Takeru V. Maeda

Our world's water scarcity in many countries has continued to remain an unanswerable issue and has persisted to remind the rest of the privileged world that we are spending way too much water, exceeding necessity, and has even reminded us that we have forgotten that many are suffering for our careless usage just miles away in our own backyard and beyond

As of today, about one-third of our world's population is facing problems of water scarcity in their very own homes with clear evidence that perhaps that number will soon dramatically increase. In order to provide us with enough food to eliminate our world's hunger problems along with aiding the additional 2.5 billion people that will soon join our ranks, we will need twice as much water. In this day and age where urbanized populations are becoming wealthier and richer in meat/fish diets, the demands will be considerably overwhelming, taking into account that meat-eating diets requires twice as much water as a 2,000 liter-a-day vegetarian diet.

With the constant demand for more water from large cities and growing industries and the ironic drain on the water supplies by environmental preservation campaigns, agricultural production won't be able to grow enough food with the lack of provided water supply.

The only obvious answer to this constant growth of water loss is to have better water managment; to live with less water by making better use of what we have.  But why hasn't this happened yet?

On the contrary, it is happening as we speak. Many people have turned to new and old tools to continue producing food but with less water. One of the means of agricultural production in this fashion of "less water usage" is the utilizing of precise irrigation, like the low-cost drop and sprinkle  irrigation.

It has been proven, in sub-Saharan Africa, Nepal and India, that just enough water incorporated with improved crop varieties, fertilizer and soil managment can go a long way. With this new system of production, farmers can produce up to double the yield per hectare harvested as well as doubling the amount of food produced per unit of water.

Rice farmers in Asian countries have adopted a slightly diffrent approach to their agricultural practices by what is known as, "wet and dry" irrigation; as oppose to the traditional practice of keeping the rice fields flooded.

However, despite all these new and inventive practices by concerned farmers, many irrigation systems across Asia continue to overuse water than is needed because of poor maintenance and poor operation. And in sub-Saharan Africa, the problem is quite the oppostie; accessible water remains unreachable to many.

As we move on to the present plausible plans to reslove our growing water supply shortages, the reality can prove to be more complex. In Australial and the US, the annual per capita wate storage is more than 4,000 cubic meters, whereas, in  most of the sub-Saharan Africa, the water storage per capita lie within 100 cubic meters. The fact of the matter is that poorer countries cannot afford to invest in large hydraulic infrastructures.

As one of the ways in helping the underprivileged farmers in a resource-poor regions, the International Water Managment Instiute with other research organizations have offered low-cost drop irrigation kits as a means for more affordable opportunities by low-cost water investment.

Even with plans to save our water supply, many have yet to really acknowledge our global issue here and understand the repercussion of our carelessness and poor maintenance. Big organizations have been clear with their plans to offer low-cost and affordable water investments to farmers; the building and the investment in the infrastructure and proper knowledge to manage these complex water systems. However, as responsible and caring memebers of our society, we can do a little extra to help slow down our world's water supply by using just enough for what is needed and by spreading the word to friends on how each person's small sacrifices can get us closer to our goals.

At some point, in time, believers and nonbelievers gather and share their beliefs and oppositions about the existence of a God--sometimes peacefully, at times with hostility.

February 9, 2009 will see the launch of the Christian word as buses all throughout London will advertise the existence of God, by three separate Christian groups.

"It may be unpopular and unpleasant," said David Larlham, the assistant general secretary of London's Trinitarian Bible Society, "but there is a whole lot of truth in the bible that people need to get to grips with."

Roughly $50,000 was spent by Larlham's organization to display posters on 125 of London's world-known red double-decker buses with this quote from Psalm 53: "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God."

The response by the Christian groups followed up to the non-believing advertisement campaign launched by atheists, agnostics and other non-believers which dsiplayed their own slogan--"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life"--on roughly 800 buses throughout London. The atheist campaign was planned and set forth by Ariane Sherine--a comedy writers based in London--after seeing a Christian advertisement on a bus.

"It basically said that unless you believe this you're going to end up suffering," says Sherine. "Our campaign provides reassurance for people who might be agnostic and don't quite believe, and worry what will happen to them if they don't."

Larlham, on the other hand, thinks that Sherin and the atheists' efforts in campaigning to convince others to side against religion will bring no substantial result and pointless.

"As if people are losing sleep over God will suddenly be fine. If you're worried about something you need something more powerful than a phrase like that to stop it. You need a change of heart and a change of life that God's words can offer."

One of the newer parties that is joining the war against London's atheists is the Christian Party, a right-wing political party whose focus centers mainly around moral issues. It has no direct link with Larlham's groups."There is definitely is a God," says their message. "So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life."

