Abstract: In this lesson, the students will learn the differences between democracy and dictatorial regimes. Students will gain awareness about the countries of Latin America that have been ruled by dictators.  They will also draw comparisons to democratic societies where human beings have equal rights and opportunities.  Finally, students will be able to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of both systems.

Curriculum Standards: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions; Power, Authority, and Governance; Global Connections; Civic Ideals and Practices

Area(s) of Infusion: American History; Civics and Government; World History

Geographic Focus: Latin America

Grade Level(s): 9-12

Class Periods*: 1

Author: Luis Diaz

Related Files: Lesson Plan | Powerpoint Presentations: 1 2 3 | Download All Files As .ZIP

*based on a 55-minute class period.

They have an otherworldly appearance, the vigorous pulsing of lifeblood in their core visible through their transparent bodies. The slower metre of their flapping wings placates the scene somewhat, and as the dappled light reflects and refracts through the surface waters, more of their alien details are revealed. To the more youthful they appear as strange, macroscopic butterflies, to the urbanised they take the form of fluttering coffee beans, but the marine biologist discerns the grand significance of their true identify, holoplanktonic pteropods that nourish the very roots of the oceans. Their insubstantial physique renders them powerless against the currents and so they drift wilfully about the world, surrounded by the fathomless depth and splendour of the mighty seas, greeting passing fish and cetaceans with equal foreboding. They take refuge in their delicate multitude, reminiscent of the passenger pigeon’s fluttering billion that used to adorn the North American landscape. But these keystone kin of our garden snails are subject to a different menace, not the ignoble savagery of man but the invisible malevolence of ocean acidification. The incremental increases in surface water acidity, caused by elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the air, are leading to the dissolution of the paltry, translucent shells that the ‘sea butterflies’ use as meagre protection, gravely endangering their existence. Without these and other small calcareous-shelled organisms, there will be minimal meals for the sardines, fewer feeds for the tuna, and so lesser lunches for the sushi lovers amongst us.

This is just another complex ecological system which is being undermined by carbon dioxide emissions and whose health is now masked in uncertainty. The floral composition of the forests is also changing with an unmapped future, and more broadly the Earth itself is warming with suggested but unquantified consequences on the entire biosphere.

The exact scale of carbon dioxide/greenhouse gas reductions has been the main barrier to the progress of the negotiations in Denmark. These emissions always directly correlate with the wealth and comfort of nations, a legacy and existing hallmark of high-carbon development. As the final day of discussion has unfolded in Copenhagen, the outlook is bleak. The scientists of the world have communally recommended a global greenhouse gas reduction of 25-40% to avoid dangerous climate change, while the current worldwide average sits at a 17% reduction. There remains a ‘gigatonnes gap’ between what is needed and what is on the table, and the newly mounted salvage operation by the relatively fresh-faced 120 heads of state has become snagged on legal affairs with less than 24 hours remaining. “With the world watching”, as was so often quoted during the opening of the so called High-Level Segment, these climate change negotiations are heading for a spectacularly ominous collapse.

The informed layman still asks “why won’t the governments commit to emissions reductions when the science, ethics and long-term economics are so clear?” The industry, energy, transport, agriculture and forestry sectors that contribute most to global emissions are all essentially driven by demand from people, and should the leadership take actions to limit their growth or welfare, they fear they will be faced with a weakened economy and a disgruntled populous. Democratic governments have thus omitted the erstwhile tradition of imposing big decisions from the top, abandoning the rationing of certain products or commodities for the benefit of all (an approach that was needed and tolerated by wartime civilians of almost all nations during the 1930s and 40s). Governance now seems to be tending towards appealing to the society, respecting our ‘rights’ by relying on individual moral fibre to spurn hard-earned luxuries thereby letting the market enact the green change. Howsoever driven, there is necessity for this green change, necessity gives rise to great invention, and invention is critical to address the coming climate crisis. We will see tomorrow whether this obligation, this necessity will come from our governments above, or we will need to generate it from within ourselves.

I had an interesting discussion with a relative who voted for Barack Obama.  The President has lost her support due to his unfulfilled campaign promises.  She also became concerned by Obama’s unquestioned support off the man-made global warming theory and the radical remedial actions he now calls for.

During our discussion an interesting question was raised.  Since most Americans consider themselves either middle of the road or conservative, who is behind this country’s political movement into the radical environmentalist camp?  This intriguing question deserves attention.

The current power of the radical environmentalists goes far beyond their popular support in the United States.  For such a disparity to exist there must be powerful special interests groups behind the movement.  Its makeup is enlightening.

Real Environmentalist – One subset of the radical environmentalist movement is the true believers.  While misguided, they view the earth and its environment in nearly spiritual terms.  No matter how noble their cause, as with all zealots, they are dangerous with their no compromise approach.  For this group, should people have to go hungry in the name of environmental purity, so be it.

Liberal Elites – This group jumps to from cause to cause every decade or so.  Causes have included the antiwar movement of the 60s, no nuclear power of the 70s, the HIV battle of the 80s, and more recently the threat to mankind from man-made global warming.  While their intent may be noble, the group is controlled by its fringes including a Hollywood set and the radical left from academia whose belief in their social and intellectual superiority blinds good judgment.

