University of California, Berkley cannot and should not risk liability with conservatives (possibly armed) carrying on like thugs.

If she comes on campus it is at her own risk. 

What has been occurring at UC Berkley should not be condoned by anyone, including Ann Coulter.

They are nothing but a bunch of brawlers. The so called demonstrators are not demonstrating anything, they are working up a sweat over violence they can visit to the Berkley campus without interference. The police don't get involved until the businesses are opening for the evening.

If Coulter goes to the thugfest she should stand among them and understand how it feels to be on the receiving end of the violence she advocates. She should come to understand the end product of her hate mongering. Take a few blows for the gipper, Ann. Know the fear of wondering who is carrying a weapon and who is not.

April 19, 2017
By Nanette Asimov

UC Berkeley administrators (click here) canceled a scheduled speech by right-wing pundit Ann Coulter, saying they can’t protect participants from rioting if it goes ahead — but the students who invited her, and Coulter herself, said Wednesday that she’ll come anyway, and speak on or off campus.

If she does show up next Thursday, “We will continue to do what is necessary to provide safety and security for the campus community and our neighbors,” said Dan Mogulof, a campus spokesman. He would not elaborate.

The standoff began Wednesday after vice chancellors Scott Biddy and Stephen Sutton emailed the student groups co-hosting the event — the Berkeley College Republicans and BridgeUSA, which gets students with political differences to listen to each other — to say the event was off until September at the earliest.

“We have been unable to find a safe and suitable venue for your planned April 27 event featuring Ann Coulter,” the administrators wrote. “In the wake of events surrounding the planned appearance by (right-wing speaker) Milo Yiannopoulos in February, as well as several riots which have occurred in recent weeks in the city of Berkeley, we have increased our scrutiny regarding the time and location of high-profile speakers so that these events can go forward unimpeded.”...
   

US sustainable harvests vs Tropical sustainable harvests

According to timber experts, (click here) black walnut trees, when planted to maximize tree growth, can grow as much as 3′ to 4′ per year in good soil, reaching a mature height of over 100′ and 30″ to 40″ in diameter, with 16″ diameter saw logs ready to harvest in 30 years.

Black walnut trees are native to the central and eastern U.S, but also do well in other parts of the country, and are grown for both nuts and timber. A walnut orchard can take a few years to come into full production, but then produces up to 6,000 pounds of nuts per acre. Black walnut logs bring premium prices, and have since the 1700s, with single trees bringing up to $20,000. Bruce Thompson, author of “Black Walnut For Profit,” estimates a mature stand of black walnut trees can bring about $100,000 per acre in timber value alone. The fine, straight-grained wood is used for furniture, veneer and gunstocks....

There is virtually no tourism involved with these forests in the USA.

Forests in Viet Nam are categorized into three main categories: (click here)

(i) special use forest (15%), mainly protected areas such as national parks and nature conservation areas;

(ii) protection forest (35%), mainly for protection of water sources, soils and environment;

(iii) production forest (50%), including both natural forests and forest plantations (VNForest, 2013).

PRODUCTION AND EXPORT

According to ITTO (2015) the Vietnamese forest industry produced in 2014 about 10.75 million m3 of logs, which is mainly used by the domestic industry. Viet Nam is a net importer of timber and Viet Nam’s wood processing sector is highly dependent on imported materials from a large number of sources. Wood sourced from the Vietnamese forests originates often from plantations, also because of the logging and export bans which are in place. Species most commonly used in forestry plantations are Acacia (Acacia spp) and Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp)....

Production of tropical lumber is possible and can be responsible. The Vietnamese people through their government controls the majority of it's forests.

The idea forests can never be harvested is very inaccurate. There can be a sustainable infrastructure to any forest, but, to exclude the demand for these products in protections only is an error. The demand will be met with illegal logging if there is not an infrastructure to use the natural resources that are forests.

The USA Forest Service has witnessed some incredible damage to our beautiful forests. This is a picture of a California Redwood. They are magnificent and import to the USA heritage, but, money dominates the protections of these trees. There has to some RESPONSIBLE logging in any country. The poaching will occur with possible complete loss of a forest if the canopy is damaged. The forest floors are as important to these forests as the trees themselves. The dense canopy protects the land below and the moisture needed for these forests to survive and flourish. The warming of Earth demands these forests maintain their canopy and a skilled scientist/silviculturist  can provide for responsible logging.

Logging can provide an income to the very silviculturists and rangers that protect these valuable natural resources. If these forests were valued differently, the prevention of poaching and arrests of poacheers would be paramount.

I believe Vietnam has found a balance between providing lumber and lumber products to export as an income to their country while protecting their forests and other industries such as tourism. 

The United Nations and the IPCC have an important place in bringing about these standards.

In Belize, (click here) the uncontrolled and often illegal harvesting of rosewood has been, and still is, one of the major environmental issues in the country. In March of last year, the government established a moratorium on the export and extraction of rosewood, however illegal harvesting continued. On Friday 11 January, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development made the bold move of burning confiscated illegally cut rosewood flitches. The purpose of this action was to send a clear message to the world and illegal loggers that

Belize will not tolerate illegal logging of its precious forests and that no one will profit from this illegal trade....

Belize does practice responsible logging in their forests. There is no reason for the government to ignore or even encourage the practices of illegal logging/poaching.

The country, hence the people, are receiving the benefits of sustainable logging that then protects forests.

Native species produce a better outcome and can restore and protect species to give the forest a dual identity along side of tourism.

