Infinitesimal Perturbations

The War in 1984

2011-04-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

Not so fictitious really

Cultures of the Middle East

2011-01-22T10:43:00.000-08:00

Great Wall(s) of China

2011-01-16T10:39:00.001-08:00

Recycling In America

2010-12-27T09:46:00.000-08:00

In the United States, although we've increased the total percentage of waste we recycle to more than 30% of the waste we produce, we still do not create any less non recycled waste than we did 10 years ago (about 1 ton per person).

Waste Per Country

2010-12-27T09:32:00.000-08:00

What is the difference that has made some European countries produce less garbage and some produce more? I don't really see any connection between countries that are in each group. How much / what percent of each recycle? Data pulled from here.

Colonial Africa

2010-12-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

Muslim Christian Map in Africa

2010-12-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

Sort of a strange way of viewing the breakdown, but useful nonetheless.

Sunni Shiite Map

2010-12-15T08:35:00.001-08:00

To put things in perspective:

Geographical History of Empires

2010-12-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan

2010-07-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

The whole article is here

Missionaries of Hate

2010-07-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

Nigeria

2010-05-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

The eight most populated country in the world with about 50/50 for both rural/urban and christian/muslim breakdown just lost their president. How do you unite a country that is so divided in language and culture?

Yemen: A Terrorist Training Ground?

2010-02-14T22:46:00.000-08:00

When I look at Afghanistan I think about how we've neglected it for so long and how if we didn't, if we helped it grow and mature 20 years ago, the world would be better off with less money wasted than our current situation. This is a useful lesson when looking at other places in the world and thinking wether some other poor and politically unstable region will fall subject to Al Queada and Islamic extremism. Besides, the very interesting situation in Ethiopia, where else may terrorism grow in the coming years?

Ali Abdullah Saleh
Houthis rebellious tribesmen in the mountainous north. Have been fighting with the government for the last 6 years, the most recent surge began in August. So far 250K refugees have been displaced from their homes. The Saudis have been drawn in to fight the Houthis after Houthi gorillas attacked along the Saudi border.

Obama's Accomplishments

2010-01-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

With the turmoil that the world has recently been through, its difficult to measure what positive impact the election of Barack Obama has had. Let's briefly review: While his health care push has experienced serious resistance, he has made some significant accomplishments domestically including instating the financial recovery bill (including 19 billion to modernize health care records), canceling the F22, demanding new auto fuel efficiency standards, and banning space weapon development.

His international rapport is better than any president in the short history of globalization He has worked on reducing the worldwide nuclear stockpile, specifically with Russia and has taken steps to close Guantanamo and has made the right decision to resurge in Afghanistan. Obama's largest impact is likely to come from his ability to inspire, such as his speeches such as setting a new world order at the United Nations or speaking directly to the Muslim world. Instead of waiting to see what history makes of the man who promised to bring change, we should take more personal responsibility to carry on the momentum.

Virtual Astroturfing

2010-01-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

A new online strategy for political gain. Watch out!

Obama's Speech in Copenhagen

2010-01-03T09:19:00.001-08:00

Noam Chomsky on 9/11

2010-01-03T09:12:00.003-08:00

"Every authoritarian regime in the world gained from 9/11".

National Stability

2009-12-27T15:37:00.000-08:00

A nice report on the top 20 failed states of recent time. This is a very useful way to visualize international politics and the places around the world that have the highest level of political stress / competition on the country. In a sense, this helps me understand why we are involved with the middle east: because the play a major role in the political instability across the globe. Now why don't we have the same amount at stake in all of central Africa? With Al Queda setting up and generating attacks from place like Yemen, maybe the west's focus will shift / expand.

Elections in Afghanistan

2009-11-20T22:35:00.001-08:00

Just to get a feel for how the country voted, supporters of Hamid Karzai are in red while supporters of Dr. Abdullah are in blue.

Ahmad Shah Massoud

2009-11-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet-backed government there, Ahmad Shah Massoud became Defense Minister in 1992 under former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani. Following the collapse of Rabbani's government and the rise of the Taliban in 1996, Massoud returned to the role of an armed opposition leader, serving as the military commander of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan.

On September 9, 2001, two days prior to the September 11 attacks in the United States, Massoud was assassinated in Takhar Province of Afghanistan by suspected al-Qaeda agents. The following year, he was named "National Hero" by the order of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The date of his death, September 9th, is observed as a national holiday in Afghanistan, known as "Massoud Day." The year following his assassination, in 2002, Massoud was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize..

