Forbes' Most Powerful

Forbes magazine released, for the first time, its list of the most powerful persons in the world, which is composed by 67 names (one for each 100 million people in the world), including political leaders, entrepreneurs, religious leaders, terrorists and others. The list also includes two Mexicans: Carlos Slim (who has a valued fortune of around 35 billion dollars and is currently the third richest person in the world) occupies the 6th place of the list, while Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, occupies the 41th position.

As stated by Forbes, the objective of the compilation of the list is to expose, not glorify, power and to show how easy it can be to lose it, but also how difficult it is to obtain it. There were four main criteria considered when completing the list: number of persons they influence, the capacity to project further than their immediate social sphere, their access and control of resources and how actively they exert their power.

According to Forbes, the most powerful person in the whole world, who takes the top spot of the list is USA's President Barack Obama. Next were the Chinese and Russian leaders Hu Hintau and Vladimir Putin. Others that were included in the list were the founders Apple (Steve Jobs) and Google, the pope Benedict XVI, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey and Osama Bin Laden. To view the complete list head to Forbes webpage.

Source: Periódico El Imparcial, November 12 2009; General 02.

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Recession is NOT over

Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, president of the Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores of the Cámara de Diputados who you may know from the congress Dirige Tu Vida, qualified president Calderón's declaration about the end of the recession as nonsense and as a lie. Muñoz Ledo considers that there is no recuperation of the country's economy, as there isn't a project for new investments.

He stated that every piece of data point to the continuation of the slope, and that there is no reason for it to be the other way around because there are no economy growth factors present. He added that a clear sign that recession is not over is that there isn't an increase neither in consumption nor in exportations.

Muñoz Ledo further stated that for the life quality of Mexicans to change, the destitution of president Calderón is required, as he doesn't have the legitimacy or the basic orientation to improve the country's situation. He declared that as the President doesn't have majority in the Congress, he can't govern the country. As if that wasn't enough, he even said that we need to name an interim president to carry out an efficient reformation of the State, as the actual system doesn't work.

Source: "Es mentira que acabó recesión: Muñoz Ledo" Periódico El Imparcial [Hermosillo] 8 Nov 2009. General: 05

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Recession is Over

That is, according to Mexico's president Felipe Calderón. Yesterday, when participating in the inauguration of the Bloomberg Mexico (a financial software, news and data company) Economic Forum, Felipe Calderón stated that Mexican economy has grown 2.7% during the third trimester of the current year, as reported by Secretaría de Hacienda. He said that these are good news, as they impliy the end of the recession (at least in Mexico), and that the government is working hard on making this recuperation to continue and to grow.

He also said that the 2.7% economy growth was accompanied by a 4.6% inflation, and that from this positive tendency the Mexican government is expecting an economic growth of at least 3% in 2010 and of 5% by the end of his administration. Calderón further stated that his government's intention is to transform Mexico into one of the most strong economies in a global level and that moments like this are the best moments to improve the country's economy.

Is this truly the end of the recession in Mexico? What can we expect from this? Do you think we can become a strong economy on a worldwide level, as Calderón thinks we can? I think only time will tell, but it is not only up to the government, it is also up to us.

Source: "Acaba la Recesión, asegura Calderón." Periódico El Imparcial [Hermosillo] 6 Nov 2009. General: 09

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Interactive Middle East

I found a very useful and complete map of the Middle East, where we can find further information on each country. It includes information such as ethnic groups, religion, resources, language and borders throughout the years. Also, in the same webpage you can find a summary of Middle East informations, including Geography, Religion, Politics, Economy, among others. There's also an interactive timeline that can help us understand this region's history. Here's the link for youto take a look:

Global Connections - The Middle East

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Karzai Against Corruption

We have seen the blog and all news sites flooded by articles on the newest elections in Afghanistan, and the winner Hamir Karzai. Yesterday at a news conference in Kabul, Karzai gave his first words since he was elected President. On the resignation of Abdullah he said:

"It would have been better for our country, for the democratic process and for us, if our brother Dr Abdullah had participated... and the second round had taken place,"

On other comments, he said that the government has been seriously discredited by administrative corruption, and he promised to "try to remove this stigma from our soil and our country in any possible way." He said he would work with anyone, wether or not they were on his side on the elections. He also called the Talibans to come home and embrace their land. To that, a resurgent Taliban responded: ""What is astonishing is two weeks ago they were arguing that the puppet president Hamid Karzai was involved in electoral fraud... but now he is elected as president based on those same fraudulent votes, Washington and London immediately send their congratulations"

Were the elections a fraud or not? We don't know, but there are several reasons that could point to a fraudulent elections. Several votes were discounted, bringing Karzai's votes to less than the 50% required for outright victory, so a second round was needed. The second round was scrapped to save money.

