Month: February 2011

What is “Natural”?

The Trans Alaska pipeline. The bend is due to the fact that it's sitting on a faultline. (Image via the USGS)

Back in 1991, Jay Anderson wrote and interesting article (free pdf) on how exactly to go about measuring “naturalness”.

After all, anywhere you go in this world, you’ll find it has been impacted by humans to some degree: agriculture in Brazil is affecting rainfall patterns in the remotest parts of the Amazon basin; and soot and anthropogenic chemicals gently, and subtly, contaminate the remotest Antarctic Ice Caps.

Anderson came up with three things to look at, but I think the two key are:

  1. how much things would change if you removed people,
  2. how many native species there are compared to how many their were in the past.

I think it’s important to try to at least better define what we mean by the word “natural” as we think about conserving the environment.

The World without Us by Alan Weisman

Anderson’s first point, about how much things would change if you removed the people, also brings to mind Alan Weisman’s book, The World without Us, which imagines what the world would look like if humans disappeared: what would happen to the cities and artifacts we leave behind?

Footprints in the sand of a small bay on the northeastern coast of Trinidad.

The Battle of Tahrir Square: Getting Medieval

Anti-government protesters prepare catapult that will fire flaming debris. Image from Al Jazeera English.
This ID is of an undercover security officer who tried to start a fight, he was apprehended but not hurt, however, he said he was paid to come and start trouble. (via Al Jazerra English)

Anti-government protesters, who’ve been occupying Tahrir Square for the last week, fought off pro-government protesters yesterday in a vicious turn to the insurrection in Egypt. The army stood out of the way, and the police were no where to be found, except for reports that some captured pro-government rioters had police identification cards on them.

Although there was some shooting, the battle was mostly fought with impromptu weapons: rocks, Molotov cocktails, knives, and swords. Then there were the horses, camels and catapults.

Pro-government camel-man charges photographer and anti-government protesters. (via the Daily Dish)

A number of horsemen were pulled off by the anti-government portesters and beaten (WARNING: the video below is quite vicious).

A main street leading into Tahrir Square by the Egyptian Museum was completely covered in broken rocks, which had been used as weapons. (via Al Jazeera English).

More pictures from Al Jazeera English’s Flickr page.

Taking ownership

Progressive approaches to education focus on students taking ownership of their education. It works in education, it works in economics, and it works in politics too.

Protesters are also working with students and the army to protect the priceless antiquities at the Egyptian Museum and the books at Bibliotecha Alexindrina.

Friends or Enemies

(via TotallyCoolPix) 08. An Egyptian Army soldier greets protesters as he stands atop an armoured vehicle in Cairo January 29, 2011. Egypt's president gave the first indication on Saturday he was preparing an eventual handover of power by naming a vice-president for the first time in 30 years after protests that have rocked the foundations of the state. REUTERS/ Goran Tomasevic

One of the more interesting observations from today’s reenactment of the ongoing protests in Egypt, was the almost instinctive eagerness of, at least some of the simulated protesters, to want to confront the simulated army.

70. A demonstrator (L) argues with police during a protest in Cairo January 28, 2011. Police and demonstrators fought running battles on the streets of Cairo on Friday in a fourth day of unprecedented protests by tens of thousands of Egyptians demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (via TotallyCoolPix)

One protester, who’d been given the role of “angry student demonstrator” was extremely eager to get in the face of the army.

We were, after all, playing a simulation game, and that particular student had been told that he was angry, frustrated with the lack of opportunities, and all riled up. However, the way the actual Egyptian protesters are dealing with the army is really important to observe. They’re treating them like the friends and brothers they actually are: taking them in, rather than fighting against them.

I did have one of the protesters offer to hug the “army”, so, in the end, I hope the message that co-option can be much better than confrontation.

Protest signs from Egypt (and Egyptian expatriots)

We reenacted the Egyptian protests today. Each student in the group of protesters was assigned to represent a different demographic. Their signs (adapted from The Best Egypt Protest Signs From Around The World) were created to be representative of the different sub-groups (to the best of our ability to tell):

College students and young, recently graduated people are important parts of most democratic protest movements.
Probably student protesters.
Middle class protester with young child.
Veiled protester, representative of the strength of religion-based organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood in the protests.

Buzzfeed has an excellent collection of photos from the protests themselves. For example:

03. A protester reaches out as a soldier holds a child during a demonstration in Cairo January 29, 2011. Thousands of angry Egyptians rallied in central Cairo on Saturday to demand that Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resign, dismissing his offer of dialogue and calling on troops to come over to their side. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih