2012

The year 2012 is coming up... Well, it seems that time flies for the world is ready to transit into the year 2012. Looking back at 2011, the world is in chaos, the US and EU economies are falling apart and the damages we've done to the environment is taking its toll. It seems that 2012 wouldn't be any better as the two largest economies in the world collapses, the effect is unimaginable, not counting those natural disasters that is predicted to happen in the near future. After all, the world is going to end in 2012 according to the Mayans. It is going to be a challenge for mankind to be adept to the ever changing environment, cope with the falling economy and reforming tyrannical regimes in this coming year.

During the course of this year (2011), there had been more nations going bankrupt than anytime in history. Not counting minuscule nations eking the living out of subsistence farming, but large, former imperialist nations who once ruled a fair portion of the world. These nations are called the PIGS, consisting of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, all belong to the European Union. The fall of these nations led to the defamation of the Euro, decreasing its value drastically. The same phenomenon is happening in the US where the population consumes and invests beyond their potential to pay for it, causing household bankruptcy and unemployment nation wide. The next year's economical trends, from current projections, would be similar to this year's or worse. The Euro zone is contending with massive loans they cannot repay and pressures to dissolve the EU for the sake of saving other prosperous EU nations. In addition, the Obama administration cannot effectively deal with their failing economy creating distrusts in the US dollar, the world's most respected currency. It seems that the salvation of the US economy lies in the next election where Rick Perry would most likely prevail as the victor.

A video briefly explaining the causations and elements of the EU financial crisis.

The year 2011 had experienced the worse punishments from nature around the globe from Japan's 8+ Richter earthquake to Thailand's largest flood in the millennium, it seems that the Mayans might be correct after all. The environment is rapidly changing, thanks to human activity. This results in the world's current period of mass extinction, which according to biologists, it the largest period of mass extinction since the  Cretaceous extinction that is known notoriously for eradicating the dinosaurs. More species on Earth are disappearing, for instance, the last known specimen of the black rhino is now extinct in the last few months. What we should expect for the coming year is the loss of many unique life forms, radical changes in the environment and brace yourselves for the worse disasters nature could bring upon you!

A Shinto shrine standing in the mist of the rubbles in Japan, March 2011.

Sparked in Tunisia, the Arab Spring is an even that shook the world as the longest reigning dictators fell along with their regimes. Followed closely by Egypt where President Hosni Mbarak is ousted by the angry mob, which preceded the revolution of Libya where the rebels took down Colonel Mourmar Gaddaffi and his relatives, ending in his execution. Promising sites for a revolution would be Burma, where the ruling military junta freed Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the NLD party who was in house arrest for virtually her whole life until she was released recently. This year marks the beginning of the end of tyranny world wide and 2012 would give birth to new democracies, giving some nations a brighter future free of fascist dictators.

Egyptian woman rallying on the streets of Cairo, protesting against the tyrannical president Mbarak.

An Overview on the Evolution of Small Arms (Pre-History - Early 20th Century)

Warfare had existed since the dawn of man, the potentials of the human mind are massively diverted into warfare and as a result, technology is an essential element of warfare. It could spell a nation’s victory or defeat. Military development caused warfare to be a bloodier ordeal as more efficient killing machines were constantly invented and tested in combat. Armies must be eager to adopt newer weapons; the failure to do so would bring untold destruction.

There is no doubt that the back bone of the classical army is the melee weapon. Early humans fought with wooden clubs and stone-edged weapons. When metallurgy is introduced, warfare changed radically as sharper and stronger melee weapons appeared on the battlefield. Since the Iron Age, metal edged weapons such as the sword and the pike were a common sight on the battlefield even with the advent of firearms. Generals such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Alexander the Great had revolutionize combat with edged weapons. Today, the melee weapons such as the knife or the truncheon, still seen action in the modern world.

Flint edged tools had been around before the Neolithic Era and had distinguish the Homo Habilis (early human) from other prime apes.

Developed in paralleled to the melee weapon, ranged weapon became the choice for men at arms who does not prefer to get "close and personal". The term ranged weapon indicates that the weapon would hurl projectiles at the opponent from a distance. Early ranged weapons utilizes stored potential energy to launch a projectile. An example of this would be bows, which uses the force of the draw, stored in the strings to propel an arrow. However, the early ranged weapons had several drawbacks, it has a limited range, accuracy and were solely dependent on the operator's skill. Enter the firearm.

A diagram of displaying how a bow works.

