*[[___ welcomee `-//*
Once again, Plasma welcomes you =)
Have Fun!
`` food for thought. [#] `-
Monday, May 22, 2006
As mentioned in my previous articles, free trade is an ideal world whereby many countries are working towards. However, there is also the other side of the coin whereby countries practice protectionism.
Protectionism would enable a country’s goods and services to have a higher niche above the rest. This would help to protect their people from foreign competiton. Countries which practice protectionism would impose heavy tariffs on imported goods and set restrictive quotas for goods coming from other countries. In this way, local goods would be cheaper and thus the people would buy local goods instead of imported goods. This would encourage economic growth in the countries and to prevent leakages of the country’s money to foreign companies.
There are three major advantages of protectionism. Firstly, protectionism would enable the country’s own economy to grow and lead the country to greater prosperity. If foreign goods are made cheaper than local product, the people would chose the foreign goods and cause the local factories to shut down and lay off all the workers. This would create unemployment and instability in the country. Secondly, if a local company and foreign company compete for an extended period of time, there might be suffrage from either side. And if the local company loses out, that would mean that the country is totally dependent on a foreign company. And if the foreign company decided to stop its import to the country, the whole country might just collapse. Thirdly, some countries also use protectionism as a way to threaten the other country to lower their tariffs on other goods.
Both protectionism and free trade are ways for countries to improve their country’s standard of living and GDP. But, these two are extreme ends on how it should be done. I feel that to achieve the best results would be to achieve equilibrium between the two. It would be a hard route to achieve the two but, if it is done, the benefits would definitely more worth while, since you get the best of both worlds.
-woonyee
Protectionism would enable a country’s goods and services to have a higher niche above the rest. This would help to protect their people from foreign competiton. Countries which practice protectionism would impose heavy tariffs on imported goods and set restrictive quotas for goods coming from other countries. In this way, local goods would be cheaper and thus the people would buy local goods instead of imported goods. This would encourage economic growth in the countries and to prevent leakages of the country’s money to foreign companies.
There are three major advantages of protectionism. Firstly, protectionism would enable the country’s own economy to grow and lead the country to greater prosperity. If foreign goods are made cheaper than local product, the people would chose the foreign goods and cause the local factories to shut down and lay off all the workers. This would create unemployment and instability in the country. Secondly, if a local company and foreign company compete for an extended period of time, there might be suffrage from either side. And if the local company loses out, that would mean that the country is totally dependent on a foreign company. And if the foreign company decided to stop its import to the country, the whole country might just collapse. Thirdly, some countries also use protectionism as a way to threaten the other country to lower their tariffs on other goods.
Both protectionism and free trade are ways for countries to improve their country’s standard of living and GDP. But, these two are extreme ends on how it should be done. I feel that to achieve the best results would be to achieve equilibrium between the two. It would be a hard route to achieve the two but, if it is done, the benefits would definitely more worth while, since you get the best of both worlds.
-woonyee
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
12:02 AM
have anice day! //*
Sunday, May 21, 2006
FOOD and Globalization
One of the best examples to support globalization would be the increased variety of food available.
Looking at Singapore, who is multicultural and considered a food paradise, it is only possible to attain that status through providing as many different types of food from countries all over the world to satisfy taste buds.
It has given people all over the world a choice to consume what he or she wishes to. Healthier meals, meals filled with rich cream, tasty food, and food made with spices, are all so different, yet they appeal to people all over the world. This has been a chance for cultures all over the world to flaunt their delicacies and share it with the world. Some people who are allergic to some sort of food may look into other sorts to satisfy their hunger pangs. Globalization has made food a luxury available to almost everyone and given people the freedom of choice.
Malay Chinese Japanese Indian
Thai Italian
One of the best examples to support globalization would be the increased variety of food available.
Looking at Singapore, who is multicultural and considered a food paradise, it is only possible to attain that status through providing as many different types of food from countries all over the world to satisfy taste buds.
It has given people all over the world a choice to consume what he or she wishes to. Healthier meals, meals filled with rich cream, tasty food, and food made with spices, are all so different, yet they appeal to people all over the world. This has been a chance for cultures all over the world to flaunt their delicacies and share it with the world. Some people who are allergic to some sort of food may look into other sorts to satisfy their hunger pangs. Globalization has made food a luxury available to almost everyone and given people the freedom of choice.
Malay Chinese Japanese Indian
Thai Italian
and so much more!!!
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
11:50 PM
have anice day! //*
[The political expert, Eugene.]
Ever wonder where you get most of you information for projects from? The library is one good source, parents as well, teachers, friends etc. But the most common source of pooled information is the internet. In this time of the information revolution, when almost every household has at least one computer, everyone has access to the internet. Even if a person doesn't own a computer, he/she would probably know someone who does, and the both of them could use the computer together.
With this ability to pool information and share it with the world, people are becoming more intelligent overnight. If anyone wanted to find out about globalization, for example, all they would have to do is type "globalization" in any search engine and I'm sure there would be links available to cater to the person's wants. Politically this is very useful as people now have access to knowledge that everyone can have. With this power, it's sure that there won't be a repeat of the Qin Shihuang period, where he killed all intellectuals as a measure to make sure that all his servants were not intelligent enough to override his rule.
As a result, the governments now are much less corrupt and treat their citizens fairly and as intellectuals. With this new system in place, governments are more efficient and well run as compared to the governments in the past. Pooling information also allows for the building up of knowledge and this allows for people to build on other people's previous discoveries. This works for the betterment of mankind in whole. This pooling of information can also cause dispute and work against political harmony, as people may be doing the same thing but when published at the same time, they might fight over who's idea it originally is.
The idea of pooling information generally works for the better of Man, as people can work on each other's ideas and make the world a better place for everyone. Politically, this also works as countried can learn from the mistakes other countries make and not repeat the same mistake. Thus, the pooling of information is generally good in the political sense.
Ever wonder where you get most of you information for projects from? The library is one good source, parents as well, teachers, friends etc. But the most common source of pooled information is the internet. In this time of the information revolution, when almost every household has at least one computer, everyone has access to the internet. Even if a person doesn't own a computer, he/she would probably know someone who does, and the both of them could use the computer together.
With this ability to pool information and share it with the world, people are becoming more intelligent overnight. If anyone wanted to find out about globalization, for example, all they would have to do is type "globalization" in any search engine and I'm sure there would be links available to cater to the person's wants. Politically this is very useful as people now have access to knowledge that everyone can have. With this power, it's sure that there won't be a repeat of the Qin Shihuang period, where he killed all intellectuals as a measure to make sure that all his servants were not intelligent enough to override his rule.
As a result, the governments now are much less corrupt and treat their citizens fairly and as intellectuals. With this new system in place, governments are more efficient and well run as compared to the governments in the past. Pooling information also allows for the building up of knowledge and this allows for people to build on other people's previous discoveries. This works for the betterment of mankind in whole. This pooling of information can also cause dispute and work against political harmony, as people may be doing the same thing but when published at the same time, they might fight over who's idea it originally is.
The idea of pooling information generally works for the better of Man, as people can work on each other's ideas and make the world a better place for everyone. Politically, this also works as countried can learn from the mistakes other countries make and not repeat the same mistake. Thus, the pooling of information is generally good in the political sense.
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
11:15 PM
have anice day! //*
Globalization and Sports
Globalization has affected sports in many regions around the world, not only has it helped to boost a sense of cohesion, it has also served to provide different forms of exercise into the lives of those in other countries.
Globalization has affected sports in many regions around the world, not only has it helped to boost a sense of cohesion, it has also served to provide different forms of exercise into the lives of those in other countries.
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a sport that uses organized routines made up of elements from dance and gymnastics to cheer on sports teams at games and matches, and/or as a competitive sport. This sport originated in Princeton University, starting out only an element of support and spirit raisers in games such as football. In the 1960s National Football League (NFL) teams began to organize professional cheerleading teams. It was the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders who gained the spotlight with their revealing outfits and sophisticated dance moves, which debuted in the 1972-1973 season, but were first seen widely in Super Bowl X (1976). This caused the image of cheerleaders to permanently change, with many other NFL teams emulating them. Although people of the East may comment that it is rude to show so much flesh, it is the team's choice of attire, which has become liked and a normal over the past few decades. Contrary to what other people think, cheerleading is not only about bimbos cheering the crowd on. There are national competitions held for cheerleading where teams have to put in a lot of hard work to shine in. This fosters a close sense of team spirit amongst them. Previously only present in the US, cheerleading has spread worldwide and it is even practised in Singapore.
Volleyball
Volleyball is an Olympic sport in which two teams, separated by a high net, hit a ball back and forth over the net between the teams. Each team is allowed three hits to get the ball over the net to the other team. A point is scored if the ball hits the ground in the opponents' court, if the opponents commit a fault, or if they fail to return the ball properly. It originated in US and has now spread to many countries such as Canada, Brazil, Russia, China, and almost all of Asia.
Volleyball can be a very active sport that can provide an excellent level of aerobic exercise. It also helps players improve their hand-eye coordination and the ability to override the instinctive desire to dodge a fast-moving object such as a ball. Not only may volleyball be played in the court, but beach volleyball is also a very common and usual thing to do. Friends who go to the beach for a day to chill out and have fun not only get the sun, but also the exercise.
Basketball
Basketball is a sport in which two teams of five players each try to score points on one other by shooting a ball through a hoop (the basket) under organized rules. a Canadian-born physician and minister on the faculty of a college for YMCA professionals (today, Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, sought a vigorous indoor game to keep young men occupied during the long New England winters. Anyone who has watched the game would immediately known how much teamwork and strategy is needed, as well as the physical ability to keep up with this vigorous sport.
Swimming
Swimming is a technique to move unaided through water which has been known since prehistoric times and was part of the first modern Olympic games in 1896 in Athens. Not only is swimming a great way to keep fit, but it is also a basic survival skill. From this sport, many others have branched out that require swimming, such as water polo, water ballet, competitive swimming, etc. All these not only enhance a person's ability to break one's limits and push oneself on, it also serves as a platform for bonding.
Thus, in the area of sports, globalization has indeed done the world favours and helped to foster team spirit, and to inspire one to do better than one ever did before. It has also enabled people from all over the world to be able to choose from a large selection of sports, and helping to give each and everyone a choice to exercise.
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
11:08 PM
have anice day! //*
Once in while, when you flip through the newspaper, you would find articles about countries signing some free trade agreements. As globalization progress, free trade had become an aim that the world, or to be more specific the developing countries, to achieve. With free trade, companies from any country can trade anywhere on the globe without taxes. This would help poorer countries to catch up with the richer ones and thus, leading to a faster economic growth for them. More jobs will be provided, hence, a higher standard of living. While free trade has many advantages, it will benefit developing countries the most. Thus, stronger and richer countries would oppose to the idea. One of the most prominent groups is the European Union. As example is how their farmers get to forgo paying taxes while goods that come in from other countries have a pay a heavy sum of tax.
Free trade can enable the world to solve the problem of poverty. With free trade, countries whose people live in extreme poverty will have their economies growing faster and thus, the poor will stand to benefit. The whole process is a cycle whereby with free trade, there will be more investment, thus, more employment leading to faster economic growth and better living conditions for the people.
Due to its benefits, more and more nations are signing the free trade agreement. One of them is ASEAN. ASEAN had signed the free trade agreement. With it, participating nations will be able to exercise free trade with one another.
Globalization of the economy is also about how the economies of every countries are able to open up and form a global economy where by all the nations will be able to be part of it and everyone’s benefit will be taken care of.
