Sunday, March 11, 2018

Denmark has a near perfect economy with very closely balanced trade.


Denmark is the 31st largest export economy in the world. (click here) In 2016, Denmark exported $82.2B and imported $83.8B, resulting in a negative trade balance of $1.54B. In 2016 the GDP of Denmark was $306B and its GDP per capita was $49.7k.
The top exports of Denmark are Electric Generating Sets ($3.14B), Packaged Medicaments($2.66B), Pig Meat ($2.61B), Human or Animal Blood ($2.25B) and Refined Petroleum ($1.94B), using the 1992 revision of the HS (Harmonized System) classification. Its top imports are Cars($4.03B), Refined Petroleum ($2.41B), Packaged Medicaments ($2.39B), Computers ($2.04B) and Crude Petroleum ($1.3B)....
Denmark does all this for a very vital economy, while protecting it's coastlines from sea level rise and ending greenhouse gas emissions. Add to the incredible people of Denmark their benevolence and it puts the USA to shame.
Denmark embraces science and its scientists and it's economy is a result of change which is very healthy to economic growth. Denmark's national debt is 37.7 percent of GDP which equates to $21,894 per capita. That per capita debt is far below the current national debt per capita of the USA which is currently $63,735. The current USA national debt is nearly $21 tillion and growing.
The USA national debt did not result because of scientific direction; it occured because of the wars (Latest study on Iraq shows the cost has topped $2 trillion alone) and the damages to the country by the Climate Crisis. This debt is real and imposed by lawmakers that ignore science and indulge Wall Street.
The USA simply doesn't do it right. It refuses to change and it shows it. It is called corruption and cronyism. 

Denmark should at least attempt to end forest fragmentation where possible.

As a part (click here) of the ESA / EU program GMES Service Element for Forest (GSE-FM) a number of satellite derived Forest indicators have been developed for Denmark. The service is intended to support the monitoring and mapping of biological rich forest areas which comply to the intensions of Council Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003 concerning Monitoring of Forests and Environmental Interactions in the European Community (Forest Focus); United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and Council of Europe Landscape Convention. The service will also be able to support the Danish part of the NATURA 2000 programme, by helping to identify some of the potential habitats in the Danish forests....

Denmark is a very coastal country. It has to worry about sea level rise. Trees can help hold soil in areas that may be more saturated than others. Trees aren't necessarily help with sea level rise directly, but, will help with soil retention from flooding and erosion. Where any coastline meets with enough elevation; trees will help. 

...Despite the fact (click here) that most of Denmark was originally covered with forest, Denmark only has 14.1% forest cover today, which corresponds to 608,078 hectares. This is however a progression since 1800 when Denmark had just 2-3% forest cover left because of intensive and uncontrolled logging in favor of agriculture. Efforts to increase the forest cover were initiated in 1805 with the Danish Forest Act and the forests continue to expand today. However, Denmark is still very poor in forestland - also compared to Europe as whole.
Thus, the efforts to increase reforestation in Denmark must continue and in addition to this, it has become an urgent matter and a key objective to preserve the biodiversity of the natural forests. Natural forests are characterized by a large numbers of trees, a variety of species, and a mix of old and new plants. Forestry practices should take this diversity into account and allow for an abundance of flora and fauna....
Children love to plant trees and observe birds and woodland creatures. Planting trees as a national event can be a great activity for any country. If Denmark were interested in planting more trees, perhaps focusing on existing "tree stands/forests" and fight forest fragmentation as is possible. Fragmentation of forests reduces the potential for habitat destruction that exists today and expansion in the future.
Denmark is a realatively small country and has many issues geographically, forests can be wonderful, but, there needs to be room for the people as well. 
The graph above (to the right) shows (click here) the absolute mean water level around Denmark in metres for the years 1900-2100. The grey-shaded curve for the years 1900-2012 shows the observed, annual mean water level measured by Danish water gauges, adjusted for isostatic uplift. The blue thin curve for the years 2012-2100 shows the IPCC's best estimate of mean water level in the North Sea for the RCP4.5 scenario, and the light blue shadow indicates the uncertainty for this scenario. The dotted line shows the Danish Meteorological Institute's estimate of an upper limit for water level rises for use in uncertainty calculations. To the right of the figure are shown the mean value and uncertainties for the period 2081-2100 for the four IPCC scenarios as well as for BACC's assessment of the A1B scenario. The dotted line here shows the upper estimate for this period by the Danish Meteorological Institute....

