Hector’s blog

Intergovernmental and private food distribution

nobody@vox.com(Hector) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:47:24 -0700

A quick Google search for humanitarian food aid often brings up the UN World Food Program (WFP). And yet, the first few results are not very good for its image. For example, this news article about the Iraq's government donating $40 million to the WFP. The Iraqi government doesn't have the resources to do their own distribution. The problem lies in the fact that even the WFP doesn't know what they are going to do with their money,

"However, there was no detail on how the food aid would be purchased or distributed, although WFP said it was considering buying food from the Iraqi market to reduce transportation costs and to help stimulate the local economy."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=78581

In 2003, The Zimbabwean government said that it would take control of the distribution of food aid, provoking suspicion that it will be channelled to supporters of President Robert Mugabe's party, Zanu-PF, to help secure their votes in the forthcoming local elections.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/aug/20/zimbabwe.andrewmeldrum

And today five years later it's still a political issue even though it should be a humanitarian issue:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/06/04/zimbab19022.htm

Here is some information about the WFP:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Food_Programme

"The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food aid branch of the United Nations, and the world's largest humanitarian agency. WFP provides food, on average, to 90 million people per year, 58 million of whom are children. From its headquarters in Rome and more than 80 country offices around the world, WFP works to help people who are unable to produce or obtain enough food for themselves and their families.

Funding:

WFP operations are funded by donations from world governments, corporations and private donors. In 2006 the Programme received $2.9 billion in contributions. All donations are completely voluntary. The organization’s administrative costs are only seven percent—one of the lowest and best among aid agencies."

Let's contrast that with the response from the Chinese government during disaster which is allowing private donations that are not necessarily funneled through military leaders:

http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=5625

"The big story of the cyclone that ravaged Myanmar's delta region and the earthquake that devastated China's Sichuan Province in May is not only how the Chinese government outperformed the Burmese military junta in responding to natural disaster. It is also how private citizens, companies, charities and religious organizations from many countries have emerged as a frontline force in helping victims of such tragedies, even within government-dominated states.

In the case of China, donations from American corporations alone totaled $90 million, compared to a modest $3.1 million in U.S. government aid. Private giving from British corporations and private citizens to help the more than 368,000 injured and 5 million homeless victims of the earthquake was almost four times larger than Britain's official aid. And Beijing estimates that aid from its own private citizens amounted to at least $192 million - double that of the American contributions.

In Myanmar, the aid levels are lower because the country's xenophobic rulers blocked most outside help and virtually all foreign aid workers for almost three weeks after the cyclone hit. Yet, even in this shameful situation where private
philanthropy was discouraged, Americans donated $30.1 million through private charities, more than the official U.S.
government aid of $24 million.

As documented by the Hudson Institute, American private philanthropy to poor countries, including remittances, comes to four-and-a-half times U.S. government foreign aid. Even when excluding remittances, private philanthropy was $34.8 billion in 2006, compared to official aid at $23.5 billion."

The lesson from this article is that private donations from citizens greatly outnumbers the donation by their respective government. It's the very same argument that presidential candidate Ron Paul uses to spread the idea of individual liberty instead of big brother government and medicine,

"We should remember that HMOs did not arise because of free-market demand, but rather because of government mandates. The HMO Act of 1973 requires all but the smallest employers to offer their employees HMO coverage, and the tax code allows businesses – but not individuals – to deduct the cost of health insurance premiums. The result is the illogical coupling of employment and health insurance, which often leaves the unemployed without needed catastrophic coverage.

The lesson is clear: when government and other third parties get involved, health care costs spiral. The answer is not a system of outright socialized medicine, but rather a system that encourages everyone – doctors, hospitals, patients, and drug companies – to keep costs down. As long as “somebody else” is paying the bill, the bill will be too high."

