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Pondering the Pacific: Passage to Pongso no Tao
Asia Pacific Observatory
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Prologue In early May, we took a short trip to Pongso no Tao (Lanyu) as part of Dr. Hsinya Huang's graduate seminar, Pacific Cultural Production. After a two-hour ferry ride from Houbihu Harbor to Kaiyuan Harbor, we were greeted by the island's looming fog-shrouded mountains. Our host, Syaman Lamuran and his wife met our group and drove us to their family-owned Lamuran Guesthouse (蘭嶼飛魚浪民宿) in Iratai (Yuren Village). Flying Fish Heritage and Relations Along the way, we were greeted by the sight of racks and racks of flying fish lining the roads and the smell of drying fish carried by the ocean breeze all over the island. These are indications of the deep cultural significance that the flying fish have to the indigenous communities of Tao people. Not only is the Flying Fish Festival their most important tradition, their relationship with the flying fish also shapes the Tao people's mentality and way of life. The Tao calendar divides the year into three seasons, determined by the activities and life cycles of the flying fish: rayon, the flying fish season when men go out to the sea to catch the flying fish; teiteika, the end of the flying fish season; and amiyan, the winter season when men wait for the flying fish to return. Rayon takes place approximately from March to June, when migrant flying fish follow the Kuroshio Current past Lanyu. During this season, the indigenous community of Lanyu solely hunt and eat flying fish (and other migrating fish), in order to give local fish species the chance to rest and replenish. Most of the flying fish caught during this time are sun-dried, smoked and preserved to last until the end of the fall season. This nine-month-long event is broadly defined as the Flying Fish Festival, throughout which many rituals, ceremonies and taboos are practiced in unison to the flying fish migration. Historically, the movement of the flying fish also constantly reshaped the migratory route of the island Indigenes. Tao people are part of the seafaring Austronesian indigenous, thus due to annual/regular movements among the islands, the islanders conceive of an extensive, communal body of solidarity following the pathway of the current. As Tao people feed on the flying fish and center their rituals and calendars on the movement of the fish, both human and fish have traversed the Pacific, deterritorializing the ocean. The flying fish return every year, inspiring the islanders' will to survive and serving as the fountainhead of their fighting spirit. The fish—indeed, the very waves—carry memories of Tao ancestors. Though the Tao people no longer migrate, the flying fish that are featured in every meal are a living memory of their heritage. Our first meal on the island at 珊賜小嗑廳, where we got a taste of the amazing local cuisine, was no exception. The restaurant is a cozy establishment where the owners chatted with us about the food while they cooked in the kitchen. The star of the show was the deep-fried flying fish, and other courses included a flying-fish-egg omelet, sautéed flying fish eggs with vegetables, and flying-fish-egg sausages; as well as taro stems and other root vegetables that are staples in the Tao diet. We also got to enjoy some homemade fermented lemonade and tea jello. The walls of the restaurant were beautifully decorated with a collage of postcards, posters, maps and knickknacks of Lanyu. For dinner we had flying fish soup and sautéed flying fish at海岸線風味餐廳, after which we got a chance to chat some more with local residents. One of these special hosts was Shu-chen Chen (陳淑貞), a teacher at Lanyu Senior High School. She shared with us some interesting remarks on her teaching philosophy, explaining that she tries to break the mainstream mold by teaching the high schoolers through a localized perspective. For example, her biology class handouts start with a local legend of flying fish. The passage tells the tale of an old man who caught one of two flying fish. He originally cooked the fish with other seafood, but fell ill after eating it. The flying fish tells him in a dream that he must respect the fish by cooking it as its own dish. Ms. Chen goes on to teach concepts like biodiversity by using the species of flying fish and local plants as examples—continuing to pay homage to the flying fish and the Tao heritage. We also got a chance to sit down at his home with the renowned Tao author, Syaman Rapongan, and his family. Though fishing is a job exclusively for men in Tao culture, cleaning the fish is a task where everyone pitches in. When we arrived, Syaman Rapongan, his wife and his son had just finished hanging up fresh fish in his yard, and there was even a huge bowl of fish eggs on the table. Previous batches were stored in a backroom, where we got a peak of the fish being smoked with longan wood. Syaman Rapongan explains that traditionally the fish would be smoked after being sun-dried, which gives it more flavor; though he laments that less people practice this nowadays. Syaman Rapongan's family upholds the traditional ways of living with the environment, and he has recently been passing the knowledge down to his son. In the trip to Pongso no Tao we witnessed how flying fish are the evidence of Tao people's cultural lineage. Flying fish unite the generations of Tao people, carrying the collective memories from the ancient and beyond the future. Far from simply being a source of food, the flying fish share a connection of kinship with the Tao. They are a consistent reminder of the Tao people's cultural heritage. The annual migration of flying fish unites the human and non-human, the Pacific community, and the Tao people. They carry the Tao people's cultural history on their wings; and the Flying Fish Festival likewise reflects the community's environment-oriented cosmology and continuation of tradition. Tatala Aesthetics and Values Almost as much as they are recognized for their connection to flying fish, the Tao people are well-known for their tatala, fishing vessels that are assembled from various types of wood without any nails, and traditionally decorated with red, white and black carvings. They cultivate forests and plant trees (Mi mowamowa), leaving the lands to their offspring as an invaluable inheritance. Forest timber is harvested from the interior mountains for their traditional boats, and the wood is selected and ranked as appropriate for building decorative (Mivatek) and non-decorative boats. Using their adroit boat-building skills (Mi tatala) and incorporating their rudimentary knowledge of waves, the Tao produce streamlined carriers of traditional beauty. They anticipate that their boats will become good friends with the fish. The Mi tatala, like waka in Maori's vocabulary, bespeaks a symbolic order of the Tao's intimate relationship with the ocean. Their assembled boats become the medium for significant connections between the Tao, the sea, and their blood relations in the sea. On our trip, we were fortunately given the opportunity to see the trees that the tatala were built from. Syaman Rapongan's son, Si Rapongan, graciously took us on a small hike to their family's ancestral forest lands. He and his father had recently built their first tatala together, and he was able to share with us some of the boat-building knowledge he learned from his father. The entrance to the forest was just outside of their village of Imourod (Hougtou) and though we could see a few tourists on the main trails, Si Rapongan soon led us off the beaten path, through a dry riverbed, to a small clearing where it truly felt as though we were the guests of the ancient towering trees. He shares with us the process of tatala building, pointing out a few of the trees that make up different parts of the assembled boats. He also tells us that carrying the heavy lumber down from the mountain instead of conveniently using wood from their backyards is a symbol of diligence, one of the Tao people's most emphasized values. He also talked about the importance of remembering where the traditional family lands are, as they can only use the trees that belong to them and were planted there by their ancestors. The ideals of respect and continuation are also present in tatala-building—each time they cut down a tree, they must thank it and grow new trees in its place. We saw some of these traditional assembled boats soon after we arrived, when our host, Syaman Lamuran, took us on a brief tour of the island. He explained some of the carvings on the boat, pointing out the recurring symbol for "eyes". He also explains that the placements of the symbols are specific to different Tao communities, thus they could always differentiate which tatala belonged to their village. Along with the many rituals, the Tao have a number of taboos that are observed during the Flying Fish Festival. We were told not to ask fishermen about their activities before they go to fish at night for fear of alerting the fish of their arrival, and to be cautious when visiting the beach or seaside during this time. They also warned us that it is taboo for women to touch the tatala, not because they are lesser in Tao culture, but because men are responsible for fishing while women are in charge of cultivation. Thus, though women are not allowed to touch the boats, they are involved as equal members of a household in deciding to make a tatala and they also provide the taro used in the completion ceremony. Before a family decides to build a tatala, the women must confirm that there will be enough taro for the completion ceremony. This is a testament of a family's unity, work division and connection; at the conclusion of their work, they must simultaneously bring together the fruits of their labors and bless the tatala that will provide for them in the future. We got to visit Sinan Rapongan's taro fields, where she talked to us as she tended to her plants. In Tao culture, growing food is the women's job, thus Sinan Rapongan is responsible for overseeing all of her family's taro and yam plantations. She tells us that these hearty vegetables are the Tao people's main source of starch, and are meant to give workers the energy they need to work all day. Sinan Rapongan is very down to earth, though toiling in her many fields every day seems like a Herculean task to us, she still firmly counsels us to be thankful for the food that God gives, and never get angry when He provides plentiful fish and crops. As we leave the plantation, Sinan Rapongan turns and says goodbye to her taro, again showing the Tao's connectivity and respect for non-human things. Earlier in our trip, we were very lucky to hear from Syaman Rapongan as well, who not only is a famous writer and advocate for the traditional Tao lifestyle, but also an extremely skilled tatala craftsman in his village. As we gathered on the beach and admired the tatala he and his son built together, he fittingly gave us a lesson on the traditions and cultural continuation of the Tao. He shares some of the tribal fishing knowledge, telling us that all fish, winds, moons and tides had an individual name in the Tao language. He also shared his childhood memories of waiting on the beach for his father to return from fishing at night. Syaman Rapongan also points out a tagagal that overlooks the sea; these are gazebos traditionally used for observing the tides and resting with friends after work, but were misnamed by outsiders as "發呆亭" (a derogatory name that means "idle staring"). He laments the seemingly inevitable loss of traditional practices as the modern tourism businesses on the island grow, and fewer of the younger generations stay behind to pass on the old ways. The tatala are truly a vessel of Tao culture; though at first glance they are simply decorated fishing boats, every step of their crafting process speaks of centuries-old tradition and values. One of the stories they told us was about how their ancestors painted the boats with black charcoal, red clay and white shells. Though the ocean would quickly wash away the colors, the Tao people of old simply kept on repainting. The labor required from both the men and women to successfully launch a single tatala tells the entire story of the Tao people's attitude towards life—they believe in hardwork, are deeply respectful of the land, and have pieced together a beautiful cultural legacy to pass on to their children. Island Space and Time Apart from the tatala, Syaman Lamuran took us to several significant sites on our tour around the island, and he tirelessly told us story after story about each location. On Lanyu there are six main Tao villages, separated by slight cultural variations and unique geological markers. Iratai, where we were staying, is located on the west side of the island, between Yayo (Yeyou Village) to the north and Imourod to the south. On the east coast of Lanyu is Iraraley (Langdao Village), Iranmeylek (Dongqing Village), and Ivalino (Yeyin Village). We also learned that each village has their