-woonyee
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
11:01 PM
have anice day! //*
[The political expert, Eugene.]
Globalization affects the way leaders plan policies, or even lead their country. For example, in the Rwandan Genocide, through the internet, television, books and mass media, the news spread and people learnt about the genocide. Wide spread education was implemented and people learnt about the importance of racial harmony. This policy of introducing the idea of racial harmony is part of the result in globalization, as globalization also leads to the diversifying of races throughout the world.
Airplanes and more convenient systems of transport all over the world will allow flow of people throughout the world; Asians will move to the United States. Europeans might move to Asia and so on. Globalizaton has made the world a global village, and as a result policies have to alter and change to suit this new system. Embassies have to be set up in other countries, more foreign-aid companies might have to be set up, and the government must also find a way of dealing with these foreigners.
The idea that foreigners are all around the world is ironic, that globalization is the whole world becoming one village. That every country is supposed to be one, and that there aren't supposed to be foreigners in the first place. This contradicts with the idea of globalization as there are so many foreigners in one country due to globalization. But that is out of the point, the point I'm trying to make is that because there are so many foreigners in one country, that country has to make policies to suit these foreigners or else there might be conflict within the country.
Globalization sets the ground for countries to curb their policy making for the betterment of the country's internation relations. Because of this increase in tourism or nation to nation moving of citizens, countries have to cater to their needs and such. Also they will have to educate people about certain controversial issues such as racial discrimination, so as to prevent the foreigners from being scrutinised. The government, in this manner, is attempting to make good political ties with other countries.
Thus, the political nature in policies made by the government, in relation to globalization.
Globalization affects the way leaders plan policies, or even lead their country. For example, in the Rwandan Genocide, through the internet, television, books and mass media, the news spread and people learnt about the genocide. Wide spread education was implemented and people learnt about the importance of racial harmony. This policy of introducing the idea of racial harmony is part of the result in globalization, as globalization also leads to the diversifying of races throughout the world.
Airplanes and more convenient systems of transport all over the world will allow flow of people throughout the world; Asians will move to the United States. Europeans might move to Asia and so on. Globalizaton has made the world a global village, and as a result policies have to alter and change to suit this new system. Embassies have to be set up in other countries, more foreign-aid companies might have to be set up, and the government must also find a way of dealing with these foreigners.
The idea that foreigners are all around the world is ironic, that globalization is the whole world becoming one village. That every country is supposed to be one, and that there aren't supposed to be foreigners in the first place. This contradicts with the idea of globalization as there are so many foreigners in one country due to globalization. But that is out of the point, the point I'm trying to make is that because there are so many foreigners in one country, that country has to make policies to suit these foreigners or else there might be conflict within the country.
Globalization sets the ground for countries to curb their policy making for the betterment of the country's internation relations. Because of this increase in tourism or nation to nation moving of citizens, countries have to cater to their needs and such. Also they will have to educate people about certain controversial issues such as racial discrimination, so as to prevent the foreigners from being scrutinised. The government, in this manner, is attempting to make good political ties with other countries.
Thus, the political nature in policies made by the government, in relation to globalization.
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
9:09 PM
have anice day! //*
Every morning, on the way to school, on the bus, do you people remember some news reporter reporting on the American’s stock market on Channel News Asia? The stock market that the reporter is referring to is the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, NASDAQ. NASDAQ is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities market in the US. It has about 3,300 listed companies in its list. NASDAQ was founded in 1971as a computer bulletin board system. However, over the years, it has grown to be one of the most active stock market in the US as well as in the world.
NASDAQ has a very influential position in the Singapore’s economy as well as the world’s economy. A minor shift or change in the stock market will bring about major crisis in the rest of the world. Through the stock market, things happening across the globe would affect the economy on the other end. For example, when there is a fall in the stock market in America, the stock markets in the rest of the world would follow suit and would even punch further.
Thus, besides connecting with one another across the globe, globalization is also about how economies around the world affect one another.
-woonyee
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
8:53 PM
have anice day! //*
I believe that many of us have heard about the website, http://www.forex.com/. FOREX.com is a division of GAIN Capital Group. It provides online forex trading to investors and traders from over 140 countries in the world. With the collaboration with GAIN Capital Group, which is one of the most respected online forex firms in the industry, FOREX.com is able to tap on its strength and experiences.Given training, trading in FOREX.com is a simple procedure that is safe and reliable. Besides so, forex training courses are also available to traders and investors all over the world for them to learn all the basic but essential knowledge that one needs to know to trade the forex market. Charts are also provided for investors and traderst to see the trend of the market
With the development of FOREX.com, I believe that trading in the forex market have been made a lot more easier and convenient. Trading in the forex market involves the buying and selling of currencies. Most transactions involve the trading of the US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar. And in the forex market itself, there is a daily average turnover of US$1.9 trillion. This is a huge pie which is up for grab for everyone. Forex.com provides 24-hrs service, thus, you can monitor any fluctuations of currencies caused by any economic, social or political event at all times. Nevertheless, the development of FOREX.com is also due to the advancement in technology. Together with technology, anyone can be trading in the forex market anywhere at anytime. Someone sitting in Singapore can change what is happening to the world’s currency market.
An example of how a country's currency can affect the other countries is the Asia economic crisis. The crisis started when the value of the Thai Baht started to drop drastically and hyper inflation occured. That led to the spin off of the whole econoic crisis.
Globalization has enabled anyone at anywhere to connect with each other anytime any day. A very good example of how globalization has affected the world’s economy is through the forex.com where one can trade at the forex market. Trading has been made simpler and available to anyone. And thus, the world becomes more and more closely linked to one another.
-woonyee
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
6:35 PM
have anice day! //*
"Shrinking of the World"
Technology
1) Transportations
2) Telecommunications
After covering so many posts on the many different types of technological tool which have aided in globalization in transportation and telecommunications, what will the future of globalization be like? The progress of technology is inevitable, and as technology progresses, countries will be so interconnected and interlinked, and telecommunications and transportation will be very efficient in the future. The quantity of people being transported and the quality of the different forms of transportation will definitely improve by leaps and bounds.
How will the future of globalization be like in 20 years down the road? How will the challenge of globalization affect how states are ruled in the future? How will globalization affect us humans in the future? Well, I'll leave it up to you to decide!
~Darius Teo a.k.a The Technological Expert~
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
6:08 PM
have anice day! //*
Flight!!!
Source: http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/charts/index.htm
Defining Globalization
Human societies across the globe have established progressively closer contacts over many centuries, but recently the pace has dramatically increased. Jet airplanes, cheap telephone service, email, computers, huge oceangoing vessels, instant capital flows, all these have made the world more interdependent than ever. Multinational corporations manufacture products in many countries and sell to consumers around the world. Money, technology and raw materials move ever more swiftly across national borders. Along with products and finances, ideas and cultures circulate more freely. As a result, laws, economies, and social movements are forming at the international level. Many politicians, academics, and journalists treat these trends as both inevitable and (on the whole) welcome. But for billions of the world’s people, business-driven globalization means uprooting old ways of life and threatening livelihoods and cultures. The global social justice movement, itself a product of globalization, proposes an alternative path, more responsive to public needs. Intense political disputes will continue over globalization’s meaning and its future direction.
Reflections:
Aeroplanes have boosted man’s ability to travel easily and in a shorter space of time to countries around the world. Aeroplanes have also aided in globalization as it is a form of transportation which enables people to be interlinked and interconnected whereby a person can travel and visit to other countries easily through aeroplanes.
In the past, people relied on steam ships to travel around the world. However, due to the industrial revolution in England, the famous Wright Brothers invented planes which later developed into our Boeings which we know today. These modern aeroplanes help a larger quantity people to travel from one country to another in a much shorter period of time. Other than for transportation, planes are also used in wars such as WWI and WWII in which the Japanese used their “Zero” airplanes which aided the Japanese in their quest for territorial expansion. Also, bombers were also used in wars. Enola Gay, the bomber which dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, caused massive destruction and suffering.
In the past, airplanes were used for the purpose of bringing people from one place to another, thus making transportation for people much more efficient and also for warfare. However, in the 21st century, aeroplanes has many different functions:
1) Business purposes - In 1932 the first Beechcraft Staggerwing was built use to serve as a business tool.
People had always been very interested in flight. Around 400 BC, the Chinese discovered the kite. The Chinese continued to build and test more kites for recreation, decorative purposes, and even testing weather conditions. Kites are very important in the history of flight as they helped pave the way for future inventions like hot air balloons and gliders.
Source: http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/charts/index.htm
Defining Globalization
Human societies across the globe have established progressively closer contacts over many centuries, but recently the pace has dramatically increased. Jet airplanes, cheap telephone service, email, computers, huge oceangoing vessels, instant capital flows, all these have made the world more interdependent than ever. Multinational corporations manufacture products in many countries and sell to consumers around the world. Money, technology and raw materials move ever more swiftly across national borders. Along with products and finances, ideas and cultures circulate more freely. As a result, laws, economies, and social movements are forming at the international level. Many politicians, academics, and journalists treat these trends as both inevitable and (on the whole) welcome. But for billions of the world’s people, business-driven globalization means uprooting old ways of life and threatening livelihoods and cultures. The global social justice movement, itself a product of globalization, proposes an alternative path, more responsive to public needs. Intense political disputes will continue over globalization’s meaning and its future direction.
Reflections:
Aeroplanes have boosted man’s ability to travel easily and in a shorter space of time to countries around the world. Aeroplanes have also aided in globalization as it is a form of transportation which enables people to be interlinked and interconnected whereby a person can travel and visit to other countries easily through aeroplanes.
In the past, people relied on steam ships to travel around the world. However, due to the industrial revolution in England, the famous Wright Brothers invented planes which later developed into our Boeings which we know today. These modern aeroplanes help a larger quantity people to travel from one country to another in a much shorter period of time. Other than for transportation, planes are also used in wars such as WWI and WWII in which the Japanese used their “Zero” airplanes which aided the Japanese in their quest for territorial expansion. Also, bombers were also used in wars. Enola Gay, the bomber which dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, caused massive destruction and suffering.
In the past, airplanes were used for the purpose of bringing people from one place to another, thus making transportation for people much more efficient and also for warfare. However, in the 21st century, aeroplanes has many different functions:
1) Business purposes - In 1932 the first Beechcraft Staggerwing was built use to serve as a business tool.
2) Commercial aviation - Commercial aviation today is dominate by two aircraft manufacturers, Boeing Aircraft Corporation and Aerobus Corporation.
3) Military aviation - many new airplanes are being developed today for stealth, speed and maneuverability. These airplanes have the latest technology at their disposal, for example, Computer-controlled flight systems, vectored-thrust (i.e. redirecting the jet engine's exhaust off the centerline axis of the plane), new materials to allow the airplane to operate at high temperature etc.
4) Goods - Airplanes today are frequently used for transporting mail, goods from one country to another. An example of such as plane would be Northwest Airlines which help to transport thousands of kilograms of mail each day.
History of flight:
The Montgolfier brothers proved in 1783 that flight was possible with balloons. However, these balloons were weak and it proved very difficult to steer. The inventors of the first airplane were the Wright brothers, or also known as Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright in 1903. After many years of testing and hard work, they achieved success with four test flights on 17 December 1903. The first test flight which was carried out lasted for 12 seconds in the air while the fourth and final test flight which was carried out lasted for 59 seconds. Although the time spent by the airplane in the air was very short, this event was significant since it showed that sustained flight was possible.
