Hawking|publisher=Bantam Books|year=2001|isbn=9780553802023|page=26}}

</ref>

He declined the presidency of Israel in 1952.

<ref>{{Citation

|title=The Nobel prize: a history of genius, controversy, and prestige
|first1=Burton
|last1=Feldman
|publisher=Arcade Publishing
|year=2001
|isbn=1-559-70592-2
|page=141
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=xnckeeTICn0C}}, [http://books.google.com/books?id=xnckeeTICn0C&pg=PA141 Page 141]

</ref>

In 1901, Einstein had a paper on the [[capillary action|capillary forces]] of a straw published in the prestigious ”[[Annalen der Physik]]”.{{Citation
|last = Galison
|first = Peter
|authorlink = Peter Galison
|title = Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps: Empires of Time
|publisher = W.W. Norton
|location = New York
|year = 2003
|isbn = 0393020010 }}

Wikibooks: learning to eRead in an eBook teaching, learning and research environment

I am very enthusiastic about the concept of wikibooks as yet another tool for expanding open source teaching, learning and research.

I have serious concerns about the lack of in-line citations even in featured wiki books (2010-09). A necessary step in establishing legitimacy in knowledge claims is the ability to verify sources. At this stage wiki articles which are constantly updated, provide more in-line citations, references and footnotes.

Most textbooks are already out-of-date by the time they are published as the latest research provides new data that unsettles previously held knowledge claims. Peer-reviewed academic journal articles become “dated” rapidly providing interesting histories of science but not necessarily the most current, objective and accurate representation of reality.

Wikibooks could allow for the most current research to be at least introduced if not included as an integral part of a chapter.

I also share concerns put forward by Garfinkel (2008-12) in his article entitled “Wikipedia and the Meaning of Truth” in MIT’s Technology Review. Garfinkel claimed that “wikitruth” is true enough for most readers including journalists who use “wikiclaims” as background material. Garfinkel distinguishes between the epistemological standards used in mathematics and science where legitimization of objective truth-claims are based on laws and observability in contrast to Wikipedia epistemology where “wikitruth”-claims are included as long as they are “verifiable.” “The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth.” He raises a number of key issues about the dangers of a consensus view of knowledge-claims-about-a-thing.

But these are fundamentally the same issues that anyone seriously wanting greater clarity on any topic would consider.

Wikipedia articles on any subject come up first in search engines and are not surprisingly already a primary resource for many Canadian primary, junior and high school students doing ‘research’ for written assignments, in-class presentations (often as PowerPoint presentations. Wiki environments require learning a new way to eRead with much more attention paid to critically examining and evaluating sources.

See also my October 24, 2008 post entitled “Wiki-ontology, wiki-epistemology: is it Really Real?“

Schindler’s science: a shift towards sustainable sands?

David William Schindler OC, D.Phil., FRSC, FRS (born August 3, 1940) is one of the world’s leading limnologists. He holds the Killam Memorial Chair and is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Schindler was born August 3, 1940 in Fargo, North Dakota and grew up in Minnesota lake country. He holds dual citizenship in Canada and the USA. After completing his bachelor’s degree in zoology from North Dakota State in 1962 he studied aquatic ecology at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar. He worked first under Nikolaas Niko Tinbergen. But it was while working under Charles Sutherland Elton, one of the founders of ecology, who also established and led Oxford University’s Bureau of Animal Population, that he began formulating an interdisciplinary ecosystem approach to study water and ecology. Dr. Schindler was an assistant professor in the Biology Department at Trent University from 1966 to 1968. From 1968 to 1989, he founded and directed the Experimental Lakes Project of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans near Kenora, Ontario. This long-term study of freshwater is part of Schindler’s large body of scientific work which has influenced public policies regarding the protection of freshwater including the regulation of toxins and the limitation of eutrophication (excessive algal blooms) and acid rain in Canada, the USA and Europe.

This post, my new delicious entries, a Google Map in the making, and a considerable contribution to wikipedia article (above)  and related articles on world renowned limnologist David W. Schindler are in response to the Calgary Herald article (2010-08-30) by Deborah Yedlin criticizing Schindler’s science.

A report by Erin N. Kelly, David W. Schindler, Peter V. Hodson, Jeffrey W. Short, Roseanna Radmanovich, Charlene C. Nielsen entitled “Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries” was published 2010-08-24 in the prestigious and influential journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which the team of scientists show that the oil sands industry releases the 13 elements considered priority pollutants (PPE) under the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act, via air and water, to the Athabasca River and its watershed.

“Contrary to claims made by industry and government in the popular press, the oil sands industry substantially increases loadings of toxic PPE to the AR and its tributaries via air and water pathways. This increase confirms the serious defects of RAMP (11–13), which has not detected such patterns in the AR watershed. Detailed long-term monitoring is essential to distinguish the sources of these contaminants and control their potential impacts on environmental and human health (13). A robust monitoring program to measure exposure and health of fish, wildlife, and humans should be implemented in the region affected by oil sands development (38, 39) (Kelly et al).”

The scientific journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is second only to the Journal of Biological Chemistry in the list of Top Ten Most-Cited Journals (All Fields), 1999-2009. Journals are ranked by total citations, based on papers published and cited in Thomson Reuters-indexed journals between January 1, 1999 and April 30, 2009 [*].

Yedlin has her finger on the pulse of the business world in general and the oil industry in particular but she is not a scientist. David W. Schindler is.

As I began to search out material to add to the paltry wikipedia entry I found mention of c. 250-300 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.  He has nine honorary doctorates from universities within Canada and the United States. The list of provincial, national and international awards is lengthy.

I began to hear his name associated with best practices in the early 1990s when my husband was working on his MA then his PhD where terms like the ecosystem approach and water resource management were part of our everyday conversations. In recent years I have consulted his work to understand the Wabano Lake phenomenon.

The oil industry in Alberta is currently under attack by a well-orchestrated Rethink Alberta campaign which reminds me of the anti-sealhunt ads, posters, postcards. Nervous investors may reconsider placing money in funds associated with industries under heavy scrutiny by major companies and major campaigns. Many are convinced that the oil industry is immune to these attacks and will continue with business as usual, pushing for lax regulations and publicly-funded financial incentives to move ahead as fast as possible with expansion. Indeed potential customers for oilsands oil include governments of countries like Korea, Japan, China who my not be swayed by public outcry over dirty oil.

There is a crisis of confidence in science, or at least in big science. Yet more than ever we need legitimate scientific knowledge claims to guide public policies particularly in those areas in which industry and the market fail us the most, in matters related to the environment.

To be continued

Links

Experimental Lakes Area

A Timeline of Selected Events

1940 Schindler was born August 3, 1940 in Fargo, North Dakota.

1958 Charles S. Elton’s book entitled The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants was published by the University of Chicago Press. Schindler was influenced by his early reading of this book when he was a studying under limnology professor, Gabriel Comita at North Dakota State University in the summer of 1958(?). Schindler argues that Elton’s book is better written and more useful than Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (Zagorski 2006-05-09).

1961-1963 John F. Kennedy was President of the USA.

1962 After completing his bachelor’s degree in zoology from North Dakota State in 1962 he studied aquatic ecology at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar. He worked first under [“Niko” Tinbergen]. But it was while working under [Sutherland Elton] that he began formulating an interdisciplinary [ecosystem approach] to study water and ecology.

1963 Lester (Mike) Pearson was Prime Minister from 1963 to 1968.

1963-1969 Lyndon B. Johnson was President of the USA.

