The elephant in the world

I found an article about conservation efforts regarding elephants.  The Associated Press published an article regarding the efforts to maintain the African Elephant populations primarily in Kenya.  There are a few key elements that I see as predominantly driving this issue.  First, the elephants tusk ivory is considered economically valuable.   The economic value is driven first by the intrinsic value of the ivory, which is derived from its utility to society.  The illegality factor further modifies the economics, limiting the supply of the commodity, thus driving the base price of the ivory and thereby the economic viability up further.  However, there is a curious stipulation to this.  There is a regional aspect to the economic viability, which is mentioned briefly in the article: "Most cases involve ivory being smuggled from Africa into Asia, where growing wealth has fed the desire for ivory ornaments and for rhino horn that is used in traditional medicine, though scientists have proved it has no medicinal value."  This cultural statement suggests that the economic profit is considerably increased in Asia, due to the expanded uses for the tusk ivory.  The manner in which Western culture lives today would support this supposition.  Ivory is not as highly valued in most Western societies, hence why the tusk ivory is shipped to Asia where it fetches the highest price.  The second aspect of the ivory trade is that the organized crime organizations involved in this trade, hamper the ability of the African governments to control the poaching in their borders.

Based on the above reasons, it would be wise for the governments presiding over the nature preserves in Africa to utilize companies from cultural regions where ivory is not as valuable and places where the companies will not likely allow corrupt individuals to enter into their countries illegally.  It may be more expensive for African governments to execute construction projects, but such is the price of conservation efforts.

Epic Star Wars: The Old Republic guide

Hopefully, it doesn't kill your computer loading the guide.  It has about 100 pages of material in one load.

http://liberi-fatali.net/the-old-republic/star-wars-the-old-republic-guide-and-faq/

Russian oligarchy, meet Russian people

The Russian people are finally standing up and demanding to be heard.  I am betting that they have been inspired by the protests throughout the Arab world that have toppled several regimes.  These protests have the chance to effect a considerable change in the country that has been dominated by corruption and political strong-arm action for the past twenty years.

I for one, stand with the Russian people.  I hope they succeed in bringing down Putin's gangster-o-cracy.  Now, if we would only let capitalism deal harshly with America's bankster-o-cracy.

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111210/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_protests

How Al Qaida takes a country

I found another fascinating article on Yahoo news, written by the Associated Press regarding the African nation of Mali.  The article describes the extreme poverty in which the people of Mali live with, and how Al Qaida comes into the region and begin to attempt to live as locals, passing out candy, cash, medicine, and calling on the locals to setup mosques and to pray.  The local herders and farmers in Mali are taken by the charm, and generosity of the Al Qaida fighters, but they are afraid of their extremist beliefs.  Hopefully, the Malian people will be able to walk a fine line of gracefully accepting gifts, without turning their sons and daughters over to be murdered on the alter of violence.

Candy, cash — al-Qaida implants itself in Africa

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to any readers.

Thanksgiving is here once more, and we have many things for which to be grateful.   I have had a most interesting year, and I oft forget things for which I may still be grateful.  First of all, I have to thank my God for his offer of eternal salvation for my spirit.  The sacrifice of His son on the cross paid for all of my sin and allows me to approach the throne of the almighty God.  Within the corporeal realm, I am extremely grateful for my parents, whose long-suffering and patience ensures that I will always have a home to return to when all else in this world fails.  I am grateful for the friends that I have, and new friends that I have found in the past few months.  I am thankful that I have found a lovely, (and single!) young lady in England with whom I have had the distinct pleasure of communicating with over the past few weeks.  I am sincerely hoping that our friendship will continue to develop and flower into something lasting.

Here is to the future, may it be brighter and more joyful than the past.