People had always been very interested in flight. Around 400 BC, the Chinese discovered the kite. The Chinese continued to build and test more kites for recreation, decorative purposes, and even testing weather conditions. Kites are very important in the history of flight as they helped pave the way for future inventions like hot air balloons and gliders.
Shrinking of the world:
1) Transportations --> Airplanes!
2) Telecommunications
~Darius Teo a.k.a The Technological Expert~
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
5:49 PM
have anice day! //*
This is an article that i have found, on The Straits Times newspaper on 17 April 2006. The article is written by Thomas Palley. It talks about the effect of globalization on the world economy....just something to share with you people...
-woonyee
Could globalization come crashing down?
Around the world there are growing rumbles about globalization, and these rumbles are not confined to activist anti-globalization movements. In East Asia, the financial crisis of 1997 left a jaundiced sense of globalization, though robust economic recovery has tempered that. Globalization’s standing has also been badly damaged in Latin America by the meltdown of the Argentine economy in 2000 and successive financial crises in Brazil in 1999 and 2001. In Europe, new fear about globalization is surfacing in a range of countries. In Poland it has taken the form of concern about foreign capital taking over the Polish banking system, and foreign takeover fears also permeate France and Italy. In France and Germany, working people link globalization with pressures to dismantle the social democratic state.
Among Americans, outsourcing of service-sector jobs has become a top concern, possibly the top concern. Opposition to free trade has crept up the income and social-strata ladder to include educated white-collar workers. This new opposition comes on top of existing resentments among blue-collar workers at the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs.
These developments have raised concerns about the durability of globalization among its supporters. In April 2005, Martin Wolf of “The Financial Times” gave a lecture titled “Will Globalization Survive?” at Washington's prestigious pro-globalization Institute for International Economics. More recently, Harvard professor Jeffry Frieden published a new book, “Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the 20th Century,” featured at a recent International Monetary Fund book forum. Frieden supports globalization, yet the final section of his book is titled ‘Global Capitalism Troubled,” and he ruminates on the possibility that, like the globalization of the 19th century, today's globalization may falter.
Looking back to the history of what some historians call the “first globalization” can be highly instructive. However, one problem is an implicit tendency to identify its end with the beginning of World War I in 1914. This is wrong, and contributes to historical misunderstanding that impedes understanding today's globalization.
The first globalization ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression. That said, WWI was hugely significant because it permanently transformed political conditions. Consequently, when the economic order collapsed in 1929, the response was profoundly affected by the political conditions created by WWI. In the US, Britain and France, the war created political and social conditions that fostered a turn to social democracy. In Germany, the onerous economic burdens of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles fostered a turn to Nazism.
This history has enormous significance for understanding today's predicament. The first lesson is that politics did not bring down the first globalization, which suggests that politics will not bring down today's globalization. The economic crisis of 1929 brought down the first globalization, suggesting that economic crisis will bring down today's globalization. The second lesson is that whereas political developments preceding 1929 did not cause the crash, they mattered enormously for the international response. That too is critical for today.
Governments substantially recreated the pre-war economic system after World War I. Britain and France held on to their empires, and the 1920s saw a revival of international trade and investment whereby trade exceeded peak pre-1914 levels. Technological innovation flourished in the form of automobiles, airplanes, and consumer durables, and Britain returned to the gold standard in 1926.
However, as with the pre-1914 system, the reconstructed system distributed prosperity extremely unevenly. In the US, wealth and income inequality grew during the “roaring twenties.” In Britain, the industrial midlands and north suffered from persistent stagnation because of an overvalued exchange rate. And prosperity simply bypassed Germany. Additionally, there was a popular turn to isolationism in response to the carnage wrought by the war. The system was therefore unpopular, and consequently it had few defenders when the crash came. That lesson holds for the current globalization, which is also unpopular and feared.
The so-called first globalization crashed because of inherent financial fragility. Banking systems lacked modern safety nets such as deposit insurance and lenders of last resort, and the gold standard was also intrinsically fragile because countries could demand payment in gold. Consequently, the system was vulnerable to panics, and the danger increased as financial markets and banking systems grew because the supply of gold, the backing asset, was fixed. Once panic started, it was near impossible to stop. Banking systems collapsed, bankruptcy and deflation set in, and the rest is history.
This history suggests that if today's globalization crashes it will also be because of economic factors, but those factors will differ from the past because the system is different. The New Deal era created a system that remedied earlier financial fragility by restricting private ownership of bullion, and creating deposit insurance and lenders of last resort. It also created a new social democratic mass consumption economy in which income was more broadly shared owing to unionization, minimum wages, and social security provisions. However, a social democratic mass consumption economy is expensive for individual capitalists, giving them an incentive to evade its costs. That has been a driving force behind globalization since 1980, and that is the contradiction in today's system.
Business has a private incentive to escape the system to countries with lower costs. Yet, it still needs mass consumption. The system needs a solid middle class, but is also driven to hollow out that middle class. This contradiction has been papered over by consumer borrowing provided by deregulated financial markets and a 25-year asset price boom. The problem is that such borrowing risks prove unsustainable if incomes are hollowed out, and that could stop the economic merry-go-round. If that stoppage produces an economic crash, globalization may crash, too. Globalization will lack political support, after being a primary cause of a hollowed-out middle class.
The pattern of retreat is difficult to predict. One possibility is a return to a world of tariffs and quotas. A second response may be the emergence of regional trade and investment blocs. A third response that would preserve globalization would be the establishment of new domestic and international rules that support a social democratic mass consumption economy. All three scenarios challenge today’s elite’s program.
Finally, if the global economy crashes, it will be important to correctly identify the economic causes. The Smoot-Hawley tariff was passed in June 1930. Its economic effects were minor for the US given the pre-existing high tariff structure and the minimal extent of US engagement in trade. Indeed, those effects may even have been beneficial in that spending switched from imports to domestically produced goods. Yet, for 75 years, free traders have sought to blame Smoot-Hawley for the Depression and thereby make a case for free trade. The rooster crows at dawn, but does not cause the sunrise. Smoot-Hawley did not cause the Depression. Likewise, trade stalemate and failure of the Doha trade round will not cause the next economic crisis. However, they may coincide, in which event rest assured that globalization boosters will argue causation.
-woonyee
Could globalization come crashing down?
Around the world there are growing rumbles about globalization, and these rumbles are not confined to activist anti-globalization movements. In East Asia, the financial crisis of 1997 left a jaundiced sense of globalization, though robust economic recovery has tempered that. Globalization’s standing has also been badly damaged in Latin America by the meltdown of the Argentine economy in 2000 and successive financial crises in Brazil in 1999 and 2001. In Europe, new fear about globalization is surfacing in a range of countries. In Poland it has taken the form of concern about foreign capital taking over the Polish banking system, and foreign takeover fears also permeate France and Italy. In France and Germany, working people link globalization with pressures to dismantle the social democratic state.
Among Americans, outsourcing of service-sector jobs has become a top concern, possibly the top concern. Opposition to free trade has crept up the income and social-strata ladder to include educated white-collar workers. This new opposition comes on top of existing resentments among blue-collar workers at the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs.
These developments have raised concerns about the durability of globalization among its supporters. In April 2005, Martin Wolf of “The Financial Times” gave a lecture titled “Will Globalization Survive?” at Washington's prestigious pro-globalization Institute for International Economics. More recently, Harvard professor Jeffry Frieden published a new book, “Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the 20th Century,” featured at a recent International Monetary Fund book forum. Frieden supports globalization, yet the final section of his book is titled ‘Global Capitalism Troubled,” and he ruminates on the possibility that, like the globalization of the 19th century, today's globalization may falter.
Looking back to the history of what some historians call the “first globalization” can be highly instructive. However, one problem is an implicit tendency to identify its end with the beginning of World War I in 1914. This is wrong, and contributes to historical misunderstanding that impedes understanding today's globalization.
The first globalization ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression. That said, WWI was hugely significant because it permanently transformed political conditions. Consequently, when the economic order collapsed in 1929, the response was profoundly affected by the political conditions created by WWI. In the US, Britain and France, the war created political and social conditions that fostered a turn to social democracy. In Germany, the onerous economic burdens of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles fostered a turn to Nazism.
This history has enormous significance for understanding today's predicament. The first lesson is that politics did not bring down the first globalization, which suggests that politics will not bring down today's globalization. The economic crisis of 1929 brought down the first globalization, suggesting that economic crisis will bring down today's globalization. The second lesson is that whereas political developments preceding 1929 did not cause the crash, they mattered enormously for the international response. That too is critical for today.
Governments substantially recreated the pre-war economic system after World War I. Britain and France held on to their empires, and the 1920s saw a revival of international trade and investment whereby trade exceeded peak pre-1914 levels. Technological innovation flourished in the form of automobiles, airplanes, and consumer durables, and Britain returned to the gold standard in 1926.
However, as with the pre-1914 system, the reconstructed system distributed prosperity extremely unevenly. In the US, wealth and income inequality grew during the “roaring twenties.” In Britain, the industrial midlands and north suffered from persistent stagnation because of an overvalued exchange rate. And prosperity simply bypassed Germany. Additionally, there was a popular turn to isolationism in response to the carnage wrought by the war. The system was therefore unpopular, and consequently it had few defenders when the crash came. That lesson holds for the current globalization, which is also unpopular and feared.
The so-called first globalization crashed because of inherent financial fragility. Banking systems lacked modern safety nets such as deposit insurance and lenders of last resort, and the gold standard was also intrinsically fragile because countries could demand payment in gold. Consequently, the system was vulnerable to panics, and the danger increased as financial markets and banking systems grew because the supply of gold, the backing asset, was fixed. Once panic started, it was near impossible to stop. Banking systems collapsed, bankruptcy and deflation set in, and the rest is history.
This history suggests that if today's globalization crashes it will also be because of economic factors, but those factors will differ from the past because the system is different. The New Deal era created a system that remedied earlier financial fragility by restricting private ownership of bullion, and creating deposit insurance and lenders of last resort. It also created a new social democratic mass consumption economy in which income was more broadly shared owing to unionization, minimum wages, and social security provisions. However, a social democratic mass consumption economy is expensive for individual capitalists, giving them an incentive to evade its costs. That has been a driving force behind globalization since 1980, and that is the contradiction in today's system.
Business has a private incentive to escape the system to countries with lower costs. Yet, it still needs mass consumption. The system needs a solid middle class, but is also driven to hollow out that middle class. This contradiction has been papered over by consumer borrowing provided by deregulated financial markets and a 25-year asset price boom. The problem is that such borrowing risks prove unsustainable if incomes are hollowed out, and that could stop the economic merry-go-round. If that stoppage produces an economic crash, globalization may crash, too. Globalization will lack political support, after being a primary cause of a hollowed-out middle class.
The pattern of retreat is difficult to predict. One possibility is a return to a world of tariffs and quotas. A second response may be the emergence of regional trade and investment blocs. A third response that would preserve globalization would be the establishment of new domestic and international rules that support a social democratic mass consumption economy. All three scenarios challenge today’s elite’s program.
Finally, if the global economy crashes, it will be important to correctly identify the economic causes. The Smoot-Hawley tariff was passed in June 1930. Its economic effects were minor for the US given the pre-existing high tariff structure and the minimal extent of US engagement in trade. Indeed, those effects may even have been beneficial in that spending switched from imports to domestically produced goods. Yet, for 75 years, free traders have sought to blame Smoot-Hawley for the Depression and thereby make a case for free trade. The rooster crows at dawn, but does not cause the sunrise. Smoot-Hawley did not cause the Depression. Likewise, trade stalemate and failure of the Doha trade round will not cause the next economic crisis. However, they may coincide, in which event rest assured that globalization boosters will argue causation.