1966 Schindler received his doctorate from Oxford University.

1966 Canadian government created the Freshwater Institute (FWI) to study the Algal blooms that were plaguing Lake Erie. The predecessor of the FWI was the Central Fisheries Research Station of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Established in Winnipeg in 1944, the station was moved to London, Ont, in 1957 and then back to Winnipeg as the FWI in 1966. New laboratory and office facilities were opened in 1973. The FWI provides facilities for fisheries and environmental research in inland and Arctic waters as well as for the non-research activities of the region, such as fish and marine mammal management and protection in the Arctic; Arctic oceans management programs; protection of fish habitat in the prairies and the Arctic; and the management of federal harbours (FWI).

1966 Fisheries scientist Waldo Johnson proposed to pollute several small lakes intentionally.

	The Canadian government set aside lakes in northern Ontario called the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA). I am not sure of the exact location of these lakes but they appear to be to the south of HWY 17, East of Hwy 71 in the Dogtooth Lakes area which is in or near the Provincial Park by that name. See maps here, here and here.

1966-1968 Schindler was an assistant professor in the Biology Department at Trent University.

1968-06 Schindler, D. W. 1968-06. “Feeding, Assimilation and Respiration Rates of Daphnia magna Under Various Environmental Conditions and their Relation to Production Estimates.” Journal of Animal Ecology. 37:2:369-385. British Ecological Society.

1968 Pierre Trudeau became Prime Minister of Canada and remained in office until 1979. He was re-elected Prime Minister in 1980 and remained in office until 1984.

1968 Schindler was at the Freshwater Institute, Fisheries Research Board of Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1968 Schindler was invited to head  the Experimental Lakes Project of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans near Kenora, Ontario. He conducted conducting experiments on whole ecosystems to directly test the effects including eutrophication of nutrient inputs, acid rain, climate change and other human insults on boreal aquatic ecosystems. His work has been widely used in formulating ecological management policy in Canada, the USA and in Europe. The Experimental Lakes Area was set aside for large-scale, whole-lake experiments. This had never done before. The project included a stellar staff of senior scientists. The Eutrophication Section was headed by well known ecologist Jack Vallentyne, who had recruited a group of about 15 senior scientists from around the world. Schindler was “one of the two or three youngest members of the group, and it was just a terrific environment for a young scientist to be in (Zagorski 2006).”

1968 Early stages of the oil sands development.

1969 Schindler was part of a team that studied Lake Winnipeg.

1969-1974 Richard M. Nixon was President of USA.

1973 The United States Congress passed the Endangered Species Act considered to be the most comprehensive and powerful piece of environmental legislation (Orians 1993).

1973

Dr. David W. Schindler separated Lake 226 with a a giant shower curtain and “treated one half with carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous and the other half with carbon and nitrogen only (7). Aerial photographs captured the dramatic results: the phosphorous-treated half of the lake had become green and murky because of algal blooms, whereas the other half of the lake remained clear. Pictures can speak a thousand words, and the stark contrast of the two sides of Lake 226 caught the public’s eye and policymakers’ collective ear (Zagorski 2006-05-09).”1974-05-24 “In a now-famous experiment (Science, 24 May 1974, p. 897), the team divided Lake 226 with a plastic curtain and added phosphorus to one half. When it turned a distinctive murky green, they had their answer. It was an aerial photograph from this experiment that largely persuaded policymakers to phase out phosphorus from detergents. “I think that’s the single most powerful image in the history of limnology,” Elser says. When Schindler took the results— and the photo—to government hearings in Canada and the United States, he put ELA on the map as a hub of innovative,policy-relevant research.”

1974 Gerald R. Ford was President of the USA from 1974-1977.

1976-1988 In the Experimental Lake Area Schindler tackled one of the most contentious issues of the day, acid rain. In a series of experiments conducted between 1976 and 1988, researchers added sulfuric and nitric acid, pollutants that lead to acid rain, to Lake 223 and others.

1977 James Carter was President of the USA from 1977-1981.

1979 The Department of Fisheries and Oceans took over the management of Freshwater Institute and the Experimental Lakes which meant that departmental officials not scientists were in charge. This eventually changed the direction of research. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans focused on marine not freshwater and Experimental Lakes Project suffered from chronic underfunding.

1979-1990 Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of UK.

1980 Since 1980, “Canada’s total energy production has increased by 87 percent, while its total energy consumption has increased by only 44 percent. Almost all of Canada’s energy exports go to the United States, making it the largest source of U.S. energy imports. Canada is consistently among the top sources for U.S. oil imports, and it is the largest source of U.S. natural gas and electricity imports. Recognizing the importance of the energy trade between the two countries, both participate in the North American Energy Working Group, which seeks to improve energy integration and cooperation between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico (EIA).”

1981 “Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions: Toward a Better Understanding of the Ecological Consequences of Fossil Fuel Combustion.” Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR)

1981 Schindler was head of the Committee on the Atmosphere and the Biosphere “Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions: Toward a Better Understanding of the Ecological Consequences of Fossil Fuel Combustion.” National Academy Press.

1981 Ronald Reagan was President of the USA from 1981-1989.

1982 Schindler was President of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.

1984 Schindler was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award of the American Institute of Fisheries Biologists,

1984 Schindler was awarded  the Frank Rigler Award of the Canadian Limnological Society.

1984 Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.

1983 Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC).

1985 G.E. Hutchinson Medal of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography,

1986 “A publication by (Moon et al 1986)  indicated that Suncor permitted effluent discharge of oil and grease to the Athabasca River at 420 kg per day (Moon et al 1986).  Sometimes, operation problems resulted in excessive effluent discharge into the river (Moon et al 1986) In addition to water-born effluents, the two oil sands extraction plants (Suncor and Syncrude) emitted massive amounts of particulates in the atmosphere. Particulates mass emissions from the Suncor powerhouse stack ranged from 547 to 780 kg per hour; the Syncrude Canada main stacks mass emissions ranged from 713 to 1067 kg per hour (Moon et al 1986)  cited in (Chen 2009-02).”

“This study examined trace metal levels in scalp hair taken from 122 children and 27 adult residents of three small northern Alberta (Canada) Indian villages, one of which is situated close to the world’s first tar sands oil extraction plants. The three communities studied were: Fort McKay (the exposed village), Fort Chipewyan (also in the tar sands ecosystem but distant from the plants), and Garden River (not in the tar sands ecosystem). Inductively coupled argon plasma emission spectroscopy was used to determine hair sample metal content. Nineteen metals were included in data analysis. Children from Fort McKay had the highest average hair lead, cadmium and nickel levels. Chromium levels were approximately equal in hair from Fort McKay and Garden River children, and significantly elevated above levels found in the hair of Fort Chipewyan children. Children from Garden River showed highest hair levels of eight metals: vanadium, aluminum, iron, manganese, barium, zinc, magnesium and calcium. Fort Chipewyan children had the highest hair levels of copper, but the lowest levels of all other metals. Among adults, hair lead, nickel and cadmium levels were highest in Fort McKay residents, while phosphorous and vanadium were highest in hair from Garden River residents. Bioaccumulation of lead, cadmium, nickel and chromium in hair from Fort McKay residents may be related to exposure to extraction plant pollution. Plant stack emissions are known to contain appreciable amounts of lead, nickel and chromium. Spills into the Athabasca River, until recently the source of Fort McKay drinking water, have been reported from plant wastewater holding ponds, known to contain elevated levels of lead, nickel and cadmium. An increased number of significant metal—metal correlations in hair metal levels for Fort McKay children suggests a richer source of multiple metal exposure, relative to children in the other two communities (Moon et al 1986).”

