Al Gore, the ex-vicepresident of the United States, has surely known how to transfer his political popularity into his interest for the environment. The first proof of this is the numbers of people he gathered when he presented his first book, called "An Inconvenient Truth". With this, he came into the spotlight for ambientalists, and was given the nickname of eco-prophet by many.
Now, he presents his second book, called "Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis". With it, he builds up from where the last book ended, and talks about such themes as biofuels and using wind as a reliable and durable energy source.
We all know that our world is in danger, but first we have to know what we can do to save it. If you would like to know more, please click below...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/220552
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Al Gore, the Eco-Prophet
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
How many Mexican guns come from the US?
As we all know, the vast majority of the weapons used by drug dealers and criminal organizations in our country come from the United States. Prominent politicians like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have gone as far as to say that roughly 90% of the guns that have been recovered come from their country. Could those numers be right?
First of all, we should have a good idea of the guns that have been recovered by the Mexican police. However, all attemps to find a solid number have been unsuccessful, since estimated numbers say that less than 20% of the guns recovered have been traced back to the United States, which leaves us to wonder: what in the world happens with the other ones? As one can expect, no official word has been said by the Mexican authorities.
Although it is expectable that the majority of the weapons used in Mexico come from the United States, due to ease with which they can be transported, this brings a lot of things into question. Without a doubt, the most important is what happens with all the weapons that are not traced back to their origin. The least dangerous example would be if the Mexican police kept them, but what if they do not? What if they come back to the criminal organizations, which is plausible, due to the corruption levels in our country?
So, what do you think that happens with that arsenal, is it used for good or not? Feel free to share your opinion...
To keep on reading, please click below...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/194791
Will Venice become deserted?
As we know, the beautiful city of Venice is sinking year by year. Predictions say that it will totally be underwater in less than 100 years. However, new predictions have come out that establish that the entire permanent population may cease to exist by 2030.
There are several reasons for this, but the main one is that life has become really expensive. The tourists are still there, but the problem is that not even half of the daily tourist population sleeps in Venetian hotels. They just go during the day and have a picnic, which leads to the tourists not spending a single euro in the city.
As time has passed, the economic difficulties have taken residents to pay more and more each time for all of their daily items, like food and water. The "tourist" and "local" prices have even become the same due to said problems.
As we can see, the future is not looking very bright for this legendary and beautiful city, pillar of the Italian economy and a very important part of the tourist side of Europe, so what do you think the government should do to preserve it?
To keep on reading, click the link below...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/220748
Obama's new problem: Iranian protesters
As you may know, the Iranian presidential election held in June was a very controversial one. To this day, there are thousands of protesters who come out and fight to take down the regime. However, Obama may have commited and enormous mistake when he manifested that he would be willing to give his support to the Iranian rebels.
Today, in the 30-year anniversary of the American embassy takeover in Tehran, protesters are asking Obama to stnd up to his word and help them. They yell such things as "Obama, Obama! Either with them or with us!" The "them" in the chant means Ahmadinejad (their president) and the regime that is in possession of the country.
Now Obama has a big problem, because in one hand he has a percentage of the population that are on his side, but only if he helps them. On the other hand, he has the authorities of the country who are negotiating a nuclear deal with the United States.
So... what will Obama do now?
To know more about this, please visit the page below...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/221114
The Tibet situation... is it really like we think it is?
I think it's safe to say that everyone of us has heard about the situation between Tibet and China. Usually, we see things like "Free Tibet" and "Justice for Tibet". However, we have to understand that the Chinese have their reasons for having that relationship with Tibet, and Tibet also has its reasons for not getting out of China's control. So what if the Chinese power over Tibet has brought some positive consequences? Or could it be that the media has lied to all of us during all this time?
This is a video I found that explains the truth behind all the situation and says that the media has manipulated the situation in order for us to build up a kind of hatred towards China. This would benefit the United States in various aspects, as we can notice. So, I invite you to watch it and form your own opinion. Enjoy...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The Full Story of Iran's Nuclear Program...
Here is a video I found that explains the truth behind Iran's nuclear program. It talks about their motives and it makes us ask ourselves if Iran should really be punished so severely for having nuclear weapons, if they have never invaded anyone.
It was made by journalist Robert Fisk, who has recently been fighting for equality and comprehension for the people of the Middle East.
The only thing that we sould ask ourselves is: is it so wrong for them to have weapons, even if they have been invaded before and they have been attacked by the biggest and most powerful countries?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sarkozy's Obama envy...
I was reading a very interesting article and I decided to share it with you guys. It talks about how presidents can affect the relationship between countries, using Sarkozy and Obama, along with Gordon Brown as examples.
The article makes reference to the G20 convention in Pittsburgh earlier this week, and how Sarkozy looked a little jealous of Obama, even though they fought for the same things at the events. The reason for this is that Sarkozy has been a pioneer of several new things during his time as president, and in some measure, Obama has been the follower.