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
5:47 PM
have anice day! //*
DOLLARIZATION
As globalization spread across the globe, more and more countries have developed dollarization as a way to reduce risk and to protect against inflation. Dollarization occurs when a country uses foreign currency. There are mainly two types of dollarization, official and unofficial.
When dollarization occurs unofficially, that means that the people are using foreign currency as the currency they use without formal legal approval. One of the countries that practice dollarization unofficially is Cambodia. Their currency is Riel. However, in my trip to Angkor Wat few months ago, I found out that the currency used there is US$. One of the main reasons is due to the devalution of their local currency. Cambodians do not have confidence in their currency. Thus, they decided to adopt another currency which is stronger and more stable.
On the other hand, some countries in the world adopt dollarization officially. Independent countries like East Timor, Ecuador and Panama adopt the US currency as their local currency. With that, they will be able to protect against possible devaluation of the local exchange rate. In that way, the country’s economy will become more credible to attract foreign investors. This is because the possible attacks on their local currency will vanished.
One of the many effects of globalization is dollarization. With the different currency and exchange rates, it is very important for the value for the currency of one’s country to main stable and secure. In order to do so, countries with weaker currency will try to adopt foreign currencies that are stronger.
-woonyee
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
5:19 PM
have anice day! //*
Along with globalisation comes the problem of Global warming. How globalisation might lead to global warming? Due to global world trade, economies have flustered and industries are expanding. as such, the demand for energy has increased. this, on top of the harmful by products of factories, has led to an increase in the emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, CFCs, nitrous oxides, particulates and others. these emissions efficiently trap heat within the globe and as such, the issue of global warming rises.
This problem of global warming is a significant one as it can drastically affect both the environment and also people. As can be seen by the picture on the left, the average global temperature has been increasing generally throughout the years from 1880 to 2004. This poses as a serious threat to the environment in many ways as it induces global climate changes. The increase in temperature of the environment may lead to the loss in biodiversity as organisms may not be able to adapt to the different surroundings. this holds true especially for creatures that are highly sensitive to temperature like fishes or other marine creatures. the increase in temperature will therefore lead to the eradication of these organisms, eventually affecting the entire foodweb and therefore eventually affecting humans. it also affects the polar animals like polar bears as their natural environment is being destroyed as ice shelves break away and melt. this endangers several species of animals and may even cause entire species to be extinct. for example, polar bears are suffering from the destruction of ice lands as they lose their homes and also, due to the thinning layers of ice, bears are also killed or severely injured when the ice breaks beneath them. besides the loss of habitat and a place to live, animals (especially ones that are high up in the food chain) are also affected as their source of food is diminished and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to look for food; causing them to die of hunger. besides that, global climate change may lead to over problems like the rise in more and more terrifying natural disasters. the lethal tsunami in 2004 and the hurricane Katrina are prime examples of devastating natural disasters that wreck havoc on cities and affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Global warming also poses as a threat of humans directly as the increase in global temperature leads to the melting of polar ice caps. besides eliminating a large portion of the world's freshwater supply, the melting of ice caps releases large amounts of fresh water into the seas and causes the global sea level to rise. this is a threat as low lying lands (especially those that are under sea level) can be drowned and submerged by the sea. this affects humans are the floods will cause deaths and destruction. also, people must evacuate the areas and look for other places on which to live.
to counter this threat, the global community has taken some action and the most significant of which is the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement made under the United Nations Framwork Convention on Climate Change. Countries that ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases, or engage in emissions trading if they maintain or increase emissions of these gases. The protocol aims to lower the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere so as to prevent dangerous interference with the climate system. globalisation allows for the kyoto protocol to take place as countries can come together to solve this problem together. also, these countries can engage in emissions trading where one country can buy credits to expand the limit of emissions. for example, Russia who can easily met their targets can sell off their extras to other countries that exceeded their own limit like Canada and the money that is gained from the sale can be used to further develop the country and economy. for further information about the kyoto protocol click here
as such, one can see that in face of a global threat that affects all countries in one way or another, globalisation (which is both the cause and part of the solution) has allowed humans to work together in order to combat the threat together to ensure the safety and welfare of mankind.
Done By Terence
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
4:32 PM
have anice day! //*
Cultural Expert - What is IDENTIY? Stands taken by the community
It is not an unknown fact that the general view of the impact on culture due to globalization has been generally in pesimistic light. Most of the time, it is associated with the destruction of cultural identities, who are victims of the accelerating encroachment of a homogenized, westernized, consumer culture.
However, this is a controversial issue that is much debated about, but a known stand has not been reached. I shall attempt to examine both sides of the issues, first by addressing identity and then the aspects of life in which globalization has affected.
Firstly, what is identity?
Before the existence of globalization, there existed local, autonomous, distinct and well-defined, robust and culturally sustaining connections between geographical place and cultural experience.
These connections constituted one’s – and one’s community’s – ‘cultural identity’. This
identity was something people simply ‘had’ as an undisturbed existential possession,
an inheritance, a benefit of traditional long dwelling, of continuity with the past. Identity,
then, like language, was not just a description of cultural belonging; it was a sort of
collective treasure of local communities. But it was also discovered to be something
fragile that needed protecting and preserving, that could be lost.
Thus, it is not wrong to conclude that possibly, it is because less economically developed countries have lesser means to expose the world to and influence them with their cultures in comparison to most of the Western countries. As a result, it seems as though a culture from another country is invading into another's territory.
The nagging question remains in relation to the above point, do all cultures have equal access and exposure? Does the amount of exposure determine how much a particular culture is adopted in other countries?
Those in favour of globalization have claimed that globalization, far from
destroying it, has been perhaps the most significant force in creating and proliferating
cultural identity. This story involves a rather different understanding of the idea of
‘identity’ than the somewhat reified understanding of an individual or collective possession.
If seen as a collective possession, it would be understood that no country would want any other countrie's culture to invade and fuse with their own. If that were to happen, their possession will be lost.
However, if seen in a different light, globalization serves to break down borders in cultural interaction, resulting in global interdependence and a diminishing of local control, all resulting in the ability of capital and services to act freely globally.
The assumption of trusting the paradigm "Think global act local" would probably be the reason for the negative light shed on globalization. However, it should be more "Act global, think local". There is no one and no country forcing others to take on another's culture. It has opened up a wide range of choices for individuals to choose and decide to adopt. People are no longer constrained to what their country has, but have the benefit of having a taste of what other countries have to offer. As it is, our world is large that there are so many things we should be given a chance to be exposed to.
Definately, negative impacts are present. Issues such as local people not being satisfied enough by what their government is doing and comparing with other countries, thus losing the hold the government have on the people.
On the other hand, These influences should be and can be fused with the present local culture. Hence the phrase "Act global, THINK local".
In the next post, I shall explore the aspects of life globalization has affected, and its pros and cons.
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
1:49 AM
have anice day! //*
Global Impact Coordinates Aid for Tsunami Victims in South Asia
Special relief fund will help provide critical emergency relief items
ALEXANDRIA, VA (January 6, 2005) – Americans have a new way to help the victims of the tsunamis that have killed ever-increasing numbers of people in Asia.
Global Impact, a network of U.S.-based international charities, established a special relief fund to help tsunami victims in Southeast Asia. Contributions to this fund will help supply critical items such as food, medicines, emergency shelter tarps and water purification systems.
“This is the worst natural disaster to strike in decades,” said Renée S. Acosta, President & CEO of Global Impact. “Hundreds of thousands of people in affected countries are in need of immediate help. Global Impact member charities are on the front lines, doing what must be done.”
Donations may be made online at https://www.charity.org/view_give.pfp.
The earthquake that struck in the Indian Ocean caused tsunamis that have killed unprecedented numbers in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, other Southeast Asian countries, and even as far as Somalia, 3,000 miles away.
Millions of people throughout the region have been displaced and are now homeless as a result of the sudden catastrophe. Rescuers on the scene are attempting to locate survivors and bring them urgently needed aid. Medical supplies are running low, and experts are concerned about the risk of water-borne disease.
Many Global Impact member charities are on-site, assessing the needs and delivering early assistance in the devastated region. Additional disaster teams are being mobilized from facilities around the world.
Updated information is available on Global Impact’s website, www.charity.org. A direct link for donations is at https://www.charity.org/view_give.pfp.
Reflections:The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake is responsible for triggering lethal tsunamis on 26 December 2004, these towering waves of terror and devastation wiped out and affected hundreds of thousands of people (186,983 dead and 42,883 missing- wikipedia) from several locations and cities including Phuket, Bali, and other places. The earthquake that triggered the tsunamis is one of greatest magnitude in recorded history. The subduction of on plate over another caused water to be displaced and as they reached the shore, they formed gigantic waves which destroyed several cities and affected areas from economic to environmental. Once again, globalisation plays a part as the effects of nature transcend national boundaries and cannot be localised in a particular area. 
Let me first start with environmental impacts of the tsunami. On top of causing the death of hundreds of thousands of humans, the wave caused the destruction of ecosystems such as mangrove swamps, coral reefs and forests and habitats of organisms, especially marine creatures. In the Maldives, the waves overcame several coral reefs and contaminated the freshwater supply there which is vital for the survival for the corals and organisms in the environment. These organisms are very sensitive to changes in the environment and as such, they are likely to die off quickly; severely affect plant and animal biodiversity there. As such, an important feature of the Maldives’s tourist economy is affected. Besides that, when as it destroys infrastructure, it also destroyed structure such as sewage systems and other structures which released chemical pollutants into the water; causing severe water pollution. This will also contribute to the death toll of marine animals and obviously, the oceanic environment; leading to further complex consequences with vast influence on other aspects like the economy (tourism sector). Besides all these, the wave also deposited a layer of salt on land and more importantly, arable land and soil which are used for agricultural purposes. This made the soil infertile and also kills microorganisms useful and beneficial to farming. The several crop farms that were destroyed completely will take a very long time to recover. As such, people will suffer from lack of supplies AND losses in the economy as sale of crops are interfered. All these environmental effects takes a very long time to recover and to speed up the process will require vast amounts of resources and is very expensive.
Besides environmental impacts, the tsunami also led to several social impacts. What made the tsunami more devastating besides its magnitude of 9.1-9.3 on the Richter scale which caused the entire globe to shake and triggering earthquakes in other places in the world; is the fact that several of the areas that were affected by waves of height reaching 30m are tourist destinations and since it struck during the holiday season, naturally, the casualties are great. The fact that tourists who arrived due to globalisation which granted them mobility led to other countries putting effort in restoring the areas and saving people. It destroyed much infrastructure near the area as well. Cities lay waste after the wave washed past them as buildings are reduced to rubble and debris and leaving all those people homeless. Also, the wave destroyed food supplies and the transport network. As such, people are suffering from hunger as well. The tsunami, coupled with the tropical climate of many of the affected areas leads to the rise in threat of dangerous widespread of water bourne diseases such as typhoid. As such, there is a rising need for aid from the international community. A total of about 7 billion US dollars were raised world wide by several countries worldwide in the goal of helping to redevelop affected areas in all ways like providing medics and medical aid by providing medicine, sanitation facilities and fresh water supply and by providing other essential supplies. In Maldives, due to the effect the tsunami had of the marine life there, the government requested for Australian experts to aid in the recovery of marine life. Also, as the article shows, several charities are conscientiously raising money to help the people in those areas. These aids are made possible by globalisation. With technological advancements (i.e: satellites) the world is made aware of the plight and hence are able to make an international effort by pooling resources and working hand in hand to help these people. International organisations like the UN’s environmental programme, Asian Development bank and the World Bank also chipped in to help the affected areas. Mobility also allowed foreign aid to arrive to help these people.
