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Money matters:
Graham Macdonald
MBMG International Ltd.
Nominated for the Lorenzo Natali Prize
Water - 21st Century Oil?
As regular readers of this column know, we have covered this
topic before but it is still worth revisiting. In 2000, Ismial Serageldin, World
Bank Vice President for Environmental Affairs, was quoted in Marq de Villiers’
Water - “The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water.” When
he said this, almost a decade ago, his main thoughts were focused on the Middle
East. This can be borne out by the fact that an anonymous Jordanian wrote to the
Washington Post saying, “You think we have bad fights over oil. Just wait until
we start fighting over water. It’s predicted in the Koran.” Not pleasant
reading.
What was not thrown into the melting pot at the time was the Chinese factor.
China has been suffering from the ravages of a severe drought for quite a long
time now. Also, they hardly charge for it and so people use more than they
should and is thus wasted needlessly. The Wall Street Journal recently published
water rates. Germany charges USD3.01 per cubic meter and in the UK the cost is
USD2.37. This is not so bad, as these are western countries but compare China
with South Africa at USD1.02 and Brazil at USD0.65. The Chinese pay USD0.31.
However, the people do not realize that a potential catastrophe looms. Analysts
have taken samples from the North China Plains and there is a good argument to
be had to say that this will dry up by 2020. This is not the only thing to be
worried about. Beijing is sinking by over twenty centimeters a year - that is
eight inches. This, according to geologists, is the world’s largest cone of
depression (over 15,000 square miles) which is an underground crater that has
been made by an insufficient water table. The second largest depression
surrounds Shanghai.
Basically, the Chinese are using more than they can provide. This is why these
depressions have occurred and it also explains why certain areas have dried up
and you get rivers that do not actually reach the sea.
The Chinese have finally recognized the problem and have started to put up the
price of water. It is feared that prices may rise by as much as fifty percent.
For example, Shanghai put its prices up 25% in June and is thinking about
another price increase of over 20% next year. The Chinese are obviously worried.
In fact, they are teaming up with their old enemies in India to check on the
speed of melt on the Himalayan glaciers. People may wonder why this is of such
interest. Well, seven of the biggest rivers in the world, including the Yangtse
and Ghanges are supplied by these glaciers. Put another way, they provide water
for nearly three billion people. The fact is that these glaciers are melting and
the Chinese and Indian governments need to know about it. Satellite imagery has
shown them to have lost over twenty percent of their mass in the last forty
years.
As said above, the problem is that, unlike the world economy, demand is
outstripping supply. There are just too many mouths that require water. Also,
this is not helped by poor infrastructure where cities like New Delhi actually
lose four fifths of their drinking water due to poor pipe works, canals and
sewers, etc. Until last year, the rural poor in developing countries were
migrating to urban slums at such a rate that by 2007, for the first time in
history, it was estimated half of the world’s population would live in towns and
cities.
In China, for example, where this migration from rural to urban living was
massive, 400 of the largest 670 cities were operating in serious water deficit
and over-taxing the sewage treatment facilities - if these were available at
all. Only one quarter of the 21 billion tons of China’s annual output of
household sewage is treated. Treatment plants are being built, but will still
handle only half of all city sewage, leaving rural waste water untreated.
The government has forecast an annual water shortfall of 53 trillion gallons by
2030 - more than China now consumes in a year. As already intimated, this
problem is exacerbated even more due to appalling pollution thus making what
should be fit for consumption totally undrinkable.
Despite what the Chinese have done about trying to limit the rise in population
the demand for water is going up all the time and, as they come more into line
with the western world this will just get worse. It takes about 100,000 gallons
of water to produce a pick-up truck - even a cotton shirt takes a thousand
gallons.
According to the US Census Bureau the world’s population is now at 6.8 billion.
