Clipmarks | Asia Clips

The Gray Scale between East and West

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:53:46 GMT

clipped by: ouyangwulong
clipper's remarks: Understanding that there is no clear distinction between east and west is one of the most important changes we need to make in 21st century diplomacy.

Failing to see east and west as a cultural continuum with significant commonalities across the board is one of the main reasons for the rise of terrorism and our failed Russia policy.

Clinging to old nationalist divisions blinds us to what the world has become and what the world has always been: cultures in flux across borders and mutating as different people interact.

Clip Source: www.lrb.co.uk

‘The greatest single truth to declare itself in the wake of 1989,’ J.G.A. Pocock wrote two years afterwards,

is that the frontiers of ‘Europe’ towards the east are everywhere open and indeterminate. ‘Europe’, it can now be seen, is not a continent – as in the ancient geographers’ dream – but a subcontinent: a peninsula of the Eurasian landmass, like India in being inhabited by a highly distinctive chain of interacting cultures, but unlike it in lacking a clearly marked geophysical frontier. Instead of Afghanistan and the Himalayas, there are vast level areas through which conventional ‘Europe’ shades into conventional ‘Asia’, and few would recognise the Ural mountains if they ever reached them.

But, he went on, empires – of which in its fashion the European Union must be accounted one – had always needed to determine the space in which they exercised their power, fixing the borders of fear or attraction around them.

Tags: eu, nato, foreign policy, europe, asia, terrorism, culture

Arctic Ice Hints at Warming, Specialists Say

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:15:58 GMT

clipped by: A53GG4

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Arctic Ice Hints at Warming, Specialists Say

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

Published: September 6, 2008

Leading ice specialists in Europe and the United States for the first time have agreed that a ring of navigable waters has opened all around the fringes of the cap of sea ice drifting on the warming Arctic Ocean.

By many expert accounts, this is the first time the Northwest Passage over North America and the Northern Sea Route over Europe and Asia have been open simultaneously in at least half a century, if not longer.

While currents and winds play a role, experts say, the expanding open water in the far north provides the latest evidence that the Arctic Ocean, long a frozen region hostile to all but nuclear submariners and seal hunters, is transforming during the summers into more of an open ocean.

Last month, news reports said that satellites showed navigable waters through both fabled Arctic shipping routes.

Tags: science

"80 Yr Old Japanese Robot Brought back to Life"

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:07:03 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: mysterytopia.com

80Yr Old Japanese Robot Brought back to Life, Very creepy

Gakutensoku is Asia's oldest modern robot, built in 1928 for the ascension of the Emperor Showa (aka Hirohito). Twice as tall as the emperor at 10 feet, 6 inches, it could tilt its head, blink, smile and puff up its chest and cheeks with a system of inflatable rubber tubes. Long lost in Germany before returning to Osaka, it's been restored and brought back to life with a $200,000 computer-controlled pneumatic servo system. But it definitely still moves like an 80-year-old—very slowly. Check out the video of it in motion below, it's like a robot from "It's a Small World," but even more uncanny and creepier.

[Video]

Atomic Deal With India and New Nuclear Arms Race

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:39:32 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: More nuclear power plants and more nuclear weapons while pressuring Russia to do less. Spoken like a good hypocrite. In the waning days of Bush's treachery, more weapons and more deals shoved down the throat of the world.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Atomic Club Votes to End Restrictions on India

The worldwide body that regulates the sale of nuclear fuel and technology approved a landmark deal on Saturday to allow India to engage in nuclear trade for the first time in three decades, after a pressure campaign by the Bush administration and despite concerns about setting off an arms race in Asia.

Only one hurdle now remains for the deal: final approval by the United States Congress. But passage is likely to be difficult, considering both political opposition and dwindling time in the Congressional calendar before November’s elections.

If the agreement ultimately goes through, it would stand as a symbol of the deepening strategic ties between the United States and India, seen as a potential balancing power to a rising China. It would also be enormously lucrative for sellers of nuclear fuel and technology all over the world; India plans to import at least eight nuclear reactors by 2012, according to projections by the State Department.

Cheney Ratches Up The Rhetoric

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:35:00 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: As wrong as Cheney is, they will continue to pressure Russia for having the nerve to stand up to the US and "New Europe" while France and Germany want to find out, who actually started this conflict.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Cheney Warns Russia to Reverse Its Course

CERNOBBIO, Italy — Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday denounced Russia’s war against Georgia as evidence of a pattern of “troublesome and unhelpful actions” that threatened peace from Central Asia to the Middle East to Europe.