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Obama on Afghanistan's Elections

We all know that Hamid Karzai has been elected the new president of Afghanistan, but what does President Obama has to say about the elections? Here is a short video from CNN, where he congratulates the elected president and gives his opinion on the events:

Edit: There's a problem with the embedded video, but here's the link:

Obama on Afghan Elections

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And then there were none...

Global warming isn't new. Everybody knows about it, everybody talks about it. It is no secret. But how long will it be before we see actual consequences? In the past years, we have heard various news about the polar ice caps melting, and worldwide pollution, and we have seen various initiatives being implemented by some governments and non-governmental organisations. According to the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), global warming will be unstoppable, therefore irremediable, if the world doesn't commit to green technologies by 2014... that's a little more than 4 years from now.

According to their research, total greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are estimated at 463 parts per million. And we are dangerously close to 475 ppm, point at which according to studies reversing the damages will be impossible, and runaway climate changes will be more likely. But if we can get to a comfortable spot of 400 ppm, we will be able to prevent massive damage and worldwide catastrophes.

And now, we start to see the consequences. According to a study by the University of Ohio, the ice and snow caps of mount Kilimanjaro are disappearing. If current conditions persist, Kilimanjaro's glaciers will be gone within the next 20 years. The plateau shrank (melted) 85% when compared to 1912. And 26% of this shrinkage happened in the last 8 years. The disappearance of Mount Kilimanjaro's ice caps would have an effect on Tanzania's economy, as it welcomes around 40000 visitors each year. But more concerning is the fact that if we don't do something today, not only these ice caps will be gone, but global warming will be unstoppable.

Sources:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/11/02/kilimanjaro.glaciers/index.html

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-10/wwf-report-we-have-until-2014-stop-global-warming

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Happy Birthday Internet!

Last week the Internet celebrated its 40th birthday. It was in October 1969 when the first two nodes of what would become ARPANET, and later would become the tool that we use daily today, and which has become a necessity for most of us, were connected.. It has come a long way since then: who would imagine back then that someday you would be able to communicate instantly with people all over the world, or the later-to-become worldwide fever, YouTube? PopSci has an article congratulating the Internet while mentioning 5 milestones it accomplished during its lifetime. Here's the link:

Happy 40th Birthday, Internet! Five Milestones in the Ever-Evolving History of the Web

And those are just five of them, we could also mention different multi-million user pages, P2P sharing, blogs, and who knows what's to come.

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EU: Hsitory and Legislature

I found two very good videos on the European Union. The first one, tells the history of the EU in 5 minutes, with images and years. It doesn't only mention what we've seen in class, but it also expands on that information and gives some extra facts. It's a nice way to review the EU history for those of you who like a more visual approach.

The second video explains how the legislature in the European Union works. How are the laws made? Who makes up the Parliament? Who proposes and who approves laws? You can find all the answers and more in the video, which is explained in the easiest way possible. Understanding how the Parliament works tells us a lot of the cooperation needed between all the countries of the EU, and how it all works kind of like just one country. I hope you find them as interesting as I did, specially this one. There is another video explaining the Lisbon Treaty and the different views, as well as some problems and repercussions. Here are the links:

European Union - 50 years in 5 minutes!

The EU Parliament and the Treaty of Lisbon

The Lisbon Treaty's Social Side

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Turkey in the EU?

As we all know from the classes, and some comments on the blog, Turkey has wanted to accede the European Union since 1987, when it made its application. Even though Turkey has been an associate member of the European Union since 1963, it was one of the first members of the Council of Europe in 1949, was a founding member of the OECD, and is also an associate member of the Eastern European Union, its EU membership has been pending since 1999. To access the EU, Turkey must first successfully complete negotiations with the European Commission on each of the 35 chapters of the Acquis Communautaire (the total body of EU laws accumulated so far)., most of which are currently close to completion, while others need considerable efforts (to see the full chart go this article on Wikipedia).