Socialists – Some in the movement seek redistribution of wealth, not only within the United States, but throughout the world.  The man-made global warming crisis offers them a unique opportunity to implement economic policy changes.  Not only will the United States and other countries need change their energy consumption and do with less, but we will also have to pay for less fortunate countries to modify their carbon emissions.  How convenient.

Governments – The politicians and bureaucrats who run countries strive to increase their funding and power.  All crises are opportunities to further these goals, but one as large as global warming is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Their interest in survival and prospering often conflicts with what is good for those they supposedly serve.

Capitalist – Major crises bring opportunity for industrialists.  During wars, it is industrial-industrial complex that reaps increased profit.  During pandemic scares it is the medical industry.  Y2K yielded huge profits for computer software and hardware companies, as well as IT consultants.  With the green movement and global warming scare (scheme). the profit opportunities are astronomical.  Industrial companies such as General Electric will profit by selling alternative energy machines.  Investment banks, such as Goldman Sachs, will profit as the traders of energy credits.  Shadow investors like George Soros will profit as markets are disrupted and they trade on the swings caused by these disruptions.

The power behind the radical environmentalists is diverse, coming from various sub-groups.  They have gotten together to back this cause in pursuit of their specific interests.  In their zeal to obtain special interests they have even falsified scientific data, or at least continue to accept it.

History’s repetitive nature is amazing.  Each generation seems to need a looming catastrophe to further its chosen cause.  Given the high stakes of the remedial action being suggested for global warming, prudence is called for.  Let us not rely on falsified scientific data to make decisions.  Let us not accept the pressure that is more typical of car salesmen’s to act today.

When Bob Woodward was researching Watergate he interviewed “Deep Throat” to get to the bottom of the scandal. “Deep Throat’s” now famous answer was: “Follow the money.”  This advice would serve us well in understanding the motivations behind those who have said “debate closed”; Follow the money and power.  A complex debate will suddenly become more transparent.

(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) – .” European Union ministers said earlier this month that they would start reducing budget deficits by 2011 at the latest, by 0.5 percent per year. That’s “too slow,” said Issing, who retired from the ECB in May 2006 after serving an eight-year term. At least 20 of the 27 European Union an Union countries will breach the bloc’s budget-deficit limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product this year and next, the European Commission projected in May, as governments across the region have spent tens of billions of Euros to lift their economies out of the worst recession in 60 years. Germany designed the Stability and Growth Pact over France’s objections in the 1990s to boost confidence in the Euro, before embracing French calls for a relaxation of the rules after its own deficits started swelling above the limit in 2002. In 2005, the pact was loosened, making it easier for countries breaching the 3 percent limit to avoid sanctions. To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Brown in London at mbrown42@bloomberg.net Last Updated: October 26, 2009 19:00 EDT Budget Deficits ‘Big Problem’ for Euro Stability, Issing Says – Bloomberg.com

Source: By Matthew Brown Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) — Former European Central Bank chief economist Otmar Issing said

“As the world’s largest economy and the world’s second largest emitter, America bears our share of responsibility in addressing climate change, and we intend to meet that responsibility.”

Hmm, sounds good.  The entire world is holding its collective breath right now.

[...] “After months of talk, and two weeks of negotiations, I believe that the pieces of that accord are now clear.”

Months? What happened to the past two decades? What about Kyoto?

[...] “I’m confident that America will fulfill the commitments that we have made: cutting our emissions in the range of 17 percent by 2020, and by more than 80 percent by 2050 in line with final legislation.

[...] “America will be a part of fast-start funding that will ramp up to $10 billion in 2012.”

Same old, same old.  Too little, too late.

“We know the fault lines because we’ve been imprisoned by them for years.”

What? Who’s been imprisoned?

“But here is the bottom line: we can embrace this accord, take a substantial step forward, and continue to refine it and build upon its foundation. [...] Or we can again choose delay, falling back into the same divisions that have stood in the way of action for years. And we will be back having the same stale arguments month after month, year after year – all while the danger of climate change grows until it is irreversible.

There is no time to waste. America has made our choice. We have charted our course, we have made our commitments, and we will do what we say. Now, I believe that it’s time for the nations and people of the world to come together behind a common purpose.”

My way or the highway.

The speech we’ve been hoping for? Not quite. Full text here.

In an interesting new paper, David de la Croix and Clara Delavallade argue that “the most corrupt countries, since they are also the poorest, receive higher amounts of foreign aid.”

Despite the official claim of multilateral organizations to be conditioning foreign aid on institutional reforms of the recipient country, aid is not negatively correlated with corruption across countries. This correlation is, if anything, positive. In this note we provide a rationale for this fact, which can a priori be viewed as irrational.

The rationality for giving more aid to more corrupt countries arises because corruption is itself endogenous, and negatively related to productivity. Since it is optimal for donors to give more aid to countries with low productivity, it turns out that aid and corruption are positively correlated at equilibrium, at least as long as productivity is the main source of differences across countries.