In case this escaped everyone; ice melts at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Got that part?

In 2016, Denmark far exceeded the benevolence of the USA with 39,890.66 million US.

That is remarkable when realizing Denmark's population is 5.605  million people as of 2017. Then realize that nearly 29.8 percent are under the age of 24 years old.

Denmark's birth rate is 10.5 per 1000 people and it's death rate is 10.3 per 1000 people. There are slightly more than 3 physicians per 1000 people and the longevity of men is 77 years while women are 82.1 years.




The air and GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emission is 6.1 tonnes per capita as measured in 2014. They are probably less four more years on.


Denmark is a Scandinavian country comprising the Jutland Peninsula and numerous islands. It's linked to nearby Sweden via the Öresund bridge. Copenhagen, its capital, is home to royal palaces and colorful Nyhavn harbor, plus the Tivoli amusement park and the iconic “Little Mermaid” statue. Odense is writer Hans Christian Andersen’s hometown, with a medieval core of cobbled streets and half-timbered houses.

On a global scale, Denmark is among the most stable and successful.


While the USA is wallowing in ethnic hatred the rest of the world is getting along.

March 18, 2018
Iran, Sweden, Finland and Denmark (click here) signed a quadrilateral memorandum of understanding for industrial cooperation in Tehran on Sunday. The MoU was signed by Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran’s director general for international affairs, Ali Araqchi; Swedish Ambassador to Iran Helena Sangeland; Finland’s Ambassador to Iran Keijo Norvanto; and Denmark’s Ambassador to Iran Danny Annan, Financial Tribune has learned.
The agreement stipulates that the signing parties will promote collaboration in mega projects in the fields of exploration and production of oil, gas and petrochemicals, high-tech and related services; land, marine and air transportation; renewable energies; manager training; industrial renovation and consultation; steel industry; water and wastewater management and treatment; as well as investment and finance.

Unlike Denmark, the USA will become antiqated and undesirable with cities lingering in the past.

American cities can participate in the UN Global Compact (click here) or each city can sign onto the Paris Agreement indepentently. There is a distinct disadvantage for USA cities to end their interest in the climate. Without a national program to guide the development of USA cities, there can be "hit and miss" efforts. By joining either the Paris Agreements or teh UN Global Compact a way forward is obvious.

This is from the journal "Nature."

"Six research priorities for cities and climate change" (click here)
27 February 2018






Cities must address climate change. (click here) More than half of the world’s population is urban, and cities emit 75% of all carbon dioxide from energy use. Meeting the target of the 2015 Paris climate agreement to keep warming well below 2° C above pre-industrial levels requires staying within a ‘carbon budget’ and emitting no more than around 800 gigatonnes of CO2 in total after 2017. Yet bringing the rest of the world up to the same infrastructure level as developed countries (those listed as Annex 1 to the Kyoto Protocol) by 2050 could take up to 350 gigatonnes of the remaining global carbon budget. Much of this growth will be in cities in the developing world (see ‘Urban development challenge’).

Cities are increasingly feeling the effects of extreme weather. Many are located on floodplains, in dry areas or on coasts. In 2017, more than 1,000 people died and 45 million people lost homes, livelihoods and services when severe floods hit southeast Asian cities, including Dhaka in Bangladesh and Mumbai in India. California’s suburbs and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil have experienced floods and mudslides on the heels of drought, wildfires and heavy rains. Cape Town in South Africa has endured extreme drought since 2015. By 2030, millions of people and US$4 trillion of assets will be at risk from such events (see go.nature.com/2sbj4qh)....

