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Showing posts with label facts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facts. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Fact of the day - go vegan

Fact: -The United States alone slaughters more than 10 billion land animals every year.

Interesting post in "Philosophical Musings blog" which pointed me to this article from where I pulled out the above factoid.

An excerpt -

Last year researchers at the University of Chicago took the Prius down a peg when they turned their attention to another gas guzzling consumer purchase. They noted that feeding animals for meat, dairy, and egg production requires growing some ten times as much crops as we'd need if we just ate pasta primavera, faux chicken nuggets, and other plant foods. On top of that, we have to transport the animals to slaughterhouses, slaughter them, refrigerate their carcasses, and distribute their flesh all across the country. Producing a calorie of meat protein means burning more than ten times as much fossil fuels--and spewing more than ten times as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide--as does a calorie of plant protein. The researchers found that, when it's all added up, the average American does more to reduce global warming emissions by going vegetarian than by switching to a Prius.

According to the UN report, it gets even worse when we include the vast quantities of land needed to give us our steak and pork chops. Animal agriculture takes up an incredible 70% of all agricultural land, and 30% of the total land surface of the planet. As a result, farmed animals are probably the biggest cause of slashing and burning the world's forests. Today, 70% of former Amazon rainforest is used for pastureland, and feed crops cover much of the remainder. These forests serve as "sinks," absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, and burning these forests releases all the stored carbon dioxide, quantities that exceed by far the fossil fuel emission of animal agriculture.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the real kicker comes when looking at gases besides carbon dioxide--gases like methane and nitrous oxide, enormously effective greenhouse gases with 23 and 296 times the warming power of carbon dioxide, respectively. If carbon dioxide is responsible for about one-half of human-related greenhouse gas warming since the industrial revolution, methane and nitrous oxide are responsible for another one-third. These super-strong gases come primarily from farmed animals' digestive processes, and from their manure. In fact, while animal agriculture accounts for 9% of our carbon dioxide emissions, it emits 37% of our methane, and a whopping 65% of our nitrous oxide.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

fact of the day

In the USA,

58 percent of all convicted drug felony cases involve African-American men-even though Black men are only 6 percent of the national population and 72 percent of all illegal drug users are white. 12 percent of Black men aged 25 to 29 years old are imprisoned compared to 3 percent of Latinos and 1 percent of white men. In 2002, there were 603,000 Black men in college compared to 791,600 Black men in prison. Black women are two and a half times more likely than Latinas and four and a half times more likely than white women to be imprisoned. In total, 49 percent of the U.S.'s two million prisoners-in prison or in jail-are African American. This is a shocking statistic considering that Blacks are less than 13 percent of the entire United States population.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

bet u didnt know this trick

The most recent World Bank estimates for India are based on household surveys carried out in 1999-2000. It was found that almost 80% of purported superpower India's population was surviving on less than $2.15 a day (in PPP terms). That is, about 800 million people were living on $0.40 a day or less. Nearly 35% (350 million) were found to be living on $0.20 a day or less. Even if the proportion of poor people has fallen somewhat during the past 5-6 years, the absolute numbers would not look too different today.


To make purchasing power across countries comparable, economists developed what is known as the PPP (purchasing power parity) index. Taking into account the lower cost of living in impoverished countries, a conversion factor is now applied to market exchange rates to calculate what is minimally necessary to survive there.

Using widely quoted World Bank numbers on GDP, this conversion factor for a country like India (2005) can be computed to be approximately 5.3. This means that $1.08 a day in India should effectively imply a purchasing power of about 20 cents a day to an American--or indeed anyone--unacquainted with the nuances of PPP calculations. However, given how the numbers are quoted everywhere, the dominant impression that is conveyed is that the poor are living on less than $1 or $2 a day when, in fact, it would be enormously more accurate, as far as everyday English is concerned, to say that the poor are living on less than $0.20 or $0.40 a day.

read more

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

election time in USA

This was an unusual statistic that struck me when i was surfing through the election news. The neighbourhood is awash with color printed campaign boards and it does give a rather pretty and festive look to the area. I wondered how the american system compared to ours, with its ballot box stuffing, booth capturing, multliple voting, shots fired into the sky and countless other uniquely indian expressions of universal franchise. The below statistic should be troubling for all americans, because this is basically reflecting a sense of alienation and distrust of the system.