We have evaluated this prediction by estimating the effect of productivity and quality of institutions on both corruption and foreign aid. The positive correlation between aid and corruption due to differences in productivity levels is significant and stronger than the negative correlation arising from differences in governance quality. This result is highly robust to changes in time period, in the way institution quality is measured and in the use of alternate model specifications. References

   While I would very much like to get on with another topic- health care for instance, because I am currently writing a series dissecting the bill passing through Congress at this time- I find I must first clarify my earlier post about the GeoEye.

    Those who do not believe this technology exists need to look up “GeoEye”  themselves as we reporters do; not on sites full of science fiction but by Googling NASA and Vandenberg Air Force Base and “GeoEye,” which should be obvious. For me to argue technology would be ridiculous. I am a reporter of 35 years, not a scientist, and am going to report only what has actually occurred, not what should, could or possibly will or will not happen. 

   On Sept. 6, 2008, the first commercial  GeoEye was launched with the help of a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This imaging device can see a 16-inch area anywhere on earth while traveling at a speed of 4.5 miles per second. Note the operative word “commercial” in the previous sentence. This GeoEye, though launched with U.S. government help, is a commercial venture. One of the benefits of it is Google Earth, where we can all view anything we wish from the buildings in Washington DC to Rome to our own houses on our computer screens. But research shows me that the U.S. government was using this technology for almost 50 years before the public knew anything about it. We only found out when “they” (government officials in charge of national security) wanted us to. After that, it immediately went out for bid as a commercial venture.

    It was once a Top Secret program dubbed “Corona,” like the typewriter, and was a highly classified part of our space program Discover. Now think about this a minute: If the government could look that closely at us 50 years ago – way before we even knew any such technology was invented- what can it do now? And if a company with enough $$$$ can buy its own GeoEye and stare at whatever (or whoever) it pleases, you know the government has to be way ahead of that.

    So tell me national media, where the $#@$ are you on this? And why don’t doubters – and those who think their knowledge of science is equal to that of world governments- simply look up the facts of this story themselves?

Last week I gave several talks about Tokyo Green Space, including at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimusho, 外務書). The 1960s modernist building and landscaping impressed me. You can see the bright yellow ginkos in the background and the last fall leaves in the foreground.

My main point to the Ministry was that Japan has not done a good job of explaining its accomplishments in creating livable cities. Both its ordinary gardeners who compensate for a history of poor planning, and its landscape visionaries who are creating new public spaces for people and wildlife are unknown within and outside Japan. Most foreigners are surprised at how human-scaled and enjoyable Tokyo is.

Given climate change and global urbanization, Japan should promote its achievements and expertise in new urbanism, with relevance to developed and emerging cities around the world.

I also gave talks last week at Hitachi Ltd Headquarters to an audience that included Hitachi global business, defense systems, environmental strategy, and research institute leaders, as well as Kajima and ARUP biodiversity specialists, university professors, and Japanese media. Voted the MVP (most voted person), I also gave an impromptu speech, in Japanese, at the wonderful TEDxSeeds conference organized by the extraordinary culture curator Satoh Keiko.

Russia, a former superpower whose relationship with the US can best be described as rocky, has been quite busy lately. The country has been racking up some very interesting news stories in recent weeks that give pause to outsiders, causing them to question what direction the former United Soviet Socialist Republic is headed towards.

At the beginning of October, it was revealed that Joseph Stalin’s grandson, Yevgeny Dzhugashvili (Stalin was born Joseph Dzhugashvili, but adopted “Stalin,” meaning steel following his joining of forces with the Bolsheviks) was filing court action against, Novaya Gazeta, a liberal paper in Russia (who knew that there were any left leaning papers left in the country), after the paper printed evidence in the form of Stalin’s signature, which this brutal dictator used to order the executions of many Soviets and others. And while the Kremlin released a statement of indifference about the case, since the end of Boris Yelstin’s presidency, Soviet archives that had been opened after the fall of communism in the 90s, have been subsequently closed. September saw one of Moscow’s metro stations unveil a plaque praising Stalin; a Russian history book was rewritten last year, now stating that Stalin was an “effective manager” who had a hand in the allies’ victory in World War II; and in 2008, an on-line competition revealed that Russians believe that Stalin was the third greatest Russian…ever. Such revelations don’t even scratch the surface of the praises that Stalin has gleaned as of late from elderly Russians who lived through Stalin’s reign of terror.   Some older citizens, who took up residence outside of the courthouse where the Stalin trial is to be heard, claimed that, “Stalin was a great man” who made Russia “peaceful, safe and most importantly, strong.” 

Granted, people have internal wiring that causes them to delusionally believe that the past was infinitely more positive than their present is, but these actions and the drivel coming out of Russian mouths is taking things a bit too far. It has been well documented that Stalin administered numerous abuses on the population. And the fact that the Russian government is doing nothing to remind its citizens of that is like the Iranian leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denying that the Holocaust ever took place. Thankfully, it was later reported that Dzhugashvili lost the case, so the record does reflect that Stalin did unleash a death squad on thousands of Russians, but it still leaves room for questions as to Russia’s recall of past events and past leaders’ actions, not only in regards to Stalin, but also in regards to past Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

In other Russian news, that which brought half a smile to my cynical face, current President Dmitry Medvedev spoke publicly, not long ago,  about the state of the Russian nation.  In his historic speech, Medvedev expanded on the fact that Russia had made itself dependent on money made from its oil reserves that, since the global downturn, had disappeared. Medvedev called for a new economic approach, outlining a detailed plan for how to move the nation towards increased democracy. Based on this speech, it appeared that the President was offering a slight to his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, made visually real as TV cameras panned to Putin occasionally to show the less than cordial look on his face. Who knows; this could be just talk on the President’s part in attempts to appease the US and other allies such as the European Union whom he met with following this speech to discuss the natural gas pipeline that flows from Russian to EU member states as well as human rights violations in Russia as they related to the “Georgian War” in August of 2008, but it sure sounded like the kick in the pants Russia needs to move onto the next chapter of its coming of age on the world stage.

Soon after Medvedev’s speech, however, two events took place, both in the same city that caused me to rethink the true state of this nation- its mental state to be precise.  In the city of Perm, which is 870 miles from Moscow, three homeless men were arrested for killing a 25-year-old man due to some unresolved “hostility” towards him. On the surface, this scenario is not too out of the ordinary, as murders do happen, usually coming to a head as a result of some nastiness that exists between two parties. But this story is far from being fully told. Turns out that these homeless men, after killing their victim, decided to dismember the man’s body, consume parts of it, throw some of it in a forested area, and, being low on cash as each of the men was without permanent lodgings or regular income, they sold the remainder of the man’s “parts” to a kebab shop in town. How the human meat was eventually discerned by kebab workers is anyone’s best guess and it is still unclear as to whether any customers engaged in unknown cannibalism before the human meat was discovered. This incident signals a new low for the revenge business. Not only is this guy killed and dismembered, but then his killers, being so down and out, believe that selling his remains seemed like a good idea?

Then a few weeks later in Perm, over a hundred people were killed in a night club when faulty lighting started a fire, similar to the situation in Rhode Island about a decade ago, where special effects were used in a night club with devastating effects in the form of collateral damage. The reason that so many people were killed is one, there was only one exit for the packed club to empty out of and two, Russian laws regulating clubs are in need of some major updates. And while this incident has prompted some anger amongst Russian politicians, signs don’t point to a drastic change in policy where night clubs are concerned.

The interesting mix between Stalin’s stalwartedness in the minds of Russians, Medvedev’s miscalculations(maybe), and Perm’s predators, it would seem that Russia is, at present, playing fast and loose with history, the strength of its leadership and, ultimately, with the safety of its people. But the present government is more popular than ever, so it begs the question, are Russia’s citizens paying attention to what is happening around them and to them or are they happy to be oblivious to it all? Or, as I suspect, do they see what is going on, but due to the reduction of freedoms in the country, are afraid to speak up and protest against the injustices that they face?

It would seem that the next ten years or so will show the world what direction that Russia ultimately takes as a player on the world stage. Choose wisely, Russia, or selling a murdered man’s flesh won’t be a singular story in your country’s present and future history.

The Guardian newspaper broke the story about secret climate negotiations between the US, UK, and Denmark. Read it here.

Obama is escalating the war in Afghanistan and hasn’t closed Guantanamo yet. He also hasn’t parted the Red Sea or cured cancer, but my hopes weren’t quite that high. Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone explains at length why the financial crisis not only hasn’t been solved, but looks like it’s getting worse.

What’s taken place in the year since Obama won the presidency has turned out to be one of the most dramatic political about-faces in our history. Elected in the midst of a crushing economic crisis brought on by a decade of orgiastic deregulation and unchecked greed, Obama had a clear mandate to rein in Wall Street and remake the entire structure of the American economy. What he did instead was ship even his most marginally progressive campaign advisers off to various bureaucratic Siberias, while packing the key economic positions in his White House with the very people who caused the crisis in the first place.

The following excerpt is from a commentary by Atmospheric Scientist and Hurricane forecasting specialist Dr. William Gray. Gray is the renowned hurricane forecaster and Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU). He originally published this article on Climate Depot.

There has been an unrelenting quarter century of one-sided indoctrination of the Western world by the media and by various scientists and governments concerning a coming carbon dioxide (CO2) induced global warming disaster. These warming scenarios have been orchestrated by a combination of environmentalists, vested interest scientists wanting larger federal grants and publicity, the media which profits from doomsday scenario reporting, governmental bureaucrats who want more power over our lives, and socialists who want to level-out global living standards. These many alarmist groups appear to have little concern over whether their global warming prognostications are accurate, however. And they most certainly are not. The alarmists believe they will be able to scare enough of our citizens into believing their propaganda that the public will be willing to follow their advice on future energy usage and agree to a lowering of their standard of living in the name of climate salvation.