Occupy Poland

A spoof image on the Occupy Wall Street movement.  This is not exactly tactful, but it is definitely hilarious.

http://memebase.com/2011/11/02/internet-memes-hipster-hitler/

The Occupy Movement

I find this movement both appealing and disturbing.  I very much appeal to their overall message, that greed is destructive and that our nation and world are going down a long and slippery slope towards economic disaster, but I have a very difficult time comprehending what they plan on doing about this issue.  It seems in the current political environment, many people (ala Tea Party and now the Occupy movement) are extremely adept at pointing out the flaws in our society and economy, but no one seems to have any hint of a solution.  This lack of solubility makes the Occupy Movement a difficult thing to throw any real support behind, because they have no goal and no purpose other than protesting that which is inherently evil naturally.

Over the past few months, and Occupy Movement has begun adopting the Guy Fawkes' masks as a symbol of rising up against the tyranny of the wealthy bankers and corrupt politicians who propagate a system that favors their own personal gain.  The symbolism also holds some deeper and more troubling aspects from the past.

I didn't know much about Guy Fawkes until a year or so ago when the Anonymous online group adopted the mask.  The real Guy Fawkes has a very violent and unsavory past; and by all reasonable modern translation, he would be akin to an Osama bin Laden of the 15th century.  Although the imagery of the mask has shifted over time, this new adoption by the Occupy Movement could mean a move into a more violent stage of protest.   I am going to hope that the Occupy Movement continues to remain dedicated to peaceful protesting, as long as is required.  Sadly, I also cannot see any way that this protest, as dedicated as they may be, will actually effect any real changes to the system.  Maybe we will be able to evoke some fundamental shift in the politics of our nation, but I am not going to hold my breath.

Below is linked another curious article from the Associated Press that touches on this topic also.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111104/ap_on_en_mo/us_occupy_vendetta

The new nature of war

I have discovered an absolutely fascinating article on STRATFOR.  Over the past few weeks, Anonymous has begun conducting operations against the state of Veracruz in Mexico in relation for supporting the Los Zetas drug trafficking cartel.  The cartels are used to dealing with typical forms of opposition, such as that from federal governments of various nations, and there is even evidence of Los Zetas being able to track online opposition, but the aggression from Anonymous introduces an entirely different dimension to this war.  Anonymous is, by nature, an amorphous collective which does not have any classical hierarchical structure.  This nature, combined with Anonymous near-legendary skills in cyber-hacking and internet security, fuse to ensure that this will be a conflict worth tracking.  It will be most curious to see how the Anonymous campaign fares, and if it does actually yield damaging information about Los Zetas or even directly interfere or hamper Los Zetas' operations in Mexico.  This may very well be the dawning of a new era in using online warfare to execute and affect real world conflicts.  If the Anonymous operation proves successful, this will be a critical lesson in all conflict to come.  The information age is truly here.

I, for one, hope that they are successful, as it will forever change the face of conflict in the 21st century.

I have posted below the full text of the article for people who have trouble accessing STRATFOR articles.

Tempo of life and language

Being in Spain is a curious experience.  Being my first time outside of the borders of my home country, it is a peculiar feeling to be in a country where the native tongue is not one of yours.  However, the most fascinating part of the Spanish language is not the blatant foreign attribute, but the sheer speed at which Spanish is spoken by most people.  I imagine that the average word per minute rate of spoken Spanish is very likely one and a half to two times that of the average rate of spoken English.  But a very distinctive property of Spain, is the tempo of the Spanish day and life.  Despite the rapidity and fluidity with which the Spanish speak, their lives exhibit a diametrically opposed tempo.  It seems that the Spanish people truly value strolling, rather than hurrying through the average day.  It is a property which I very highly respect, which I often do not exhibit myself.  The other striking element of Spanish culture is the sheer politeness of Spanish people, and particularly the men.  At the dinner table, they all wait until everyone has their supper before anyone takes a bite.  I feel like a boorish brute at the table, when I am beginning to wait on them like one pig waits on another.

But alas, my Irish friend has come to chat, so I must end for now.

