Marce Gutiérrez

One need only count the unfinished "developments" (tourism/residential or otherwise) along the Rosarito - Ensenada toll road to gage foreign demand for Baja's coastal real estate. Many of these developments, built at the height of the mortgage credit madness lie abandoned today. It's obvious many of these half baked enterprises were conceived under the all too familiar premise "If you build it, they will come". Well guess what: They haven't, and odds are, with the current recession at hand, most likely won't.

In spite of this, an Austin based developer, The Flagship Group, is forging ahead with their proposed plan for a brand new waterfront golf course and residential development, "Punta Brava" (originally slated as a Tiger Woods partnership, I wonder if that's still on?) sited on of the peninsula's most iconic and breathtaking wonders - Punta Banda.

While major construction is yet to commence, allegations of irregularities already run rampant (Disregard for archeological sites, coastal access laws, un-permitted well drilling, etc), while a citizen's committee opposes the project.

To be fair, the "Punta Brava" website prominently mentions "Project Sea Change" and a "Nature Conservation Program", albeit, neither really outlines a specific work plan, nor do they in any way address concerns brought forth by the local citizens. It would be interesting to have more complete information on the matter.

I guess if we actually had droves of people swarming the existing developments, a healthy mortgage market (as opposed to one where people struggle to keep their primary home, let alone a vacation home in a foreign country) this would make more sense. For the time being though, and given the lack of information or transparency in addressing local concerns, I say It's high time we stopped exploiting one of the most magnificent coast lines worldwide in the misguided pursuit of short term profits for the few.

Save Punta Banda!

Does he know anything? Stonewalling while BP's mess destroys the Gulf of Mexico . . . Disgusting.

This a great video produced by the rockstars at Urban Semillas - a Community-based org in LA working with youth, building capacity on water issues and social justice - the video itself won 3rd place in an EPA Environmental Justice contest.

The piece is simple, effective and straight forward - great story telling, great visuals, and great take-aways. The line that will stay with me? Maywood's Mayor says: "They keep throwing reports at us that say the water is fine, but people don't drink reports". One could definitely make the same argument for other struggles (clean air, etc) communities face.

Business

Schumpeter

Overstretched

Many people who kept their jobs are working too hard. What can companies do about it?

May 20th 2010 | From The Economist print edition

IN GEORGE ORWELL’S “Animal Farm” the mighty cart-horse, Boxer, inspires the other animals with his heroic cry of “I will work harder”. He gets up at the crack of dawn to do a couple of hours’ extra ploughing. He even refuses to take a day off when he splits his hoof. And his reward for all this effort? As soon as he collapses on the job he is carted off to the knacker’s yard to be turned into glue and bonemeal.

“Animal Farm” looks ever more like a parable about capitalism as well as socialism. Everybody knows about the scourge of unemployment. But unemployment is bringing another scourge in its wake—overwork. The Corporate Leadership Council, an American consultancy which surveys 1,100 companies every quarter, reports that the average “job footprint” (what a worker is expected to do) has increased by a third since the beginning of the recession. The Hay Group, a British consultancy which recently surveyed 1,000 people, says that two-thirds of workers report they are putting in unpaid overtime. The reward for all this effort is frozen pay and shrinking perks. The only difference between these overstretched workers and Boxer is that they can see the knacker’s van coming.

So far workers have borne all this with remarkable stoicism—partly because they feel lucky to keep their jobs and partly because they want to save their firms from going under. But the Dunkirk spirit is beginning to fade. The Hay survey notes that 63% of workers say that their employers do not appreciate their extra effort. And 57% feel that employees are treated like dispensable commodities. Half report that their current level of work is unsustainable. People are wearying of frantic reorganisation as well as the added toil—floods of memos and meetings, endless reshuffles, the exhortations to do more with less.

For their part, companies are beginning to notice the downside of all this overstretching. Absenteeism is on the rise. Low-level corporate crime is growing. Corporate loyalty is on the wane. The Corporate Leadership Council reports that the proportion of workers who are willing to put in “discretionary effort” has dropped by almost half since 2007, while the share of respondents who claim that they are “disengaged” from their jobs has risen from a tenth to a fifth. But “discretionary effort” and “engagement” are vital sources of the innovation and creativity that companies claim to value so highly.

The biggest danger for companies is if workers head for the door as the economy picks up. The Hay Group reports that 59% of its sample are either considering leaving or actively looking for a new job—and more than 85% of those who are not in the job market are staying only because that market is so dismal.

Most problematic of all is when star employees decide to look for work elsewhere. These “high-potentials” (HiPos) are doubly frustrated: they have been asked to shoulder a disproportionate share of the growing burden of work and they have seen senior jobs dry up as older managers try to cling to their positions.

A few signs suggest that overstretched companies are beginning to hire again. America added 290,000 new workers in the past quarter. But the growth in employment is likely to be much slower and patchier than it has been after previous recessions. Bosses report that they expect a prolonged period of slow growth in the rich world. And the recession that has battered the private sector will soon reach the long-protected public sector as governments desperately try to bring their deficits under control.