own separate council, thus each village also has varying levels of integration into tourism. For instance, when we visited Iranmeylek, we saw that they even had a mainland-style night market and a tatala-building-experience business. We also stopped by a school, a church, Kasiboan (a waste awareness center), the nuclear waste storage site, and two old Kuomintang monuments. Unfortunately, since we arrived on a Sunday, almost everything that wasn't outdoors was closed; but thanks to our guide, we got a detailed background about several of the sites. One that I found interesting was an abandoned Kuomintang podium, where the early government used to show propaganda to the locals. Also, everywhere we went, we saw goats roaming freely around the island. Syaman Lamuran explains that the goats belong to different families but are free to graze as they please; people take great care not to hit them; thus in a way they are the "traffic lights" of Pongso no Tao. Our main destination on the tour was the Taipower nuclear waste storage site in Longtou, near the very south of Lanyu. Syaman Lamuran points out the Tao's natural landmarks in the area—Longtou Rock, a fishing bay below and Little Lanyu in the distance—and the nuclear waste storage site is situated ominously in the center of these. The site was built by the Taiwanese government in the late seventies, as a temporary storage location for nuclear waste since Lanyu's location is relatively isolated. However, this was all done without local knowledge and they originally named it ambiguously as "Lanyu Storage Site." By 1982, the site was at full capacity and became the permanent home for 97,672 barrels of radioactive waste. The local residents' protests are evidenced all over the island, in wall paintings and anti-nuclear banners. We even saw some trash art left by a group of Norwegian research students who stayed on the island for a month and worked with local schools to create reminders of the waste issue on the island. As Lanyu doesn't have a waste disposal site, the trash accumulated from the growing tourism industry and brought in by the ocean tides has simply started to build up and pollute the formerly unspoilt natural environment. These sights were truly a stark contrast to their surroundings, and a sobering reminder of the costs of our modern conveniences. Before we left for our ferry home, we visited a few more places around Iratai and Imourod. We all decided to eat at Rover (蘭嶼旅人) in Imourod, which Si Rapongan told us was the best bar in Lanyu and it also serves brunch. Its location overlooks the beach, and they also make amazing yam smoothies. A few of us decided to walk around and we saw Sinan Rapongan, still hard at work in her taro fields. She recommended that we get taro ice cream (雯雯芋頭冰) at a local souvenir shop; which turned out to be delicious. We had also planned to visit a bookstore (在海一方獨立書店); however, it was unfortunately closed for the day. When we got back to the guesthouse, we also visited Syaman Lamuran's father's workshop again for some souvenirs. Syapen Lamuran is a pastor, but he has a workshop for some miniature tatala he crafts from wood or discarded buoys and fishing net floats. Although we learned a lot during our trip, it was still quite short and there is so much more left to see. As one of our classmates mentioned, the island felt like a constant loop through space and time; a place that feels like it will teach people something new each time they pass by, and stir up memories they had originally forgotten. Though the road around the island is always the same, it is somehow ever-changing, and even transforms those who traverse it. As we left Pongso no Tao, it felt like we had not only taken a part of the island with us, but also become a kind of island ourselves, connected by the sea to one another. Pacific Connections and Encounters† Following the trip, our class took inspiration from everything we learned, saw and experienced and combined it with our studies of Oceanic literature to make a poetry collection. Our themes included oceanic connectivity, environmental awareness, tradition remembrance, cultural continuity, and so on. Then, on June 16th (Taiwan time), we held a virtual seminar⁕ to present some of our poems, academic revelations, stories and even a few songs. We were very fortunate to have Syaman Lamuran join us as well as a few professors from NSYSU. Syaman Lamuran also invited a last-minute surprise guest to our event. When we were in Pongso no Tao, I recognized his clothing and some guesthouse decorations to be from the Pacific Northwest, where I used to live. Upon asking, he explained that he had visited Seattle previously as part of Tao delegation to participate in the Canoe Journey event; and more importantly, to see two tatala that had been sold across the ocean in the late 1970s. I found his story about piecing together this transpacific history very interesting, and decided to write a poem about it. After hearing my presentation, Syaman Lamuran invited one of the key parties involved to come and share more about the two tatala. Mr. Michael Jacobson from Seattle was the person who saved the tatala from a warehouse of discarded restaurant decorations and donated one to the Burke Museum of the University of Washington; it was very enlightening to have him share more of the tale. In conclusion, I found the trip to Pongso no Tao truly inspiring and I believe we all took away a lot from it despite only being there for two days. I think the trip drove home many of the lessons we learned from Dr. Hsinya Huang this semester, through the works of Epeli Hau'ofa, Teresa Teaiwa, Robert Sullivan, Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner, Aka Niviâna, Craig Santos Perez, Linda Hogan and more. Though we celebrate the uniqueness of our cultures, we also share a certain commonality that connects us, from island to island, all the way across the seas. After this experience, I feel that through our participation in Pacific cultural production, we have somehow become a part of the greater Oceania story. Coda Connection is a recurring theme in Pacific literature. Writers and poets map out literary routes, exploring connections to nature, to the past, to culture and most of all, connections to the ocean which connects the world. As Hau'ofa suggests, things should be seen in totality, and the Pacific Ocean can be seen as a "sea of islands" (31). At the start of the semester, it was not as easy for us to grasp this concept of the ever-expanding Oceanian community. We later found that this archipelagic web was something that should be understood through experience. Like Perez writes in one of his poems, his encounters with maps gradually expanded his concept of boundaries, and brought him to realize the deep bonds between Austronesian islands. "I examine the map closely, navigating beyond the violent divisions of national and maritime borders, beyond the scarred latitudes and longitudes of empire, to discover the cartography of our most expansive legends and deepest routes" (Perez 2017). Through the oceanic passages, commonality is found. While Perez depicts the notion of removing borders through the recognition of shared ancestry, we are reminded of our place in this community through the simple experiences we had on this journey. The way the Tao people connect to the sea and the things around them somehow brings back the islander spirit in us, which was long-forgotten but undoubtedly essential. Things like the value of diligence, sincere gratitude for food, the telling of stories and even the calm moments of looking at the sea, all felt like important reminders of ideals that everyone had been taught but may have lost in the more modernized worldview. It is as Syaman Rapongan writes of the older Tao seamen, "the ripples made by the ever-shifting surface of the sea are like the folds and patterns of their brains" (「海面永恆波動的波紋宛如他們腦海裡的腦紋」); explaining that memories resurface with each ocean wave, and are likewise present in our blood. It is surprising how Teaiwa's words could now resonate with us: "We sweat and cry salt water, so we know that the ocean is really in our blood" (qtd. in Hau'ofa 41). The ocean in us is always there yet had been ignored, and it is revived through our realization of commonality. Though we often forget it, our homeland, Taiwan, is no less a Pacific island; and as such we should see ourselves as a part of the sea of islands, rather than distance ourselves as if we were independent from the rest of the world. As we rediscover ourselves as people of the Oceanian community, we should realize a responsibility to have empathy and understanding, and a necessity to hold ourselves accountable for the consequences of our actions and the plight of our neighbors. "Into the new age the waka glides… we are united by culture, by psyche, of our cultures, our closeness even in this age turned against the sacred" (Sullivan 46). And the restoration of humanity and connection is by no means limited to Oceania, it is a mission to be shared by the entire world. In our online seminar, we talked about another kind of responsibility, one to pass on any story that we've been told. In doing so, we give the words of our cultures the power to ignite change, as myths and legends once did. As Jetn̄il-Kijiner writes, "My father told me that idik—when the tide is nearest an equilibrium is the best time for fishing. Maybe I'm writing the tide towards an equilibrium, willing the world to find its balance" (78). Endnotes † This segment was written by Ysanne Chen, "I" is used here to reference her personal experience. ⁕ Pondering the Pacific online seminar from June 16th, 2021: https://youtu.be/aodHCH108IU References Cheung, Han. "Maritime Tribal Connections." Taipei Times, 18 July 2017, taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2017/07/19/2003674843. "Disrespect of Flying Fish Festival Reflecting Marginalization Trend of Aboriginals." Translated by Bing-sheng Lee, The News Lens International Edition, TNL Media Group, 3 June 2016, international.thenewslens.com/article/40823. Dorpat, Paul. "Haglund, Ivar (1905-1985)." History Link.org, 20 June 2000, www.historylink.org/File/2499. "Flying Fish Festival." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 July 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_fish_festival. Hau'ofa, Epeli.We Are the Ocean. U of Hawai'i P, 2008. Hogan, Linda. People of the Whale. W. W. Norton & Company, 2008. Huang, Hsinya. "Toward Trans-Pacific Ecopoetics: Three Indigenous Texts." Sustaining Ecocriticism: Comparative Perspectives, special issue of Comparative Literature Studies, vol. 50, no. 1, 2013, pp. 120-47. "James Stevens Paul Bunyan Letters Ivar Haglund Seattle." Worthpoint, worthpoint.com/worthopedia/james-stevens-paul-bunyan-letters-172833151. Jetn̄il-Kijiner, Kathy. Iep Jaltok: poems from the Marshallese Daughter. U of Arizona P, 2017. Kiley, Brendan. "The New Burke Museum Turns Itself inside out as It Prepares for Its Grand Opening." The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 14 Oct. 2019, seattletimes.com/entertainment/visual-arts/40-months-and-99-million-later-the-new-burke-museum-turns-itself-inside-out. "Low-Level Radioactive Waste Storage Site." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 May 2021, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-Level_Radioactive_Waste_Storage_Site. Perez, Craig Santos. "The Fifth Map for Hsinya." Dialogist, 2017, dialogist.org/v4i2-craig-santos-perez. Rapogan, Syaman. "Langtao Rensheng" 〈浪濤人生〉("Life of Waves"). 2002. Taiwan eProse, National Museum of Taiwan Literature, 13 Dec 2007, faculty.ndhu.edu.tw/~e-essay/essay/xia-man/2007/12/13/浪濤人生. Robinson, Chetanya. "From Hmong Basket Boat to Sacred Canoe, New Burke Museum Gallery Was Curated by Local Pacific Islander, Asian, and Northwest Native Communities." International Examiner, 11 Oct. 2019, iexaminer.org/from-hmong-basket-boat-to-sacred-canoe-new-burke-museum-gallery-was-curated-by-local-pacific-islander-asian-and-northwest-native-communities/. Sullivan, Robert. Star Waka. Auckland UP, 1999. Teng, Pei-ju. "Tao People Give Tips to Visitors on Taiwan's Offshore Orchid Island for Flying Fish Season." Taiwan News, Taiwan News, 7 Mar. 2019, www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3652135. Tsang, Will. A post about two tatala. Facebook, 31 July 2017. Wing, Jennifer. "Almost 30 Years in The Making, a Seattle Man Gets Ahold of Two Boats from Taiwan." KNKX, 7 Oct. 2017, www.knkx.org/post/almost-30-years-making-seattle-man-gets-ahold-two-boats-taiwan. "飛魚祭." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 June 2021, zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A3%9B%E9%AD%9A%E7%A5%AD. 章 明哲. "挪威研究生遠赴蘭嶼 發掘環境汙染問題." 公視新聞網 PNN, 公視新聞網, 4 Oct. 2017, www.news.pts.org.tw/article/372864. 陳 欣渝. "挪威學生蘭嶼蹲點 關注核廢.垃圾問題【客家新聞20171004】." YouTube, 客家新聞Hakka News, 4 Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMjUce0jTJo. "蘭嶼貯存場." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Apr. 2021, www.zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%98%AD%E5%B6%BC%E8%B2%AF%E5%AD%98%E5%A0%B4.
