Positive News Update 4-26-06
China shows positive signs
of maintaining peace in Asia
During a recent speech, New Zealand's National
Party leader Don Brash discussed the importance
of China as a peacekeeper in the Asian Pacific.
He stated that signs are very encouraging that
China is fulfilling it role in a positive way.
Mr Brash made these statements while addressing
the US New Zealand Partnership Forum, in
Washington DC. According to him, the only two
potential security issues in the areas are the nuclear
ambitions of North Korea and the China-Taiwan relations.
In both cases, the speaker said, China's role in
maintaining the peace is of primary importance.
As reported by Radio New Zealand, Mr Brash said
signs are very encouraging that China is adopting a
very responsible stance on both matters.
Energy, environment top
World Bank economic meeting
World Bank economic policymakers are turning
their attention to how wealthy nations can help
developing countries meet their energy needs
while protecting the environment.
They (are) also assessing a report examining how
development agencies can reinforce good government
practices and fight corruption.
These matters topped the agenda of the World Bank's
steering committee, whose meeting on Sunday winds
up the spring session of the bank and its sister
institution, the International Monetary Fund.
Nepal reinstates lower
House of Parliament
Nepal's King Gyanendra defused weeks of protests
by reinstating the lower House of Parliament, which
he said would 'bear the responsibility of taking the
nation on the path of national unity and prosperity'.
US NEWS
First Lady announces
global literacy conference
United States First Lady Laura Bush announced
an initiative Monday to combat global illiteracy,
saying that more than 800 million people around
the world can't read.
The first lady said a conference on global literacy
will be held in New York in September during the
opening of the 61st session of the U.N. General
Assembly.
The conference will be held in conjunction with the
departments of Education and State, USAID
and UNESCO.
``Across the globe, more than 800 million people
are illiterate,'' said Mrs. Bush, honorary ambassador
for the United Nation's Decade of Literacy.
``Eighty-five percent of them live in just
34 countries, concentrated in regions affected
by poverty. And more than two-thirds of the
771 million adults who cannot read a simple book,
or write a basic sentence, are women.''
She spoke at luncheon attended by 35 ambassadors
from six continents.
Power plant waste eyed
for green building
Henry Liu, a retired civil engineering professor
at the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA,
wants to make eco-friendly construction material
out of fly-ash, a waste product of coal-burning
power plants.
He quickly found a willing partner in utility
companies such as Associated Electric
Cooperative Inc. in Clifton Hill, which
provided fly ash for his first phase of
research; and Ameren UE, which is
doing likewise for Liu's latest round
of tests.
``It's absolutely pure stewardship, the beneficial
use of what otherwise might be considered waste,''
said Mark Bryant, an Ameren official who oversees
its coal combustion byproducts.
Cement manufacturers and brick makers already
use fly ash—which has strong adhesive properties
—as an additive. But unlike those efforts, Liu's bricks
are made almost entirely of the powder.
Clay-fired bricks are heated in kilns to temperatures
of 2,000 degrees, burning fossil fuels that produce
air pollution and green house gases.
The limestone used to make Portland cement found
in concrete bricks also must be burned at high
temperatures, emitting similar pollutants into
the atmosphere.
No such emissions exist with fly ash bricks, said Liu,
who in 1965 moved from Taiwan to the United States,
where he earned graduate and doctorate degrees at
Colorado State University before joining the
Missouri faculty.
Liu, a native of China, added that fly ash bricks
are cheaper and more uniform in size than
conventional bricks, he said.
Pat Schaefer, sales manager for Midwest Block
and Brick in Jefferson City, calls Liu's research
intriguing—and savvy.
``The architectural world is pushing tremendously
toward sustainable, green-type buildings,'' he said.
``One hundred percent recycled would fit very
well in that industry.''