The same idea applies to humanitarian aid; the idea that the government should stay out of aligning with a particular military leader and instead have the citizen's provide private distribution resources. For example, when 9/11 happened the largest donations in history where made to the Red Cross:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_2004_March_15/ai_114174528

Lots of money was never apportioned from the "Liberty Fund", and sent to other Red Cross programs. On the private side scholarships were set up for students and children based on application. The same situation happened with Katrina, but this time with FEMA. And the other lesson learned from Katrina is that aid has the effect of attracting people to it, and they then tend to become concentrated in distribution centres. This leads to overcrowded camps, which have their own specific health and security problems. Humanitarian aid may be interpreted as support for the political systems in place when it is supplied directly to those systems’ leaders who, at best, distribute it in their own name or, at worst, misappropriate it for their own benefit.

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GM crops and Myanmar

nobody@vox.com(Hector) — Wed, 14 May 2008 09:41:41 -0700

While hungry people from Haiti to Somalia rioted this month over food shortages and price increases, South Koreans protested the arrival of 63,000 tons of grain at their ports.

The grain was corn from the United States, likely grown in Minnesota or another Midwestern state. The objection was that it was genetically modified corn, something Korean processors had shunned throughout the decade-old controversy over fiddling with genes in food.

Now the looming global food crisis has rekindled that debate. Protesting Koreans called GM crops "monster food." Many scientists, however, call them a partial solution to threatening hunger in poor countries.

The debate is all but settled in Minnesota's farm country. Last year, the state's farmers planted 92 percent of their soybeans and 86 percent of their corn to GM varieties, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

South Korea has company in its persistent backlash to the crops, especially in Europe. Indeed, staunch opposition remains in the United States, too, and some Minnesota farmers serve a robust market for foods labeled GM-free.

It was China's food-security worries that pushed South Korean processors this month to accept the shipment of GM corn. South Korea had relied on China for a good share of its corn for processed starch that goes into cookies, ice cream and other foods. But China recently limited corn exports to avoid domestic shortages.

Strapped for supplies, South Korean processors say they had no choice but to take GM corn, the Associated Press reported.

A second and related cause for food price spikes is soaring energy prices, making everything from tractor fuel to fertilizer more expensive.

Add weather to the list. Prolonged drought in Australia clipped wheat crops. The cyclone that devastated Myanmar hit where it could do lasting damage: in the rice-growing region. In longer-term scenarios, global warming plays havoc with yields.

The one cause that easily could be erased is the diversion of corn to ethanol. Still, corn accounts for only a fraction of the food price spikes that are setting off riots. Globally, wheat prices have spurted 146 percent over last year. Rice is up about 29 percent.

Regret over the neglect of agricultural research for developing countries echoed around the world last week.

Since the 1980s, aid from the United States and Europe for agricultural research has wilted to practically nothing, the journal Nature scolded.

The British-based journal said that a contributing factor was Europe's vehement rejection of GM crops, which "chilled research" and scared other countries away from the technology for fear of losing European markets.

On Wednesday, the European Union delayed a decision on allowing farmers there to grow new varieties of GM corn and potatoes, prompting the Economist to complain that the EU "continues to bully developing countries not to plant GM crops and this week refused permission to grow varieties of GM maize and GM potatoes in Europe."

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Engineered Meat

nobody@vox.com(Hector) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:06:11 -0700

Taking GMO to the next level, PETA is offering 1 Million dollars for the development of a meat replacement.

A link to the print article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/us/21meat.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

I'm not sure what to think of this, but like GM crops it will probably be controversial. In any case I can't imagine eating it today. I'll post some more later.

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GPS

nobody@vox.com(Hector) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:09:42 -0700

GPS navigation is still a immature technology in the consumer market. Considering it is a military project, it makes sense that the most complex and technical use of of GPS is to guide our troops and munitions.

Our bombs have superb accuracy, so why not take that technology and make it usable for the consumer. My user interface design group drafted some ideas for a GPS enabled device, like a phone, that can be used to do realtime tracking of participating users. Of course we might not be able to provide the same level of precision, but typical GPS receivers can pinpoint your location to the same room. This allows for groups of friends to split up, say at a mall, and then find each other easily. Parent and child monitoring are also possible.