The invention of gunpowder in China kindled the development of a new class of ranged weapons, the firearm, which uses the gas and pressure of the gunpowder's ignition to propel rounds out of the barrel. The Renaissance gave rise to early artillery and firearms in Europe, which would soon change the face of warfare forever. Soon, armies realized that capabilities of the firearm and began to adopt it among the ranks of pike men and cavalry. However, early harquebus single shot matchlock muzzleloaders, which utilize the explosion of gunpowder to propel the bullet from the barrel, were cumbersome and were slow to load. This lead to the development of the flintlock muskets which relied of the sparks created by flint striking steel to light up the main charge, which proved to be an efficient system that is immediately adopted by leading European armies such as the British. The British Long-Land and Short-Land Pattern Brown Bess muskets are smooth-bored flintlocks that proved effective in disciplined volleys that have proven in defeating the Mughal Indians and ultimately finished off Napoleon’s cavalry in the Battle of Waterloo. The bayonet, a blade protruding from the gun’s muzzle, superseded the pike, enhancing the infantry’s hand-to-hand combat abilities and repels cavalry charges which was still used today by modern warriors. Less than half a century, the flintlock was replaced by the more efficient percussion system, which utilizes the percussion cap to ignite the powder charges, which proved to be more reliable than the flintlock. In addition, barrels with groves, or rifled barrel, were introduced, which greatly increases the accuracy and range of the firearm. Soon, both sides of the US Civil War adopted rifled barrels in their percussion firearms and artillery, along with the many armies in the world. The percussion systems lead to invention of the cartridge, a bullet in casings that stored the projectile, powder and primer all in one package, which gave birth to breech loading guns, which this system was made famous by the American Sharps rifle and the British Martini Henry. In the late 1800’s repeating firearms, firearms with the ability to fire multiple shots without reloading were predominant on the battlefield. 19th and early 20th century armies were armed with bolt-action rifles and were extensively used in both world wars. The First World War introduced the automatic weapon, which is the dominant system in today’s militaries. 

A splendid set consisting of a P-1871 Martini Henry breech loading rifle, .45/.577 cartridges, bandoleers, bayonets (spike  & sword) and various materials involving the rifle. Note: The lever below the receiver is used to lower the breech block and extracting fired cartridges.

A modern day reproduction of the .75 Brown Bess, hammer would hold a piece of flint if it was intended to be fired.

A British 1853 Pattern percussion rifle, adopted by the British Army and the Confederacy  States of America.  Note: the lock is similar to the Flintlock, however, is less complex thanks to the percussion cap ignition system.

With technology, warfare constantly changes as armies rushed to adopt newer, more effective arms as conflicts grew ever more brutal.

An Introduction to Selective Breeding

Selective Breeding

Selective breeding is a process where organisms are bred to acquire certain traits. The aim of selective breeding is to either delete an undesirable trait of an organism or add traits that could be beneficial to its domesticators. For example, cows are bred to produce more milk, fatten faster or even for its aesthetic appeals. Similarly plants, especially flowers are selectively bred to create astonishing colors.  There are two methods of selective breeding, which includes:

Inbreeding

Inbreeding is a process where organisms with similar genetic lineage are mated, which is a painstaking effort to remove undesired traits among livestock’s. This process, in contrary to natural selection, which created fitter animals, inbreeding is a repeated process of breeding animals with similar traits causing them be totally unfit for nature and is solely dependent on its domesticators. According to Gregory Mendel, there is a probability out of four for all alleles to appear on an offspring, for instance one livestock has a dominant allele of having horns, therefore, it is bred with ones with horns reducing the probability for the offspring’s to have horns, and the process is repeated until having horns in that particular livestock became a recessive allele! This comes with a price; the animals would be easily subjected to genetic defections and is prone to be ill for many of its original traits acquired in years of evolution had been lost.

Out crossing

Out crossing is where people mated unlike species in order to create a new lineage of animals to serve their needs.  Out crossing is definitely more difficult than inbreeding because in many causes, sex cells of the candidates do not accept each other. However, it is possible to mate animals that are not in the same specie but within a family with similar homologous structure. When successfully bred, the offspring will not be able to reproduce because by out crossing, the domesticator had created new species with varied sex cells, therefore, its sex cells will not accept any other specie’s. A mule is a prime example of successful out crossing between a horse and a donkey. The mule combined favorable characteristics of horses and donkeys creating a versatile farm workhorse. The mule, like other out crossed organisms cannot reproduce, therefore, it would immediately become extinct if people no longer breed them.

