Stuff YOU Should Know
A New Capital for Indonesia?
Quick: what’s the capital of Indonesia? If you answered Jakarta, you’re correct . . . though maybe not for long. The country has plans to move its capital city. Why? Because Jakarta–located on Java, the most populated of Indonesia’s thousands of islands–is polluted, choked with traffic, and even worse: it’s the fastest-sinking city in the world. In fact, almost half of its area is currently below sea level. Scientists estimate that by 2050, about 95 percent of North Jakarta will be under water.
Why is Jakarta sinking so quickly? While climate change and rising sea levels certainly play a role, the problem is also man-made. Because so many people live there, they have extracted so much of the ground water that the ground level has actually been lowered as a result.
Three possible plans for a new capital were considered. In the first, government buildings would be moved to a new zone near the presidential palace. In the second, the capital would be shifted to an area near where it’s currently located. In the third–the model that was ultimately chosen–the capital will be moved off the island of Java altogether. It is hoped that this choice will help relieve some of Java’s current overcrowding and traffic problems. The new capital’s location hasn’t been announced yet, though the cities of Palangkaraya, Tanah Bumbu, and North Penajam are all under consideration. But it’s not time to rewrite geography textbooks just yet: Indonesian authorities estimate that the move could take up to ten years to complete.
Dig Deeper While moving a country’s capital may sound like a drastic thing to do, many other countries have done so in the past, for various reasons. Using internet resources, name at least three other countries that have moved their capital city, and why.
Biden 2020?
On April 25, former Vice President Joe Biden officially announced his decision to run for president, bringing the number of Democratic primary candidates to a staggering twenty. Best known for his role as President Obama’s second-in-command, Joe Biden was also a U.S. senator, representing the state of Delaware for 36 years. He made the decision not to run for president in 2016 after his son, Beau, passed away unexpectedly in late 2015.
Biden’s decision to enter the race this time has brought about a wide range of reactions. While some progressives consider Biden to be too middle-of-the-road in his views, more moderate Democrats are excited about what they see as his wide appeal to middle-class voters. So far, Biden seems to be focusing mainly on economic issues. Calling himself “Middle Class Joe,” Biden hopes to win back middle-class voters in industrial areas that are traditionally Democratic, but which were lost to Trump in 2016 as workers voiced their frustration over feeling left behind economically. Biden is calling for a national minimum wage of $15 per hour and reversing Trump’s tax cuts, which provided tax relief for the wealthiest Americans but not for the middle class.
Some Democrats are also concerned about accusations that Biden has behaved inappropriately with women in the past. Despite this, polls indicate that Biden is currently leading the field of Democratic primary contenders by 30 points.
Dig Deeper With the help of internet resources, list all twenty Democrats who have officially declared their candidacy at this point. In your opinion, which one has the best shot at winning over the American voters in 2020? Why?
Art by Numbers
You may never have heard of the artist Dan Robbins, but you’re almost certainly familiar with his work. He’s the man who invented paint-by-numbers. Sadly, he passed away last week in Sylvania, Ohio, at the age of 93. (Never seen a paint-by-numbers kit or attempted one yourself? The kit includes a canvas and little numbered pots of paint. On the canvas, lines show you where to paint, and each area is marked with a number that corresponds to the color of paint to use.)
Robbins came up with the idea for paint-by-numbers in the late 1940s, while working as a package designer at the Palmer Paint Company in Detroit. He did about 30 to 35 of the numbered outlines himself–with the support of Palmer’s owner, Max Klein–before Craft Master took over. At first, the kits weren’t popular, and art critics were quick to ridicule Robbins’ work. But the idea eventually caught on. By 1955, at the height of the paint-by-numbers craze, about 20 million of the kits were sold. Robbins was later recognized for his cultural contribution by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. While critics argue that paint-by-numbers have no artistic merit because they are just cookie-cutter knock-offs of real originals, Robbins pointed out that the kits encourage people to attempt painting who may otherwise have never even picked up a paint brush. Paint-by-numbers have also been shown to improve concentration and motor skills.
Robbins spent much of his life in the Detroit area and went on to other creative projects, including designing Happy Meal toys for McDonald’s. He is survived by his wife, two sons, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
What Do You Think? In your opinion, are paint-by-numbers paintings “real” art? Why or why not?
Former CIA Officer Charged with Espionage
Jerry Chun Shing Lee was born in Hong Kong 54 years ago, moved to Hawaii and then Virginia, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He served in the U.S. Army and later worked as a CIA case officer in China and other countries from 1994 to 2007, when he retired to Hong Kong and became a private tobacco importer. But Lee was also something else: a spy for the People’s Republic of China.
Lee pleaded guilty to espionage in federal court last Wednesday. He admitted to the court that he stole secret information from the U.S. government and sent it back to China. (This is not as serious as admitting to stealing “top secret” information, and his sentence will be significantly lower as a result.) Though it has not been proven, officials believe that he may also be responsible for revealing the identities of U.S. intelligence officers in China, which led to those officers being executed by the Chinese government.
This is the third case in the past year of a former intelligence officer spying for China. (The others were Kevin Mallory, who will be sentenced later this month, and Ron Hansen, who is currently serving a 15-year sentence.) National security officials say that the Chinese have used spies both in a traditional way–to steal U.S. government and military secrets and send them back to China–but also to gain access to, and steal, technology from U.S. companies and universities.
Lee is scheduled to be sentenced on August 23. He faces a minimum sentence of 21 years and a maximum of life in prison. Most of the court records in the case have been sealed, and hearings were closed to the public.