Fertility Levels Vs. GDP

2009-10-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

Healthcare

2009-10-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

U.S. spending on health care is nearly double the GDP average for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (PDF) (OECD) member-countries--almost all of which offer some form of universal coverage. A number of middle-income countries have also recently achieved universal health care or are moving in that direction. This has raised concern among some economists and U.S. business leaders that mounting health care costs not only affect U.S. domestic health but its ability to compete globally".

When our health care system fails to deliver value, it does not just affect individual companies and their workers, it harms our nation's ability to compete in the global economy," Ivan Seidenberg, chairman and CEO of Verizon, said following the study. "This raises the cost of our products and services and diverts resources from needed investments."

Factoring in costs borne by the government, the private sector, and individuals, the United States spends over $1.9 trillion annually on healthcare expenses, more than any other industrialized country. The United States spent 16 percent of its GDP in 2007 on health care, higher than any other developed nation. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that number will rise to 25 percent by 2025 without changes to federal law (PDF). Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical School estimate the United States spends 44 percent more per capita than Switzerland, the country with the second highest expenditures, and 134 percent more than the median for member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) These costs prompt fears that an increasing number of U.S. businesses will outsource jobs overseas or offshore business operations completely.

A November 2008 Kaiser Foundation report notes that access to employer-sponsored health insurance has been on the decline (PDF) among low-income workers, and health premiums for workers have risen 114 percent in the last decade. Small businesses are less likely than large employers to be able to provide health insurance as a benefit. At 12 percent, health care is the most expensive benefit paid by U.S. employers, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.These ballooning dollar figures place a heavy burden on companies doing business in the United States and can put them at a substantial competitive disadvantage in the international marketplace.

Mexico Drug War

2009-10-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

The president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, has recently deployed more than 40,000 soldiers and federal police in the areas controlled by or hardest pressed by drug trafficking gangs, who are battling for control of Mexican street sales and control of smuggling routes to U.S. consumers. Michoacan may be one of the hardest states hit: Interior Minister Fernando Gomez Mont said the government was sending 1,500 police, 2,500 soldiers, and 1,500 navy personnel to the western state. Also, the so-called Merida Initiative has the Obama administration requiring the certification on Mexico's human rights record for full disbursement of the $1.4 billion worth of military equipment and training for the drug war promised Mexico under .Gangland violence has killed some 12,000 people since the crackdown began when Calderon took office in December 2006.

Criminalizing money laundering is another key element in the war, but so far, Mexico has fallen short. An International Monetary Fund report published in January found Mexican authorities have only made 25 convictions for money laundering since in 1989 and Mexican law does not allow for the quick freezing of traffickers’ assets. In short, Mexican money laundering laws do not meet international standards and many cases are not properly investigated.

U.S. Savings Rate Over TIme

2009-10-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

Finally bouncing back from 0 in 2005.

Obama's New World Order

2009-10-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

US President Barack Obama has outlined his vision of a new world order during his first address to the UN general assembly meeting in New York. His vision was rooted in four basic principles: Non proliferation and disarmament, the promotion of peace and security, the preservation of the planet, and a global economy that advances opportunity for all people.

Abortion Statistics

2009-10-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

The abortion rate in the United States is at 19.4 per 1000 women down from almost 30 per 1000 at its peak in 1980.

The abortion rate among women living below the federal poverty level ($9,570 for a single woman with no children) is more than four times that of women above 300% of the poverty level (44 vs. 10 abortions per 1,000 women).
Mexico’s 2006 abortion rate (33 per 1,000 women) was more than 40% higher than the abortion rate in the United States (19.4 per 1,000 women), where abortion is broadly legal and available. Seventeen percent of the Mexican women who obtained abortions in 2006 were treated in public hospitals for complications. In comparison, fewer than 0.3% of abortion patients in the U.S. have complications requiring hospitalization. What do we draw from this?

G 20 Protests in Pittsburg

2009-09-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

Waziristan

2009-08-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Waziristan (Pashto: وزیرستان, "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² (4,473 sq mi). It is part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, considered to be outside the country's four provinces.

Pot

2009-08-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

A report released today by a marijuana public policy analyst contends that the market value of pot produced in the U.S. exceeds $35 billion -- far more than the crop value of such heartland staples as corn, soybeans and hay, which are the top three legal cash crops. California is responsible for more than a third of the cannabis harvest, with an estimated production of $13.8 billion that exceeds the value of the state's grapes, vegetables and hay combined -- and marijuana is the top cash crop in a dozen states, the report states. The report estimates that marijuana production has increased tenfold in the past quarter century despite an exhaustive anti-drug effort by law enforcement.