There are different points of view from the different leaders of the world on wether Turkey should or not join the European Union. Former french president Jacques Chirac supporeted Turkey's entrance, but he said that the country needed to undergo a "major cultural revolution" (read: religion incompatibility) and that it would take them at least 10 years. Queen Elizabeth II also supports Turkey's bid, "Turkey, with its strategic location straddling Europe and Asia, would be an asset for the European Union." she stated. In contrast, the current French president Nicholas Sarkozy opposes its entrance, his major reason being that Turkey is not in Europe, but in Asia Minor, instead what he wishes "to offer Turkey is a true partnership with Europe, but not integration into Europe". Angela Merkel, the German chancellor also opposes Turkey's full entrance to the EU. Other leaders that support Turkey are Spain's Prime Minister Zapatero, Italian Prime and Foreign Ministers Silvio Berlusconi and Franco Frattini (respectively), and Portuguese State Secretary for European Affairs Manuel Lobo Antunes.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Turkey_to_the_European_Union

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/1499966/Turks-need-cultural-revolution-to-join-EU.html

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Mexico-EU Free Trade Agreement

As we all have seen in class, Mexico was the first Latin American country to sign a partnership agreement with the European Union (the Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement) in 1997, although it entered into force in 2000. It covers political dialog, free trade in goods and services, and cooperation programs in various sectors. When I heard this in class I always felt curious about what and how much was Mexico trading with the EU, so here yo have some facts and statistics:

1) The European Union is Mexico's biggest export market after the USA.

2) Trade in Goods:

- EU imports from Mexico: € 11.9 billion

- EU exports to Mexico: € 20.9 billion

- Key Imports from Mexico: mineral products, machinery and electric equipment, transport equipment, and optic photo precision instruments.

- Key Exports to Mexico: machinery and electric equipment, transport equipment, chemical products, and mineral products.

3) Not only does this agreement cover goods, but also services:

- Imports from Mexico: € 2.7 billion (travel, sea transport, air transport, and construction services)

- Exports to Mexico: € 4.1 billion (travel, sea transport, air transport, and computer and information services)

Furthermore, the Mexico-EU FTA foresees that both parties will further liberalise trade in agricultural goods, services and investment. These are clauses reviews that haven't yet been concluded, but they will be in the future. In conclusion, there is a high dependancy between Mexico's and the European Union's economies.

Sources:

http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/bilateral/countries/mexico/index_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/mexico/index_en.htm

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Merkel's new coalition?

As you all may know, Angela Merkel won the German elections, and is yet again "a Chancellor for all Germans", as pledged by Merkel herself. But what differences are to come with her new government? According to CNN, Merkel is eyeing a new coalition to replace her party's (Christian Democratic Union) previous coalition with the Social Democratic Party. She is expected to form a new coalition with the Free Democratic Party, a more economically liberal party, which would have big implications to Germany. But what would this implicate?

According to CNN's Fred Pleitgen, there will be a lot more pro-business policies than in the past and a smaller government. The FDP openly stated that they need a tax structure reform. All this is "to secure jobs, create new ones and drive growth more decisively" in these difficult economic times, as stated by Merkel. This would be in line with the FDP's political guidelines that sustainthe principles of freedom and individual responsibility under a government "as extensive as necessary, and as limited as possible"

Merkel eyes new coalition after victory - CNN

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China's young communists

A recent CNN article shows us some insight on communism in China, and how it is regarded by the people. It is an interview to three members of the Communist Youth League and the China Communist Party (currently the largest political party, with 75 million members). When talking about communism, Natalie Chen, an 18-year old freshman at Peking University said that she thinks communism is "an ideal state of society that everyone should pursue" and that it is a great society as everybody has equal opportunities. In the interview, they talk about how the Communist Party started as a group of revolutionary farmers with a tumultuous rule, and how in the next 30 years China was transformed with the implementation of new economic goals and gradual openness to the outside world, which is why the Communist Party now is largely credited with delivering the country from isolation to economic prosperity.