Economical impacts of the tsunami are mainly the destruction of commercial farms and fisheries and infrastructure and amenities for tourism. Besides creating a large number of jobs, the agricultural industry is also very vital to poorer economies and brings in a significant amount of foreign trade. This is affected when the tsunami destroyed infrastructure vital for these industries like fishing fleets. Adding on, the destruction of infrastructure will also affect tourism as no one will want to come to a place which is covered in ruins and debris and where there is no infrastructure to accommodate them. As such, the economy where tourism plays a role is also affected. As such, the world may be affected as global or regional trade is interrupted. This is appropriate especially for the agricultural industries as the products are food and supplies and the destruction will mean that other countries are affected due to the problem of lack of food and hence will have to look for other ways to get products. This is also a result of globalisation as it is globalisation which allows for international trade.
Special relief fund will help provide critical emergency relief items
ALEXANDRIA, VA (January 6, 2005) – Americans have a new way to help the victims of the tsunamis that have killed ever-increasing numbers of people in Asia.
Global Impact, a network of U.S.-based international charities, established a special relief fund to help tsunami victims in Southeast Asia. Contributions to this fund will help supply critical items such as food, medicines, emergency shelter tarps and water purification systems.
“This is the worst natural disaster to strike in decades,” said Renée S. Acosta, President & CEO of Global Impact. “Hundreds of thousands of people in affected countries are in need of immediate help. Global Impact member charities are on the front lines, doing what must be done.”
Donations may be made online at https://www.charity.org/view_give.pfp.
The earthquake that struck in the Indian Ocean caused tsunamis that have killed unprecedented numbers in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, other Southeast Asian countries, and even as far as Somalia, 3,000 miles away.
Millions of people throughout the region have been displaced and are now homeless as a result of the sudden catastrophe. Rescuers on the scene are attempting to locate survivors and bring them urgently needed aid. Medical supplies are running low, and experts are concerned about the risk of water-borne disease.
Many Global Impact member charities are on-site, assessing the needs and delivering early assistance in the devastated region. Additional disaster teams are being mobilized from facilities around the world.
Updated information is available on Global Impact’s website, www.charity.org. A direct link for donations is at https://www.charity.org/view_give.pfp.
Reflections:
Let me first start with environmental impacts of the tsunami. On top of causing the death of hundreds of thousands of humans, the wave caused the destruction of ecosystems such as mangrove swamps, coral reefs and forests and habitats of organisms, especially marine creatures. In the Maldives, the waves overcame several coral reefs and contaminated the freshwater supply there which is vital for the survival for the corals and organisms in the environment. These organisms are very sensitive to changes in the environment and as such, they are likely to die off quickly; severely affect plant and animal biodiversity there. As such, an important feature of the Maldives’s tourist economy is affected. Besides that, when as it destroys infrastructure, it also destroyed structure such as sewage systems and other structures which released chemical pollutants into the water; causing severe water pollution. This will also contribute to the death toll of marine animals and obviously, the oceanic environment; leading to further complex consequences with vast influence on other aspects like the economy (tourism sector). Besides all these, the wave also deposited a layer of salt on land and more importantly, arable land and soil which are used for agricultural purposes. This made the soil infertile and also kills microorganisms useful and beneficial to farming. The several crop farms that were destroyed completely will take a very long time to recover. As such, people will suffer from lack of supplies AND losses in the economy as sale of crops are interfered. All these environmental effects takes a very long time to recover and to speed up the process will require vast amounts of resources and is very expensive.
Besides environmental impacts, the tsunami also led to several social impacts. What made the tsunami more devastating besides its magnitude of 9.1-9.3 on the Richter scale which caused the entire globe to shake and triggering earthquakes in other places in the world; is the fact that several of the areas that were affected by waves of height reaching 30m are tourist destinations and since it struck during the holiday season, naturally, the casualties are great. The fact that tourists who arrived due to globalisation which granted them mobility led to other countries putting effort in restoring the areas and saving people. It destroyed much infrastructure near the area as well. Cities lay waste after the wave washed past them as buildings are reduced to rubble and debris and leaving all those people homeless. Also, the wave destroyed food supplies and the transport network. As such, people are suffering from hunger as well. The tsunami, coupled with the tropical climate of many of the affected areas leads to the rise in threat of dangerous widespread of water bourne diseases such as typhoid. As such, there is a rising need for aid from the international community. A total of about 7 billion US dollars were raised world wide by several countries worldwide in the goal of helping to redevelop affected areas in all ways like providing medics and medical aid by providing medicine, sanitation facilities and fresh water supply and by providing other essential supplies. In Maldives, due to the effect the tsunami had of the marine life there, the government requested for Australian experts to aid in the recovery of marine life. Also, as the article shows, several charities are conscientiously raising money to help the people in those areas. These aids are made possible by globalisation. With technological advancements (i.e: satellites) the world is made aware of the plight and hence are able to make an international effort by pooling resources and working hand in hand to help these people. International organisations like the UN’s environmental programme, Asian Development bank and the World Bank also chipped in to help the affected areas. Mobility also allowed foreign aid to arrive to help these people.
Economical impacts of the tsunami are mainly the destruction of commercial farms and fisheries and infrastructure and amenities for tourism. Besides creating a large number of jobs, the agricultural industry is also very vital to poorer economies and brings in a significant amount of foreign trade. This is affected when the tsunami destroyed infrastructure vital for these industries like fishing fleets. Adding on, the destruction of infrastructure will also affect tourism as no one will want to come to a place which is covered in ruins and debris and where there is no infrastructure to accommodate them. As such, the economy where tourism plays a role is also affected. As such, the world may be affected as global or regional trade is interrupted. This is appropriate especially for the agricultural industries as the products are food and supplies and the destruction will mean that other countries are affected due to the problem of lack of food and hence will have to look for other ways to get products. This is also a result of globalisation as it is globalisation which allows for international trade.
Done By Terence (Environmental expert)
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
1:12 AM
have anice day! //*
Friday, May 19, 2006
"Progress in technology", that is one aspect of globalization. This progress can be for the better or for the worse of mankind. As Darius has previously posted, globalization can lead to the spread of nuclear weapons, and other weapons of mass destruction. However, globalization too can impose positive impacts on people. For example, with globalization, technology can be spread around the world simply by checking the internet. To sum it up, globalization increases one's capacity for both good and evil.
Politics cannot live without economics, and vice versa; economically unstable countries are generally politically unstable countries as people will take their anger out on the government. By virtue of this fact, globalization has indeed helped to make an economy more stable. It provides alternatives to generating income besides simply trading within one's neighbouring countries, or within one's own country. With the expansion of trading zones, a country will have more opportunity to do business with others. This ultimately helps in generating income, let us look at one example.
Crude oil is certainly not produced in Singapore. However, there are refineries in Singapore which cater to this industry. This phenomena can be explained through the simple concept of entrepot trade. Entrepot trade occurs when a product is imported into a country, then exported after some form of processing is done. In this case, crude oil is brought in from the oil rich middle east. Singapore refines this oil, and sells it to other countries. The oil trade is extremely crucial to Singapore's economic survival. If this were to go on in the past, the cost of trade would have been much higher as trade ships could not travel as fast, and information transfer itself was overly backward. However, now with the more advanced trading ships, this trading can go on much faster, thus increasing annual profits and such.
With this example, Singapore has fostered better international bonds with other countries. Considering the scenario that the cost for trade was extremely high, Singapore might not have imported oil in the first place. With that, Singapore might not do as well as it is now, and this would create many spin-off effects. One of which is the water issue with Malaysia. Without sufficient money to buy water, Singapore would default on it's trade agreement with Malaysia and Indonesia. Bad blood would breed and since we are all neighbouring countries, that does not look good!
Globalization has helped Singapore keep in contact with other countries and trade has boosted relations with others. This increase in trade keeps good relations between countries, and thus politically two countries are stable. Also, the boost for the country's economy would result in a booming economy, which is better in a political sense as compared to a suffering economy where citizens are full of poverty.
Posted by the Political Expert,
Eugene.
Politics cannot live without economics, and vice versa; economically unstable countries are generally politically unstable countries as people will take their anger out on the government. By virtue of this fact, globalization has indeed helped to make an economy more stable. It provides alternatives to generating income besides simply trading within one's neighbouring countries, or within one's own country. With the expansion of trading zones, a country will have more opportunity to do business with others. This ultimately helps in generating income, let us look at one example.
Crude oil is certainly not produced in Singapore. However, there are refineries in Singapore which cater to this industry. This phenomena can be explained through the simple concept of entrepot trade. Entrepot trade occurs when a product is imported into a country, then exported after some form of processing is done. In this case, crude oil is brought in from the oil rich middle east. Singapore refines this oil, and sells it to other countries. The oil trade is extremely crucial to Singapore's economic survival. If this were to go on in the past, the cost of trade would have been much higher as trade ships could not travel as fast, and information transfer itself was overly backward. However, now with the more advanced trading ships, this trading can go on much faster, thus increasing annual profits and such.With this example, Singapore has fostered better international bonds with other countries. Considering the scenario that the cost for trade was extremely high, Singapore might not have imported oil in the first place. With that, Singapore might not do as well as it is now, and this would create many spin-off effects. One of which is the water issue with Malaysia. Without sufficient money to buy water, Singapore would default on it's trade agreement with Malaysia and Indonesia. Bad blood would breed and since we are all neighbouring countries, that does not look good!
Globalization has helped Singapore keep in contact with other countries and trade has boosted relations with others. This increase in trade keeps good relations between countries, and thus politically two countries are stable. Also, the boost for the country's economy would result in a booming economy, which is better in a political sense as compared to a suffering economy where citizens are full of poverty.
Posted by the Political Expert,
Eugene.
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
12:25 PM
have anice day! //*
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Nuclear weapons
Definition of nuclear weapons: A nuclear weapon is a special type of weapon which can cause a powerful destructive force when used. A nuclear weapon is much more powerful than the largest conventional explosives and can wipe out an entire city.
Reflections: The above article shows how the use of nuclear weapons can cause very harmful effects on humans. The main health effects caused due to the use of nuclear weapons comes from the radiation produced. Radioactive rays can cause harmful effects such as birth defects, retardation, mental illnesses etc. The harmful effects of radiation are also not immediate. The effects of it are only felt after several years the nuclear weapon has been used as shown in the above article. "In 1963 he had a high fever, his body changed stiff and black." It was only after 18 years that Jimmy had felt the effects of the nuclear bomb.
A very infamous example of the adverse health effects of nuclear power is the World's worst nuclear power accident which occurred at Chernobyl (Ukraine) in April 1986. The chain reaction in the reactor became out of control creating explosions and huge ball of fire rose from the reactor. The immediate explosions killed more than 30 people and 13500 people had to be evacuated due to the high radiation levels which the accident had caused.
Therefore, the factor which contributes to the harmful effects of nuclear weapons is mainly from the radiation which is being produced. The effects of the radiation are not immediate. They are only felt years after nuclear weapons have been used. Radiation has many detrimental health effects to humans such as defects, mental illnesses, thus, countries ought to practise abstinence in nuclear warfare.
Social and Economical:
The social effects of using nuclear weapons would mean that many industries and factories are destroyed. Therefore, many people would be jobless and the economy would be affected to since many major and established industries would have been destroyed.