A typical mule, an outcome of out crossing, note its iconic donkey like pointed ears and its horse like physique.

Jewish Diaspora

In the long history of man, many groups had been known for their notoriety against the people; however, it is essential to explore the opposite, the most exploited. The Jews are those who would fit perfectly in this category. From the rise of the Roman Empire to the 21st century, the Jews are under constant threat from their oppressors. The movement and the dispersion of the Jews are phenomenal, they are arguably the most iconic symbol of a diaspora. Here's their story...

2000 years ago... It all began in Jerusalem, or Judea, as the Jews would call it. Around the sixth century BC, the Roman Imperium expanded beyond its European borders, stretching its influence into Northern Africa and the Middle East. Lands connected to the Mediterranean were quickly swallowed into Roman rule as their ruthless region seared fear into the hearts of its opponents. The Roman legion soon marched into the Kingdom of Judah, or what is to be Jerusalem, and entirely sacked the city. Once elaborate Jewish temples were reduced to a heap of rubble as Judaism was banned by the pagan Roman Empire. The Jews were made slaves and was distributed throughout the Roman Empire, which marks the existence of Jewish communities in Europe and others to many parts of the Mediterranean. However, some were left in Judea started a revolt in the first century against the Romans, which ended in failure, this event was coined the Great Revolt. After the Great Revolt, the Romans tightened their grip on the Jews, enforcing laws against Jewish religious practices with crucification and routed the Jews into Europe as slaves. The by the aftermath of the Great Revolt, the Jewish population were totally dispersed, infusing with societies under the Roman Imperium.

                                   An image carved in stone of the Roman's sack of Judea.

                                                  Jewish diaspora during the Roman Empire


800-500 years ago... The decline of the Roman Empire led to feudalism in Europe and left the Middle East at the mercy of Muslim Caliphates. In many parts of Europe, the Jews roughly coexisted with the natives while many attempted to return to the Middle East. It was the golden age for the Abbassid Caliphate where the cities such as Baghdad are booming. With the Abbassid's tolerance policies, the Jews settled under the Abbassid and brought with them philosophies and innovations. The Abbassid's expansion in the Iberian Peninsula, the location of modern day Spain and Portugal, caused many Jews to settle in another Abbassid boom town of Cordoba. Mathematics and science flourished with Jewish influence, however, the Jew's brief period of peace is coming to an end as the Spanish Kingdom of Leon and their allies reclaimed the Iberian Peninsula from the Arabs. The Spanish were devout Catholics and had no patience for the Jews and Muslims, as a result, in 1480's the Spanish Inquisition began. Muslims and Jews were considered heretics along with others dealing with witchcraft, were massacred by the Spanish. This event drove the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, forcing them to settle elsewhere, dispersing again in by the end of the Middle Ages.

                  An image of a torture chamber during the Spanish Inquisition by Bernard Picard

                                            A map of Jewish migration in the Middle Ages

The Modern Era... The Ottoman Turks occupied most of the Middle East until the end of the First World War. Similar to the Abbassids, the Ottomans welcomed the Jews under their rule so Jews in the Middle East settled happily under the Turks while the others remained in Europe as either settlers or as nomads travelling in caravans. After the defeat of the Central Powers in the Great War, the Jews were again at the mercy of Europeans who oversee the formation of new nations in the Middle East. The European victors appointed the majority to rule over the country, thus, Muslim rulers in Palestine and Egypt, denounced Judaism, forcing the Jews to migrate once more. During the outbreak of WWII, Jews in the Soviet Union were purged as well as Jews in Germany under the Nazis. The iconic Holocaust were conducted by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews and Slavs from both Germany and occupied Europe from all walks of life. Massive population of Jews fled Europe into nations such as the US, including Albert Einstein, who later led the Manhattan Project. Jews who failed to do so was forced into shabby districts called Ghettos and were slaughtered by the Nazis. In 1945, the war ended and the allies prevailed victorious, the British and the allies fulfilled their promise to grant the Jews the land they could call "home". In 1948, the sovereign state of Israel was born with the help of the US and Britain. There, the Jews from Europe returned to Jerusalem, the lands they lost two milleniums ago. The existence of the Jewish state of Israel enraged the Palestinian who once owned the land and their Arab neighbors. Wars such as the Six Day War and the Gaza Strip insurgency was fought and won by Israel to preserve its sovereignty from the discontented Arabs. Today, the term "diaspora" could be used to describe Jews outside Israel.