I am a skeptic that has heard this bull from back in 1976 to date. Prior to that in 74 and 75 we was inundated with the global ice age that was upon us and how the ice was about to push down our back door. When this did not seem to phase anyone, the same bunch of cracker heads came up with this global warming, and how by 2012 the globe would be devastated and we would all be starving to death from the lack of food and over population, I mean they painted a dooms day scenario that would make Al Gore look like a rank amateur.

Well 2010 is just around the corner and it would appear they only way these cracker heads are going to see their projections come true is if they make it happen themselves, therefore the tax and trade bill. We get taxed into poverty, and trade our freedom for their man made hell. They have two more years left to make it happen.

The recent "Climategate" revelations coming out of the University of East Anglia are but the tip of a giant iceberg of a well organized international climate warming conspiracy that has been gathering momentum for the last 25 years. This conspiracy would become much more manifest if all the e-mails of the publically funded climate research groups of the US and of foreign governments were ever made public.

That my friend is what Copenhagen is all about and the reason for the urgency.

Think I’m wrong?

Think again. If these cracker heads really believed their spew, do you think they would create more of a carbon footprint in two weeks than six small nations can in a years time just to declare the urgency of it?

No, the cost is the cost of war, the war to overthrow the prosperity of everyone but themselves. It is our money they are after in the form of government grants. They are not satisfied with the amount they have already swindled us out of. Read their email, they are not scientist, they are just mere politicians spinning their crap just like all politicians do to get elected.

The disastrous economic consequences of restricting CO2 emissions from the present by as much as 20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 (as being proposed in Copenhagen) have yet to be digested by the general public. Such CO2 output decreases would cause very large increases in our energy costs, a lowering of our standard of living, and do nothing of significance to improve our climate.

The cap-and-trade bill presently before Congress, the likely climate agreements coming out of the Copenhagen Conference, and the EPA’s just announced decision to treat CO2 as a pollutant represents a grave threat to the industrial world’s continued economic development. We should not allow these proposals to restrict our economic growth. Any United Nations climate bill our country might sign would act as an infringement on our country’s sovereignty.

As I said, they are mere politicians looking to fulfill their political agenda. You and I are the last thing they have on their minds, only our pocket books and bank accounts. There is not a single scientist among them.

Socialism is just a fancy word for slavery.

That is the view from here,

Duane

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Friday, Zul Hijja 15, 1430 (December 4, 2009)

Disobedience is happening at all levels of society from government to family relationships. People have forgotten the reason for their creation, understanding everything through the ego, understanding wrong. Correct obedience is to the ones who are obeying ALLAH swt and His Prophet saws, not to the ones who try to stop you from the way of ALLAH and His Prophet.

Download (14:58 mins) | Listen to the sohbet:

Students in Ca Mau go to school on ferries. Ca Mau Province pay ferry charges for poor students  to coax dropouts back to school

Around 80 per cent of students who dropped out of school in the Mekong delta have returned this academic year, thanks to the efforts of provincial governments to address the causes of their quitting in the first place.

In Bac Lieu, teachers held special classes during the three-month summer vacation for weak students.

Teaching staff in Hau Giang Province investigated the reasons for students quitting school to find solutions to help them.

The Hau Giang People’s Committee gave each needy student VND200,000 from the fund for the poor to encourage them to return to school.

Ca Mau Province paid ferry charges for poor students enabling over 500 dropouts to come back to school.

Fresh dropout rates have also fallen: Ben Tre has managed to reduce the percentage of primary-school students quitting by 0.08 percent, junior-high students by 1.32 percent, and high-school students by 1.65 percent.

In Ca Mau and Soc Trang the dropout rates have fallen by 0.01 to 0.04 percent at all levels.

Related articles:
Poor schooling in Mekong Delta worries Government

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) chief insisted members to resist protectionist pressure in the wake of the economic crisis, but said hopes of an early deal to free up international commerce are uncertain.

However, he said that in February this year, the global economic downturn was peaking while less than a year on; progress has been made but is not yet out of the woods.

Further, success in completing the Doha round of trade talks next year as scheduled was vital to signal business and consumer confidence, and would strengthen the hand of governments as they confront protectionist pressures
.
On the other hand, this will not occur unless they are all ready for heavy political lifting at home while there would be a “crunch time meeting” in the first quarter to check if the goal was attainable.

BRUSSELS — More than 20 governments have already pledged to send a total of more than 5,000 extra troops to Afghanistan to join 30,000 U.S. reinforcements heading there soon, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said Thursday, as the alliance’s mission in the country enters a critical new phase.

Afghanistan is widely regarded as a make-or-break mission for the 28-nation alliance, which has never in six decades engaged in conflict outside Europe or on the same scale.

President Barack Obama’s decision, announced Tuesday, to send at least 30,000 more troops there for 18 months suggests that the mission’s outcome will in large part be determined by mid-2011.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said governments from more than 20 of the 43 nations in Afghanistan had already pledged reinforcements based on Mr. Obama’s decision.

The pledges would take the U.S. troop commitment close to 100,000 and that of other governments to more than 40,000.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to join other NATO foreign ministers Friday in Brussels for talks on Afghanistan.

“We’re feeling good about” the response, Mrs. Clinton told reporters en route to Brussels.

