e-waste

[Ian Mackenzie]

I think it is mildly amusing how the people with all the money think that China and India are emerging markets and will become major industrialized countries. The only energy technology currently available that would make such an impossible feat even remotely possible would be nuclear power and the more nuclear power plants built the greater the chance of a nuclear accident, either man made or the result of some natural phenomenon. We won't even bother bringing up the social implications of countries with billions of newly empowered individuals all trying to make their own personal piles of gold.

Its actually past tenth.

Does any one know the life span of an LCD screen?

There is alot going on in the Asia Pacific region and it will dominate world economic wealth over the next 30 years.

At the moment Australia is deciding how to sell its uranium to India/China and Russia.

In terms of scale China has the largest (as reported by the media) foriegn reserves of US$1.7 trillion. The Chinese car manufacturing industry employs 250 million people.

Meanwhile Bush is asking American tax payers to pay for your $700 million credit meltdown.

I guess if things really turn south you could get a job as a JBL car installer
in Bejing.

The car wash industry is booming in China. Maybe Rick should set -up a shop there.

On the subject of land fills we have a real issue in a south east place called Cranbourne. A new estate development was allowed to be built within 200 metres of a landfill after a VTAC approval that over ruled EPA warnings and allowed the developer to build not 500 metres but 200 metres from the landfill..

Residence are now being forced from their homes because of dangerously high levels (explosive levels) of methane gas leaching from the site. There are also reports of illegal substances being dumped at the landfill. That particular landfill has no liner. Its a mess.

[4313B]

There is alot going on in the Asia Pacific region and it will dominate world economic wealth over the next 30 years.

I wouldn't bet on it. The deck stacked against them is staggering.

Meanwhile Bush is asking American tax payers to pay for your $700 million credit meltdown.

Billion, seven hundred billion. That money should come out of the top five percent of the population's pocket, not out of the bottom 95%. It has nothing at all to do with the average American citizen. The people responsible should join the 1% of the population already incarcerated.

To be fair, they really didn't have too many options other than to try and make money off of money. It isn't like the government was doing much of anything to stimulate new areas for economic investment.

[boputnam]

You guys sound like those Left Coast Liberal Extremists we hear about on Fox News.

Ha! Perhaps, but it is the geochemististry training in me coming through...

...so a few hundred million people doing the "right thing" aint gonna make too much difference. The Planet is already past the point of no return.......

I disagree. Yeah, things are not perfect, and there's too many of us'ns, but the system self corrects, either through periodic planetary / interstallar events (I love those...) or some bio-catastrophy. But to think even for a moment that nothing positive one does will matter one little bit is so fatalistic. It's also terribly lame. "It's OK that I wantonly pollute because all of them are better at it than I am and there's more of them." That's a deplorable stance. The planet deserves more than that.

Do your part - reduce your impacts and others will come around, too.

[Allanvh5150]

Saying a comment like that without all the correct information is shooting yourself in the foot. Apart from my car, which is supplied by my employer and I have no controll over it, everything that I do including my waste management and energy use is below 25% of what everyone else does. My rubbish goes kerbside every 8 weeks and I allways have my energy company checking the meters because they say that I dont use enough to operate my house.
Having said that, adding another 3 billion people to an already overstreched planet is certain death for the population. The experts say that we have problems now, what will we have in 2050? Get Asia and the USA cleaned up in the next couple of weeks and maybe the rest of us have a future.

[Allanvh5150]

I wouldn't bet on it. The deck stacked against them is staggering.Billion, seven hundred billion. That money should come out of the top five percent of the population's pocket, not out of the bottom 95%. It has nothing at all to do with the average American citizen. The people responsible should join the 1% of the population already incarcerated.

Or maybe take it out of the pockets of the loan deafaulters. That is what happens in most other countries. Spend the Trillion dollars on something useful like a new car or some JBL's, but dont throw it into a bottomless hole with no hope of a return. Where will the next trillion come from when this trillion hasn't done squat.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Ha! Perhaps, but it is the geochemististry training in me coming through...

I disagree. Yeah, things are not perfect, and there's too many of us'ns, but the system self corrects, either through periodic planetary / interstallar events (I love those...) .

Yeah Man,

Like the global warming and super storms.

[Ian Mackenzie]

The deck stacked against them is staggering.Billion, seven hundred billion. .

Sorry, there is a world shortage of zeros right now.

But seriously I wonder if the average American understands what has caused the credit crunch or is aware of the global effect.

I also doubt if anyone can figure out a cheaper way energy wise to run a LCD screen that won't break the bank.

[4313B]

But seriously I wonder if the average American understands what has caused the credit crunch or is aware of the global effect.

I doubt it.

[boputnam]

But seriously I wonder if the average American understands what has caused the credit crunch or is aware of the global effect.

Certainly most do - either they themselves or someone they know is getting beyond their mortgage teaser rate period and is facing increased costs of borrowing on their ARM. Bad idea.

And I wouldn't limit "it" to Americans - this credit abuse was worldwide. Wait until it starts to really surface in the UK and EU.

[boputnam]

Saying a comment like that without all the correct information is shooting yourself in the foot.

Well, blame yourself. Your posts were seeming to advocate a laissez faire attitude - there was no hope so why try? It was odd - your non e-posts were much more sensible.

Having said that, adding another 3 billion people to an already overstreched planet is certain death for the population. The experts say that we have problems now, what will we have in 2050? Get Asia and the USA cleaned up in the next couple of weeks and maybe the rest of us have a future.

