Peace_Portal's blog
POVERTY - Addressing the Causes
To truly address poverty we need to recognize that it is the result of all the other inter-dependent sectors of life, from education to health care, access to technology and natural resources, most importantly what Human Rights you have.
There are many kinds of poverty, the causes of which vary depending on where you're looking, a rich country or a poor county.
As we enter the Information Age, humanity has real potential to address the "causes of poverty" in both rich and poor countries alike. The technological fixes available are the easy part, the hard part is having a cooperative spirit with greater respect for the Human Rights of a diverse humanity, if we can achieve that we will succeed in all that follows.
In poorer countries practical coordinated action needs to be taken to;
Improve supplies of clean water, to reduce time spent gathering often foul water and reduce illness caused by foul water supplies.- Improve the supply of accessible, affordable health care information and services, to reduce the vulnerability to disease of children and the elderly especially.
- Improve training and equipment of farmers in poor countries related to agriculture and natural resource management, include help with seeds and expertise from groups like ECHO.
- Increase access to education in combination with Information Age technology such as computers, ICT Systems, and cell phones via communty Access Points.
- Relieve countries of the "Interest" charged on their debt, and reduce debt.
- Help governments to outside help sustainable development help for non-governmental organizations, non-profits, and health missionaries.
In richer countries coordinated action should be taken to;
- Improve the quality of educational opportunities and incentives with emphasis on the poor.
- Increase diplomacy, international cooperation, and sustainable trade options to decrease necessity of future growing military expenditure. Make friends of foes, now the world is so interdependent we must cooperate; as individuals we do it all the time, now our governments acting as our collective voice needs to pursue options that lead to greater Peace.
- Improve work training and apprenticeship incentives for the poor to focus on new Information Age opportunities. Using the Internet an individual can now get a job with someone else or work for themselves by offering their knowledge, art, music, and time. The industrial age is coming to a close, we need to educate for the new world because the factory jobs in places like Detroit are not coming back; we need to train for the present and future.
- Increase the use of local exchange systems in communities to increase recycling, keep more wealth in the local economy for it's development, and stregthen community ties between the living people creating or growing available goods.
Air Car, transport solution for global warming
Compressed air is a new viable form of power that allows the accumulation and transport of energy.
After fourteen years of research and development, Guy Negre has
developed an engine that could become one of the biggest technological
advances of this century. Its application to CAT vehicles gives them
significant economical and environmental advantages.
With the incorporation of bi-energy (compressed air + fuel) the CAT
Vehicles have increased their driving range to close to 2000 km with
zero pollution in cities and considerably reduced pollution outside
urban areas.
The application of the MDI engine in other areas, outside the
automotive sector, opens a multitude of possibilities in nautical
fields, co-generation, auxiliary engines, electric generators groups,
etc.
Paulownia Reforestation Project (“PRP”)
The PRP headquarter nursery, and SAFE training facility has been established in
the South Pacific with a fully functioning propagation nursery. PRP
envisions establishing numerous regional propagation nurseries within
the first 2 years of the program, established through it's partner
project S.A.F.E. (Sustainable Alternative Farming Experience) with a
minimum of seven in the United States and a minimum of eight
international facilities. 
The
techniques used by the PRP will reclaim deforested, desert, and
degraded lands while simultaneously relieving pressure upon local and
indigenous forests. Additionally, jobs will be created that invigorate
the environment through the production of sustainable sources of wood and food (via inter-cropping with Paulownia). Paulownia
is applied in two areas where efforts of reforestation are mutually
beneficial to the local and global communities. These areas are:
Initially,
via these alliances, PRP will export and donate inventory, facilities,
and expertise, as in-kind goods and services, to areas of need
worldwide. 
PRP
will stimulate proactive reforestation efforts by providing a Revolving
Loan Program (“RLP”) in areas where indigenous people have limited or
no timber resources and where farmers contend with depressed
agricultural conditions. The self-liquidating RLP loans will be applied
to preparing lands and providing training where commercial joint-venture timber farms and plantations consist of fast-growing Paulownia. 
As
may be appropriate in individual regions, inter-cropping with Paulownia
may be applied to the development of fruit and nut orchards as well as
more traditional food-source crops. Loan recipients begin repayment
with their first timber harvest, often occurring after the first year’s
growth due to Paulownia’s ability to regenerate with straighter, faster
growth after coppicing (cutting at ground level).
The
principle objective of the GaiaTech EcoVillage (“GTV”) is to
demonstrate practices that ensure a high quality of life for village
participants while ensuring locally sustainable development,
conservation of the bio-diversity of natural resources, and
self-sustainability through social, economic, geologic, and climatic
changes.