Notably, African American voters express much more skepticism their votes will be accurately counted than they did in the fall of 2004. Just 30% say they are very confident their votes will be accurately counted, down from 47% two years ago. The percentage of black voters who express little or no confidence in vote-counting procedures has approximately doubled ­ from 15% to 29%. More than three times as many blacks as whites now say they have little or no confidence their vote will be accurately tallied (29% vs. 8%).

An unrelated note- Andy Tanenbaum, who may be familiar to geeks and computer buffs as the guy who wrote all those textbooks, runs a site called electoral-vote.com which demystifies all the various trends and polls and makes simple graphical presentations on how the elections are going.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

funny but true - fact of the day

It took Eleanor Roosevelt’s visit to India in 1952 to introduce the long broom for street-sweepers.

Monday, September 25, 2006

The global village

Here is some food for thought: If we could compress the earth's population to a village of just 100 people, Village 100, with all the existing human rations remaining the same, it would look something like the following:

There would be:
· 57 Asians / 21 Europeans / 8 African
· 52 would be female / 48 would be male
· 70 would be non-white / 30 would be white
· 70 would be non-Christian / 30 would be
· 89 would be heterosexual / 11 would be homosexual
· 6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the USA
· 80 would live in substandard housing
· 70 would be unable to read
· 50 would suffer from malnutrition
· 1 would be near death
· 1 would be near birth
· 1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
· 1 would own a computer.

taken from the ACHR site...link here.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

quote of the day. funny but true - katrina, bush, new orleans, hezbollah, lebanon etc all come together in one quote

"Consider: In the New Orleans black community of the Lower 9th Ward, only 200 of its original 14,400 residents have returned to their blasted homes. Though statistics are unavailable, it is likely that Hezbollah has already rebuilt more homes in southern Lebanon than Bush has a year after Katrina in the Lower 9th Ward." - Sidney Blumenthal in Salon.com

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

interesting statistic about israel

Thus, as it becomes self evident that Israeli military power is no longer as effective as it once was, this will surely accelerate the flow of Jewish settlers out of Israel. Information regarding emigration of Jews out of Israel is a closely guarded secret, but using Israeli government statistics, we can infer that immigration to Israel has rapidly declined over the last several years, and that Israel may even be experiencing a net outflow of Jewish migrants. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of Jewish immigrants to Israel declined to 21,000 in 2004, which is a 15-year low. In 2005, the number of immigrants rose slightly to 23,000, which is still dramatically lower than the 60,000 that immigrated in 2000. Furthermore, Israel became a net exporter of its citizens in 2003, when9,000 more Israelis left the country than entered, and in the first two months of 2004, this figure rose to 13,000

Read full article here

Monday, June 19, 2006

facts of the day

3500 people die in train accidents in Mumbai every year.

30,000 foreigners are working in India currently.

Dharavi, the largest slum in Mumbai and India, has a GDP of $1 Billion.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

i spy with my hidden eye

The average London commuter is covertly videotaped anywhere from 10 to 300 times daily.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

my hometown on wiki

well, let me put down what wiki has to say about my hometown, the city of Gorakhpur, about 50 miles from the Nepal border. I hope they dont mind me copying it off their site and pasting it here, here goes....

Gorakhpur


Gorakhpur is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur District and Gorakhpur Division

It shares a border with Nepal. It is famous for Geeta Press which publishes Hindu religious texts. It is also seat of Nath sect (Gorakhnath Temple). Many historic Buddhist sites (Kushinagar) are nearby. It is also the headquarters of the North Eastern Railways.


Population

2001 census: 624,570

Origin Of Name
The district of Gorakhpur is named after a renowned ascetic Gorakshnath. He is an eminent saint of a Hindu religious group known as Nath Sampradaya. Gorakhnath Temple exists on the same spot where he practised austerities.


