Up In The Sky! Is it a Bird? A Plane? Oh, God! It’s a Helicopter Toilet!!!

For Pennies, a Disposable Toilet That Could Help Grow Crops - NYTimes.com

Imagine living in rural Kenya; or, rural India; or, rural China, and Nature rings you up, and says, “Hey, you need to evacuate your colon, pronto!”

Facilities in the developing world can be crude, few, and far-between.  In rural areas facilities become a tree or a hole in the ground. And, perhaps, a plastic shopping bag. Once your mostly-digested breakfast from yesterday, or chicken from lunch and the associated fecal coli-form bacteria that is happily munching away on what your body could not use, is placed inside said plastic bag, and tied closed, that bag is then tossed aside, or flung. The “flinging” then becomes known as a “helicopter toilet” or a “flyaway toilet.”

I imagine the “helicopter”-effect arises from the difference in weight and the effect that has on the bag’s center of gravity, causing the bag to rotate through the air as if a propeller. Yay! Kids probably think this is great fun. Much like buffalo chip throwing contests here in the States, I envision places having Flyaway Toilet Competitions. Maybe they even have medals! Get your name in the local paper. I wonder if they would calculate a handicap; some people generate large stools that would translate into greater distances. Against people like me, they would have an unfair advantage. Perhaps classes, like flyweight, welterweight, bantamweight, and heavyweight, similar to boxing, would make for a fair Flyaway Toilet Competition. Winners could receive the Golden Sack.

Seriously, though, 40% of the world’s population does not have access to a toilet, according to the United Nations. Taking care of human waste becomes an issue of sanitation and therefore human health.

A Swedish inventor has devised biodegradable bags to hold human excrement. Anders Wilhelmson’s new Peepoo bag takes human excrement, neutralizes harmful biotics, and converts it into fertilizer. When the Peepoo bag is buried the resulting fertilizer can be used to support agriculture.

I honestly had no idea there was a World Toilet Organization or a World Toilet Summit 2010. I can imagine driving past the Hampton Inn and seeing, “Welcome, World Toilet Summit 2010 Attendees! Please Do Not Leave the Seat Up,” on the welcome sign. I want the “Please Poop On My Day” t-shirt and the other cool swag I bet they have.

But these diligent and thoughtful people are concerned with handling human waste (HW). Can we convert HW into biogas and cook with it? I would hope so; lighting a match in some men’s rooms would probably result in 1st and 2nd degree burns, loss of eyebrows and facial hair, and significant property damage.

What about composting HW? Sure, why not. Kill the harm pathogens, and some chemicals, bury the bag, let it decompose; then, wah-la: fertilizer to help feed the masses.

Great stuff!

Technorati Tags: Kenya,Peepoo,Anders Wilhelmson,World Toilet Organization,World Toilet Summit,flyaway toilet,helicopter toilet,Jack Sim,Rigel Technology,Therese Dooley,Sulabh International

Studies in Intelligence

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/index.html

As much as I enjoy the study of a wide-range of topics, I must reveal that the title of today’s post has nothing to do, in the literal sense, with how the brain works.

“Studies in Intelligence” is a little used resource provided by our government’s Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed from the CIA’s home page, the resource provides a series of articles, opinions, and histories regarding the collection and use of information gathered to help government officials create and adapt policies used for managing relationships with other countries.

I say it is “little used,” as I have know few people that realize that the CIA has documented its own exploits, and the exploits of intelligence agencies of foreign governments around the world. The agency itself acknowledges that the source is barely used beyond its own agency and a few others.

The breadth and depth of information available is pretty staggering. Readers can find articles about a secret war in El Paso, TX. The United States was working with factions during the Mexican Civil War. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the precursor to the CIA. Few people probably realize that our National Parks were used as training grounds for our spy network. However, an online book, published by our National Parks Service documents the use of public lands for clandestine operations.

An afternoon or evening could easily go by reading the documents available from Studies in Intelligence. One of my tenets of teaching is that to understand how people, or countries, are today, they have to be examined in an historical context. Why do they act that way? Why do we (the United States) behave the way we do? Why are some countries friendly with some and grumpy with others?

Resources like the National Security Archives and the Studies in Intelligence can help fill in our gaps in knowledge. Not that these resources provide a complete answer into and of themselves, but the picture becomes less murky once more details are illuminated.

Technorati Tags: CIA,National Security Archive,OSS,spies,espionage,Mexican Civil War,intelligence

The National Security Archive

The National Security Archive

Most Americans, and by most I mean about 99.9% of Americans, have no idea what goes on behind the scenes of our government. I would guess that most of those in government have no idea what goes on in government. Yes, perhaps in their tiny niche of government, the illuminated government, they might be knowledgeable about. Where there is light, there is also shadows, and casting around in those shadows is the National Security Archives, housed at George Washington University.

The National Security Archives uses the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to accumulate the behind-the-scenes workings of our government andmake them available for public consumption.

A recent posting I ran across in the New York Times, or Washington Post, reminded me of this great resource for people interested in geopolitics, geography, and history.

