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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (112580)	8/24/2003 8:54:24 AM
From: Noel de Leon	Respond to of 281500

Nice defense of ethics. Fits well with the concept that co-operation is better than conflict in solving problems. One more reason to support the UN and expand its authority. One can hope that the cost of the Iraq war and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict help will bring the present US government to a more productive foreign policy. Presently the deficit, growing consumer debt, growing unemployment, and casualties in Iraq may bring that day closer.

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (112580)	6/1/2004 5:31:40 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 281500

Regarding the cost of poisoning due to lead in gasoline. I've guessed in the past on the cost to us of having reduced IQ due to lead in gasoline and my numbers were about right. Given that at least 0.25 IQ points went missing from 2 generations of people and perhaps as much as 0.5 IQ points, we can now calculate the opportunity cost. At a P:E ratio of 20:1 [a common valuation these days], we have a capital value of the damage per person of about $10,000. For New Zealand, that's about NZ$40 billion. Which means the use of lead was a net economic loss to the community. The same figures will apply to the USA and other countries which used lots of lead in their petrol for several decades. Here's the data on the value of IQ for countries, with specific reference to the value of the smart fraction. From those figures, we can calculate the value of IQ in earnings. Within a country the value of IQ can be calculated by comparing incomes for various jobs and the IQ required to perform those jobs. The figures come out about the same. So, the oil industry, or Associated Octel and others, should answer for their sins, as much as the cigarette companies have had to do. In the mid 1980s, I was advocating removal of lead from petrol [as part of my job in BP Oil]. I thought the oil industry should ask governments to require gasoline/petrol to be made without lead, or at most, with very low levels. New Zealand oil companies used 0.84 grams per litre for a long time, and that was the standard rate in most countries. It was gradually reduced over the last couple of decades. Scroll to the bottom to see your country's verbal IQ, smart fraction and GDP value expected and actual. lagriffedulion.f2s.com What this means is that Africa should be recolonized and it was a mistake to kick the British out. Most of us need leadership. We benefit from having smart people lead us. Since I was a child and my brother suggested we form a Bomb Club, which we did, with me putting up the money and him putting up the bomb-making brains, I've found that to be a good arrangement which has served me well. I give Dr Irwin Jacobs my money and he invents CDMA. I pay the USA my taxes and they keep the thugs of the world at bay. I get sick and hire smart doctors to fix things up. I like Bomb Clubs. Having smart people around is a good thing. Zimbabwe's Mugabe made a big mistake chasing away the smart fraction. He is presumably too stupid to figure out why things are going badly. South Africa has done the same with their horrific crime and statist approach. The USA has imported smart people from around the world. That's an excellent move. No wonder the USA does well. Meanwhile, some laywer should do a class action suit against the lead producers, starting with Associated Octel, who wantonly damaged everyone's brain with their damn lead in petrol. My guess is mercury in teeth was equally damaging [in baby boomers who got the mercury - it's been a couple of decades since mercury in nearly every young person's teeth]. Dental nurses used to half mix the mercury and silver and stuff by hand with a pistil and mortar. I remember watching little balls of mercury rolling around the place. No wonder there's a Flynn Effect, with IQs around the world rapidly rising. Then there's dietary improvement. Mqurice