alphaindex
December 2008 
On this anniversary ...
Michael
A global machine which is undoubtedly in CRISIS …. because of IT's own obsessive adherence to sophisticated self-interest, arrogance & greed. A global machine which was originally established from a French elitist perspective as the G6 ( G6 would have been G7, G7 would have been G8 & G8 would have been G9 had the “inner sanctum” acknowledged the global significance of Brazil ) - and is now further 'strengthened' as a result of Nicolas Sarkozy's election as President & the apparent confirmation, over this week-end, of a resounding right majority - which will encourage the French to sit with renewed vigour around the Summer Solstice high-table that will be the next EU summit.
Sarkozy will rub shoulder to shoulder with Angela Merkel - & Tony Blair will no doubt, after his G8 Africa/AIDS snub, join in with the discussions of their dreams of a future of integrated harmony as a result of an agreement to implement the proposed "mini-constitution" that will see the EU taking control of the legal executive of ALL the member states without any acknowledgement of the fact that both the French & Dutch peoples voted against such action and the promised Blair referendum has been withdrawn. So much for all the rhetoriic of a British Government that says it wants to re-connect with a disillusioned electorate as Blair is seemingly destined to sign away independence of speech to the 'European Division' of the global machine just days before he leaves his office as PM for good - to hand over to a Prime Minister in waiting who has, as yet, NOT revealed his agenda to the electorate.
Mr. Blair's own personal sophisticated self-interest, arrogance & greed, can be no better demonstrated than during his recent press-conference to berate the "feral press pack" - no doubt another nail in the coffin of the process of making Parliament NOT subject to the freedom of information act - to which Andrew Gimson's Telegraph "Sketch" response was :-The Prime Minister proceeded to ask if it was "becoming worse", and answered "yes", with the result that "we are all being dragged down".
We fear some people may accuse Mr Blair of generalising from his own experience. His own press has got worse, so he thinks the press as a whole has got worse.
The alternative possibility - that his over-optimistic attempt to bring democracy to Mesopotamia and his greedy insistence on staying in power in London have led people to detest him - is too horrible to contemplate.
The split ‘within’ the global machine - with respect to climate change - sees one half of the camp proposing “carbon swapping” to alleviate the consciences of the ruling classes as they continue to consume & squander mother earth's resources without ever actually DOING anything but TALKING or using their ‘brains to control their hands’ to replenish our god-given natural resources - and the other half of the camp “betting” on what undoubtedly will be delivered as major scientific advancements - but for the 'profit' of the few rather than the mutual benefit & advancement of the many.
Meanwhile the split ‘without’ the global machine sees the developing world of China & India in almost total disagreement with either of these two camps within - made increasingly difficult & much worse for many, by the “global intifada” amongst and between the religious camps of the world - 'united' in their individual and collective inability to address the problems of the day & in desperate need of a guiding LIGHT from elsewhere.
Having expanded my AlphaINDEX to include Martha's 'piece' on her thoughts of interlinking with other people's personal alphaindexes in some way… and what people have always got out of categorizing others as “deficient" and the POWER & POWER OVER obtained as such - I was pleased to have read a Big Issue article - which Martin has recently brought to my attention - entitled Hotspots of Brazil.
Plans for a free multimedia hotspot in Manchester draw their inspiration from Brazil, where the Ponto de Cultura are transforming the lives of people who have never even seen computers before - writes Eleanor Barlow - following a trip to Brazil by Vicky Sinclair, from the charity Solid Earth, to look at Claudio Prado's open source technology based programme called Bridges of Culture.
interactive multimedia solution
to Martha's gordian knot question of
" what is the difference betwen information & knowledge" ...
in the context of learning, learning to learn and the process of understanding the knowledge of wisdom as INSIGHT arises.
NO better initial focus - for the Zion Arts Centre where the pilot will be launched in September - would be than to consider the delivery of an interactive multimedia presentation of the modern day equivalent of Bob Abel’s Guernica project -
in the context of establishing an understanding of why we fight and the need to communicate the concept of Merchants of Love not Merchants of Death.
THIS initiative / project could then be utilised as the “template” for other UK cities & act as a beacon to Europe & the World - in pursuance of our Common Goals to establish ONE UNITED STATES of EARTH.
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Access: Public
Claudio Prado, 63 is the leading figure in the Brazilian movement. He was deeply involved in the countercultural movement in 1960's London - he was one of the organizers of the first Glastonbury Festival, and was involved in the launch of the International Times and of the first format of Time Out. In London he met the musician Gilberto Gil, now Culture Minister of Brazil, with whom he has had a lifetime friendship.