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Sucevita Monastery
Sucevita Monastery is chronologically the last monastic ensemble among the painted monasteries in Bukovina, as it has the appearance of a real fortress.
During the 16th century, Moldavia was shaken by the power struggle between the Ottomans, the Poles, and the Austrians. These three powerful empires constantly fought in order to gain control over the region. The fortified monasteries played a huge role in the history of Moldavia, serving as lines of defense, places of worship, and sources of knowledge for those who wanted to learn more about the religion and about the world.
The Movila brothers, the most trusted advisors of the Moldavian ruler at the time, decided to build a fortified monastery near Moldavia's former capital city, Suceava. Its construction started in 1583, and it was finished in 3 years "with God's will", as it is written at the entrance. Ioan Movila, one of the three brothers, decided to improve the construction in 1595 by adding two more porches and painting the interior and the exterior.
Even though Moldovita was built after the reign of Stephen the Great ended, it preserves the Moldavian Architectural Style that combines elements from the Bizantine and Gothic art with various motifs of the old wooden churches. Sucevita is, chronologically, one of the last monasteries to be decorated in the famous Moldavian style. It has the appearance of a real fortress, with towers, buttresses, and watch roads - a true masterpiece of Romania's patrimony.
The dominant colors of the frescoes are purple, red and blue. They appear against an emerald green background, defining as an amazing chromatic effect.
An important painting depicts the Siege of Constantinople on the south façade, reminding of the Romanians' fights against foreign invasions, especially Turks. The painting mixes scenes of the siege of Constantinople from 1453 with others referring to a previous such attempt made by the Persians, in 626. Against an intense blue background, you can also see the Hymn to the Virgin composed by Metropolitan Sergius in thanksgiving for her intervention. The Last Judgement is also present and displays apocalyptic images of dignitaries being taken along by Satan to Hell.
The monastery's church is distinguishing from the rest of the exterior-painted churches in Bukovina trough the north wall's scene called The Ladder of Virtues. The ladder is made out of 30 steps, every step symbolizing a virtue for the Christians. The ladder is also a symbol of the endless battle between the good and the evil in everyone's heart.
Sucevita mural
The Sucevita Monastery is part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 1993 as one of the Painted Churches of Moldavia, together with another 7 painted monasteries from this region. Today, Sucevita Monastery is one of the most visited monasteries in Bukovina. In its workshops, the nuns work on restoring old wooden icons, religious books, and embroideries, using the same methods Mediaeval craftsmen have used when they were originally made.
Visiting hours:
From dawn till dusk.
Adults: 5 lei.
Filming fee (outside only): 10 lei.
Filming is not permitted inside the Church.
2-day getaway to Transylvania from Bucharest
Dracula Tour | 8 days in Transylvania

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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World Cup sees huge rise in speeding incidences
By Clare Ruel2018-08-14T08:06:00+01:00
Speeding during this year's World Cup increased by 30% per mile before any weekend game, with men averaging 38% and women 31%
London-based firm Insurethebox is asking young drivers to 'kill their speed' after it was revealed that speeding doubled for young drivers prior to big matches during the World Cup.
Analysis from the insurtech and brand of Aioi Nissav Dowa Europe (AND-E) suggests that the level of speeding amongst drivers aged 17-24 years old was 'dictated by the importance' of the match, and it hopes that this 'driver data' will 'educate' footie fans on speeding,
It found that young drivers in the Midlands saw a 62% in the number of speeding incidences in the hour before England played - the greatest increase across the country.
Insurethebox is promoting the message that 'young drivers could be scoring an own goal if they do not keep to the speed limit.'
Mike Swanborough, chief executive of AND-E, said: "Our work has seen speeding instances among the highest risk drivers reduce by about 28%. This has cut the frequency of accidents among young drivers by 9%, reduced the damage caused when bumps do occur, helped save the distress of making a claim and, more importantly, reduced the risk of catastrophic injury.
"We know that young drivers are four times more likely to crash in the first three months of their policy than their final three. And now, with this new insight, we can focus on a particular group of drivers with a targeted campaign."
He added that the use of data to influence positive change is at the 'heart' of AND-E's business.
Big games
The analysis of individual games revealed that speeding among drivers aged 17-24 years of age increased by 133% for fans in the East of England in the hour leading up to the Croatia semi-final.
Whilst young drivers in the West of England managed to stay within the speed limit during the group stages of the World Cup, but when England played Sweden there was a 167% increase in the hour before the game.
Liz Brooker, MBE, vice chair of RSGB said that helping young drivers to understand risks of driving too fast was 'vital' in reducing the number of collisions and casualties caused. She hopes that the analysis will provide insight to debate.
She said: "At Road Safety GB we believe that a combination of communication and intervention can deliver measurable results. Indeed, our National Conference later this year will set out to demonstrate how road safety professionals can combine the four 'E's' – education, enforcement and engineering, underpinned by evidence – to deliver casualty reduction improvements."
Swanborough added: "'It's coming home' has been a popular message for football fans this summer. But fans must make sure that no matter how big the game, it is not worth the risks that come with speeding."
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Kagin's Researcher Pinpoints 1783 Plain Nova Constellatio Quint as First Official USA Coin Struck
Historic Coin Will Be Exhibited at ANA Denver World's Fair of Money, Aug. 1 – 5
Authorized by Congress, the unique 1783 plain obverse Nova Constellatio "Quint" silver coin had a value of 500 units in a proposed but later abandoned early American decimal monetary system that would have ranged from 5 to 1,000 units.
(Photo credit: Image courtesy of PCGS.com)
(Tiburon, California) August 1, 2017 – David McCarthy, senior numismatist at Kagin's, Inc. of Tiburon, California (www.Kagins.com), has pinpointed the 1783 plain obverse Nova Constellatio Quint pattern (Breen-1102, W-1830) as the first coin officially struck by authority of the United States government, a finding hailed by another U.S. rare coin expert as "one of the most exciting developments in modern numismatics."
Results of McCarthy's research on the unique, early American experimental silver coin, that once was in the hands of one of the USA's Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton, are in the August 2017 edition of "The Numismatist," the official journal of the American Numismatic Association (www.money.org).
Now insured for $5 million, the historic ancestor of the dollar as well as every coin in the western world using a decimal monetary system, will be publicly displayed at the Kagin's booth, #700, during the ANA 2017 World's Fair of Money (www.WorldsFairofMoney.com) in Denver, Colorado, August 1- 5.
"It's a national treasure that was hiding in plain sight until all the pieces of the puzzle recently came together," said Donald H. Kagin, Ph.D., President of Kagin's.
"Although the coin was discovered in 1870, it was misattributed. We now have compelling evidence that it is, 'the first that has been struck as an American coin,' as described in the April 2, 1783 diary entry of Robert Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. government's first Superintendent of Finance," explained McCarthy.
"The Quint and a subsequent set of coins were created in Philadelphia in April of 1783 under authority of the Treasury some nine years before the next coins would be struck by the U.S. government. It would have been valued at 500-units in a proposed system that would range from 5 to 1,000 units," McCarthy said.
