The Talmud (Nedarim 8B) says that in the time of moshiach hashem will remove the sun from it's sheath and the righuts will be healed by it...many people were saying that this might have something to do with the holes in the ozone layer but now NASA is warning that the bubble around the sun (not around the earth like the Ozone) is shrinking read it is definitly something to think about!
Sun's protective 'bubble' is shrinking
The protective bubble around the sun that helps to shield the Earth from harmful interstellar radiation is shrinking and getting weaker, Nasa scientists have warned.
By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent Last Updated: 9:23AM BST 19 Oct 2008
Data has shown that the sun's heliosphere is shrinking Photo: AP
New data has revealed that the heliosphere, the protective shield of energy that surrounds our solar system, has weakened by 25 per cent over the past decade and is now at it lowest level since the space race began 50 years ago.
Scientists are baffled at what could be causing the barrier to shrink in this way and are to launch mission to study the heliosphere.
The Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, will be launched from an aircraft on Sunday on a Pegasus rocket into an orbit 150,000 miles above the Earth where it will "listen" for the shock wave that forms as our solar system meets the interstellar radiation.
Dr Nathan Schwadron, co-investigator on the IBEX mission at Boston University, said: "The interstellar medium, which is part of the galaxy as a whole, is actually quite a harsh environment. There is a very high energy galactic radiation that is dangerous to living things.
"Around 90 per cent of the galactic cosmic radiation is deflected by our heliosphere, so the boundary protects us from this harsh galactic environment."
The heliosphere is created by the solar wind, a combination of electrically charged particles and magnetic fields that emanate a more than a million miles an hour from the sun, meet the intergalactic gas that fills the gaps in space between solar systems.
At the boundary where they meet a shock wave is formed that deflects interstellar radiation around the solar system as it travels through the galaxy.
The scientists hope the IBEX mission will allow them to gain a better understanding of what happens at this boundary and help them predict what protection it will offer in the future.
Without the heliosphere the harmful intergalactic cosmic radiation would make life on Earth almost impossible by destroying DNA and making the climate uninhabitable.
Measurements made by the Ulysses deep space probe, which was launched in 1990 to orbit the sun, have shown that the pressure created inside the heliosphere by the solar wind has been decreasing.
Dr David McComas, principal investigator on the IBEX mission, said: "It is a fascinating interaction that our sun has with the galaxy surrounding us. This million mile an hour wind inflates this protective bubble that keeps us safe from intergalactic cosmic rays.
"With less pressure on the inside, the interaction at the boundaries becomes weaker and the heliosphere as a whole gets smaller."
If the heliosphere continues to weaken, scientists fear that the amount of cosmic radiation reaching the inner parts of our solar system, including Earth, will increase.
This could result in growing levels of disruption to electrical equipment, damage satellites and potentially even harm life on Earth.
But Dr McComas added that it was still unclear exactly what would happen if the heliosphere continued to weaken or what even what the timescale for changes in the heliosphere are.
He said: “There is no imminent danger, but it is hard to know what the future holds. Certainly if the solar wind pressure was to continue to go down and the heliosphere were to almost evaporate then we would be in this sea of galactic cosmic rays. That could have some large effects.
“It is likely that there are natural variations in solar wind pressure and over time it will either stabilise or start going back up.”
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Swords into Plowshares
One of the things it says about the time of moshiach is that "they will beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks " (incidentally this is written on the U.N. building in N.Y.) because then there will be no war and we will have no use for implements of war I.E. swords and spears. The Rebe has pointed out that the fact that the military is assisting in humanitarian aid and providing food for people is the beginning the fulfilment of this concept. being that the militariy's might and resources are being used for feeding people I.E. "swords into plowshares".
below are excerpt from an article today that says the Japanese military will dispatch aid to the Earthquake and this is the first significant military dispatch involving the 2 countries and for what? to provide help!
Another interesting point in this article is that Japan and china have have had "cold" relations since the 1930's seemingly this event has led to 1) a military using its resources to provide life rebuilding as opposed to death and destruction. 2) Help came from a military that is not a friend!
below are excerpt from the article....
China seeks earthquake aid from Japan
(CNN) -- China is turning to its former enemy Japan for help as it seeks to boost its relief operations following the deadly earthquake that has devastated the southwestern Sichuan province.
China has begun talks with Tokyo about what would be the first significant military dispatch involving the two countries since World War II, The Associated Press reported Thursday.
"Given the magnitude of this disaster, if some countries or militaries are ready to provide us with material in urgent need, we will express our welcome," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang, AP reported.
The Kyodo news agency said Japan plans to dispatch Self-Defense Forces aircraft to transport tents and other relief supplies to main airports.....
its relations with Japan have been cold since the invasion by its neighbor in the 1930s -- which caused a residual resentment among the Chinese population, especially as chemical weapons were abandoned there by Japanese troops, AP said.
China has criticzed Japan for atoning for its war-time activities, but relations have thawed in the past two years and leaders from each nation have since made symbolic visits to meet their peers......