San Francisco Shipping Companies

2009-08-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

CMA CGM is a French container transportation and shipping company, headed by Mr. Jacques R. Saadé. It is the largest container shipping company in Europe and the third largest container company in the world, using 76 major shipping routes between 216 ports in 126 different countries.[1]
Matson is credited with introducing mass tourism to Hawaii with the opening of the Moana Hotel (now known as the Moana Surfrider Hotel) and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki on the island of Oahu.
Maersk is the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the world based in Copenhagen, Denmark, with subsidiaries and offices in more than 135 countries worldwide and around 120,000 employees
MSC is currently the second-largest container shipping line in the world. The line operates 376 vessels and has a capacity of 1,250,000 twenty-foot equivalent units
Hapag Lloyd
Zim is the biggest cargo shipping company in Israel, and 13th largest in the world.
MOL is a Japanese company.

Live updates of locations here.

The Rise of Islam

2009-08-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading Hugh Kennedy's The Great Arab Conquests that intricately details the miraculous rise of the Arab empire following the emergence of Islam and the preachings of Mohammed. What made the Muslim army so successful?

*Strong, unifying, simple ideology.
*The ability of the Bedouins to travel vast distances and strong familiarity with harsh, desert climates.
* A key feature of Arab culture was that leadership was valued and earned by consensus.
*Easy terms posed to the conquered villages (convert to Islam or pay taxes).

What was not striking about the Muslim army was their size or advanced technology.

Burrito Project

2009-08-08T09:28:00.001-07:00

Los Angeles Burrito Project Part 1 of 2

A Look Back

2009-08-05T20:50:00.001-07:00

to a time when hope was all we had.

The American Automibile Revolution

2009-07-25T22:38:00.001-07:00

New cars and trucks will have to get 30 percent better mileage starting in 2016 under an Obama administration move to curb emissions tied to smog and global warming. While the 30 percent increase would be an average for both cars and light trucks, the percentage increase in cars would be much greater, rising from the current 27.5 mpg standard to 42 mpg

The new requirement is estimated to cost consumers an extra $1,300 per vehicle starting in 2016, but drivers will be saving at the pump. Obama estimated that a typical driver would save $2,800 over the lifetime of a car, assuming gasoline costs around $3.50 a gallon by then.

Moreover, the increased miles per gallon should cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 900 million tons, the equivalent to shutting down 194 coal plants, a senior administration official said Monday.

Its fun to watch the emerging companies that will suceed in this new green automobile market such as Tesla (worth half a billion dollars) after Daimler put their money down.

Star Wars Update.

2009-07-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

After China's own missile shootdown of Fengyun-1C weather satellite about 500 miles from Earth in January 2007, the United States responded by shooting one of its onw satellites, 150 miles from earth, by a aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. Experts explanations for the action focus on showing the Chinese who's boss because "we're showing them not only that we can shoot down a satellite in a test without creating a lot of debris like they did. But we're also showing them we can do it any place in the world, because we're doing it from the ocean." (Coyle said)

Some experts (Everett Dolman, a professor of comparative military studies at Maxwell Air Force Base.) saw the demonstration as a crucial step by the U.S. to ensure its military and political dominance if a space arms race becomes inevitable. John Pike, a military and security analyst who runs the highly regarded website Global Security.org, believes the shootdown has no implications regarding the space arms race. Pike added: . "The Americans, I believe, have a covert unacknowledged space-based anti-missile system that they may start testing in about five years." Although the Obama administration did ban the missile defense project, what future weapons we might be developing and what strategic plan we have for space remains to be seen.

Pakistan's Demographics

2009-07-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

In the east of Pakistan lies Punjab, the most widepsread of high population. This is where Islamabad and Lahore reside. In the Southeast lies the Sindh which contains Pakistan's main port, Karachi. In the southwest lies the Balochs, a fairly spread out rural region. Baluchistan holds the city of Quetta as well as smaller seaport cities. For a mildly long stretch on the western border, north of the Baluchs, lies the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) containing mostly Pushtus. A similar region just north of FATA is the Northwest Frontier Providence that contains the city of Peshwar and is also made up mostly of Pushtus. Finally there are the Northern Areas (FANA), low in population density and filled Pitrali and Shina people.

The People of Afghanistan

2009-07-23T22:12:00.001-07:00

Brown are the Pashtun, Green are Tajiks, yellow is Hazara, red is Uzbeks, etc...

Afghanistan

2009-07-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Afghanistan is a poor, impoverished nation, weakened by national instability and internal fighting between regional warlords. In recent history, the Taliban has shown the most promise for national strength and unification by displaying widespread success in stabilization. Being a primitive form of organization, the Taliban has in essence been hijacked by Al Queda, turning the Taliban it both into a more powerful and more extremist body control.

