Voting is not only a right, it is an obligation.

Voting is not only a right, it is an obligation.

The phenomena of a democracy is very new in the history of humanity. While we
live our complex and very busy lives, it is necessary that we
understand our obligation to keep the success of this democracy intact
by voting.

ECOLOGY and ECONOLOGY

Globalization of information is clear and obvious but the globalization of transportation although clearly needed is less easily acheived. Shipment of goods is much more complex than the shipment of information.
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PANAMA:

A PROBLEM:The Panama Canal has become a bottleneck in the global economy, as ships line up off both coasts of the narrow, 80-kilometer (50-mile) strip of land connecting North and South America. During peak periods, up to a hundred ships, some waiting up to nine days, form traffic jams off Panama's Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Passage rights are a precious commodity and jealously guarded, with the major shipping companies booking passage for their tankers, container ships and automobile transport ships months in advance. (http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,443376,00.html)

A SOLUTION: October 23, 2006 · Last updated 4:56 a.m. PT (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Panama_Canal_Referendum.html?source=mypi)

Panama is embarking on an ambitious expansion of its storied canal to accommodate today's larger ships, recognizing that one of the engineering wonders of the world badly needs an update.In a referendum authorized the construction of a third set of locks so that vessels too wide for the current 108-foot-wide sections can take the shortcut between the seas."Today we have laid the groundwork to build a better country together," said President Martin Torrijos, who staked his political future on the plan. The $5.25 billion project will create 40,000 jobs in a country where 40 percent of people live in poverty and were unemployment sits at 9.5 percent. Currently the canal employs 8,000.


OR IS THE CANAL THE SOLUTION?: A story clearly demonstrating ecology, economics and politics as tightly linked appeared recently in USA TODAY By Rebecca Dube - a summary follows:
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-04-03-nwpassage-debate_x.htm)

Melting ice is opening up the Northwest Passage (NWP) and reviving a dispute between the United States and Canada over who controls the potentially lucrative shipping route.The United States calls the passage an international strait, open to all. Canada claims control because it considers the passage an internal waterway, like the Mississippi River.As global temperatures rise and polar ice caps melt, the ice-free season may lengthen, making the Northwest Passage a viable shipping route the U.S. Navy says within a few years. A 2001 U.S. Navy report predicted that within 10 years, the passage would be open to non-ice-strengthened vessels for one month a year. Only icebreakers and specially made ice-hardened ships now travel the passage, mainly for military purposes and scientific research.A reliably ice-free Northwest Passage could be a far shorter alternative to the Panama Canal. A 12,600-nautical-mile trip from Europe to Asia via the Panama Canal would be 7,900 nautical miles using the Northwest Passage. That would save hundreds of thousands of dollars for shipping companies.

CANADA has claims against the US and Russia and Denmark For the NWP: