TECHNOLOGY and YOUR HEALTH

Monkey see, monkey NOT do

While evolutionary biologists and anthropologists such as Jane Goodall constantly stress how ‘human-like’ are tailless monkeys such as chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas, the gap between what the latter can accomplish and what humans do is not minor but a chasm as wide and deep as the Grand Canyon!

When primates develop over 6500 languages as humans have, and build sky scrapers such the Empire State building or the dozen or so taller, 160 storeys plus towers into the atmosphere -- in Dubai and Asia today, when they build Boeing 747s, send someone to the moon and back, or even produce chocolate bars and paper towels by the billions on assembly line machinery, then I will accept we are kin.

The difference in god-like creativity between humans and monkeys is astounding and growing by the day.

Scientists have cloned animals for over a decade and a half, and stem cell research has now come to the point where replacement organs – using the person’s own stem cells and thereby preventing transplant rejection issues – is almost ready for mass use.

In fact, according to Maclean’s magazine’s extensive section, October 21, 2013, pages 46-54, scientist across the Western World are using a variety of technologies and 3D printers to create entire, functioning, custom made  organs: kidneys, windpipes, ears and noses.  

They have also mastered viable, miniature mechanical hearts and even a blood substitute based on plastic molecules and iron.  

Leaps forward in prosthetic arms, fingers and ankles are making the maimed and amputees able to do what fully bodied humans can – with almost the same facility and precision.  And these devices are now ready for mass production and distribution.

As the article notes, scientists can now replace with newly made living tissue or mechanical substitutes some 70% of the human body!  

 

TECHNOLOGY and MEDIA

GM wins over ConsumerReports with magic

The 2014 Chevrolet Impala has just received the golden stamp of approval by ConsumerReports which rated it a 95 and the overall top sedan for 2014 – the first time a North American vehicle has won this top spot in over 20 years .

(See ConsumerReports magazine, New Car Ratings & Reviews 2014 Models, December 2013 issue, page p. 15 right sidebar top, 73, and http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2013/07/2014-chevrolet-impala-highest-scoring-sedan-consumer-reports/index.htm and http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/08/top-10-vehicle-redesigns/index.htm

Meanwhile, the Buick LaCrosse is rated as a mere 78 points by the magazine in the same category.  (See above CR magazine,  page 67 or above, second website article.)

How there is such a huge difference in ratings is surprising, since the Impala and the LaCrosse use the same chassis and most components and engines.  The Impala has always been a less pricy if slightly longer version of its upscale twin from Buick -- called the Century (1997 to 2005), and now LaCrosse.

The Impala, with 4 inches of extra trunk length and capacity (beloved by taxis), weighs 40 lbs more and gets only 18/28 mpg EPA compared to the LaCrosse’s OUTSTANDING  EPA of 25/36 mpg as listed by ConsumerReport, pages 73 and 67.

Up front leg room is a CR (p. 42 chart) complaint against the LaCross, and as according to GM’s spec. sheets, the LaCrosse has 4.3 inches less front legroom (at 40.5 inches) and  2 inches less front headroom than the Impala. 

These differences would be an issue for only big and tall drivers, and possibly an asset to smaller and especially Chinese drivers which Buick targets.  All other front and rear specs.of the two vehicles are essentially identical.

Furthermore,  as the Washington Post Business review notes, that 40.5 inches is more room than many other large sedans, and the vehicle comes with FOLD-DOWN REAR SEATS giving it a huge trunk carrying option. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2014-buick-lacrosse-refreshed-with-styling-and-luxury-features/2013/10/02/f672aa80-2b7e-11e3-b141-298f46539716_story.htm]
{Yes, the 2014 Impala rear seats also fold down.}

So why such a huge difference in ratings?

The same ‘slight of hand magic’ applies to the Chevy Malibu and Buick clone Regal.  Except that the  Malibu  has a 2 inch longer trunk, all other specifications are identical and the mpg figures are very, very close, but the Malibu gets a rating of 89 and the Regal a mere 79.  (CR magazine, pages 74 and 67.)

So what gives, again?

 

PS: The 2014 Car and Drive magazine review of the LaCrosse was glowing.  See

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-buick-lacrosse-first-drive-review-drive-it-like-you-borrowed-it-page-2.



 

  

YOUR MONEY

Money madness rolls on

The emerging nations of the world – Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey – which account for 25.4% of the entire world 2013 population [Wikipedia, “ List of countries by population”]  have lost 13% to 18% in the value of their currency since the start of the year. [G&M Sept. 5, 2013, chart on B7].

Canada’s dollar fluctuates some ½ cent or more daily, and has been gyrating up and down from close to par with the US dollar to 94½  cents – up to a 5% drop in value.

Why?  Because all of the above countries and governments – and most of the governments on the planet -- allow their currency to ‘float’ on the open market –including to a degree China’s Yuan.

And this ‘floating rate’ is not set by the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund.  It is the result of the open market in money exchanges and what some dealer, bank, derivative, pension fund or billionaire speculator with a crystal ball ‘foresees’ as the short term (weeks to months) economic trend of a given country.   If an economy seems to be about to be going up, with more GDP expected, the currency becomes ‘stronger’ against other monies, and if the economy looks as if it is about to become weaker, the reverse occurs.

Sounds like good capitalism but the money exchange banks, and multi-billion dollar funds and derivatives really only care about the cash, not the best interest of the economy.  A ‘play’ that triggers a broad market rise or sell off of just a fraction of a penny can reap millions for the money exchange manipulators!  Their computer trading programs are that quick to make a buck!!!

So, put simply, governments have by and large abrogated one of the two fundamental roles of a government>

Role #1 is to ensure the safety and security of its people; to maintain law and order within and protect the nation from outside assault.

Role #2, is to ensure it people have the economic opportunity to prosper and do well; to make a living and maybe ‘move up in the material world’ through effort and initiative.

 

Role #2 no longer exists outside of special interest tariffs and duties – something the world’s governments are working to eliminate in the name of open economic trade – the European Economic Union being the best example, NAFTA for Canada, the USA and Mexico, and the new Pacific Rim coalition that both Canada and the USA are currently trying to join.

By allowing ‘others’ to set the value of their currencies, governments ensure businesses, ordinary citizens and especially pensioners on fixed incomes have no secure future!

If the Canadian dollar drops buying US and other imported goods and food costs moreat the store, and such increases are multiplied by the various layers in the delivery and distribution system.

Meanwhile, if the Canadian dollar drops compared to the US dollar, our exporters smile all the way to the bank -- as the US accounts for some 80% of our export market.

And if the Canadian dollar rises, the reverse is true.  Importers love it as outside goods become cheaper, while exporters lose markets as their costs become, instantly, ‘higher’.

Put simply, fluctuating currency exchanges pit ordinary citizens, the poor and importing companies against the interests of the relatively few, often highly profitable export firms.

And profit 'speculators' the most because they are really in control of this 'rigged' game.

 

So, the drop in emerging country currency values is no joking matter.  It may help their exporters gain an ‘edge’, but when most food stuffs and finished goods are imported, these changes, especially when over 5%, make life harder for millions in these ‘developing’ countries – and even in first world Canada!

 

My solution, as often posted before, is a return to some fixed currency model.

Either backing paper money with gold or platinum or diamonds at a globally accepted fixed price, or collapsing the world’s currencies into 3 linked denominations as set by the World Bank: the US greenback, the EURO and China’s Yuan.

Otherwise, economic chaos will inevitably ensue, undermining stabile government, world efforts at ‘freer’ trade and, in a worst case scenario, the suffering of the Great Depression which led to extreme nationalism, imperialism and World War II.

GAIA

 Surprise, Surprise and Surprise again

 1.Global Warming Russian Roulette

Time magazine gave it a tiny highlight, Sept. 23, 2013, p. 7 under the heading “60% increase in ice-covered ocean” but the Daily Mail of Britain gave the news the coverage it deserves.

The detailed story from September 7, 2013 online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/Global-cooling-Arctic-ice-caps-grows-60-global-warming-predictions.html) reports that Global Warming fears are not only overblown but ‘out of date”. 

Yes, say goodbye to fears of Global Warming and say hello to a mini-ice age return!

Predictions of the north Pole ice cap disappearing are proving ‘prematures’ as NASA satellite photographs from this August, newly released, show the ice cap has increased by 60% over this summer compared to 2012, and is expected to expand even further once ‘real winter’ sets in.

