The true true size of Africa

Bloggers note: I always suspected something was just not right!

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The true true size of Africa   www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/cartography?fsrc=scn/fb/te/pe/ed/truesizeafrica

Cartography

The true true size of Africa

Nov 10th 2010, 17:52 by G.D.  

LAST month Kai Krause, a computer-graphics guru, caused a stir with a map entitled "The True Size of Africa", which showed the outlines of other countries crammed into the outline of the African continent.

 His aim was to make "a small contribution in the fight against rampant Immappancy"—in particular, the fact that most people do not realise how much the ubiquitous Mercator projection distorts the relative sizes of countries.

A sphere cannot be represented on a flat plane without distortion, which means all map projections distort in one way or another. Some projections show areas accurately but distort distances or scales, for example; others preserve the shapes of countries but misrepresent their areas. You can read all the gory details on Wikipedia.

Gerardus Mercator's projection, published in 1569, was immediately useful because it depicts a line of constant bearing as a straight line, which is handy for marine navigation.

The drawback is that it distorts the shapes and areas of large land masses, and the distortion gets progressively worse as you get closer to the poles.

(Africa looks about the same size as Greenland under the Mercator projection, for example, even though it is in fact 14 times bigger.)

This was not a big problem for 16th-century sailors, of course, and the Mercator projection remains popular to this day.

In Mr Krause's map (above) he seems to have used the shapes of the countries from a Mercator projection, but has scaled up the outline of Africa, without changing its shape, to show the appropriate area.

An alternative and arguably more rigorous approach would be to repeat the exercise using an "equal area" projection that shows the countries' areas correctly while minimising shape distortion. 

These two properties are the hardest to balance when showing the whole world on one map. I decided to rework Mr Krause's map using Gall's Stereographic Cylindrical Projection (1855) with two standard parallels at 45°N and 45°S.

 Distortions are still evident at the poles, but for most countries shape is maintained, and their areas are shown correctly. As you can see (below), the results are distinct from Mr Krause's map. But however you look at it, his point is a good one: Africa is much bigger than it looks on most maps.



 

Canadian Imam likens Trudeau to a king who helped Muslims and then converted to Islam

Jonathan D. HaleviRebel Blogger

(This article originally appeared in CIJNews.com
and is reprinted with permission.) Canadian Sheikh Shaban Sherif Mady
(شعبان شريف ماضي), was a scholar at al-Azhar theological school in Egypt
and served at the Ministry of Endowment and Ministry of Education of
the Egyptian government.

Today, he is the Imam of a Muslim
congregation in Edmonton, Alberta which holds its Friday prayers at
Glengarry Hall in Edmonton.

Shaban Sherif Mady dedicated his
Friday sermon on December 18, 2015 to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau, whom he sees as the greatest ally of the Muslims. Trudeau was
likened to “the Najashi”, the Christian King of Abyssinia in the 7th
century AD, who is honoured in the Islamic history for the support and
protection he provided to the Muslim emigrants who fled pagan Mecca and
his persistent refusal to expel them while fending off the pressure and
lure offered by Muhammad’s Meccan rival leadership. Later, according to
the Islamic tradition, the Najashi King accepted Muhammad’s invitation
to embrace Islam and became a Muslim.

The following is an excerpt of Shaban Sherif Mady’s sermon (originally in Arabic):

“Justin Trudeau – I call him today the Najashi of the current era. He
hosted Muslims, honoured them, visited their mosques, greeted them for
their holidays, and removed the suspicion that terrorism is related to
Islam, honoured the Muslims, hosted the refugees.

    “He is the
Najashi of the current era. This is the title of my sermon that will
appear on YouTube – Justin Trudeau Najashi of the current era…

   
“In Islam there are men, in the world there are men who helped the
world with their wisdom, such as [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan [President of
Turkey] and Justin Trudeau.

    “Salute to Justin Trudeau, O the
Najashi of the current era. Thank you… This man is affable. This amiable
man we call him the Najashi of the current era.

    “Thank you
for hosting our Muslims on behalf of this Canadian country which you run
in the same way the Najashi ruled in ancient era our Muslims, who were
oppressed and tortured [in Mecca].