Countdown Towards a Good World
Maimonides says that a person should always see themselves and the world in a perfect balance and one good deed, could change the balance of the world for good, and thus bring redemption to the entire world. Every time a country moves towards Democracy (away from dictatorship and tyranny) that changes that part of the world from a "bad" place (country) to a "good" place.
Since the early 199o's there have been enormous changes in the world, there has never been a time in history where this many countries have been under democratic rule versus dictatorship and tyranny. once India became democratic and now that china is slowly but steadily moving towards democracy that changes the entire playing field. Beacuse when these countries become democratic that causes a shift in the entire balance of the world because India and China together have about a third of of world living in their countries (1.2 billion people in India and 1.25 Billion in China) which suddenly puts a huge percentage of the world on the good side. in fact in December of 2007 it was announced that India is now the largest democracy in the world.
in Fact the Rebe pointed out that all these changes are signes of moshiach's coming ( he specifically mentioned the changes in India and China) and the fact that these are happening without bloodshed is also a first in history there has never been a time where such big changes took place without bloodshed.
below is another country that just got rid of their Dictator and finally became a democratic nation.
Main News
Nepal declared federal republic
By Ambar Mainali/ Prakash Acharya
Kathmandu, May 29
Nepal turned into a federal democratic republic Wednesday ending about four centuries old monarchial culture through an overwhelming 560 votes of the Constituent Assembly (CA). In a historic verdict, the first meeting of the CA formally implemented the republican agenda provisioned in the Interim Constitution 2063 declaring Nepal a federal democratic republic state to be run under a presidential system. The verdict has put to rest 240 years of Shah rule turning Nepalese into sovereign citizens.
.....CA Chairman Gurung congratulated the members for being elected to undertake a historic responsibility of implementing the republic agenda and writing a new democratic constitution.
....Addressing the historic meeting, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala reiterated the need to forge consensus not only till the time of writing the constitution but also after that to ensure the consolidation of democracy and human rights. He said that consensus among the political parties in the course of the past two years had been instrumental to bring epochal changes in the nation. Hence as consensus is more powerful than any weapon, all political parties should bury their differences and come forward to forge enduring consensus to address all the problems faced by the nation.“I would like to recall my saying that a day would come in an era when the nation would finally change its course,” Koirala said adding, “My dream has finally come true today and the nation’s dream also has come into fruition
....“We have arrived at a historical juncture where monarchy will now be rooted out completely and Nepal would be declared a federal democratic republic,” the PM said.
...Koirala said that a legal path had been opened towards ending all forms of violence in the country and the nation should focus on consolidation of democracy and human rights. “The CA should encompass the views of all caste, groups, class and community without inflicting any damage on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation.” “I have always believed in rule of law and a democratic system,” he said adding, “I firmly stand by my belief and want all parties to stick to it.”
Since the early 199o's there have been enormous changes in the world, there has never been a time in history where this many countries have been under democratic rule versus dictatorship and tyranny. once India became democratic and now that china is slowly but steadily moving towards democracy that changes the entire playing field. Beacuse when these countries become democratic that causes a shift in the entire balance of the world because India and China together have about a third of of world living in their countries (1.2 billion people in India and 1.25 Billion in China) which suddenly puts a huge percentage of the world on the good side. in fact in December of 2007 it was announced that India is now the largest democracy in the world.
in Fact the Rebe pointed out that all these changes are signes of moshiach's coming ( he specifically mentioned the changes in India and China) and the fact that these are happening without bloodshed is also a first in history there has never been a time where such big changes took place without bloodshed.
below is another country that just got rid of their Dictator and finally became a democratic nation.
Main News
Nepal declared federal republic
By Ambar Mainali/ Prakash Acharya
Kathmandu, May 29
Nepal turned into a federal democratic republic Wednesday ending about four centuries old monarchial culture through an overwhelming 560 votes of the Constituent Assembly (CA). In a historic verdict, the first meeting of the CA formally implemented the republican agenda provisioned in the Interim Constitution 2063 declaring Nepal a federal democratic republic state to be run under a presidential system. The verdict has put to rest 240 years of Shah rule turning Nepalese into sovereign citizens.
.....CA Chairman Gurung congratulated the members for being elected to undertake a historic responsibility of implementing the republic agenda and writing a new democratic constitution.
....Addressing the historic meeting, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala reiterated the need to forge consensus not only till the time of writing the constitution but also after that to ensure the consolidation of democracy and human rights. He said that consensus among the political parties in the course of the past two years had been instrumental to bring epochal changes in the nation. Hence as consensus is more powerful than any weapon, all political parties should bury their differences and come forward to forge enduring consensus to address all the problems faced by the nation.“I would like to recall my saying that a day would come in an era when the nation would finally change its course,” Koirala said adding, “My dream has finally come true today and the nation’s dream also has come into fruition
....“We have arrived at a historical juncture where monarchy will now be rooted out completely and Nepal would be declared a federal democratic republic,” the PM said.