1988 Schindler was awarded the Naumann-Thienemann Medal of the International Limnological Society,

1989 Schindler left the Experimental Lakes Project which he had founded and managed since 1968.

1989-90 Schindler was a federal member of the Alberta Pacific Review Panel.

1989 Robert Hecky replaced Schindler as Director of the Experimental Lakes Project.

1989 George H. W. Bush President of the USA 1989-1993

1989-present “Dr. Schindler holds the Killam Memorial Chair and is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta.  He has studied the effects of climate warming, alien fish stocks, airborne contaminants and other human impacts on freshwaters of the Rocky Mountains.

1990 The U.S. Congress passed major amendments to the Clean Air Act that helped reduce acid rain (Science, 6 November 1998, p. 1024).

1990 Environmentalist, specialist in biosphere pollutants and water chemistry, David William Schindler received an honorary D.Sc. from the University of Victoria (1990).

1992 Dr. David Schindler  received the Stockholm Prize, aquatic science’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, for research studies carried out by the Freshwater Institute (FWI) at the Institute’s Experimental Lakes area field station in northwestern Ontario.

1993 Jean Chretien was Prime Minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003.

1993 Bill Clinton was elected as President of the USA and remained in office until 2001.

1993 Schindler was awarded the Manning Award of Distinction for Innovation in Science.

1994 Schindler was awarded the first Romanowski Medal of the Royal Society of Canada.

1996 The Canadian federal government tried to shut Experimental Lakes Project and Director Robert Hecky resigned in protest.

1998 Schindler was awarded the Volvo Environment Prize.

1997 The Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP) is a joint environmental monitoring program that assesses the health of rivers and lakes in the oil sands region of northeastern Alberta. The RAMP Regional Study Area (RSA) is defined by the northeastern Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. The RAMP RSA is bounded by the Alberta-Saskatchewan border on the east, the Alberta-Northwest Territories to the northeast, the Wood Buffalo National Park to the northwest and various demarcations including the Athabasca River and Cold Lake Air Weapons Range to the south. Within the Regional Study area is the Focal Study area and this area is defined by the watersheds in which oil sands development is occuring or will occur as well as portions of the Athabasca and Clearwater rivers found within the RSA. RAMP has focused on these main aquatic systems: The Athabasca River and Peace Athabasca delta. Tributaries to the Athabasca River including the Steepbank, Clearwater -Christina, Hangingstone, Ells, Tar, Firebag, Calumet, Muskeg, MacKay Rivers as well as several smaller tributaries Wetlands and lakes occurring near current and proposed oil sands developments (Isadore’s Lake, Shipyard Lake, McClelland Lake and Kearl Lake. Acid sensitive lakes in northeastern Alberta. Regional Lakes important to fisheries (RAMP website).

1997-2009 Dr. Hans Peterson founded the Safe Drinking Water Foundation  (SDWF), a small non-profit foundation that specializes in helping aboriginal communities with their water problems and in educating students about protecting freshwaters. In 2010 Schindler chaired the board of directors of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation.

1991 Schindler was awarded the first Stockholm Water Prize.

2000 Schindler was awarded the NSERC Award of Excellence in Research.

2000-2003 Schindler was a member of Environment Canada’s Science and Technology Advisory Board.

2001-01 George W. Bush was elected as President of the United States.

2001 Schindler was nominated as membership of the Royal Society of London in 2000 and named as Fellow in 2001 (FRS).

2001 Schindler was awarded the Environment Canada’s Vollenweider Lectureship.

2001 Schindler was awarded the Canadian Nature Federation’s Douglas Pimlott Award for Conservation.

2001 Schindler was awarded the National Science and Engineering Research Council’s Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, Canada’s highest scientific honor.

2003 Paul Martin was Prime Minister of Canada from 2003 to 2006.

2003 Schindler received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.

2003-05 Schindler received the Killam prize, awarded for outstanding career achievements.

2004-01 Schindler was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada.

2004 Schindler was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

2004 Schindler was elected as one of 100 Edmontonians of the Century, in honour of Edmonton’s centennial year.

2005 Schindler chaired Alberta Environment’s 2005 review of Lake Wabamun.

2005 Schindler was awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal.

2005 The RAMP report claimed there was no negative impact of the Oil Sands development on the regional water system.

2006 Stephen Harper was elected as Prime Minister of Canada.

2006 “Canada is a net exporter of oil, natural gas, coal, and electricity. It is one of the most important sources for U.S. energy imports. Canada is consistently the top supplier of oil imports to the United States. Canada produced 19.3 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu) of total energy, the fifth-largest amount in the world. In 2006, the largest source of energy consumption in Canada was oil (32 percent), followed by hydroelectricity (25 percent) and natural gas (24 percent). Both coal (10 percent) and nuclear (7 percent) constitute a smaller share of the country’s overall energy mix (EIA).”

2006 Schindler was a member of the Alberta Government’s Environmental Protection Committee.

2006 Schindler was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement “In recognition of his discoveries, made through interdisciplinary experimental research and ecological hypothesis testing, that contribute to understanding how anthropogenic stressors affect the health of freshwater ecosystems.”

2006 American Society of Limnology and Oceanography Ruth Patrick Award.

2006-05-09 Schindler and Donahue published their findings in the The National Academy of Sciences of the USA on “An impending water crisis in Canada’s western prairie provinces.”

2006 Dr. John O’Connor, a physician working in Fort Chipewyan, reported a high number of cases of cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of bile duct cancer, as well as high rates of other cancers (Chen 2009-02).

2007-03-22 At the University of British Columbia guest speaker Dr. Schindler presented his paper entitled “Western Canada’s Freshwater Supply in the 21st Century” in which he argued that Canada’s western prairie provinces (WPP) will experience severe water shortages as a result of natural drought, climate warming, damage to natural drainage patterns and human demands for water.

2007-11 Kevin P. Timoney’s report, “funded by the Nunee Health Board Society evaluated environmental contaminants in the area surrounding Fort Chipewyan. From 2001 to 2005, concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) rose within the sediment around Lake Athabasca. The report indicated that the treated drinking water in Fort Chipewyan was safe, but described high levels of arsenic, mercury and PAHs in fish, which is the main diet of many people in Fort Chipewyan, especially members of its Aboriginal communities  (Chen 2009-02).”

2008 Schindler was appointed to the Alberta Order of Excellence.

2008 Schindler co-authored the book entitled The Algal Bowl: Overfertilization of the World’s Freshwaters and Estuaries with J.R. Vallentyne. In it they describes in accessible language the causes of algal blooms and ways that this excessive production could be avoided and even reversed.

2008-10-26/28 Schindler was a guest speaker along with other internationally distinguished scientists  specializing in Lake Winnipeg’s watershed issues who presented at a conference at the University of Winnipeg entitled The Red Zone: Currents, Chemicals and Change Symposium held in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

2008 An anonymous donor endowed the $1 million David Schindler Professorship in Aquatic Science which will ensure that Trent University will be able to attract and retain the finest faculty in perpetuity.

2008(?) Schindler served on the Board of Directors of the provincial Safety, Security and Environment Institute.

2008(?) Schindler chaired the International Review Committee for the Alberta  Ingenuity Water  Research Center.

