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being protected and even pampered in the camps. The use of inaccurate terms can, and too often does, distort facts into outright fantasies. The old adage that “sticks and stones may break bones/But words will never hurt” is not true. Words have power. They can create and they can destroy. |
Every time I write anything, whether it’s a screenplay, blog, or email, I remember the following quote from Pearl Strachan to remind myself how important my words can be: “Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.” Internment camp wasn’t the only euphemism. Here is a short |
list of some of the other more egregious ones: This last one is so unbelievable (and not very well known), I feel it is important to expand on it a little. In the evacuation order, it states: All Japanese persons, both alien and non-alien, will be evacuated from the above |
designated area by 12:00 o’clock noon Tuesday, April 7, 1942. If an alien is someone who is not a citizen, a non-alien is a citizen. But they couldn’t say, “All Japanese person, both citizen and non-citizen will be evacuated” because it would be too obviously unconstitutional. But if we say |
non-alien most people wouldn’t give it a second thought. Hiding the truth of what happened behind euphemistic language doesn’t allow us as a country to learn from our mistake and make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s why when people ask me about my family’s experience in World War II, |
I always make sure to start by saying that they were incarcerated for almost six years in America’s concentration camps. If you want to learn more, I recommend reading Words Can Lie or Clarify: Terminology of the World War II Incarceration of Japanese Americans by Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga. (Aiko was one |
of the people responsible for proving that the incarceration of Japanese Americans was not based on a military necessity but racism.) Finally, Mako Nakagawa will be speaking at the Japanese American National Museum on August 27, 2011 at 2pm. She will discuss euphemisms and the importance of using accurate terminology. |
Coming soon! Nanotech on your desktop Within 15 years, desktop nanofactories could pump out anything from a new car to a novel nanoweapon, says a technology commentator. And he warns |
that society needs to start preparing for this brave new world. Mike Treder from the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) in New York says advanced nanotechnology, like these nanofactories, could |
help solve world poverty but it could also wreak economic and social chaos. "It's the biggest challenge we've ever faced as a species," says Treder, who has been addressing scientists |
in Australia this week. CRN is a non-profit organisation advised among others by the so-called father of nanotechnology, Dr Eric Drexler. The organisation says it aims to raise awareness about |
the benefits and dangers of molecular manufacturing, the precise assembly of products atom-by-atom. While molecular manufacturing is not yet a reality, Treder says researchers are already working on building molecular-scale |
machines that could eventually move atoms around to make products. And he says that in less than 15 years, nanoscale factories could be making consumer products from cups and chairs |
to cars and house bricks. Raw materials like carbon would be pumped into the nanofactory, where atoms would be rearranged to make products according to programs downloaded from the internet, |
says Treder. Treder says such desktop nanofactories could help reduce poverty and starvation in developing nations, and provide tremendous medical benefits. But society needs to guard against its potential risks. |
In particular, he says CRN is concerned that these desktop nanofactories would lead to a nano "arms race" in which hard-to-detect nanoweapons could be designed, manufactured and tested much quicker |
than they are today. "Imagine a suitcase filled with billions of toxin-carrying flying robots that could be released anywhere to target a population," he says. "You could make a suitcase |
full of these things overnight for a few dollars." The mass production of consumer goods by private desktop factories could also trigger social chaos due to economic disruption, says Treder. |
"If I can make my own car at home for a couple of hundred dollars with a design downloaded from the internet that means I'm not a customer of the |
auto dealer down the road." Waste from such easy manufacturing, or nanolitter, is another issue that needs to be thought about, he says. As is the prospect of nanospam. "If |
someone could send you a product online that you don't want but they just make it pump out of your nanofactory, how are we going to prevent that?" Experts are |
generally sceptical that desktop factories could exist so soon but welcome Treder's discussion of impacts of nanotechnology on society. Dr Peter Binks of Nanotechnology Victoria, a sponsor for Treder's tour, |
says his organisation does not "yet buy into the idea" of the desktop factory. "But we don't dismiss it either," he says. "We think there are a large number of |
technical hurdles to be overcome." William Price, professor of nanotechnology at the University of Western Sydney says desktop factories may be possible but technical issues will mean this will not |
be within 15 years. Professor Chennupati Jagadish of the Australian Research Council Nanotechnology Network, which is also a sponsor for the tour, thinks Treder's views are imaginative and futuristic. "Expecting |
those sorts of machines in 15 years is probably too optimistic," he says, estimating they would be more like 30 or 40 years away, if at all. And it's this |
