In the ongoing process of globalization there are organized and coordinated webs and chains of worldwide gangs supported by instrumental legal and illegal interplay of misconduct forming a wide-range of global criminality, forced slavery and severe poverty. It is hard to find words to describe such accelerating trends that keep generating huge number of lost generation and victims. it is, indeed, far beyond what is known as human rights violation (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thomas_Pogge/publication/248818301_Severe_Poverty_as_a_Human_Rights_Violation/links/02e7e53435abc5ca8d000000.pdf).

Some examples of everyday products made with slave labor are chocolate, rubber, coffee, tobacco, electronics, diamonds, pornography, shrimps, carpets and palm oil. In the chain of processing these products forced slave labor often involves children (boys and girls) of ages down to four years with inhuman working conditions up to 18 hours a day, and more or less all the year around, with promised money that may never see. Such slave labor, adopted or sold, come from many countries in the so-called developing world, e.g. Ivory Cost, Liberia, Colombia, Dominican republic, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Uganda, Mexico, Thai, Philippine, Nigeria,  Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, the Middle East and many others. Such slave labor, amounts to 250 000 000 individuals, i.e. quarter of a billion, are lost generations and victims associated with the modern globalization process for serving the export markets such as Europe and the USA. They can suffer hard, cruel conditions and treatments as soldiers, prostitutes, domestic services, agriculture, construction, textile or carpet production. They can be exposed to severe physical and mental violence, chronic and painful damages and diseases, and with guarded threat of death. Many sources claim severe unethical practices even by leading and famous companies such as Marlboro, Apple and Foxconn. (http://youtu.be/nNY2Vl8jUjU).

Edible Insects as a Food Source 

Nutrient food is what we need and in the era of sustainability where the global population keeps growing while the natural resources on the planet Earth are declining more and more it becomes IMPERATIVE to have accessible and affordable nutrient food. Edible insects are emerging more and more as a food sources adding more insects to the Menu. 

The idea of eating insects is not new, in China, edible wasp collecting and cooking techniques were documented in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).  Also in Europe, Aristoteles (384-322BC) wrote about the best taste of a Cicada nymph and in early 20th century, the taste of chafer beetle soup (“Maikafersuppe”), was described as comparable to lobster soup, a highly appreciated dish in Germany and France. This culture expanded enormously, today about 1,900 edible insects are being consumed worldwide, mainly in Africa, Mexico and Asia, e.g. silk worm and crickets (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/06/will-eating-insects-ever-be-mainstream).

“Why not eat insects?” asked American pamphleteer Vincent Holt already in 1885, proof that selling the idea is nothing new. Two billion people worldwide routinely eat bugs an already appreciated food. Insects have also invaded foodie moments in the western world being a novelty in the European food scene as subversive garnishes for salads or cocktails, or on the menus of experimental pop-up (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/06/will-eating-insects-ever-be-mainstream).

Scientific American already supports high quality popular science. In this case describing the approach of biologists Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown by being unique to present biological concepts “fun, Informative and Extremely Successful”. They provide informative explanations, on topics people really want and need to know, in clear simple and colorful diagrams with pedagogic presentations (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/psi-vid/2012/12/12/asap-science-fun-informative-and-extremely-successful/).

Here is how Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown use the scientific approach to inform on the relevance of insects in the exoanding food market (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iM8s1ch5TRw).

What is Poverty? Why do we have poverty or more importantly why poverty is much abundant in the so-called developing countries? Are the people there different, if yes how, why and since when? If no, why then they became poor and what are the reasons? What instruments do we have to monitor poverty? Since when we realized that we have poverty? Did poverty happen over-night? What are the differences between absolute poverty and relative poverty? Why economic models, including the ones that won the Nobel Prize were successful to solve poverty only in limited parts of the world? So, many questions to be asked and even with proper answers on these questions we will continue to have poverty unless we have sincere and serious sustainable solutions.

Though United Nations was founded 1945 (http://www.un.org/en/about-un/index.html) it was not until recently when UN observed that there is poverty and started to set ambitious goals in 2000 to reduce global poverty and inequality by 2015. Yet much of the poverty is still left and more seriously many impacts and threats from poverty are expanding and deepening on several scales. While the UN claims that it successfully cut extreme poverty in half, the multinational groups are conflicted about how much developing regions such as sub-Saharan Africa can improve by 2030 (http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/12/31/un-wants-to-end-poverty-hunger-by-2030). 