2009-05 Schindler received the Royal Canadian Institute’s Sandford Fleming Medal for public communication of science.

2009-02 Alberta Health Services (AHS) released a study entitled Cancer Incidence Cancer Incidence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta 1995-2006 by Yiqun Chen. The study found that cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan were 30% higher than expected and that community residents had a much higher likelihood of suffering from rare auto-immune diseases than other Albertans.

2009-12-03 Schindler, David W. 2009-12-03. “Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Issues in the Canadian Boreal Biome: The Cumulative Effects of Human Disturbance and Changing Climate.” IAP: The Global Network of Science Academies

2010-08-24. A report by Kelly, Erin N. Kelly, David W. Schindler, Peter V. Hodson, Jeffrey W. Short, Roseanna Radmanovich, Charlene C. Nielsen entitled “Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries.” was published in the prestigious and influential journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

2010-01-12 Schindler presented IAP Conference on Biodiversity in London.

Academic and Honorary Degrees

B.Sc. North Dakota State University (1962)

D. Phil. Oxford University (1966)

D.Sc. (Honorary) North Dakota State University (1978)

D.Sc. (Honorary) University of Victoria (1990)

D.Sc. (Honorary) Athabasca University

D.Laws. (Honorary) Trent University

D.Sc. (Honorary) Brock University

D.Sc. (Honorary) University of Winnipeg

D.Sc. (Honorary) University of Lethbridge (2006)

Awards and Honours

Fellow of the Royal Society (2001)

Douglas H. Pimlott Award for Conservation, Canadian Nature Federation (2001)

NSERC Award of Excellence (2000)

ASTech (Alberta Science and Technology) Award for Outstanding Leadership in Alberta Science (1999)

Distingushed Member, International Water Academy, Oslo, Norway (1999)

J Gordin Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research, University of Alberta (1999)

Co-recipient, Volvo Environment Prize (1998)

Walter Bean-Canada Trust Award for Environmental Science (1996)

First Romanowski Medal, Royal Society of Canada (1994)

Manning Distinguished Achievement Award (1993)

First Stockholm Water Prize, Stockholm Water Foundation (1991)

Naumann-Thieneman Medal, International Limnology Society (1989)

Hutchinson Medal, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (1985)

Frank Rigler Award, Canadian Society of Limnologists (1984)

Outstanding Achievement Award of the American Institute of Fisheries Research Biologists (1984)

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1983)

Service in the International Scientific Community

Selected Webliography

“David W. Schindler.” wikipedia article.

Stokstad, Erik. 2008-11-28. “Canada’s Experimental Lakes.” Science Magazine. vol. 322.

AB. Members Profile David W. Schindler. Alberta Order of Excellence.

IAP. 2010-01-12. “Profile on David W. Schindler.” IAP Conference on Biodiversity. London.

McGill University Water 2010. Profile of David W. Schindler.

Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). Profile David W. Schindler.

Trent University News Release. 2008-05-21. “Trent University Announces David Schindler Endowed Professorship in Aquatic Science.”

University of Alberta Department of Biological Sciences. “Profile of David W. Schindler.“

Zagorski, Nick. 2006-05-09.”Profile of David W. Schindler.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Selected Publications

Kelly, Erin N.; Schindler, David W.; Hodson, Peter V.; Short, Jeffrey W.; Radmanovich, Roseanna; Nielsen, Charlene C. 2010-08-24. “Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries.”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Schindler, David W. 2009-12-03. “Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Issues in the Canadian Boreal Biome: The Cumulative Effects of Human Disturbance and Changing Climate.” IAP: The Global Network of Science Academies

Schindler, David W. Donahue, W. F. 2006-05-09. “An impending water crisis in Canada’s western prairie provinces.” 103:19:7210–7216. The National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

Tilman, D.J. Farglione, B. Wolff, C. D’Antonio, A. Dobson, R. Howarth, D. Schindler, W. Schlesinger, D. Simberloff, and D. Swackhamer. 2001. “Forecasting agriculturally-driven global environmental change.” Science 292: 281-284.

Schindler, D.W. 2001. The cumulative effects of climate warming and other human stresses on Canadian freshwaters in the new millennium. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 58: 18-29.

Schindler, D.W. 2000. “Aquatic problems caused by human activities in Banff National Park.” Ambio 29: 401-407.

Wilhelm, F.M. and Schindler, David W. 2000. “Reproductive strategies of Gammarus lacustris (Crustacea: Amphipoda) along an elevation gradient.” Functional Ecology. 14: 413-422.

Hudson, J.J., W.D. Taylor and David W.Schindler. 2000. “Phosphate concentration in lakes.” Nature 406: 54-56.

Wilhelm, F.M., B.R. Parker, D.W. Schindler and D.B. Donald. 2000. Seasonal food habits of bull trout from a small alpine lake in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 128: 1176-1192.

Campbell, L.M., D.W. Schindler, D.B. Donald and D.C.G. Muir. 2000. Organochlorine transfer in the food web of subalpine Bow Lake, Banff National Park. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 57: 1-12.

Hudson, J.J., W.D. Taylor, and David W. Schindler. 1999. Planktonic nutrient regeneration and cycling efficiency along a trophic gradient of temperate lakes. Nature 400: 659-661.

Schindler, David W. 1999. From acid rain to toxic snow (Volvo Environmental Prize Lecture). Ambio 28: 350-355.

Donald, D.B., J. Syrgiannia, R.W. Crosley, G. Holdsworth, D.C.G. Muir, B. Rosenberg, A. Sole, and D.W. Schindler. 1999. Delayed deposition of organochlorine pesticides at a temperate glacier. Environ. Sci. Technol. 33: 1794-1798.

McNaught, A.S., David W. Schindler, B.R. Parker, A.J. Paul, R.S. Anderson, D.B. Donald and M. Agbeti. 1999 Restoration of the food web of an alpine lake following fish stocking. Limnol. Oceanogr. 44: 127-136.

Wilhelm, F.M. and D.W. Schindler. 1999. Effects of Gammarus lacustris (Crustacea: Amphipoda) on plankton community structure in an alpine lake. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56: 1401-1408.

Blais, J.M., David W. Schindler, D.C.G. Muir, D.B. Donald and B. Rosenberg. 1998. Accumulation of persistent organochlorine compounds in mountains of western Canada. Nature 395: 585-588.

Schindler, David W. 1998. Replication versus realism: the need for ecosystem-scale experiments. Ecosystems 1: 323-334.

Schindler, David W. 1998. A dim future for boreal waters and landscapes. BioScience 48: 157-164.

Schindler, David W. 1997. Widespread effects of climatic warming on freshwater ecosystems. Hydrologic Processes. 11: 1043-1067.

Leavitt, P., R.D. Vinebrooke, D.B. Donald, J.P. Smol, and David W. Schindler. 1997. Past ultraviolet radiation environments in lakes derived from fossil pigments. Nature 388: 457-459.

Schindler, David W. and P.J. Curtis. 1997. The role of DOC in protecting freshwaters subjected to climatic warming and acidification from UV exposure. Biogeochemistry 36: 1-8.

Schindler, David W., P.J. Curtis, S.E. Bayley, B.R. Parker, K.G. Beaty and M.P. Stainton. 1997. Climate-induced changes in the dissolved organic carbon budgets of boreal lakes. Biogeochemistry 36: 9-28.