challenge that makes Professor Ned Seeman, of New York University, who is involved in self-assembling arrays of DNA machines, sceptical of Treder's claims. "I think this suggestion is wildly optimistic," |
he says. "Most of the basic principles have not been demonstrated, much less in a 'desktop' context." But even he is not willing to rule the technology out completely. "One |
Australian Bureau of Statistics 4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2004 Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 15/06/2004 |Page tools: Print Page Print All RSS Search this Product| NATIONAL AND STATE SUMMARY TABLES HOUSING DATA SOURCES AND DEFINITIONS An estimated 99,900 people were homeless on Census Nigh... |
people are among the most marginalised people in Australia and their profile has changed in recent years from that of older, lone men to include more women, youth and families. This article summarises data and analysis from the Australian Census Analytic Program report Counting the Homeless (ABS cat. no. 2050.0) |
by Chris Chamberlain and David MacKenzie. It estimates the numbers of homeless people in Australia in 2001 and discusses their characteristics. The proportion of homeowners or purchasers among younger age groups has diminished between 1986 and 2001. This may be related to economic conditions, a delaying effect due to o... |
changing society, or personal choices. The increasing price of housing is also examined in this article, aswell as the relationship between the size of first home loans and average earnings. HOUSING AND LIFESTYLE The number of people living in four or more storey apartment blocks increased at a much faster |
rate than the overall Australian population between 1981 and 2001. This article compares the socio-demographic characteristics of high rise residents with those of people living in separate houses, and discusses some ways in which the high rise residential population has changed over the last two decades. This page las... |
10 April 2007 Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact |
located in Jiangxi Province is the largest freshwater Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concen... |
of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,... Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of th... |
Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture... It has a surface area of 3,585 km², a volume of 25 km³ and an average depth of eight meters. The lake provides a habitat for half a million migratory birds, and is a favorite destination for birding. It is fed by the Gan, Xin, ... |
web site for online shopping, operated in the People's Republic of China.Founded by Mr. Ji Wenhong and Mr. Jin Huang in March 2008, it's a vertical e-commerce company, offering middle to luxury brand name fashion products - clothing, shoes, bags, ornaments, cosmetics and... rivers, which connect to the Yangtse through ... |
migrating Siberian crane The Siberian Crane also known as the Siberian White Crane or the Snow Crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes... s, up to 90% of which spend the winter there. Historically, although Poyang Lake has also been called Pengli Marsh (彭蠡澤) they are not the same. Before the Han Dynasty The ... |
of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang... , the Yangtze followed a more northerly course through what is now Lake Lon... |
lower reaches of the Gan River. The area that is now Poyang Lake was a plain along the Gan River. Around AD 400, the Yangtze River switched to a more southerly course, causing the Gan River to back up and form Lake Poyang. The backing up of the Gan River drowned Poyang County Poyang County is a county under the adminis... |
in Jiangxi Province of the People's Republic of China. It is located on the eastern side of Lake Poyang.... and Haihun County, forcing a mass migration to Wucheng Township in what is now Yongxiu County Yongxiu County is a county under Jiujiang City in Jiangxi Province, China. The total area is square kilometre, and the... |
became one of the great ancient townships of Jiangxi Province. This migration gave birth to the phrase, "Drowning Haihun County gives rise to Wucheng Township"「淹了海昏縣，出了吳城鎮」. Lake Poyang reached its greatest size during the Tang Dynasty The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and fo... |
Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire... , when its area reached 6000 km². There has been a fishing ban in place since 2002. In 2007 fears were expressed that China's finless porpoise The finless porpoise is one of six porpoise species. In the waters around Japan, at the northern... |
as the sunameri . A freshwater population found in the Yangtze River in China is known locally as the jiangzhu or "river pig". There is a degree of taxonomic uncertainty... , known locally as the jiangzhu ("river pig"), a native of the lake, might follow the baiji Baiji may refer to:* The Baiji or Yangtze River Dolphin... |
Iraq.* "Baiji" is the pinyin Romanization for Baekje.... , the Yangtze river dolphin, into extinction. Calls have been made for action to be taken to save the porpoise, of which there are about 1,400 left living, with between 700 and 900 in the Yangtze, with about another 500 in Poyang and Dongting Lakes. 2007 populati... |
the population is dropping at a rate of 7.3 per cent per year. Sand dredging has become a mainstay of local economic development in the last few years, and is an important source of revenue in the region that borders Poyang Lake. But at the same time, high-density dredging projects have been the principal cause of the ... |
makes the waters of the lake muddier, and the porpoises cannot see as far as they once could, and have to rely on their highly-developed sonar systems to avoid obstacles and look for food. Large ships enter and leave the lake at the rate of two a minute and such a high density of shipping means the porpoises have diffi... |