GDP, which is used in economic models, by the World Bank and by politicians to monitor the economic growth around the world, fails enormously to bring about sustainable socio-economic developments around the world. It has even brought severe negative impacts in the developing countries and created new threats for the whole planet Earth and on the global scale. What regards the developing countries GDP can very well be used not as “Growth Domestic Product” but as “Growth Domestic Poverty”, as least for some if not for many developing countries. Major solutions need to be taken to switch over to more realistic indicators other than GDP that keeps pushing the developing world down hell the poverty spiral.

http://youtu.be/7M3WJQbnHKc

Many rural areas in the developing countries, in particular Africa and Asia, suffer from lack of clean water and sanitation. Poverty makes the situation extremely severe for large population what regards accessibility but also affordability. There exist simple, economic and Effective systems for water purification, e.g. biosand, that can remove the solid particulates and disease-causing micro-organisms from contaminated water. Slow sand filters contain very fine sand and usually function without pre-treatment and chemical additives such as flocculation and chlorination.

Harmful bacteria, parasites and other micro-organisms are greatly reduced through the so-called “bio-film”, a biologically active layer in top layers of the sand that gets created and destroys most pathogens “disease-causing organisms” as they can not survive there. The pathogens get consumed by micro-organisms in the bio-film as they are trapped in and on the sand surface; other filtration mechanisms support the quality improvement.

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/well/resources/fact-sheets/fact-sheets-htm/Household%20WT.htm

With growing probabilities that Iran will become the First Nation in the MENA region to join the world Nuclear Club then one can already ask who is next, why and what would be the future? (http://time.com/3751676/iran-talks-nuclear-race-middle-east/).

Going back in history there are logic questions to ask; was it right for the Americans to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to halt the war that killed millions of people and caused enormous damage? What lessons did we learn? Can we recall the disastrous huge damage that resulted from the fall of nuclear bombs? If so, why the members of countries joining the nuclear club is still increasing? Where there any wisdom for the decision that the bombs saved many lives as WW-II was brought to an end? What was the fate of WW-II if it continued? If we were getting wiser, why are we then initiating new wars and seeking more weapons? Would we bring more peace to the world which has already many threats (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nuclear_01.shtml).

For small kids lego, by being a pedagogic educational instrument, means develoging free imagination and creative thinking to innovation in problem solving. Lego provides means to translate abstract ideas to concrete reality, a play for more play with unknowns in brains that can not be translated or described in words to known touchable physical realities (http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-year-of-the-lego).

What is interesting is our process of innovation is how anstract ideas in science being transferred to innovative technological solutions for real daily life applications. In the ICT world innovations have not limit and still expands and brings to us an amazing and an ever expanding magnitude of applications.

The first stage of the ICT “Information and Communication Technology” revolution brought to us infinite capabilities for connecting peaple “human-to-human” communication which involves data-transfer. It has allowed the global community to be interactive on-line and in real-time with enormous new possibilties for education to share classrooms, lectures and to provide professionals with unlimited access to “Career-Development-Plans” opportunities. See for example SANDHAN visions to promote Distant Education and technology by making ICT more acceptable to Academic Fraternity.

The second stage of ICT revolution will allow humans to communicate with their bodies and their surrounding environments (http://youtu.be/b3Baz-F36Ck). The second stage of the ICT revolution is “human-to-life” communication through “Biosensors” where these sensors can tell us the status of our living conditions within us, i.e. In our bodies, and in our environments. In real-time and on-life they even give us unique information on different types of threats. An example of “Biosensors” is the use of DNA to detect toxic in environmental systems, e.g. lead and uranium and bacteria in water, and to give us information on food quality and health status in our bodies, e.g. through analysis of blood and urine (http://youtu.be/8A4Op2HzdQ8).

The global water cycle is an essential machinery for atmospheric cleaning of the air we breath. Planet Earth has, generally, a wide-range of natural processes, e.g. sedimentation and filteration, that continuously scavenging and remove hazardous compounds from surface- and groundwater. Human activities have posed and still posing continuous and increasing threats to air and water qualities through production of waste and pollution both In the atmosphere and the hydrosphere. The water we drink and the air we breath needs to be fresh and free from pollution. Waste and pollution are causing accelerating costs for counteracting the degradation of air and water resources.

Production of acceptable water quality, for example, requires constant implementation of management policies on different scales, i.e. instruments, approaches and regulations for affordable, accessible and continuous supply of drinking water. Yet, under the increasing pressures and competition on water resources.