The director of a Russian satellite television channel, Alexander Korobko, claims that he will join ranks with the Russian Orthodox Church in displaying in the message "There is God. Don't worry. Enjoy your life!" on more than 20 buses beginning in March.

"We're living in a difficult time, when crisis is being extensively promoted and people need some life-asserting message," said Korobko to London's Daily Telegraph.

Sherine was given aid from Hanne Stinson, CEO of the British Humanist Association, in raising funds for the campagin.

"It just proves that we've had an impact," says Stinson. Upon Sherine's first approach of proposing to raise $8,000 over several weeks for the campaign, a swamping $74,000 was presented on the very first day. By the end of January, more than $220,000 was raised.

The atheist opposition carried over into other nations off-shore and right in our nation's capitol. Similar campagins have run in Barcelona, Madrid and Washington DC while atheist bus campagins have launched in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany and Italy, with some posters in Genoa reading: "The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that we do not need him. "

A spokesman for the Archbishop of Genoa, Father Gianfrano Calabrese, spoke out against the campagin since taking taking place in Genoa.

"There are some methods which promote dialogue and others which feed intolerance," he said. "Head-on opposition always demonstrates intolerance."

Despite the recent removals of atheist posters coming to its end of the campagin on Feb. 1st, the so-called "modern-day Crusade" will not end quite so soon. According to the atheist bus organizers, there will be a regrouping and yet another campaign launch  sometime in April of this year.

"I don't object at all to the Christian ads that are going up, especially if they make people think," said Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. "If more people think for themselves, wel'll have fewer religious people."

Her election has come in the time of global economic turmoil which has greatly affected Iceland's financial curmbling, where its over-leveraged economy was followed by the collapse of its banks and currency.  

Sigurdardottir is a member of the Social Democrat Alliance party, led by Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, which is part of a coalition government along with the Independence Party. Recently, it was asked to reform the government but its leader, Gisladottir, was forced to take a leave of absence to recover from her tumor treatment. But in her place, Siguradardottir, who has worked in the social affairs ministry for the last decade, will take upon the reponsibility of making a choice, hailed as "unexpected but brilliant."

The newly-appointed PM lives with her partner, Jonina Leosdottir, a journalist and playwright, whome were joined in a civil ceremony in 2002. In her serenely progressive nation of just over 300,000 people, the union between her and her same-sex partner was nothing close to an attention-grabber or a big deal.

"Johanna is a very private person," said and Icelandic government source. "A lot of people didn't even know she was gay. When they learn about it people tend to shrug and say, 'Oh'. That not to say they are not interested; they are interested in who she's living with - but no more so than if she was a man living with a woman.

Sigurdardottir got into politics during the time of the labour movement and was first elected to parliament in 1978 and was given duty in her first ministerial office in 1987. Her Social Democratic Alliance party is part of the minority caretaker goverment, which she'll be leading, along with the Left-Greens political party and has the backing of outside supporters.

"In opinion polls Johanna has repeatedly been chosen as the most popular politician in Iceland," said the goverment source. "She is a good choice, becasue one of the problems the government is facing is lack of trust. Getting Johanna to become the Prime Minister was a way of saying trust is an issue. Politicians want fresh mandate from the electorate and, before they get it, they need to rebuild trust. Choosing Johanna is a way of saying, 'Let's bridge this gap, let's have peace to be able to implement the emergency measures'."

The former Prime Minister, Geir Haarde, was criticized as being incompetent in his handling of the nation's economy, facing months of angry protests from citizens. Some of the demonstrations and attacks have gotten so out of control that police were forced to respond with tear gas on the streets for the first time in 50 years in Iceland. In a poll in November, Sigurdardottir got a 73 per cent approval rating.

"She is often described as the only politican who really cares about the little guy," wrote Iris Erlingsdottir, Icelandic journalist.

Takeru V. Maeda

According to a recent survery study, that was carried out in more than 10 provinces, close to 15% of the total migrant labor pool is currently unemployed. Every year, somewhere between five to seven million workers from rural areas look for work in China's biggest cities. The labor pool in China is reported to have around 130 million migrant workers. Many fear that the large number of the unemployed could lead to soical unrest.

"If we put these figures together, we have roughly 25 to 26 million rural migrant workers who are now coming under pressure for empoloyment," said Chen Xiwen who is the director of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, which helps in providing recommendations for Chin'as leaders on policy for the countryside, where the population of rural residents is well above 700 million.

Chen's fellow researchers have gone to see around 150 villages all over China to gain better perspective of the effects of the spreading economic unease on the people. From what the researchers have gathered, the number of unemployed migrant workers is much greater than what was previously indicated by the director of the National Bureau of Statistics last month.

