US is climate illiterate?, Kenyan evictions, drunken Guinea soldiers kill demonstrators, misspelled political signs, and secret service on facebook poll - [current top 5]
A pretty nice list for today's top 5 on current, so curl up to your lunch (or mid-afternoon snack if you're on the East Coast), and give these stories a look. I've even included a bonus for those of you who make it all the way to #5.
- The "Climate Illiterate" US could hurt Copenhagen deal, says expert
Even with growing awareness around climate change, the US trails in awareness on a global scale. It looks like this may end up costing us:
"Nobody should dream of the possibility that numbers and targets for countries will be sealed in Copenhagen," said Schellnhuber, one of the world's foremost climate scientists. "If the US doesn't move then nothing will happen."
He added: "The US in a sense is climate illiterate. It is a deeper problem in the US, if you look at global polls about what the public knows about climate change. Even in Brazil and China, you have more people who know the problem, who think that deep cuts in emissions are needed."
Read more here. - Kenya's heart stops pumping
High in the hills of Kenya's Mau forest, some 20,000 families are facing eviction from their farms - accused of contributing to an ecological disaster which has crippled the country.
The authorities are to start the process of removing them any day now. Farmers will be asked to surrender their title deeds for inspection.
If their documents are genuine, they have a chance of being resettled or compensated.
If not, they will simply be told to go.
"We are afraid. Not only me, but all of us here," says Kipkorir Ngeno, a teacher and father of six, from a village known as "Sierra Leone".
"They call us squatters - a very bad name. But this is my land. It is not illegal."
Read more here.
Also, Vanguard's Mariana van Zeller has reported from Sierra Leone several times before, covering cursed diamonds, the traditions of female circumcision, and recovering war-wounded amputees. - Drunk soldiers killing demonstrators in Guinea
Andrew Fitzgerald, online producer for Current News, posted on the blog about this disturbing story from Guinea about pro-democracy demonstrators who were killed in the streets by soldiers. He's busy gathering more information on this story as it develops, and plans to have raw video footage up this afternoon.If you have anything to contribute, or just want to comment, please head over here.
- 22 Misspelled Political Signs
Political signs seem to be frequently accompanied by misspellings and grammar mistakes. My theory is that people get so excited about expressing themselves that they overlook the simple gaffes made in their haste. Or, perhaps our illiteracy extends beyond mere climate change awareness.Read more here. - Secret Service investigating Facebook poll on "Killing Obama"
Facebook was the center of a stir yesterday when a user posted a poll asking other Facebook users, "Should Obama be killed?" The shocker is that 5% of the respondents actually said "yes" in response, before Facebook disabled the application used to create the poll. Now we are learning that the U.S. Secret Service is launching an investigation into the matter, in partnership with Facebook.Read more here.
BONUS ROUND - First Listen: Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the altered-for-the-trailer version of Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" is going to be included on the soundtrack. Thanks for pointing this out, richjm.
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