...Science needs to have a stronger role in urban policy and practice. Next week in Edmonton, Canada, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and 9 global partners will bring together some 700 researchers, policymakers and practitioners from 80 countries for the IPCC Cities and Climate Change Science Conference (https://citiesipcc.org). Participants will establish a global research agenda that will inform the IPCC special report on cities — part of the panel’s seventh assessment cycle, which begins in 2023....
March 8, 2018
By Liz Lucking

The Californian mansion (click here) belonging to Carla Sands, the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, listed Wednesday for $37 million.
Ms. Sands, 57, and her late husband Fred Sands, (click here) a Los Angeles real estate mogul, purchased the property on Bel Air’s tony Moraga Drive in 1999 through a trust, records with PropertyShark show.
They paid a little over $4 million for the spread, though they likely razed what was on the property, as this residence was built in 2002, according to the listing with Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker, who did not immediately respond to request for comment....
August 9, 2018
By Kerry Anne Renzulli

'''The majority of American households spend (click here) more than 10% of their household income on childcare — and a fifth of households more than a quarter of their income, a new Care.com report found.

Just how much are they spending? Nationally, the average cost for a week at a child care center, for one child, totaled $196. An after-school sitter set the average family back $214 for 15 hours of work a week. And hiring a nanny topped $556 a week.

Rates have risen over the past three years too, Care.com found. Two-fifths of parents said their child care costs have increased by $1,000 or more per year and 15% said it increased by $5,000 or more per year....

In Denmark:

The majority of childcare programmes (click here) are located in institutions you sign up for. Your local municipality manages the childcare programmes and the price varies.

The prices for enrolling children between 0 to 3 years in a public nursery was DKK 3.900 (approx. 520 Euros (Today's US 640.16) per month including meals, kindergartens often cost less.

Of course, you may also choose a childcare provider in a private home. It is possible to advertise for a private childcare provider in the local newspaper. The price of such care depends on whether the municipality has an agreement with the childcare provider....

"Women in Physics in Denmark" (click here) 
August 2002
AIP Conference Proceedings 628, 155
By Anja C. Anderson



This picture was last month. This is the condition of the Arctic Ocean at the depth of winter in 2018.

1 March 2018
By Jessica Brown

For the very first time, a Russian tanker has traversed the Northern Sea Route in winter without an icebreaker

...
Countries (click here) can apply to extend this zone if they believe their continental margin extends further: this has already caused tension between states. Denmark, for example, has claimed territory around Lomonosov Ridge including the North Pole, which overlaps with large parts of Russia’s claim.

The EU, and nine of the world’s biggest fishing nations including Canada, Russia, China, the US, Japan, Iceland, Denmark and South Korea, signed a temporary agreement last year to prohibit fishing in the central Arctic Ocean for 16 years in order to allow scientific research to examine the area unhindered. 

But as it becomes more accessible, Arctic states are now looking at how they can exploit the area for natural resources.  Experts suggest that, at the current rate of ice decline, it will become economically feasible to set up extraction operations by around 2040.

Chris Yesson, research fellow at the Institute of Zoology, says that, while winter crossings will remain rare in the short term, the shipping which does traverse the Arctic ocean will probably transport high-value materials such as fuel.

This could in turn cause more ice to break up, as well as increasing noise pollution and raising the risk of oil and gas spillage....                     

The official website of Denmark. I would encourage anyone to read through this website,.