Allan, in that almost all of us agree.

Watching a country the magnitude of China (and India) accelerate into a 2nd, and 1st world economy is freightening. It is almost surely the death knell to our fragile, already over-taxed ecosystem. Their polution standards will take years to catch-up - but even when they do, the sheer numbers of us will overwhelm.

I'm as cynical as you about our chances for success, but like you (I see... ), I recycle, avoid products that are toxic to dispose of, and try and keep my footprint small. My commute and my too-frequent international flights are my biggest stains. I need to stop working as soon as I can...

[Titanium Dome]

if one decided to use the better LE14H-3 or LE14H-4

I love it when you talk like that.

[Titanium Dome]

I'm in the "think globally act locally" camp.

My company's not only in the gang prevention business, but also the graffiti abatement business, the community clean up business, the family rebuilding business, and the money-saving business. We've moved to all water-based, low VOH paints; we use organic, bio-degradable solvents; we spend $40,000 for vehicles that can reclaim and recycle the water we use for cleaning surfaces to avoid runoff into rivers and the ocean; we separate and recycle most of the illegally dumped materials we pick up; we renovate abandoned and trash-filled lots to plant trees and low moisture plants; we create pocket parks for kids and families in neighborhoods where there's no green space; we hire urban teenagers to work in distressed neighborhoods to clear out trash and weeds, to plant trees and flowers, and to reclaim their lives; and so on.

Yeah, I know I'm not solving the China problem or the India problem, but if I can solve just part of the Los Angeles problem, that'd be the shitz for me. It's what I can do, and that's what counts. Everyone would benefit a little bit.

After I accomplish that, my mission will be to get all the old farts here to buy one of the great JBLs made in the past five years and recycle those old JBL dino bones properly.

[Allanvh5150]

Well, blame yourself. Your posts were seeming to advocate a laissez faire attitude - there was no hope so why try? It was odd - your non e-posts were much more sensible.

I have that attitude as well. I cant help but do my bit but on the other hand I fully realize that I am wasting my time. I find that it is relatively easy to be "eco freindly". Maybe JBL started making NEO drivers to cut down on transport costs. Now everyone is in agreement on our eco footprint all we need to do is figure out how to stop farting!

[4313B]

Or maybe take it out of the pockets of the loan deafaulters. That is what happens in most other countries. Spend the Trillion dollars on something useful like a new car or some JBL's, but dont throw it into a bottomless hole with no hope of a return. Where will the next trillion come from when this trillion hasn't done squat.

Partners at the Destruction

[Ian Mackenzie]

Certainly most do - either they themselves or someone they know is getting beyond their mortgage teaser rate period and is facing increased costs of borrowing on their ARM. Bad idea.

And I wouldn't limit "it" to Americans - this credit abuse was worldwide. Wait until it starts to really surface in the UK and EU.

That was not quite what I meant. I will try and explain it in simple terms.


There have always been loan defaulters. You know, lost my job, marital bust up , gay tiff falling outs and people who over commit.

The consumer has always borrowed more than they should. What has feed this more recently is greed of the lender for higher sales and bigger returns.

Normally the bank takes vacant possession following a process of assisting the borrower to catch up , then sells the home. The norm is that the bank valuation, ie what the bank can quickly sell the property for will recover the banks loan without loss. Good lending practise will approve the loan for those who can service the debt and those who have proven savings in the bank and use that as a deposit. ie 10-20 % of purchase price.

The banks lend against deposits and borrowed wholesale funds. In Australia a bank must meet APRA regulations for a ratio of deposits versus lending. Called SRD's

However, what happened earlier on was brokers offered over the phone loan approvals to Americans or occupants of the USA who could barely speak english let alone be literate enough to understand the loan contract. Many of these people were in the longer term rental market. Its all very sad.

The deals were shonky in that in many cases the home loan was interest only,100% lending (with mortgage insurance) in many cases where the bank offered to capitalise the repayments for say 2-5 years and then go P & I. Approvals were never audited and a lot of families hit the wall when the interest only period expired. That was about the time Citibank had a massive write down on wholesale funds lent to sub prime lenders ie 3rd teir loan providers. The sub prime lender is caught in that they are damned if they sell up the home and damned if they dont. In many cases they hung on hoping home valuations would improve and the customer could make payments. Nothing worked out the way people thought it would.

What of course has happened since is that the wholesale cost of funds, ie the money a sub prime lender borrowers from a loan securitization provider like Citibank has risen sharply. The sub primer lender and those banks with poor deposits run into trouble meeting their own repayments of the wholesale funds because of all the defaulting borrowers and the very fine margins on the cost of funds versus retail lending rates. The properties used as security have such low valuations they they are not worth selling.

Poorly regulated finance markets fair badly in this type of climate because their Banking best practise is simply not well regulated.

The cylce gets worse further up the food chain where investors on Wall Street get the jitters when a big bank folds and we see global panic on short selling of stock. The lack of transparency in the financial accounting conducted makes it hard for authorities to detect when an institution might be getting into hot water.

What happens in the end is a shortage of credit, or what is known as the credit squeeze where there is simply not enough money in the system to keep everything afloat. Economies then have their AAA credit rating down graded with further tumbles and guys like Bush get a phone call from China saying get your act together or else.

In Australia the financial market is more highly regulated and the banks tend to build up reserves in the good time to weather the storm in the bad time. The level of expertise in this respect is well recognised. They are certainly not immune to the above problems but they survive.

There is more to it but I hope this makes some sense to you guys.