Warp 1.002

Researchers at the CERN released results today that indicate that the abstract particle called the neutrino can, in fact, travel faster than the speed of light.  If this is proven true, it will be a momentous discovery, and quite possibly the beginning of a new era.  Faster-than-light travel has thus far been only extent in science fiction, but it appears that fiction is about to become reality.  Perhaps one day, we will fly across the galaxy in faster-than-light spacecraft that will make the Enterprise look like an artifact of bygone days, and it began today.

Roll over Einstein: Pillar of physics challenged

Remembering 9/11

I imagine that each of us who is old enough to remember this time, remembers exactly what we were doing when we heard the horrifying news of the 9/11 attacks.

I was in high school, home sick when a family member called and told me to turn on the television.  I was greeted with an image of the world trade center with one tower smoking from the impact of the first aircraft.  I sat transfixed by this curious image, wondering what it could possibly mean.  They said that a commercial airplane had struck the first tower, and that it was likely to be a terrorist attack.  No one mentioned that a second aircraft was en route, until it was too late.  The shock and horror seeped thickly in the reporters voice.  I continued to watch as both towers now burned and people streamed out of the base.. and fire-fighters and rescue workers streamed into it.  To say that confusion reigned supreme on that day is surely an understatement.   Chaos, confusion, grief, horror, disbelief, infuriation, selflessness, courage and these mixed emotions reigned the day.  It was a cocktail of emotions that no one can forget.  I continued to watch the television, now horrified at the thought of terrorists attacking our country.  How could this happen?  We are separated by oceans from the rest of the world.  It was absurd.  This was a day of unanticipated horrors though, and they simply continued piling up.  To lose one life is a tragedy, but to lose many thousands in the span of several minutes is an unfathomable tragedy.  That it was an act of pure malice made the whole ordeal all the more vile.  I watched the first tower fall, imploding on itself, floor-by-floor.  Then several minutes later, the second tower followed suit.  I do not typically cry, but that day was an exception.  I imagined the many people dying that day, and my heart simply broke.  I prayed that God would be merciful to those who were there, that somehow he would save some, and He did to my relief.  Yet many others died, and it was terrible.

To say that this was a day of pure evil is not accurate.  Many people died to save others, died selflessly, and without thought for their own life.  They truly exemplified Christ in this, "there is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends."  Heroic and selfless deeds abounded on that day as well, and hope was borne out of tragedy.   Hope that our amoral slide into a godless existence would be stemmed.  Hope that people would truly wake-up, and many did.  And above the wreckage stood a cross, wrought by violence and death, shining as a beacon of hope.  Such an image yields hope to all who look at it, for unto all is given a savior who died for them, in order to redeem them from an eternal destruction.  It is this hope that we as humans need to cling to, as this life is short and eternity is but an unfathomable dream right now.  We have to believe that life is not meaningless and that God has a good and lovely end for us.  I hope that I will be able to communicate this to all of the people whom I interact with in the coming weeks.  Hope is here!  It is real, and there is a good future for us!  We will cling to this, even if we lose everything else, for nothing else matters aside from this hope and the love that we hold for one another.

I have transcribed below an article written by the Associated Press that details some of the events of that day and memorials of today.

An unpleasant but necessary task

I found a nice article today describing the US Army's effort to re-organize the Arlington National Cemetery.  I imagine this is a chilling and hallowed task, especially since they have to do their work at night; but I am glad that the Army is taking the time and resources to upkeep this piece of our history.

Troops photograph every Arlington grave

Unintended Consequences

Unintended consequences seem to be the paramount of politics, but sadly Barack Obama is about to see the true unfolding consequences of his crusade for health care.  It seems that the age of employer-sponsored health care is coming to a close.  We will hope that this health care fair will actually reduce health care costs, but that is far from likely.  The source of high health care costs is very heavily tied into legal costs associated with medical malpractice, etc.  I don't think only addressing one of many of the aspects of health care costs are going to solve the health care cost problem.  I doubt that we will ever see a politician put limits on a lawyer, as they all come from the same virulent breed.