Also, resources and revenue has to be pumped into the economy to rebuild the industries. Few investors would also want to invest in the industries there. This would thus affect the economy of the country negatively.
There is also the need to mobilize resources for relief and recovery due to the destructive impact of nuclear weapons such as nuclear bombs. This will also add burden to the already crippled economy.
A lot of money has also been pumped into the production of the nuclear weapons. The money can be used for other useful purposes like healthcare services, education etc.
Definition of nuclear weapons: A nuclear weapon is a special type of weapon which can cause a powerful destructive force when used. A nuclear weapon is much more powerful than the largest conventional explosives and can wipe out an entire city.
Nuclear weapons are the currency of power in today's world. The power imbalances of countries such as the USA are able to promote nuclear proliferation and derail nuclear disarmament. Countries whose economy and national sovereignty which has been affected by globalization would try to maintain regional security through military spending. However, this would most likely result in regional arm races whereby countries such as India decides to produce nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons have only been used twice in wars (both by USA):
1) "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima
2) "Fat Man" on the Japanese city of Nagasaki
These nuclear weapons have caused widespread destruction and damage to these two cities. The effects of the use and production nuclear weapons can be grouped into environmental, health, social and economical effects.
Environmental
The usage of nuclear weapons has caused many natural habitats to be destroyed. Nuclear weapons destroyed the habitats of numerous organisms. When organisms are being killed, it will in turn disrupt the complex food web. For example, if grasses are destroyed due to the nuclear bombs, animals which feed on grass will have insufficient food to eat. As a result, these animals will die and thus affect the animals further down the food web.
Nuclear bombs also release a lot of pollutants into the air. These pollutants will increase the rate of global warming due to the greenhouse effect and also aid in the thinning of the ozone layer. When global warming occurs, it will cause floods around the world and this will result in destruction in low-lying areas, and in turn destroying homes etc.
Also, the production of nuclear weapons can cause water pollution and land pollution. When nuclear weapons are in production, many carcinogenic substances such as plutonium, uranium, strontium are released into the rivers or soil. These substances may enter into marine animals' bodies. When humans consume these animals, the carcinogenic substances will pass from them into humans, increasing the possibility of humans getting cancer. Furthermore, production facilities polluted heavily. For example, in the United States, there are over 4500 contaminated Department of Energy sites.
Source: http://www.motherearth.org/nuke/begin2.php#3
The manufacture and testing of weapons involves the leakage of nuclear material. Of all the activities concerning nuclear weapons, testing has been the most destructive of the environment. Even placing tests underground does not avoid atmospheric pollution. Radioactivity released from atmospheric nuclear testing - including plutonium, strontium, cesium, carbon-14, and radioactive iodine - has been widely dispersed throughout the world. Underground tests have contaminated soil and groundwater. Many square miles in Russia, Belarus and the US have been rendered unusable by contamination of the soil. Also the Irish sea and the Arctic Ocean have been poisoned.
Moreover, the ongoing production of both nuclear weapons and nuclear power continues to create nuclear waste. The mining of uranium causes radioactive pollution of the atmosphere and also otherwise damages the environment. Further pollution occurs during the transport and processing of the uranium. Production of nuclear weapons involves the generation of large quantities of waste material and contamination of surrounding areas. Clean-up of contaminated sites, disposition of excess fissile material and dismantling of nuclear weapons also contaminates the environment. New technologies will need to be developed in order to retrieve radioactive materials which have been released into the environment either through accident or by design. Nuclear warfare would result in the wholesale destruction of the environment.
Reflections: This short extract from the above website shows that the use and production of nuclear weapons has caused much destructive impact on the environment, particularly in the area of groundwater and land pollution. The adverse impact of nuclear weapons is also not limited to the countries it comes from. The impact can also affect neighbouring countries. The effects of global warming do not affect one or several countries. It affects the whole earth by increasing the average world’s temperatures and increasing the rate of floods. Countries like Sri Lanka are low-lying areas and thus will be severely affected by the floods. The pollution has resulted in many natural organisms being killed and nature being worn down. This does not stop there. When the environment is being worn down, it will also affect humans’ health and economies. Therefore, this has heightened countries’ urgency to create new technologies to store waste or radioactive pollutants released from the production of nuclear weapons.
Health
Below is a short excerpt I found on the internet:
"In the dim light of a hospital room, seven years old Jimmy was remembering the day on which he was told he had leukaemia. He remembered his mother's tears, his father's bewildered anger, the alien feeling of the hospital's environment. His mind replayed the nausea and the diarrhoea caused by radiation therapy and chemotherapy, his hair falling out and kids laughing at him... Jimmy died gently, utterly exhausted having lost so much blood. His tissue had broken down completely, and he was bleeding from every body opening . His bed looked like a battlefield."
"On August 9, 1945, when the atomic bomb was dropped over the city of Nagasaki, Kasuko Yamashina was working at a distance of two kilometers from ground zero. He tried to get home after the dropping of the bomb, but the fire was too fierce for him to approach the district, so that night he had to sleep under a bridge alone. His house was located at a place situated about 350 metres from ground zero. As soon as the fire went down, he reached the house finding out that his parents were burned by the heat of 4,000 degrees and lay scorched black and carbonised. He couldn't find his brother and his sister, and all that he could see were burned bricks and dead bodies.
On the August 15, the war was over, but by that day Kasuko body had changed. He had black bleeding from the gums, and he wasn't able to walk becouse of fierce shivers caused by high fever. Under that condition he left Nagasaki to enter a hospital in his home town.
On 19th September, the headquarters of General Mac Arthur set up a press code, ordering him and the other victims never to speak about the atomic bombs. They announced that all the persons who should die of radiation effects, would die by December 1945. Those who would live at that time, would have been spared by radiation. The situation of radiation injuries was unknown at that time, even in Japan. Only in 1957, the Supporting Law of Atomic Victims was passed, and Kasuko was legally admitted as a Hibakusha, but he had to conceal his being in order to survive.
In 1963 he had a high fever, his body changed stiff and black. It took him three years to get back his original skin colour, and, during the nights, Kasuko was extremely scared, he heard the voices of the dead..."
Reflections: The above article shows how the use of nuclear weapons can cause very harmful effects on humans. The main health effects caused due to the use of nuclear weapons comes from the radiation produced. Radioactive rays can cause harmful effects such as birth defects, retardation, mental illnesses etc. The harmful effects of radiation are also not immediate. The effects of it are only felt after several years the nuclear weapon has been used as shown in the above article. "In 1963 he had a high fever, his body changed stiff and black." It was only after 18 years that Jimmy had felt the effects of the nuclear bomb.
A very infamous example of the adverse health effects of nuclear power is the World's worst nuclear power accident which occurred at Chernobyl (Ukraine) in April 1986. The chain reaction in the reactor became out of control creating explosions and huge ball of fire rose from the reactor. The immediate explosions killed more than 30 people and 13500 people had to be evacuated due to the high radiation levels which the accident had caused.
Therefore, the factor which contributes to the harmful effects of nuclear weapons is mainly from the radiation which is being produced. The effects of the radiation are not immediate. They are only felt years after nuclear weapons have been used. Radiation has many detrimental health effects to humans such as defects, mental illnesses, thus, countries ought to practise abstinence in nuclear warfare.
Social and Economical:
The social effects of using nuclear weapons would mean that many industries and factories are destroyed. Therefore, many people would be jobless and the economy would be affected to since many major and established industries would have been destroyed.
Also, resources and revenue has to be pumped into the economy to rebuild the industries. Few investors would also want to invest in the industries there. This would thus affect the economy of the country negatively.
There is also the need to mobilize resources for relief and recovery due to the destructive impact of nuclear weapons such as nuclear bombs. This will also add burden to the already crippled economy.
A lot of money has also been pumped into the production of the nuclear weapons. The money can be used for other useful purposes like healthcare services, education etc.
~Done By the Technological Expert a.k.a Darius Teo~
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
10:33 PM
have anice day! //*
"Black Lights, a rock concert organized by the TASC, is going to be held on the 21st of July."
From this statement, I wish to highlight one particular important phrase. Organized by the TASC. As all of us are aware, the TASC is a bunch of students, working together for the same goal and the betterment for TA. Here, we see a scaled down version of governments in the world. "How can a bunch of students organise a concert based on their limited resources?"
Now, there's the catch. Our resources aren't limited, in fact they are near unlimited. Everyone of us has access to the internet, a product of globalization. This product has helped us tremendously; thank God for the internet!
The main concern now after reading all that (and after me publicising Black Lights), is - "How does this apply to politics?" Politics is the affairs engaged in by a government. Affairs would include the organisation of certain conferences, events for the country; national day parade for example. A government is useless without it's resources; if it takes a week to get the information about who's providing mobile toilets, the government would have to plan for NDP 2006 in the year 2004.
Okay, so jokes aside, the point I'm trying to drive across is that globalization speeds up transactions and stuff. Certain services which Singapore does not provide can be ordered from overseas, and globalization by the form of more efficient trade can help the government in their execution of plans.
Globalization saved Eugene, globalization saved politics.
Political expert, Eugene.
From this statement, I wish to highlight one particular important phrase. Organized by the TASC. As all of us are aware, the TASC is a bunch of students, working together for the same goal and the betterment for TA. Here, we see a scaled down version of governments in the world. "How can a bunch of students organise a concert based on their limited resources?"
Now, there's the catch. Our resources aren't limited, in fact they are near unlimited. Everyone of us has access to the internet, a product of globalization. This product has helped us tremendously; thank God for the internet!
The main concern now after reading all that (and after me publicising Black Lights), is - "How does this apply to politics?" Politics is the affairs engaged in by a government. Affairs would include the organisation of certain conferences, events for the country; national day parade for example. A government is useless without it's resources; if it takes a week to get the information about who's providing mobile toilets, the government would have to plan for NDP 2006 in the year 2004.
Okay, so jokes aside, the point I'm trying to drive across is that globalization speeds up transactions and stuff. Certain services which Singapore does not provide can be ordered from overseas, and globalization by the form of more efficient trade can help the government in their execution of plans.
Globalization saved Eugene, globalization saved politics.
Political expert, Eugene.
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
2:00 PM
have anice day! //*
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
The Globalization of Google
GOING GLOBAL
Amy Campbell alerted us to a very interesting graphic on the Google Zeitgeist page. It tracks the languages used to access Google over the past two years: 
Froogle is a price engine that searches online stores for particular products. It is also offered in Wireless Markup Language (WML) form and can be accessed from cellphones or other wireless devices that have support for WML. Thus, the number of users for this price engine would be huge since Froogle can be used not only on the computer, but also on handphones too.
Below are the results down by a company on the percentage of online searches done by US home and web surfers:
Nielsen NetRatings Search Engine Ratings
Share Of Searches: November 2005
The chart below shows the percentage of online searches done by US home and work web surfers in November 2005 that were performed at a particular search engine. Internal site searches, such as those to find material within a particular web site, are not counted in these totals. The activity at more than 60 search sites makes up the total search volume upon which percentages are based -- 5.1 billion searches in this month.
GOING GLOBAL
March 19, 2003
Posted by John Yunker
Posted by John Yunker
Amy Campbell alerted us to a very interesting graphic on the Google Zeitgeist page. It tracks the languages used to access Google over the past two years:
Google handles more than 200 million queries a day from around the world. Increasingly, these queries are not in English. Over the past few years, Google has aggressively localized its search engine for more than 60 languages. These language-specific search engines are very important to Google's continued growth, since the majority of new Internet users are not native-English speakers.
