Eye of Modok Benjamin Taylor, aka Modok, explores life in Beijing, renewable energy, fair governance, parenthood, and the nature of the multiverse Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 1 0 8 364

Articles from Eye of Modok

Smog soup 2007-07-15 22:55:39 Ugh!! The past week in Beijing has seen some of the worst air pollution of the year. For most of the week it has been surprisingly cool, which has been a “positive” side to the smog-induced inversion. However, today the temperature is rising and humidity levels are high, leading to what I’ve always referred to as smog soup. Of course, to truly experience smog soup, you need to head to southern China or southeast Asia. Bangkok stands out as a prime example, though Shanghai or Hong Kong can serve equally well. I’ll be very interested to see what the weather is like in Beijing on August 8, one year away from the Olympics. We are still many days shy of the target for “blue skies” this year, and from what I’ve seen this week, I’m not too confident we’ll reach it. Technorati Tags: smog, pollution, Beijing, Olympics ...

Invisible Gases Form Most Organic Haze In Both Urban And Rural Areas 2007-07-13 21:56:08 A new study at the University of Colorado at Boulder shows that invisible, reactive gases hovering over the earth’s surface form the bulk of organic haze in both urban and rural areas around the world, not direct emissions of particulates as is commonly believed. The study shows that aerosols formed chemically in the air account for about two-thirds of the total organic haze in urban areas and more than 90 percent of organic haze in rural areas. The research scientists believe that the extended source of particle pollution is reactive, colorless gases called Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, the same gases that form smog. VOCs emitted in urban and regional areas immediately begin undergoing a chemical transformation that causes them to stick to particulate matter and increase pollution. “What we’re seeing is that concentrations of secondary organic aerosols decrease little downwind from urban areas,” said assistant professor Jimenez from CU-Boulder&rsqu ...

China officially relaxes one-child policy for single child parents 2007-07-10 22:48:35 China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission has loosened its stance on the national family planning policy, commonly known in the West as the “one child policy”. A common misconception about the family planning policy is that it only allows all couples throughout China to have one child. In fact, the one child policy is limited to urban areas. Parents in rural areas may have two children, as they are expected to support the parents in old age. Local governments have always implemented their own policies, and many of them have allowed parents from single child families to have up to two children, so the official stance is actually merely reflecting what has been in actual practice for quite some time. Ethnic minority parents are also allowed two children in most provinces. I have several acquaintances in Beijing who have “purchased” the right to another child, by paying “social compensation fees” - an option obviously on ...

Wikipedia accessible again in China! 2007-07-08 21:15:26 Wow, I can actually access Wikipedia without resorting to a proxy service. On top of that, I can even access Technorati, at least through a search engine or any address other than the home page, direct access to which still appears to be blocked, and results in the typical “check your network settings” error. (Yeah, I’d love to check those network settings.) I’m quite used to access being given then taken away again, so I’ll take this in stride and enjoy it while I can. Technorati Tags: Great Firewall of China, China, Beijing, internet, censorship ...

Finally, a man I’d like to seen in office. 2007-07-07 09:32:18 Libertarian CongressmanRon Paul is by far my favorite candidate thus far in the 2008 US presidential election. Though he is a quintessential Libertarian, he has been given the endorsement of the Republican party, and while considered a long shot, has raised over $2.4 million for his campaign in the second quarter. He has more cash on hand than John McCain. I’d really like to see a Libertarian in office, and this seems like the first realistic possibility, remote though it may be - he currently only enjoys about 2% support. Here is a brief overview of Ron Paul’s voting record in Congress from his website: He has never voted to raise taxes. He has never voted for an unbalanced budget. He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership. He has never voted to raise congressional pay. He has never taken a government-paid junket. He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch. He voted against the Patriot Act. He voted against regulating the Inter ...