Some things are worthy of a second look.  Check out this educational advertisement for the water millions walk miles to taste.

L’DESH FRESH

In a move clearly designed to keep up the pressure on the US to take strong action on climate change, UN climate chief Yfo de Boer stated, “Whatever route is taken, the president of the United States committed to a 17 percent emissions reduction in Copenhagen.  The president of the United States committed to more ambitious emissions reductions for 2030 and 2050. And it is those statements to which the international community will hold the government of the United States accountable.”

via U.S. Bound by Obama\’s Copenhagen Emissions Pledge — U.N. Official – NYTimes.com.

The U.N.\'s leading panel on climate change has apologized for misleading data published in a 2007 report that warned Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035.  In a statement released Wednesday, U.N. climate chiefs apologize for glacier error – CNN.com the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said estimates relating to the rate of recession of the Himalayan glaciers in its Fourth Assessment Report were “poorly substantiated” adding that “well-established standards of evidence were not applied properly.”

In an attempt to put the proper spin on this, IPCC chairman, Rajendra Pachauri admitted errors and according to Agence France-Presse, stated, “Theoretically, let’s say we slipped up on one number, I don’t think it takes anything away from the overwhelming scientific evidence of what’s happening with the climate of this earth,” he said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Errors and mistakes happen in science research as in all other areas of human involvement.  And when they do, it is best to own up to them quickly and with humility.  This seems to be as important for climate science, maybe even more important, because predictions are so difficult, hindsight is always 20/20 and there are so many groups wanting to poke holes in the research and predictions.  Some may even claim that early predictions were intentionally exaggerated in order to gain more attention.

In any event, those wanting to really understand the issue are no more likely to take this error and believe all the science is suspect, than they would take the worst case prediction and ignore everything else.

President Obama set to be in Copenhagen on Dec. 9th with an offer to cut US GHG emissions in the range of 17% from 2005 levels by 2020. 

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Developed by Daniel Sheridan, now a British student at Coventry University, the Springwise: See-saw power for schools generates electricity while kids play on it. Brilliant!

Stephen Hawking suggest space colonization is required to prevent the extinction of mankind.  It does not take much imagination to believe this premise only a very long time horizon.  The question seems to be are we willing to invest in multi-generational projects without an imminent crisis.

Back to Hawking: He stated he was eager to get into space himself as he described how the 50,000 year trip at today’s speeds could be achieved in a human lifetime.
“Science fiction has developed the idea of warp drive, which takes you instantly to your destination,” he said. “Unfortunately, this would violate the scientific law which says that nothing can travel faster than light.” However, by using “matter/antimatter annihilation”, velocities just below the speed of light could be reached, making it possible to reach the next star in about six years. “It wouldn’t seem so long for those on board,” he said.
Where do I sign?

During the next few years, western countries will face a more intense labor shortage than last felt in the first two years of this century. Very few companies are prepared for this with hardly any looking to utilize the aging workforce to fill this shortage. Initially, offshore workers will be able to handle some of the shortage. However, India and China are only a few decades from reaching a neutral or negative growth in trained workers.

A survey in America last month by Ernst & Young found that “although corporate America foresees a significant workforce shortage as boomers retire, it is not dealing with the issue.” Almost three-quarters of the 1,400 global companies questioned by Deloitte last year said they expected a shortage of salaried staff over the next three to five years. Yet few of them are looking to older workers to fill that shortage; and even fewer are looking to them to fill another gap that has already appeared. Many firms in Europe and America complain that they struggle to find qualified directors for their boards—this when the pool of retired talent from those very same firms is growing by leaps and bounds.

Why are firms not working harder to keep old employees?

Lawrence Kudlow calls the concerns over a United Arab Emirates company winning the bid to manage six America ports as nothing other than bigotry. His name for this, Islamaphobia, will not likely be added to our daily lexicon. The actions it describes are simply wrong headed.

Yahoo! News – North Korea Boasts It Has Nuclear Weapons

As North Korea announces its possession of nuclear weapons, various experts discuss the evidence.