also cannot swim freely from one bank to the other. In 1363, the Battle of Lake Poyang The naval battle of Lake Poyang took place 30 August – 4 October AD 1363 and was one of the final battles fought in the fall of China's Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty... took place there, and it is claimed to be the largest naval battle in ... |
title of "largest naval battle in history" is disputed between adherents of criteria which include the numbers of personnel and/or vessels involved in the battle, and the total tonnage of the vessels involved... The lake has also been described as the "Chinese Bermuda Triangle". Many ships have disappeared while sailin... |
AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to millions of articles from top publications available through your library. Over the years, countless scholarly works have been written about the African-American experience. In addition |
to examining the African-American's place in American history, some scholars have taken special interest in the black family, black youth, and black urban life (Billingsley, 1968; Frazier, 1939; Glasgow, 1980; |
Glick & Mills, 1974; Gutman, 1976; Hill, 1973; Moynihan, 1965; Wilson, 1987). As early as 1908, W. E. B. DuBois wrote The Negro American Family and, years before that, described |
black life in the city of Philadelphia (1899). Since that time, except for that of a handful of scholars, interest in these subjects has waxed and waned, invariably increasing after |
incidents of urban unrest and turmoil such as the riots of the 1960s. The most recent riot, occurring in Los Angeles in May 1992, and escalating incidences of senseless urban |
violence have combined to renew scholarly, as well as public, concern for discovering why such events occur. One has only to look at statistical data compiled and interpreted in book |
form (Hacker, 1992) or data directly from the U.S. Bureau of the Census or from other government agencies to see why there might be unrest, despair, and even a sense |
of hopelessness in the black urban ghetto in general and among black young adults in particular. It is clear that these young people have much to contend with and have |
fewer and fewer tools to overcome the obstacles before them, obstacles that have the power to defeat them even before they are out of infancy. These are forces that weaken |
the black family, that undermine education, and that glorify violence. The 1990 census report indicates that African-Americans make up 11.9 percent of the total population of this country, yet they |
disproportionately contribute to statistics which, when translated, portray the face of ongoing human tragedy. To begin with, almost two-thirds of all black babies are now born outside marriage. This means |
that a large percentage of black families are headed by females. In fact, 56.2 percent of all black families are headed by women and 55.1 percent of these women have |
never been married (Hacker, 1992, pp. 67-74). More disturbing is the tendency of black teenagers to begin sexual activity at a relatively early age. It is estimated that, by age |
fifteen, 68.6 percent of black teenagers have engaged in sexual intercourse. The results of this activity are that some 40.7 percent of all black teenage girls become pregnant by age |
eighteen. Some 99.3 percent of these girls elect to keep and raise their babies (p. 76). Many of these girls live in multigenerational households with a mother, other children, and |
the daughter's children (p. 72). Perhaps the most devastating statistics have to do with the effect these lifestyle patterns have on the way many of these black families live. Fifty-six |
percent of black single parent families have incomes less than the poverty level of $10,530 for a family of three. In fact, 39.8 percent of families receiving federally sponsored Aid |
for Dependent Children (AFDC) are black. This means that they are, because of income, relegated, for the most part, to substandard housing, inadequate health care, and inferior schools. The litany |
continues, but the statistics concerning black men are particularly disturbing. Nationwide, 500,000 black men are serving time in 'ails and prisons for criminal offenses. More than 1 million have criminal |
records (p. 74). Violent death now accounts for more deaths among young black men than other cause. If a black man is fifteen to twenty-five years old, he is 3.25 |
times more likely to die than his black female counterpart. What is most dismaying is that the leading cause of death among black men in this age group is gunshot |
wounds (Hacker, 1992, p. 75). Historically, African-Americans have, in very large numbers, been poor. In 1990, they made up 10.1 percent of the work force but received only 7.8 percent |
of all earnings. In that same year, the median income for all black families was $21,423 as compared with $36,915 for all white families. In 1990, 37 percent of all |
black families earned less than $15,000 a year, and 44.8 percent of all black children lived below the poverty line (Hacker, 1992, pp. 98-99). Even with added education, there still |
remains an income disparity between blacks and whites. With a high school diploma, black men earn approximately $797 for every $1,000 earned by a white man with the same diploma. |
With a college degree, black men earn only $798 compared with the $1,000 earned by their white counterparts. Black women, on the other hand, are much closer to achieving parity |
with the earnings of white women at every educational level (Hacker, 1992, p. 95). The majority of poor African-Americans live in the central cities of this country, and 70 percent |
are concentrated in low income neighborhoods. Here, it is difficult to find work or to get to the place of employment even if one is fortunate enough to have a |