An actual footage of the Allied liberation of a Nazi concentration camp used in the Holocaust (viewer discretion is advised)

                                          A map of modern Jewish settlements around the globe

Thailand's 2011 Flood: A Repeated Catastrophe?

Flooding have always been an ordeal that have plagued the world for milleniums, from the constantly overflowing Huang He to the flash-floods in Bangladesh, flooding became one of the inevitable elements of life in many parts of the world. Asia, is one of them. Here in South East Asia, flooding is considered normal as farmers relied on massive rainfall to plant rice, which ironically requires ankle deep water to flourish. However, sometimes nature just simply delivered too much of what we needed, in certain years precipitation had rose beyond the capacities of dams and levees, causing water to flood fields and urban areas, which indeed is not a pleasant experience. Thailand is currently experiencing a flood beyond anyone's expectations, which is paradoxically preceded by last year's droughts. Cities such as Ayuthaya sank beneath the waves along with multimillion dollar investments. Currently, the water had reached Thailand's capitol, Bangkok, as Thailand would be doomed to years of regression and poverty once again.

How does this happen?

This massive flooding started from unexpected high precipitation and poor water management. Normally, dams and levees would often prevent, or at least suppresses the flooding, however, in the event of this flood, the government had left the Bhumibol Dam with water filled to the brim, preparing for the drought, however, it is the opposite. When the untold precipitation came, the officers would attempt to release as much water into rivers to capture the water, but sadly, they were too late. The dam was filled beyond its capacity, so in order to save the dam from bursting, the officers had no choice but to release the water all at once, causing over ten billion cubic meters of water to flood the entire region. Over 20 provinces in Thailand was affected and if the government had known better, this would have been a typical, harmless annual flooding.

Are we used to this?

Certainly, Thais are seared with the memories of flooding that continues to appear in frequently in Thai culture and history. Houses built on stilts are made for this purpose, to raise the household beyond the waves. This traditional design had been used for centuries and still appear in rural parts of Thailand. In addition to the iconic stilt houses, flooding also saved the Thai Kingdom of Ayuthaya from a Burmese invasion led by King Tbengsweti during the reign of Phra Maha Chakrabhat of the Supannabhumi dynasty where Burmese had laid a siege on the bastions of Ayuthaya, and was forced to retreat due to the flooding. In the contemporary era, in 1942, Bangkok experienced a similar flood during General Phiboonsongkram's military junta which row boats are a common sight in the streets. In the year 1995, Thailand was also affected with a flooding in a scale similar to the current, two years before the radical "Tom Yum Koong" economical crisis in 1997.

Flooding had plagued Thailand since the ancient time and will continue to do so. With the factors of Global Warming in play, flooding would only grow stronger. Nevertheless, with the limitless potential of the human mind, flooding could be prevented.

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LEAD: Floods subside in central plains but persist in Bangkok

                                     
                                      A video on the 1942 flood in Bangkok, from YouTube

Russia: A Declining Population?

Russia is a staggering name indeed. It is the largest nation in the world with a history of bitter conflicts and was once the proud Soviet Union, that plagued the world with the "Red Fear". Now, after the disintegration of the USSR, modern Russia emerges from the ramshackle communist regime to a capitalist economy, a promise of a brighter future for the new Russian Federation. However, the population of Russia displayed the opposite, is the Russian population in decline?

The current population of Russia hover around 140 million, with only 8 people living per square kilometer, making it one of the world's most sparsely populated nation. Yet, the civilization thrived in the Western region where cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg shelters around 70% of the population. Since the time Michael Romanov re-united Russia, the population had witnessed a slow, yet steady increase. Russia soldiers on to the 19th century with the advent of the industrial revolution, however, with feudal aristocracy and poverty, the population tends to be similar to those of the third world countries which resembles stage 2 of the Demographic Transition Model. In 1917, the prominent Russian Revolution took place, which brought down the monarchy along with the archaic system of serfdom, replacing it with Communism. From then on, the living condition improves for the Russians and its population began to experience a promising increase. With Stalin's five-year plan, the Russian economy improved during the early 20th century as Russia finally became "industrialized".

In the contemporary era, the Russian population ascends until 1991, which bears the population of 148 million, just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. From then on, the population slowly decreases from its pinnacle in 1991.