Keep a close eye on that tiny purple streak representing Chinese; it's sure to expand. While there are only about 100 million German speakers in the world, there are well over a billion Chinese speakers. Also expect to see Arabic (200 million speakers) make an entrance in a few years.
Google began in 1998 as an English-language search engine. My, how times -- and the Internet -- have changed. And, if you're interested, Google is looking for an International Webmaster.
~~~~~
Google has become an extremely popular search engine for online users worldwide. Millions of people all over the globe use Google daily. Google has even overtaken many established search engines, for example, Yahoo, as the most popular search engine. The establishment of Google as a popular search engine has also led to the “shrinking of the world” due to the fact that many people are now interlinked and interconnected with one another through programs such as Google’s email called “Gmail”, the many websites which comes up when one searches for something on Google. Technology allows freedom of information. People are connected, free to receive and give ideas. People are informed, wired. A state no longer has the monopoly or capacity to control and restrict information.
Below are several of the many programs which Google has set up in order to attract many internet users to their website. These programs have also aided in globalization:
1) www.dodgeball.com
This website is a mobile social software website. Dodgeball.com is a new social networking site built specifically for use on mobile phones. This website helps to increase the number of social contacts a person has on his mobile phone. This privately-owned company was purchased by Google in 2005. This website shows that people are linked and connected all over the globe as a person can make new contacts from people living in different countries as long as he or she has a mobile phone.
Google launched Blog Search in 2005. Blog Search is Google search technology focused on blogs. The results from Blog Search include all blogs, not just those published through Blogger, making this search function very convenient and user-friendly. Also, Blog Search's blog index is continually updated for users to keep up to date. Blogs written in English can be searched, as well as those written in other languages, including French, Italian, German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese to cater to the different-language speaking people all over the world. As such, the number of people using this search function would hugely increase. This program would also aid in the “shrinking of world” as people would be able to share their ideas and comments about certain issues and exchange information through blogs. More people would also be able to get to know one another through blogs and tagboards.
3) Google Book Search
Google Book Search has a huge potential to offer unprecedented access arguably the largest online corpus of human knowledge. This Google Book Search allows users to search any books that they wish to find. Therefore, people from different countries are able to surf and search for books which they want. These books may not be available in their own countries and thus they can order these books from other countries overseas through online booking.
4) Froogle
Froogle is a price engine that searches online stores for particular products. It is also offered in Wireless Markup Language (WML) form and can be accessed from cellphones or other wireless devices that have support for WML. Thus, the number of users for this price engine would be huge since Froogle can be used not only on the computer, but also on handphones too.Below are the results down by a company on the percentage of online searches done by US home and web surfers:
Nielsen NetRatings Search Engine Ratings
Share Of Searches: November 2005
The chart below shows the percentage of online searches done by US home and work web surfers in November 2005 that were performed at a particular search engine. Internal site searches, such as those to find material within a particular web site, are not counted in these totals. The activity at more than 60 search sites makes up the total search volume upon which percentages are based -- 5.1 billion searches in this month.
As one can see, Google is currently the most popular search engine among US internet surfers. Yahoo comes in second and MSN, which is owned by Microsoft, third. Google is set up later than Yahoo, but it currently is much more popular than Yahoo. Thus, I’m sure many of you would ask, what makes Google so popular among surfers today?
History of Google
Google originally started off as a research project by two Stanford University students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1996. It was originally nicknamed, "BackRub," because the system checked backlinks to estimate a site's importance.
Originally the search engine used the Stanford University website with the domain google.stanford.edu. The domain google.com was registered on September 15, 1997, and the company was incorporated as Google Inc. on September 7, 1998 at a friend's garage in Menlo Park, California.
What makes Google such a popular search engine today?
The Google search engine attracted a loyal following among the growing number of Internet users. They were attracted to its simple, uncluttered design — a competitive advantage to attract users who did not wish to enter searches on web pages filled with visual distractions when they settled into their offices in March 1999. What’s more, Google even offers a variety of services and tools besides its basic web search such as Froogle, as shown above. Also, Google is constantly trying to improve its services and compete with established companies such as microsoft. Thus, this has generated much debate over Google trying to take over microsoft as the largest IT company.
Google VS Microsoft (MSN) Showdown
Source: Wikipedia
Microsoft has been touting its MSN Search engine, and more recently its Windows Live search in February, 2006, to counter Google's competitive position. Furthermore, the two companies are increasingly offering overlapping services, such as webmail (Gmail vs. Hotmail), search (both online and local desktop searching), and other applications (for example, Microsoft's Windows Live Local competes with Google Local).
To those who are really interested to know more about the uprising IT giants Google and how it aids in globalisation, here is a very good link that you can go to:
How Google Grows...and Grows...and Grows:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/69/google.html
I recommend this book to Google fanatics about how Google became a huge success over the past decade.
Google Pocket Guide by Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest, DJ Adams
~Done by the technological expert a.k.a Darius Teo~
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
9:22 PM
have anice day! //*
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The march of globalisation seems inexorable, with effects felt throughout the world. These effects include, but are not limited to, reduced genetic diversity in agriculture (loss of crop varieties and livestock breeds), loss of wild species, spread of exotic species, pollution of air, water and soil, accelerated climatic change, exhaustion of resources, and social and spiritual disruption. The market cannot be relied on to control the environmental and other costs of globalisation. The necessary opposition that has formed to counter the worst features of globalisation must keep its dangerous side-effects in the public eye, and develop alternative, workable socio-economic systems that have a strong regional element and are not dependent on centralised, complex technologies.
Loss of Biodiversity
Loss of Wild Species
The massive die-off of plant and animal species now occurring far exceeds the usual extinction rates that have prevailed throughout most of evolutionary history. In 2000, the IUCN’s Red List of endangered species showed that 24% of mammals were faced with extinction, an extraordinary die-off even when compared with that of the late ice ages. During the second half of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first, when global trade and the global expansion of new technologies and exploitation of natural areas have been increasing rapidly, species losses have become comparable to those of the great extinctions of earlier geological epochs.
It is impossible to determine the particular contribution of globalisation to the current extinction rate, or even to separate globalisation from other, interrelated factors such as human population growth. Nevertheless, it is evident that globalisation is making a profound contribution to the great reduction in biodiversity that is now taking place. The negative impact of globalisation on wild species is caused by the following factors: (i) increased development and exploitation of populations and natural areas to satisfy new demands of production and trade, including increased logging, land clearing for production agriculture, overfishing of marine fisheries, road-building, mining and dam construction; (ii) secondary effects of pollution from production agriculture, fish farming), vehicles burning fossil fuel, added electricity generation, nuclear wastes and other sources; (iii) effects of climatic change from excess carbon dioxide, methane, fluorocarbons and other chemicals; (iv) adverse effects of ecotourism on wild flora and fauna; and (v) the impact of the soaring numbers of exotic species, carried by the tremendous plane, ship, rail and truck traffic of global trade, on local flora and fauna. Even a trade-related, intensive production system such as aquaculture, which might appear to relieve pressure on wild species, may have the opposite effect.
Some of the effects of globalisation on wild species are quite subtle. Although it has long been known that this enhanced wildlife–human contact might be the source of new infectious diseases among humans (including HIV), the reverse situation has received little attention.
Pollution
Air, water and soil pollution have increased markedly as global trade has increased. For example, in Taiwan, exports have soared as a result of global trade: forests have been cleared for industrial development and tree farms, soil and water have been polluted by pesticides and fertiliser, and 90,000 factories dump their wastes into air and waterways. They cite the case of sea turtles which were being caught in shrimp nets: population biologists presented data to the WTO showing that turtle populations were declining drastically as a result of shrimping. Adverse effects of trade on most other biological resources are likely to be far more difficult to prove, as will the growing effects of chemical pollution caused directly or indirectly by global trade. A few forms of environmental pollution related to globalisation are indisputable. One is the pollution provided by the transport of raw materials and finished goods that were formerly produced and consumed locally. Even heavy, minimally processed products are transported around the world to places where they already exist in abundant supply. In many cases, the distant products are cheaper than local ones, because social and economic subsidies render transportation energy costs irrelevant, and because the cost of pollution is not included in the pricing. Therefore, even when the environmental costs of globalisation are indisputable, the market cannot be relied on to control them
Loss of BiodiversityLoss of Wild Species
The massive die-off of plant and animal species now occurring far exceeds the usual extinction rates that have prevailed throughout most of evolutionary history. In 2000, the IUCN’s Red List of endangered species showed that 24% of mammals were faced with extinction, an extraordinary die-off even when compared with that of the late ice ages. During the second half of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first, when global trade and the global expansion of new technologies and exploitation of natural areas have been increasing rapidly, species losses have become comparable to those of the great extinctions of earlier geological epochs.
It is impossible to determine the particular contribution of globalisation to the current extinction rate, or even to separate globalisation from other, interrelated factors such as human population growth. Nevertheless, it is evident that globalisation is making a profound contribution to the great reduction in biodiversity that is now taking place. The negative impact of globalisation on wild species is caused by the following factors: (i) increased development and exploitation of populations and natural areas to satisfy new demands of production and trade, including increased logging, land clearing for production agriculture, overfishing of marine fisheries, road-building, mining and dam construction; (ii) secondary effects of pollution from production agriculture, fish farming), vehicles burning fossil fuel, added electricity generation, nuclear wastes and other sources; (iii) effects of climatic change from excess carbon dioxide, methane, fluorocarbons and other chemicals; (iv) adverse effects of ecotourism on wild flora and fauna; and (v) the impact of the soaring numbers of exotic species, carried by the tremendous plane, ship, rail and truck traffic of global trade, on local flora and fauna. Even a trade-related, intensive production system such as aquaculture, which might appear to relieve pressure on wild species, may have the opposite effect.
Some of the effects of globalisation on wild species are quite subtle. Although it has long been known that this enhanced wildlife–human contact might be the source of new infectious diseases among humans (including HIV), the reverse situation has received little attention.
PollutionAir, water and soil pollution have increased markedly as global trade has increased. For example, in Taiwan, exports have soared as a result of global trade: forests have been cleared for industrial development and tree farms, soil and water have been polluted by pesticides and fertiliser, and 90,000 factories dump their wastes into air and waterways. They cite the case of sea turtles which were being caught in shrimp nets: population biologists presented data to the WTO showing that turtle populations were declining drastically as a result of shrimping. Adverse effects of trade on most other biological resources are likely to be far more difficult to prove, as will the growing effects of chemical pollution caused directly or indirectly by global trade. A few forms of environmental pollution related to globalisation are indisputable. One is the pollution provided by the transport of raw materials and finished goods that were formerly produced and consumed locally. Even heavy, minimally processed products are transported around the world to places where they already exist in abundant supply. In many cases, the distant products are cheaper than local ones, because social and economic subsidies render transportation energy costs irrelevant, and because the cost of pollution is not included in the pricing. Therefore, even when the environmental costs of globalisation are indisputable, the market cannot be relied on to control them
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
10:08 AM
have anice day! //*
Monday, May 15, 2006
What do 99% of Singapore youths have in common? Handphones!
Singapore Youths & Their Portable Gadgets. Interesting survey findings on youth comes up.
3 Feb 2006
The survey was administered on 800 respondents who are Singapore Youth aged between 15 and 29 years old.
It aimed to examine the general patterns of portable gadgets take-up rate and usage amongst Singapore Youth. The survey was set around five types of gadgets namely handphones, portable music devices, digital cameras, portable game consoles and PDAs.