Pakistan, in comparison is in a similar position. Although more developed and more democratic, the nation faces strong Taliban influence from the northern region of the state. It is on the Pakistan - Afghanistan border that Taliban warriors are able to almost freely pass back and forth between the two. The Pakistan's northeast lies the Kashmir border dispute. Since India has better relations with the United States, the Kashmir dispute further fragments the Pakistani people as pro and anti American forces are often within reach.

The fragmentation of the people reflects in the Pakistani governmnet, often being paralyzed in issues concerning border control and curbing Taliban influence. Pakistan maintains these contradictions: it does not know whether it wants to fight the Taliban or side with them. In turn, this situation immobilizes the United States. No dedicated effort has yet been made to eradicate the lingering stench of Taliban fighter and a positive on southern Asia. Until the U.S. is able to focus by supplying significant troops, Afghanistan will not stand on its own two feet.

Ottoman Empire

2009-07-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

How does it relate to current middle east politics?

A Proxy War with Iran?

2009-06-27T01:55:00.001-07:00

On the other side of the story: Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq. Also here and here.

Harnessing Iran's Role in Afghanistan

2009-06-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

here

Decent Visualization of Pakistan / Afghanistan

2009-06-15T22:49:00.001-07:00

here.

Digitizing Health Records

2009-06-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

Obama's recent stimulus bill calls for 19 billion to be spent in modernizing health care with the ambitious goal of computerizing all health records in the next 5 years. It won't be easy. Currently only a few percent of the 5,000 or so U.S. hospitals today use comprehensive electronic health records. Only about 17% of its 800,000 physicians currently use the kind of common computerized record-keeping systems that Obama envisions for the whole nation. We will also be confronted with new privacy concerns for patients and require a huge dearth of skilled workers to build and implement the necessary technology.Source

The $19 billion in funding for health-care information technology and other provisions outlined in the new stimulus bill will directly address the two major hurdles to adoption--the cost to implement and maintain the records, and the difficulty of exchanging information among various health-care providers' differing computer systems. Source

The thinktank RAND believes that such a plan could cost at least $75 billion to $100 billion over the ten years they think the hospitals would need to implement program.Source

Medical professionals have been home-monitoring patients for vital data such as blood pressure, heart rate, and other data gleaned from monitoring devices for many years. Now some major software companies are also pitching in. Google and IBM recently unveiled software that allows people to stream their health data drawn from personal medical devices such as heart rate monitors directly to their own electronic databases.Source

New ways to organize and visualize this dearth of health records will be a task that won't go away.

Yes We Did Fight a Holy War

2009-06-04T10:32:00.001-07:00

Cover page of briefings sent from Rumsfeld to Bush updating happenings in the Iraq invasion. Thanks GQ Magazine for breaking this story.

Obama's Speech to the Middle East

2009-06-04T10:22:00.001-07:00

Pakistan

2009-05-22T15:18:00.001-07:00

On 18 February 2008, Pakistan held its general elections after Benazir Bhutto's assassination postponed the original date of 8 January 2008.[35] The Pakistan Peoples Party won the majority of the votes and formed an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League (N). They nominated and elected Yousaf Raza Gilani as Prime Minister of Pakistan.[36] On 18 August 2008, Pervez Musharraf resigned as President of Pakistan amidst increasing calls for his impeachment.[37] In the presidential election that followed, Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan People's Party won by a landslide majority and became President of Pakistan.[38]

Part of Pakistan, namely the Malakand division and Swat Valley are now governed according to the principles of Sharia after Pakistani lawmakers approved the bill under pressure from the Taliban forces that had captured those areas.[39]

New Article By Stephen Eric Bronner

2009-05-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

Here.

Christian Right

2009-05-12T10:57:00.001-07:00

From wikipedia's entry on the evolution of the Christian Right

An important factor that led to the concentration of the Christian Right's popularity was creating a climate where churches would be central in the absence of community. It was the physical design of neighborhoods, particularly in developing areas like Southern California that were unique to the movement. The "planned sprawl" model of development fostered an environment of private growth, often spread out, in absence of public space and weakening the community bonds of the area. The church thus became an alternative means for establishing a sense of togetherness, and a place for social activity. The church acted as the new center for the community, bringing people together for socialization and the exchange of ideas. The growth of the church community was integral in the subsequent mobilization of conservative activists, particularly in suburban areas.

The contemporary Christian right became increasingly vocal and organized in reaction to a series of United States Supreme Court decisions (notably Roe v. Wade) and also engaged in local battles over pornography, obscenity, taxation of private Christian schools, state sanctioned prayer in public schools, textbook contents (concerning evolution vs. intelligent design), homosexuality, abortion and sexual education. The movement strengthened its influence through grassroots activists, intellectual think tanks (such as American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, Hoover Foundation, etc), and a wide range of media institutions and key media figures (i.e. National Review, Rupert Murdoch, and Rush Limbaugh).