Economist.com | Dealing with North Korea

“Tests by America’s Department of Energy have convinced American officials that North Korea may well have supplied the uranium hexafluoride gas—partly-processed uranium which can be spun in centrifuge machines to make enriched uranium for either civilian or military uses—that Libya turned over to inspectors a year ago when it abandoned its once secret nuclear-weapons programme. The evidence is not irrefutable, but the conclusion is also based on traces of plutonium found on the canisters concerned, as well as a third piece of evidence not so far made public. Earlier this month, America put its case to China, South Korea and Japan—possibly the real reason for Mr Kim’s latest tantrum. If the analysis is correct, it puts North Korea just one step away from one of the Bush administration’s red lines: the export of weapons-useable material itself.

Until recently, Chinese officials in particular had expressed scepticism that North Korea even had a uranium-enrichment programme. They and others have wanted America to focus on North Korea’s known plutonium-making. America accepts that North Korea has probably finished extracting the plutonium (enough for half a dozen bombs) from spent fuel-rods previously stored under the 1994 deal near its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon; it will soon be able to unload more rods from the reactor for reprocessing.

But the idea that America should set aside its uranium concerns is given a bipartisan rebuttal in the current issue of Foreign Affairs by Robert Gallucci, who negotiated the 1994 plutonium deal with North Korea under the Clinton administration, and Mitchell Reiss, the just departed head of policy planning in the Bush administration’s State Department. Turning a blind eye to evidence of North Korea’s enrichment work would, they argue, leave Mr Kim with a covert supply of fissile material, whether for bomb making or for export, including to terrorist groups.”

Economist.com | The Middle East peace summit:

Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas have declared an end to all hostilities after their first summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh. So, after four years of bloodshed, can the uprising be over? There is cause for optimism, though we have been here before.

“THE calm which will prevail in our lands starting from today is the beginning of a new era,” declared Mahmoud Abbas after his first summit as Palestinian leader with the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon. “For the first time in a long time there exists in our region hope for a better future for us and our grandchildren,” concurred Mr Sharon. Beautiful words but, as Mr Sharon pointed out, given the failure of previous Middle East summits’ grand declarations to put an end to the bloodshed, only “deeds, not words” will achieve two states living side-by-side in peace.

Offshoring – Relocating the back office
Dec 11th 2003 From The Economist print edition

The Organizational Implications of Offshore Outsourcing
24 October 2003
Diane Morello
Acrobat Version

Offshoring: Is it a Win-Win Game?
McKinsey Global Institute
August, 2003

The Irony of Outsourcing
By Kevin Laws on November 18, 2003 09:03 PM supports the argument that economic activity flowing to the most efficient provider creates the greatest total value and in the long run the greatest value for each country involved. He points out the engineers who “thought” manufacturing workers out of jobs are now seeing their own jobs reduced and sent offshore.

As I look at predictions for 2004, one area where consensus abounds and debate increases is “Offshore Outsourcing”, the movement of knowledge worker jobs offshore. There is abundant agreement that this will continue, even accelerate.

At the same time there is widespread disagreement as to whether this is a good thing for US and European economies. Here are some articles and papers on the issue.

In this paper, McKinsey estimates for every dollar of US work outsourced to India, the return to the US is between $1.12 and $1.14. India stands to increase their GDP by $0.33.
Offshoring: Is it a Win-Win Game?
McKinsey Global Institute
August, 2003

India and Software
A number of articles in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times on the Indian software industry.
Emergic.org

Offshoring – Relocating the back office
Dec 11th 2003 From The Economist print edition

The Organizational Implications of Offshore Outsourcing
24 October 2003
Diane Morello
Acrobat Version

The Irony of Outsourcing
By Kevin Laws on November 18, 2003 09:03 PM
Supports the argument that economic activity flowing to the most efficient provider creates the greatest total value and in the long run the greatest value for each country involved. He points out the engineers who “thought” manufacturing workers out of jobs are now seeing their own jobs reduced and sent offshore.