2008 May « another blog: by kwok

Updates on the Piggy Bank of Chishima Kuril

Keep an eye on this blog for the latest updates on the situation of the hotly contested Piggy Bank of Chishima Kuril. The proceedings of D-day (Decision Day) will be uploaded here this month, before the 18th of June 2008.

If you are trying to draw parallels in the outcome between Pedra Branca and this, good for you. But the outcome, I promise, will be something you have not anticipated.

It will be a win-win-win resolution. That’s a very rare occurrence in real life; rarer than a blue moon.

It is something along the lines of what you three nations (Old Fort, Tweeny Toot and Fief Teem) have proposed.

Video footage will be uploaded once copyright issues are sorted out and privacy secured.

As a prelude to the outcome, there will be a meeting among the three Ministers of Finance and me in Term 3 to ascertain the amount of “resource” in Piggy. This is a big day.

Yet another prelude: before Term 4 begins, there will (most probably) be a short (half an hour) combined session (at a more conducive setting)–the 2nd Summit! It will be tied to “Intra-national” Politics.

(As an aside, the evaluation of the 1st Summit is Exceeding Expectations. You had all done well and surprised me with your capabilities and creativity. As you have already noted during my debrief in class, the turmoils that you experienced during the Summit is exactly what happened in the real world. For those who prefer a more conventional and traditional way of approaching the topic, you should get the readings, which were at the pigeon hole, and see me in groups of like-minded intellectuals. I’m most happy to talk to you concerning this topic over tea [bring your own!])

That’s it for now. Stay tune.

May 29, 2008 Posted by Mr K | e-learning, Reflect | Leave a comment

Alternate Plane of Truth

I guess the highly or overly rated external overlords of the annual national examinations would say this without incurring any lawsuits: “Mediocre essays for this topic will sound like they are whining for the world.”

I’ll just say, “Excess reliance on what the world should do to help without properly defining ‘the world’ makes the essay sound as beautiful as this followin article.”

http://news.sg.msn.com

How would our superheroes fix our super-problems?

Now more than ever, we need superheroes to solve the crises spanning the globe. NOELLE DE JESUS calls in the Justice League and decides what they can do to save us from ourselves

Those of us who came of age with comic book superheroes can only wonder at how they would tackle real-life disasters. Arguably, it’s also why there’s been a resurgence of superheroes in film – not just Spiderman and Superman, but X-Men and The Fantastic Four too. Even on the small screen, superheroes are big business with TV series like Heroes, Smallville, and most recently, Aquaman.

Superheroes address our natural, human yearning for rescue by something bigger, wiser, more powerful and more selfless than ourselves. We hunger for the myth; we thirst for order.

What the world needs now is nothing short of superheroes to be given special areas of jurisdiction, LEXEAN-style.

HERO: SUPERMAN
Problem: Global warming and the environment

Powers: Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, invulnerability, freezing breath, super hearing, multiple extrasensory and x-ray vision powers, longevity, flight, intelligence, and regeneration.

The icebergs are melting. The ozone is thinning at alarming rates. The heat is literally on, and it’s wreaking havoc all over the world. Weather disturbances like tornados, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, droughts, and blizzards are taking place where they did not before. Apart from unexpected disasters, the unnatural weather is interfering with crop patterns and messing with the food chain. In a recent issue of Newsweek, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecast a four degree rise in temperatures by the century’s end. Even such a small increase, experts say, will radically change the world, to the extent that those who are already suffering, will suffer more.

In many ways, global warming and problems of the environment exacerbates the other problems of the world, including hunger, poverty, disease and even war and terrorism. No less than Superman should be at the helm for this particular world crisis for he alone is strong enough and swift enough. He would easily be able to fly around the world to save as many lives as possible in the event of tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes. His presence would slash the mortality rate in such world disasters by at least half, possibly more. His day job as Clark Kent at The Daily Planet would give him access to the newswires for disasters all around the globe, and would therefore be able to get to the scene in plenty of time.

Apart from being on disaster watch, only Superman is able to fly into space and check the conditions of the ozone layer. He would also be able to deflect the sun’s rays once technology for an appropriate shield is developed. No doubt that with his freezing breath, he could replenish the melting Arctic zone, preventing the floods that experts predict. Finally, in areas of drought such as Australia, Superman would be able to quickly and at little cost construct irrigation systems to transport water more efficiently to areas of the world that require it most.

It is conceivable too that he would be able to move rain clouds with his breath, either to prevent or ease typhoons and monsoons in places where that would not affect the human population.

The only possible danger, and it is a remote one, is this: What if the deep layers of the earth’s crust contains trace elements of Kryptonite? It’s possible, but not likely. What’s more likely is that Lois Lane, historically always an Achilles’ heel, may cause the Man of Steel to drop the ball now and again.

BATMAN
Despite his astute powers of diplomacy and negotiation as a billionaire industrialist, which would help facilitate the prompt persuasion of world governments to limit their CO2 emissions, Batman, unfortunately, just wouldn’t cut it. Not to mention, all his super gadgets and the Batmobile likely generates a significant measure of CO2 itself, which means his carbon footprint is unlikely to be impressive. In the environment game, being the superhero for this cause also means setting a good example. Batman with his Wayne Manor mansion and his ostentatious lifestyle would not sit well with the people. Unlike Superman who is positively minimalist – needing only a phone booth or a back alley to get into gear.

