“The long night had come again.”

Okay, if I had known about this, I would have posted this last week. Partly my fault, but anyway. It started in 2007, in Sydney. In 2008 it went global. Yesterday, it happened again. Exactly at 21:30 GMT+1, major cities all over the globe turned off the light. The purpose? Save electricity, save resources. This showed that we can still do nicely with candles and torches. See two videos about the event below.

This video was the “official trailer” of the whole thing:

And this is a peek of what happened yesterday:

Here is the website.
My guess is that the event will be back next year, so be prepared.

(The quote in the title is from Asimov's novel Nightfall.)

... are made of steel.

Oil will not last forever—that’s a fact everyone knows. So what can make the cars run instead of that? Well, there are two options: electricity and natural-gas. In the 79th International Motor Show at Geneva, there were examples for both.

My personal favorite is the Dodge Circuit EV; even journalists were given one of these to try out for three days (check this link for details). Using electric motor only, these cars have no CO2 emission at all. They are a little expensive to buy, but there is no added cost of refueling. Here is a list of electric cars that will be or already are available for purchase.

The other group was the natural-gas power. This is similar to gasoline, but first, it is 20-30% cheaper. Second, it has a negligible CO2 emission that has absolutely no effect on the climate. There are already a growing number of these in Switzerland; you can read more about these here.

I can only hope that the change from gasoline to alternative fuel will take place in my life.

Sweet dreams...

This week’s (and maybe next week’s as well) topic is global warming. However, I chose not to write about the process itself, but things that are just slightly related to it. For example, electric cars would be a great help in reducing the amount if CO2 in the air.

Electric cars are a bit more expensive than other types, but their maintenance is way cheaper. Logic says that these types of vehicles will soon dominate the roads of the world. However, the world does not revolve around logic. Check out this trailer first, and then think about it. Is it really the oil companies interest to reduce these cars’ propaganda? Logic says yes, but is it really possible that humans are so greedy in the xxi century? Is it a clever thing to put material wealth in the present above the future of our planet and the future of mankind?

…will ever come to an end?

The war is still ongoing in Gaza. People, however, have hope. They believe that this all will end, and the reconstruction can begin soon. How soon? No one can tell. This article informs about a marriage that was held in a refugee camp in a northern town. The newly wed couple hopes that they won’t have to live in a tent for long.

The reconstruction would cost at least about 2 billion dollars. Although several international bodies and organizations offered aid, I think it is very early to speak of that. The occupation has been going on for years now; it won’t all end by tomorrow, or by next week, or even by next year. Imo first the United States has to stop aiding Israel. A little bit of more pressure is needed from the part of the EU, I think. This could be the beginning. Then the political opinions should meet on a common ground, making the peace negotiations possible. Another interesting article, an op-ed, about this last one here.

If any of you want to follow the events, or just want to learn more about the present situation of the middle-east, here are some links:

http://wall-fal.blogspot.com/
http://www.ilovepalestine.com/
http://electronicintifada.net/