This, according to some scientists, marks a return to colder temperatures in general and reinforces the fact Global Warming temperatures peaked in 1997!!!

Put simply, the computer models and hysteria about human created greenhouse gases are not consistent with the facts -- though diehard environmentalists are sure to deny the error of their ways.

 

2. Underwater Hide and Seek

Time magazine, in the above Sept. 23, 2013 issue, p. 11 in the right sidebar, mentions another startling fact.

An undersea volcano some 119,000 sq. miles in size, now named Tamu Massif,   has been discovered just east of Japan, some 4 miles below the sea’s surface.  It is roughly the size of the US state of New Mexico!!!

Details are available at:

http://blogs.voanews.com/science-world/2013/09/06/worlds-largest-single-volcano-found-off-japan-coast/

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So, what should we humans make of these 2 recent revelations?

1. There are more secrets to Gaia and how the planet works than we mere human ants are         aware of.

2. Predicting the planet’s future based on human ‘interference’  is a fool’s game.  We are ants in the greater scheme of this planet, its eco-systems and natural adaptability.

 

3. Missing garbage dump

The Water Brothers second season documentary “Plastic Oceans” aired Sept. 15, 2013 on TVO and tried to argue that plastic is a huge menace to the world’s oceans and water life systems.

The brothers took a sailboat trip with oceanographers and environmentalists to track plastic in the Pacific Ocean and find the great garbage swirl -- supposedly twice the size of Texas -- in mid-Pacific.

They showed an animated world map and explained the theory: ocean currents in the Pacific, the Atlantic, and all large water bodies create a swirling effect and build up debris in the centre.  This is the basis of the ocean garbage-dumps theory that has been popularized and accepted almost universally as ‘fact’.

Well, their scientific water screening techniques across the Pacific found mostly minute and relatively few bits of plastic per trawl, and of course, they NEVER FOUND THE GIANT GARBAGE SWIRL : TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS – because none exists – not even a tiny hamlet size.  

Satellite photos should have destroyed this urban myth long ago, but, hey, plastic is evil so any rumoured garbage pile and related ocean swirl theory must be true.

But NO, it is all poppycock and I could use stronger language but this is a public blog.

The truth is that plastic is a product of nature (made from crude oil, natural gas, soy, corn or hemp – which all contain hydrocarbons [Seehttp://www.wisegeek.org/how-is-plastic-made.htm#slideshow} ).  And it will be broken up by ocean microbes and sunlight just like the BP Caribbean oil spill that traumatized environmentalists for naught.

It is true many plastics take a long time to dissolve, but so do all the other garbage humans have deposited in the oceans over the centuries: sunken wooden and metal ships smashed into fragments by storm or canon ball attack.  Sunken cargo ships filled with gold, silver, or rusting iron litter the seven seas as do crashed airplanes, space mission jumbo rocket tanks and much else.

Remember the song about the Edmund Fitzgerald – that iron ore carrying vessel that met its doom in Lake Superior in 1975 – along with its human crew of 29?

Remember the Titanic?

The Fukushima tsunami of 2011 ran up to 10 kilometers inland and directly along the coastline, or when pulling back to sea, took with it an enormous amount of crushed debris, homes, and their contents – as do every tsunami.  Floods and torrential rivers do the same as they wash down stream entire homes and their contents, bridges and asphalt roads ( made from bitumen – a thick form of petroleum like the Alberta tar sands oil).

The same with hurricanes – as we call them in the northern hemisphere - and cyclones in the southern hemisphere. Hurricanes Katrina or Sandy added enormous debris of various kinds into the Caribbean and Atlantic as they sucked up items and then wind dispersed them as they rolled over the islands of the Caribbean and then rolled up the U.S. coast.  Such storms which range for 100 miles in diameter and up to 500 miles add immense water ‘contamination’, seeding the oceans with all types and sizes of plastic, glass, metal and wood refuse.

 

But environmentalists, with their blinkers on, only see or seek as ‘explanations’ human planned or unplanned activities.

 

The real truth?

The human ant has been adding ‘debris’ into the world’s waters for millennium – usually by accident, and never in enough quantity to cause any extensive or long lasting harm.

Gaia is too resilient and the oceans are too vast!!!