In 1975, the CIA, operating what looked like a fishing trawler, attempted to recover from the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean a Russian submarine, repleat with "Atom" weapons (atomic missiles). Sounds like a scenario straight from the files of 007, no?

Where did the submarine sink? 1,560 miles northwest of Hawai'i, in 16,000ft of water, with a complete loss of life. From where did the submarine set sail? The Russians had (it may still be there) a submarine base on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the port city of Petropavlovsk.

How the CIA knew the submarine went down is still a mystery, and no one knows for sure what happened. Soviet subs were notoriously dangerous, though.

Chinese Censors Order Avatar out of Theaters – New Tang Dynasty Television

Chinese Censors Order Avatar out of Theaters – New Tang Dynasty Television

Rather than fix the behavior, shoot the messenger seems to be the policy.

Funny. Most reviews/feedback I have read has compared Avatar to “Dances With Wolves” only set in space.

Apparently, there are numerous guilty consciousnesses (sp?) to go around. Americans feel guilty because of the poor treatment of the Native American populations. Chinese feel guilty because they evict people from land that the government wants to exploit, and bullies and thugs are hired to do the dirty work.

Wonder how the movie fares in Europe…? I bet the British love Avatar because of the memories of Colonialism that the movie must revive!

Technorati Tags: China,Avatar,James Cameron,Han Han,Hong Kong

Can You Spot the Hidden Heart Dangers

 Can You Spot the Hidden Heart Dangers?

 

Ok, the day is late, or early, depending on your perspective, but I want to get this article noted. Once we get past how we need to watch our mouth health, the author notes several heart factors that include considerable geography.

The Fourth (4) Hidden Danger deals with race. Many minority groups have an increased risk of heart disease. Even within race, minority women within certain ethnic groups might have a higher risk than others.

Where you live can have a part in heart disease. Women who live in low-income neighborhoods tend to have a higher incidence of heart disease. People that do not have access to sidewalks, walking trails, or parks tend to have a higher incidence of heart disease. Neighborhoods that do not have amenities to support or encourage active lifestyles tend to have residence that have higher levels of heart disease. Neighborhoods with a cluster of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores also have higher rates of heart disease.

The gender of your doctor may make a difference in whether your risk for heart disease is assessed. Women doctors tend not to consider age.

Finally, what we eat can indicate a risk for heart disease. Fish is a common protein high in omega-3s that help remove blood fat. Tuna, salmon, and mackeral are good sources of protein, have important and sensitive habitats, and in the case of salmon, are potentially being over-fished.

Technorati Tags: heart disease,location,race,gender,age,fish,neighborhoods.

The Cove

Ric O’Barry caught the first dolphin used in the 1960’s television show, “Flipper.” He subsequently caught four more to help with the television series. The show was filmed in his front yard essentially, with using dolphins he was responsible for training. The first dolphin died, committed suicide according to Ric. The stress of being held captive was too great. The dolphins were much smarter than we humans give them credit for being. As a result of his years of interaction with dolphins, Ric believed that dolphins were being systematically abused by everyone from the spectators at aquariums, to the institutionalized abuse at the hands of the Japanese.

A very controversial film, as the Japanese fisherman are not portrayed as anything other than abusive murderers, and people that wrangle dolphins for aquariums are nothing more than criminals. In one small town, Taiji, hundreds of dolphins are rounded up for sale abroad, for use in shows like Sea World; are killed as an aquatic pest and a direct competitor to human consumption of sea food; and are also killed for food in Japan.

Whether you agree or not, the film raises some interesting points. The IWC (international whaling commission) controls whaling activities. Since 1986, the IWC has banned whaling and the killing of dolphins. Japan refuses to acknowledge this ban. World fishing stocks are being depleted, and the Japanese argue that this is not due to increased human consumption, but due to increased consumption by dolphins and whales. The Japanese government sanctions the dolphin harvest, which is guarded by local police. Dolphin meat itself has a high amount of mercury, which is incredibly toxic, and is being introduced in the school systems without parent’s knowledge. Japan is also using economic incentives to encourage other countries to support Japan’s efforts to repeal the ban on whaling.

This is a documentary so be prepared for slow moments, disturbing imagery of dead dolphins, dolphins dying, dolphins being cut-up, etc. The movie is not graphic throughout but does have its moments, and has some adult language occasionally. Otherwise, the film is pretty interesting and emotionally evocative.

Technorati Tags: dolphins,whales,Taiji,Cove,IWC,slaughter,Japan

Made in America no longer - MSN Money

Made in America no longer - MSN Money

 

Nestle is responsible for many, many, many things that people eat around the world. We tend to think of chocolate, or at least I think of chocolate when I think of Nestle. Candy is just a small fraction of the products produced by Nestle.

Rawlings baseballs and Fender guitars are just of few of the items no longer produced in the United States. The Japanese, the Swiss, or other partnerships have bought many U.S. companies and keep them going. The manufacturing facilities do not appear to have remained in the U.S. it seems, with the except of Miller Beer.

Technorati Tags: Nestle,Gerber,Fender,Levis,Ben & Jerry's,Firestone