She said she expected to gain further troop and aid commitments from NATO countries in coming days, adding that the Obama administration will be continuing “extensive outreach” to U.S. allies.

Italy’s government said Thursday it would send more troops to Afghanistan. Italian officials indicated 1,000 troops would be added to its force there, based mainly around the western city of Herat.

However, about half the soldiers pledged are already in Afghanistan, having been sent to provide security for recent elections, and won’t withdraw as planned.

Britain has increased its promised force strength by 1,200, but that includes 700 already there for the elections.

Non-NATO governments that have promised troops include Georgia, which has said it will send an army brigade, and South Korea, which will send 500 soldiers.

In a statement to be issued after Friday’s meeting, already agreed upon by diplomats, the ministers will “strongly welcome” Mr. Obama’s pledge to send in more troops.

They will also urge President Hamid Karzai to deliver on the commitments made in his inaugural address last month, in which he pledged to root out corruption and take over responsibility for security in the next five years.

Richard Holbrooke, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said corruption was one of a number of tough challenges the U.S. and its allies faced in Afghanistan.

Training sufficient numbers of Afghan police, many of whom were illiterate, was “a massive task,” he told a small group of reporters and analysts.

While he praised improved cooperation between the U.S. and Afghanistan’s neighbor Pakistan, he said the ability of Afghan insurgents to find refuge over the border in Pakistani territory was “an important aspect of the problem.”

“The Afghan Taliban are not yet under sufficient pressure [in Pakistan] and they need to be,” said Mr. Holbrooke, who was in Brussels for talks with European Union officials and governments.

Germany’s parliament voted Thursday to extend its military deployment in Afghanistan through 2010, but decline to join those countries offering new troops, keeping its ceiling at 4,500. Mbt shoes uk   Mbt shoes sale  Mbt

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has said Germany won’t discuss increasing its troop commitment until after an international conference on Afghanistan’s future to be held in London in late January.

An agonized debate in Germany over a controversial Sept. 4 airstrike in Afghanistan has put pressure on Ms. Merkel as her government ponders how to respond to the U.S.

Germany’s defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, revised Thursday his opinion of the strike, which is thought to have killed dozens of civilians, based on new information. He said he now considered it “militarily inappropriate.”

German cabinet minister Franz Josef Jung, who held the defense portfolio at the time of the strike, has resigned, over the strike as has Germany’s most senior soldier.Shoes Mbt  Mbt shoes   discount Mbt shoes

Do you know what this means? Radio frequency identification. Still confused? It’s a tiny radio installed in a credit card or identification card. It transmits your information when you flash it across a scanner. It is being installed in all credit cards and some drivers licenses. The credit companies think it’s great. Governments are taking a liking to it as well.

Call me once bitten twice shy or whatever you like but when big companies like something I’ve learned that it may not be so good for you and I. And when governments are liking something it may be trouble for us as well. But when they both like it you know we’re in deep dudu. I have a brand new passport and it came with a special sleeve to keep it in. This sleeve is supposed to keep it secure.

Now I was watching a commercial for a guy selling these sleeves. He spent nine dollars on e-Bay and bought a machine that would scan these items. Then he showed how easy it was to walk up behind someone and scan their card right through their wallet. I’ve included a link below. Sounds pretty spiffy, pretty “Star Trek”. My only concern is what the gubmint has planned for this technology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCd3YLAn8Kw

The Huffington Post published my article entitled “Biodiversity Remakes Tokyo.” I will become a regular blogger, so if you like the article please leave a comment on the Huffington Post, post it to your Facebook account, or Tweet it to your friends. Thank you!

Here’s the first four paragraphs:

The Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference addresses unparalleled environmental crisis and the need to transform our relationship with nature. Many people assume that nature has no place in the city. On the contrary, cities are central sites for a sustainable, post-industrial era that supports population growth and a high quality of life. Biodiversity and urban forests can thrive with concrete and people.

Ordinary gardeners and environmental visionaries in Tokyo, the world’s largest metropolis, are improving urban life for human and environmental benefit. While mainstream environmentalists work to save distant forests, urban innovators are creating new shared places that connect city residents to the environment and each other. Successful strategies include maximizing limited resources, engaging urban dwellers, and sharing daily life with plants and wildlife.

Tokyo’s size, density, lack of open space, and past policy failures paradoxically make it a model for rebuilding mature cities and designing hundreds of new cities. Along with climate change, the world faces unprecedented urbanization, reaching 60% of the world population or 5 billion people by 2030. African and Asian urban populations will double between 2000 and 2030.

To make cities sustainable and attractive, limited resources must be used for maximum benefit. Tokyo already offers vibrant and safe street life with relatively small private spaces. Because of usage fees and public investment, more daily trips are made by transit, walking and bicycling than automobile. And large numbers of often elderly residents tend gardens spilling out from homes into streets. With minimal horizontal area between homes, Tokyo residents are experts in blurring public and private spaces, and growing vertical gardens in even the narrowest openings.

Click to read the full story on the Huffington Post.

There’s more pain on the way for Australia’s borrowers with the Reserve Bank today raising interest rates for the third time in as many months.