History
In ancient times the geographical area of Gorakhpur included the modern districts of Basti, Deoria, Azamgarh and parts of Nepal. The entire region had been an important centre of Aryan culture and civilization. In ancient times Gorakhpur was a part of the famous kingdom of Koshal, one of sixteen Mahajanapadas (states) existing in India in 6th century BCE. As per Vedic history, the earliest known monarch ruling over this region with his capital at Ayodhya was Iksvaku. He founded a solar dynasty of rulers. The solar dynasty produced a number of illustrous kings. Rama was probably the greatest ruler of this dynasty. In more recent ancient history, Gorakhpur remained an integral part of the erstwhile empires of Maurya, Shunga, Kushana, Gupta and Harsha dynasties. In the 10th century, the Tharu king Mausen of Madan Singh ruled over Gorakhpur city and the adjoining area.

In the medieval period, when the entire northern India lay prostrate before the Muslim ruler, Muhammad Ghori, the Gorakhpur region was not left out. For a longer period it remained under the sway of the muslim rulers, from Qutb-ud-din Aybak to Bahadur Shah. Tradition has it that Ala ud din Khilji (1296-1316) ordered the conversion of old shrine of Goraksha ( a popular deity ) of Gorakhpur into a mosque. However, on Akbar's reorganisation of the empire, Gorakhpur gave its name to one of the five Sirkars comprising the province of Awadh.


Cultural and historical importance

The city of Gorakhpur has left an indelible mark on the religious history of the world. The city has close ties with two major world religions: Buddhism and Hinduism. It is also associated with Jain and Sikh religion.

Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism, renounced his princely costumes at the confluence of rivers Rapti & Rohini and proceeded further in the quest of truth in 600 BCE. It is also associated with Lord Mahavira, 24th tirthankar, founder of Jainism.

The next event of importance was the association of Gorakhpur with Gorakhnath. The date and place of his birth have not yet been finally settled, but it was probably in the twelfth century that he flourished. His samadhi at Gorakhpur attracts a large number of pilgrims every year. The most significant event in the medieval period, however, was the coming of mystic poet and famous saint Kabir to Maghar. Born in Varanasi, his workplace was Maghar where most of his beautiful poems were composed. It was here that he gave the message to his countrymen to live in peace and religious harmony. The co-existence of 'Samadhi' and 'Makbara' at his burial place in Maghar attracts a large number of followers.

Gorakhpur is also identified with the Gita Press, the world famous publisher of the Hindu religious books. The most famous publication is 'Kalyan' magazine. All 18 parts of Shree Bhagwat Gita is written on its marble-walls. Other wall hangings and paintings reveal the events of life of Lord Ram and Krishna. The Gita Press is forefront in dissemination of religious and spiritual consciousness across the country.

Gorakhpur is also the birth place of King Vikas Sankrityayan Ji.

Gorakhpur rose to great eminence due to the historic 'Chauri Chaura' incident of 4 February 1922, which was a turning-point in the history of India's freedom struggle. Enraged at the inhuman barbaric atrocities of the police, the volunteers burnt down the Chauri-Chaura Police Station, killing nineteen policemen at the premises. With this violence, Mahatma Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement launched in 1920. Another important event took place at Doharia kala ( In Sahjanwa Tehsil ) on 23 August 1942. In response to the famous Quit India Movement of 1942, a meeting was held to register its protest against the British Government at Doharia but the latter responded with unprovoked firing, killing nine and injuring hundreds. A Shaheed Smarak, in their memory, stands there which still today keeps their memory alive. The trial of Jawaharlal Nehru took place in this district in 1940. Here he was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 4 years.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

against the grain

A little off subject, there is a book out talking about WTO and how it has allowed for the patenting of GRAIN so that food supply in places like India are completely controlled by five companies. Ouch. These guys didnt come up with the idea. I'd rather see little people fight these monopolies on ideas than back down and be intimidated by giant corporations.

