It seems that we only hear about the bad stuff in Africa but here are
some of the good stuff
• Africa's economies grew by more than 5 percent last year - their
biggest expansion in eight years. Central Africa's oil boom spurred
14.4 percent growth for that region.
• Ghana's stock exchange is regularly one of the highest-performing
markets in the world; in 2003, it was No. 1, gaining 144 percent,
according to one analysis.
• Exports to the US from 37 African nations jumped 88 percent last
year, to $26.6 billion. Jeans made in Lesotho are sold in US stores.
Also, flowers from Kenya and vegetables from Senegal are regularly
available in European shops.
• Use of cell phones and the Internet are growing faster in Africa
than anywhere else, according to the United Nations.
These and other statistics are getting more focus amid efforts to
boost Africa's image - along with the world's willingness to invest in
the continent.
China promised on Tuesday to do more to strengthen Africa's economy
but ran into suspicions that, while sincere in its desire to help the
world's poorest continent, it is acting primarily out of
self-interest. China may only want to take some of the natural
resources that Africa has to offer. The big question is whether or
not the gain will be better than the loss.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Evvan's Ancor Update
In Peru a woman prepares a drink that we might think a little
strange. She is preparing frog juice. Thought to cure asthma,
bronchitis, and sluggishness. This strange drink includes beans,
honey, Aloe Vera plant, Maca and a whole frog. Despite this strange
concoction it is a popular drink.
A tortoise takes on a cat in South Africa. A Man said that the
neighborhood cats were getting nervous and agitated. He later
discovered why.
He says the tortoise would come out of a nearby nature reserve and
take over a garden, going for anything that stood in its way— no
matter how big. Here is the website for the video.
strange. She is preparing frog juice. Thought to cure asthma,
bronchitis, and sluggishness. This strange drink includes beans,
honey, Aloe Vera plant, Maca and a whole frog. Despite this strange
concoction it is a popular drink.
A tortoise takes on a cat in South Africa. A Man said that the
neighborhood cats were getting nervous and agitated. He later
discovered why.
He says the tortoise would come out of a nearby nature reserve and
take over a garden, going for anything that stood in its way— no
matter how big. Here is the website for the video.
Yellow Taxis Go Green by Katie Perkins
This is the full story.... so it's a little different that what you saw on the WDB.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's famed yellow taxi cabs will go green within five years under a plan that could serve as a model for other large cities, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Tuesday.
He said 1,000 hybrid taxis -- powered by gasoline and electricity -- would be introduced by October 2008, and that hybrids would gradually replace the rest of the city's 13,000 taxi cabs by 2012.
New York already has 375 hybrid taxis on the road, more than any other U.S. city, Bloomberg said.
"It will be the largest, cleanest fleet of taxis anywhere on the planet," Bloomberg said.
"And because taxis are so heavily used, the new standard will have the equivalent effect of removing 30,000 individually-owned gas-powered vehicles from our streets."
Hybrid vehicles are powered by a combination of gasoline and electricity, and they emit less exhaust and have better gas mileage than other vehicles. The plan, which is based on new mileage and emission standards for cabs, will reduce the carbon emissions of New York City's fleet by 50 percent during the next decade, Bloomberg said.
While hybrid cars are generally more expensive, Bloomberg said the plan would save cab drivers more than $10,000 per year in gasoline and other expenses.
The cab initiative is part of a larger push by Bloomberg to make New York a more environmentally friendly city. Earlier this year, he pledged a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.
"New Yorkers are exposed to some of the dirtiest air in the nation," Louise Vetter, president of the American Lung Association of the City of New York, told the news conference.
"Putting more clean cabs on New York City streets is an important step in our fight to improve air quality, especially for the 1 million asthmatics in our city," she said.
SUPPORT FROM CABBIES
Taxi drivers, too, showed their support for the plan.
"I think that anyone who lives, works in this city should support the plan," said Fernando Mateo, spokesman for the New York Federation of Taxi Drivers. He added, though, that the program would have to be expanded to include livery cabs, which provide regulated for-hire car service.
While people in Manhattan rely heavily on taxi cabs, livery cabs are far more common in poorer areas of the city, including the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.
But criticism for the plan came from Edith Prentiss of the Taxis for All Campaign, an organization of handicapped New Yorkers, who said it was ridiculous that New York would continue to put cabs on the streets of New York that are inaccessible to handicapped passengers.
Prentiss, who uses a wheelchair, said hybrid taxis would not have lifts and were not large enough to fit a wheelchair.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's famed yellow taxi cabs will go green within five years under a plan that could serve as a model for other large cities, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Tuesday.
He said 1,000 hybrid taxis -- powered by gasoline and electricity -- would be introduced by October 2008, and that hybrids would gradually replace the rest of the city's 13,000 taxi cabs by 2012.
New York already has 375 hybrid taxis on the road, more than any other U.S. city, Bloomberg said.
"It will be the largest, cleanest fleet of taxis anywhere on the planet," Bloomberg said.
"And because taxis are so heavily used, the new standard will have the equivalent effect of removing 30,000 individually-owned gas-powered vehicles from our streets."
Hybrid vehicles are powered by a combination of gasoline and electricity, and they emit less exhaust and have better gas mileage than other vehicles. The plan, which is based on new mileage and emission standards for cabs, will reduce the carbon emissions of New York City's fleet by 50 percent during the next decade, Bloomberg said.
While hybrid cars are generally more expensive, Bloomberg said the plan would save cab drivers more than $10,000 per year in gasoline and other expenses.
The cab initiative is part of a larger push by Bloomberg to make New York a more environmentally friendly city. Earlier this year, he pledged a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.
"New Yorkers are exposed to some of the dirtiest air in the nation," Louise Vetter, president of the American Lung Association of the City of New York, told the news conference.
"Putting more clean cabs on New York City streets is an important step in our fight to improve air quality, especially for the 1 million asthmatics in our city," she said.
SUPPORT FROM CABBIES
Taxi drivers, too, showed their support for the plan.
"I think that anyone who lives, works in this city should support the plan," said Fernando Mateo, spokesman for the New York Federation of Taxi Drivers. He added, though, that the program would have to be expanded to include livery cabs, which provide regulated for-hire car service.
While people in Manhattan rely heavily on taxi cabs, livery cabs are far more common in poorer areas of the city, including the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.
But criticism for the plan came from Edith Prentiss of the Taxis for All Campaign, an organization of handicapped New Yorkers, who said it was ridiculous that New York would continue to put cabs on the streets of New York that are inaccessible to handicapped passengers.
Prentiss, who uses a wheelchair, said hybrid taxis would not have lifts and were not large enough to fit a wheelchair.
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