Group items tagged

This is a fascinating article that reflects cultural sensitivity from an iconic globalising brand. 

Aside from religious and health reasons, many people are vegetarian because they view the breeding and killing of animals for food as wrong. I think a lot of vegetarians wouldn't eat McDonalds even if they had vegan options because of the vast quantities of beef and chicken they sell. Seems like a fruitless action, but at least they are trying I guess.

Today in class we talked about robots or machines with artificial intelligence, AI, and how it is going to be a reality soon. This article is about China's military advancements in unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV for short. The drone is similar to the Predator drone used by the US military but is cheaper at $1 million. The drone is called "Yi Long" but called Wing long in English. The editor of Kanwa Defense Monthly stated, "They know that in future wars unmanned warfare will be very important." Now with this new technology; choices are going to be harder to make when it comes to casualties. It is very easy to be objective when you are sitting in a room far away from the action, but if you are on the field doing the work its another story.

The quote from the Chinese president about having to win the war in an "information age" is really interesting. It is becoming more and more apparent that advancing military technology during this time makes a significant impact on warfare today and the future.

Developed nations seem to approaching a point where most people are using the Internet, so now Google is looking to nations in Asia that are developing as a new demographic to target for Internet use. With people from these new countries, the amount of information and idea sharing on the Internet has the potential to expand in vast amounts. Google wants to expand to its influence in countries like Vietnam, India, and Indonesia as a way to bring more people online.

This was a smart business move for Google. Not only that, but I think the concept of mass media has changed over the last few years. I used to think of the mass media as a medium for different ideologies and dialects to come together in America to create one larger dialect and ideology shared by our nation. Now, it seems that the mass media does the same except on a global scale. The pace of globalization seems to be on a multiplicative increase along with technology.

Southeast Asia's largest solar plant is expected to offset 800,000 tons of carbon over 25 years and contribute to Thailand's renewable energy goals. AsianScientist (Sep. 28, 2012) - Solar panel manufacturer Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. announced this week that Southeast Asia's largest silicon photovoltaic power plant achieved grid connection on September 4, 2012.

Hopefully the payoffs of this solar power plant will manifest themselves in the next 10 years or so. That way, news of the power plant can hopefully spread to other parts of Southeast Asia. As the largest solar powered plant, I wonder if they'll face any challenges in the upcoming years with possible upkeep? I don't know a lot about solar energy but these are just some things I am curious about--but I'm also excited about the progress this power plant can make!

This is a huge milestone. Maybe our country can take some notes. I also found it interesting that the plant is owned by a petroleum company, great steps towards going green.

China's economical growth is slowing down. Many economists predict that China'a 10% growth will reduce to 7% or worse. In order for China to fight back they have lowered interest rate in hope of getting people to spend more money. When China lowers their interest rate it is cheaper for people to borrow money from the banks; but the money that isn't used and is stored in the bank will suffer from inflation. This slump might cause a chain reaction that hurt China's economic standing.

It's interesting that though China's economy is slowing down, it still has more growth than many other countries. Since China has more of a manufacturing-centered economy, I wonder if this slump may mark the transition to a possible service-oriented economy. In addition to that, maybe the leadership transition in the upcoming months will spur a more dynamic economy in China; thereby preventing a prolonged declining economy.

I remember discussing in class the fact that the world economy did not used to be so dependent on individual regions and countries doing well economically so that other countries could also do well economically on a global scale. It makes you wonder if an international economy is a good thing or not. To me, this is proof that we are not prepared for a multi-polar world. The United States is used to being THE world power rather than A world power. If at all possible, maybe it would be smart to learn how to coexist as more of an independent nation econonomically once again. Or on the other hand, perhaps that could create a situation where America could potentially be left behind by the other up and coming world powers.