"This was the first use of the vital and enduring decimal system to be established in the western world," stated Kagin.
During the 1770s and 1780s several states and private individuals manufactured coins, but this is the first coin that was struck and paid for by the U.S. government, according to McCarthy's research, which a dozen other early American coin experts agreed with before he submitted it for publication.
After examining McCarthy's research, early American coins researcher and writer John Dannreuther of Memphis, Tennessee, the American Numismatic Association's 2007 Numismatist of the Year, summed up the findings:
"There is a first United States coin, as we have written evidence (in the April 2, 1783 diary entry of Robert Morris, U.S. Superintendent of Finance) that one was delivered:
'I sent for (metallurgist) Mr. (Benjamin) Dudley who delivered me a Piece of Silver Coin being the first that has been struck as an American Coin.'
"The only coin that logically could be this coin is the Plain Obverse Quint.
"There are numerous things that bring us to this conclusion, the first being that "Nova Constellatio" is not found on the Plain Legend Quint. One does not remove legends, they are added," explained Dannreuther.
"Secondly, the number of dies noted in the literature can be made to match only by having one die ground down and reengraved. After overlaying the two Quint types, it became obvious that the Plain Obverse die's eye matched the with Legend eye. Since this is the highest point of the coin, it is the lowest part of the die, as well as the center, it would be logical to leave a small amount of this area as a starting point for the new die. The rest of the die's detail was removed by the grinding process, of course."
"Thirdly, the two Quint dies obviously were engraved by two different hands. Since, we know that the with Legend coins match the other denominations in style, as well as having the "Nova Constellatio" legend, the Plain Obverse has to be the first one – thus, it is the first United States coin," stated Dannreuther.
American Numismatic Association President Jeff Garrett of Lexington, Kentucky also examined McCarthy's study prior to publication and stated: "David McCarthy's research makes a compelling case for the 1783 Nova Constellatio Quint being the 'First American Coin.' As such, the historical importance of his research, and the coin, is one of the most exciting developments in modern numismatics!"
Only two examples of the 500-unit coin are known, and each is distinctively different on the front. One has the words, NOVA CONSTELLATIO, Latin for "a new constellation," while the other example does not have any words. The research demonstrates the coin without the words on the obverse was struck first.
After surfacing in New York City nearly 150 years ago, the coin was carefully preserved in several major collections including Lorin G. Parmelee, S.H. and H. Chapman and Wayte Raymond before becoming part of the Garrett Collection and into the possession of Johns Hopkins University where it resided for much of the 20th century. Only now, though, has numismatic research brought together evidence that it was the first federal coin made by authority of the U.S. government.
Kagin's acquired the coin at an auction in 2013 where it was graded PCGS AU53 Secure. McCarthy began researching it through the writings of Morris and Thomas Jefferson, Continental Congress documents, and forensic evidence found on the coins themselves, and he consulted with other noted experts in early American numismatics.
"While the 1783 Plain Obverse Nova Constellatio Quint is among the most historically significant of all United States coins, it is also one of the most important artifacts in the world," stated Kagin. "Nothing defines a nation and its society more than its coinage. Just like great documents such as The Magna Carta or The Declaration of Independence established fundamental principles and tenets for western society, so does coinage reflect a nation's most important ideals, becoming a primary source of communication for a nation's beliefs."
"By examining the first coin of the United States and the new decimal monetary system that it ushered in, we gain significant insights to the thinking of America's Founding Fathers concerning what kind of nation they wished to establish," he continued.
Kagin said the coin's inscriptions and symbols contain the most important aspects of our fledging nation:
On the Obverse the central devices are:
The Eye of Providence—symbolizing the creator's approval of our nation.
A circle of 13 stars–a theme which has endured for 240 years—as an obvious reference to the new constellation formed by the original 13 colonies.
The Reverse central inscription includes:
"U.S." as it proclaims the name of our country for all the world to acknowledge.
This is followed by the denomination—in this case, 500 units or a Quint. Along with the date, two of the most fundamental and defining issues for Americans then and today are prominently inscribed in Latin so all nations could understand: LIBERTAS (Liberty) and JUSTITIA (Justice).
"This coin, struck in the precious metal silver, was also the very first artifact to present our nation's new decimal system—in fact, the first use of such a vital and enduring system to be established in the western world," concluded Kagin.
Kagin and McCarthy made international headlines in 2014 when they assisted an anonymous California couple who discovered the "Saddle Ridge Hoard," nearly $10 million of 19th century U.S. gold coins buried in rusting tin cans.


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i've got a fun youtube video unboxing this kit that you can see below :] the second half of the video is a sneak peek into my supply stash for the month as well as a few items i've pulled to create my DIY booklet for the month!


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Home Forums > Politics | Economics | Social Affairs > World Economy >
A Global Shift in Foreign Aid, Starting in India
Discussion in 'World Economy' started by santosh, Mar 25, 2014.
santosh Major SENIOR MEMBER
forjeet said: ↑
Live with less than $2.00 a day 68.7% (841 million)
Live with less than $1.25 a day 32.7% (400 million)............WB Report
I didn't understand what our POLITICIANS/BABU/ELITE is SMOKING
So comedown to ground.............. India giving Aid to poor countries
Bangladesh 76.54%
Pakistan 60.19
India 68.72
List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
there can't be another example of Income Inequality, like of India....... first we have Per Capita Income of the above 3 as whole as below:
Per Capita Income Countries
Bangladesh $2,100 (2012 est.)
Pakistan $3,100 (2012 est.
India $4,000 (2012 est.)
Estimated number of Middle and 'Lower' Middle Class
(for china, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh)
Per Capita Income of the people above $2.0 per day income in these four countries
here, if we consider people below this level having $1.5 per day average income as whole, hence around $500 a year this way, around, then we have an 'estimate only' calculation as below
Pakistan: 60/40 = 1.5 * (3100-500) = 3900 + 3100 = $7,000 (40% of 170million = 68million around)
Bangladesh: 76.5/23.5 = 3.255 * (2100-500) + 2100 = $7,308 (23% of 160million = 40million)
India: 69/31 * (4000-500) + 4000 = $11,790 (31% of 1.3 billion = 400million)
China: 30/70 * (9,900 - 500) + 9900 = $13,928 (70% of 1.4 billion = 1.0 billion)
but in the above calculation we may clearly see that per capita income of people above $2 per day income of India and China is almost twice to that of Pakistan and Bangladesh. hence we would say that 80% of this category of Pakistan and Bangladesh would be among the Lower Middle Class, while there might be 50% of India and China would fall among the Lower Middle Class, rest are Middle Class, an estimate only ).
hence this above calculation says India is a country of 200million Middle Class and 200million Lower Middle Class. rest of 900million are poor by the criterion of UN. while only 400million fall among the poor as per the measurement of Indian government, which still consider $1.25 per day to categorize poor
and yes, it put around 500million people of China among the Middle Class category, around (20% of 68million =)14million of Pakistan and around (20% of 40million =) 8.0million of Bangladesh among the Middle Class of this standard.)
=> and yes this estimate would get the higher size for developing countries while considering the method which was in application till 2007, which used to consider GDP on PPP of India type developing countries at least 50% higher, considering 'estimated' undocumented part of GDP too. the method which was in application by the World Bank and IMF both till 2007. as below
"There are, however, practical difficulties in deriving GDP at PPP, and we now have two different estimates of the PPP conversion factor for 2005, India's GDP at PPP is estimated at $ 5.16 trillion or $ 3.19 trillion depending on whether the old or new conversion factor is used," it said.
It's official: India's a trillion-$ economy - The Times of India
=> List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
again, just to discuss the topic, we find around 30% population of India below $1.25 per day income in the above list. and if we adopt the old method, while considering its uniform effects on the all income group, then we find $1.25 = 5.16/3.19 * 1.25 = $2.02. means, $1.25 per day income is equivalent to $2.02 per day income by old method, which was in application till 2007.
hence this way we find only 30% people below poverty line of International Standard of $2.0 a day income too
santosh, Apr 6, 2014
Few Key Points I always mention on this Topic as below:
these are my own ideas so it does require criticism by other members to make the topic interesting
1st; if the poor of India ask the Western nations to share the burden of subsidies then they will simply kick these shiits of India, isn't it? and if its only Indian Middle Class who is generating money and running government and also paying heavy price for the welfare/subsidies for poor, then they do have a right to ask the Indian Government, "to what extent they will have to bear this burden of tax just to feed poor, and whether they will remain capable enough in future also to bear this burden on long run if the government doesn't control the population?????"
like the news as below, around 50% indian population is based in agriculture only, around 600mil, while even 200mil population may produce the same agriculture output? and the same in cities of India, around 50% people just try to earn a decent salary which they can't, simply because too many mouths and limited resources. and Indian Middle Class is just paying high price to feed these around 600mil 'excess' population, but still there is no effort to have a control on this growing population????
"As per statistics, India provides around Rs855 billion subsidy to its farmers to reduce their production cost, whereas Pakistan hardly spends Rs8 billion in this regard. India's agriculture production cost was around two to three times lower than Pakistan due to these subsidies," agriculture expert and Agri Forum Pakistan chairman, Ibrahim Mughal said.
MFN status to ruin agriculture, industry alike | Agriculture Corner
2nd; here for example of Pakistan and Bangladesh, right now overly populated Pakistan is full of target killings, simply because too many mouth and no resources to feed them. its also similar to 'genocide' itself?????? and Bangladeshis just want to run from Bangladesh, mainly to India. its the worse to see people dying without dignity than controlling population by force........
Don't hold your breath: during a recent DPC rally in Karachi, speaker after speaker made it clear that their real enemies are India and America. This assembled galaxy clearly failed to notice the uncomfortable fact that over the last decade, well over 30,000 innocent civilians and 5,000 security personnel have been killed in terrorist attacks launched by jihadi militants.Such mundane truths often escape our religious brigade.
Save us from our defenders - DAWN.COM
3rd; many economists of India advocate "food security"/ "free medicines"/ "right to get a job" etc in India which is not possible until the Indian government may control its population. they simply can't feed 1.2bil population from the limited natural resources they have . USA is 3 times bigger in area than India but population of India is 4 times to USA? and on the top of that, Indian government wants to give welfare/ heavy subsidies to its people? if India face a sudden fall like ASEAN in late 90s and South America like in 80s, all these they will have to withdraw after that so better they keep habit to live in less and get rid off the unnecessary subsidies/welfares . for example, we always find Pakistan increasing petrol and diesel prices as per market prices as they can't afford to give subsidies while the people of Pakistan are poorer than India, but Indian government always hesitate to do so? but the day India will reach level of Pakistan, just one good economic fall is required, and India will learn all by themselves.
4th; here we have report from world bank that around 60% people of India are living with income less than $2.0 per day, as below
here, how is it wise to have high population if you can't give them good life? how is it advisable to have more population this way???
=> Poverty headcount ratio at $2 a day (PPP) (% of population) | Data | Table
5th; Population of India was hardly around 341 million at the time of freedom, in 1947, and we can't have more than 700 million people, and we need a national consensus on it.
and as Overpopulation of India is directly related to consumption of natural resources of the world, high pollution and hence Climate Change due to high consumption of energy. reduced water level has also been caused in India due to the same high population and hence high demand reasons, hence India is directly answerable to the rest of the world about the measures it is adopting to reduce its population to 700 million, say by 2050 :truestory:
we can't let India become one of the reason for the destruction of this world, as the Earth belongs to every person of the world, regardless any nationality
6th; and here, first there is no control on the population, as much as India can have, and on the top of that, they want to feed them for nothing too
=> At Rs 1,25,000 cr, Food Security Bill largest in world: Implementation a challenge, says Morgan Stanley - Economic Times
forjeet Lieutenant FULL MEMBER
Ok what ever numbers say
2 dollars = 120*30=3600+ per month.......................... is RICH according to reports
Our poverty figures (national poverty line) has been fixed at Rs 816 per capita per month for rural areas and Rs 1,000 for urban areas... is a JOKE
What it differentiate between Ind & what ever rest of countries is our people still vote CORRUPT PEOPLE (by caste/religion)
and not come in STREETS (PROTEST) LAKHS are Looted........... Indian culture (Peaceful) & chalta hi attitude
So comedown to ground.......... Look around Real India is very Poor& Slum country ......... sending satellites to MARS/aid to poor countries
Sorry to say ............I didn't understand what our POLITICIANS/BABU/ELITE is SMOKING
forjeet, Apr 6, 2014
layman likes this.
look, its the "minimum wage" to avoid Poverty Line, get the point?
from here, it does state that a 4 people family, 2 parents and 2 kids, may somehow bear their expanses on 15,000 a month, while living in small towns of India.....
and here, as per the post#17, the main issue to discuss, " if the poor of India ask the Western nations to share the burden of subsidies then they will simply kick these shiits of India, isn't it? and if its only Indian Middle Class who is generating money and running government and also paying heavy price for the welfare/subsidies for poor, then they do have a right to ask the Indian Government, "to what extent they will have to bear this burden of tax just to feed poor, and whether they will remain capable enough in future also to bear this burden on long run if the government doesn't control the population?????" "
check post#17 in details
and this Over Population Issue is also discussed in details in the thread as below too
Population based on "Resource Sufficiency Evaluation" is Crucial | Indian Defence Forum
santosh said: ↑
and here, as per the post#17, the main issue to discuss, " if the poor of India ask the Western nations to share the burden of subsidies then they will simply kick these shiits of India, isn't it? and if its only Indian Middle Class who is generating money and running government and also paying heavy price for the welfare/subsidies for poor, then they do have a right to ask the Indian Government, "to what extent they will have to bear this burden of tax just to feed poor , and whether they will remain capable enough in future also to bear this burden on long run if the government doesn't control the population?????" "
Min wage 174*100 days =17400/12= 1450 PER MONTH ......... based on ur data is AGAIN A JOKE just making ppl jokers by Poverty line & MGNREGA is a just DIRTY LABOR WORK WHY any educated do
Our PRIME MINISTER RAJIV GANDI PROUDLY ANNOUNCED IN ASSEMBLY FOR 1/- rupee ONLY 15 PAISE REACH POOR ............... WHO is eating 85 paise BY YOUR LOGIC POOR
POLITICIANS/BABU/ELITE........... eating and Middle class paying
so comedown to ground.......... Look around Real India is very Poor& Slum country.........
hmmmm, things are changing day by day, and we hope it keep getting better in future.......
santosh, Apr 15, 2014
forjeet likes this.
Amid slowdown, India ramps up aid for neighbours
NEW DELHI: A difficult economic situation notwithstanding, India will be stepping up its assistance programme to its neighbouring countries in the coming fiscal.
The biggest chunk of India's assistance programme is reserved for Afghanistan, Myanmar and Bhutan that are provided for in the 12th five-year Plan. But under the non-plan head, Bhutan takes the largest chunk with a combined loan-grant amount of Rs 1,500 crore. Bhutan has traditionally been the largest recipient of Indian aid, with massive hydro-electric projects being covered in the Plan expenditure.
Afghanistan and Myanmar are big recipients, both strategically vital for India's security and economic interests. India has invested heavily in infrastructure projects in Afghanistan, including roads, parliament buildings and capacity building for the Afghans in various fields. India also runs the biggest children's hospital in Kabul.
However, recently, India won the Hajigak iron ore mines that will necessitate building several roads connecting the mines to border points. A new component of India's aid package to Afghanistan is in the security sector. As a result of the strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan last year, India is committed to training and equipping Afghan national security forces. This will include training programmes, to be mainly held in India.
New Delhi is building a multi-modal transport system in Myanmar that could also serve to improve trade with the country that India now regards as the gateway to south-east Asia.
Other countries that will continue to receive Indian aid this fiscal is Sri Lanka, where India has invested in rehabilitation and rebuilding programmes in the north, railway lines and oil terminals as well as building houses for the internally displaced persons from the Tamil regions. Bangladesh also takes a sizeable chunk of Rs 250 crore after the PM announced a $1-billion credit line for the country in 2010.
Bafflingly, the government spends a minuscule amount for "energy security" in the MEA, but it's so small that it's unclear what this would be used for. Equally strangely, Mongolia gets Rs 2 crore this year from India, but the reason for that remains unclear.
Amid slowdown, India ramps up aid for neighbours - Times Of India
omya likes this.
If India doesn't want our aid, stop it now, Cameron told after country labels £280m-a-year donations as 'peanuts'
David Cameron was under intense pressure last night to slash the £1billion in aid Britain gives to India after the country said it no longer wanted the money.
India's finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the booming country should 'voluntarily' give up the £280million a year it receives from Britain. He told the Indian parliament: 'We do not require the aid. It is a peanut in our total development spending.'
It also emerged that in a leaked memo dating from 2010 India's then foreign minister Nirupama Rao suggested India should not accept any further aid from Britain's Department for International Development because of the 'negative publicity of Indian poverty promoted by DFID'. :uk:
Sources in Delhi suggested British officials begged India to accept the aid. One commented: 'They said British ministers had spent political capital justifying the aid to their electorate.
'They said it would be highly embarrassing if [India] pulled the plug.'
The revelations raised fresh questions last night for ministers who have been struggling to defend the Indian aid programme in the face of criticism from the public and Conservative MPs.
They also risk raising fresh questions about the Coalition's controversial decision to pour billions more into foreign aid at a time of deep spending cuts at home. Tory MP Philip Davies called for the Indian aid programme to be cancelled immediately.
Mr Davies said: 'India spends tens of billions on defence and hundreds of millions a year on a space programme – in those circumstances it would be unacceptable to give them aid even if they were begging us for it.
'Given that they don't even want it, it would be even more extraordinary if it were to be allowed to continue.
'There will be millions of hard-pressed families wondering why on earth the Government is wasting money in this way.'
Fellow Tory Douglas Carswell said: 'This is concrete proof that Britain's aid programme is run in the interests of Whitehall officials and the DFID machine.
'The fact is that India's economy is growing much faster than our own. We should be encouraging free trade with them and trying to learn from them rather than handing out patronising lectures.'
Tory MP Peter Bone urged ministers to abandon the 'vanity project' of pursuing a target to hand out 0.7 per cent of the UK's entire national income in aid.
He said: 'India has its own foreign aid programme so it is absurd for us to be still giving them aid. They are more than capable of looking after their own issues.
'As for the 0.7 per cent target, it is a vanity project that is being pursued for no good reason at all. I do not understand the Government's position on this and I don't think the British public do either.'
Some critics in India have also questioned the value of the aid, warning that much of it is lost to corruption and bureaucracy.
As recently as 2010 the country was the biggest net recipient of British aid, receiving £421million.
Despite India's rapid economic development the International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell decided last year to approve a further £1.1billion in aid over the next four years.
The timing of the latest revelations is particularly embarrassing for ministers, coming in the wake of India's decision last week to reject the British-built Typhoon fighter jet as preferred candidate for a £13billion defence deal.
Mr Mitchell said last year that the continuing aid programme was partly 'about seeking to sell Typhoon'.
British foreign aid: India tells Britain 'we don't need the peanuts you offer us' | Mail Online
'No UK aid even if India comes begging'
`No UK aid even if India comes begging`
@ FARHAAN, WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO OUR MOON MISSION
nahiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
End of UK aid to India
the above news is welcomed and its good if the British government live in the above belief. as it would at least avoid "Pig Talks" before any big deal/ tender like MRCA
As recently as 2010 the country was the biggest net recipient of British aid, receiving £421million.
@Averageamerican
@Picdelamirand-oil
the above fight between Indian and British side occurred during MRCA deal, which was won by Rafale. and only one statement i like in the above news, that is, India's wish to " 'voluntarily' give up the Aid"but they couldn't, as British side made them accept the Aid . and then all the Pigs Talks start.....
we have a picture of changing India as below, which may have a place here too, i think
Literacy Rate
comparison based on 347 million people in 1947 to 1.25 billion people by 2013. here we find, Youth Literacy Rate would have reached 90%+ by 2013, as we had almost 95%+ attendance of kids in schools since 1997
When the British rule ended in India in the year 1947 the literacy rate was just 12%. Over the years, India has changed socially, economically, and globally. After the 2011 census, literacy rate India 2011 was found to be 74.04%. Compared to the adult literacy rate here the youth literacy rate is about 9% higher.
Literacy Rate for India Population Census 2011
Per Capita Income of India
Considering the method which was in application till 2006, by both World Bank and IMF
British Left around 2% to 5% rich and rest poor in 1947, out of total 347 million population in 1947, while we now have around 350 million Middle Class of India whose Per Capita Income is well over $20,000+ on PPP now, similar to Very High HDI countries like Argentina, Poland, Saudi Arabia etc
We have new GDP Per Capita on PPP calculation for India considering the year 2013 also, as below:
now poverty of India is because of its over population. Most of the problems of India is because of its Over Population and India has to reduce its population only. otherwise India has around 350mil Upper Middle Class, more than total population in 1947, whose per capita income on PPP is similar to the Very High HDI countries like Argentina, Poland, Saudi Arabia etc. one day I calculated as below:-
first, we find GDP on PPP of India was $4.8tn in 2012 but its still manipulated by the US/UK since 2007. as, till 2006, we had a different way of measuring GDP on PPP which used to include estimated undocumented part of GDP also. and I remember, this way GDP of high population 'developing' countries was around 50% to 80% higher, and for the middle order countries like Brazil/Turkey it was around 10% to 25% higher. and for the developed nations, the difference was hardly around 1% to 3% by that "Old Method" which was in application till 2006. like as below:
It's official: India's a trillion-$ economy - Times Of India
means, GDP of India on PPP was already $5.16tn in 2007, higher than Japan that year, making it the 3rd Largest Economy on PPP by 2007 itself this way.
again we have India's growth rate since 2007 as below:
India GDP Annual Growth Rate
here we find, "Average Growth Rate" of India from first quarter of 2008 till the December quarter 2012, stood at around 7.6%, on 'annual' basis. hence considering GDP on PPP of India at $5.16tn in 2007 by Old Method as above, with the estimated 5.0% growth by 2013, we may calculate its value by 2013, after 6 years since early 2008, as below:
GDP on PPP of India by end 2012 = 5.16*1.076*1.076*1.076*1.076*1.076*1.05= $7.81 trillion on PPP
but we would also get to know that PPP value consider value of goods and services in US$ term, means we would also include the factor of inflation of United States also. and if we consider average 2.0% inflation of US for these 6 year in between early 2008 to 2013, with considering an overall factor of just 1.12 this way, then GDP on PPP of India comes around = 7.81* 1.12= $8.75tn by 2013. and it still hasn't included 'Value Added' effects........
again, we know that share of agriculture would be around 17.0% in India's GDP in 2013. therefore, we find share of agriculture in indian economy, 0.17 * 8.75= $1.5 trillions (around), on which 50% population of india is dependent. means around 600mil people based on agriculture in india have per capita income around = $2,500 on PPP by 2013 this way, which is itself similar to the better side of Lower Order Countries like Bangladesh.....
this way, 8.75 - 1.50 = $7.25tn is left for rest of 600mil people based in industry and service in India, with per capita income of around $12,100 on PPP which is higher than Middle Order Countries like Brazil, South Africa etc..........
again, we have news that 25% of the population of cities are either in slum or in bit better condition only. so we would consider per capita income of 300mil living in cities in low condition at hardly $3,000 which takes a share of $900 billion from its GDP. hence we are then left with around 7.25 - 0.9 = $6.35 trillions for the rest of 300 mil people living in cities, the so called Middle Class of India with per capita income around $21,166 on PPP this way.
but it is estimated that out of total 600mil people based in agriculture sector, it also has around 50mil Lower Middle Class with Per Capita Income around $15,000 on PPP. (as we know that agriculture has higher share of 'undocumented' part, with that, Agriculture also has higher share of non-taxable business of India.) Hence, we find total middle class of India around 350mil with per capita income around $20,000+ on PPP which is similar to Very High HDI countries like Argentina, Poland etc, which is more than total population of India at the time of freedom in 1947
Most Expansive Places of World
5th Moscow $17,566 per sq.m.
7th Singapore $16,350 per sq.m.
10th Mumbai $11,306 per sq.m.
12th Sydney $8,774 per sq.m.
20th Shanghai $6,932 per sq.m.
29th Istanbul $4,569 per sq.m.
47th Dubai $3,393 per sq.m.
54th Bangkok $2,996
68th Kuala Lumpur $2,182 per sq.m.
73rd Jakarta $,2099
World's most expensive cities
Mumbai, Delhi office rentals top Shanghai, New York
MUMBAI: Office rentals in Mumbai and Delhi continue to be among the highest in the world, beating the likes of New York, Washington or Shanghai despite a depreciating rupee. Renting office space in Mumbai and Delhi costs over $65 and nearly $73 per square meter a month, while the same costs $63 in New York $48 in Washington and $41 in Shanghai, property consultancy firm DTZ said in a report.
Mumbai, Delhi office rentals top Shanghai, New York - Economic Times
The Industrialized India
; India has now entered among the Newly Industrialized nations as below:
=> Newly industrialized country - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
India had overall 5.81% growth rate since 1951.....
India GDP Annual Growth Rate averaged 5.81 Percent from 1951 until 2013
India GDP Annual Growth Rate | Actual Data | Forecasts | Calendar
We now have Industrialists as below too, who are building the nation. as we do know that our these honored Super Riches/ Billionaires don't have money in pocket, but they are Industrialists/ billionaires in terms of the industries they have to provide employment, generating taxes for the government which government use to help the common public itself, with introducing new technologies too through their industries, hence building the nation this way....
The report as below, mention around 115 Billionaires in India, as compare to hardly around 60 by Forbes. its because Forbes estimate only Share values, while the report as below includes, "shares in public and private companies, residential and investment properties, art collections, planes, cash and other assets, according to Wealth-X...".
World's Billionaire Club Grows; Ultra Millionaires Lose Money - WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL Global News Center
and here is the main report, as below.....
Wealth-X World Ultra Wealth Report 2011-2012 | Wealth-X
Further to the above talks, BRIC economies as whole have their UHNWI estimate, with India's at around 8,200, is given in the article as below:
=> BRIC Country Super-Rich Worth $4 Trillion
The future of wealth will be built with BRICs.
According to new data from Wealth-X, the wealth research and consulting firm, Brazil, Russia, India and China now have a combined 25,600 people with $30 million or more in net worth (which includes shares in publicly traded and closely held companies, residential and investment real estate, art, planes, cash and other investible assets).
That is about half the number of ultra-high-net individuals in the U.S., according to Wealth-X.
The BRIC ultrarich have a combined net worth of $4.125 trillion, compared to $6.4 trillion for the U.S.
What is most interesting about the BRIC data is the concentration of wealth at the very top of the wealth pyramid. In Russia, the nation's 80 billionaires account for 7% of the total population of people with a net worth of $30 million or more, but they own 84% of that group's $640 billion in wealth.
In Brazil, the nation's 50 billionaires account for less than 1% of the ultrarich population but a third of the group's $890 billion in wealth. India's 115 billionaires represent 1.4% of the total ultrarich population and 20% of the group's wealth of $945 billion.
China's billionaires account for 1% of the ultrarich and about a third of their wealth of $1.65 trillion.
The U.S., of course, isn't exactly a model of equity when it comes to billionaires and the ultra-rich. Its 450 billionaires account for less than one percent of the ultra-rich population but control 25% of the group's $6.4 trillion wealth.
But the fastest global growth in billionaires and their lesser ultra-rich aspirants will likely be from the BRICS rather than the U.S. or Europe.
"In Russia, as in other emerging markets….billionaires and near-billionaires, followed in aggregate by the mass of ultra-high-net-worth will dominate wealth," according to Wealth-X.
Which country would you want to live in if you had a net worth of $30 million or more?
BRIC Country Super-Rich Worth $4 Trillion - The Wealth Report - WSJ
@varchasva
along with the above Pig Talks, as discussed in post#23,#24,#25, this is how this gentleman beg for job in India, in behalf of his voter
David Cameron delivers address at Infosys Bangalore: Full Text
The Tata Group is now the largest manufacturing employer in Britain. And more than 180 Indian companies have invested in our IT sector.
Indian companies employ 90,000 people in the UK. Many more jobs in Britain exist thanks to the activities of British companies in India. Now I want to see thousands more jobs created in Britain , and of course in India through trade in the months and years ahead . That is the core purpose of my visit
David Cameron delivers address at Infosys Bangalore: Full Text | NDTV.com
Dollar Billionaires in Poor Countries: India's "Philantrocapitalism"
In this time of global financial crisis, when so many are suffering financial hardship, most countries have witnessed increases in their number of dollar millionaires. These 'High Net-Worth Individuals' (HNWI), according to a report by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, have in recent years more than doubled in India. In 2008-09, India had 84,000 HNWIs. By 2010, it had risen by 50 per cent (126,700), the biggest increase of all countries.
