+ Collect information from cell phones, news and the web.
+ Aggregate that information into a single platform.
+ Visualize it on a map and timeline.
Crowdmap is designed and built by the people behind Ushahidi, a platform that was originally built to crowdsource crisis information. As the platform has evolved, so have its uses. Crowdmap allows you to set up your own deployment of Ushahidi without having to install it on your own web server.
Phi Beta Iota: Professor Robert Horn of Stanford is one of the co-founders and continuing intellects unified by Earth Intelligence Network, and a true genius at sustainability design and visualization. His original term of continuing value is “information mapping.” This, his latest briefing, is a most helpful offering in relation to creating global strategies for education, intelligence, and research. Visit Professor Horn at his HOME PAGE.
WASHINGTON — Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the too-outspoken Afghan commander sacked by President Obama, picked up a consolation prize yesterday from the Ivy League.
Yale announced McChrystal would teach a “ leadership seminar” for grad students. McChrystal said he was looking forward to “ sharing my experiences and insights as a career military officer.”
McChrystal, 56, was forced into retirement in June after dissing the chain of command in a Rolling Stone interview.
Sorry about that. Berto Yongman's map is no longer available but utterly needed, with water scarcity to be added. He joined his government and is no longer allowed to exhibit his extraordinary talent in public.
Iran: Ali Shadmani, head of the armed forces Department of Operations, outlined three plans that Iran could carry out in the event of an act of aggression from the United States, Iranian news website Tabnak reported 17 August.
First, Shadmani said Iran would take over complete control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Second, he said Iran is closely monitoring U.S. military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq and would “paralyze the forces in these bases” and “not let them make any moves.”
Third, the last plan Shadmani articulated is to “destroy the peace” in Israel.
NIGHTWATCH Comment: These are a sample of Iranian options for retaliation. All are within Iran's capabilities to at least attempt.
Phi Beta Iota: The illustration above is from earlier plans to destroy US ground forces in Iraq if it appeared they were being successful. The USA still has not learned that prolonged occupations where they are not wanted costs the US much more than those who oppose the US. It has also not learned that the one thing that unites the Arabs on covert extremism is the US-Israel “axis of evil.” Iran is winning on all fronts because the US political-policy apparatchiks suffer from “strategic decrepitude.” Putting a carrier in the Gulf of Hormuz is right up there with putting a battalion of Marines in a single building accessible to a suicide truck bomber. The US confuses enemy restraint in taking away the low-hanging fruit (usually long ground supply lines and undefended rear area C4I nodes) with effective strategy. Not so. The picture here depicts the ROOF of the building that came down on the Marines.
Social epidemiologist Paula Lantz reveals what actually leads to premature deaths among Americans. Obesity? No. Poverty? Yes.
By Tom Jacobs (Aug 11, 2010)
So why is being poor hazardous to your health?
Paula Lantz: Stress processes probably play a role. Chronic stress is not good for immune function. [Difficulties with] housing, transportation, income security — all those factors can produce stress. Do you have friends and family — people who can actually help you get to the doctor? Is your community organized in such a way that it provides the resources you need?
Miller-McCune: Do you think the health care reform bill that recently passed will have an impact in terms of lessening the disparities in health in this country?
PL: The bill that passed is a big beast. The main thing it does is extend health insurance coverage to a greater number of Americans. That’s a good thing, a necessary thing, but it’s not sufficient to reduce disparities. There is funding in the bill for more community-based prevention. That’s a good start. There is recognition within the bill that health and health care are not the same thing.
M-M: What factors are you looking at as this new system begins to take shape?
PL: I’m worried that the focus will be on the health insurance exchanges and expanding Medicaid, while the broader mission of public health will be subsumed. In public health, we talk about primary prevention — let’s stop diseases before they occur.
by Katherine Gustafson (Aug 17, 2010)
…a patient with a poor diet and little money will be much more interested in eating right if he or she gets a doctor's slip worth $1 a day to be redeemed only at a farmers' market. Not only does the doctor's intervention let patients know that their health is threatened by diet-related issues, the free cash will motivate a corrective action.
This concept was originally pioneered by the Boston-area healthcare foundation CAVU Foundation (Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited) as part of its Healthy Weight Initiative. The organization's efforts were on a limited and local scale, though, so this year the charity is partnering with Wholesome Wave to pilot the “Fruit and Veggie Rx” program. At a recent meeting of all of Wholesome Wave's partners, a breakout meeting with CAVU representatives drew a large crowd of enthusiastic folks from farmers' markets and food-related foundations around the country. A spirited discussion ensued, in which it was clear that many in the circle felt this type of program could produce a massive positive change in eating habits if implemented broadly.
Phi Beta Iota: The above articles reinforce our holistic analytic model on Global Threats based on the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges & Change which states that poverty is the #1 Global Threat, even in the United States. Below are links to a few of our graphics representing our unique holistic view on analytics.
Although this search produces adequate results, because in the absence of comments that we had to turn off to close out Russian spammers, the Search tracker has turned out to be quite valuable as an interactive tool, and we respond to Searches daily.
Second, here are some additional terms that matter, with respective results on this site (in bold), which is better than Google in terms of sense-making “focus,” but in parenthesis we also include the Google results for each term (not bold) and Amazon books as well (italics). Note: WordPress does reverse chronology not relevance ranking. Be patient to the very end of its results.