As widely tipped, the central bank lifted its key cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent following its monthly board meeting. It’s the first time the RBA has lifted rates three months in a row. (Click here for economists’ reaction, including Michael Pascoe and Peter Martin.)

”In Australia, the downturn was relatively mild, and measures of confidence and business conditions suggest that the economy is in a gradual recovery,” RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement accompanying the rates verdict. The central bank’s ”gradual” increases in rates will ”work to increase the sustainability of growth in economic activity,” he said.

For a typical mortgage holder on a $300,000 mortgage, today’s rate rise will add about $47 to monthly repayments, assuming commercial banks match the RBA’s move. Officials for most of the major banks this afternoon said their rates policies were under review.

The Reserve Bank has made regular public comments in recent weeks that it sees no need to keep interest rates at ”emergency” levels as the economy rebounds from a slowdown during the past year. Ric Battelino, the RBA’s deputy governor, last week said the economy’s growth is likely to extend ”for a few more years yet.”

More to rises come

Still, the economic data continue to provide mixed readings. A measure of manufacturing activity in November out today showed the sector continues to grow with companies adding jobs, although the stronger Australian dollar slowed the pace of expansion.

Overall building approvals, meanwhile, surprisingly fell 0.6 per cent in October, according to other figures out today. A 5 per cent gain in approvals for private homes was countered by a 19 per cent drop in permits for flats and townhouses.

Even with today’s rate increase, the Reserve Bank’s efforts to tighten monetary policy are likely to be far from over.

”The big change in this statement was their reference to the increases so far as being material,” ANZ’s head of Australian economics Warren Hogan told Reuters.

”I read that as implying that they’re ready to now sit back and watch how these increases affect the economy. And the hurdle for further rate hikes will be much higher than we have seen so far.

“So I think our view that they’re going to 4 (per cent), 4.25 then sit there for much of the year is the right one. There’s every chance they’ll do it in February and March, although I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s dragged out over a number of months.”

JP Morgan’s Chief Economist Stephen Walters agreed that the RBA may make it four rate rises in a row: “With inflation likely to creep up, and the worst in the economy having passed, there is no need to keep rates at very expansionary levels.”

“We think they will again lift rates in February,” Mr Walters

said. ”The RBA does not meet in January, but I think they will hike when they return after the break. The word ‘gradual’ is still there in the RBA statement and I think they will start going slow in lifting after February.”

Before today’s move, investors were betting that rates would rise to at least 4.75 per cent in a year’s time – equivalent to four more rate rises over the period. Three weeks ago, however, the betting was for rates to rise to 5.25 per cent, indicating confidence in the economy’s strength has recently diminished.

The RBA’s board is not scheduled to meet again until next February.

Political view

Treasurer Wayne Swan said the rate rise would pinch household funds.

”This is tough for families…when rates go up it has an impact on the family budget,” Mr Swan told reporters.

He took aim at old comments from new Opposition Leader Tony Abbott that the government’s billion-dollar stimulus had led to interest rates rises.

”That is laughable and it comes from a political leader who is prone to making erratic statements,” Mr Swan said.

”Mr Abbott is in denial of the fact that this country has performed well in the global recession.”

Even with the latest jump, these rates were last seen in 1967, Mr Swan said.

Mild downturn

A year ago, the Reserve Bank was in the midst of a series of deep interest rate cuts as Australia joined other countries in attempting to limit the damage from the global financial crisis.

Last December, the RBA sliced one full percentage point from its cash rate, lowering it to 4.25 per cent on the way to a fifty year-low of 3 per cent by April. After a pause, the central bank has started to lift rates back towards more normal levels as fears of an economic crunch abate.

”The effects of the early stages of the fiscal stimulus on consumer demand are fading, but public infrastructure spending is starting to provide more impetus to demand,” Mr Stevens said in his statement today.

The jobless rate has been one of the surprises, with Australia’s unemployment holding well below 6 per cent when many had predicted a level in excess of 8 per cent. Business investment has also held up well in large measure due to the sharp rebound in China and India – leaving Australia as one of the few countries to start raising rates.

”Prospects for ongoing expansion of private demand, including business investment, have been strengthening. There have been some early signs of an improvement in labour market conditions,” Mr Steven said. ”The rate of unemployment is now likely to peak at a considerably lower level than earlier expected.”

The RBA believes economic growth ”is likely to be close to trend (in 2010) and inflation close to target.

Market response

In the aftermath of the rates news, the Aussie dollar initially dropped before recovering to about 91.5 US cents in recent trading, close to its level before the RBA statement.

Shares, also turned mildly lower before recovering to be about 0.2 per cent higher for the day with less than an hour of trading left.

Source :   www.theage.com.au

I read with fascination as government’s across the world attempt to convince their citizens that they are somehow in control of inflation.  Right now, a return to growth has seen an increase in the price of commodities with the price of a barrel of oil nearly doubling since the beginning of the year.  Other commodities are also increasing with the Commodities Price Index increasing nearly 35% over the last twelve months.  These are numbers that no national governments can control.