Mr. Cheney, speaking at an international conference here beside Lake Como, said that Russia now faced a choice between cooperation and isolation, and he urged European nations to join the United States in unambiguously supporting Georgia, Ukraine and other new democracies in Russia’s shadow.

“Does Russia really want to separate itself from the community of values that has fueled so much of its own economic progress?”

“Does the Russian government really wish to operate in the modern world as an outsider, alienating free countries and trying to rally the world’s dictatorships?”

Mr. Medvedev said

And I would like to state as clearly as possible that this confrontation was not our choice.”

M&M

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:51:09 GMT

clipped by: suyash

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India's biggest maker of sport-utility vehicles, plans to buy two-wheeler companies overseas, including a European high-performance bikemaker to bolster its newly acquired motorcycle business.

Mahindra is looking for acquisitions in China, Southeast Asia and Europe, Pawan Goenka, president of the company's automotive business, told reporters in New Delhi today.

The purchase of overseas companies will give Mahindra the technology to challenge the domination of local market leaders Hero Honda Motor Co., the Indian affiliate of Honda Motor Co., and Bajaj Auto Ltd., which together account for two-thirds of the South Asia nation's two-wheeler market.

Water Woes

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:09:10 GMT

clipped by: LoPhatt

Clip Source: blueplanetrun.org

A Startling Reflection On Water

The world faces a massive crisis. About one out of six of our fellow human beings on Earth does not have daily, immediate access to the most basic of necessities: safe drinking water. Think about this for a moment.

Imagine if, instead of just going to a tap in your kitchen, or to a water cooler, anytime you were thirsty, you had to hoist a heavy vessel onto your head and walk, up to two hours, to a well, where, after filling your vessel—now really heavy—you had to carry it up to two more hours back home. After your trek, how much more time and energy would you hope to have to farm, cook, take care of your family, especially the sick ones; clean, work to make money outside the home or go to school to get ahead?

The average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect water is six kilometers.
People with waterborne illnesses occupy half of the world’s hospital beds.
2.2 million die each year... More Facts>>

100 Extensive University Libraries from Around the World that Anyone Can Access

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:41:26 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: For the complete list, pl visit the site...

Clip Source: www.collegedegree.com

By Alisa Miller

Digital Libraries

Capturing images of manuscripts, art, and artifacts, digital libraries are an excellent way of both preserving the past and sharing it with everyone.

Harvard University Library. Browse through 24 different collections ranging from cultural images of eastern Asia to 19th century American trade cards.

Yale University Library: Digital Collections. Find ancient manuscripts or read a classic all preserved digitally courtesy of the Yale University Library.

International Digital Libraries

These digital libraries either have a focus on a culture other than that of the United States or are housed in another country.

Medical Libraries

These libraries offer medical information for both the professional and the lay person.

Legal Libraries

Whether you are studying the law or are just interested in it, these libraries have information for you.

Religious Studies

Specialized Selections

Academic Research

American Universities

International Universities

Rocsta

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:28:24 GMT

clipped by: eldondelson

Clip Source: www.autoscout24.de

Endpreis: €

Ich biete einen Asia Rocsta, Baujahr 1996 an.
Der Wagen ist in einem sehr guten und gepflegten zustand.
Natürlich ohne technische Mängel.

Citrus Crops in U.S Under Siege From Unknown Bacterium

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:41:16 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: So much for a nice morning glass of OJ

Clip Source: www.naturalnews.com

Citrus Crops in U.S Under Siege From Unknown Bacterium

(NaturalNews) Citrus greening is blazing through the Florida citrus groves like wildfire. Scientists don't know how long it will take to find a treatment or cure for this contagious bacterial disease. One scenario projects that within nine to ten years, all the citrus trees currently in the ground will be dead.

Citrus greening, caused by a bacterium yet unnamed, is one of the most serious citrus diseases in the world, destroying the economic value of the fruit while compromising the tree. The disease has significantly reduced citrus output in Asia, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Brazil. Now trees grown in the U.S. are in jeopardy.

Tags: citrus crops, us, bacterium, food

Mammoths moved 'out of America'

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:16:54 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Scientists have discovered that the last Siberian woolly mammoths may have originated in North America.

