The Two Million Minutes Blog

Rare Earth Elements - Your iPhone Depends on Them

Rare earth materials are rarely talked about at cocktail parties..OK, never.

But they are used in nearly every electronic device essential to building “green” technologies, renewable energy products and vital for military applications.

Suffice it to say, the iPhone would not exist if it were not for these elements. 

So who cares? You should!!

Because China now produces over 97% of the world's rare earth supply, even though it has only 37% of proven reserves. All of the world's heavy rare earths come from Chinese rare earth sources.

So at your next cocktail party, ask around if anyone is worried about our supply of lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, europium and yttrium. 

It's a great conversation starter.

The Hidey-Hole as Political Leadership

I've been watching the Democratic "leadership" in Wisconsin and Indiana as Republicans push for not just concessons on rich pensions (underfunded, of course) and nearly free health care (the stuff of which the rest of us pay at least a significant partial amount) but for aggressive reduction of the power of public servant unions.

However this turns out, the hidey-hole strategy has proven to be a less than effective place from which to lead.

 

My visit to a DC high school

Recently, I spent a Saturday volunteering at a large, local DC high school. I was there to help paint the walls.

You see, the District of Columbia, which spends $16,335 per student annually, cannot afford to do routine school maintenance.

So a school that was fully refurbished just 7 years ago now looks like this:

 

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. This is what we get for $16,335 per student. So, teachers and students have volunteered to find the paint and other supplies - and they have given up 7 weekends - to make their school look a decent place to learn.

One might wonder -- where does the money go?

Well, I checked on a few obvious places where a lot of cash could have been spent - smart boards, Apple computers, fully outfitted laboratories, a state-of-the-art robotics lab or even a new gym.

Alas, none of that exists at this large DC magnet school for science and engineering. I just can't figure out where all that money goes.

Empire at the End of Decadence - American Self-Image vs Reality

From 2-19-11 NYT Op/Ed

The Customers of 2020+

Society Gets What It Celebrates - India

“I want to be the next Vishy,” declared Chetna Karnani, a 16 year old at the Vaswani International School for Girls. “I practice four hours every day.”

This is no Bollywood heartthrob or pop singer. The idol that makes Indian girls swoon and Indian boys jealous is an unassuming, bespectacled, 40-year-old world chess champion - Viswanathan Anand.

Mr. Anand, who has held the world title for three years, has earned the fame that India usually reserves for movie stars, cricket players and politicians.

Mr. Anand has used his fame to promote the game in India, sponsoring a nationwide network of chess clubs, that have signed up nearly 1,000,000 students. He hopes to reach 5 million to 10 million students in the next five years.

The goal, Mr. Anand said, is not to produce other Indian grandmasters or champions, though he welcomes that as a potential side effect. Rather, he wants to get young people interested in chess as a tool to improve their ability to focus, analyze and reason.

“We are very happy to produce chess champions,” he said. “But more than that - we want to create Indian mind champions.”

University of Maryland Sanctions Competitive Eating

A team of competitive eaters at the University of Maryland has achieved club status with that school, securing an undetermined amount of funding for their collegiate team in competitive eating.

The funding will be used to purchase team uniforms with elastic waistbands and a logo turtle grasping a piece of pizza (MD's mascot is the terrapin). The all male and all white club has a constitution, a staff adviser and more than 40 members.

Cooked up by Keith Solomon, a junior engineering major, the group was granted club status by the university in November. It is not the first eating team; that distinction belongs to the University at Albany.

"Letting students push the envelope of creativity and innovative thinking is what makes American universities the envy of the world," noted their faculty adviser who wished to remain anonymous.

At a recent "scrimmage" with pizza and wings at Ratsie's (shown above), the manager of the College Park Food Bank commented, "There is something not quite right about all this." Read more...

DC Audience Hungry For Tiger Mother

Amy Chua, author of "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother," packed the well-regarded book store Poetry & Prose tonight.

While the Wall Street Journal excerpt generated a firestorm of criticism, Amy in person is clearly the loving, caring mother of 2 daughters who have blossomed into accomplished young women.

Amy's book delineates the differences between American and Chinese childrearing and is worth reading in full.

Why The West Will Never Understand China - Arrogance and Ignorance

Economist Martin Jacques, the author of "When China Rules the World," examines why the West is ignorant and unaware of the growing power of the Chinese economy, and offers three building blocks for understanding what China will become - the dominant culture of the world.