...Koirala said that a legal path had been opened towards ending all forms of violence in the country and the nation should focus on consolidation of democracy and human rights. “The CA should encompass the views of all caste, groups, class and community without inflicting any damage on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation.” “I have always believed in rule of law and a democratic system,” he said adding, “I firmly stand by my belief and want all parties to stick to it.”
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Misers No More!!!
One of the primary messages of the Rebe is that increasing in acts of goodness and kindness will hasten the coming of moshiach. since 1991 the concept of goodness and kindness has exploded through the world just try to Google random acts of goodness and kindness you Will get close to 400,000 results. there have sprung all kinds of foundations, clubs, associations, that are engaged in acts of goodness kindness.
We also know what Maimonides says that a person should always sees themselves and the world in a perfect balance and one good deed, could change the balance of the world for good. the fact that "charity" or goodness and kindness is spreading to the entire world shows us clearly that we are moving closer towards moshiach.
In addition we know that the Talmud says that when the nations of the world give charity it is a sin offering for them. meaning it kind of cleans the slate and again makes the world a more good world. after the Tsunami in 2004 the outpouring of charity was unprecedented the amount of charity the world gave was unparalleled. Now even the Saudis are starting to give charity albeit they are being shamed into it. let's hope it is a good start.... Sooner or later the entire world will be giving charity and doing acts of goodness and kindness. Either you do it on your own or circumstansnes will force you to give charity....so why not do it right the first time...
We also know what Maimonides says that a person should always sees themselves and the world in a perfect balance and one good deed, could change the balance of the world for good. the fact that "charity" or goodness and kindness is spreading to the entire world shows us clearly that we are moving closer towards moshiach.
In addition we know that the Talmud says that when the nations of the world give charity it is a sin offering for them. meaning it kind of cleans the slate and again makes the world a more good world. after the Tsunami in 2004 the outpouring of charity was unprecedented the amount of charity the world gave was unparalleled. Now even the Saudis are starting to give charity albeit they are being shamed into it. let's hope it is a good start.... Sooner or later the entire world will be giving charity and doing acts of goodness and kindness. Either you do it on your own or circumstansnes will force you to give charity....so why not do it right the first time...
Misers No More? Saudi Arabia Pledges $500 Million to World Food Program
Friday, May 23, 2008
Two weeks after a FOX News investigation showed oil-rich Saudia Arabia had donated nothing this year to help the United Nations World Food Program feed the world's hungry, the globe's number one oil exporter is finally opening its checkbook.
The United Nations this morning told FOX that the Saudis have pledged WFP a whopping $500 million contribution in response to the urgent WFP appeal in early April for $775 million to help it cope with a crisis caused by lower international grain stocks and rising energy costs. According to WFP that threatened to put at least 100 million more people around the world on the edge of starvation.
The Saudi contribution came two weeks after FOX revealed, based on WFP donor records, that Saudi Arabia had given nothing at all to the food agency this year, despite spiraling oil prices that had brought on the food crisis.
All of OPEC — the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries — had collectively given just $1.5 million, or about 1 minute and 10 seconds worth of OPEC's 2007 oil revenues, FOX disclosed.
Those revenues will be vastly greater this year due to even sharper oil-price hikes.
In noting the Saudi contribution, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that it “comes not a moment too soon, given the needs of millions of people dependent on food rations.”
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Charity In China
One of the primary messages of the Rebe is that increasing in acts of goodness and kindness will hasten the coming of moshiach. since 1991 the concept of goodness and kindness has exploded through the world just try to Google random acts of goodness and kindness you Will get close to 400,000 results. there have sprung all kinds of foundations, clubs, associations, that are engaged in acts of goodness kindness.
We also know what Maimonides says that a person should always seet hemselfels and the world in a perfect balance and one good deed, could change the balance of the world for good. the fact that "charity" or goodness and kindness is spreading to the entire world shows us clearly that we are moving closer towards moshiach.
In addition we know that the Talmud says that when the nations of the world give charity it is a sin offering for them. meaning it kind of cleans the slate and again makes the world a more good world. after the Tsunami in 2004 the outpouring of charity was unprecedented the amount of charity the world gave was unparalleled. after a tragedy one should always look to grow from the experience and try to see some positive. as the excerpts of this article shows this tragedy in china has changed the Chinese people and has created a flood charity in a country that until 2004 private charities were banned.
Another angle is that the military in is heavily involved in providing humanitarian aid and relief which is a beginning of the promise "and you will beat you swords into plowshares and your spears into pruning hooks" basically the military whose purpose is to kill and destroy is involved in provided food and life ( there are many instances of this all around the world. Afghanistan, Iraq etc.. the first time this happend was in Somalia) there are many other exemples of this like using missile covers for silo's, using miisiles for reforstation, and much more but that is for another post. As we continue towards a world of good join the effort and do another act of kindness. As we continue towards a world of good join the effort and do another act of kindness.
below are excepts of the articles this one is from CNN By Jaime FlorCruzCNN Beijing Bureau Chief
One of the most destructive moments in Chinese history is bringing together -- at least temporarily -- this vast nation of more than a billion people, made up of disparate ethnic groups stretching across five time zones.
