#penultimateday

[thesmithsonianlibrary]

I am haunted by humans.

Death, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

[gemmalosesherjelly]

Penultimate workout of T25 alpha is done. Last lower focus is done. My poor legs 😭 #t25 #alphat25 #focust25 #lowerfocus #t25lowerfocus #beachbodyondemand #bod #shaunt #weightlossjourney #fitnessjourney #swelfie #sweatyselfie #sweatybetty #penultimateday

[noglitter]

#Narvik this morning was beautiful! Ready now for another day at sea before another evening on stage! #FarewellReception #MyFirstSoloVoyage #PenultimateDay #CantBelieveItsAlmostOver #LovingIt (at Narvik) https://www.instagram.com/19katie7/p/CZAxemeIoBf/?utm_medium=tumblr

[versatileazhar]

#artofliving #penultimateday #farewelldancerehearsal #rangdebasanti #energetic #excited

[naaf]

Rennes / Avant-Dernier Jour V. #meaning #penultimateday #avantdernierjour #àrennes #instagramstories #onthebus #selfieinaway #rennes #roazhon #selfie #me #bus #writtenonmyface #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitehdr #sundayafternoon #localpublictransport #shotonhuaweip8 #shotwithhuaweip8 #hdr #instaedit #instabw #instaselfie #photooftheday #thisisbagleyphotoart #thisisbagleyblackandwhite #instaselfie #thisisbagleystriptorennes #likeforlike (hier: Rennes, France)

[tog03]

#ItsNotTooLate #ItsNeverTooLate #ThreeDaysGrace #NeverTooLate #Lovech #Bulgaria #PenultimateDay #Autumnal #UrbanExploration #Memories #Autumn #Leaves #Fall #PSL #Emo #InstaFall #Cute #Gardenova #Architecture #AlwaysExploring #ArchiLovers #PicOfTheDay #Boy #Girl #Coffee #Photographer #Travel #Love #Pretty #Traditional// 21.10.16 - 12:40 (at Ловеч)

[drewraderplc]

25 May - Greenpeace and the Secret Police

According to the schedule, today was supposed to be pretty boring.  That being said, it was one of my favorite activism presentations yet (we have one more with The 5 Star Movement tomorrow which I’m probably more excited for than I should be).  We heard from Greenpeace this afternoon and I’d be lying if I said they didn’t keep my attention.  While it may have been just one guy sitting in front of a group of students in a small (air-conditioned this time, thank you) room, I had nothing less than intrigue.  The speaker, whose name escapes me, had a PhD in evolutionary biology and having Drs. Gaffin and Hoefnagels (spelling? Sorry if that’s wrong Mariëlle) in the room called for some very interesting discussion.  

“It’s good to be radical, no?” -Greenpeace Guy

Greenpeace is an international organization based out of Amsterdam in The Netherlands with offices in around 40 different countries.  The company director, who joined the organization in 1999, spoke to us today in a very informal question and answer session.  Since they are an international group they can only actively intervene in pressing global issues -- no local issues.  The top priority, he said, is climate change.  He talked about capping the emission of greenhouse gases and how the melting of permafrost in Siberia will cost trillions of dollars in damages by around 2025 or 2035 (seems a little pessimistic to me, personally).

The five campaigns he mentioned in his fairly well-spoken English consisted of Forest, Ocean, Agriculture, Toxins, and Textiles, if I’m not mistaken.  The point he mainly elaborated on, however, was the emissions.  He said that CO2 emissions were the main issue, as opposed to methane emissions which aren’t as severe or detrimental.  I could just throw facts at you here and there but I’d much rather get around to what caught my interest the most: Hydrogen fueled cars and GMOs.

Dr. Gaffin asked about the car engines and Dr. Hoefnagels mentioned the GMOs.  Interestingly enough, the two biologists in the room besides the speaker had the coolest things to say.  One of Greenpeace’s main objectives to begin the process of an emission-free world includes more use of public transportation instead of personal transportation.  Dr. Gaffin raised the point that cars, or just vehicles of all sorts, have the ability to run on hydrogen by harnessing solar energy to split atoms of water.  The speaker didn’t seem to like this because of the danger of hydrogen (i.e. the Hindenburg, lol) but at the same time he seemed a bit naïve on the topic.  I’d like to look into this more because I know that if this were to work the emissions given off by such vehicles would be water: harmless to the environment.

“We are not a religion.  I don’t tell you what to do.  I give you information and you decide for yourself.” -Greenpeace Guy

Greenpeace Guy definitely tried to make it undoubtedly clear that they were all about providing information and that’s it.  But this also makes me wonder where the money from the 75,000 donors in Italy alone that Greenpeace has from social media alone goes to.  That has the potential to be a lotta guacamole, people.  Maybe I’m just an unaware spectator of this organization and just speculating what I think to be the case, but that’s neither here nor there.

“What one person can do depends on who that person is.” -Greenpeace Guy

Hydraulic Fracturing, or “fracking” as it is better known, was also a hot topic of discussion in the room this afternoon.  This practice is a well-stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a hydraulically pressurized liquid made of water, sand, and chemicals [1].  I won’t go into this subject being that I would be nigh completely ignorant on the information regarding this topic, but it seems to cause quite the stir with environmentalists around the world.

GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, were mentioned concerning Greenpeace Guy’s view on them, being that he is an evolutionary biologist.  He made it blatant that he was completely against them.  Seriously, that’s what he said.  This is crazy to me and I think he said it this way because he didn’t exactly think it all the way through.  Mariëlle and I talked afterwards about it and both wondered why he was so against them, considering insulin is produced in large quantities through the use of GMOs:

“The way he’s putting a blanket statement on GMOs seems irrational.  It’s like saying that a pencil is a bad thing because it can write bad things, or a hammer is bad because it can smash things.  Even though they have the ability to do these things, they can also write wonderful things and build structures.” -Dr. Hoefnagels

I agree with her completely and think Greenpeace Guy was a little out of line, but if that’s truly how he feels then I respect his opinion.  This evening is our last group dinner of the trip.  I have had such a blast getting to know this group of great students and faculty at a deeper level; this trip makes me wish I had done it sooner when I still had weekly meetings.  I fly out Wednesday morning while a good amount of PLCers head down to explore Pompeii and much of southern Italy but I’m pretty excited to be home with my family and friends.  Hope you’re still enjoying the reads!

Best,

Drew Rader

PS The title about the secret police referred to a conversation I had with Kirk today about how the majority of officers here in Rome are undercover.  I just enjoyed the way it rhymed.

Sources: [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing