Mind break 10/24-10/31

This is my mind break for the week. This short part of Ice Age (first movie of the Ice Age trilogy) makes me laugh everytime I think or hear the quote "They Headed North Two Hours Ago" said by the sloth character named Sid who was mimicking the sabertoothed tiger character named Diego.

Capitalism: Friend, Foe, or something inbetween?

As the United States moves into the 21st Century, capitalism would be in-between a friend and an unbiased economic choice to our present and near future economy. And that Laissez-faire capitalism would not be the best idea for the United States economy. Capitalism is defined as an economic system based on private ownership of the factors of production. Capitalism would be a great economic choice for the United States because capitalism would create a “free society… in which all peaceful, voluntary actions and interactions are permitted and all use of force or fraud, except defensively, is forbidden.” In 1776, the government was seen as a major threat to ones rights and liberties. “The constitution of this nation was designed to limit government very strictly”. The concept of capitalism also helped the unemployment problems. In the 1900’s the unemployment rate had increased drastically, and because the labor markets were mostly free, many unemployed found jobs, learned skills, and created better lives for themselves. As Baetjer Jr. said, “In a free economy – unemployment is not a problem”. This can help with our current economic state because the rate of our unemployed citizens is increasing daily with budget cuts of businesses. Another example to show that capitalism has worked “some hundreds or thousands of the rich got richer… millions and millions of the poor got richer… The people of this country prospered…because our economy was free, our government was limited, and out property was protected,” this was how the free economy worked in the 1900’s. An example of how the government has ruined the free economies of the past, think back to 1919, six years after the Federal government took over the economy. After the Feds took over the CPI, Consumer Price Index for items, increased. The government interference also worked against the unemployment rates. Before, when the economy was mostly free” whenever such a person found another willing to pay him for a good or service, he was in business.” On the contrary, when the government intervened, the government has created a “host of regulations, taxes, license laws, registration fees, union rules, minimum wages and other controls stand in the way.” This government influence on the economy has actually increased the number of unemployed. This occurred because if unemployed are not earning money they do not spend as much money. Moreover, if they don’t spend as much money, producers will have to cut back because they are not earning as much. These cutbacks would include lower production numbers, budget cut of department that includes job losses, and regular employee cuts.
Laissez-faire is the principle that the government should not interfere in the economy and “functions only to assure justice and [to] keep peace”. With Capitalism paired up with the principle of Laissez-faire, the market economy would be in its purest form. A pure market economy would include no help or watch from the government in any consumption or production in the United States. A laissez-faire capitalism would not be the best idea for the world because, as seen in the past where consumption and production fluctuated, we need some form of government help the make sure the economy does not go haywire.

[All above quotes from (The Case for Capitalism Howard Baetjer JR.)].

hand sanitizer risks and safety

Here are some risks for hand sanitizer users.

1. using too much can make children sick
2. is 62-63% alcohol
3. increasing number of poison control call from concerned parents who children has licked their hand after suing the sanitizer, or tots accidentally drinking it
4. if one or more teaspoons of hand sanitizer is injested it can cause an intoxication in young children
5. hand sanitizer is highly flammable

What can be done to reduce problems?

as one elementary school did: they created strict policies on the use of hand sanitizer where only adults can dispense the sanitizer, and the bottles are kept out of students reach

All facts came from the below video found on comcast.net

Russian Miracle Baby

For Russia's mostly Muslim southern fringe, a new "miracle" has occurred. This miracle is a 9-month-old baby named Ali Yakubov. He is seen as a "miracle" by Muslims, grandmas to schoolboys, because "verses [which first appeared two weeks after birth] from the Koran appear and fade every few days". And his mother Madina has no doubt the verses were connected to extremism. This week the Koranic verse "Be thankful or grateful to Allah" was printed clearly legible in Arabic script, on the boys right leg. Showing that Muslims believe this infant child is a "miracle", "Up to 2,000 pilgrims from Russia's 20 million Muslim population come daily to see the docile, blue-eyed baby." Green satin flags to mark the way to Ali's pink brick house in the small town named Kizlyar.

The one thing that I got confused about in the article was when Makhachkala's influential mayor, Sayid Amirov said "What happened here is indeed a miracle, but this should also be a message to not take religion too far,". This confused me because I didn't understand how believing the child was a "miracle" would be a message to not take religion too far.

Here is a video of the story...

Lake Chad Shrinking?!?!

From a satellite image taken in 1963, Lake Chad was the size of Maryland, which is bigger than Israel or Kuwait. As of 2003, the size of Lake Chad has decreased to less than one-fifth of the original 1963 size. Lake Chad, that was once one of the "biggest bodies of water in the world, could disappear entirely in about 20 years. Parviz Koohafkan says that "The Lake Chad basin is 'one of the most important agriculture heritage sites in the world -- the biodiversity, the migratory birds, not to mention more than 20 million people living out of Lake Chad -- fisherpeople, farmers. [And] 'It would be a human disaster, a tragedy'". The decrease in the size of Lake Chad has been caused by many things, including climate change (global warming), and population pressuring the lakes water supply. Another factor to the decreased size is that the "Two rivers which feed the lake, the Chari and Logone, have been significantly reduced in the past 40 years, the agency said."

First off, I must admit that even though Lake Chad is widley known, I never knew where Lake Chad was located, let alone how much its surrounding area depended on its water. Knowing the fact that there are over 20 million people living from Lake Chads resources, and that Lake Chad is "one of the most important agriculture heritage sites in the world -- the biodiversity, the migratory birds..." is just mind boggling. And knowing these facts I feel like there should be something that not only I, but the rest of the world could do to help the life that depends off of the shrinking lake.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP???

Econimic crisis & World Hunger

"The global economic crisis has caused a spike in world hunger that has left more than a billion undernourished, United Nations agencies said in a new report." For this world to be in the 21at century "almost one in six of the world's population is now going hungry" said Josette Sheeran. According to a report by the WFP and the Food Agriculture Organization, "Nearly all the world's undernourished live in developing countries." For example 642 million from Asia and the Pacific suffer from chronic hunger and "an additional 265 million live in sub-Saharan Africa while 95 million come from Latin America...". "The report calls for greater investment in agriculture to tackle long and short-term hunger by making farmers productive and more resilient to crises. 'We know what is needed to meet urgent hunger needs -- we just need the resources and the international commitment to do the job,' Sheeran said."

This article made me feel angry with the world because we are not doing all we can to help these developing countries with their hunger issues. I feel that although countries are donating to developing areas, we are not doing all we can and really taking a serious look at what the world can do to help control, save, or even stop the world hunger that is occuring.

Obama to New Orleans

Obama took his first trips to New Orleans since he was appointed President. "During [the] town-hall meeting at the University of New Orleans, Gabriel Bordenave "cited continued delays in damage-reimbursement payments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 'I expected as much from the Bush administration,' he said. 'But why are we still being nickled and dimed?'" To this question, "Mr. Obama replied. 'There are all sorts of complications....I wish I could just write a check.'"

New reports from October 15, 2009, showed that "about 30,000 jobs have been directly created or saved by contractors who received money from the $787 billion stimulus package for infrastructure and social programs..., [but] Republicans used the latest report to renew their criticism of the stimulus. 'As the American people consider the disappointing results announced today, they are asking, 'Where are the jobs?' said Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference."

This article reminded me of another that I had read and blogged about Unemployment rates and Discouraged workers, who are people that are unemployed because they believe there are no jobs available.