Then add in the effects of a fundamental increase in the demand for food as population grows and income levels increase around the world and you have a a perfect recipe for serious increases in the price of basic food products.

As far as I can tell, the price of raw materials, oil and food pretty much determine inflation levels – none of which are controllable by governments in a globalized and competitive economy.  That is obviously not to say that inflation is going to run out of control over the next year or two.  Prices dropped so significantly in 2008 that it will take time for inflation to become a problem.

But I really think government should come clean.  Their ability to control the key levers of their economies are reducing by the day.

The Balearics may still be the leader when it comes to Mediterranean holidays, but this position is under threat. Tell us something we didn’t know, and “The Diario” did just that yesterday, but it set out quite why this threat exists.

Turkey, Egypt, Croatia – these are the three countries that most exercise the minds of Balearics tourism authorities, or they should be. The competition they represent is now well-understood, but it is still a relatively recent phenomenon. Yet, this very recency has been one of the things that have caught the Balearics on the hop. The catch-up that has been played in these countries has been swift. In the case of Croatia, it has occurred in a short period since the turmoil that was the former Yugoslavia. I went on holiday to Croatia in 1984. I say “Croatia”. You didn’t refer to it as such back then; it was still Yugoslavia, and it was crap. We stayed on a holiday complex which had some what could only be described as “communist” elements: a vast refectory that served inedible food and a so-called entertainment building which didn’t have any – entertainment that is, except for morose local youths looking to pick fights. The beach did not exist. One stretched out on what was like a car park, a series of huge concrete slabs from which one walked down steps into the sea. It was popular with Germans who could drive there, and there were even holidaymakers from the old communist bloc – Hungarians most obviously. The complex was soulless, what there was by way of bars, restaurants and shops was of a poor standard. The best thing about it was that you could buy reasonably good fresh food and have your own barbecues, because you certainly didn’t want to be dining out. Oh, and it was incredibly cheap.

But that was 25 years ago. The war intervened, and then Croatia undertook its tourism birth, while Turkey and Egypt began to plan more aggressively for the future. 

Though both Turkey and Egypt have experienced slight falls in the number of tourists this year, the decline has not been as great as that in the Balearics. The islands still hold their dominant position, but they are in retreat, faced with the competition of the eastern Med. This competition is founded on new and often superior hotel stock and cheapness. There is also a bit of unfair competitive advantage. Governments can subsidise an industry in a way that the Spanish cannot, unless they wish to bring down the wrath of Brussels on their heads. These governments can also influence exchange rates – to their benefit – in ways that Euroland Spain cannot. 

“The Diario” itemises the pros and cons of the Balearics and of its competitors. The paper admits that the so-called “complementary offer” (i.e. bars and restaurants etc.) is costly, but it is also vastly superior to that available in the competitor destinations. However, it is the hotel element that speaks volumes. The current-day holidaymaker seems less interested in that complementary offer. Egypt and Turkey may suffer from inferior infrastructures, but what do these matter when the holidaymaker can stay in relative luxury on an all-inclusive basis? Outside bars and restaurants hold less appeal for a growing number of tourists, and so it also is in Mallorca where the all-inclusive offer has had to increase in response to what is happening elsewhere but where the hotels are not always as good.

There are cons in Egypt and Turkey in terms of, for example, terrorism, but this is a more questionable card to play following the summer bombs in Mallorca. There are cons in terms of low-quality bars and restaurants, but this is a questionable card to play if the holidaymaker isn’t interested. There are cons in terms of limited travel possibilities, which constitute one definite pro for Mallorca which is better served by air and sea and which is also closer for northern Europeans. There are pros in terms of government intervention; the Turkish government supported financially an 18% shareholding in Air Berlin by the Turkish airline Pegasus, thus, at a stroke, opening up a wider German market to the Turkish Riviera. There are pros in terms of governmental priority; tourism is the industry in the eastern Med and responsibilities of those at the heads of government reflect this. I suggested a while ago that the Balearics president should also be the tourism minister. Maybe I was right to have done so.   

In Mallorca and the Balearics, they continue to bang on about the strength of the brand (Balearics, erroneously), about professionalism, about sustainable environments, blah, blah, but much of it is whistling in the dark. It will continue to be so not only because of the growing competition but also – a point “The Diario” neglects to make – because there are too many competing self-interests in Mallorca, be these in government, within associations or in the tourism sector. The eastern Med countries are far more single-minded, far more focused on an overarching strategy led by government. They, the Turks, the Egyptians, the Croats, have adopted coherent and intelligent strategies of competition, and it is these, more than anything, that they have used to challenge Mallorca and the Balearics, because similar strategies, if they really exist, are obscured from view.

The Japan Times published my op-ed article “Tokyo’s urban design role.” My argument is that Tokyo’s past urban design failures paradoxically make it a model for rebuilding existing cities and designing hundreds of emerging cities. In the context of climate change and global warming, livable cities can create a new balance between people and  nature.

I talk about fireflies, Ginza rice and honeybees, modern bonsai, satoyama in the city, businesses and biodiversity, and how Japan can promote innovations in urban life, alongside achievements in popular culture and high technology.