Despite all this, the Party's biggest achievement has been surviving for 60 years as the one and only political party... in the most populated country of the world. When asked about fairness in China and what the Communist Party really stands for, these students couldn't respond but with vague answers. Still, this article got me thinking how a point of view can vary so much in a different country or culture. A lot of people in China see Communism as the best form of government (backed up by the number of members in its party) but if you went to the US, the European Union or here in Mexico and asked the people which form of government is the best, I don't think the answers would fall that much towards communism. This talks about how a different culture (and education) provides a different point of view, also about how even the youth in China agrees with Communism, while people may think that it is imposed by the higher ranks. Also you can comment on communism.. What do you think of it? Do you think that Communism could bring wealth and power to our country as it did to China?

A conversation with China's young communists - CNN

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WWII 70th Anniversary

I was reading today's news in CNN and came along some WWII news. It turns out that today is the 70th Anniversary of the Second World War, as it is generally held to be September 1, 1939. Just to let you know, in case you didn't already (like me). One of the articles talks about the commemoration of the anniversary in Poland. Also, while reading the articles I found how useful this class can be as, besides knowing more on the history of each war, they mentioned some important leaders that we saw in class today, one being the German chancellor Angela Merkel. Before today's class I didn't know her name and I didn't even know that Germany was governed by a woman, and I know more about some international leaders. Both articles talk about WWII in Poland, and has some testimonies from actual Polish WWII veterans. Here they are:

Leaders mark 70th Anniversary of World War II

WWII anything but history for Poland

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World War III?

I came along this interesting article (could be called a blog post) about humans and their tendency to compare each other and fight. It analyses past wars and their motivations, and it even says that a World War III could be imminent, mainly because of human nature and countries' urge for power and money. It also talks about strong countries, pointing out that the next war could be led by China and the US, as the former sees China's economic and power rise as a threat. The article even mentions one quote we talked about in the first class (if I remember correctly), regarding the next world war. Its a good read. Also, I liked the webpage; it covers from politics and history to movies and book reviews. I recommend you to take a look.

http://theviewspaper.net/ww-iii-–-world-war-3/

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The Power of Nations

The other day in class, we talked about what nations were powerful, what powerful meant, what nations could become powerful and things like that...

So, that got me thinking. What makes a nation truly great? Economic power? The natural resources? Military prowess?

Yes, mayhaps that does help the nations achieve greatness. But I think we all forgot to mention the prime resource of any nation. The backbone of it all, the base upon which the nation was founded!

Its people.

Truly, the treasure of a nation if its people. If not for those workers who toil most of their lives, in whatever they do, be it farming or working in an office, teaching or taking care of a family... In the end, any nation could not be what it is without the work of the people!

So, all those people that think that some nations will never be outstanding in anyway... well, one thing I have learned, is that, when there is people... anything is possible!

So let's make sure we, as the true treasure of not only our countries, but of the world, make the best out of the time we have been given on this earth.

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Life and Death in a Trench

As I read the blog I was remembering previous classes and one doubt came into my head. How different would my life had been if I had lived in time of war, let's say World War I? And yet how much more different it would have been if I were American, French or even German and I HAD to fight for my country? So I searched for info or memoires from WW1 and found a very interesting article that describes the life in the trenches. This article really paints a live, but not pretty, image of a trench. Yes, we all know from our history lessons that life in trenches were conquered by death, and that it was a not-so-good life, but for example: did you know about a popular medical condition that trench men suffered, which eventually led to feet amputation? Or about the rat infestation of trenches? Not only did soldiers had to live among carcasses but they also saw how the rotten bodies of their dead comrades were slowly devoured by rats. The webpage also offers a lot of information from WW1, everything you need is found there; it is really good. Hope it helps.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/trenchlife.htm

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Excellent Resource - Hiroshima

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Dear Students,

It´s been 64 years since the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. This link provides excellent high-quality photographs of the disaster, for you to appreciate just how destructive the bomb was, and why we really do need to think before we use nuclear weapons.

I will say that this website in general is excellent, but do be advised that some of the images are graphic in nature.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/08/hiroshima_64_years_ago.html

Have a good weekend,



Maestro.

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