It is estimated to be 7 billion by July 2012. Forget industry for the moment,
increased population means the demand for more water has to increase. Within the
next twenty years it is expected that India will have the world’s largest
population and China the second. Between the two of them it is expected they
will add at least another 600 million people to their present numbers - this is
two Americas. Between them they will account for more than 3 billion people. At
the same time the United Nations is forecasting a total world population of over
8 million so by 2030 almost forty percent of the people on this earth will come
from China and India and they all want a drink.
Water will no longer be a cheap commodity anywhere in the world but especially
not China and India. The obvious thing is we need more water than we presently
have. The question is, “Where from?”
Well (forgive the pun!), we can find more by drilling in new places and going
deeper. Desalination is another option as is improving present infrastructure
and using present stocks more efficiently.
All of this is going to take time, energy and money. People, businesses and
nations will find a way to overcome these problems - the alternative does not
bear thinking about. Those that are in the forefront of this change will do
well.
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The above data and research was compiled from sources
believed to be reliable. However, neither MBMG International Ltd nor its
officers can accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the above
article nor bear any responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any
actions taken or not taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For
more information please contact Graham Macdonald on
[email protected]
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Snap Shots: by Harry Flashman
Panning - with some digital difficulties
Shooting moving objects? Try panning for the best effect. Panning is the
most popular technique for action sports photographers, because it is
one of the best ways to really show “action”. Now many of you will have
cameras with an “Action” or “Sports” mode that you can select at the
flick of a switch. Despite what the camera manufacturer would have you
believe, professional action sports photographers don’t use it! Forget
about it and blot it from your consciousness.
 Too
early!
The reason for this is simply that the selection of the “Action” mode
puts the camera on to a fast shutter speed to “freeze” the action.
“Isn’t that what I want?” I hear you cry. No, I’m sorry, you will get a
very static shot of your moving subject - a shot which does not imply
movement or action at all. A shot of a dog running can end up looking as
if Rover was frozen to the spot with its legs in a strange position.
Contrary to that which you would imagine, the technique to show speed
and action is not a super fast 1/1000th of a second shutter speed or
even faster with some of today’s super SLRs - but rather something
around 1/15th to 1/30th. Now that really is surprising, isn’t it?
However, for this to work, the technique to handle this slow shutter
speed is called “panning”.
 Got
it right this time!
The objective with panning is to be able to “stop” the moving subject,
but leave the background a blurred smear. This is carried out by moving
the camera in time with the moving subject, so that the subject is in
the center of the frame at all times, while the background “moves”
behind the subject. Moving the camera to keep the subject in the center
means that the slow shutter speed is “fast” enough to stop the subject’s
action, but too “slow” to stop the effect of the movement of the camera
on the background.
This, by the way, is not an easy technique and will require that thing
called “practice”. Begin by picking on an easy subject, like motorcycles
going past you down the road. Start by selecting 1/30th of a second for
the exposure and practice turning your body as the subject moves past
you. You have to synchronize your movement with that of the moving
subject, and when you press the shutter you must continue to move at the
same speed especially when the viewfinder goes black as the shutter
fires and you cannot see the subject for a brief instant - the most
important brief instant.
When you have become good at this technique at 1/30th of a second, it is
time to then try 1/15th of a second. At the slower shutter speed, the
background will become even more of a streaky blur, giving an even
greater impression of speed and action.
With SLR film cameras, where you could use the WYSIWYG feature (What You
See Is What You Get) and see directly in the viewfinder what the final
image would be, panning was difficult, but not impossible. With the new
digital age of ‘easier’ photography, it turns out that panning is
actually slightly harder. The reason is that the electronic image you
see is not quite “real time”, but there is a split second difference,
and in that split second you can lose a moving image.
Take a look at this week’s photos. A classic car, doing around 100
kilometers per hour. In the first shot, the shutter was tripped too
early, so we have lost the back half of the subject. In the second shot,
the photographer managed to get the car central as he moved the camera
in time with the car.
To sum up, to show action and movement, select a slow shutter speed and
stand side on to the action. Turn your body as the subject goes past,
keeping the subject in the center of the viewfinder. When the subject is
directly opposite your position pop the shutter, while still continuing
to turn your body in time with the subject. With luck, you’ve got it!