In the worldwide list of dollar billionaires for 2010, India ranked third with 69, behind China (128) and the US (403). Forbes states, however, that the wealthiest 100 Indians are collectively worth $276 billion, while their top 100 Chinese counterparts are worth $170 billion. The three richest Indians together had more wealth the top 24 Chinese billionaires combined.
You don't have to look very far for evidence of their wealth, with more than 30 luxury skyscrapers springing up in Mumbai. For the rich occupants, the taller, the better, to escape from the reality of India below — the railway tracks, low-rise tenements, choking traffic and the 55 per cent of the city's population who live in slums. People are paying nearly two million dollars for a designer apartment, built in complexes with private cinemas, swimming pools, floodlit tennis courts and high-level security. Developers believe each year Mumbai can absorb between 30,000 and 40,000 more homes in the one million dollar-plus category. (Another housing bubble in the making?)
Such extreme wealth doesn't go unnoticed. In the UK, people are questioning the decision to keep giving India some $460 million of aid annually, which makes India the largest single recipient of British aid. Many ordinary Brits are asking if it can be right that the downtrodden British taxpayer gives such sums to a nation that boasts such wealth (albeit highly concentrated).
Siphoning off the country's wealth
Some of the most damning comments about India come from French author Dominique Lapierre, whose book royalties from 'City of Joy' fund projects for the underprivileged in India. He is frustrated by the greed and corruption that he encounters.
Lapierre's non profit organisation, City of Joy Aid, runs a network of clinics, schools, rehabilitation centres and hospital boats. It operates 14 projects in India, most in the Sunderbans area. However, 90 per cent of free medicines get stolen in the journey from Delhi to Kolkata, and the project is thus forced to buy them at high prices from the market.
A few years ago, Lapierre set up in Delhi a trust which offers a tax-deductible certificate for all donations. With more than a hint of disappointment, he notes the foundation still does not have any funds from affluent Indians who seem reluctant to help their fellow country-folk.
Quite the opposite, it seems. Much of India's wealth has been creamed off into Swiss banks, robbing ordinary folk of a quality of life they can now only but dream of. According to some estimates, it could be over Rs 7,280,000 crore (around $1.6 trillion). Data from the Swiss Banking Association in 2006 indicated that India had more black money than the rest of the world combined, or 13 times India's total national debt. Global Finance Integrity notes this siphoning of wealth has served to widen the gap between rich and poor and asserts the main guilty parties have been private organisations and High Net Worth Individuals.
By contrast, Global management and consulting firm Bain notes philanthropic donations amount to just 0.6 per cent of India's GDP. This is not too good when compared to giving in the US and UK, for example, but is better than rates in other developing countries like Brazil and China. In the US, individuals and corporations are responsible for 75 per cent of charitable gifts, whereas in India individual and corporate donations make up only 10 per cent of charitable giving. Some 65 per cent comes from India's central and state government, and the remaining gifts are provided by foreign organisations.
In India, giving does not rise with income and education. As a percentage of household income, donations by the wealthy actually decrease. From an analysis of 30 HNWIs in India, Bain noted that they contribute, on average, just around one-fourth of one per cent of their net worth to social and charitable causes.
All of this is not meant to imply that philanthropy is absent in India. Far from it. Vineet Nayyar's Rs 30 crore gift (just under $7 million) to the Essel Social Welfare Foundation is a high-profile example of philanthropic giving. Over the years, Rohini Nilekani has donated $40 million to numerous causes that try to tackle the root causes of social problems and not merely the symptoms. Her biggest contribution has been to Arghyam, a Bangalore foundation that promotes clean water and hygiene, which now has projects in 800 villages. Philanthropy can and does positively impact people's daily lives.
Philanthrocapitalism: a plaster on a gaping wound
What is really required, though, is a proper redistributive system of taxation, effective welfare provision and genuine economic democracy through forms of common ownership to help address inequality and poverty. In the absence of such things, wealthy philanthrocapitalists will have a major say in deciding which problems are addressed and how, and some will be highly selective.
For instance, critics of Bill Gates say his foundation often ends up favouring his commercial investments. Instead of paying taxes to the state coffers, he donates his profits where it is favourable to him economically, such as supporting GM crops in Africa or high tech patented medicines. 'Giving' often acts as a smokescreen for channeling funds into pet projects and 'business as usual', with rich corporations receiving money to shape the world in their own image and ultimately for their own benefit. Apparent benevolence can have sinister motives, just like certain governments which provide money in the form of 'development aid' that is intentionally used to fund actions that serve geo-political self interest and ultimately undermine the recipient state.
Philanthropy isn't necessarily opposed to capitalism; it's very much part of it. Capitalism is designed to ensure that the flow of wealth goes upwards and remains there via, among other things, the privatisation of public assets, deregulation of the financial sector, the use of subsidies and tax policies that favour the rich, the legal obligation to maximise shareholder profits and the consistent downward pressures on labour costs.
Professor Ha Joon Chang of Cambridge University says that economics isn't a social science anymore, but adopts the role the Catholic Church played in medieval Europe. Essentially, economic neo liberalism is secular theology used to justify the prevailing system, with the hope that some drops of wealth will trickle down an extremely thin funnel to placate the mass of the population. Widening the funnel slightly by making benevolent donations will not address the underlying issues of a failed system. :usa:
For example, consider that one in four people in India is hungry and every second child is underweight and stunted. Environmentalist Vandana Shiva argues that hunger is a structural part of the design of the industrialised, globalised food system and of the design of capital-intensive, chemical-intensive monocultures of industrial agriculture. The long-term solution for hunger lies in moving away from and challenging the centralised, globalised food supply controlled by a handful of profiteering corporations.
This type of built-in structural inequality, whether it concerns hunger, poverty, housing, income or health, is part and parcel of a development process that is skewed by elite interests in India and at the World Bank and by the corporations that pull the strings at the World Trade Organisation, who have all succeeded in getting their 'globalisation' agenda accepted. No amount of philanthropy, regardless of how well meaning it may be, will remedy the overall destructive effects of the type of capitalism (and massive corruption) being embraced by India's economic and political leaders.
Originally from the northwest of England, Colin Todhunter has spent many years in India. He has written extensively for the Bangalore-based Deccan Herald, New Indian Express and Morning Star (Britain). His articles have also appeared in many other newspapers, journals and books. His East by Northwest site is at: East by Northwest
Dollar Billionaires in Poor Countries: India's "Philantrocapitalism" | Global Research
India increases aid to Sri Lanka
CHENNAI: Even as the anti-Sri Lanka mood in Tamil Nadu is getting more belligerent, the Centre has increased its annual grant to the island nation in the Union Budget. The allocation has gone up to Rs 500 crore for 2013-2014 from Rs 290 crore last year. It was Rs 181.94 crore in 2011-2012. The Budget has allocated Rs 5,550 crore as aid for foreign governments and organizations.
The grants for Sri Lanka are meant for rehabilitation of internally displaced Tamils, but parties in Tamil Nadu have accused the government there of diverting the Indian aid for other purposes. The issue could be raised again with the two main Dravidian parties, the ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK, using it to corner the UPA government. The move comes at a time when political parties in the state have stepped up their offensive against the Lankan government for alleged war crimes.
Recently, UK's Channel 4 had released pictures allegedly showing Balachandran, son of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, minutes before and after he was killed towards the end of the decades-long civil war in 2009. Former Indian ambassador to Italy K P Fabian pointed out that increasing the grant to Sri Lanka was important. "It is not only in the interest of Sri Lanka. It is also in our interest. The Indo-Sri Lanka relationship is important." Sri Lanka should also understand that there is a growing international concern about the manner in which it has dealt with the Tamil question, he said.
Under the non-plan category, the Indian government has proposed to donate Rs 4,143 crore to various foreign governments and organizations, besides Rs 1,406 crore under the plan category to Afghanistan, Bhutan and Myanmar. But unlike 2012-13, when the government allocated Rs 550 crore to Bhutan and Maldives, in the budget for 2013-14, there is no loan component to any country and all the money is treated as grant alone.
Prof V Suryanarayana, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Asian Studies, said India has committed to help the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka in recent years. "Housing scheme and other development projects have been announced by the Indian government with the good intention of helping Tamils," Suryanarayana told TOI. But most of the projects have been getting delayed due to 'non-cooperative attitude' of the Sri Lankan government, he said. "For instance, housing for internally displaced Tamils have been delayed due to non-allotment of land by the local government," Suryanarayana said.
He also pointed to the speedy progress of Chinese projects in Sri Lanka. "The projects of the Chinese government are being completed quickly with the co-operation of the Sri Lankan government," he said.
In another strategic move, the Centre has increased grants for all the neighboring countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The Indian government has not allocated any aid for Pakistan for the last three years. "It is important for India to promote development in its neighbourhood in SAARC region as well as African nations. Allocating funds to neighbours is not to compete with China. In our own foreign policy, we have expanded system of technical and financial assistance in recent years," said Fabian.
India increases aid to Sri Lanka - Times Of India
Pakistani militants expand abroad, starting in Bangladesh
BlueOval, Aug 6, 2010, in forum: International Relations
Desi Jatt
Iran starting to build N-Sub
kaku, Jun 13, 2012, in forum: Modern Warfare
SajeevJino
Dassault - Rafale on the starting blocks in Malaysia
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India is just starting the long voyage to naval-power status
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Countdown starting tomorrow and MOM's FB page
sangos, Nov 2, 2013, in forum: Indian Military Doctrine
sangos


Here's a first look inside Crystal Palace's new cinema - and you're just days away from the chance to check it out for yourself.