......Horrific scenes of death and devastation -- covered heavily by the local media -- have triggered a surge of patriotism and charity.
"When one is in trouble," the Chinese say, "help comes from all directions."
In Beijing, Chinese officials, entertainers, athletes and artists attended a marathon concert, giving donations and calling on the public to give more.
.......Live on Chinese TV, local businesses pledged to give money and build free housing for victims -- an unusual display of civic charity. As of last Saturday, Chinese enterprises had donated more than 3.5 billion yuan ($501 million) in cash and relief goods.
"Traditionally the Chinese people don't share as much with strangers. They share a great deal among friends and family, but not with strangers," according to China analyst Zhang Daxing.
.....Students in the Chinese capital have even taken to the street to collect donations.
"Although we cannot go to Sichuan to save them, we can still help them with donated money," one student said.
Analysts say this unprecedented display of charity is partly in response to the quick action already taken by Chinese officials to the emergency.
.......The Chinese, at least for now, are more united as a people and more charitable, as citizens pull together in the wake of a massive earthquake.
This is from the associated press.
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN and CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writer Mon May 19, 3:27 AM ET
Chinese donate their newfound wealth after quake
.........In a China normally racing full-throttle toward getting rich, the deadliest disaster in a generation has touched off an unprecedented outpouring of charity, especially among newly wealthy and urban Chinese. Donations are flooding in, more money than charities in China collected all of last year, and so are volunteers.
In the week since the quake, donations have totaled $1.3 billion — 85 percent raised within China, the Xinhua News Agency said Sunday, citing the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
With living standards soaring with the economy's spectacular performance in recent years, a new group of rich Chinese are expressing interest in philanthropy. The ministry's China Charity Information Center projects that private foundations will overtake the government and aid and activist groups to become the country's main source of charity in five years.
.........The giving is striking in a society where the communist government once provided all welfare. Private charities were banned until 2004. In the rush to embrace free markets and prosperity, Communist Party leaders, scholars and ordinary Chinese have decried the pervasive greed, selfishness and corruption.
"You give to the people you know," said Russell Leigh Moses, an analyst of Chinese politics based in Beijing.
The vast majority of aid to help the millions left homeless by last Monday's quake is still coming from the government, on military convoys.
But this time instead of waiting for government-organized charity drives, people quickly acted on their own. Bank account numbers for making earthquake donations flashed on Web logs and mobile phones. Blood donation centers were overwhelmed with offers and began asking citizens to register in advance. Groups as unexpected as the China Beauty Parlors Association have issued public challenges to their millions of members to give.
"People are really united this time, and they're acting on their own without waiting to be asked," said Wu Yu, one of several employees at Weipeng, an investment consulting firm in neighboring Guizhou province, who loaded up two vans and a jeep with old clothing, bread and instant noodles, and were heading north of Dujiangyan toward the quake's epicenter.
...."We're in rescue and recovery mode, not in reconstruction of society mode," said Moses. But the giving "has been from the ground up, and the government to their credit has not been standing in the way," he said.
We also know what Maimonides says that a person should always seet hemselfels and the world in a perfect balance and one good deed, could change the balance of the world for good. the fact that "charity" or goodness and kindness is spreading to the entire world shows us clearly that we are moving closer towards moshiach.
In addition we know that the Talmud says that when the nations of the world give charity it is a sin offering for them. meaning it kind of cleans the slate and again makes the world a more good world. after the Tsunami in 2004 the outpouring of charity was unprecedented the amount of charity the world gave was unparalleled. after a tragedy one should always look to grow from the experience and try to see some positive. as the excerpts of this article shows this tragedy in china has changed the Chinese people and has created a flood charity in a country that until 2004 private charities were banned.
Another angle is that the military in is heavily involved in providing humanitarian aid and relief which is a beginning of the promise "and you will beat you swords into plowshares and your spears into pruning hooks" basically the military whose purpose is to kill and destroy is involved in provided food and life ( there are many instances of this all around the world. Afghanistan, Iraq etc.. the first time this happend was in Somalia) there are many other exemples of this like using missile covers for silo's, using miisiles for reforstation, and much more but that is for another post. As we continue towards a world of good join the effort and do another act of kindness. As we continue towards a world of good join the effort and do another act of kindness.
below are excepts of the articles this one is from CNN By Jaime FlorCruzCNN Beijing Bureau Chief
One of the most destructive moments in Chinese history is bringing together -- at least temporarily -- this vast nation of more than a billion people, made up of disparate ethnic groups stretching across five time zones.
......Horrific scenes of death and devastation -- covered heavily by the local media -- have triggered a surge of patriotism and charity.
"When one is in trouble," the Chinese say, "help comes from all directions."
In Beijing, Chinese officials, entertainers, athletes and artists attended a marathon concert, giving donations and calling on the public to give more.
.......Live on Chinese TV, local businesses pledged to give money and build free housing for victims -- an unusual display of civic charity. As of last Saturday, Chinese enterprises had donated more than 3.5 billion yuan ($501 million) in cash and relief goods.
"Traditionally the Chinese people don't share as much with strangers. They share a great deal among friends and family, but not with strangers," according to China analyst Zhang Daxing.