Schindler, David W., S.E. Bayley, B.R. Parker, K.G. Beaty, D.R. Cruikshank, E.J. Fee, E.U. Schindler and M.P. Stainton. 1996. The effects of climatic warming on the properties of boreal lakes and streams at the Experimental Lakes Area, Northwestern Ontario. Limnol. Oceanogr. 41: 1004-1017.

Schindler, David W., P.J. Curtis, B. Parker, and M.P. Stainton. 1996. Consequences of climate warming and lake acidification for UV-b penetration in North American boreal lakes. Nature 379: 705-708.

Kidd, K.A., David W. Schindler, D.C.G. Muir, W.L. Lockhart, and R.H. Hesslein. 1995. High toxaphene concentrations in fish from a subarctic lake. Science 269: 240-242.

Carpenter, S.R., S.W. Chisholm, C.J. Krebs, David W. Schindler, R.F. Wright. 1995. “Ecosystem experiments.” Science. 269: 324-327.

Schindler, David W., K.A. Kidd, D. Muir, and L. Lockhart. 1995. “The effects of ecosystem characteristics on contaminant distribution in northern freshwater lakes.” Sci. Tot. Environ.160/161: 1-17.

Kidd, K.A., David W. Schindler, R.H. Hesslein and D.C.G. Muir. 1995. “Correlation between stable nitrogen isotope ratios and concentrations of organochlorines in biota from a freshwater food web.” Sci. Tot. Environ. 160/161: 381-390.

Schindler, David W., K.G. Beaty, E.J. Fee, D.R. Cruikshank, E.D. DeBruyn, D.L. Findlay, G.A. Linsey, J.A. Shearer, M.P. Stainton and M.A. Turner. 1990. “Effects of climatic warming on lakes of the central boreal forest.” Science. 250: 967-970.

Schindler, David W., K.H. Mills, D.F. Malley, D.L. Findlay, J.A. Shearer, I.J. Davies, M.A. Turner, G.A. Linsey and D.R. Cruikshank. 1985. “Long-term ecosystem stress: The effects of years of experimental acidification on a small lake.” Science. 28: 1395-1401.

Committee on the Atmosphere and the Biosphere. 1981. “Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions: Toward a Better Understanding of the Ecological Consequences of Fossil Fuel Combustion.” National Academy Press.

Schindler, David W. 1977. “Evolution of phosphorus limitation in lakes: Natural mechanisms compensate for deficiencies of nitrogen and carbon in eutrophied lakes.” Science. 195: 260-262.

Schindler, David W. 1974. “Eutrophication and recovery in experimental lakes: Implications for lake management.” Science. 184: 897-899.

Schindler, D. W. 1968-06. “Feeding, Assimilation and Respiration Rates of Daphnia magna Under Various Environmental Conditions and their Relation to Production Estimates.” Journal of Animal Ecology. 37:2:369-385. British Ecological Society.

Selected Awards and Honours

Alberta Order of Excellence (2008)

Co-recipient, Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2006)

Officer of the Order of Canada (2004)

Lifetime Achievement Award, Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (2004)

Killam Prize, Canada Council for the Arts (2003)

Elected Foreign Member, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (2003)

Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, Office of the Governor General of Canada (2002)

City of Edmonton, Award of Distinction (2002)

Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences (USA) (2002)

Environment Canada, EcoLogo/Natural Marine Environmental Award (2002)

R.A. Vollenweider Lectureship, National Water Research Institute (2001)

Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada) (2001)

Award of Excellence, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada) (2001)

Fellow of the Royal Society (2001)

NSERC Award of Excellence (2000)

Co-recipient, Volvo Environment Prize (1998)

First Romanowski Medal, Royal Society of Canada (1994)

First Stockholm Water Prize, Stockholm Water Foundation (1991)

Hutchinson Medal, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (1985)

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1983)

Rhodes Scholarship, 1962-1966

References

AB. Members Profile David W. Schindler. Alberta Order of Excellence.

Kosowan, Gene. 2001-07-03. “Schindler named royal fellow.” University of Alberta Express News.

McGill University Water 2010. Profile of David W. Schindler.

Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). Profile David W. Schindler.

Trent University News Release. 2008-05-21. “Trent University Announces David Schindler Endowed Professorship in Aquatic Science.”

University of Alberta Department of Biological Sciences. “Profile of David W. Schindler.“

Zagorski, Nick. “Profile of David W. Schindler.”

Related Reading
Elton, Charles S. 1958. The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants. University of Chicago Press.

Yedlin, Deborah. 2010-08-31. “Athabasca water study misses bigger picture.” Calgary Herald.

Chen, Yiqun. 2009-02. Cancer Incidence Cancer Incidence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta 1995-2006 . Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Moon J, Smith TJ, Tamaro S, Enarson D, Fadl S, Davison AJ et al. “Trace metals in scalp hair of children and adults in three Alberta Indian villages.” Sci Total Environ 1986; 54:107-125.

Venice, LA aka End of the World:Hurricanes, Oxygen-deprived Dead Zone and a Forest of High-risk Oil Rigs

Venice, Louisiana is aptly nicknamed “the end of the world.” The community of 1000, which includes Venice, Orchard and Boothville, is south of New Orleans is the most southerly terminus of the Great River Road and the last community on the Mississippi River. Venice was almost completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. East of Venice, LA is a human-induced oxygen deprived dead zone on the Gulf of Mexico seabed with too little oxygen to support fish, shrimp, crabs and other forms of marine life, that expanded to its largest on record by 2008 of c. 8,000 square miles.

One of Venice’s main industries is to provide service and transport for off-shore petroleum platforms, including BP’s  Deepwater Horizon oil rig which exploded 2010-02-20 killing eleven people and causing a huge oil spill.

Deepwater Horizon, built in 2001, was a Transocean-owned semisubmersible drilling rig but it was leased to BP (65%), with partners Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Mitsui & Co. owning the remainder.

BP plc founded in 1909 as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (See wiki for its Iranian-British-American history), which became The British Petroleum Company plc then BP Amoco plc now called BP) “is a British global energy company that is also the third largest global energy company and the 4th largest company in the world. As a multinational oil company (“oil major”) BP is the UK’s largest corporation, with its headquarters in St James’s, City of Westminster, London.[2][3][4] The company is among the largest private sector energy corporations in the world, and one of the six “supermajors” (vertically integrated private sector oil exploration, natural gas, and petroleum product marketing companies). BP’s 2009 reports a revenue of $246.1 billion, a net incomeof US $16.58 billion, a total equity of US $101.6 billion with 92,000 employees worldwide. wiki source

See dramatic photos here.

BP’s Gulf of Mexico Deepwater operations which include Atlantis Oil Field, Thunder Horse, Mad Dog, Pompano, Holstein, Horn Mountain, Marlin, Nakika and Tiber oilfield (announced 2009; production not commenced) operates from Houston, Texas.

“Transocean LTD is the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor. The company rents out floating, mobile drill rigs, along with the equipment and personnel needed for operations, to oil and gas companies. The company was spun-off from its parent, Birmingham, Alabama based Sonat, Inc. in 1993 and was originally called Sonat Offshore Drilling, Inc. Sonat Offshore acquired the Norwegian group Transocean ASA in 1996 and adopted its name. In 2000 the company merged with Sedco Forex, and was renamed Transocean Sedco Forex. In 2001 the company bought Reading & Bates Falcon. The name of the company was simplified to Transocean in 2003. Sedco Forex was originally part of Schlumberger until 2000 when it was spun off. Sedco Forex was originally formed from the merger of two drilling companies, the Southeast Drilling Company (Sedco) and French drilling company Forex. Transocean employs approximately 26,300 people worldwide and has a fleet of 136 vessels and units as of March, 2009. It was incorporated in the Cayman Islands while the principal office is in Houston, Texas. On December 8, 2008, the company’s shareholders voted to move its incorporation from the Caymans to Zug, Switzerland. The company has offices in 20 countries around the world, with major offices in Stavanger, Aberdeen, Perth, Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia. On July 23, 2007, Transocean announced a merger with GlobalSantaFe Corporation. The merger was completed on November 27, 2007.” wiki source

Steven L. Newman, CEO became CEO of Transocean in March 2010 just before the explosion. Newman joined the company in 1994 in the Corporate Planning Department. Mr. Newman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business.