Claudio is now in a unique position, working in a very new frontier between government and media activists running the Digital Culture Department of the Ministry of Culture of Brazil. He is the man responsible for Brazil's involvement in international discussions around digital and open source culture, and all its consequences in IP regulations, cultural production and identity, creative economy and so on. He is also responsible for putting all these concepts into practice, through the Pontos de Cultura (literally, 'Bridges of Culture') project - 600 grassroots cultural centers spread all around the country that receive a digital multimedia production infrastructure and take part in a series of meetings and workshops regarding free and open source software for multimedia production, open licensing, gift economy and similar subjects.
Phase 1 is a basic link like a piece of string between these capitals
AfghanistanKabul, 2,206,300AlbaniaTirana, 353,400AlgeriaAlgiers, 3,917,000 (metro. area), 1,742,800 (city proper)AndorraAndorra la Vella, 23,000AngolaLuanda, 2,297,200Antigua and BarbudaSt. John's, 23,500ArgentinaBuenos Aires, 13,349,000 (metro. area), 2,768,772 (city proper)ArmeniaYerevan, 1,462,700 (metro. area), 1,267,600 (city proper)AustraliaCanberra, 327,700AustriaVienna, 2,041,300 (metro area), 1,523,600 (city proper)AzerbaijanBaku, 2,118,600 (metro area), 1,235,400 (city proper), a port on the Caspian SeaBahamasNassau, 222,200BahrainAl-Manámah, 527,000 (metro area), 149,900 (city proper)BangladeshDhaka, 12,560,000 (metro.area), 5,378,023 (city proper)BarbadosBridgetown, 98,900BelarusMensk (Minsk), 1,769,500BelgiumBrussels, 1,750,600 (metro area), 981,200 (city proper)BelizeBelmopan, 8,700BeninPorto-Novo (official), 231,600; Largest city and seat of government: Cotonou 734,600BhutanThimphu (official), 60,200BoliviaSucre, 204,200; Administrative capital: La Paz, 1,576,100 (metro. area), 830,500 (city proper)Bosnia and HerzegovinaSarajevo, 581,500 (unofficial)BotswanaGaborone, 195,000BrazilBrasília, 2,160,100BruneiBandar Seri Begawan, 78,000BulgariaSofia, 1,088,700Burkina FasoOuagadougou, 962,100BurundiBujumbura, 331,700CambodiaPhnom Penh, 1,169,800CameroonYaoundé, 1,395,200 (metro. area), 1,154,400 (city proper)CanadaOttawa, Ontario, 1,142,700 (metro. area)Cape VerdePraia, 99,400Central African RepublicBangui, 810,000 (metro. area), 669,800 (city proper)ChadN'Djamena, 609,600ChileSantiago, 5,333,100 (metro. area), 4,372,800 (city proper)ChinaBeijing, 10,849,000 (metro. area), 8,689,000 (city proper)ColombiaSantafé de Bogotá, 7,594,000 (metro. area), 7,185,889 (city proper)ComorosMoroni (on Grande Comoro), 60,200Congo, Democratic Republic of the Kinshasa, 6,541,300Congo, Republic ofBrazzaville, 1,169,900Costa RicaSan José, 1,527,300 (metro. area), 337,200 (city proper)Côte d'IvoireYamoussoukro (official), 185,600; Largest city and administrative center: Abidjan, 4,113,600 (metro. area), 3,427,500 (city proper)CroatiaZagreb, 685,500CubaHavana, 2,686,000 (metro. area), 2,343,700 (city proper)CyprusLefkosia (Nicosia) (in government-controlled area), 197,600Czech RepublicPrague, 1,378,700 (metro. area), 1,169,800 (city proper)DenmarkCopenhagen, 1,094,400DjiboutiDjibouti, 383,000DominicaRoseau, 20,000Dominican RepublicSanto Domingo, 2,851,300 (metro. area), 2,252,400 (city proper)East TimorDili, 50,800EcuadorQuito 1,780,700 (metro. area), 1,443,900 (city proper)EgyptCairo, 11,146,000 (metro. area), 7,629,866 (city proper)El SalvadorSan Salvador, 1,791,700 (metro. area), 504,700 (city proper)Equatorial GuineaMalabo, 92,900EritreaAsmara, 899,000 (metro. area), 400,000 (city proper)EstoniaTallinn, 379,000EthiopiaAddis