So How many Countries Are There In The World?

I was wondering about this question just the other day. I was looking at a globe and wondering what the total number of countries are in the world. As it turns out the number of countries changes from time to time. There is no set number or stable number. Some countries disappear like the old Soviet Union and others are created like Israel was in 1948 and come into being. As of June 2008 the total number of countries in the world stands at 194. If you count Taiwan it would be 195 but nobody counts Taiwan. There has been a long standing dispute about the status of Taiwan. The Chinese government claims Taiwan is a breakaway republic and that it in fact belongs to her. Most countries around the world have to agree not to recognize taiwan as an independent country in order to maintain relations with China. The United States as well as most other countries do this. The total number of countries that are members of the United Nations is 193. The only 2 countries that are not are Taiwan for the reasons specified earlier and the other is Vatican City.
The world's newest country is Kosovo. It became a country officially in February of 2008. The second newest country is Montenegro and that happened in 2006.
Since 1990 28 new countries have come into being. Half of these have come from the former Soviet Union and 7 of these have resulted from the breakup of Yugoslavia and Kosovo was among these.

Privacy Issues Arise With New Airport Scanners

In a move to insure further the security of the flying public the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is installing a new generation of 38 scanners in 10 of the nations airports beginning in the late spring of 2008. The new scanners are state of the art and are capable of seeing through the clothing of the passengers being scanned. Critics of the new devices are expressing concerns for the privacy of the public because the new machines are capable of producing very detailed images of an individuals body which may cause embarrassment and lead to concerns about privacy and abuse of the technology on the part of airport workers. The TSA is attempting to reassure the public by stating that the images that will be taken will have both the faces and the private parts of each individual scan blurred and that the images once they are checked for weapons and cleared will be deleted.

Americans Living Longer These Days

Despite all the troubles that Americans must go through in their day to day lives they are still managing to survive and live longer than ever before in the nations history. According to the C.D.C. (Center for Disease Control) life expectancy in the U.S. rose to an all time high of 78.1 years in 2006 which is an increase of 0.3% over 2005. White males have a life expectancy now of 76 years while black males can expect to live to 70 years on average. White females live the longest at 81 years while black females reached 76.9 years. Total U.S. deaths in 2006 were 2,425,900 which was a decline of over 22,000 from the year before. The total number of Americans who died from H.I.V. in 06 was 12,045 which represents a drop of almost 5% from 2005.

May 08 Death Toll In Iraq Hits Wartime Low

It seems that things may be looking up in Iraq in terms of casualties for U.S. servicemen fighting there. They are far less likely these days to be killed in the war than in previous months. In May of 2008 the number of U.S. war dead reached an all time low of 19. At the height of the fighting the U.S. was suffering closer to 140 dead a month. On average we have suffered at or about 100 a month during the conflict. The reduction in casualties has been attributed to a couple of developments that have proven to be positive for the U.S. cause there. The biggest is the cease fire that was negotiated between the U.S. and The Madi Army which is under the control of Muqtada-Al Sadr who's forces are concentrated mainly in Sadr City but have been involved in fighting in various other parts of the country. The other is the increased role that the Iraqi's are taking in combat operations all around Iraq. Fewer and fewer American soldiers are involved in direct combat and the burden is being shifted to the Iraqi Army. Everyone at the Pentagon is keeping their fingers crossed that these developments continue into the future.

Biking Faster Than Driving or Subway In NYC

Recently in New York City a little experiment took place to find out exactly what the fastest way to get around the city is overall. Three different types of commuters were sent on their way from a section of brooklyn known as Fort Green to Union Square in Manhattan. One of the commuters was sent off on a bike, another was driving a car, and a third took the subway. The object was to see who would get to their destination first. They were also trying to find out which of the three modes of transport would be the least harmful to the envirornment in terms of carbon emissions. They knew beforehand that biking would be the least harmful but they wanted to find out exactly by how much.
The result of the race was a surprise to some. The man on the bike won the race hands down taking only 16 minutes to complete the trip. The driver took 22 minutes and the transit commuter came in last at 29 minutes. The carbon footprints of the commuters were also measured. The biker did the best here of course with a carbon footprint of zero. The transit rider was just a little behind at only one pound. The driver had the biggest impact on the enviornment producing 6 pounds of carbon dioxide during the 5 mile trip.

The Wastes Of Waging War

Waging war and or preparing to wage war can be very expensive propositions for American taxpayers. It becomes even more expensive when you factor in all the overruns that usually end up skyrocketing the cost of any new weapons system that the Pentagon may want to produce. It can become a complete debacle when the new weapon purchased ends up encountering all sorts of technical problems in the field that require more money to be spent in an attempt to repair initial design flaws in any system. According to the U.S. Government's Accountability Office cost overruns for weapon systems is not ony a way of life at the Pentagon but it is now reaching comical levels. Here below are some examples:

V-22 Osprey - This is a vertical takeoff aircraft designed and built for the Marines. It's special feature is that it has propellers on the ends of it's wings that can rotate and therby allow the plane to takeoff and land like a helecopter. Over the last 20 years the cost of building it has risen 44% from an original cost estimate of 38 billion dollars to nearly 55 billion today. In that time it has had a number of problems that have caused redesignes and alterations of some of its internal systems. One of its biggest problems is that when it takes off the huge amount of sand and dirt that it kicks up from its massive propellers sometimes jam up the engines and the plane stalls.

Virginia-Class Submarine - This is an attack sub which has the ability to operate in coastal waters as well as diving deep into the oceans and remaining out to sea for large periods of time. In the past 10 years the cost of the program has risen from about 57.5 billion to over 81 billion.

E.F.V. - The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle Is a tank like weapon that is designed and built for the Marines. It's primary purpose is to serve as a troop carrier but it also has a canon mounted on board and is capable of offensive engagements. Over the last 7 years it has had a cost overrun of 55%. Original cost was 8.7 billion. The overruns now total over 13.5 billion.

MQ-9 Reaper - This is a plane designed for the Air Force which will not have a pilot. The Air Force is designing planes that do not carry pilots on board who fly them but instead the pilot will be located in a command center and will fly the plane remotely using a joystick type device to control and fly the plane without ever having to be in harms way. After only 3 years the cost overruns have exceeded 200%. The original cost of this program was about 690 million dollars. The latest estimates put the figure at about 2.2 billion.

New Space Plane Will Cut Flight Times Between Cities

If you are a member of the flying public who dreads flying because of the amount of time it takes to get from one city to another there may be a solution coming for you from Europe. An Agency called EADS Astrium is currently developing a space plane that is promising to cut the amount of time it takes to fly from city to city from hours to minutes in most cases by traveling through space instead of the Earth's atmosphere. The plane will not be as large as a 747 jetliner but rather it will look a lot more like a lear jet and have a proposed seating capacity of only 4 people which means the flight wont be crowded either. It is still in the development stages but if it is ever built and flies it will be able to transport its passengers from a flight from London to Sydney, Australia in a mere 4 hours. Currently that nearly 11,000 mile trip takes over 21 hours in a conventional jetplane. If you think you might be ready to book a flight as soon as it is built and ready to go you had better be ready to pay dearly for the privlidge. It is currently estimated that the cost to make the flight will be about $315,000 per passenger.