Every week the Positive News Network documents
the rise of a better quality of life dawning in the
world and highlights the positive stories that are
often overshadowed in the mainstream media.
of maintaining peace in Asia
During a recent speech, New Zealand's National
Party leader Don Brash discussed the importance
of China as a peacekeeper in the Asian Pacific.
He stated that signs are very encouraging that
China is fulfilling it role in a positive way.
Mr Brash made these statements while addressing
the US New Zealand Partnership Forum, in
Washington DC. According to him, the only two
potential security issues in the areas are the nuclear
ambitions of North Korea and the China-Taiwan relations.
In both cases, the speaker said, China's role in
maintaining the peace is of primary importance.
As reported by Radio New Zealand, Mr Brash said
signs are very encouraging that China is adopting a
very responsible stance on both matters.
Energy, environment top
World Bank economic meeting
World Bank economic policymakers are turning
their attention to how wealthy nations can help
developing countries meet their energy needs
while protecting the environment.
They (are) also assessing a report examining how
development agencies can reinforce good government
practices and fight corruption.
These matters topped the agenda of the World Bank's
steering committee, whose meeting on Sunday winds
up the spring session of the bank and its sister
institution, the International Monetary Fund.
Nepal reinstates lower
House of Parliament
Nepal's King Gyanendra defused weeks of protests
by reinstating the lower House of Parliament, which
he said would 'bear the responsibility of taking the
nation on the path of national unity and prosperity'.
US NEWS
First Lady announces
global literacy conference
United States First Lady Laura Bush announced
an initiative Monday to combat global illiteracy,
saying that more than 800 million people around
the world can't read.
The first lady said a conference on global literacy
will be held in New York in September during the
opening of the 61st session of the U.N. General
Assembly.
The conference will be held in conjunction with the
departments of Education and State, USAID
and UNESCO.
``Across the globe, more than 800 million people
are illiterate,'' said Mrs. Bush, honorary ambassador
for the United Nation's Decade of Literacy.
``Eighty-five percent of them live in just
34 countries, concentrated in regions affected
by poverty. And more than two-thirds of the
771 million adults who cannot read a simple book,
or write a basic sentence, are women.''
She spoke at luncheon attended by 35 ambassadors
from six continents.
Power plant waste eyed
for green building
Henry Liu, a retired civil engineering professor
at the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA,
wants to make eco-friendly construction material
out of fly-ash, a waste product of coal-burning
power plants.
He quickly found a willing partner in utility
companies such as Associated Electric
Cooperative Inc. in Clifton Hill, which
provided fly ash for his first phase of
research; and Ameren UE, which is
doing likewise for Liu's latest round
of tests.
``It's absolutely pure stewardship, the beneficial
use of what otherwise might be considered waste,''
said Mark Bryant, an Ameren official who oversees
its coal combustion byproducts.
Cement manufacturers and brick makers already
use fly ash—which has strong adhesive properties
—as an additive. But unlike those efforts, Liu's bricks
are made almost entirely of the powder.
Clay-fired bricks are heated in kilns to temperatures
of 2,000 degrees, burning fossil fuels that produce
air pollution and green house gases.
The limestone used to make Portland cement found
in concrete bricks also must be burned at high
temperatures, emitting similar pollutants into
the atmosphere.
No such emissions exist with fly ash bricks, said Liu,
who in 1965 moved from Taiwan to the United States,
where he earned graduate and doctorate degrees at
Colorado State University before joining the
Missouri faculty.
Liu, a native of China, added that fly ash bricks
are cheaper and more uniform in size than
conventional bricks, he said.
Pat Schaefer, sales manager for Midwest Block
and Brick in Jefferson City, calls Liu's research
intriguing—and savvy.
``The architectural world is pushing tremendously
toward sustainable, green-type buildings,'' he said.
``One hundred percent recycled would fit very
well in that industry.''
Every week the Positive News Network documents
the rise of a better quality of life dawning in the
world and highlights the positive stories that are
often overshadowed in the mainstream media.
posted by Mr. Positive! at 7:17 PM
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