At least 21 countries have less than 1500 cubic meters of water available per person per year, which means they need to start importing food

The formula seems to be when a country devotes 40% of its renewable water resources or more to irrigation, it starts to face water allocation issues. It must import food, especially water intense crop.

Saudi Arabia, China and South Korea are among these countries. They are starting to lease land in Africa to grow food.

China is acquiring agricultural land in Southern Africa.

Daewoo Logistic is looking to lease land in Madagascar.

More countries in South Asia and the Gulf are considering similar moves because all countries in South Asia are projected to be at this point by 2030, among a projected 35 countries by then. Middle East countries are expected to hit 58% of its renewable water resources to irrigation by 2030.

– BBC (Feb 2 2009).

Most Popular Baby Names Fun

The top names given to American babies for 2007 were:

#   Male – Female (includes variations)
1.   Jacob –  Emily
2.   Michael – Isabella
3.   Ethan – Emma
4.   Joshua – Ava
5.   Daniel – Madison
6.   Christopher – Sophia
7.   Anthony – Olivia
8.   William – Abigail
9.   Matthew – Hannah
10. Andrew – Elizabeth

Not much has changed in top rankings for many years. Emily has been tops for 12 years now, and only one changed in the top 10 girls’ names from 2006 (Elizabeth replaced Samantha). Emily is among my favourite girls’ names because my favourite poet is Emily Dickinson, but if “all” the girls were being named Emily, I’m not going to name mine Emily if I have any ultimate say because Google has changed the baby name game by giving at least one dis/advantage to names in searches, whether you or your namesakes show up. I tell people to Google their name at least 2-4 times a year to make sure nothing is there they should worry about.

Trends have lasted even longer than rankings. Top male names given have always been traditional Biblical names. Yawn! Top female names given were always more adventurous. Then there are cultural trends, like “black” and “white” names, or how name usage trends start from the upper class before middle and lower classes pick them up in greater numbers, and research on whether a name really gives one a dis/advantage in life, according to the demographic statistics, shown in Freakonomics! (ch 6). I was not able to find claims for 1980-90s trends of some top girls names tending to follow the rise of female porn stars (sicko!), but I have seen pretty convincing evidence before.

The analyses that can be done related to baby names can be so staggering entire websites can be devoted to it. This is where the fun begins.

The source of annual most popular baby names in America since 1880 is the US Social Security Administration. You can see how each name did in a given year, top lists to the depth level of your choosing, etc. My name, Minh, was not even in the top 1000 for the past 8 years, which doesn’t surprise me, but that’s the way (aha-aha) I like it!

What about performance through the years? Baby Name Wizard’s Voyager feature shows that. Type in a name to get a performance chart. Baby Name Wizard’s Namipedia feature gives lots of information for a name, from usage to popularity in many areas, over time, etc. Not too culturally diverse, though, as Minh had no information available.

What about the future? Baby naming about the future. Freakonomics! authors, Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, predicted these top names in 2015, based on statistical algorithms, although they were cautious to admit unpredictable influences like Katrina and Obama, the latter of which will up end these trends… all around the world, apparently!

Of course, you probably won’t care much about any of this in choosing a name for your baby because it’s too personal a process, but if you did, try some of the 379 baby name resources on amazon.com.
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For Canadian readers, top Canadian baby names for 2007 were:

#   Male – Female (includes variations)
1.   Aidan – Emma
2.   Ethan – Sophia
3.   Jacob – Olivia
4.   Noah – Emily
5.   Lucas – Ava
6.   Logan – Hailey
7.   Liam – Abigail
8.   Owen – Madison
9.   Joshua – Hannah
10. Matthew – Isabella

A better source, with time and provincial breakdowns, can be found on baby2see.com.
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Compare, contrast, analyze… and let the fun begin!
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498 words (not including reference name lists)

Is Your Chest Big Enough to Drive a Motorbike in Viet Nam?

From the Globe & Mail article Motorcycle driving: Slight to slight people? on Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008 that may be put under subscription later so here is a paraphrase.

The government of Viet Nam is considering banning people too short, too thin or too small-chested from driving motorcycles. That’s right, small-chested, with small chested being defined as 28 inches, and it applies to men and women alike in a country where the average man is 5’4″ (164 cm) tall and weighs 121 lbs (55 kg) and the average woman is 5’1″ (155 cm) tall and weighs 103 lbs (47 kg). The author (not mentioned) was not able to find statistics on average chest sizes and did not even do independent research! How disgraceful and what a missed opportunity! 🙂

For the record, I’m Vietnamese, male, 5’2.5″, 110 lbs on a good day these days (used to be lighter) with 34.25″ (87 cm) chest when not wearing a bra. But I’m only an A minus cup so it’s all man chest!

