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politics - Photos

Healthcare Costs Around The World

March 26th 2010 01:14

There are a wide variety of health care systems around the world varying from country to country. Some systems seem to be more effective than others. The United States for example, spends more of it's GDP on health care than any other nation, yet its rates of infant mortality and life expectancy are poor compared to other developed countries.

The info-graphic below breaks down health care costs and expenditures in the developed world.
Sourced from Visual Economics.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: politics

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Countries With Limited Recognition

March 24th 2010 01:20

The map of the world as you know might not be totally correct, depending on who you talk to that is. There are a surprising number of states whose very existence is disputed. It may only be only one country that refuses to recognise them, or it could be the majority of nations.
The map below, sourced from The Herald Daily here, details the disputed areas of the world and some reasons why. Information from Wikipedia.

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Armenia is not recognized by one UN member, Pakistan, as this country has a position of supporting Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is not recognized by one UN non-member, the Republic of China (ROC, commonly known as 'Taiwan'). The PRC does not accept diplomatic relations with states that recognize the ROC (currently 22 UN member states and the Holy See). None of these states officially recognize the PRC as a state, though certain governments have made statements expressing an interest in official relations with both the PRC and the ROC. According to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, the PRC is the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations.

Cyprus is not recognized by one UN member, Turkey and one UN non-member, Northern Cyprus, as they do not accept that the Turkish military presence on Cyprus is an 'occupying force'.

Israel is not recognized by 19 UN members and one UN non-member, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, because of the Arab-Israeli conflict[38]. It is recognized by the Palestine Liberation Organization, which claims the right to set up a state in territory currently controlled by Israel.

North Korea is not recognized by two UN members: Japan and South Korea.

South Korea is not recognized by one UN member, North Korea.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: politics

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Inside the Secret Service

January 29th 2010 14:29

What would life be like as a Secret Service Agent?
This article at Life Magazine attempts to answer that question after talking to some former agents.

The Secret Service was founded in 1865 to battle the flood of counterfeit currency washing over the country near the end of the Civil War. It wasn't until 1902, a year after the assassination of President William McKinley, that the Service began, as part of its official mission, to protect the president, vice president, their families. (Ironically, the legislation creating the Secret Service was on Abraham Lincoln's desk the night he was murdered by John Wilkes Booth.)

what it takes to be a secret service agent

The agency's rigorous, frequent training keeps agents prepared for virtually any contingency—including, of course, the one unthinkable scenario. He characterizes much of the training as "going through realistic situations that have been specifically designed to create instinctive reactions to a single second's madness." Almost two weeks of every two months is spent at the agency's training center in Beltsville, Maryland, which features city blocks lined with facades of office buildings and hotels; roads for motorcades; and a Boeing 707 for running through airplane-based scenarios.

With American flags fluttering, the Presidential State Car—since 1983, a Cadillac limousine—is a national icon and an emblem of power. And in the case of President Obama's edition (every president gets a new ride), the machine is also an absolute beast. In fact, that's the nickname the Secret Service slapped on it before the inauguration in January, when Obama's limo made its formal debut. The Beast has its own air recirculation system to protect the president in the case of a chemical attack. Its doors are now sheathed in 8-inch-thick military-grade armor. Even the bulletproof windows are five inches thick. "The limousines of yesteryear were designed to provide protection and to get the president out of any situation," Ken Lucci, CEO of Ambassador Limousine Inc. and owner of two Reagan-era limos, told CNN. "Today, they [the Secret Service] expect a prolonged attack, and they expect an attack that is a lot more violent than [with] a weapon you can hold in your hand. It literally is a rolling bunker."

A lot of their work is extremely boring. You stand in a field for ten hours. You stand in a stairwell for twelve hours. You stand out in the cold, and the heat, and for the most part you have to be quiet, and just watch, and listen. You develop a way of watching. We all go through the same training, but we develop our own styles of scanning, assessing. We watch for someone who looks uncomfortable, or out of place. Dressed wrong for the weather. Someone unsmiling when everyone else is laughing and waving. And then, every once in a while, you catch someone staring at you. Maybe they're just curious about the job, or you happened to lock eyes at the instant their gaze moved briefly from the center of attention. But it's strange, and it definitely raises flags—even if a moment later it's clear that it meant absolutely nothing.

The Secret Service is not made up exclusively of agents wearing suits, ties, shades, and earpieces. In fact, as the agency's "dual mission" is to both protect VIPs as well as safeguard the nation's financial infrastructure (e.g., take down counterfeiters, fiscal gangsters, ID thieves, etc.), most agents spend as much time in SWAT-style gear as in white shirts and wingtips. The agents above—members of an elite division within the agency called the Counter Assault Team, or CAT—are prime examples of the agency's more heavily armed elements. They're not beside the president when he works a crowd, but in stairwells, on rooftops, in alleyways.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: politics

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President Obama

July 29th 2009 11:51

U.S. President Barack Obama has already been in office for 6 months. In today's post we'll take a look at some images from his presidency thus far. These pictures and information were sourced from Boston.com. See more photos here.

President Barack Obama addresses U.S. troops during his visit to Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq on April 7th, 2009.

French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive on June 6, 2009 at the Caen Prefecture before the commemorations marking the 65th anniversary of the June 6, 1944 allied landings in Normandy, northwestern France.

President Obama closes his eyes before he tapes his weekly Radio Address in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, June 2, 2009.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wear 3-D glasses while watching a TV commercial during Super Bowl 43, Arizona Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, in the family theatre of the White House on February 1, 2009. Guests included family, friends, Cabinet members, staff members and members of Congress.

President Obama walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, June 25, 2009, as final preparations are made for that night's luau.

President Barack Obama. Place setting. Dining Hall.

The place-setting for President Barack Obama's seat before a meeting with Congressional leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: politics

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Natural Resources

June 29th 2009 10:23

What are the most precious natural resources that a country may possess today? Can a country’s worth be measured by these resources? At any rate it is important to consider the economic potential that each country can gain. The map below shows the important resources of today and the countries that produce the most or in the case of oil and gas have the most reserves. Some of these resources and renewable while others are not. How would this map look if done again 20 or 100 years from now?