Creating a green and sustainable society (click here) is one of the key goals for Denmark. More than 20 per cent of Denmark's energy already comes from renewable energy, and the goal is to reach 100 per cent by 2050. Much of the renewable energy comes from wind turbines, where Denmark is a world leader when it comes to developing new technology.
The Danish cycling culture is another example of a green and sustainable society and Copenhagen alone has around 400 km of cycle paths, and about 40 per cent of the capital's population commute to work by bicycle.
It's Sunday Night

Denmark has no shortage of beautiful and talented women. 

The national anthem of Denmark has a short version and a separate anthem for royalty.

This is their national anthem being sung by an official choir:

          

Denmark's National Athem

Der er et yndigt land
There is a lovely land

det står med brede bøge
with spreading, shady beech-trees,

nær salten østerstrand
near salty eastern shore

Det bugter sig i bakke, dal,
Its hills and valleys gently fall,

det hedder gamle Danmark
its name is ancient Denmark,

og det er Frejas sal
And it is Freya's hall

Der sad i fordums tid
There in the ancient days

de harniskklædte kæmper,
sat armoured Vikings rested

udhvilede fra strid
Between their bloody frays

Så drog de frem til fjenders mén,
Then they went forth the foe to face,

nu hvile deres bene
now found in stone-set barrows,

bag højens bautasten
Their final resting place

Det land endnu er skønt,
This land is still as fair,

thi blå sig søen bælter,
the sea is blue around it,

og løvet står så grønt
And peace is cherished there

Og ædle kvinder, skønne møer
Strong men and noble women still

og mænd og raske svende
uphold their country's honour

bebo de danskes øerWith faithfulness and skill

Hil drot og fædreland!
Hail king and fatherland!

Hil hver en danneborger,
Hail every Danish citizen,

som virker, hvad han kan!
who is doing the best he can

Vort gamle Danmark skal bestå,
Our old Denmark shall endure,

så længe bøgen spejler
as long as the beech trees reflect

sin top i bølgen blå
its top in the blue wave 

William Kamkwamba is the African genius that changed the trajectory of his life with nothing more than an idea.

William Kamkwamba (click here) was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him misala—crazy—but William refused to let go of his dreams. With a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks; some scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves; and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge an unlikely contraption and small miracle that would change the lives around him.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a remarkable true story about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. It will inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual's ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him.

Below is his TED Talk. He simply read a book. One book. Not a dozen. He learned to read and the book that lead to his future was "Using Energy."

The greatest political leader of the modern USA has to fall to Hillary Clinton.

For centuries, (click here) we suffered losses of incalculable talent and potential genius that have been wasted because of taboos against women. Their work and contribution have been recently and in hindsight quite late, given the accreditation and acceptance that they deserved. This list comprises of some of the most revered names of women in academia, literature and other fields. Some of the brightest mind that graced the surface of the earth, these women have raised the bar of average human intelligence by pushing at the boundaries of it with all their metaphorically-pumped brain muscles! I have dived into the tunnels of history as well as gone through the latest of information to formulate this list of extremely intelligent high IQ women of the world. Here are the names that will make you wonder the capability of the human mind....  

Long before her ambitions for the presidency or even Secretary of State she was opening up the avenues for people to lead their country. Everyone should admire her. It is what brought the world to the side of Bill Clinton as well. They shared the same values. They saw human rights as a hurdle to a country's success and it begins with the youngest among any nation of people.

The US peacekeepers, healers and visionaries.

             

Some of the finest private schools in the USA have very old buildings.

The problem with trusting the annual or monthly water report from the local treatment plant is it reflects one source of drinking water and not when finished traveling through the pipes.

March 28, 2017
By Rae Ellen  Bichell

Exposure to lead as a child (click here) can affect an adult decades later, according to a study out Tuesday that suggests a link between early childhood lead exposure and a dip in a person's later cognitive ability and socioeconomic status.

Lead in the United States can come from lots of sources: old, peeling paint; contaminated soil; or water that's passed through lead pipes. Before policies were enacted to get rid of lead in gasoline, it could even come from particles in the fumes that leave car tailpipes.