Obama Bans Space Weapons

2009-05-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. The language is a little unclear, but we are headed in the right direction. I like the final paragraph from this article:

The likeliest possibility, though, is that this is mostly about atmospherics. As China’s interception demonstrated, attacks on satellites generate dangerous levels of orbital debris—shrapnel that continues to orbit the Earth for days, weeks or even years, and that menaces anything in its path. (And because the debris consists of small, fast-moving and widely-dispersed fragments, it’s almost impossible to clean up). This means that no spacefaring power is likely to want to mount wholesale attacks on another power’s satellites. The result of any such attack would make space as unusable for the attacker as for the target. In the next decade or two, the biggest threats are likely to come from rogue nations with some space capability, like Iran (which last week launched a satellite on its own), or North Korea—countries that have the ability to attack spacecraft from the ground, but not a lot of their own satellites at risk. Perhaps Obama thinks that a space-weapon ban among the spacefaring nations will encourage them to close ranks against rogue states that are a threat to everyone. That would certainly be a positive development.

Barack Ball

2009-04-08T14:05:00.001-07:00

Current Journalists Detained in North Korea

2009-03-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

Wynwood-Miami Florida

2009-02-23T22:53:00.001-08:00

Sexy Girls

2009-02-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

George Orwell - 1984

2009-02-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

It's not a matter of whether the war is not real, or if it is, Victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia but to keep the very structure of society intact."

Military Spending II

2009-01-25T16:38:00.000-08:00

...as a percent of that nation's GDP...

...the number of active troops...

(click on the image for a full size)

U.S. Military Spending

2009-01-04T21:46:00.000-08:00

A nice visualization to show how spending on the U.S. military compares to other high spending countries.

Tax Increases Per Candidate per Income Bracket

2009-01-04T21:25:00.001-08:00

A useful visualization, but a little late, I guess.

Food Prices in the Depression

2008-12-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Food prices have been rising in the past couple of years.

Americans spend around 5% of their money on food so it is hard for us to recognize how much food prices have gone up in value. But for other nations who spend upwards of 40% on food, the affects are much more extreme.

Exchange Rates

2008-12-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

In this graph, blue is the Euro and Red is the Yen compared to the U.S. dollar.

A market based exchange rate will change whenever the values of either of the two component currencies change. A currency will tend to become more valuable whenever demand for it is greater than the available supply. It will become less valuable whenever demand is less than available supply (this does not mean people no longer want money, it just means they prefer holding their wealth in some other form, possibly another currency).

Increased demand for a currency is due to either an increased transaction demand for money, or an increased speculative demand for money. The transaction demand for money is highly correlated to the country's level of business activity, gross domestic product (GDP), and employment levels. The more people there are unemployed, the less the public as a whole will spend on goods and services. Central banks typically have little difficulty adjusting the available money supply to accommodate changes in the demand for money due to business transactions.

The speculative demand for money is much harder for a central bank to accommodate but they try to do this by adjusting interest rates. An investor may choose to buy a currency if the return (that is the interest rate) is high enough. The higher a country's interest rates, the greater the demand for that currency. It has been argued that currency speculation can undermine real economic growth, in particular since large currency speculators may deliberately create downward pressure on a currency in order to force that central bank to sell their currency to keep it stable (once this happens, the speculator can buy the currency back from the bank at a lower price, close out their position, and thereby take a profit).

Politics In Ghana

2008-12-26T09:39:00.000-08:00

Yes i am voting.Because i am more than 18 years so i can vote.Yes Ghanaian`s vote every 4 years to elect a new president for the nation.And if u are elected into power u have to rule for 8 years after that u will live for a new president.

We have 8 political parties who are standing as president`s this year in Ghana.They are (NPP),(NDC),(CPP),(PNC),(DFP),(DPP),(RDP) AND (INDEPENDENT).The names of the the flagberrer`s are Nana Akufu Ado,Prof.John Evans Atta Mills,Dr.Paa Kwesi Ndoum,Dr.John Mahama,Ansah-Antwi,Ward Brew and Amoah-Yeaboah as Independent candidate.

I am voting for Prof.John Evans Atta Mills of the (NDC) because he is the right man for Ghanaians who can change the economy and bring better hope and change for Ghanaians.The two main political parties that are populary known in Ghana here are NPP and the NDC and the NPP is the Goverment in power now and the economy here in Ghana is very hard.People do not have jobs to do,people are really surffering.NDC is like BARACK OBAMA`S PARTY they are also looking for change.That is the motto for NDC (CHANGE).