Survey: Overhaul may push employee benefits shift

Autumnus Pax Microsoft

I found a delightfully written and absolutely stunning outlook on the future of the computer and software industry.  I am afraid that I agree with the author of this article, that the age of the PC as a dominant workhorse of business is at an end.  However, it will always remain the workhorse of PC gamers worldwide, of which camp I am firmly and eternally entrenched.  Twenty years from now they will say, "What?! You own a PC, you must be a child of the 80's!" and I will proudly declare, "Yes, I own a PC!"

Google Buys Motorola Mobility...And So Begins The Dark Ages

Clever Science

I found an absolutely fascinating article today.  Researchers at Stanford determined a fairly straightforward method of predicting solar sunspots and thereby solar flares and mass ejections.  Why is this important, you ask?  Well, solar flares are a key factor in a lot of electronic interference and can cause problems with cell phones, computers, etc.  Being able to predict them, though a minor move forward in knowledge of the universe is both a fascinating scientific discovery and a bit of knowledge with some very practical (and potentially profitable) applications.

Scientists Can Predict Sunspots by Listening to Sound Waves

Justice and mercy

There is a curious article regarding the war on Libya and the actions and repercussions surrounding it.  On one hand, you have the Western nations involved in NATO claiming humanitarian crisis to justify a war to stop a tyrant who is harming large portions of his population in order to retain power, while on the other, you have an international judicial system that is offering this justification and ensuring that justice be dealt to this man.

These two realities are preventing justice from occurring easily or cheaply, and instead costing the lives of many people on both sides of the conflict.  The quote that I find most fascinating within this article is related to justice and pragmatism: "a judiciary that is impervious to political realities can create catastrophes in the name of justice."


It seems that sometimes it is better to offer the assurance of mercy in order to be most merciful to those who are enduring the situations that we are attempting to end.


You can read the full article below:

Gaming Violence and Sex, Part 2

I found this article related to my previous post on the Supreme Court case on violent video games.  It seems that the court decided to overturn California's law banning the sale of violent video games.  Something else happened here though, that I think is important and potentially momentous for the the gaming community: games were listed along side other forms of idea communication such as books, music, and other communicative forms of entertainment.

Although, I am glad that the court decided to limit the ban on sales, I do hope that state governments continue to uphold severe penalties for not marking these types of games appropriately.  It is the right and responsibility of parents to monitor their children's behavior, and that should never be taken away from them by any government.

America's corroded economic system

There is a curious, and terribly disturbing article about the greed of Wall Street people and the lengths to which they are willing to go to make a buck, even if it means the downfall of capitalism.

America's dodgy financial plumbing

A page out of the NATO book on Libya

I found an article on Yahoo about the NATO's involvement in the Libya conflict, and I thought that a specific quote in here applied to the US conflict in Iraq.

French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said: "NATO has a military vocation and rebuilding Libya is a civilian issue. So really simply, in order to rebuild Libya, if the Libyan people ask for it, because it is first of all an issue for the Libyan people, it is the job for civilian international institutions — and not military — to bring a response"

Our military needs to take this stance in Iraq.  It is not our job to rebuild Iraq, nor should it require American tax dollars.

The end of the European Union?

As many of you are aware, the European Union (EU) is not in good economic shape.  The French and Germans are working to support the core of the EU, while other countries sap their resources whilst working through their various economic woes.  This predicament seems to be predominantly due to the economic malaise in Greece, Ireland, Spain, etc.  These economic conditions are creating political issues within the member nations of the EU, such that I believe that the future of the European Union is in jeopardy.  The Germans are getting tired of bailing out the rest of the EU, and I can imagine that this would foment their eventual catastrophic departure from the EU.  I found this curious article on Stratfor.  It seems to firmly indicate that the trust and faith of the nations in and near the EU are wavering in their confidence in the EU and NATO.  This kind of distrust is the beginning of cracks in the framework that currently exists to cement the unity of the EU.  Should these manner of events continue to escalate, the future of the European Union is less than certain.