Currently Russia's position in the Demographic Transition Model is at stage four, which its figure resembles the iconic hourglass, which this evidence does not only indicate the population's stance, but also the nation's development. Russia could be considered a developed nation in a way, according to the population pyramid shown below, the age group between 14-60, the working age, is significantly higher than other age group indicating low dependency ratio, which one could imply that the country with greater population in the working age would have more production yield, therefore, resulting in a country's advanced development. Thus, with less people depending on each other (0-14, 65+) the population would be likely to transit into the "aging population" where the population pyranmid tends to shrink in younger age groups, similar to developed countries such as Japan. Modern medical care and education clearly causes Russia's birthrate and death rate to decrease. Now, the death rate of Russia is (14 per 1000) surpasses the birthrate (12.5 per 1000), which ultimately results in the populations fall, because there isn't enough birth to compensate for the high annual deaths. Many would question the cause of the staggering death rates, some say its the Russian's lust for alcohol, the Vodka, containing over 30% of alcohol in volume, which results in the lower men life expectance or the harsh unforgiving winters.

In contrast to the world's increasing population racing to the 7 billion line, Russia represents the very opposite, a declining population.

The current population pyramid of Russia, from the US Census Bureau (www.census.gov)

10 Most Important Things to Consider on Population Before It's Too Late

10) The world is experiencing an exponential growth in population in third world countries


9) Fertility rates contribute to the growth of population: beliefs, government policies and culture contributes in an areas fertility rate.


8) In history, prominent figures such as Thomas Mathus and Herve le Bras had foreseen overpopulation and made pessimistic hypothesis on this matter, stating that the world cannot support the ever growing human population.


7) It is an inevitable fact that the amount of middle class would increase in 2030, causing an massive increase of consumption, however, people can start to preserve the earth before it happens


6) In the past century, most of the worlds developed and developing population transits to rising state in the demographic transition model, causing population to increase, consuming the world's resources.


5) Overpopulation could result in war, genocide, disease, pollution, depletion of resources and illiteracy, which could cause even more overpopulation!


4) Despite the falling birthrates, population would still increase, building on the existing population


3) How we consume resources poses more of a threat than overpopulation because developed nations tend to consume excessively, whereas third world countries, who has more population, consumed a mere portion of it. Therefore, to preserve resources, it is up to the people to leave smaller footprints so future generation could thrive.


2) When woman is educated, they are likely to have less children causing a decreased birthrate


1)According the Thomas Malthus, population will increase exponentially, more then the resources on earth can support

An Introduction to Machine Guns

Many would wonder what sort of weapon could redefine warfare, some would definitely say its the atom bomb or other weapons of mass destruction, however my answer would simply be the machine gun. It would occur to some that machine guns are just a lump of steel lobbing lots of lead from A to B, I cannot deny nor endorse that definition for reality is more complex than it would seem. To start off, machine guns are firearms that could fire and cycle bullets automatically as long as it is loaded and the finger is on the trigger. This definition could easily be mixed with assault rifles or submachine-guns, but machine-guns are a lot different from those light weight autoloading firearms.

Here's some elements that sets machine-guns apart from common automatics:

I) Machine-Guns are complex, crew-served weapon require more than one operator

II) Machine-Guns stationary, meaning they are either planted on a position or mounted on vehicles 

III) Machine-Guns offers larger magazine capacity than regular infantry weapons (belt fed, drum magazine)

Types of MG's:

I) SAW (squad automatic weapon)- lightweight, small caliber MG designed to be operated by one man

II) GPMG (General Purpose Machine-gun)- larger, mid-sized caliber MG that can fulfill many roles

III) HMG (Heavy Machine Gun)- heavy weight MG, too large to be carried by a squad, offers large caliber fire power that can be used to fulfill almost any desired role in the military.

How MG's Work:

I) Recoil Operated: Utilizes the recoil (blow back force of rounds) to eject, and chamber rounds

II) Gas Operated: Utilizes propellant gases to eject and chamber rounds 

III) Rotating Barrel: Utilizes batteries to spin multiple barrels to fire, eject and chamber rounds

Parts of a typical MG: (MG42)

I) Receiver (bottom most) holds all the component of the MG

II) Butt Stock and Buffer Assembly (above receiver) supports the weapon and drives the bolt forward

II) Barrel (above buffer assembly) rifled steel tube that guides to bullet

III) Bolt + Bolt Carrier Assembly (left of barrel) fires and ejects the rounds

IV) Feed Tray + Cover (above bolt) has claws that extracts the rounds from links and drop them into the gun

V) Bipod (right of feed tray) supports weapon when placed on the ground