Nano-technologies have wide-spectra of real-time and on-line solutions with huge range of applications what regards not only monitoring of water resources but also of improving their qualities by various purification solutions and waste/pollution treatments processes. Nano-technology based sensors can be produced for real-time and on-line applications with unique advantages for contiuous remote, effective and economic operation, control and monitoring of many processes. As with all other technologies, there are some unknown side-effects; in this case slow-rates of leakage of nano-particles and compounds (especially with aging) to the environment (air and water).

Click to access 42326650.pdf

 

There is an expanding nano-technology based applications of biosensor for health, medical, food, environmental and other important applications. These biosensor can be used for continuous online and real-time monitoring of changes in life-related processes. 

US scientists have, for example, developed durable biosensors that can be printed directly onto clothing thus allow continuous biomedical monitoring outside hospitals. Read the story!

http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2010/05/biosensors_in_briefs.asp

The current trends in the international security environments are very dynamic and constantly changing and shifting. Tension in major parts of the world are in best cases persistent, if not growing e.g. Europe. New and serious tensions are to emerge more and more, e.g. the MENA region and Africa. All these tensions either existing or emetging are caused by transnational criminality or by old ethic, religious, territorial or separatist disputes to contest existing borders.

Trends in the international security environment

Honeybee loss can induce global threats for food production as it is estimated that one third of the entire world’s food supply comes from pollination. Pesticides are a key suspect for honeybee loss and there is something that we can all do to counteract their use. 

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a global phenomenon in which worker bees from  European and North American hineybee colonies abruptly disappear. Colony collapse disorder is significant economically because many agricultural crops worldwide are being pollinated honey bees (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder).

The negative effects of the honeybee shortage were predicted years ago and there are several theorized causes of colony collapse disorder, from disease, to mites, to pesticides. However, in recent studies, e.g. U.C. Davis, where large sample of hives was examined, as much as 150 different chemical residues were found on the bees.

http://www.realfarmacy.com/effects-of-colony-collapse-disorder-now-manifesting-in-california/

Water means everything from health, nature, urbanization, industry, energy, food and equality. It is part of our daily life everywhere and at anytime. It is the heart of sustainability and essence of life. Today the 22nd of March, World Water Day, is an occasion for us to celebrate water as ancient Egyptians did (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding_of_the_Nile). To promote water and sanitation in Africa there is a dedicated Facebook page for communication and information, visit it at: (https://m.facebook.com/commonwealthafricabuja/posts/1610941099118189).

http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/

Egypt is in on its feet again after years of turmoil. On the top of Egypt’s long-term renaissance strategy is providing energy, housing, education and work for its growing population, in particular young people.

The MENA region as whole is investing heavily in renewable energy, unlike Iran with much investment in nuclear solutions. It is the particular geographical situation of the MENA region by being rich with solar resources and the long-term needs for desalination, water treatment and wastewater treatment, all of which are much power dependent. The region as whole still needs appropriate policies and sustainable long-term solutions for affordable and accessible water resources because of the arid and semi-arid nature of the region. Also, the negative impacts of climate change, in particular Egyptian Nile-delta, accelerating pressures not only of groundwater resources but also surface waters of the Jordan River, the Tigris-Euphrates River Basin, and the Nile River and their catchments with huge populations. Sound and sustainable large-scale and long-term policies for protection and conservation of the natural resources in the MENA region against waste and pollution are, also, important emerging necessities.

http://www.utilities-me.com/article-3326-mena-renewable-energy-zeal-spreads-to-egypt/#.VQv6kYp86nN

Slavery is not only daily pain for humans but it is a national socio-economic defect that cause pile-up of different threats on several national and international levels. Such threats can and do cause long-term and large-scale barriers in secio-economic and socio-political structures. This is evident from the historical evolution of slavery (http://youtu.be/nHk-WceZeFg). It is interesting to see how developing countries suffered and still suffer from severe socio-economic disparities, and also mental health problems, from slavery. Slavery of yesterday still affect our ability to be successful today. There are interesting statistics, e.g. from the USA, that need to be taken into account (http://thyblackman.com/2015/02/15/the-slavery-card-fact-or-just-the-ultimate-excuse/).

Among  important features of modern slavery are acceleration of different forms of gender and age discrimination and abuse of children (http://youtu.be/nNY2Vl8jUjU).