Ababa, 2,716,200FijiSuva (on Viti Levu), 177,300FinlandHelsinki, 1,162,900 (metro. area), 582,600 (city proper)FranceParis, 9,854,000 (metro. area), 2,110,400 (city proper)GabonLibreville, 661,600GambiaBanjul, 46,700GeorgiaTbilisi, 1,440,000 (metro. area), 1,240,200 (city proper)GermanyBerlin (capital since Oct. 3, 1990), 3,933,300 (metro. area), 3,274,500 (city proper)GhanaAccra, 2,825,800 (metro. area), 1,661,400 (city proper)GreeceAthens, 3,247,000 (metro. area), 747,300 (city proper)GrenadaSt. George's, 4,300GuatemalaGuatemala City, 2,655,900 (metro. area), 1,128,800 (city proper)GuineaConakry, 1,767,200Guinea-BissauBissau, 296,900GuyanaGeorgetown, 227,700HaitiPort-au-Prince, 1,764,000 (metro. area), 1,119,000 (city proper)HondurasTegucigalpa, 1,436,000 (metro. area), 1,248,300 (city proper)HungaryBudapest, 2,597,000 (metro. area), 1,769,500 (city proper)IcelandReykjavik, 184,200 (metro. area), 114,800 (city proper)IndiaNew Delhi, 15,334,000 (metro. area), 9,817,439 (city proper)IndonesiaJakarta, 13,194,000 (metro. area), 8,389,443 (city proper)IranTehran, 7,796,257 (city proper)IraqBaghdad, 6,777,300 (metro. area), 5,772,000 (city proper)IrelandDublin, 1,018,500IsraelJerusalem, 695,500 Note: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the U.S., like nearly all other countries, maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv. ItalyRome, 3,550,900 (metro. area), 2,455,600 (city proper)JamaicaKingston, 937,700 (metro. area), 590,500 (city proper)JapanTokyo, 35,327,000 (metro. area), 8,483,050 (city proper)JordanAmman, 2,677,500 (metro. area), 1,293,200KazakhstanAstana, 288,200 (formerly Aqmola; capital since 1997)KenyaNairobi, 3,064,800 (metro. area), 2,411,900 (city proper)KiribatiTarawa, 26,600Korea, NorthPyongyang, 3,222,000 (metro. area), 2,767,900Korea, SouthSeoul, 10,287,847 (city proper)KuwaitKuwait, 1,709,800 (metro. area), 32,600 (city proper)KyrgyzstanBishkek (formerly Frunze), 824,900LaosVientiane, 194,200LatviaRiga, 867,700 (metro. area), 706,200 (city proper)LebanonBeirut, 1,916,100 (metro. area), 1,171,000 (city proper)LesothoMaseru 173,700LiberiaMonrovia, 1,348,900 (metro. area), 550,200 (city proper)LibyaTripoli, 2,357,800 (metro. area), 1,269,700 (city proper)LiechtensteinVaduz, 5,300LithuaniaVilnius, 543,500LuxembourgLuxembourg, 78,800Macedonia Skopje, 587,300 (metro. area), 452,500 (city proper)MadagascarAntananarivo, 1,390,800MalawiLilongwe, 499,200MalaysiaKuala Lumpur, 3,688,200 (metro. area), 1,403,400MaldivesMalé, 81,600MaliBamako, 1,323,200 (metro. area), 935,400MaltaValletta, 194,200 (metro. area) 6,900 (city proper)Marshall IslandsMajuro, 20,500MauritaniaNouakchott, 661,400MauritiusPort Louis, 577,200 (metro. area), 143,800 (city proper)MexicoMexico City, 19,013,000 (metro. area), 8,591,309 (city proper)MicronesiaPalikir 11,600MoldovaChisinau, 772,500 (metro. area), 709,900 (city proper)MonacoMonaco, 1,400MongoliaUlaan Baatar, 804,200MontenegroPodgorica (administrative capital), 117,875; Cetinje (capital city), 14,700 MoroccoRabat, 1,636,600MozambiqueMaputo, 1,691,000 (metro. area), 1,114,000 (city proper)MyanmarRangoon (Yangon), 4,344,100NamibiaWindhoek, 221,000. Summer capital: Swakopmund, 26,200NauruYaren, 4,900NepalKathmandu, 1,203,100 (metro. area), 729,000 (city proper)NetherlandsAmsterdam (official), 737,900; The Hague (administrative capital), 465,900New ZealandWellington, 342,500 (metro. area), 165,100 (city proper)NicaraguaManagua, 1,390,500 (metro. area), 1,146,000 (city proper)NigerNiamey, 748,600NigeriaAbuja, 590,400 (metro. area), 165,700 (city proper)NorwayOslo, 791,500OmanMuscat, 797,000 (metro. area), 54,800 (city proper)PakistanIslamabad, 