They believe that woolly mammoths survived through the period when the ice sheets were at their maximum, while other Ice Age mammals "crashed out".

a vast tundra plain that connected Asia and North America

about 1,000 miles from north to south at its greatest extent

was exposed and submerged as global sea levels changed during the Pleistocene

flooded and became the Bering Strait about 11,000 years ago

may have enabled migration of humans from Asia to the Americas

The expansion of North American forests may have "pushed the mammoths along", he added.

It is unclear if the Siberian mammoths experienced a "natural decline" or if they were outcompeted by the North American immigrants.

This study adds to a growing body of evidence about just how dramatic and tumultuous the Pleistocene climate actually was

Here we have evidence of local extinctions, replacements and long-distance dispersals

Mammoths moved 'out of America'

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:53:32 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Scientists have discovered that the last Siberian woolly mammoths may have originated in North America.

Their research in the journal Current Biology represents the largest study of ancient woolly mammoth DNA.

The iconic Ice Age woolly mammoth - Mammuthus primigenius - roamed through mainland Eurasia and North America until about 10,000 years ago.

Previous studies had hinted that the last mammoths left in Siberia were not natives - but immigrants from North America.

However, more evidence was required to strengthen the case for this "out of America" theory.

A team of researchers led by Professor Hendrik Poinar from McMaster University in Canada collected 160 mammoth samples from across Holarctica - a region encompassing present day North America, Europe and Asia.

Well-preserved DNA material - between 4,000 and 40,000 years old - was obtained from "almost every part of the animal - even from preserved hide, skin and hair", Professor Poinar told BBC News.

Tags: illegal, immigrants, booted, out, 10000, yrs, ago

Why Disasters Are Getting Worse

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:30:18 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Interesting article...

Clip Source: www.time.com

Why Disasters Are Getting Worse

A satellite image shows Hurricane Hanna located southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas

AFP / Getty

In the space of two weeks, Hurricane Gustav has caused an estimated $3 billion in losses in the U.S. and killed about 110 people in the U.S. and the Caribbean, catastrophic floods in northern India have left a million people homeless, and a 6.2-magnitude earthquake has rocked China's southwest, smashing more than 400,000 homes.

If climate change is having an effect on the intensities of storms, it's not obvious in the historical weather data. And whatever effect it is having is much, much smaller than the effect of development along coastlines.

But the most insidious effect of building condos and industry along water is that we are systematically stripping coasts of the protection that used to cushion the blow of extreme weather. Three years after Katrina, southern Louisiana is still losing a football field's worth of wetlands every 38 minutes.

Tags: disasters, climate, weather, coastlines, india, us, south east asia, hurricanes, fema

The Atlas of Early Printing

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:08:27 GMT

clipped by: RayWatkins

Clip Source: atlas.lib.uiowa.edu

The Atlas of Early Printing is an interactive site designed to be used as a tool for teaching the early history of printing in Europe during the second half of the fifteenth century. While printing in Asia pre-dates European activity by several hundred years, the rapid expansion of the trade following the discovery of printing in Mainz, Germany around the middle of the fifteenth century is a topic of great importance to the history of European civilization. This website uses Flash to depict the spread of European printing in a manner that allows a user to control dates and other variables.

Disposable Medical Gloves

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:50:22 GMT

clipped by: flower425
clipper's remarks: Our medical market research company assists companies with market, technology and practice strategies and intelligence through combination of published market research reports, solutions and services.

Clip Source: www.marketstrat.com

This is the first in a series of Marketstrat® reports on personal protective products used in healthcare. This research report analyzes the world market for various types of Disposable Medical Gloves, discusses key players, and identifies trends impacting the market for these products. Topics covered include product definition, applications, types of gloves, latest materials and technologies, strategies, competition, and key players. The report provides detailed market estimates and forecasts for disposable medical gloves in Units (millions of pairs) and U.S. dollars by segment, separately for

By Application: Surgical Gloves; Exam Gloves

Key companies profiled include: Adventa Health Sdn Bhd; American Health Products Corp; Ansell Ltd.; Asia Pacific Latex Sdn. Bhd.; Best Manufacturing; Cardinal Health; Kimberly-Clark Health Care; Medline Industries; Microflex Medical Corp; Mölnlycke Health Care AB; Paul Hartmann AG; Sempermed; Top Glove Company.

Tags: market research company, market research report, market research reports, medical market research, disposable medical gloves, medical beds