    “Thank you. Thanks you, O
the Najashi of the current era… The world is happy to see people like
Erdoğan and Trudeau. With people such as those the compassion is spread,
the friendship is spread, the love is spread…”

In his Friday sermons in Edmonton during the years 2013-14, Shaban Sherif Mady said the following:

“O the courageous Palestinian people! Al-Quds (Jerusalem) will become
the capital of the Islamic State, not of Palestine… Had it not been
betrayal, all the territory of Europe was almost conquered from Andalus
(Spain). This is the promise of the Prophet Mohammad. The victory will
come… Then the Rightly-Guided Caliphate (Islamic State) will be
established and it will follow the path of the Prophet (Mohammad). We
will welcome it.”

“Why (the Muslim Brotherhood movement was
designated as) a terrorist organization? Because it calls for the return
of the Caliphate (Islamic State). If so, I’m an operative of the Muslim
Brotherhood, I’m a terrorist… (O Allah) to those who want to harm Islam
and the Muslims, make their animosity annihilate themselves, make them
kill themselves, destroy them completely, annihilate them all, like you
did to the peoples of A’d and Thamoud… O Allah, support all mujahideen
in any place around the globe.”

“O Allah, support any mujaheed (jihadist) who raises the flag of Islam.”

“The secularism is always in a war against Islam and this conflict between the two still exists.”

“The
[unmarried] adulterer and the [unmarried] adulteress will be flogged
100 times and their testimony will never be accepted by court.”

America Future Military Secrets Weapons #Mind Blow Full Documentary

You get a welcome to work..Nice walk, Mr. Putin EAT your heart out Obama,Hollande.Cameron,Trudeau and all other leaders

Quantum Computers Explained – Limits of Human Technology

http://www.techopia.ca/]





Google has recently said to have a working quantum computer that is 100 million times faster than a traditional PC at solving math problems. Yikes. Believed to hold the key to a further technological revolution and even AI, quantum computing is no joke.

Inside the IMF’s Reserve Currency Matrix

Inside the IMF’s Reserve Currency Matrix

By Valentin Schmid, Epoch Times | December 3, 2015

Last Updated: December 4, 2015 9:44 pm

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks at the 40th anniversary of the IMFC meeting at the IMF headquarters in Washington, on April 20, 2013. (Stephen Jaffe/IMF via Getty Images)

Epoch Times has correctly predicted the IMF would include China in the basket for its international reserve currency. Now that the procedure is over, it’s time to have a look into what this basket is, how it works, and whether anybody actually uses it.
First off, the basket is called Special Drawing Right (SDR). It is the IMF’s money and unit of account. The IMF prepares its financial statements in units of SDRs.
As of Dec. 1, we know it’s made up of the U.S. dollar (41.73 percent weight), the euro (30.93 percent), the pound sterling (8.09 percent), the Japanese yen (8.33 percent), and finally the Chinese renminbi (10.92 percent weight). Although, the renminbi will only be effectively included Oct. 1, 2016. 

Nothing in It

Here is the most important misunderstanding: Many people believe the SDR actually contains these currencies, just like a real basket has eggs in it. The SDR basket doesn’t have any notes or coins in it. 
Although the IMF created 204.1 billion SDRs (worth around $285 billion) and allocated it to its member countries, the money behind the SDRs actually doesn’t exist—hence the name Special Drawing Right.

By holding one SDR, a member has the “right” to “draw” upon the IMF to be paid the equivalent value in one or all of the currencies that make up the basket.

Ok, there is one use of it. If you are Greece and owe the IMF a lot of money, you could pay the IMF in SDRs. 

This is different from holding dollars, for example, because dollars can actually be used to pay debt, taxes, or buy nice things. The IMF also uses SDRs for transactions with members.

Also, the IMF itself doesn’t pay up for the SDRs. It can designate one of the five countries to pay up and accept the SDR in exchange for cash.

Special

Now why is this “special.” Here is the official version from the IMF:
“The United States, concerned that such a unit would compete with the dollar, preferred to build on the existing automatic drawing rights (the gold tranche) in the IMF. [There was] a plan to create ‘reserve drawing rights’ in the IMF. Some European countries feared this mechanism could be interpreted as a replacement for gold and suggested instead the creation of ‘special’ drawing rights.” 
The SDR is certainly special because it is so far removed from any real use of money that it is not normal.
Also the SDR has value only because the IMF says so and can force its members to exchange it for real currency.
This is similar to other fiat currencies, like the U.S. dollar. It only has value because the government says so, but at least you can pay your taxes, debt, and other things with it.

MORE:

• China Uses IMF to Create a New Global Reserve Currency
• Euro Biggest Loser in IMF China Rebalancing

The IMF can also just print up SDRs and give them to members, again very similar to the fiat money creation process, with the very important difference that SDRs don’t show up as a liability on the IMF’s balance sheet.
Theoretically, the SDRs could also be used to settle scores between member countries, but that rarely happens because the amount available is so small.