Ghanaian`s voted last week sunday 7th december to elect a new president,Which by God grace everything went on peacfuly.But the electoral commision of Ghana need 50% for the winning.But there is no candidate who got that percentage so Ghanaian`s are going for a round off on the 28 of the month to vote again to elect a new president.On the 28th of this month Ghanaians will be voting for only two parties that is the NPP and the NDC,the other parties will not be contesting because they are not even closer to the percentage needed.The NPP got 48.13% and the NDC got 47.93% at the 7th december polls.That is why they are going for a round off.And i pray to God that Prof.John Evans Atta Mills emerg the winner.

I am very delighted alot when the news came out that Barack Obama won the elections at the United States.The First Black man to rule AMERICA and the first black to go to the white house as president of the united states.I hope with Barack Obama the will be a real Change in the economy in the united states.Big Up`s BARACK OBAMA.

(From: Richard Dake)

History of the Middle East

2008-12-22T00:59:00.001-08:00

Abortion in Nicaragua

2008-12-21T19:21:00.001-08:00

Headed in the right direction

2008-12-19T19:03:00.001-08:00

AIDS

2008-12-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized on 12/1/1981, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in recorded history. In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed an estimated 2.4–3.3 million lives, of which more than 570,000 were children. It is estimated that about 0.6% of the world's living population is infected with HIV] A third of these deaths are occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, retarding economic growth and increasing poverty. According to current estimates, HIV is set to infect 90 million people Africa.

AIDS is part of the culture. It is spread by sexual behavior and correlated with other STDs such as herpes. It is also correlated with poverty in places like Arica. Without a long life expectancy otherwise and no hope of a prosperous life, AIDS is likely to spread much more quickly. Thus mitigating poverty is part of the cure for AIDS.
Unstable and unpredictable lifestyles are significant factors in determining access to health care among low-income HIV-positive people, a new UCLA study has found.

So far, we are still not headed in the right direction: Bush's plan spells disaster for our nation's health, in particular our effort to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic. After accounting for inflation, the budget proposal amounts to a cut in funding for HIV/AIDS research, prevention, care, and treatment. Adding insult to injury, the budget proposal increases funding for abstinence education programs that have no basis in scientific evidence.

Delicious
Digg

The Permanent War Economy

2008-12-12T23:45:00.000-08:00

Eisenhower, one of the more conservative U.S. presidents of the 20th century, who led us to victory in WWII, warned of the military industrial complex as he was leaving office:
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
The concept of permanent war economy' actually originated in 1944 with an article by Walter J. Oakes who predicted a post-war arms race. He argued at the time that the USA would retain the character of a war economy; even in peacetime, American military expenditure would remain large, reducing the percentage of unemployed compared to the 1930s. This analysis was extended by T. N. Vance in 1950 and 1951. The concept was also used by Charles E. Wilson to refer to an institutionalized war economy —ie. a semi-command-type economy which is directed by corporation executives, based on military industry, and funded by state social spending. The term refers to the economic component within the Military-industrial complex (MIC) (aka. "the Iron Triangle") whereby the collusion between militarism and profiteering are manifest as a permanently subsidised industry.
People don’t realize how profitable a war is. How much money can be made off of war and defense. A review of the largest private companies in the defense industry and the Iraq war, the single most expensive (and profitable) military venture in the history of mankind, paints a clearer picture of this issue.

How can work be removed from being a necessary part of a nation’s success. How do nations that don’t have a war economy exist?

Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy

2008-12-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Kosher Food: Agriprocessors

2008-11-29T20:41:00.000-08:00

Agriprocessors was the corporate identity of a slaughterhouse and meat-packaging factory best known as a facility for the glatt kosher processing of cattle, as well as chicken, turkey, duck, lamb, and veal. The firm filed for bankruptcy on November 5, 2008 following a series of alleged violations of labor law and repeated accusations of mistreatment of cattle.It was the largest kosher meat-packing plant in the United States. Its kosher products were marketed under the brand names Aaron’s Best, Shor Habor, Supreme Kosher and Rubashkins. The CEO for most of 2008 was the founder's son, Sholom Rubashkin, who was arrested on October 30, 2008 for harboring illegal aliens. A good NPR program about the recent history of Agriprocessors can be found here

The Cause of Rising Food Prices

2008-11-29T20:12:00.001-08:00

Muir & Roosevelt

2008-11-24T19:15:00.001-08:00

I just think this picture is great:

Percent of World GDP

2008-11-24T18:28:00.000-08:00

Our Senator's Religions

2008-11-24T16:52:00.000-08:00

U.S. Casualities in Iraq

2008-11-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

Bush & Blackwater

2008-11-10T23:10:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama & Blackwater

2008-11-10T23:08:00.001-08:00

Obama 2004

2008-11-09T22:06:00.001-08:00

Who Is David Plouffe?