.....Students in the Chinese capital have even taken to the street to collect donations.
"Although we cannot go to Sichuan to save them, we can still help them with donated money," one student said.
Analysts say this unprecedented display of charity is partly in response to the quick action already taken by Chinese officials to the emergency.
.......The Chinese, at least for now, are more united as a people and more charitable, as citizens pull together in the wake of a massive earthquake.
This is from the associated press.
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN and CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writer Mon May 19, 3:27 AM ET
Chinese donate their newfound wealth after quake
.........In a China normally racing full-throttle toward getting rich, the deadliest disaster in a generation has touched off an unprecedented outpouring of charity, especially among newly wealthy and urban Chinese. Donations are flooding in, more money than charities in China collected all of last year, and so are volunteers.
In the week since the quake, donations have totaled $1.3 billion — 85 percent raised within China, the Xinhua News Agency said Sunday, citing the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
With living standards soaring with the economy's spectacular performance in recent years, a new group of rich Chinese are expressing interest in philanthropy. The ministry's China Charity Information Center projects that private foundations will overtake the government and aid and activist groups to become the country's main source of charity in five years.
.........The giving is striking in a society where the communist government once provided all welfare. Private charities were banned until 2004. In the rush to embrace free markets and prosperity, Communist Party leaders, scholars and ordinary Chinese have decried the pervasive greed, selfishness and corruption.
"You give to the people you know," said Russell Leigh Moses, an analyst of Chinese politics based in Beijing.
The vast majority of aid to help the millions left homeless by last Monday's quake is still coming from the government, on military convoys.
But this time instead of waiting for government-organized charity drives, people quickly acted on their own. Bank account numbers for making earthquake donations flashed on Web logs and mobile phones. Blood donation centers were overwhelmed with offers and began asking citizens to register in advance. Groups as unexpected as the China Beauty Parlors Association have issued public challenges to their millions of members to give.
"People are really united this time, and they're acting on their own without waiting to be asked," said Wu Yu, one of several employees at Weipeng, an investment consulting firm in neighboring Guizhou province, who loaded up two vans and a jeep with old clothing, bread and instant noodles, and were heading north of Dujiangyan toward the quake's epicenter.
...."We're in rescue and recovery mode, not in reconstruction of society mode," said Moses. But the giving "has been from the ground up, and the government to their credit has not been standing in the way," he said.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Harvard's polymath professor Steven Pinker has ventured to speculate that we are probably living "in the most peaceful time of our species' existence.
in interesting article in NEWSWEEK Updated: 2:24 PM ET May 3, 2008 The Rise of the Rest ........has some amazing analysis of the the changes taking place now and how the world is actually in better shape then ever.
points he makes
1. There is a new world emerging = Moshiach is on the way
2. we are living in the best times ever = Continuting to move towards the times of Moshiach
3. The rest of the world is becoming wealthy =in those days there will no hungr, strife...
4. Things seem so gloomy because of the explosion of information=Open your eyes
5. America has to join the "new world" =Do not get left behind..
here are some excerpts.
.......American anxiety springs from something much deeper, a sense that large and disruptive forces are coursing through the world. In almost every industry, in every aspect of life, it feels like the patterns of the past are being scrambled.....And—for the first time in living memory—the United States does not seem to be leading the charge. Americans see that a new world is coming into being, but fear it is one being shaped in distant lands and by foreign people.
...consider this fact. In 2006 and 2007, 124 countries grew their economies at over 4 percent a year. That includes more than 30 countries in Africa. Over the last two decades, lands outside the industrialized West have been growing at rates that were once unthinkable. While there have been booms and busts, the overall trend has been unambiguously upward. Antoine van Agtmael, the fund manager who coined the term "emerging markets," has identified the 25 companies most likely to be the world's next great multinationals. His list includes four companies each from Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan; three from India, two from China, and one each from Argentina, Chile, Malaysia, and South Africa. This is something much broader than the much-ballyhooed rise of China or even Asia. It is the rise of the rest—the rest of the world.
...We are living through the third great power shift in modern history. The first was the rise of the Western world, around the 15th century. It produced the world as we know it now—science and technology, commerce and capitalism, the industrial and agricultural revolutions. It also led to the prolonged political dominance of the nations of the Western world. The second shift, which took place in the closing years of the 19th century, was the rise of the United States. Once it industrialized, it soon became the most powerful nation in the world, stronger than any likely combination of other nations. For the last 20 years, America's superpower status in every realm has been largely unchallenged—something that's never happened before in history, at least since the Roman Empire dominated the known world 2,000 years ago. During this Pax Americana, the global economy has accelerated dramatically. And that expansion is the driver behind the third great power shift of the modern age—the rise of the rest.
At the military and political level, we still live in a unipolar world. But along every other dimension—industrial, financial, social, cultural—the distribution of power is shifting, moving away from American dominance. In terms of war and peace, economics and business, ideas and art, this will produce a landscape that is quite different from the one we have lived in until now—one defined and directed from many places and by many peoples.