GPS is still evolving considering it was first implemented in the 70's for military use. In 1983, after Soviet interceptor aircraft shot down the civilian airliner KAL 007 in restricted Soviet airspace, killing all 269 people on board, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that the GPS would be made available for civilian uses once it was completed.

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Sin maíz, no hay país

nobody@vox.com(Hector) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:43:47 -0700

"Without corn, there is no country"

This is the slogan of activist groups in Mexico who are against Genetically Modified (GM) imports from the United States and instead want native maize grown.

Genetically modified foods are still confusing to me today. On one hand the development of GM crops means that humanity has the capability in the 21st century to sustain our growing population of billions. Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace prize for his work in Mexico developing GM wheat. Mexico became a exporter of wheat after the development because the crop was so successful. So much in fact that India and China also adopted GM foods to feed their citizens. GM foods not only are resistant to disease, drought, and chemicals, but can be engineered to contain vitamins that would otherwise be lacking.

On the other hand however there are massive protests against GM foods because of the unknown consequences of blasting new genes into the DNA of a crop. Some studies have shown new allergies occurring due to GM soybeans. And the possibility that GM crops would wipe out all naturally occurring crops, and thus lessen the genetic diversity of the planet.

There is also the issue of cross pollination between crops, mixing GM crops with non-GM crops. The Monsanto corporation has already sued many other farmers for using their brand of GM corn without licensing. The farmers claim that their non-GM crop was cross pollinated and thus Monsanto is illegally preying on farmers. One thing is for sure, that Monsanto is a shady corporation that is always buying out politicians. You have to wonder why.

And then there is the European Union which requires all GM food to be labeled. The US has no such guidelines, and most of the food you get in the Market probably has GM food in it. Many other countries will flat out refuse GM food, even in the form of aid for starving people.

Is GM a technology that changed the world? Yes. But for the better?

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ICAM 101: Gamer Tag Project

nobody@vox.com(Hector) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:29:25 -0700

Here is my proposal for a device for my user interface design class:

1. Problem: Gamers, while growing in numbers, still lack a way to find each other geographically considering that most console and pc gaming occurs on an immobile computer platform (the desktop computer).

2. Target Audience: Younger generation of gamers as well as the older facebook/myspace generation who is used to the idea of social networking, though no social networking gaming platform exists yet.

3. Using Bluetooth and RFID technology your mobile phone can transmit Gamer Tag identification to users who are geographically near your phone during any given moment. Gamer Tag's consist of screenames (which act as links) to popular gaming services, such as Steampowered.com and Xbox Live, which already store information about the user. The interface also allows users of the application in a local area to list their purchased games, and in the case of mobile platform gaming the application can initiate chat and network gaming with others who share the game. Most cell phones also have built in GPS or Wifi service that can be used to triangulate the position of the Gamer Tags as they are passively scanned in an environment. Thus a daily map can be created of encounters with other people with a Gamer Tag transmitting device. This allows you to meet people locally and then schedule events like LAN parties. Privacy options are available to control the flow of information. Also, all previous user ids can be combined into a single Gamer Tag that keeps track of your entire gaming history in one convenient location.

4. No previous attempts have been made to create a application specifically for Gamers, but the leaders in social networking such as Myspace are already moving into the mobile market. BusinessWeek recently did an article on it.
Bluetooth technology is already available in most phones, and RFID is another technology that offers a similar function. The platform could be built upon Google's Android SDK which aims to support a wide range of mobile devices using open source software.

Here is a video of Google Android:

Google Android

What is interesting is how much AirBUD overlaps with with ICAM class. A device such as the iPhone has all the capabilities one might need except for a integrated air quality sensor. Of course AirBUD is using a different platform than Android which I believe will gain market acceptance since Google produces high quality work. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to have a mobile device with a clean UI like that of the iPhone with an integrated air quality sensor.

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