Brain-Eating Amoeba and Global Warming

Jack Dikian

August 2011

We heard of the second death of a 9-year-old Virginia boy after contracting an infection linked to a water-borne "brain-eating amoeba" (although not a true amoeba, the organism is often referred to as an amoeba for convenience). According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) a 16-year-old Floridan also died not long after swimming in St. John's River a month ago.

Autopsy results confirmed the cause of death as an inflammation of the brain and its lining. The CDC reports of 32 infections, known as Naegleria fowleri between 2001 and 2010 and several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in 19651. The Science Discovery Channel2 identifies Naegleria fowleri as the fifth in the top-ten infectious diseases – amongst Rabies, Ebola, and Polio.

The microscopic organism that's found in freshwater lakes, rivers, and hot springs enters the human body via the nose. From there it travels a short distance of a few inches to the brain where it attacks brain tissue.

Whilst the Naegleria fowleri infection has been reported around the world, most of the cases in the United States have been linked to freshwater sources in the southern states. The amoeba proliferates in stagnant freshwater lakes and ponds during hot weather. Because this is a heat-loving amoeba some have even connected this to global warming – claiming reasonably that as water temperatures go up, we may see an increase of these cases.

Onset symptoms of infection start within 2 weeks after exposure. The initial symptoms include, but are not limited to changes in taste and smell, also headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, and stiff neck. Secondary symptoms include confusion, hallucinations, lack of attention, ataxia, and seizures. After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly 3 to 7 days, with death occurring from 7 to 14 days.³

1. Fowler M, Carter RF (September 1965). "Acute pyogenic meningitis probably due to Acanthamoeba sp.: a preliminary report". Br Med J 2 (5464): 740–2. PMC 1846173. PMID 5825411.

2. http://science.discovery.com/top-ten/2009/infectious-diseases/infectious-diseases-05.html

3. www.cdc.gov

Headlights Against Carbon Tax

Jack Dikian

August 2011

Over the years people (sometimes many hundreds of thousands of people) all over the world have taken part in protests against the government of the time, rallied for a cause, marched to right a wrong, and other. Many don’t necessarily identify themselves as activists but have reached a point where they believe enough is enough.

Most people protest because they are angry about the government’s lack of performance, broken promises, and/or how the government how the government is managing various economic issues, such as services like water and electricity, jobs, and housing.

Certainly here in Australia we have had our share of protests. Consider for example the Eureka Rebellion, 2010 Australian gender equality rallies, Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Franklin Dam. Fortunately most of protests in Australia have been largely peaceful and lawful.

Today (August 2011) saw the first anniversary of when the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard declared, “there will be no Carbon tax under the government I lead”. The National Road Freighters Association organized a convoy recruiting vehicles as they made their way through towns en route to Canberra. The protest was initially instigated by the live export ban to Indonesia but grew into a 'Convoy of No Confidence'. Motorists who weren’t able to travel to Canberra quickly joined the rally by turning their headlights on in support of those able to join the protest in Canberra.

The Fall Of An Empire - The Unites States Of America

Jack Dikian

August 2011

History has seen great empires rise and fall. When we think of the rise and fall of empires we tend to think of history, and more so, ancient history. Who for example doesn’t think of the Roman Empire, the Inca’s, Aztec’s, Chinese Dynasties, and more recently the British Commonwealth (see graphic).

But what of geopolitical shifts in our lifetime? Will we for example look back in twenty or thirty years and realize that the events of the last decade marked the beginning of a rise or fall of a super powers, an empire.

Certainly my father who is now in his 70’s would claim decisions taken by Britain in World War I and II contributed to the destruction of the British Empire and Western ascendancy in general. History tells us Britain emerged from World War II as an American dependency. Britain finally paid the loan borrowed from the United States post World War II in 2006.

I, like many, am of the view that we may well have seen the beginnings of the fall of the United States, as a super power, an omnipower, a modern Empire. I would argue that the wars waged in Iraq and Afghanistan were/are necessary – however, the major participant to the NATO allies has largely struggled to fulfill its objectives. At the same time China is emerging as a power beyond the control of the United States on a number of metrics.

When the United States looks at China and Russia, nations with two of the world’s largest trade surpluses – it must look at them through the lens of debt. In fact a country with a huge debt. Russia’s 2007 current account surplus is $465 billion and China’s is $363 billion. In contrast, the US current account deficit is $987 billion - an amount larger that the total deficits of all other countries in the world combined.