job. With few factory jobs available--the mainstay of the black working class--unemployment remains high. The unemployment rate among blacks since 1974 has been in double digit figures. In 1983, it |
was at a high of 20 percent and has consistently remained twice that of the white unemployed (Hacker, 1992, pp. 102-03). In the area of education, 63.3 percent of all |
black school-age children still attend segregated schools (Hacker, 1992, p. 162). This statistic reflects not only school segregation but housing segregation as well since blacks tend to be concentrated in |
predominantly black neighborhoods. Looking more closely at black school attendance patterns on a state by state basis, Illinois tops the list of segregated schools, with 83.2 percent of its black |
students attending segregated classes. New York is not too far behind, with 80.8 percent attending segregated schools, followed closely by Mississippi, with an 80.3 percentage, rate (p. 163). To … |
Community Based Adaptation The IFAD adaptive approach to participatory mapping: Design and delivery of participatory mapping projectsSubmitted by c.baldin on Fri, 2013-01-25 20:00 This document reports on an adaptive approach to designing and implementing participatory mapping initiatives within IFAD-supported projects... |
The adaptive UNDP/GEF supported CBA Community Based Adaptation Project Pilot Sites: Onamulunga School Garden ProjectSubmitted by andrea on Mon, 2011-09-26 07:09 The Community-Based Adaptation Programme (CBA) is a five-year United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) global initiative funded by the Global |
Environmental Facility (GEF). UNDP works with a number of partners including the United Nations Volunteers and the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP). Initial CBA investments have been made in 20 communities in the northern parts of Namibia (i.e. Omusati, Oshana, |
Ohangwena, Oshikoto and Kavango Regions). Climate models suggest that these areas are particularly vulnerable and face significant climate change risks, both at present and in future. To facilitate uptake of CBA strategies the Onamulunga Combined School project is focused on |
integrating adaptation to climate change into school curriculum. The pilot programme at Onamulunga Combined School in the Oshikoto region involves training grade 9 and 10students in adaptation farming methods such as conservation tilling, water harvesting, and micro-drip irrigation and planting |
drought resistant crops. These methods are subsequently taken up by the students’ native communities. This project directly contributes towards Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2 and 7 and, through a special focus on the inclusion of young women and girls, to |
MDG 3.The project also indirectly contributes to the realization of other MDGs. There are various Community Based Adaptation projects in Namibia. The particular project discussed here is implemented by an NGO called Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions (CES) that applies CBA measures |
through self-help groups. At the Onamulunga Combined School in the Oshikoto region, grade 9 and 10 students receive practical lessons in how to implement improved farming methods for a future affected by climate change. Results and Learning: According to a |
recent field visit by an independent assessor, the Onamulunga Garden project has achieved many of the intended results. Various sites at the school have been prepared for crop agriculture using the latest conservation tilling methods for dry land crops and |
micro-drip irrigation for vegetables. The project coordinator is Agriculture and Life Science teacher, Johannes Nelongo, who has provided inspirational leadership for 87 grade 9 and 10 students to put the theory they learn in the classroom in practice in the |
field, growing maize, sunflowers, cow peas, spinach, carrots, onions and other vegetables.They apply conservation furrowing and ripping, water saving techniques, mulching, application of organic and chemical fertilising, crop rotation and alternative growing methods. As such, the project provides learners with |
practical adaptation techniques. “Practical exercises make it easier for learners to interpret theoretical information. It thus gives them wisdom and insight and teaches them how to apply these methods at home,” says Nelongo.[Refer to the attached document for further details.] |
The project has built adaptive capacity for almost ninety learners, with the intention that they take these skills forward and apply them in the decades to come. Already a multiplier effect is noticeable in the children and teachers’ home communities. |
The project focuses on establishing a strong foundation for the application of adaptation mechanisms in farming practices rather than creating dependency through aid. “Because the programme demonstrates tangible benefits for the communities involved, it is sustainable,” says Marie Johansson from |
CES. “It will continue even if donor support stops tomorrow. It is important to start with educating kids. Young people, especially girls, pick the skills up quickly. From there on it is easier to integrate the community. Later on, many |
kids will migrate to urban areas and unfortunately fall in the trap of unemployment. But with the skills they learn here, there is an alternative way to make a living off the two hectares or so near their homestead. In |
this way even small farmers can become commercial farmers.” The project has been so successful that it has grabbed the attention of other schools. Four nearby schools are interested and have been invited to participate. As such, Onamulunga can become |
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