Modern Medicine:
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
Hypertension and summer swallows
Hypertension, or in plain English, High Blood Pressure, is a
potentially dangerous condition which can lead to strokes, heart failure,
renal failure, hemorrhages and even more. Hypertension is definitely
something you don’t need or want. However, it is actually a difficult
condition to diagnose, even though it is relatively easy to measure the
pressure and treat the condition these days.
Blood pressure itself is something we all have. If you haven’t got Blood
Pressure, then you are dead because your heart (the pump) has stopped
pumping.
While we all have Blood Pressure (BP), high blood pressure is not good for
us in the long run. Hypertension is life threatening. Normal tension is not.
Blood pressure is the measure of the force inside an artery. We get this
number by putting pressure around the arm with an inflatable cuff until the
artery is squashed flat, then slowly lower the cuff pressure and when we
hear the blood squirting through again, that is the peak pressure, called
the Systolic. The actual units of measurement are called millimeters of
mercury, and come from the old sphygmomanometers (BP recorders) that
measured pressure with a column of mercury.
However, there is another pressure we measure, and this is the resting (or
ambient) pressure, called the Diastolic. With today’s automated home blood
pressure recorders the screen will indicate this one too. This is the lower
of the two readings and BP is expressed as systolic over diastolic, and is
shown as, say for example, 140/90.
High blood pressure is often referred to as the “silent killer” because it
usually has no obvious symptoms and most people cannot tell if their own
blood pressure is high unless it is measured. Home blood pressure monitors
make it easy for you to measure your BP.
Electronic battery-operated monitors use a microphone to detect blood
pulsing in the artery instead of having to listen with a stethoscope. The
cuff, which is attached to your upper arm, is connected to an electronic
monitor that automatically inflates and deflates the cuff when you press the
start button. First you place your upper arm inside the cuff. Then press the
start button on the monitor and wait for the reading to be displayed. The
monitor also records your pulse as well as your blood pressure. While these
electronic devices are by far the easiest to use, they are also the most
expensive, but can be an invaluable tool in self-monitoring.
There are a few rules, or guides, to getting reproducible results from home
monitoring. You should not have just eaten or used any tobacco products. Do
not take medications known to raise BP (such as certain nasal decongestant
sprays), or do strenuous exercise before taking your BP readings. Avoid
taking your blood pressure if you are nervous or upset. Rest at least 15
minutes before taking a reading.
Other important factors are that BP is higher in the mornings and lower at
night, so take your recordings at the same time of day. There can also be
differences between your two arms, so use the same one each time too.
The very rough guide as to “normal” and “high” BP is as follows. If your BP
is less than 140/90 then it is most likely of no problem. If however, either
the systolic or diastolic is over 140/90, then this ‘may’ indicate a
problem.
Now here is a very important fact. One high blood pressure reading does not
mean that you have hypertension. If your doctor tells you that you have
Hypertension on one reading, tell him you do not agree, and that you will
come back in one week to recheck, and one week after that. If the pressure
is high for all three readings, then you will accept it. If it fluctuates
above and below 140/90, don’t accept the “Hypertension” label. This is very
important where health insurance is concerned, as insurance companies will
seize on the “Hypertension” label and cause all sorts of exclusions to be
added to your policy. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, remember!
Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
A few weeks back you published a couple of letters from blokes calling
themselves “Rip Toff”. They poured their stupid hearts out about how they had
lost hundreds of thousands of baht that they had honestly thought was an
investment in their future life in Thailand, with the girl of their dreams. They
were kidding themselves. The investment was the girl’s, not the blokes. They
weren’t ripped off, they dove in the water before they could swim. Deserve all
they get, these kinda people.