Now, before you go thinking it’s a good law cause little people like me shouldn’t be on Harleys and Kawasakis, this is being applied in a country of 20 million motorcycles, mostly of the moped and scooter type. It’s really stupid policy work, and I don’t think I need to write a protest article as to why, but it is also really funny. Vietnamese bloggers are making jokes about cops stopping women to make sure their chests were big enough to drive, and complaints are coming in about how the poor can’t afford breast implants, with expectations of big investments into the padded bra market to be paying off.

And I don’t even know what the guys are going to do, although considering I’m over 34″ for chest size, it’s probably a good thing someone of 28″ chest not drive anything at all… although I’m not endorsing the regulation since it has to be easily enforceable. Technically, it is easy. Morally, it is not if you’re going to have to stop men and women and measure their chest size!

If they pass this law, not only will it cause a lot of havoc in Vietnamese society because a lot of people won’t be able to get to work if they can’t ride their motorbikes, but you’re going to start feeling like you’re at a simultaneous porn and body building convention with everybody making sure their chests are big enough to avoid being checked! That’ll be a tough lifestyle because it’s hot and humid as heck in Viet Nam that excess clothing is about the last thing you’d want to be doing.

But really, who came up with this stupid idea that height, slight and chest size had anything to do with being able to drive a scooter? They need some serious policy training over there… not that I’m surprised by it or anything. That Communist government in the North has been stupid for like 50-60 years now and is auditioning for the third role in the sequel to Dumb and Dumber, which would be Dumbest!

Commentary: London, Ontario, to ban plastic bottled water from city-ran facilities

Last night, Aug 18 2008, City Council of London, Ontario, voted 15-3 to ban bottled water, essentially the plastic stuff, from city-ran facilities. Rumours has it Vancouver, Ottawa and Kitchener may soon follow, among other municipalities.

This story seems to be quite popular, with 200 comments already and at the top of the Top Stories of the Day list as I am blogging this over lunch hour Atlantic Standard Time. Quite surprisingly, there were quite a few comments strongly against the story considering the awareness of bottled water and its environmental impact, not to mention its role as a “luxury” good, perhaps not like a Lamborghini luxury, but non-essential, nonetheless.

With my own environmental blog, I’m going to weigh in here.

Personally, I think it is an excellent idea municipalities and other pockets of society, whether government, private or certain homes, ban bottled water. I’m not an idealist who thinks it should be banned completely, as much as I’d like to have it so. I’m a realist who realizes there are times when bottled water is necessary and/or extremely practical, if not necessary. It also might be a very nice convenience, but not to the degree it is being used these days as everything from a fashion statement to a luxury good to a perceived safety alternative to regular water.

As with most things in life, moderation is good and the best solution lies somewhere between two extremes. I haven’t found anything to differ yet but to say “all” things in life would be hypocritical.

The reason I think London’s move to be excellent is because of its awareness value. The City won’t make that much of a dent in the local impact, even, let alone regional, provincial, national, continental or global markets. Nor will all the government bans you can enforce. What it will do, though, is inspire more such efforts, on small scales that is a little here and a little there, to help reduce the massive impact plastic bottled water is having on the environment these days. Hopefully, with enough of these efforts, the problem will become a lot more manageable soon.

One can go about trying to get these efforts at a grassroots level, no doubt, possibly through larger organized efforts proven to be effective like community-based social marketing. But you know, it never hurts to have visible people and/or organizations prove it can be done through action rather than just talking about it.

And who might I be thinking of to follow London’s pursuits aside from other governments trying to match or one-up each other? Well, pretty much anyone, individually or organizationally. The United Church of Canada did over two years ago, apparently! Good for them! So who else? What about your workplace? Some division within it? Book club? Sports club (use aluminum bottles or refills of plastic ones for several weeks at a time if you must)? How’s about a plastic water bottle free zone at home? Use your imagination!

In the meanwhile, bravo to London! Let’s see who steps up next! In the meanwhile, some stats from the referenced articles:

– The amount of oil needed to make a single plastic bottle is enough to displace a quarter of the clear, colourless liquid it is meant to contain (Pacific Institute).

– Almost three in 10 Canadian households now use bottled water at home – the richest ones being the biggest consumers. But the households least likely to drink it were those led by one or more people with university degrees. (Statistics Canada, different study but same source and results in Stat 0133).

Minh Tan
Envirostats author
[MySpace music, photography, poetry]

– Headline story in the Globe & Mail (Carly Weeks), Aug 19 2008 (link will probably be under subscription by September)
– United Church reference in the Globe & Mail (John Barber), Aug 19 2008 (link will probably be under subscription by September)

Britain’s wet weather during 2007 was among the wettest in modern times, costed about £3 billion in damages, saw the highest river levels in 60 years, 30 flood warnings and involved the greatest number of search and rescue missions in the country since 1945.

There’s your total for the weather damage in Britain in 2007. [Envirostats author] 

– The (British) Environment Agency via the Guardian, Dec 7 2007