2008-11-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

Learn about him here

Yes We Can!

2008-11-05T07:41:00.001-08:00

Engineers Without Borders

2008-10-21T18:07:00.001-07:00

Vote Tim Cunha

2008-10-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

if you live in Florida.

Green Initiatives Most Important to Voters

2008-10-04T14:10:00.001-07:00

1) Tax incentives for conservation. (69%)
2) Raising fuel mileage standards. (68%)
3) Investing in energy research. (64%)
4) Controlling gasoline prices. (62%)
5) Taxing oil companies for profits. (58%)

(from Current TV)

Opium Production in Afghanistan

2008-10-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

Noam Chomsky on Barak Obama

2008-09-14T19:07:00.001-07:00

Vampire Energy (Please Watch)

2008-07-31T20:43:00.001-07:00

Afghanistan (from Current TV)

2008-04-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

Recycling

2008-04-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

Heard on the news today: Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power the average computer for a half an hour.

Campaign Finance

2008-03-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Campaign finance has been steadily growing. In the year 2000, each candidate in the presidential election received on the order of 70 million dollars for their campaign. In 2004, the numbers rose to 240 million per member. To a large extent, a vote for a candidate is support for the sources of funding that financed that candidates campaign. These funding sources are primarily corporations from the pharmeceutical, military, energy and other industries. Consequently, the information about the specifics of corporate donations is not immediately apparent. If you know a quality resource for viewing the campaign contributions to the current presidential candidates, please share it here.

Worker Related Death

2008-02-23T21:49:00.001-08:00

From this source:

"Worldwide, work-related illnesses and injuries kill approximately 1.1 million people per year. In 1992, an estimated 65,000 people in the United States died of occupational injuries or illness."

My Favorite Professor

2008-01-26T00:15:00.000-08:00

Stephen Eric Bronner taught me all about critical theory, modern art and globalization.

Voting Machines

2007-12-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

As the 2008 election rapidly approaches, questioning the credibility of voting machines and considering other voting technology is due. Electronic voting machines have been heavily criticized recently. Just last week, voting machines have been decertified for several major counties in Colorado. The machines, most produced by Diebold Election Systems, have been criticized for a myriad of problems such as lack of password protection on the systems, controls that could give voters unauthorized access, and the absence of any way to track or detect security violations. Ohio has also joined the critique, citing insufficient protection against attacks and poor software maintenance practices. Last year, in a story that went mostly unnoticed, a group of Princeton computer scientists demonstrated that vote-stealing software that can be installed within a minute on a common electronic voting machine such as those made by Diebold. As the credibility of electronic voting machines deteriorates, I wonder wether voting over the internet could ever be adequately secure and private to provide a viable alternative.

The Pharmaceutical Industy: Part II

2007-12-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

Drug producers today are allowing the possibility to mitigate some of humanity's most common ailments: insomnia, indigestion, heart disease and depression. The demand for these cures is so high that the market for pharmaceuticals is booming with nearly 600 billion spent around the world on prescription drugs. Biomedical research, now a nearly 100 billion, has doubled over the last decade.

However, new drugs are being pushed into the market with each drug costing 1 billion to produce. Because the risk is so high in producing a new drug, a large portion of the cost goes into advertising. Surely, this is a misdirected market that emphasizes profit above the well being of the consumers. In this case, big government seems like a much needed addition to focus our attention more towards exercize, better eating habits and overall well being away from just another pharmaceutical commercial.

Part 2 of 2

The Powerful Mob

2007-11-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

We leave it up to crowds to do everything today including filling the content of internet services such as Wikipedia and Youtube, choosing the next American Idol, valuing the price of stocks and even determining where we should shop. This is becasue, like many other complex systems, groups of people can take on a mind of their own.

The idea that crowds can become intelligent and supply information has been popularized by James Surowieckiís’s The Wisdom of the Crowds. In the book, James Surowieckiís details four elements required for crowds to translate useful information Diversity of opinion, indpendence, decentralization. Surowiecki also notes that crowd wisdom has its limitations in making informed decisions because of the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters.

Prediction markets such as Midas Oracle, Tradesports and Mediapredict hope to tap into the unused crowd wisdom to predict almost anything in the social, political or economic arena.