So far, United States has been able to support such deficits partly because the US dollar is the world reserve currency – something also a risk to the Euro if oil is priced in Euros instead of US dollars. If the US dollar loses its reserve currency role, foreign capital for US trade and budget deficits will quickly diminish, leading invariably to reduce living standards.

United States’ unfunded liabilities is totaling $53 trillion – perhaps a credit risk according to some, and certainly a growing reliance on foreign capital to finance its consumption, its wars, and the daily operations of its government.

In August 2011, The American Congress and President Barack Obama come to an agreement on a deal to raise the country’s Congressionally-imposed debt ceiling, the legal limit on government borrowing to pay its debts, but the bitter battle that brought the country to the edge of default has had significant impact on American politics, its standing in the world and even how Americans perceive themselves.

For example, Americans’ perception of how Congress handled the debt ceiling crisis, “most agree that all of the players were more interested in gaining an upper hand” than the good of the country.

American capitalists have moved offshore so many United States manufacturing, engineering, and research jobs that US imports now exceed United States industrial production. American dependency on imported manufactured goods, advanced technology goods, and energy is shocking.

Cost of Living - Sydney and the world

Jack Dikian

August 2011

Ever since the global financial crises spanning the last 3 or so years we, in Australia, have been to a great extent been insulated – although there are a number of predictors indicating we are not out of the woods just yet.

I wanted to take a look at where we are ranked as liviable cities compared with general cost of living. Five of Australia’s mainland capital cities have been ranked in the top eleven liveable cities in the world and in 2007 it was judged the best in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Quality of Living Survey 2006 from Mercer Human Resource Consulting placed Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane among the top 35 cities in the world in which to live. Which ranked them ahead of London, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo and New York.

The table below provides cost of living figures ranked by the most expensive cities to the least expensive.

These are from Mercer’s Cost of Living and rental accommodation costs comparisons and are derived from a survey conducted in March 2011. March 2011 exchange rates and Mercer’s international basket of goods and services are used as basis measurements.

Mercer is a global leader in human resource consulting, outsourcing and investment service.

Rank 2010	City	Country
1	LUANDA	ANGOLA
2	TOKYO	JAPAN
3	NDJAMENA	CHAD
4	MOSCOW	RUSSIA
5	GENEVA	SWITZERLAND
6	OSAKA	JAPAN
7	LIBREVILLE	GABON
8	ZURICH	SWITZERLAND
8	HONG KONG	HONG KONG
10	COPENHAGEN	DENMARK
11	SINGAPORE	SINGAPORE
11	OSLO	NORWAY
13	VICTORIA	SEYCHELLES
14	SEOUL	SOUTH KOREA
15	MILAN	ITALY
16	BEIJING	CHINA
17	LONDON	UNITED KINGDOM
17	PARIS	FRANCE
19	TEL AVIV	ISRAEL
19	NAGOYA	JAPAN
21	SAO PAULO	BRAZIL
22	BERN	SWITZERLAND
23	NIAMEY	NIGER
24	SYDNEY	AUSTRALIA
25	SHANGHAI	CHINA
26	ROME	ITALY
27	NEW YORK	UNITED STATES
28	VIENNA	AUSTRIA
29	RIO DE JANEIRO	BRAZIL
30	ST. PETERSBURG	RUSSIA
31	HELSINKI	FINLAND
32	DAKAR	SENEGAL
33	BANGUI	CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
33	MELBOURNE	AUSTRALIA
35	AMSTERDAM	NETHERLANDS
36	BAKU	AZERBAIJAN
37	BRATISLAVA	SLOVAKIA
38	GUANGZHOU	CHINA
38	NOUMEA	NEW CALEDONIA
40	ATHENS	GREECE
40	DOUALA	CAMEROON
42	SHENZHEN	CHINA
42	DUBLIN	IRELAND
44	ISTANBUL	TURKEY
45	ABIDJAN	IVORY COAST
45	HAVANA	CUBA
47	PRAGUE	CZECH REPUBLIC
48	BRAZZAVILLE	CONGO
49	BARCELONA	SPAIN
50	FRANKFURT	GERMANY
50	ABU DHABI	UNITED ARAB EMIRATES