The post-American world is naturally an unsettling prospect for Americans, but it should not be. This will not be a world defined by the decline of America but rather the rise of everyone else. It is the result of a series of positive trends that have been progressing over the last 20 years, trends that have created an international climate of unprecedented peace and prosperity.
I know. That's not the world that people perceive. We are told that we live in dark, dangerous times. Terrorism, rogue states, nuclear proliferation, financial panics, recession, outsourcing, and illegal immigrants all loom large in the national discourse. Al Qaeda, Iran, North Korea, China, Russia are all threats in some way or another. But just how violent is today's world, really?
A team of scholars at the University of Maryland has been tracking deaths caused by organized violence. Their data show that wars of all kinds have been declining since the mid-1980s and that we are now at the lowest levels of global violence since the 1950s. Deaths from terrorism are reported to have risen in recent years. But on closer examination, 80 percent of those casualties come from Afghanistan and Iraq, which are really war zones with ongoing insurgencies—and the overall numbers remain small. Looking at the evidence, Harvard's polymath professor Steven Pinker has ventured to speculate that we are probably living "in the most peaceful time of our species' existence."
Why does it not feel that way? Why do we think we live in scary times? Part of the problem is that as violence has been ebbing, information has been exploding. The last 20 years have produced an information revolution that brings us news and, most crucially, images from around the world all the time. The immediacy of the images and the intensity of the 24-hour news cycle combine to produce constant hype. Every weather disturbance is the "storm of the decade." Every bomb that explodes is BREAKING NEWS. Because the information revolution is so new, we—reporters, writers, readers, viewers—are all just now figuring out how to put everything in context.
.....The underlying reality across the globe is of enormous vitality. For the first time ever, most countries around the world are practicing sensible economics. Consider inflation. Over the past 20 years hyperinflation, a problem that used to bedevil large swaths of the world from Turkey to Brazil to Indonesia, has largely vanished, tamed by successful fiscal and monetary policies. The results are clear and stunning. The share of people living on $1 a day has plummeted from 40 percent in 1981 to 18 percent in 2004 and is estimated to drop to 12 percent by 2015. Poverty is falling in countries that house 80 percent of the world's population. There remains real poverty in the world—most worryingly in 50 basket-case countries that contain 1 billion people—but the overall trend has never been more encouraging. The global economy has more than doubled in size over the last 15 years and is now approaching $54 trillion! Global trade has grown by 133 percent in the same period. The expansion of the global economic pie has been so large, with so many countries participating, that it has become the dominating force of the current era. Wars, terrorism, and civil strife cause disruptions temporarily but eventually they are overwhelmed by the waves of globalization. These circumstances may not last, but it is worth understanding what the world has looked like for the past few decades.
Americans—particularly the American government—have not really understood the rise of the rest. This is one of the most thrilling stories in history. Billions of people are escaping from abject poverty. The world will be enriched and ennobled as they become consumers, producers, inventors, thinkers, dreamers, and doers. This is all happening because of American ideas and actions. For 60 years, the United States has pushed countries to open their markets, free up their politics, and embrace trade and technology. American diplomats, businessmen, and intellectuals have urged people in distant lands to be unafraid of change, to join the advanced world, to learn the secrets of our success. Yet just as they are beginning to do so, we are losing faith in such ideas. We have become suspicious of trade, openness, immigration, and investment because now it's not Americans going abroad but foreigners coming to America. Just as the world is opening up, we are closing down.....
....
...
points he makes
1. There is a new world emerging = Moshiach is on the way
2. we are living in the best times ever = Continuting to move towards the times of Moshiach
3. The rest of the world is becoming wealthy =in those days there will no hungr, strife...
4. Things seem so gloomy because of the explosion of information=Open your eyes
5. America has to join the "new world" =Do not get left behind..
here are some excerpts.
.......American anxiety springs from something much deeper, a sense that large and disruptive forces are coursing through the world. In almost every industry, in every aspect of life, it feels like the patterns of the past are being scrambled.....And—for the first time in living memory—the United States does not seem to be leading the charge. Americans see that a new world is coming into being, but fear it is one being shaped in distant lands and by foreign people.
...consider this fact. In 2006 and 2007, 124 countries grew their economies at over 4 percent a year. That includes more than 30 countries in Africa. Over the last two decades, lands outside the industrialized West have been growing at rates that were once unthinkable. While there have been booms and busts, the overall trend has been unambiguously upward. Antoine van Agtmael, the fund manager who coined the term "emerging markets," has identified the 25 companies most likely to be the world's next great multinationals. His list includes four companies each from Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan; three from India, two from China, and one each from Argentina, Chile, Malaysia, and South Africa. This is something much broader than the much-ballyhooed rise of China or even Asia. It is the rise of the rest—the rest of the world.