Reality Reg
Dear Reality Reg,
Aren’t you full of the milk of human kindness today, Petal. Who said you were so
smart that you can call other people stupid? Sure, they went into the situations
with their eyes closed, but that doesn’t make them stupid. And they were clever
enough and charitable enough to write in as a warning to others. I hope nobody
takes advantage of your kind nature some day - but there’s no real hope of that,
as you have already shown that you don’t have a kind nature. Enjoy your
loneliness Reality Reg, that’s the ‘real’ reality of it all. You are destined to
be on your own, as you can’t see that there can be good relationships with Thai
girls - you just don’t find them in the bar beers.
Dear Hillary,
We are really new here, and a bit at sea about the tipping thing. I know that
the Thai people don’t get all that good wages, but when should we tip? And when
not?
Newbies
Dear Newbies,
I think I dealt with this problem recently, but maybe you are so new you didn’t
read it. Tipping is exactly the same as in your own country. If you have had
service above and beyond what would be expected, then tip, but beware - if the
establishment already adds on a percentage (usually 10 percent) for “service”,
then that is the tip, you don’t need to tip on top of that, unless you feel the
service was so exceptional the service personnel deserved even more. At small
‘roadside’ eating places, you generally leave any coins on the plate when your
change comes. Thank you for thinking about the local Thais, who do depend upon
their tips to love a somewhat better life.
Dear Hillary,
I am staying with a Thai family, friends of my parents in the US. They are nice
people but they have this shrine in the house that they place sacrifices in
front of. Chickens and such aren’t too bad, but the one this week was a pig. A
pig’s head to be truthful, but I am wondering if this means they have some funny
religion or something. I can’t ask them and I don’t want to ask my parents
either. Can you advise me please, Hillary.
Amelia
Dear Amelia,
You will find there are many different aspects to life over here, and the one
you describe is a form of animism, a very ancient belief, and small ‘offerings’
are placed in front of the shrine, spirit house or even just a sacred tree.
There is no ritual sacrifice, if that is what you are worried about, and the
people buy such items as pig’s heads and chickens at the local market, to later
cook and eat themselves. You will often find fruits such as bananas displayed,
as well as betel nut and a red drink. They are merely thanking the spirits for
the good things that have happened (even your coming to stay for a while), and
asking for future good luck. In many ways this is similar to lucky rabbit’s foot
charms, lucky shark’s teeth, Vedic talismans and a whole host of similar items
common in the western world. Just go with the flow, Amelia. There’s no
witchcraft going on here.
Dear Hillary,
Is there something that can be done about telephones in this country? So many
times when I ring a company looking to buy something I get a recorded voice (in
Thai) and I have no idea what they are talking about and eventually I give up in
disgust. They miss on a sale and I don’t get what I want. Why don’t they take a
leaf out of the Australian tele-marketing sales book? If they want to sell to
me, they have to speak my language. Surely this is obvious? What is your answer
to my problems, sweet Hillary?
Cheesed Off
Dear Cheesed Off,
So what do you want the tele-marketing people to do for the Germans, the French,
the Russians and many other ex-pats? Speak their languages too? But back to your
problem. You have lots of options, Petal. First off you can get somebody who
speaks Thai to ring up for you. Secondly, you could try learning enough Thai so
you can do it yourself - after all, this country is called Thai-land, if you
hadn’t noticed, and the native language is called Thai. Surely this should be
obvious, even to you. Or thirdly, you can ring Australia and order what you want
from there direct, in that quaint dialect called “Australian” English. Or
fourthly, and probably the best option in your case, is to go back to Australia,
where life will be simpler for you.
Let’s go to the movies:
by Mark Gernpy
Now playing in
Pattaya
The Final Destination 4: US, Horror/ Thriller – After a
teen’s premonition of a deadly race-car crash helps saves the lives of
his peers, Death sets out to collect those who evaded their end. You
get your money’s worth with this one: It contains 11 death scenes, the
most of any film in the series! They brag about it! Rated R in the US
for strong violent/ gruesome accidents, language, and a scene of
sexuality.