EQUATORIAL EVERGREEN RAINFOREST VS. MOIST FOREST (click here)

There are two major types of wet tropical forests: equatorial evergreen rainforests and moist forests, which includes monsoon forests and montane/cloud forests. Equatorial rainforests, often considered the "real rainforest," are characterized by more than 80 inches (2,000 mm) of rain annually spread evenly throughout the year. These forests have the highest biological diversity and have a well-developed canopy "tier" form of vegetation. Roughly two-thirds of the world's tropical wet forests can be considered the equatorial type. These forests are near the equator where there is very little seasonal variation and the solar day is a constant length all year round. The greatest expanses of equatorial rainforest are found in lowland Amazonia, the Congo Basin, the Southeast Asian islands of Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Tropical moist forests are found at a greater distance from the equator where rainfall and day length vary seasonally. These forests get "only" 50 inches (1,270 mm) of rain annually and are markedly distinguished from equatorial rainforests by a cooler dry season. During this dry season, many trees shed some or even all their leaves, creating a seasonal reduction of canopy cover and allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor. The increased sunlight reaching the forest floor allows the growth of vigorous understory vegetation not found in lowland equatorial forest. Such moist forest is found in parts of South America, the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka....

The GDP from birding is significant and can occur immediately.

April 2016
By Martha Harbison

Three a.m. is horrible. (click here) Almost nothing happens at that hour that you won’t regret later. And yet, at three on a Wednesday morning in June, here I am folding myself into the back of an ancient Toyota Land Cruiser. What, you ask, could possibly inspire me to embark on a bleary pre-dawn odyssey up the flanks of the eastern Andes? To do so voluntarily, even eagerly? The opportunity to see something I could see nowhere else in the world, that’s what—the newest bird known to science, first described in March 2015: the Perijá Tapaculo....

In the United States, (click here) birders number in the tens of millions and spend upwards of $20 billion dollars per year on bird seed, travel, and birding paraphernalia. Average yearly spending by active birders averages between $1,500 and $3,400, with travel being the major expenditure...

With the TPP all but dead, the Trump White House with it's Goldman staff can actually reset the USA relationship with Southeast Asia.

The United States is ASEAN’s third largest trading partner, (click here) after China ($346 billion) and Japan ($239 billion) respectively, with trade between the two sides reaching more than $212 billion (PDF) in 2015. This accounts for approximately 9 percent of ASEAN's total trade. The United States also has launched sub-regional and bilateral initiatives to boost ties with Southeast Asia, including the Lower Mekong Initiative to deepen cooperation between the United States and ASEAN members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam on issues related to the environment, health, education, and infrastructure development. Four ASEAN members (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam) have also joined the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement among twelve nations....

The motto "One Visions, One Identity and One Community" (click here) is exactly what the TPP and Wall Street was demanding. There are vast differences between all these countries and certainly differences with the USA; to make them into a conglomerate endangers their cultures and any possibility at a quality of life their people deserve.

The new administration can actually begin anew the relationships with these countries. They are not only expecting it, they are hoping it is forthcoming in definitive ways that mark trade and better economic ties with the USA for every country.

I will say this, while Goldman employees might make good worker bees, that doesn't scream diversity at me. Given the fact Paulson has his own financial exchange in China, there will be holiday party remembrances that will spell sameness and TPP.

April 20, 2017
By Xuan Loc Doan

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s stop (click here) in Jakarta this week will mark the first visit to Indonesia and Southeast Asia by a top official in the administration of Donald Trump. Pence will meet with Le Luong Minh, secretary general of the 10-member ASEAN group.

The visit will provide clues as to how the Trump presidency approaches America’s relations with not only ASEAN’s biggest member but also the regional group as a whole. US Southeast Asia policy has been unclear since Trump’s stunning election victory in November.

Indonesia is the third leg of the former Indiana governor’s four-country Asia-Pacific tour that began April 15. His first two stops were South Korea and Japan and followed similar first-time visits by US Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in February and March. The significance of such high-level trips confirms that the Trump administration attaches great importance to the United States’ ties with its two key regional allies....

It sincerely should be up to the leaders of these countries at their meeting of ASEAN to bring forth their best trade opportunities. The more diversified the offering the better chance of agreements that are unique as well as profitable. The potential for cultural awareness being part of a unique trade agreement is very possible. There are growth in Asian populations in the USA, some cling to their culture, but, don't have good American substitutes. I would expect Vietnam to come forward with potential exports of cultural meaning to the population in the USA. That is only one aspect of trade.

Again, with Vietnam, their leadership is concerned about the ocean borders with China and it's mineral rights, including petroleum. Those are all aspects of trade with the USA that can be ironed out in exacting longitudes and latitudes of product access.

ASEAN has a great opportunity before it and for it's people. Instead of slave labor for Wall Street, real opportunity to increase cultural exchanges including music and art along with some natural resources while protecting endangered plants and animals. Vietnam knows to well the devastating effects of Agent Orange on it's beautiful tropical forests.

Those forests can produce incredible tropical hardwoods and need to be restored and nurtured with help from the USA with grants to scientists involved with silvaiulture. Tropical hardwoods are high end incomes for these countries and should be pursued with vigor. Protecting forests have many benefits including as a sink for greenhouse gases. I would think Vietnam would find an ally in the US Senate with Senator John McCain who may have help for restoration of such natural resources as it's tropical rainforests.

I am looking forward to the outcome with the ASEAN meeting. I hope it begin a new relationship with the USA in each country having it's own values and trade ideas.

The United Nations should have already been working with these countries to bring about a sustainable economy and trade scheme for quality of life for their people.

Banking and oil is not everything and far from it.