...We are living through the third great power shift in modern history. The first was the rise of the Western world, around the 15th century. It produced the world as we know it now—science and technology, commerce and capitalism, the industrial and agricultural revolutions. It also led to the prolonged political dominance of the nations of the Western world. The second shift, which took place in the closing years of the 19th century, was the rise of the United States. Once it industrialized, it soon became the most powerful nation in the world, stronger than any likely combination of other nations. For the last 20 years, America's superpower status in every realm has been largely unchallenged—something that's never happened before in history, at least since the Roman Empire dominated the known world 2,000 years ago. During this Pax Americana, the global economy has accelerated dramatically. And that expansion is the driver behind the third great power shift of the modern age—the rise of the rest.
At the military and political level, we still live in a unipolar world. But along every other dimension—industrial, financial, social, cultural—the distribution of power is shifting, moving away from American dominance. In terms of war and peace, economics and business, ideas and art, this will produce a landscape that is quite different from the one we have lived in until now—one defined and directed from many places and by many peoples.
The post-American world is naturally an unsettling prospect for Americans, but it should not be. This will not be a world defined by the decline of America but rather the rise of everyone else. It is the result of a series of positive trends that have been progressing over the last 20 years, trends that have created an international climate of unprecedented peace and prosperity.
I know. That's not the world that people perceive. We are told that we live in dark, dangerous times. Terrorism, rogue states, nuclear proliferation, financial panics, recession, outsourcing, and illegal immigrants all loom large in the national discourse. Al Qaeda, Iran, North Korea, China, Russia are all threats in some way or another. But just how violent is today's world, really?
A team of scholars at the University of Maryland has been tracking deaths caused by organized violence. Their data show that wars of all kinds have been declining since the mid-1980s and that we are now at the lowest levels of global violence since the 1950s. Deaths from terrorism are reported to have risen in recent years. But on closer examination, 80 percent of those casualties come from Afghanistan and Iraq, which are really war zones with ongoing insurgencies—and the overall numbers remain small. Looking at the evidence, Harvard's polymath professor Steven Pinker has ventured to speculate that we are probably living "in the most peaceful time of our species' existence."
Why does it not feel that way? Why do we think we live in scary times? Part of the problem is that as violence has been ebbing, information has been exploding. The last 20 years have produced an information revolution that brings us news and, most crucially, images from around the world all the time. The immediacy of the images and the intensity of the 24-hour news cycle combine to produce constant hype. Every weather disturbance is the "storm of the decade." Every bomb that explodes is BREAKING NEWS. Because the information revolution is so new, we—reporters, writers, readers, viewers—are all just now figuring out how to put everything in context.
.....The underlying reality across the globe is of enormous vitality. For the first time ever, most countries around the world are practicing sensible economics. Consider inflation. Over the past 20 years hyperinflation, a problem that used to bedevil large swaths of the world from Turkey to Brazil to Indonesia, has largely vanished, tamed by successful fiscal and monetary policies. The results are clear and stunning. The share of people living on $1 a day has plummeted from 40 percent in 1981 to 18 percent in 2004 and is estimated to drop to 12 percent by 2015. Poverty is falling in countries that house 80 percent of the world's population. There remains real poverty in the world—most worryingly in 50 basket-case countries that contain 1 billion people—but the overall trend has never been more encouraging. The global economy has more than doubled in size over the last 15 years and is now approaching $54 trillion! Global trade has grown by 133 percent in the same period. The expansion of the global economic pie has been so large, with so many countries participating, that it has become the dominating force of the current era. Wars, terrorism, and civil strife cause disruptions temporarily but eventually they are overwhelmed by the waves of globalization. These circumstances may not last, but it is worth understanding what the world has looked like for the past few decades.
Americans—particularly the American government—have not really understood the rise of the rest. This is one of the most thrilling stories in history. Billions of people are escaping from abject poverty. The world will be enriched and ennobled as they become consumers, producers, inventors, thinkers, dreamers, and doers. This is all happening because of American ideas and actions. For 60 years, the United States has pushed countries to open their markets, free up their politics, and embrace trade and technology. American diplomats, businessmen, and intellectuals have urged people in distant lands to be unafraid of change, to join the advanced world, to learn the secrets of our success. Yet just as they are beginning to do so, we are losing faith in such ideas. We have become suspicious of trade, openness, immigration, and investment because now it's not Americans going abroad but foreigners coming to America. Just as the world is opening up, we are closing down.....
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Sunday, February 24, 2008
And the World Will Be Filled With The Knowledge.....
Headlines from a CNN Article on 2/21/2006
EU to Challenge MIt with new institute
I was wondering if the new world wars are going to be centered around………….. Knowledge? Eu announced it will open a university similar to MIT. it will be the EIT, European Institute of Technology. being that they are falling behind in the sciences and technology they want to create something to counter that phenomenom.
