In His First Televised Interview in Quite Some Time, President Bush Explains Himself

Today, President Bush met with Elizabeth Vargas for an interview that aired on World News Tonight on ABC. In his first television interview in quite a long time, President Bush explains his position on the controversial DP World ports deal, reiterates his anti-oil sentiment, “…including changing how we drive cars, getting unhooked from oil,” and even explains his exact stance on abortion with his three exceptions: “rape, incest, and the life of the mother.” The President states that unemployment rates are at 4.7%, which is one of the lowest rates in history and that the economy is at a healthy level. With the nation’s polls leaving the President at a low 37% approval rate, what are some ways he, and his cabinet, can bring that rating up?

Is It Too Soon?

Oliver Stone is currently in the process of shooting a feature-length motion picture, “World Trade Center”, inspired by the events of September 11, 2001. The movie will tell the gripping story of the last two survivors pulled from the wreckage of the former World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. Nicholas Cage will play Sergeant John McLoughlin and Michael Pena will be playing the role of William J. Jimeno. These real-life Port Authority officers are working very close with the production crew, directors and actors, making sure every detail is exact to that day, as they are the best witnesses to their story. Universal Pictures has already filmed “Flight 93“, a movie (directed by Paul Greengas, director of “Bloody Sunday” and “The Bourne Supremacy”) about the events on the ill-fated flight 93 that departed from Newark International Airport on September 11th and crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. “Flight 93″ will be released in April 2006. Adam Sandler is set to play a grieving man who lost his family on 9/11 in “Reign O’er Me.” Another film, “102 Minutes” will be released in 2007 as an adaptation of the book by New York Times reporter Jim Dwyer, that “recreates the moments between the first plane’s crash into the World Trade Center and the second tower’s collapse.” Since Hollywood is coming out in full force on the topic, the question on everyone’s mind is: Is it too soon for a major motion picture depicting the disaster that is still painfully fresh in our minds? We all remember the exact emotion we felt when we first realized the magnitude of the tragedy on that day. We can all remember where we were when we saw it on the news, heard it on the radio, or heard the announcement over a public address system. Can we possibly stand reliving that day, with every detail, a mere five years later?

Is Bush Going Green?

Extreme Liberals will argue “NO!” and Green Conservatives are putting all their hopes behind the question: “Is President Bush going green?” There is a trend developing in the right wing; more and more self-proclaimed Conservatives are personally experimenting with the ideas of sustainability and “green” infrastructure. Arnold Schwartznegger and George Pataki, governors of California and New York (both Republicans), are putting tax dollars where their mouth is; they are dedicating more and more of their budgets to renewable energy initiatives and development. California is planning the United States’ first Hydrogen Highway and New York is pushing to become the center for Hydrogen Fuel research at its multiple General Motors research facilities.

Calatrava: New York’s New Leading Architect

Santiago Calatrava is bursting onto the New York architecture scene, even outdoing Gehry. Calatrava, widely known for his “Sundial Bridge” in California and “Turning Torso” in Malmo, Sweden, is in the midst of planning numerous projects in Manhattan. His residential tower, 80 South Street, is poised for construction. Calatrava has been chosen to build the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub. Recently, in a proposal to the city for redevelopment of Governor’s Island, Calatrava introduced the new idea for a suspended aerial tram out over the Harbor and to the island. Calatrava’s sleek and minimal designs are sure to change New York’s image from dank and boxy to organic and soaring. Santiago Calatrava’s biomorphic designs are now on display at the MET in New York in the exhibit, “Santiago Calatrava: Sculpture Into Architecture.” www.metmuseum.org

Museum Wing Location:
The Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Gallery, Lila Acheson Wallace Wing, Modern Art, 1st floor, from October 18, 2005–March 5, 2006

Dubai: Tourism Capital…Of the World? برج دبي

Burj Dubai is now about 30 stories in height and is “laying the foundation” for an international chain of Armani Hotels. The tower, an art deco spire that will climb to a height of 800 meters, or 2,625 feet, will become the largest structure in the world. The tower and surrounding complex is becoming the new center of the City of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, a country whose economy is based entirely on oil production. The country is looking to diversify its economy by introducing tourism, mainly from western nations. Emaar Properties, the principle developer, is spending upwards of $9 Billion on the complex and is in no way spending conservatively: the Burj Dubai’s interior will be decorated by Georgio Armani and its facade will be clad in a chrome-glass composite. The city is becoming home to a few “world’s firsts.” The downtown marina, Dubai Marina, is set to be the largest man-made marina in the world. The Palm Islands, a residential retreat, is in the process of becoming the largest artificial island on the face of the earth. The city is already home to the world’s tallest hotel, the Burj al-Arab. Many Westerners have misconceptions of the Middle East and what it has to offer as a tourist destination. Europeans are beginning to become acquainted with Dubai, as it is a midway point between Europe and the capitals of Asia.  Most Americans won’t step foot in the Middle East. Cities like Dubai are proving the opposite of popular belief, that Arabia is much more than terrorists and a sandy desert.