In Stolen Harvest, Vandana Shiva charts the implacts of globalized, corporate agriculture on small farmers, the environment, and the quality of the food we eat. With chapters on genetically engineered seeds, patents o life, mad cows and sacred cows, and the debate on shrimp farming, this is an impassioned and inspiring book that will shape the debate about genetic engineering and commercial agriculture for years to come.

Quotes from Stolen Harvest
"Over the past two decades every issue I have been engaged in as an ecological activist and organic intellectual has revealed that what the industrial economy calls "growth" is really a form of theft from nature and people.

"It is true that cutting down forests or converting natural forests into monocultures of pine and wucalyptus for industrial raw material generates revenues and growth. But this growth is based on robbing

Vandana Shiva is one of the world's most dynamic and provacative thinkers. A physicist, ecologist, and activist, she won the Right Livelihood Award in 1993. She directs the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy in New Delhi, India, and is an Associate Editor of The Ecologist magazine. Before becoming an activist, Shiva was one of India's leading physicists

Quote from Vandana Shiva -

"The primary threat to nature and people today comes from centralising and monopolising power and control. Not until diversity is made the logic of production will there be a chance for sustainability, justice and peace. Cultivating and conserving diversity is no luxury in our times: it is a survival imperative."


Her books include:

Water Wars
Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply
Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge
Ecofeminism with Maria Mies
The Violence of the Green Revolution : Third World Agriculture, Ecology and Politics
Monocultures of the Mind : Perspectives on Biodiversity and Biotechnology
Biopolitics : A Feminist and Ecological Reader on Biotechnology, editor with Ingunn Moser
Biodiversity : Social and Ecological Consequences


Read more about her here

read her interview here - http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=573

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

News - Who has the most oil?

Analysis by the US Department of Energy (DoE) - seen by Newsnight - shows that at $50 a barrel Venezuela - not Saudi Arabia - will have the biggest oil reserves in Opec.

Venezuela has vast deposits of extra-heavy oil in the Orinoco. Traditionally these have not been counted because at $20 a barrel they were too expensive to exploit - but at $50 a barrel melting them into liquid petroleum becomes extremely profitable.

The DoE report shows that at today's prices Venezuela's oil reserves are bigger than those of the entire Middle East - including Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Iran and Iraq.


read the BBC's article on its interview with Chavez here.


Another forceful quote from Chavez :

Mr Chavez does not accept UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's criticism of him for lining up with Mr Castro.

He told Newsnight: "If someone is sleeping together it is Bush and Blair. They share the same bed."

Thursday, March 16, 2006

dumbest moments in business

In June, Guidant recalls 50,000 heart defibrillators--about 38,600 of them already implanted in people's chests--that might, in rare cases, short-circuit when they're supposed to deliver vital electrical jolts. The recall comes after the devices were reported to have failed at least 45 times, including two instances in which the patients died. Guidant fixed the flaw in devices made after mid-2002 but neglected to inform doctors and continued to sell units produced before the fix. The recall advises patients that, should the device malfunction, it will emit a beeping noise, at which point they should contact their doctors or head to an emergency room.

read more

and another from the same list -

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher, brought out of retirement to restore the company's image in the wake of ethical lapses by predecessor Phil Condit--including allegations of affairs with female employees--is forced to resign for having an affair with a female employee. Though the relationship was consensual, Boeing's board determined that Stonecipher had violated the company's code of conduct--a document that all 160,000 Boeing employees have been required to sign annually since it was put into place by Stonecipher in 2003.

QUOTE OF THE YEAR -

"Women should be all dressed in white, like all other domestic appliances."

-- Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone, on Danica Patrick's fourth-place finish at the Indy 500, the best showing ever by a woman in the race.

Monday, March 06, 2006

IT Job Stats in US - 2001 - 2006

During the past five years (Jan 01 - Jan 06), the information sector of the US economy lost 645,000 jobs or 17.4% of its work force. Computer systems design and related lost 116,000 jobs or 8.7% of its work force. read related article from someone who argues against outsourcing.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

fact of the day

"The average American now owes $9,000 to credit card companies."

BBC Widget