Macondo prospect:
“The Macondo prospect is located on Mississippi Canyon Block 252 in the Gulf of Mexico in a water depth of 4,993 feet (1,522 meters). BP serves as the operator and holds a 100% interest in the prospect, which was acquired at the MMS Lease Sale #206 in March 2008. On Feb. 23, 2009 an EP was submitted to MMS (OCS-G 32306) proposing to drill and temporarily abandon two exploratory wells on the field. Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon semisub, which caught fire on April 20, 2010, was drilling the Macondo prospect. According to Dow Jones, the well had reached a depth of at least 11,500 feet (3,502 meters), when BP filed a permit with MMS to temporarily abandon the well. The rig sunk after erupting into flames from a blowout. BP may drill a relief well, if required, and will utilize a nearby drilling rig, which is available to commence drilling immediately source.”

Spectrum management: black and white low resolution

At a 5000% mark-up, colour may be too expensive for most of us and we will be back to viewing the world in black and white, low resolution and high noise interference.

In Canada, radio airwaves or spectrum, a public resource, is managed by Industry Canada. The Canadian federal government with a $54 billion deficit hopes to gain c. $ 1 billion dollars through its spectrum 10-year licenses auction to cash in on cellphone industry’s astronomical profits (ex. 2006 total revenue $12.7 billion, 2008 total revenues c. 15.9 billion) Was the 2009 spectrum auction a bargain basement for telecommunications giants?

Rogers Communications Inc., Bell Canada Inc. and Telus Corp, Canada’s largest cellphone providers have held spectrum licences for cellphone services in Canada. In 2006 alone Canada’s cellphone industry total revenue was $12.7 billion, 95% of this going to these three companies who- lacking competition- charged higher rates and provided poorer services than services in peer countries. In 2008 the total revenue for Canadian cellphone companies was $15.9 billion and in 2010 cellphone providers Rogers Communications Inc., Bell Canada Inc., Telus Corp, Fido and Virgin charged up to a 5000% mark-up even calculations included technology and overhead costs. Prices were so high and customer service so bad that Marketplace held a “Canada’s Worst Cellphone Bill” contest (Mesley 2010-03-05).

It is no wonder that Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE: RCI) is listed by Forbes as having Aggressive Growth potential. Should we applaud the growth for Rogers investors or lament the management of the Spectrum commons?

“Spectrum is a catch-all term for the radio airwaves that many wireless gizmos use to communicate information. Radios use spectrum, as do the rabbit-ear antennas on older television sets. The CBC, for example, is broadcast free to many parts of Canada using a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Cellphones, of course, also use it. Spectrum is divided into different frequencies and measured in units called hertz. The government extracts big revenue from selling spectrum licences to cellphone companies, because those licences are limited while demand is high. Other telecommunications providers would like to offer cellphone services but can’t, because they don’t have a spectrum licence. The auction is expected to earn the government at least $1 billion. A number of smaller regional companies, including Winnipeg-based Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. and Regina-based SaskTel, also have licences and offer cellphone services (Nowak 2008-05-26).

See map of cellphone costs worldwide.

Timeline

1789 Jeremy Bentham “considered protection from harm, as more basic (and an aim of regulation) than provision of enjoyments: “the care of providing for his enjoyments ought to be left almost entirely to each individual: the principal function of government being to protect him from suffering” (Bentham 1789/1948:301, quoted in Shrader-Frechette 1991:285). An assessor’s prima facie (at first sight) duty is to minimise the chance that an unsafe technology is implemented; in order to minimise public risk. This is a value judgement: is it more important to protect the public from harm (hazards from risky technologies, such as cellular towers), than to provide welfare (benefits from new technologies, such as third generation services and better cellular coverage)? The perception and response type I and type II errors in regulation reveal the rationality of the regulator. The research analyses the national
thresholds pertaining to RF human hazards and spurious emissions (Madjar 2008-08).”

1864 to 1873 James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1894), a Scot theoretical physicist, demonstrated that four relatively simple equations could fully describe electric and magnetic fields and their interaction. He described how charges and currents produce an Electro Magnetic Radio wave (Madjar 2008-08).”

1887, in the research laboratory of a young German physicist, Heinrich Hertz, the first radio transmitter began working briefly over a range of just a few metres (Madjar 2008-08).”

1895-05-07. Alexander Popov (1859-1906) demonstrated his instrument for the detection and recording of electrical oscillations (Madjar 2008-08).”

1895-spring In the spring of the same year, Guglielmo Marconi (1874- 1937) took his wireless experiments outdoors and soon discovered that an intervening hill was no barrier to the reception of electromagnetic waves (Madjar 2008-08).”

1987-1991 New Zealand was the first country to apply the Wireless Act in 1903 (one year before the UK); the first RF Auction in the world occurred there in 1989. Neo-liberal ideologues promoted structural adjustment program which was more drastic than that inaugurated by Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain (Herman and McChesney 1997:178-9). Their 1987-1991 auction of UHF spectrum resulted in the acquisition of RF (Herman and McChesney 1997:180) (Madjar 2008-08:47).”

2002 The economist Vernon L. Smith, the laureate of Nobel Prize 2002, published (Smith 1962) that only under perfect competition, the market price establishes equilibrium between supply and demand- at the level, where the value assigned to a good by a marginal buyer is as high as that of a marginal seller (Madjar 2008-08:47).”

Today there are more than 3 billion cellular telephones worldwide.

2007-11 Even though Canada’s cellphone industry made $12.7 billion in 2006, 95% of the total revenue went to Rogers Communications Inc., Bell Canada Inc. and Telus Corp who charged higher rates and provided poorer services than peer countries because of lack of competition (Nowak 2008-05-26)

2008 In 2008 c. 60 % of Canadians subscribed to a cellphone service, subtantially behind the rest of the industrialized world. Countries such as Denmark and Norway where c. 90% of the population are subscribed and rates are much lower (Nowak 2008-05-26)

Instituting special breaks in the auction was the government’s way of spurring competition (Nowak 2008-05-26)

2008 The total revenue for Canadian cellphone companies was $15.9 billion and in 2010 cellphone providers Rogers Communications Inc., Bell Canada Inc., Telus Corp, Fido and Virgin charged up to a 5000% mark-up even when calculations included technology and overhead costs. Prices were so high and customer service so bad that Marketplace held a “Canada’s Worst Cellphone Bill” contest (Mesley 2010-03-05).