601,600PalauKoror, 11,100Palestinian State (proposed)UndeterminedPanamaPanama City, 1,053,500 (metro. area), 437,200 (city proper)Papua New GuineaPort Moresby, 324,900ParaguayAsunción, 1,482,200 (metro. area), 525,100PeruLima, 8,180,000 (metro. area), 7,029,928 (city proper)PhilippinesManila, 10,677,000 (metro. area), 1,581,082 (city proper)PolandWarsaw, 2,201,900 (metro. area), 1,607,600 (city proper)PortugalLisbon, 2,618,100 (metro. area), 559,400QatarDoha, 550,700 (metro. area), 318,500 (city proper)RomaniaBucharest, 2,210,800 (metro. area), 1,906,800 (city proper)RussiaMoscow, 10,672,000 (metro. area), 10,101,500 (city proper)RwandaKigali, 298,100St. Kitts and NevisBasseterre (on St. Kitts), 11,500St. LuciaCastries, 60,300St. Vincent and the GrenadinesKingstown, 17,600SamoaApia, 35,900San MarinoSan Marino, 4,300São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé, 53,300Saudi ArabiaRiyadh, 3,724,100SenegalDakar, 2,476,400SerbiaBelgrade, 1,717,800 (metro. area), 1,285,200 (city proper)SeychellesVictoria, 23,000Sierra LeoneFreetown, 1,051,000SingaporeSingapore, 3,438,600SlovakiaBratislava, 428,800SloveniaLjubljana, 258,000Solomon IslandsHoniara (on Guadalcanal), 54,600SomaliaMogadishu, 1,208,800South AfricaPretoria, 1,541,300 (metro. area), 1,249,700 (city proper); Legislative capital and largest city: Cape Town, 3,140,600 (metro. area), 2,733,000 (city proper). Judicial capital: Bloemfontein, 378,000. No decision has been made to relocate the seat of government. South Africa is demarcated into nine provinces, consisting of the Gauteng, Northern Province, Mpumalanga, North West, KwaZulu/Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape, and Free State. Each province has its own capitalSpainMadrid, 5,130,000 (metro. area), 3,169,400 (city proper)Sri LankaColombo, 2,436,000 (metro. area), 656,100 (city proper). Legislative and judicial capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, 118,300SudanKhartoum, 5,717,300 (metro. area), 1,397,900 (city proper)SurinameParamaribo, 217,300SwazilandMbabane, 69,000; Royal and legislative capital: Lobamba, circa 5,000SwedenStockholm, 1,622,300 (metro. area), 1,251,900 (city proper)SwitzerlandBern, 122,700SyriaDamascus, 2,381,800 (metro. area), 1,861,900TaiwanTaipei, 7,871,900 (metro. area), 2,722,600 (city proper)TajikistanDushanbe, 817,100 (metro. area), 590,300 (city proper)TanzaniaDodoma, 164,500. Largest city (2003 est.): Dar es Salaam, 2,489,800ThailandBangkok, 6,320,174 (city proper)TogoLomé, 749,700 (metro. area), 676,400 (city proper)TongaNuku'alofa, 24,500Trinidad and TobagoPort-of-Spain, 263,800 (metro. area), 45,300 (city proper)TunisiaTunis, 1,660,300 (metro. area), 699,700 (city proper)TurkeyAnkara, 3,582,000 (metro. area), 3,456,100 (city proper)TurkmenistanAshgabat, 727,700TuvaluFunafuti, 5,300UgandaKampala, 1,461,600 (metro. area), 1,244,000 (city proper)UkraineKyiv (Kiev), 3,296,100 (metro. area), 2,588,400 (city proper)United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi, 539,800United KingdomLondon, 7,615,000 (metro. area), 7,429,200 (city proper)United StatesWashington, DC, 570,898UruguayMontevideo, 1,745,100 (metro. area), 1,347,600 (city proper)UzbekistanTashkent, 3,457,500 (metro. area), 2,155,400 (city proper)VanuatuPort Vila, 35,300VenezuelaCaracas, 3,517,300 (metro. area), 1,741,400 (city proper)VietnamHanoi, 2,543,700 (metro. area), 1,396,500 (city proper)Western Sahara (proposed state)El Aaiun 198,200YemenSanaá, 1,778,900ZambiaLusaka, 1,773,300 (metro. area), 1,265,000 (city proper)ZimbabweHarare, 2,331,400 (metro. area), 1,919,700 (city proper)
Phase 2 is whatever the resulting collective intelligence can co-create with God.