Sam Chuk: Thai, Drama – A rarity for Thailand: a thoughtful,
well-done social issues film, exploring the lives of seven teenaged boys
who are entangled with and devastated by drug use in a small province
called Sam Chuk. Their local teacher tries to teach them to cope with
their problems. Based on a true story; after a screening I ran into a
person who said he was a teacher at that school at that time, and the
kids in the movie were the actual kids involved in the story, and were
at one time students of his. If that is true, then I am truly impressed
with the realistic and affecting performances the director got from the
seven kids – in fact the many kids in the movie that flesh out the
experience.
Good performances, a choppy storytelling style, a bit sentimental at
times, but overall a heart-rending document about the seemingly
insurmountable problems faced by so many youth in the country today.
The film has received support and encouragement from the Office of Drug
Prevention and Suppression – but don’t let that fact scare you away from
seeing this excellent film! Directed by Thanit Jintanukul.
Solstice: US, Drama/ Horror/ Thriller – A young girl uncovers a
disturbing secret about her twin sister, who committed suicide just a
few months before. Directed by Daniel Myrick (The Blair Witch
Project), this horror film follows a group of high school friends on
their summer vacation at a lake house.
Inglourious Basterds: US/ Germany/ France, Drama/ War – Quentin
Tarantino’s exceptionally bloody tale of Jewish-American troops on the
hunt for Nazi scalps in World War II France, starring Brad Pitt and an
amazing Christoph Waltz in a truly fine performance. A must-see movie,
though I’m uncomfortable with the idea I’m recommending a film that
carries violence to such extremes. It’s just that I find the filmmaking
skill so mind-blowing. Never have I felt such a deliciously slow and
inexorable building of tension in a scene, and such studied control over
all the aspects of movie-making. Will forever change how war movies are
filmed, and not only because of its extensive use of German and French
(it’s basically a foreign-language movie).
Rated R in the US for strong graphic violence, language, and brief
sexuality. In Thailand it’s rated “18+” under the new ratings system.
“18+” is an advisory rating that suggests viewers should be 18 or older
to see the movie. Generally favorable reviews.
Bandslam: US, Comedy/ Music – More wit and bite than one would
expect. Probably the only film ever with a character named “Sa5m.” A
new kid in town assembles a rock band to compete against the best in the
biggest event of the year, a battle of the bands. Generally favorable
reviews.
My Ex / Fan Kao: Thai Horror/ Romance – Ken is a heartthrob of an
actor with a bad-boy reputation of loving beautiful girls and then
dumping them. After his marriage, one of his ex-girlfriends comes back
from the grave to exact revenge. Director: Piyaphan Chuphet (Phii
mai jim fun / Vow of Death, Necromancer). Unaccountably bloody,
dreadful, and confusing, even for a Thai flick. Some interesting
cinematography.
Buppha Rahtree 3.2: Rahtree’s Revenge: Thai, Horror/ Romance –
Continues the romantic-horror story of the revengeful ghost of Buppha
and her love struck cartoonist, played by Mario Maurer of Love of
Siam fame. An exceptionally bloody and confusing horror flick, and
one of those where most of the work of scaring the audience is done by
the soundtrack’s spooky music and sound effects. Rated “18+” in
Thailand under the new ratings system.
17 Again: US, Comedy/ Drama/ Romance – Has just enough Zac Efron
charm to result in a harmless, pleasurable teen comedy. Mixed or
average reviews.
Jija - Raging Phoenix: Thai, Action/ Romance – Martial arts film
starring the amazing girl from the film Chocolate, Jija Yanin, a
true female action icon, who here combines her startling fight skills
with a love story and break dancing. A rather odd mix of a film, but it
should please martial arts fans. Watch it only when you’re
really in the mood for seeing startling martial arts images in a
disconnected pattern.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: US, Action/ Thriller – Nonsensical
mayhem, and very loud, but stylish. Generally negative reviews, but
very popular nonetheless.
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs [in 3D]: US, Animation/ Comedy –
Good animation. Mixed or average reviews.
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