In the same vain president bush announced his Math Initiative where he hoped to get more students to graduate with math degrees. The biggest fear is that China and India will overtake us in these areas. What is driving this phenomenon …….. one may say that being that we are coming closer to the era when knowledge will be plentiful like the water covers the earth ….. it is manifesting itself this way. where it used to be that one nation tried to outpace another nation with weapons now it is changing to ……..knowledge! ( I know the skeptic will say knowledge is the key to weapon supremacy but as we will show in another article that the concept of "beating your swords into plowshares" is at play here, and eventualy the trend will continue that civilian use of military technology will continue outpacing military use bye far)
The technology race has far outpaced the arms race…… now the impetus behind this moves is that nations feel they will lose the economic edge over other countries, namely the emerging Asian economies primarily china and India (again not focusing on war but on peace, a strong economy breeds stability and buildes wealth brings in education and oppurinty and knowladge! )
EU to Challenge MIt with new institute
I was wondering if the new world wars are going to be centered around………….. Knowledge? Eu announced it will open a university similar to MIT. it will be the EIT, European Institute of Technology. being that they are falling behind in the sciences and technology they want to create something to counter that phenomenom.
In the same vain president bush announced his Math Initiative where he hoped to get more students to graduate with math degrees. The biggest fear is that China and India will overtake us in these areas. What is driving this phenomenon …….. one may say that being that we are coming closer to the era when knowledge will be plentiful like the water covers the earth ….. it is manifesting itself this way. where it used to be that one nation tried to outpace another nation with weapons now it is changing to ……..knowledge! ( I know the skeptic will say knowledge is the key to weapon supremacy but as we will show in another article that the concept of "beating your swords into plowshares" is at play here, and eventualy the trend will continue that civilian use of military technology will continue outpacing military use bye far)
The technology race has far outpaced the arms race…… now the impetus behind this moves is that nations feel they will lose the economic edge over other countries, namely the emerging Asian economies primarily china and India (again not focusing on war but on peace, a strong economy breeds stability and buildes wealth brings in education and oppurinty and knowladge! )
The Gene Thing
Is there a shy gene? Is there a gene that makes you Obese? Is there a gene that causes diabetes? The list goes on and on. Researchers all over the world are finding new genes that are connected with a wide variety of illness and conditions. Does having the genes associated with diabetes mean you will have diabetes. Does having the gene/s associated with heart disease mean you will suffer from heart disease.
The research is still in its infancy but what is emerging is a picture that tells us that the genes are only 50% of the story. It seems that some people have a lot of the genes associated with the disease and do not have the disease while others have much less yet still have the disease which means that environment ( life style) has a large effect on how things ultimately play out. So what we are learning is that just because you have the genes associated with diabetes does not mean you will get diabetes. If you know early enough you can do some things or avoid certain activities and steer clear of the disease.
This shines an amazing light on what Torah has been telling us for thousands of years ( the fact that Science is helping us understand Torah in such a striking way is a direct result of us nearing the geuala when science and Torah will be synthesized) that even though you were born with a certain disposition does not mean you must act on it. For instance, if someone is born with an inclination to take things that dos not belong to them then does that mean that he is forced to act on this character flew. The answer is a resounding no! to use the example from medicine, as soon as you know what “Genes” you have you try to stay clear of anything that would bring you closer to the illness and the same is with our character flaws. we were given them to overcome them and ultimately change ourselves and get rid of these undesirable inclinations ( or use them to your advantage for something positive and uplifting) like someone who has a strong personally and uses it to dissuade people from doing things they should not be doing.) my feeling is that the same is going to happen in the world of medicine and Gene Technology were we will be able to first avoid certain behaviors and thus let this gene remain asleep and not hinder our performance in life and eventually we will be able to see the latent good found in some of these genes and learn how to utilize them to improve a persons health through these “bad” genes themselves.
the same holds true for our "spiritual" genes we must first recognize what "genes" we have and then we can work with them to first subdue them and then eventually find the hidden good within and utilize them for their full potential.
The research is still in its infancy but what is emerging is a picture that tells us that the genes are only 50% of the story. It seems that some people have a lot of the genes associated with the disease and do not have the disease while others have much less yet still have the disease which means that environment ( life style) has a large effect on how things ultimately play out. So what we are learning is that just because you have the genes associated with diabetes does not mean you will get diabetes. If you know early enough you can do some things or avoid certain activities and steer clear of the disease.
This shines an amazing light on what Torah has been telling us for thousands of years ( the fact that Science is helping us understand Torah in such a striking way is a direct result of us nearing the geuala when science and Torah will be synthesized) that even though you were born with a certain disposition does not mean you must act on it. For instance, if someone is born with an inclination to take things that dos not belong to them then does that mean that he is forced to act on this character flew. The answer is a resounding no! to use the example from medicine, as soon as you know what “Genes” you have you try to stay clear of anything that would bring you closer to the illness and the same is with our character flaws. we were given them to overcome them and ultimately change ourselves and get rid of these undesirable inclinations ( or use them to your advantage for something positive and uplifting) like someone who has a strong personally and uses it to dissuade people from doing things they should not be doing.) my feeling is that the same is going to happen in the world of medicine and Gene Technology were we will be able to first avoid certain behaviors and thus let this gene remain asleep and not hinder our performance in life and eventually we will be able to see the latent good found in some of these genes and learn how to utilize them to improve a persons health through these “bad” genes themselves.
the same holds true for our "spiritual" genes we must first recognize what "genes" we have and then we can work with them to first subdue them and then eventually find the hidden good within and utilize them for their full potential.
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