Reporters were told, by Ma Jian Tang in January, that nearly 5% of the country's 130 million migrant workers had returned to their villages after losing their jobs. However, the conditions differ in many parts of the country. A recent report in the well-known Caijin magazine, indicated that 10 workers from Guangxi, a poor province in southern China, had returned home unemployed. The magazine then went on to suggest that the situation was nearly as bad as central China's province of Hubei.

"Maintaining stable and quite fast economic development is the main task for 2009's economic work," said Zhou Yongkang, China's security chief, in the Chinese Communist Party journal Seeking Truth. Officals were given the word to do what they can to reslove problems before they escalate and provoke protests.

Because of a recent government document on rural policy, a many farmers will find hardship in the coming year because "shocks to agricultural and rural development are constantly emerging." For officials, this causes a concern for their aim to boost domestic consumption to try to strengthen the faltering economic growth.

On the other hand, city-side family members who send remittances to their loved ones are often a big help in improving the living standards in the countryside.

The government annouced a 4,000bn yuan ($586bn) stimulus package last autumn, which aims to extend the electricity grid, subsidize the purchase of domestic appliances and extend rural acess to healthcare and spending. However, a number of economists believe that it all won't be enough to convince people to spend.

Even with the optimistic hope of many in the stimulus package, others have warned that the number of unemployed migrant workers could be on the conservative side and that there may lie worse ahead.

President Obama's inauguration wasn't just celebrated on American soil. The entire world was glued to the tv screens in homes, bars, friend's homes, stereo, internet--it was being watched live all over the world by billions of eyes of people with a hope for a changed and brighter future. Revelers slaughtered goats in Kenya. Party goers danced at big glamorous balls in Indonesia.

In Lebanon no one left the bar as they kept glued to the tv screens and schoolgirls wearing hijabs waved US flags in New York.

People gathered in the high numbers from Las Vegas to London to Kabul, Afghanistan, at restaurants, inside casinos and on street corners to witness the historic chapter.

As the 44th president of the United States places his hand on the same Bible touched by Abraham Lincoln for his first inaguration, there was no denying that silent feeling as everyone around you was stuck onto the screen, watching the moment unfold, taking part in history.

In New York City Hall 2,000 people gathered to watch President Obama swear oath on the big screen. A blind man nodded his head and couldn't help but break into a wide grin; a Republican war veteran, in a wheelchair, clapped; a gay rights activist wept; Jean Golden, 65, a social worker, stood in the back row singing "God Bless America."

In Jakarta, Indonesia, where Obama lived from 1967 to 1971, people assembled at Model Primary school 1 in the neighborhood of Menteng.

"The fact that a black man is elected as the president of the most powerful country in the world is something to celebrate," said Enda Nasution. "this is proof that we can still hope for humanity."

Even for a country where most people have no electricity, Kenya was still just as much in the witness as the rest of the world as thousands gathered around public TV's and humongous screens that were placed at Nairobi's downtown convention center. As the front-page banner had read, "Obama The Great," villagers took to slaughtering dozens of cows, goats, and chickens, in celebration, in Obama's ancestrial village in western Kenya.

"I feel I'm watching my brother's inauguration," said Fred Orina, 29, who's an unemployed resident. "It's good to be assocated with the greatest president of the greatest nation on Earth. And it's very speical to see a black man now leading whites."

Thousands of people in Colombia with African roots reveled as residents in Turbaco reeenacted the inauguration using a paper scale model of the White House.

In Hawaii, at roughly 7 a.m., almost 400 students at Punahou School in Honolulu, where Obama attended as a young man, sat in the auditorium and watched one of their own take oath to presidency. Just after Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said, " Congratulations Mr. President," the entire auditorium broke out into hysteric cheers.

"It's unbelievable," said Korean American seventh-grader Shannel Chong.

The fun and celebrations didn't end there. War-gripped nations had also watched fervently as Obama swore in.

In Basra, a coalition of mainly black Iraqis watched at their headquaters of the Free Iraqi Movement.

""This is a triumpth for humanity and democracy in the world," said the group's leader Jalal Chijeel. "We black-skinned people had a huge celebration on this occasion because of all that we suffered in this land."

In Kabul, there was an excitement that could have possible rivaled the American excitement over Obama.

"We think he is a good man," said Hamidullah Sharif, who was selling oranges from a wodeen cart at a downtown intersection.

"And that Bush was a bad man!" yelled a customer.

There is no question that many have felt the importance of inauguration day, seeing a man of color and multiracial heritage take stage in front of billions across the globe as he was crowed the nation's 44th president. For some, like Robin Cermak from Atlanta, where hundreds of people gathered at Centennial Olympic Park, Obama's inauguration was about the personal struggle with pride fo his/her own nation. Cermak, who is black, said it was the first time she had held a US flag or put her hand over her heart.

"Today, I'm proud," said Cermak before hugging a white stranger. "Because this country has fulfilled its promise of inculusion."