And when lead gets into a human body, it can mess with brain development, decades of research has shown....

April 4, 2017

Medical, environmental and left-leaning advocacy groups (click here) urged a Texas House committee on Tuesday to advance legislation requiring the state’s public schools to test for lead in their drinking water. But one environmental group said the bill as written doesn’t go far enough and some cash-strapped school districts might be wary of the cost.

House Bill 2395 by Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, would require the state’s 1,200 school districts and charters to pay for annual water supply testing, which is estimated to cost up to $3,000 per building. 

In the wake of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, several legislatures in other states have passed, or are considering, legislation requiring regular water testing in schools and day cares. While a majority of schools in Texas and other states receive water from public utilities, which are required to regularly test for lead and other contaminants, advocates for mandatory water testing say schools are particularly vulnerable because so many of them are aging and have older pipes and water fountains.

Elizabeth Doyel, executive director of the Texas League of Conservation Voters, which pitched Collier on the bill, said she’s not aware of any public water utilities in the state that regularly test school water supplies....                        

This is more of Trump politics. He is attempting to deflect his "Genius" re-election problem.

March 10, 2018

President Donald Trump (click here) mocked South L.A. County Rep. Maxine Waters during a freewheeling speech Saturday night, saying she had a “very low IQ.”...

If Donald Trump can move political momentum to other's IQ, his re-election issue is out of the way.

Is it racist? Of, course, but the audience loved it. That is the real issue and the real political focus. What are people applauding for? Identity politics. They can win if they follow the FOX model of "I am better than you are, because,...I can..."

When I see this level of demeaning behavior among numbers of people that support the GOP with money and structure, there are real problems in the country no one is addressing.

White Supremacists are never going to vote for Democrats and they need to be called out. There are White Supremacists in prison right now, sentenced and awaiting trial. They are deadly and dangerous. They have killed. One man killed a hardworking delivery person for his pizza uniform so he could go on to kill a warden with the Colorado prison system. (click here)

The idea White Supremacists can simply be watched by people without a worry is nonsense. The USA is not about White Supremacists, it is a country built on bravery and inclusion from the beginnings. The idea hate can be tolerated in the USA is not part of the landscape.

I was astounded by the hate leveled at France with expressions like "USA Fries" during the Bush White House because allies did not back the USA when it illegally invaded Iraq while the real war was in Afghanistan. I could not believe such hatred could ever take hold and cause drive to a political machine. That is very dangerous. We are now looking at a President with little to no respect for our allies. This methodology used by FOX News of introducing hate into the political dialogue grows in toxicity over time. It drives intolerance and war.

The White Supremacists in the USA are now lead by President Trump. That is a very sad scenario to the highest office in the USA. Where are the rest of the high level leaders? White Supremacists have to be dealt with in a real way that brings SANCTIONS to their ability to organize and carry out their agenda. They keep a separate hate agenda within their organization contrary to USA policy and law. I don't know any non-profit with it's currency as hatred that would be allowed a permit to assemble anywhere. We need sanctions in the USA against White Supremacists, including internet recruiting access.

White Supremacists are not about the First Amendment. There is nothing about them that equates to a right to a peaceful domestic agenda. This entire concept of "peaceful genocide" is an oxymoron. Seeking methods to end an ethnic base to the USA landscape is murderous and those men that can't wait for the completion of "peaceful genocide" are killing people.

Enough of the hate speech from the GOP and FOX News. The USA is a great country and has magnificent people that make their economy the world's envy. We are great because of our diversity and the excitement that fact brings to our national identity. Imagine for one minute what a march in Washington, DC would look like if there were every ethnicity putting on displays of their culture, heritage and migration to the USA. The world would watch and realize where the love of country comes from. 

As a country, if there is a weakness in our media it stems from the allowance of hatred at a time in the USA when we most need to embrace each other and end all forms of hatred that bring about oppression and the ultimate oppression of death.