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NEWS ... GLOBAL NEWS ... 2008 all driver's licences or equivalent ID US MILITARY SPENDING TO EXCEED REST OF WORLD COMBINED! must include a machine-readable name, a t is expected that next year the United States will spend more on its defence and digitised photograph, address, social secu- security than the rest of the world combined will spend on theirs. In 2004, massive tity number, a digitised birth certificate and | Ug spending on the war on terrorism pushed global military expenditure above signature. It was passed in the Senate on | Us$1 trillion—the sixth successive year in which the total has risen, according to the 10 May without a word of debate. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). If you don't have an ID card you won't World military expenditure rose 5% to US$1.04 trillion, still 6% below a Cold be allowed onto planes, trains or buses or | War peak in 1987-88 but up sharply since 1998, the Swedish Government-funded into government buildings. institute said in its latest yearbook. The Department of Homeland Security is US military spending accounted for nearly half the global figure for 2004, rising to decide what reading technology will be | 12% last year to $455 billion, the institute said. That was more than the combined used. One possibility is RFID tags that can _| total of the 32 next most powerful nations, SIPRI said. The figure was set to rise still be read from a few metres away without further to $502 billion in 2010. your ever realising. The top five countries by military spending—the United States, Britain, France, (Source: New Scientist, 2/ May 2005) Japan and China—spent nearly two-thirds of the world total last year according to the institute, which monitors officially reported military spending for 159 countries. NORTH ATLANTIC FOOD CHAIN Meanwhile, in May, a US Senate committee approved the US$441.6 billion DRAMATICALLY ALTERED defence bill for fiscal year 2006. This includes the Department of Defense budget esearchers who looked at data over a__ | and funding for nuclear weapons activity of the Department of Energy. It does not 40-year period have found that the | include other items such as money for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars ($49.1 billion food chain in the North Atlantic has been _ | for fiscal year 2006) or Homeland Security funding ($41.1 billion for fiscal year significantly altered with the disappearance 2006). of large species, such as cod, a finding . Top military spenders for 2004 $US billions never seen before. 1. United States 455.3 Ken Frank, a scientist who co-authored a 2. United Kingdom 47.4 recent report in Science magazine, said the 3. France 46.2 findings provide an unsettling picture of 4. Japan 42.4 the marine environment on the Eastern 5. China 35.4 Scotian Shelf. 6. Germany 33.9 He said the virtual disappearance of cod 7. Italy” 27.8 and other large species, such as haddock, 8. Russia ; 19.4 flounder and hake, led to what he calls a 9. Saudi Arabia 19.3 cascade effect. That is, large predators i foun Korea ina declined dramatically, but the fish they 12. Israel 10.7 preyed on were allowed to thrive and even- 13. Canada 10.6 tually underwent a population explosion. 14. Turkey 10.1 Cod, which used to sit on the top of the 15. Australia 10.1 food chain, has now been replaced by smaller fish. That also trickled down to the _| To put military spending in another perspective, it is worth having a look at a recent lowest members of the marine food | year (1998) of global expenditure priorities: chain—zooplankton and algae—which are _| Global Expenditure $US billions being depleted at a faster rate because more Basic education for everyone in the world 6 and more fish are feeding on them. That Cosmetics in the United States 8 has also raised the fear that the smaller fish Water and sanitation for everyone in the world 9 species could diminish the nutrients they United Nations and all its agencies 10 rely on. Ice cream in Europe 11 "Their levels have now decreased Reproductive health a an vaiey Slate world 5 because they're being eaten heavily by th erfumes in Europe and the United States explodin on et eid Ken Frank ho Basic health and nutrition for everyone in the world 13 Proaing group, § prank, Pet foods in Europe and the United States 17 works for the Department of Fisheries and Business entertainment in Japan 35 Oceans at the Bedford Institute of Cigarettes in Europe 50 Oceanography in Nova Scotia, Canada. Alcoholic drinks in Europe 105 "It was always known that when you Narcotic drugs in the world 400 deplete a predator, its prey will increase. Military spending in the world 780 But it was never suspected that this would cascade or extend all the way down to the base of the food chain." (Source: The Globe and Mail, Toronto, (Sources: http://www.dawn.com/2005/06/08/int14.htm; http:/www.armscontrolcenter.org/archives/ Canada, 9 June 2005) 001658.php; http:/Avww.janes.com/defence/news/jdi/jdi050504_1_n.shtml; http:/www.wjla.com/ headlines/0505/228369.html; http:/www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp) It would seem ironic that the world spends more on things to destroy each other (mili- tary) and to destroy ourselves (drugs, alcohol and cigarettes) than on anything else. 2008 all driver's licences or equivalent ID must include a machine-readable name, a digitised photograph, address, social secu- rity number, a digitised birth certificate and signature. It was passed in the Senate on 10 May without a word of debate. If you don't have an ID card you won't be allowed onto planes, trains or buses or into government buildings. The Department of Homeland Security is to decide what reading technology will be used. One possibility is RFID tags that can be read from a few metres away without your ever realising. (Source: New Scientist, 27 May 2005) NORTH ATLANTIC FOOD CHAIN DRAMATICALLY ALTERED esearchers who looked at data over a 40-year period have found that the food chain in the North Atlantic has been significantly altered with the disappearance of large species, such as cod, a finding never seen before. Ken Frank, a scientist who co-authored a recent report in Science magazine, said the findings provide an unsettling picture of the marine environment on the Eastern Scotian Shelf. He said the virtual disappearance of cod and other large species, such as haddock, flounder and hake, led to what he calls a cascade effect. That is, large predators declined dramatically, but the fish they preyed on were allowed to thrive and even- tually underwent a population explosion. Cod, which used to sit on the top of the food chain, has now been replaced by smaller fish. That also trickled down to the lowest members of the marine food chain—zooplankton and algae—which are being depleted at a faster rate because more and more fish are feeding on them. That has also raised the fear that the smaller fish species could diminish the nutrients they rely on. "Their levels have now decreased because they're being eaten heavily by the exploding group," said Ken Frank, who works for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Nova Scotia, Canada. "It was always known that when you deplete a predator, its prey will increase. But it was never suspected that this would cascade or extend all the way down to the base of the food chain." (Source: The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada, 9 June 2005) NEXUS +9 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2005 www.nexusmagazine.com