2008-08 Haim Mazar Madjar defended his dissertation entitled “An Analysis of Regulatory Framework for Wireless Communications, Societal Concerns and Risk: the Case of Radio Frequency (RF) Allocation and Licensing” at Middlesex University in which he analysed the role of culture and geography in allocation and licensing of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum in different nations. Using an inter-disciplinary approach for example, he explored contrasting risk-management regulatory frameworks/attitudes in the UK, France, US and Ecuador. He summarized and used 3 alternative sociological theories including Mary Douglas et al.’s Cultural Theory (CT) re: categorising countries in terms of perceptual filters. Bounded Rationality (BR) is used to investigate and explain these apparent irrationalities. Rational Field Theory (RFT) showed how beliefs and values guide administrations in RF regulation. Wireless regulation is now divided into two major camps (the EU and the US), which differ in their risk concerns, approach to topdown mandated standards, allocation of RF spectrum to licence-exempt bands and type approval process.

2010-03-04 The Canadian federal government announced its response to the $54 billion deficit which will take the form of $17.6 billion savings (2010-1015) by streamlining and reducing the operating and administrative costs of government departments.

2010-03-04 The Canadian federal budget has confused opposition politicians and industry observers alike as to whether Canada will open its doors to foreign telecommunications companies. The government promised to increase competition and investment in the telecommunications sector, which will lead to greater innovation and lower prices for consumers by removing foreign ownership restrictions on satellites. However, critic Marc Garneau claimed the budget was an overall disappointment in terms of the digital economy as there is no national digital economy plan and future plans include vague allusions to further studies in terms of fast and affordable broadband internet access for all Canadians. Canada was a leader in the digital economy in 2000. Now we are behind other OCED countries. This federal budget promised more on outdoor recreational infrastructure than on high-speed internet in rural areas (Nowak 2010-03-04).

Webliography and Bibliography

Madjar, Haim Mazar. 2008-08. “An Analysis of Regulatory Framework for Wireless Communications, Societal Concerns and Risk: the Case of Radio Frequency (RF) Allocation and Licensing.” PhD Dissertation. Supervisors: Dr. Peter Hough; David Ball; June Burnham. School of Health and Social Sciences. Middlesex University.

Hazlett, T. W.; Munoz, R. E.; Square, V. “A welfare analysis of spectrum allocation policies.” utfsm.cl
“Economic analysis of spectrum allocation policies focuses on competitive bidding for wireless licenses. Auctions generating high bids, as in Germany and the UK, are identified as “successful,” while those producing lower receipts, as in Switzerland and the … ”

McMillan, J. 1995. “Why auction the spectrum?” Telecommunications Policy. Elsevier. stanford.edu [PDF]
“Of the alternative spectrum allocation methods — administrative process, lottery, first come first served, and auction — economic theory, as well as various countries’ experiences, show that auctioning works best. As well as raising revenue, an auction assigns licenses to the firms … ”

Mesley, Wendy. 2010-03-05. “Canada’s Worst Cellphone Bill.” CBC Marketplace. http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/ID=1433056621

Noam, E. 1998. “Spectrum Auctions: Yesterday’s Heresy, Today’s Orthodoxy, Tomorrow’s” The Journal of Law and Economics. University of Chicago Press.

Nowak, Peter. 2008-05-26. “Wireless spectrum: Auction of radio airwaves will influence Canada’s prosperity.” CBC News

Nowak, Peter. 2010-03-04. “Budget sows confusion over telecom rules.” CBC News

Davos: Shape of Capitalism to Come: a Beijing Consensus?

One of the questions that surprised veteran New York Times journalist, Thomas L. Friedman, at the 2010 World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland was, “Is the ‘Beijing Consensus’ replacing the ‘Washington Consensus?’ (Friedman 2010-01-30).

The Davos World Economic Forum usually offers accurate indicators of the global mood on its political barometer (Friedman 2010-01-30).

‘Washington Consensus’ is a term coined after the cold war for the free-market, pro-trade, globalization policies promoted by America that by 2010 has evolved into an almost hegemonic system of open markets, floating currencies and free elections that is now under scrutiny for its weak performance on political risk analysis. The United States may very well be monitored as a risk investment climate because of its political instability (Friedman 2010-01-30).

The U.S two-party political system was described by developing countries as in danger of political instability at the Davos Forum as the U.S. administration appears to be unable to deal with health care, infrastructure, education and energy issues (Friedman 2010-01-30).

In his book entitled China’s New Confucianism, (2008-05) Daniel A. Bell explained how in China, Confucianism, Communism and Capitalism are blending. Capitalists can now join the CCP. The reformed Chinese legal system is slowly aligning with the Western legal systems (Chinese businesses are insisting on Chinese laws for arbitration). Bell observes that as China increased its openness to capitalist markets, it appears to be retreating from communism. China is also embracing a new form of Confucianism, evident in efforts made to enhance and encourage civil society in China during the Beijing Olympics. This new Confucianism, Bell suggests, may be a compelling alternative to Western liberalism.

Ramo, Joshua Cooper. 2004-05-11. “Beijing Consensus: The Beijing Consensus: Notes on the New Physics of Chinese Power.” The Foreign Policy Centre: London, UK. Ramo compares China’s shifting ideology to Heisenberg among others, explaining how developing countries look to China as an alternative to the Washington Consensus which focused on molding nation-states into similar malleable entities preparing the ground for market interests to flourish and profit globally.

Who’s Who

The Foreign Policy Centre “is a prominent UK progressive foreign think-tank founded by Robin Cook under the patronage of Tony Blair in 1998 to develop a vision of a fair and rule-based world order. Through our research, publications and events, we aim to develop innovative policy ideas that promote: effective multilateral solutions to global problems; democratic and well-governed states as the foundation of order and development; partnerships with the private sector and NGOs to deliver public goods; support for progressive policy through effective public diplomacy; inclusive definitions of citizenship to underpin internationalist policies.”

Key Concepts

Beijing Consensus According to New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman the “Confucian-Communist-Capitalist” is a “hybrid under the umbrella of a one-party state, with a lot of government guidance, strictly controlled capital markets and an authoritarian decision-making process that is capable of making tough choices and long-term investments, without having to heed daily public polls (Friedman citing Bennhold 2010).” The man who coined the term, Joseph Cooper Ramo “Beijing Consensus”, described it as an alternative to the “Washington Consensus.” According to him, this newer consensus was more attractive to developing countries who wanted recipes for economic growth that did not result in political instability. The Beijing Consensus as dr”: the use of leading-edge high technologies, constant innovation and experimentation, willingness to fail, rejection of a “black hole” GDP indicator, self-determination (as opposed to World Bank/IMF conditions) (Ramo 2004).

Timeline

1984-06-30 Deng Xiaoping spoke with the Japanese delegation to the second session of the Council of Sino-Chinese Non-Governmental Persons. This excerpt is entitled “Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.”

2004 Joseph Cooper Ramo coined the term “Beijing Consensus” to describe an alternative to the “Washington Consensus.” According to him, this newer consensus involved: innovation and constant experimentation; rejection of GDP growth above all in favor of sustainability and equality; self-determination (as opposed to World Bank/IMF conditions) (Ramo 2004).

2008-05 In his book entitled China’s New Confucianism, (2008-05) Daniel A. Bell explained how in China, capitalists can now join the CCP; the reformed Chinese legal system more closely aligns with the West and Chinese businesses are insisting on its use Chinese laws in arbitration. Bell observes that China has increased its openness to capitalist markets, retreated from communism and is embracing a new Confucianism. This new Confucianism, evident in the efforts made to enhance and encourage civil society in China during the Beijing Olympics, may be a compelling alternative to Western liberalism.

2008 Before the Beijing Olympic Games China was still considered to be an emerging economy. China seemed to respond positively to the U.S. and E.U. to lift censorship and to cooperate with the West. Efforts were made to enhance and encourage civil society in China during the Games.

