SydesJokes

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Bitcoin Makes Cherry Blossom: Japanese City Starts Accepting Bitcoin Donations

Hirosaki, a city in Japan has started accepting Bitcoin donation in a first of its kind initiative by a public institution in the country. This is coming barely a few weeks after about 260,000 stores in parts of Japan started accepting the digital currency as a payment method.

Known for its Aomori Prefecture park which has 2,600 cherry trees and 400-year-old castle, the Hirosaki city starts accepting the Bitcoin donation to raise funds for the preservation of the 50 kinds of cherry trees and repair stone walls of the castle for future generations.

According to the national Japanese TV NHK which featured the news on Thursday, April 20, the park attracts two mln people during blossom season each year. Thus it is necessary to care of the trees which run into hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

The broadcaster cites that city officials chose to collect donations in Bitcoin to encourage donations from overseas because the currency is popular outside Japan and remittance fees are low. It also quotes deputy mayor Noboru Yamamoto as saying that Bitcoin may provide a solution to other Japanese local authorities at a time when most are struggling to raise funds.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2pdVNgt

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Climate Change As Genocide: Inaction Equals Annihilation

Not since World War II have more human beings been at risk from disease and starvation than at this very moment. On March 10th, Stephen O’Brien, under Secretary-General of the United Nations for humanitarian affairs, informed the Security Council that 20 million people in three African countries ? Nigeria, Somalia, and South Sudan ? as well as in Yemen were likely to die if not provided with emergency food and medical aid. “We are at a critical point in history,” he declared. “Already at the beginning of the year we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the U.N.” Without coordinated international action, he added, “people will simply starve to death [or] suffer and die from disease.”

Major famines have, of course, occurred before, but never in memory on such a scale in four places simultaneously. According to O’Brien, 7.3 million people are at risk in Yemen, 5.1 million in the Lake Chad area of northeastern Nigeria, 5 million in South Sudan, and 2.9 million in Somalia. In each of these countries, some lethal combination of war, persistent drought, and political instability is causing drastic cuts in essential food and water supplies. Of those 20 million people at risk of death, an estimated 1.4 million are young children.

Despite the potential severity of the crisis, U.N. officials remain confident that many of those at risk can be saved if sufficient food and medical assistance is provided in time and the warring parties allow humanitarian aid workers to reach those in the greatest need. “We have strategic, coordinated, and prioritized plans in every country,” O’Brien said. “With sufficient and timely financial support, humanitarians can still help to prevent the worst-case scenario.”

Full story at http://huff.to/2pe5j3l

I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled. - P.G. Wodehouse #quote

Climate change could fuel the global rise of terrorism

The world faces an increased risk of terrorism because of climate change.

A warming world will drive famine, drought and natural disasters, creating the sort of societal and economic upheaval that strengthens terrorists’ recruiting efforts, a new report warns.

“As the climate is changing, so too are the conditions within which non-state armed groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS operate,” according to the report commissioned by the German government. “Climate change contributes to creating a fragile environment in which these groups can thrive.”

Climate change creates a number of scenarios in which terrorists can exploit vulnerable populations. In areas plagued by drought and famine, terrorists can wield diminishing natural resources such as water to exert control over people.

Full story at http://nyp.st/2pe0Spb

From Here To Where? Bitcoin And The Future Of Cryptocurrency

There’s a number of reasons why cryptocurrencies are so inherently popular. They are safe, anonymous and utterly decentralized. Unlike conventional currency, they are not controlled or regulated by some singular authority, their flow is determined entirely by market demand. They are also nigh impossible to counterfeit, thanks to the paranoidly complicated code system that encrypts each and every transfer, ensuring complete anonymity and utter safety to each and every user. They even make for a genuinely rewarding, if risky, investment endeavor, despite the fact that any financial advisor in their right mind will caution you against them. Therefore, despite the admittedly high stakes that this sort of dealing entails, not to mention the lack of any government agency to lend credence to them, cryptocurrencies can only thrive and multiply.

If I were to tell you of the history of cryptocurrencies, I would have to begin with cryptographer David Chaum, who in the 1980s devised an extraordinarily secure algorithm that allowed for the kind of encryption required in electronic fund transfers. Chaum’s “blinding algorithm” laid the groundwork for the future development of all types of digitalized currency transactions, be it alternative currencies like Bitcoin or just plain old digitalized cash transfers.

“I am personally excited for the future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in general. Current innovations such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others are just the beginning for this technology that can help revamp many industries. There is plenty of opportunity in this space.” - Chalmers Brown, Forbes

Full story at http://bit.ly/2pdMXzm