What can organisations do to cope with this new era of overwork? Most obviously they can redouble efforts to make staff feel valued. Cash-strapped companies are making more use of symbolic rewards. Cap Gemini, an IT consultancy, has a “gold awards programme” complete with a public ceremony every six months. This might sound suspiciously like the parades that the pig-dictator in “Animal Farm” organises to reconcile his fellow animals to their desperate lot. But, given people’s worries about their job security, it seems to work like a treat.

A second strategy is to make more use of that old favourite, “empowerment”. This means trying harder to explain why companies are acting as they are. At Dollar General, a retail chain, managers brief selected front-line workers on corporate strategy and then ask them to explain what is going on to their workmates. It also means giving workers some more control over their lives. Best Buy, a seller of electronics, measures staff by their results rather than their hours. Bombardier, an aircraft-maker, encourages managers from different divisions to act as consultants to each other. Cap Gemini gives as many people as possible 3G devices so that they can do their administration while travelling. More companies are allowing staff flexible working hours as a way of reconciling them to added burdens—if they can’t have more pay, workers can at least have more control over how and when they work.

Power to the HiPos

A third strategy is to pay particular attention to high performers. A striking number of companies have introduced “HiPo schemes” to identify and nurture potential stars. Procter & Gamble, which sells consumer goods, encourages rising stars to tackle difficult problems (“crucible roles”). Hewlett-Packard, an IT firm, lets its stars attend high-level strategy meetings and suggest solutions. The companies are combining these schemes with judicious pruning of less productive workers.

This approach is less divisive than it sounds. Most workers are surprisingly keen on rewarding superstars (who hold the future of the organisation in their hands) and on dumping freeloaders. And sensible bosses are well aware that their competitors are already compiling hit lists of high-flyers who are dissatisfied with their lot. All animals are equal, remember. But some animals are more equal than others.

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Isn't this the truth! It's nice to hear this message on a mainstream outlet - check it out and love thy Ocean!

Environmental activist and Ocean rower Roz Savage sums it up at the closing bell. And it's not pretty. Business as usual until the point of no return? God help us.

martes 8 de diciembre, 06:00 AM

(www.neomundo.com.ar / saludyciencias.com.ar) Un grupo de investigadores de Estados Unidos encontró que la disminución de la diversidad de especies, causada por la creciente contaminación y el desarrollo no sustentable, aumenta tanto la incidencia como la expansión a muchos países de las enfermedades infecciosas.

PUBLICIDAD

El concepto de biodiversidad se refiere a la gran variedad de seres vivos animales o plantas que habitan el planeta tierra. La diversidad se analiza en distintos niveles, desde el genético hasta el hábitat. En todos los casos, su destrucción puede estar causada por la presencia de especies ajenas a un lugar, el crecimiento de las ciudades o la deforestación, entre muchas otras acciones del hombre que dañan al medio amiente.

Los científicos de la Universidad de Vermont aseguraron que su trabajo es el primero que analiza los cambios epidemiológicos actuales con relación a la pérdida de la biodiversidad, ya que los estudios anteriores se enfocaron en males individuales y no en las enfermedades infecciosas como conjunto.

Los nuevos estudios

El equipo comenzó a trabajar en 2006. Uno de los primeros estudios se realizó en el Amazonas peruano. Su objetivo era demostrar que el aumento en la incidencia y transmisión de la malaria se debía a la fuerte deforestación del lugar. Los investigadores observaron que disminuyó mucho la variedad de árboles que había antes, y aseguran que esta pérdida en la diversidad estructural contribuyó a aumentar la presencia del mosquito transmisor de la malaria (Anopheles darlingi).

También trabajaron con la enfermedad de Lyme, causada por la bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi que se transmite a través de las garrapatas. Antiguamente casi no afectaba a los seres humanos porque este insecto elegía animales más cómodos para él. Sin embargo, la disminución en la variedad de mamíferos hizo que la garrapata se adhiriera más frecuentemente a ciertas especies de ratones, que viven muy cerca de las poblaciones humanas.

A su vez, revisaron otras investigaciones sobre patógenos como el hantavirus y el Virus del Nilo Occidental, concluyendo que su aparición o resurgimiento estaba relacionado a los cambios ambientales. Muchas enfermedades están emergiendo mientras que otras que antes eran locales ahora son globales, advirtieron.

Este es el principio de un movimiento que busca unir la epidemiología con la ecología. Como los cambios ambientales son generados por el hombre, se pueden controlar. Podemos realmente reducir o prevenir estas enfermedades al manejar la biodiversidad en todos sus niveles, concluyeron los autores.

Más información en www.neomundo.com.ar

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Que tal? Nos estamos acabando el mundo y de hecho, si nos hace dano. Ojala que esto despierte nuestras conciencias a los problemas ecologicos que nos rodean.

Waiting with baited breath!

The ocean is acidifying and coral reefs are dying. And it will only get worse until we rein in our emissions.

Here's a good backgrounder on climate change - interesting.

So, this is like my favorite song ever, lol and the muppets just rock it.