2010 The World Economic Forum was held in Davos, Switzerland.

Webliography and Bibliography

Bell, Daniel A. 2008. “From Communism to Confucianism: Changing Discourses on China’s Political Future.” China’s New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society. Princeton University Press. pp.3-18.

Bennhold, Katrin. 2009-01-27. “Is Europe’s welfare system a model for the 21st century?” New York Times.

Bennhold, Katrin. 2010-01-27. “As China Rises, Conflict With West Rises Too.” New York Times.

Deng Xiaoping. 1984-06-30. “Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.”

Friedman, Thomas. 2010-01-30. “Never Heard That Before.” New York Times. Davos, Switzerland.

Gibney, Frank B.; Lin, Paul T. K. et al. 1979-11-26. “We can develop a market economy under socialism.”

Jessica Li, Jessica; Madsen, Jean. 2009-04. “Chinese workers’ work ethic in reformed state-owned enterprises: implications for HRD.” Human Resource Development International, 12:2:171-188.

“Work ethic, as the construct of work-related values and attitudes, directly affects employees’ job performance. Work ethic subjects to the influence of business and social practices. China is in the mix of major economical and political transformation, although little is known about how work ethic has changed for Chinese workers since the economic reform first initiated in 1979. This study is designed to examine work ethic currently held by workers of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Findings revealed work ethic perceptions based on the multidimensional work ethic profile (MWEP), a Western work ethic profile, and the Confucian work ethic (CWE), an Eastern work ethic profile, resulted in similarities but often lived different life styles. Differences: perceptions of hard work, self-reliance, centrality of work, education, use of time, delay of graduation. Other MWEP concepts were very similar to Chinese workers’ work perceptions.”

Ramo, Joshua Cooper. 2004-05-11. “The Beijing Consensus: Notes on the New Physics of Chinese Power.” The Foreign Policy Centre: London, UK.

Folksonomy

Content saved to PC .txt files under

Links saved to my bookmarks under folder > subfolder

Linked to other Web 2.0 tools

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Another excuse to blame impoverished elderly for their own demise

Old age is monetized and pressure is placed on older adults to strategically outsmart future financial markets to ensure a personal portfolio protection against poverty in their final years. Women remain at highest risk of poverty since statistics show that women do not save for their retirement. The subtext of this Financial Post article on “Your Money” is one of individual responsibility to strategically manage money factoring in the potential economical situation from twenty to sixty years in the future. Given that the financial experts themselves were unable to foresee the financial meltdown even months in advance or to respond to it effectively even months afterwards this is just another callous empty article providing adult children of the elderly and social agencies with another excuse to blame impoverished elderly for their own demise.

As the extremes of wealth and poverty intensify, insurance companies, banks and financial institutions entangle webs of potentially lucrative and increasingly complex refinanced, repackaged and unregulated debt, credit and insurance schemes that reap huge dividends for a handful while stripping the most vulnerable of everything including their homes, their incomes, adequate health care provided in a respectful dignified environment and finally a place to die  with dignity in a truly respectful care giving environment.

Webliography and Bibliography

Allentuck, Andrew. 2020-01-20. “Living longer — will poverty stalk the very elderly?” Financial Post.

long term care insurance, retirement strategies, retirement, life expectancy, boomers, health, at-risk, belonging, moral topography, humiliation, dignity, at risk populations, Social Justice, social exclusion, vulnerability to social exclusion, moral mathematics, poverty, extremes wealth poverty, policy research, @twitter,

Yellowhead Highway: a Yellow Anvil on the Horizon

We noticed the dull yellow-grey plume miles away from Edmonton heading north on Highway 2. Heading east towards Edmonton from Hinton on the Yellowhead it seems to hover beside the highway for hundreds of kilometers. A local resident described the “smog from the Genesee power plant’s big stacks [as forming] a yellow anvil on the horizon (Wiebe 2008-05)”

The four coal-fired power plants in the Wabumun Lake area produce about 74% of Alberta’s CO2 emissions (CASA 2003). How far does the plume of mercury, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, particulate matter and other air contaminants extend? Does it reach Jasper? the glaciers?

Timeline

1998 Canada ratified the Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long- Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Heavy Metals, thereby committing to control emissions of heavy metals from specified activities, including combustion of fossil fuels (CASA p.41) .

2001-12-12 Alberta’s Energy and Utilities Board approved EPCOR’s application for major expansion of its Genesee coal-fired plant by 490 megawatts (CASA p.32) http://www.hazmatmag.com/posted_documents/pdf/JuneJuly04.pdf.

2002-01 Hon. Lorne Taylor, Alberta’s Minister of Environment, asked CASA to develop an approach for managing air emissions from the electricity sector. This report and package of recommendations is CASA’s response to that request. It is recommended that the new framework be fully implemented by January 1, 2006.

2001-06 “Alberta’s minister of environment announced new emission standards for new coal-fired electricity generation plants. Against the backdrop of deregulation of the electricity industry in Alberta and expected expansion of generation capacity, public concerns had been expressed about the process used to develop these new standards and about the standards themselves. As part of the June announcement, the Alberta government indicated it wanted to develop a new approach for setting standards and performance expectations for the electricity sector (CASA p.35).”

2001 “The lack of public consultation prior to the Alberta government issuing the 2001 air emission standards for the electricity sector was cited as an example. Concerns were also noted about the lack of transparency and public engagement in the process for a Canada-wide Standard for mercury from coal-fired plants, as compared with other CWS (Canada-Wide Standard) processes (CASA p.36).”

2002-02-12 Alberta’s Energy and Utilities Board approved TransAlta’s 900-MW Keephills for major expansion (two units) of its coal-fired plant (CASA p.32).

2003 “Canada’s greenhouse gas reduction commitment under the Kyoto Protocol is a 6% reduction from 1990 levels by the first Kyoto period of 2008-2012. Although the Protocol has not yet entered into force and views about it varied among EPT members, the team undertook its work on the assumption that the Protocol would come into force in the next year or so. The Kyoto Protocol will set legally binding targets and a timeframe within which these targets must be met, but each country must work out how it will meet its target. To give countries more options for meeting their targets, the Protocol contains three flexibility mechanisms that will allow countries to find emissions reductions opportunities that make the most economic sense (CASA p.41).”

2006-01 Effective January 1, 2006, all standards for new thermal generation unit (ay unit that does not meet the criteria for any “existing” unit and will therefore be required to comply with the BATEA or other emissions limits in effect at the time) will be based on Best Available Technology Economically Achievable (BATEA). CASA

Webliography and Bibliography

Celia, Michael A. “Risk of Leakage versus Depth.” Princeton University. with Jan Nordbotten (U. Bergen and Princeton U.); Stefan Bachu (Alberta Research Council); Mark Dobossy (Princeton U.); Benjamin Court (Princeton U.).

Schindler, David W. 2004-12. “Lake Wabamun: A Review of Scientific Studies and Environmental Impacts.” Submitted to the Minister of Alberta Environment.

Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) 2003. An Emissions Management Framework for the Alberta Electricity Sector – Report to Stakeholders. Prepared by (CASA) Clean Air Strategic Alliance Electricity Project Team

Wiebe, Christopher. 2008-05. “Plowed Under.” AMA Feature.

In Albertans & Climate Change: Taking Action, the Alberta government requires all new coal-fired generation facilities to offset their greenhouse gas emissions down to the level of a combined cycle natural gas turbine.