This time, Obama was in the spotlight in an event that was promoted by the Fench president, and he certainly did not like this. The relations between countries are not fractured or anything, but do you think that this situation between the presidents could affect alliances in the future?
To read more, please visit...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/216240
The "TNT" in "suicide bomber"
Recently, the FBI has been investigating about suicide bombers and their motives, as there have been a good number of attacks lately. Normally, one would think that suicide bombers are just people who want to damage our world, but we have to remember that they are still people on the inside. What could be the motives to drive someone to an action like that?
Recent studies have proven that there are 3 elements in the minds of young suicide bombers, wich have begun to be called TNT: Testosterone, Narrative and Theater. Testosterone is mentioned because the mindset that has arisen among them is dominated entirely by men. The narrative consists in that each of them has a story to tell and dreams to fulfill, even if those dreams are not the most innocent. And last but not least, each one of them wants to attract attention from the world by way of explosions.
If you want to know more about the study and their way of thinking, please visit:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/216401
The EU: Leading the way or just an imploding bomb?
During the course of this class, we have all seen the benefits that can be attained if we achieve a level of integration such as the one from the EU. With no borders, countries can work with each other in order to make improvements and contribute to an ever-extending globalised society.
However, we also have to think about the negative aspects of said union. For example: we all know that the EU has very specific criteria for countries who want to join, like being a democracy and some other things. But what happens when a country who fulfilled that criteria goes bankrupt? It would borrow lots of money from the union, which could severely affect the most powerful and wealthy countries. We can also cite examples of countries that benefit a lot from said unions, but do not give enough in return, such as the countries in Eastern Europe.
All in all, the EU is leading the way for the rest of the world in terms of integration, be it economical, social or political. But before thinking integration of that kind may be the future, we have to wonder: could it transform itself into an imploding bomb in the long run, making the problems it tried to solve even worse?
China & India...
When we talk about the economy all over the world, it s obvious we will say that China’s economy is one of the most powerful. Knowing about the US crisis, instead of think of Europe, we think in Asia, especially China. The most important thing to note of the economy growing in Southeast was because of the infrastructure development in those countries. The cheap labour in those countries had helped a lot in the manufacturing, therefore the massive exportation of products had made an extreme impact in the world.
We would not view China as a threat to the rest of the world, but it will definitely be the next big power. The reason for this is their working force, since it is the most populated country of the planet and their work ethic in unparalleled. Besides, no nation in the world can match up to their costs and they also offer a very good quality, in contrast to how their products were in the future.
However, I think China will have to achieve a higher level of political credibility before being recognized as the next big thing. They should focus on developing good relations with all the other big countries in order for their voice to be heard on the global stage.
All in all, we agree with the idea of China as the world’s next most powerful country, but they are still lacking in some important areas. They have to develop their international relations if they want to be taken into consideration seriously, but all in all, only time will tell…
Of course, globalisation will have a positive impact on the people of India and China. With the expansion of trade and technology, communication between all kinds of people will grow and even more people born in these countries will travel to live in different ones. However, there will also be some negative consequences. As we know, with better communications and relations between countries, India and China could develop into even more diverse countries, with a wide array of languages being spoken and more foreign influence every time. Last but not least, all the development and technological advances will end up in a decrease of Chinese and Indian culture, since people will focus more on their everyday lives and in keeping up with time than in carrying on with traditions.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
BBC video about Globalisation...
This is a video I found about the effects of globalisation in our planet, with a special focus on the environment and its protection. It was made by the BBC and directed by Sharron Ward.
It makes some interesting remarks about how industry affects the climate and the environment, but it also mentions how they could use the same types of technology to get rid of wastes and to use everything more efficiently. Keep an eye out for the part where they say that big industries can refocus their efforts and transform residuals into something useful. It may be a great idea for the future, if we can put it together...
USB 3.0...
In relation to today's class about globalisation, I found this article on how technology will help in the creation of new information and its transfering.
More specifically, it talks about the new kind of the USB port we all know and have learned to love, USB 3.0. As specified in the text, this new version of the device will allow us to transfer information faster and with more fidelity, even when working with heavy or complicated programs.
It is just a matter of time for it to come out and hit every household out there... and who knows what will come next...
For more specifications on the device, we can benefit from the link below...
http://www.everythingusb.com/superspeed-usb.html
Twitter, new evolution or obsolete IM ?
China is on the rise...
As seen in class, China is on the road to being the next big power in the world. With that in mind, I decided to share this article with all of you. It talks about how China advanced one spot this year to be the 29th most competitive economy despite the current global financial crisis. This was said during the World Economic Forum, based in Geneva.
For the the full article, please visit the original page.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-09/09/content_8669073.htm
Read More......
Monday, August 31, 2009
Did you know?
Hi! This is a video I found after last class. It explains how today's world is evolving with the use of new technologies and how the population of the world and its organization is expected to change. I figured it would fit in well with the questions we answered last class about the most powerful countries and what we think will happen in the future. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and yes, we indeed are living in exponential times...