The area has not been home to a big-screen cinema since 1968 but Everyman Cinema will open its doors in Church Road on Thursday (November 15).
Bookings can be made from its website from today (Wednesday, November 14) and special guests were treated to a first look around the cinema on Tuesday night.
You can see the first pictures for yourself here.
The cinema has four screens, with screens two and four being the biggest and one and three offering a cosier experience.
There's a bar on both floors and screen four is by itself upstairs.
Almost everywhere you go there's somewhere to sit comfortably over a drink or food.
And there's more than just popcorn on the menu, you can get pizza, burgers, hot dogs – it's really a restaurant, bar and cinema rolled into one to cater for your day or night out.
Every screen has sofas for seating and a side table to hold your snacks.
Guests at the sneak preview, many of whom live locally and are too young to remember the last time Crystal Palace had a cinema, were full of praise for the new venue.
Film critic Hemanth Kissoon said it's been "too long" since the neighbourhood had an entertainment venue.
"Cinema is in flux right now with Amazon and Netflix et cetera, so you need to have something extra to get people out," he said.
"This is a night out and a great date night venue. I'm loving it, it looks fantastic, it's been a long time since we had an entertainment venue and this will be good for the area.
Fellow film critic Derek Knight and friend Tanya Surendra were impressed with how "luxurious" each screen is.
Toby Swann, 47, came with his 12-year-old son Charlie and said they will be coming to the cinema regularly from their home "just around the corner".
He said: "I think it's great. I was not expecting this, I was not expecting little sofas, I think it is amazing and we definitely will be coming here a lot.
"We are both cinema fans so this will be our new spot to come to.
David Dawber, 26, was impressed by the atmosphere and said it "doesn't feel like a cinema" and has "a lot of soul and character".
Bianca Dexter, 43, hailed it as "an amazing transformation of a rundown building".
After eight years of campaigning for a new cinema, residents finally saw the breakthrough they were after with Everyman agreeing to open its doors in Church Road.
The former bingo hall had been a cinema for 40 years before closing in 1968.
Annabel Sidney, chair of the Picture Palace campaign, said the "exciting" opening was the result of tireless work by hundreds of people.
She said: "It's really exciting - this is the news we have long been campaigning and hoping for.
"We've always been optimistic about bringing a cinema back to Crystal Palace.
Are you excited about the new cinema?
Pat Ryan, a councillor for Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, was happy to see the town's long wait for a cinema was finally over.
He said: "It's a credit to everyone in Crystal Palace, we work together and we enjoy ourselves together.
"It's wonderful here, so many good people worked really hard to get this cinema. Malcolm Wicks MP, God rest his soul, if he is looking down it is a big occasion for him because he was a great supporter for this as well.


text:
Bel Biv DeVoe to release new material this summer | Music News
|In Arts+Culture News, Music
|By Ayodele Adepoju
It looks like Bel Biv DeVoe are planning a comeback with some new material even though we cannot really call it a comeback because they (BBD) have been on the road for the last three years. The legendary R&B trio of Ricky Bell, Ron DeVoe and Michael Bivins recently spoke with Billboard about plans to release some new material before the Summer draws to it's close.
The veterans of over twenty years, who burst on to the scene with their 1990 smash hit 'Poison' also confirmed that they are contributing to separate solo releases from former New Edition members Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant, which will come before the group's full length release.
Slated to perform on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon backed by the legendary Roots crew next Wednesday (Feb. 23), DeVoe comments, "They thought it'd be a good idea to bring a classic like 'Poison' to the TV screen with the Roots, and we couldn't hold back on our excitement to play with them."
[via Billboard.com]


text:
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What Happens When The Whole World Becomes Searchable?
by Gord Hotchkiss , Featured Contributor, September 21, 2006
There are a few items that crossed the threshold of my inbox recently that led me to speculate about search in the grand scheme of things.
First of all, fellow Search Insider David Berkowitz talked about online data storage, and how it could introduce reams of new content into online depositories, there to be connected to by consumers through search.
Secondly, Apple and Google are in talks about iTV, Apple's new set-top box that allows you to view downloaded video on your TV, at the same time making it searchable.
Welcome to e-World
The fact is, the whole world is becoming digitized and indexable. It's not a new trend, it's been making inroads for the last two and a half decades, but there seems to be a tipping point of convergence that's rapidly approaching. National and international news is almost fully digitized, and local news is following in the same footsteps. There are now digital editions of most periodicals. And Google is doing its level best to digitize every book ever written. So the print world is well on the way.
The Genetics of Music
For electronic media, music is largely in the digital domain, and the searchability of it is rapidly improving. The biggest bottleneck is in trying to categorize and rationalize what is largely a subjective experience. I either like music or I don't. How do you make that searchable? Well, interestingly, Pandora's Music Genome Project is trying to do just that. Since 2000, it has analyzed hundreds of thousands of songs based on over 400 attributes or "genes" (hence the Genome moniker) which include melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, singing styles, lyrics and arrangements, to name just a few. It's a large-scale attempt to make music searchable by something other than genre, artist or title, which is far too limiting for most of us. The Pandora interface, in its attempt to be intuitive, doesn't allow for power searching, but it's still a quantum leap forward in allowing us to help define our likes and dislikes in the musical universe.
What You See is What You Search
If you take this same approach to video entertainment, there is a much more complex, and therefore richer, content depository to mine. Think of the universe of movies, TV shows and documentaries that exists, each loaded with dialogue, topicality, visuals and styles. As complex as music can be, video explodes the content to be categorized and analyzed in a dozen different directions. It provides a huge indexing challenge, but therein lies the promise and profitability. And it appears to be a challenge that Google is ready to take on. Of course, we haven't even touched on aspects like consumer-generated video content (the YouTubes of the world, which seems to be the latest overladen bandwagon) and social tagging.
We've Only Just Begun...
But that's the globally visible world, the tip of an immensely large iceberg. There is very little in our physical world now that isn't digitized somewhere. There is a virtual mirror for almost every physical presence. Store inventories exist in the digital domain, and have for some time. Aggregating those inventories and making them searchable turns the entire world into your personal shopping mall. We leave GPS trails as we move from point A to B. Our vehicles churn out detailed performance summaries via the onboard computer as we do so. Mobile computing makes the very stuff of our personal lives; our thoughts, our activities, our appointments, our contacts, all digital and indexable. At work and at school, we all produce content on a daily basis. My daughters are content producers each time they do homework, and increasingly, that work is in bits and bytes.
As the barriers disappear between our hard drive and the Net (the subject of David's column) all this content theoretically can enter the public domain and be searchable. Increasingly, the question we ask ourselves is "where do I draw the line between my private and my online world?" File sharing becomes a substantially bigger deal.
Brain Melting Questions
Fellow blogger Mitch Joel calls these kind of questions "brain melters." I like that. It captures the mind-numbing aspects of this stuff. Our electronic footprint is now bigger, and in some ways more real, than our physical one. There is this vast binary universe out there, terabyte after terabyte of data that grows each and every second, capturing the essence of who we are and what we do. And the sole door to that world, the channel we all must pass through to gain entry, is search. In the act of searching, we connect to that universe.
Cast the search question in that light. Realize that we have yet to scratch the vast potential of this fundamental glue that holds the Internet together and bonds us to it. Imagine owning the solitary access point to everything!
Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are jockeying for position to do just that. It should excite the hell out of their respective shareholders, but it should scare the hell out of us. Do we really want this much power in the hands of so few?
These are big questions, and I'd love to get your viewpoint. Leave your thoughts on the Search Insider blog, or drop me an email at gord@enquiro.com.
GORD HOTCHKISS, President, Out of My Gord Consulting
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In the stories, corn- or grain-based ethanol is often criticized for causing: (1) rising food prices and resulting shortfalls in food aid programs, (2) less fuel efficiency compared to petroleum fuels, (3) the use of more energy to produce than it produces and (4) increased emissions of certain pollutants.
Scientists are refuting many of the claims, including rejection of ideas ethanol is a net-loss when it comes to energy savings by none other than researchers for the National Resources Defense Council.
But the pseudo-debates over whether ethanol takes more energy to produce than petroleum fuels and ethanol emissions pale in comparison to a recent statement by someone who was no friend of ethanol for many years.
The statement from T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman, didn't get much press, but it should have given the latest run-up in oil prices to more than $108 a barrel in recent trading sessions.
Pickens, who admitted he once opposed ethanol, said on CNBC's daily "Squawk Box" program that America's purchases of foreign oil are costing the country a half a trillion dollars every year.
Ethanol industry leaders have been saying the United States needed to reduce its use of foreign-produced oil to avoid transferring such wealth out of the country. Few put it in such dramatic terms as Pickens.
Pickens' probably won't be the last word on ethanol, but his comments accentuate some of ethanol's positives, such as a recent report that increased ethanol use is expected to reduce the country's petroleum consumption by 90,000 barrels per day.
In 2006, ethanol contributed $49.1 billion to the country's gross economic output while supporting the creation of 160,231 jobs, putting another $6.7 billion in the pockets of American consumers and adding $5 billion in tax revenues for federal, state and local governments. 2007's numbers are expected to be higher.
As far as claims about ethanol's biological "footprint," recent reports says greenhouse gas emissions from Midwest oil refineries are expected to increase by as much as 40 percent in the next decade because of the extra energy required to extract oil from the tar sands of Canada.
Most importantly, ethanol is producing income from the marketplace, a development all of us should favor.