Hurricane Season 2005

2007-10-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

Cornell West on the Symbolism of the Cross

2007-10-26T17:33:00.001-07:00

More Blogs, More Fun

2007-10-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

In response to a rathered scattered range of ideas presented to you here in Infinitesimal, I've decided to create a few more theme oriented blogs to organize my ideas a little better and provide you, the reader, with a little more ability to choose the types of posts you might find most interesting. Introducing the first (of possibly more) of IP's children:

Another World Is Probable: reports on the latest ideas and developments floating around Silicon Valley. This includes posts about software, virtual worlds, Web 2.0 development and data visualization. The underlying theme is about understanding the rapid wave of technological advancement today in hopes of utilizing it in the most useful and meaningful ways.
Because It Is There: focuses on news about space exploration including the international race to colonize the moon and reach Mars, private space companies pursuit of outer space for tourism, research and new resources as well as other inquiries into astronomy and space exploration.
Klein Blue A mostly pointless blog that logs the artists, photography and music I like. Oh yeah, alot of cool Youtube movies will appear there too.

There are stil several more blogs I have ideas about creating, one on surfing, maybe one about biology too....if I ever get the time. For now, Infinitesimal will continue to live on, serving the purpose of exploring my most academic of interests: pure science and and politics. Thanks for reading and please enjoy!

Sand on a Plate

2007-10-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

Youtube has some really cool educational videos. I think scientists should be more aware of this technlogy as a means to collaborate on new ideas. They should also be more willing to share their work to improve the value of this potentially awesome resource.

Recent Progress in Quantum Computing

2007-10-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

A continuation of my last post on quantum computing.

In January of this year, D-Wave Systems announced a working prototype of a commercially viable quantum computer. On February 13th, 2007, D-Wave demonstrated the Orion system, running three different applications at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California marking the first public demonstration of a quantum computer.

In other research with quantum computing relevance:

A team of German physicists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics has built a single-photon server with just one atom.
Physicists at the University of Michigan have coaxed two well separates atoms to communicate with a sort of quantum intuition.
An international team of scientists, including several at The Johns Hopkins University, has detected a hidden magnetic “quantum order” that extends over chains of nearly 100 atoms in a material that is otherwise magnetically disordered. The team’s results are important because they demonstrate that the magnetic moments (the measure of the strength of a magnetic source) of a large number of atoms can band together to form quantum states much like those of a very large molecule.
A team at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherland has demonstrated a key ingredient of such a computer by using one superconducting loop to control the information stored on a second. The researchers set up the loops so that a clockwise current in one loop, called the control qubit, switched the direction of the current in the second loop (the target qubit). If they applied a magnetic field, however, the control qubit current flowed clockwise and counterclockwise simultaneously—a "superposition" of 0 and 1—which in turn caused the current in the target qubit to both switch and not switch directions.
A research team at the University of Manchester, England has for the first time demonstrated how qubit rings, pieces of quantum information, can be linked together which opens up the possibility of being able to create quantum gates - a more advanced version of processors found in modern computers.
Physicists at Harvard University have shown that diamonds can be used to create stable quantum computing building blocks at room temperature. A nitrogen vacancy in diamond could lead to quantum registers able to store or retrieve data.

A Sheared Bubble Raft

2007-09-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

As the outer cylinder rotates the inner cylinder is hung from a torision wire and gets torqued by the foam. Notice the initial elastic response of the foam, followed by an unjamming tranition characterized by bubble rearrangements. A trip down memory lane...

Alternative Energy

2007-08-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

Some new ideas:

Harnessing Natural Vibrations
Solar Cells: The most efficient solar cell is now 42.7% efficient. Other scientists have developed plastic solar cells that are able to harness the sun's infrared rays, making them useful even on cloudy days.
Efficient Lighting: Israeli efficient lighting company Metrolight has secured one of the largest venture backed investments to date in the country’s fledgling cleantech sector. Researchers in Arizona are claiming 100% efficiency from organic light emitting diodes
Using genetic "snapshots" of switchgrass, scientists are gaining new insight into how this plant could be harnessed as an ethanol resource.

Earthquakes

2007-08-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

There are several huge geophysics studies out there measuring "new quantities" of our planet. There is the Ridge 2000 program to study undersea volcanos. Another study is measuring temperatures within the earth by measuring the transmission of acoustic waves through the earth from earthquakes. Yet another study is sucking up cores of rock in earthquake zones to understand how rock "stickiness" affects earthquake size.

The end result of all of this will be vastly improved earthquake prediction. for example, collaborators are using a tool called "phase dynamics" to predict earthquakes. The most promising tool is a satellite called DEMETER. The satellite measures ionospheric disturbances like ion density and extremely low frequency changes in the Earth's magnetic field.

Jon Stewart on Crossfire

2007-08-17T17:23:00.000-07:00