Efficiency of Solar Cell Soon to Rise

The idea of creating a “photon antenna” (a previously discovered technology that is being studied with renewed vigor) through nano technology that works somewhat like a coaxial cable, but for the attraction of light photons is currently being studied at both Penn State University and Boston College. The technology is gaining ground, and is being studied by numerous research organizations. Instead of a panel absorbing light passively (absorbing only the light that hits it directly), these photon antennas will attract light and absorb them quickly, much faster than current solar panels. This idea, when commercially viable, will increase the efficiency of solar cells by 300-400%, an amazing advance in this technology. One of the main barriers of solar energy is its somewhat low efficiency. If solar energy can become competative to other types of energy, efficiency-wise, then it will gain a much larger stake in world energy production. Penn State is also creating a solar cell that can turn water into hydrogen and oxygen directly from sunlight. This is another breakthrough in solar energy and may help fuel the future hydrogen economy. Pictured above, these so called carbon “nanotubes” absorb light at a much higher efficiency than current photovoltaic technologies.

Mazda Jumps Onto Hydrogen Bandwagon!

Mazda plans to begin leasing a dual engine vehicle. The car can be switched to run on hydrogen or gasoline at the push of a button. I’m getting one…hardcore! Well, if I lived in Japan. Hopefully it will come here soon. Article is here: CNN.com

Shell Hydrogen?

Shell Oil Group created the branch organization, Shell Hydrogen, in 1999 to realize its wish to “play a leading role and champion the realisation of a hydrogen-based economy.” Shell Hydrogen’s goal is to bring hydrogen into the retail and consumer markets as a common fuel. The company predicts a “global hydrogen economy as a new [energy infrastructure] in which hydrogen represents an important component of the portfolio of energy sources and fuels, and as a realistic alternative to the world’s present wide-scale use of hydrocarbon fuels.” Shell Hydrogen has partnered with General Motors Fuel Cell Vehicles in order to make these ideas a reality. Shell hopes to build a “Hydrogen Highway” between Washington D.C. and New York within the next decade, dotting the route between the two cities with hydrogen fueling stations, that hopefully, consumers will use once hydrogen vehicles are commercially available. Already, a Shell Hydrogen Fueling Station exists in the River Terrace area of Washington D.C. GM has supplied numerous hydrogen-run vehicles to the government and organizations located in the area. Other motor vehicle companies have built hydrogen fuel vehicles that also use the station as their main fueling point. It has recently been announced that a small town, Greenburgh, in Westchester County in New York will be receiving a Shell Hydrogen Fueling Station by this summer. GM will donate 5 hydrogen fuel vehicles to the town’s local government. Within the next five years, hydrogen stations will be popping up throughout the country, awaiting the day that the first consumer fuel cell vehicle rolls off the assembly line…

And So it Continues: The Spread of H5N1 Influenza

Here’s a follow-up on the quickly spreading H5N1 strain of influenza, “Bird Flu.” Europe is showing new fear for the impending pandemic. A full-blown flu pandemic has the potential to kill a significant portion of the world’s population. Once human-to-human transmission occurs, and if it’s out of the watchful eye of nations that are monitoring the spread of H5N1, the disease will rapidly spread through developing nations and into the Western world.

WalMart: Big Box Extraordinaire!

The Anti-WalMart coalition is mounting. Small-town citizens, ex-employees, pro-small businessmen, and thousands of other groups are joining together to expose and attack the retail giant of the world. It takes runaway capitalism to spark the creation of this kind of chain superstore. WalMart is a big-box virus that moves into unsuspecting communities and sucks them dry, until the only occupied structure left standing in the town is that corregated steel box brandished with Mr. Sam Walton’s down-home and catchy title. WalMarts have recently exploded onto the Chinese Market and have single-handedly begun the shut-down of Beijing’s world famous street markets. The quaint downtowns that once defined America are slowly disappearing to make way for acres and acres of black-top and that oh so familiar yellow smiley face. WalMart is a virus; if it is not treated soon, it will surely take over our way of life.