Also, with the emergence of 3Generation handphones, in the future, most people all over the world will own a handphone. Handphones have thus led to the shrinking of the world as people can now phone a person from one end of the globe to another.
Impact of handphones:
1) Improves communication among people all over the world. Easier to communicate and not limited to geographical locations
2) People spend a lot of time on the handphone, smsing, playing games etc. Less time spend with family members, doing homework
3) The use of a camera has become redundant since many handphones together have integrated cameras of around 1.3 megapixels.
4) Increased use of electricity to charge handphones batteries have environmental impacts since more fossil fuels are used to produce electricity, resulting in air pollution etc.
The above are just a few of the many impacts today. The handphone is now the world’s main form of telecommunication tool. Many people today would rather use handphones than home telephones to call and SMS to their clients, friends etc since it is more portable and user-friendly.
There are many different and advanced types of handphones today. As technology improves, it results in an increasing number of functions for a handphone.
Below are some of the many typical features of a modern handphone in the world today.
Example:Samsung T803
Source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E84CQQ/102-8530330-7613722?v=glance&vi=reviews&n=301185
2) Go wireless and connect your SGH-t809 without wires to your Bluetooth enabled computer and headset
4) Send recorded speech with text messages or use Wireless Village for instant messaging including AOL, ICQ and YAHOO
Design
1) The t809's sliding design hides the phone's number pad under the display until you need to make a call.
2) The massive, 240 x 320 display supports up to 262,000 colors--plenty of resolution and color depth for your videos and photos. A five-way center control button is positioned below the display, as are shortcut and selection keys.
3) The phone's 1.3-megapixel camera is housed on the top of the phone and it swivels to face in or out. USB data and charging ports are located on the phone's bottom edge. There's also a connector for a stereo 2.5 mm headset on the left side, and the microSD slot resides on the right.
Calling Features
2) You can also download additional MP3 music ringtones from T-Mobile's t-zones service.
A speakerphone lets you talk hands-free while you're doing other things, and picture caller ID lets you assign a photo to specific callers. Similarly, a ringer ID lets you assign ringtones to callers.
3) Like all T-Mobile phones, the t809 also supports voice mail, caller ID, conference calling, call forwarding, call waiting, call hold, built-in paging, and access to T-Mobile's 411 service. Lastly, the phone's Bluetooth connectivity means that your favorite Bluetooth headset is fully compatible.
Messaging, Internet, and Tools
Handphones in the future may have so many functions in the future all compacted into one 5 cm X 8 cm gadget. Several decades, a person just bringing a handphone to his workplace/school may become a reality!
Take for example, a TA student:
6 am - Wakes up by the alarm clock from the handphone
7.30 am - reaches school on time
8 am - Science Practical Assessment. Whips out his handphone. Records down his experimental results on his handphone and plots graph. Submits his answer sheet to the teacher online through his handphone
10 am - Social Studies lesson. Takes down notes with his handphone. Does his worksheets online which the teacher uploaded through his handphone
11 am - Math lesson. Instead of following the lesson and taking down notes on his handphone, he goes on the internet and plays online games through his handphone.
12 pm - Lunch. While eating his food, the student listens to mp3 music and watches SCV on his handphone at the same time.
1 pm - Physics lesson. Student uses physics Addestation software on his handphone to carry out experiments to test the speed of sound. On the handphone is a microphone which receives the sound waves from the sound source. Records down his views and comments in the Knowledge Constructor online through his handphone.
2.30 pm - School ends. Before going home, the student decides to borrow several storybooks to read. Uses his handphone to search the books he wants through the school’s library catalogue online.
3 pm - Uses his 3G handphone to tell his parents that school has ended and that he will be going home by bus soon.
* just a small thought to ponder about on how handphones may one day become so pivotal in man's lives
Singapore Youths & Their Portable Gadgets. Interesting survey findings on youth comes up.
3 Feb 2006
The Singapore Youth and their Portable Gadgets Survey was conducted in July and August 2005 by Second Year Media and Communication students in Singapore Polytechnic’s School of Business.
The survey was administered on 800 respondents who are Singapore Youth aged between 15 and 29 years old.
It aimed to examine the general patterns of portable gadgets take-up rate and usage amongst Singapore Youth. The survey was set around five types of gadgets namely handphones, portable music devices, digital cameras, portable game consoles and PDAs.
Major Findings
The most popular type of gadget owned was the handphone, with 99% of respondents owning this type of gadget. This was followed by portable music device with 63%, digital camera with 46%, portable game console with 18%, and PDA with 11%.
Reflections:
This article shows that handphones play a major part in people’s lives as 99% of the Singaporean youth respondents own handphones. Handphones are so portable and light, thus becoming an increasingly important gadget in today’s world as a convenient communication tool. Similar to the internet, a person does not need to be at a place at a given time in order to communicate with another person through the use of SMS. Also, other than a communication tool, the handphone has many other functions such as mp3, cameras, internet, calendar, radio etc. Thus, many people feel that owning a handphone provides one with many benefits and worth the money.
Also, with the emergence of 3Generation handphones, in the future, most people all over the world will own a handphone. Handphones have thus led to the shrinking of the world as people can now phone a person from one end of the globe to another.
Why are handphones the main source of telecommunication tool in the world today, especially in Singapore? This is due to its ability to communicate quickly, efficiently, user-friendliness, and its many other functions aside from being a communication tool. Handphones are one of the forms of telecommunications which has aided in globalization and the “shrinking of the world.” As a result, the continuous development and improvement of handphones have resulted in the state losing its monopoly to control of what comes in and out of the country.
Below are some of the many functions and advantages of handphones over home telephones.
Impact of handphones:
1) Improves communication among people all over the world. Easier to communicate and not limited to geographical locations
2) People spend a lot of time on the handphone, smsing, playing games etc. Less time spend with family members, doing homework
3) The use of a camera has become redundant since many handphones together have integrated cameras of around 1.3 megapixels.
4) Increased use of electricity to charge handphones batteries have environmental impacts since more fossil fuels are used to produce electricity, resulting in air pollution etc.
The above are just a few of the many impacts today. The handphone is now the world’s main form of telecommunication tool. Many people today would rather use handphones than home telephones to call and SMS to their clients, friends etc since it is more portable and user-friendly.
There are many different and advanced types of handphones today. As technology improves, it results in an increasing number of functions for a handphone.
Below are some of the many typical features of a modern handphone in the world today.
Example:Samsung T803
Source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E84CQQ/102-8530330-7613722?v=glance&vi=reviews&n=301185
Features:
1) Compact slider design provides many features while maintaining a confined slim design
2) Go wireless and connect your SGH-t809 without wires to your Bluetooth enabled computer and headset
3) MP3 Player with Stereo Speakers - Play your favorite songs and store them on the phone or a memory card so you can take your tunes with you
4) Send recorded speech with text messages or use Wireless Village for instant messaging including AOL, ICQ and YAHOO
5) Play your MP4 or 3GP videos on the crisp 262K resolution QVGA screen
Design
1) The t809's sliding design hides the phone's number pad under the display until you need to make a call.
2) The massive, 240 x 320 display supports up to 262,000 colors--plenty of resolution and color depth for your videos and photos. A five-way center control button is positioned below the display, as are shortcut and selection keys.
3) The phone's 1.3-megapixel camera is housed on the top of the phone and it swivels to face in or out. USB data and charging ports are located on the phone's bottom edge. There's also a connector for a stereo 2.5 mm headset on the left side, and the microSD slot resides on the right.
Calling Features
1) With 70 MB of internal memory, the t809 is designed to hold all the contacts, phone numbers, and addresses you can throw at it. A call list remembers your most recent missed, received, and dialed calls, and in addition to a vibrating alert, the t809 supports polyphonic ringtones and MP3-based music ringtones.
2) You can also download additional MP3 music ringtones from T-Mobile's t-zones service.
A speakerphone lets you talk hands-free while you're doing other things, and picture caller ID lets you assign a photo to specific callers. Similarly, a ringer ID lets you assign ringtones to callers.
3) Like all T-Mobile phones, the t809 also supports voice mail, caller ID, conference calling, call forwarding, call waiting, call hold, built-in paging, and access to T-Mobile's 411 service. Lastly, the phone's Bluetooth connectivity means that your favorite Bluetooth headset is fully compatible.
Messaging, Internet, and Tools
1) The t809 has all the bases covered when it comes to messaging. Support is built in for sending and receiving text, video, graphics, and sound via messages. When used in combination with the phone's built-in camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. Messaging clients for AOL, Yahoo!, and ICQ are included.
2) Getting on the Internet is easy with the t809, too. It supports the GPRS protocol, as well as the new, high-speed EDGE data protocol. When used with a T-Mobile data plan and the phone's USB or Bluetooth data capability, the phone can be used as a wireless modem for laptops and PDAs.
3) There's also a built-in browser for t-zones downloads and mobile Web browsing. T-Mobile's t-zones service lets you receive and send e-mails, read news headlines, get weather updates, download games and ringtones, and more. T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for to enter words and text on handsets, is built in to the unit--a plus for mobile text messaging users.
4) A number of handy productivity tools are bundled with the t809, including a voice memo recorder, an alarm clock, a calculator with currency converter, a calendar, and a to-do list.
One of the unique functions of a handphone is that a user can use MSN Messenger to send an instant message to the handphone. Handphones now can receive MSN messages, making communication even more efficient and more convenient in the world today. A person can now use his or her MSN messenger to send a message to another person’s handphone living in another country since there is a growing number of MSN Messenger users in the world today.
Mobile Contacts
A mobile contact is someone who can send and receive instant messages on a mobile device. Most wireless service providers and devices use SMS as their standard for instant messaging. Some wireless service providers also allow enhanced mobile messaging, which offers more options and features. You can send mobile contacts a mobile message the same way you send an instant message.
Handphones in the future may have so many functions in the future all compacted into one 5 cm X 8 cm gadget. Several decades, a person just bringing a handphone to his workplace/school may become a reality!
Take for example, a TA student:
6 am - Wakes up by the alarm clock from the handphone
7 am - books a cab through his/her handphone since it’s getting late
7.30 am - reaches school on time
8 am - Science Practical Assessment. Whips out his handphone. Records down his experimental results on his handphone and plots graph. Submits his answer sheet to the teacher online through his handphone
9.30 am - Break. The student decides not to go for break. Instead, the student organizes his homework and time table through the organizer in his handphone.
10 am - Social Studies lesson. Takes down notes with his handphone. Does his worksheets online which the teacher uploaded through his handphone
11 am - Math lesson. Instead of following the lesson and taking down notes on his handphone, he goes on the internet and plays online games through his handphone.
12 pm - Lunch. While eating his food, the student listens to mp3 music and watches SCV on his handphone at the same time.
1 pm - Physics lesson. Student uses physics Addestation software on his handphone to carry out experiments to test the speed of sound. On the handphone is a microphone which receives the sound waves from the sound source. Records down his views and comments in the Knowledge Constructor online through his handphone.
2.30 pm - School ends. Before going home, the student decides to borrow several storybooks to read. Uses his handphone to search the books he wants through the school’s library catalogue online.
3 pm - Uses his 3G handphone to tell his parents that school has ended and that he will be going home by bus soon.
* just a small thought to ponder about on how handphones may one day become so pivotal in man's lives
Technological Expert a.k.a Darius Teo :)
[x] plasma reports. ((://*
7:42 PM
have anice day! //*
*[[____ about us `-//*
Our Experts
Technological Expert -- Darius
Environmental Expert -- Terence
Economic Expert -- Woonyee
Political Expert -- Eugene
Cultural Expert -- Szesian