HERO: WONDER WOMAN
Problem: World poverty

Powers: Superhuman strength, speed, stamina and durability, flight, superior hand-to-hand and weapons comb at skills, enhanced hearing and vision, animal emp athy, regeneration, resistance to magic, imm unity to ill usions and mind control, ability to decipher the truth, magical weaponry including br acelets, a belt, and a lasso. She also has an invisible jet.

According to economists at the World Bank, the extreme poor are concentrated in three regions – East Asia, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In all, 87% of the world’s 1.6 billion moderately poor also reside in these regions. The experts agree that the solution involves promoting economic development in these regions to help them out of the poverty trap.

Considering all this, having Wonder Woman preside over this battle may seem strange – she is, after all, “just” a woman. But this does seem a woman’s job. Fighting world poverty is not simply a matter of giving the poor financial assistance, as it is supporting them, teaching them and helping them help themselves. As a woman, she could minister to children, organise communities and teach good governance.

It is highly unlikely that Wonder Woman would go for direct handouts and Robin Hood-ing household by household. Moreover, she would be essential in the persuasive and diplomatic exercise of getting the richer countries to act together and invest in the impoverished regions.

With special skills like mind control and the ability to decipher the truth, Wonder Woman would easily galvanise entire governments, persuading them to extend all the assistance they can, even more than enough to help them get on the first rung of the ladder of economic development.

Her invisible jet would come in handy too, bringing food, medicine and amenities to regions that need it most. Not to mention that as ambassador for world poverty, she would not draw any negative attention flying around the world on jets the way Hollywood stars and celebrities do.

Finally, world poverty is one of the direct causes of human rights abuse, not to mention human trafficking, child prostitution and other grievous travesties. These problems would be easy pickings for Wonder Woman. With her lasso, bracelets and belt, she could quite easily bring violators and perpetrators to justice, at the same time bringing assistance to hapless victims.

SPIDERMAN
It’s very difficult to imagine the rather confused Spiderman easing the plight of the impoverished. After all, even at his best, he is primarily a petty crime buster adept at one-on-one combat with psycho villains. At any rate, it’s pretty clear that young Peter Parker has too many personal problems of his own to truly have something substantial to contribute to the quest for the end of world poverty.

HERO: AQUAMAN
Problem: World Hunger

Powers: Undersea adaptation, telepathy, super strength, enhanced speed, healing factors, senses and durability, extra resistance to heat and energ y based attacks and a mystically enchanted left hand.

According to the World Health Organisation, approximately one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is underfed and one third is starving. Yet it certainly isn’t for a lack of food. Experts say the world’s current food production could feed seven billion people, approximately one billion more than the population. Grave hunger persists in part because of distribution as the majority of the food is produced in richer, more developed countries and poorer countries can’t afford the prices. These same poor countries are also unable to produce food from their own land.

What could Aquaman do? For a start, he could convince First World governments to subsidise the price of grain for impoverished countries, and assume the cost of transporting it between and among countries. To this end, he would marshal whales and dolphins to assist in the endeavour. Since the malnourished suffer lower immunities and often succumb to common diseases, Aquaman’s special healing powers would be most welcome helping save lives. However, his most important contribution to this crisis would be his extraordinary abilities and powers of the ocean. The ocean’s depths have yet to be fully explored by man, in particular, its potential as an even larger food source for the world. Who knows what species have yet to be discovered, some yet unknown deep sea fish or shellfish with high sustaining protein? He could also begin undersea farming to yield both fish and vegetation. Only Aquaman could address these possibilities while managing distribution at very little cost. For all we know, he could do more; not much is known about the powers of his mystically enchanted left hand.

THOR or STORM
At first glance, Thor or even X-Men’s Storm’s powers over the weather might be applied in areas of the world beset by drought. But this is a rather limited view of the problem and neither of these two weather wonders would be able to serve on multiple aspects of the problem the way Aquaman would.

HERO: BATMAN
Problem: Disease

Powers: Genius-level intelligence, master detective, peak human physical condition, martial arts master, escapologist, access to high tech equipment that includes computers, surveillance equipment. Batman uses stealth and intimidation.

Scores of people in impoverished countries are dying of diseases that are preventable and curable, just because they don’t have access to the low-cost drugs that render these diseases innocuous in richer countries. In Africa, 15,000 people die every day of AIDS-related illnesses, malaria and tuberculosis, all of which can be treated. In both Africa and India, HIV/AIDS is wreaking economic costs that exceed even malaria. And yet, in rich countries, AIDS is being treated and managed so that individuals who contract HIV have a very good prognosis for survival. And right now, in Southeast Asia, Avian flu is a global pandemic waiting to happen. While all efforts are being put to the discovery of vaccines, Third World governments are concerned they will be left out, unable to afford the drugs.

The problem involves the Western pharmaceutical companies that are predominantly motivated by profit. As a billionaire industrialist investor himself, Bruce Wayne aka Batman would understand the business motivations and see their points of weakness, as well as develop a plan that would satisfy all concerns and objectives, while achieving the goal of taking the drugs to the countries that desperately need them. As the crime busting Batman, he would also be able to weed out and penalise the crooks in the industry – especially those who dump substandard drugs in the backwaters of Third World countries. His gadgets of surveillance would also allow him to tap into the networks of these large companies to discover their plans and secrets, giving him better positions for negotiation.