What kind of effects will this have on regional stability?  If everything that is presented in this article comes about, one can easily see the Germans aligning themselves with the Russians, thus fracturing the European Union and redrawing the lines in the Eurozone.  France and the rest of the EU will be left to fend for themselves economically and militarily.  Hopefully, a break such as this will not produce hostility between the newly redrawn factions, but I would not count on that.  Perhaps, we will one day be dealing with a Russo-Germanic coalition.

The full article is posted below >>

The death of a wicked man

A week ago, Osama bin Laden, leader of the world-wide terror network Al-Qaida died in a U.S. Navy SEAL raid on his highly secured compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Everyone in the country reacted in a different way, many rejoiced, many sat silent, and many felt relief but sadness.  I felt some comfort in the fact that the American way of life is safer now with bin Laden gone, but I feel sad that he died without a chance to redeem himself in God's eyes.

I cannot agree with those who rejoiced; for although I felt some comfort at the news, I remained somber to the fact that there is yet another broken family somewhere.  To feel only joy at his death is most certainly a sign of callousness to the truth of the fact that, despite his horrible crimes, Osama bin Laden was still a human being.

This article reflects the range of complex emotions that passed through people around the country at this news.

World Views

A world view is an often misunderstood concept that has more importance to what each person believes, and how they form all of their actions and ethical underpinnings.  Each person possesses a world view whether or not they realize it, from which they derive all of their beliefs about the world, people, culture, politics and other significant issues.


Due to the sheer significance of the world view concept, I would challenge you to understand your own world view, because it will allow you to better understand yourself and your place in the world.


I will proceed to layout my own world view, in as concise a manner as I can, primarily as an example, but also to allow reader's a glimpse into my own thoughts.

Welcome to tomorrow!

 The US Air Force wrapped up testing of a reusable space-craft last year, presumed to be exclusively for reconnaissance.  This type of spacecraft is certainly the future of our access to the stars, and for now this step is the beginning of a new generation of space-faring craft.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/secret-x-37b-robot-space-plane-landing-101203.html

Quote for today

"I think I see the conflict in the great arena of the universe. Man piles a mountain of sin, but God will match it, and he upheaves a loftier mountain of grace; man heaps up a still huger hill of sin, but the Lord overtops it with ten times more grace; and so the contest continues till at last the mighty God plucks up the mountains by the roots and buries man's sin beneath them as a fly might be buried beneath an Alp. Abundant sin is no barrier to the superabundant grace of God."    - - C. H. SPURGEON

Globalism and War

I haven't posted in a while, but I had a curious thought yesterday.

With globalization slowly encompassing the entire world, and transportation being global in nature, the economies of the world are becoming more and more entwined with one another.  Every nation is becoming more and more dependent on every other nation in the world.  Although this peculiarity has two edges to it, I am going to focus on the more positive one.

A side effect of the interdependency of globalization arises when you consider the reasons for nations going to war with one another.  Typically there are several reasons why nations go to war, one being for resources to ensure survival of the nation, one being for proactive self-defense, or for other nefarious reasons.

However, between the developing and industrialized nations of the world, there is a strong deterrence for going to war now: the interdependence of nations.  A nation is not going to attack another sovereign nation, if their economies are tied together.  Thus, I imagine that any future warfare will be between nations who are not part of the global economy and those who are.  Perhaps, this will help to prevent wars, at least on the worldwide scale, but people will still scuffle over resources as long as humanity exists.

Language and Meaning

There is a curious trend that I have been observing for a while now.  Back in the 'old' days (when my parents were kids) words that were considered dirty and filthy were rarely ever spoken.  They were relegated to a list of words that should not be said and simply avoided. 

As time progresses and these words are used more frequently, they are slowly being decontextualized.  These words are being used so frequently and in such non-related situations that they begin to lose whatever meaning that they had originally been imparted with and empowered by social stigmas.

I imagine that as the social stigmas surrounding these words slowly dissipates, the words themselves will come to be simply words that we say without any relevant meaning to them.