The World Health Organization estimates that 99% of the global population is exposed to air-pollution above recommended levels, and this means brain damage! www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00053-y

Air pollution and brain damage: what the science says

Epidemiological studies have linked dirty air to dementia and other brain disorders. Now researchers are trying to determine how pollutants do their damage, and how…

India: Jagatpur wetland (near Bhagalpur, Bihar) will be developed as a major bird-watching site, migratory birds all the way from Siberia being the attraction. Read more at: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/jagatpur-we… maps.app.goo.gl/zcwSDo4StiYid13T9

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Luohu District in Shenzhen, China has found ecotourism success by focusing on flowers and in particular Azalea which used to be under threat. After ecological restoration and a mountain-based ecotourism strategy, Wutong Mountain’s azalea blooms have become famous. www.china.org.cn/china/2025-01/10/content_11765693…

Luohu's ecotourism model named 2024 Beautiful China Practice Case- China.org.cn

The interesting thing about Capitalism is that it is always state-backed and money trickles up. Witness the devastating fires in Pacific Palisades, California, they have not yet stopped, sadly, but they have been already named 'the most expensive' in US History by Bloomberg, and they may push "FAIR", California's state-sponsored insurer of last resort, to the brink. And when that happens, guess who...The interesting thing about Capitalism is that it is always state-backed and money trickles up. Witness the devastating fires in Pacific Palisades, California, they have not yet stopped, sadly, but they have been already named 'the most expensive' in US History by Bloomberg, and they may push "FAIR", California's state-sponsored insurer of last resort, to the brink. And when that happens, guess who is going to foot the bill for all this ultra-expensive real estate. This is just a fraction of the bill for the Climate Crisis by the way, which is also paid by the weakest, in what constitutes the 'unjust transition'. bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-08/los-angeles… Show more

A fact-based, political case against carbon offsets based on their adverse impact on land ownership in Africa. The elephant in the room, of course, is the scientific one: they do not offset pollution in any meaningful way, and they certainly do not help reduce it - quite the opposite! It's just money moving around for profit. progressive.international/wire/2025-01-02-carbon-m…

Carbon Markets and the New Scramble for African Land | Progressive International

The global carbon offset market, projected to grow a hundredfold by 2050, exacerbates neocolonial exploitation under the guise of climate solutions.

Uttarakhand, India: a new bird museum and three 16-km long nature trails between Sauni Binsar and Laukot aim to transform the region into a major ecotourism destination.

Bird museum in Almora’s Sauni Binsar to promote ecotourism | Dehradun News - Times of India

Bageshwar: The district forest department has announced plans to establish a bird museum in the picturesque Sauni Binsar village of Almora.

Macau, China: The historic port appears to be making an effort to shed its casino monoculture with the development of cultural and community-based tourism. macaudailytimes.com.mo/geg-and-utm-jointly-organiz…

MACAU DAILY TIMES 澳門每日時報GEG and UTM Jointly Organize Community Tourism Training Programs to Deepen Team Members’ Understanding of Local Cultural Tourism Resources | MACAU DAILY TIMES 澳門每日時報

Pakistan: The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is launching a Host Tourism Project involving interest-free loans to local households that construct or renovate at least two rooms for hosting tourists. Short-term rentals may receive heavy criticism in some destinations, but they are still seen as a convenient approach in others: www.app.com.pk/domestic/host-tourism-an-ambitious-…

An interesting article that reminds us that when it comes to local dishes, there is a fine line between localism and chauvinism. The truth, that nationalists, especially of the european post-fascist variety, do not want to hear, is that all cuisines have influenced and keep influencing each other, they are more similar than dissimilar and form a never-ending geographic and cultural continuum...An interesting article that reminds us that when it comes to local dishes, there is a fine line between localism and chauvinism. The truth, that nationalists, especially of the european post-fascist variety, do not want to hear, is that all cuisines have influenced and keep influencing each other, they are more similar than dissimilar and form a never-ending geographic and cultural continuum. voxeurop.eu/en/gastronationalism-cuisine-food-sove… Show more

Gastronationalisme : derrière la fierté de la cuisine traditionnelle

Derrière la défense des traditions alimentaires se cache une forme de “nationalisme ordinaire”, qui culmine parfois avec l’emploi d’un langage souverainiste.

Listening to a daily stream of expansionist rhetoric(?) from the President-elect, one wonders if we have returned to the 19th century minus its ideologies, now it's just about raw power... grabbers/keepers. might is right. If so, it does not bode well for smaller countries or peripheral wars and certainly not for tourism. But how did we get here? A simplified explanation is that following the...Listening to a daily stream of expansionist rhetoric(?) from the President-elect, one wonders if we have returned to the 19th century minus its ideologies, now it's just about raw power... grabbers/keepers. might is right. If so, it does not bode well for smaller countries or peripheral wars and certainly not for tourism. But how did we get here? A simplified explanation is that following the end of the Cold War, won by the capitalist side, the democratic Left failed to offer a practical, peaceful yet real solution to the problems of the working class, both locally and globally, the right simply did not care - too busy making $$$, so the votes moved to the ugly far right and its deleterious agenda. Show more