There are only $285 billion worth of SDRs around, but central banks and governments around the world hold around $11.5 trillion in exchange reserves. 

So far so good. The SDRs are the IMF’s fiat money, do not actually represent real money, and have very little use in the real world. 

Complicated Calculation

Now, how does the IMF arrive at calculating the value of one SDR?
Here is gets even more complicated. 
First, it has to determine which currencies to include in the basket and what weight to give them.

To make a complicated story short: The countries that have the highest exports, make up the largest holdings of other central banks’ foreign exchange reserves, and have the highest share of foreign exchange trading, international bank liabilities, as well as debt securities.
All these factors are blended together and result in percentage weights named above.

MORE:

• Why China’s Bid to Join the Elite of Global Finance Will Almost Certainly Be Successful This Year
• Experts on IMF Accepting China Into Reserve Currency Basket [PODCAST]

To understand how the IMF actually calculates the value of the SDR, it is best to start from the end product. As of Dec. 3, 2015, one SDR is worth $1.37.
This is the sum of the cross-exchange rates of the different currencies in the basket (euro vs. U.S. dollar for example at 1.05) multiplied by a so-called currency amount.

(IMF)

The currency amount itself is calculated once every five years after the IMF reviews the weightings of the basket.
It is the product of the percentage weights and the average exchange rate of the individual currency versus the SDR over the 90 days prior to the calculation of the currency amounts.
On Jan. 1, 2011, the last time new weights came into effect, it was the average exchange rate from December, November, and October of 2010 multiplied by the new weight of 41.9 percent. The result: 0.66 for the dollar.

The old weightings without the renminbi, effective December 30, 2010. (IMF)

Think about it like this: The dollar contributes 41.9 percent to the total value of the SDR. So the currency amount is the absolute contribution of the dollar as expressed in dollars. In other words, the dollar contributes 66 cents to the SDR’s value expressed in dollars.
The contribution of the euro expressed in euros is 0.42 euro cents and so forth. 
To get the SDR value in U.S. dollars, you then adjust each currency’s absolute contribution (0.423 for the euro) with the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar (1.05) and sum up the components.  
To reflect international exchange rate movements, it is actually the currency amounts that are fixed for five years until the next review by the IMF, not the percentage weights.

MORE:

• Interview With James Rickards: China Planning to Displace Dollar

The percentage weights rise and fall with the exchange rate value of the currency compared to other currencies in the basket. So if the dollar appreciates against the euro and the yen, its weight should increase and the other two’s weight should fall. 
There is only one problem with the calculation. It’s profoundly circular. In order to arrive at the exchange rate of the SDR in dollars, you have to use the average exchange rate of the SDR against the dollar. This is okay if you already have three month’s worth of past rates, but the IMF didn’t have this in 1969, when the SDR was first created.
But back then, the dollar was backed by gold at $35 an ounce or $1 for 0.89 grams of fine gold. So one SDR was worth one dollar. 
When the gold standard collapsed in 1973, the IMF redefined the SDR as a basket of currencies and has evolved its methodology ever since.

Why Does It Exist?

So why does the SDR exist? The IMF says it created it in 1969 to promote world trade.
“The international supply of two key reserve assets—gold and the U.S. dollar—proved inadequate for supporting the expansion of world trade and financial flows that was taking place. Therefore, the international community decided to create a new international reserve asset under the auspices of the IMF.”
This explanation doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, though, because the majority of the SDRs in circulation (182.6 million) were created in 2009, not in 1969. 
Maybe the IMF knew about the Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan’s plans before he himself knew about it. He wrote in 2009 that the SDR should become the next world reserve currency.

China Joins IMF Currency Basket: Why It Matters

China Joins IMF Currency Basket: Why It Matters

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/china-joins-imf-currency-basket-matters-35492030

SEE Also previous post  http://myglobalunderstandingfiles.blogspot.ca/2015/08/imf-signals-delay-on-adding-china-to.html
 

• By joe mcdonald, ap business writer

BEIJING — Nov 30, 2015, 2:50 PM

The Associated Press

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks during a news conference at the IMF in Washington, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015, to announce the Chinese yuan will join a basket of the world's leading currencies. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)more +

The addition of China's yuan to the select basket of currencies used as a yardstick by the International Monetary Fund is a sign, experts say, that the yuan may one day become as recognizable as the dollar or euro.

 

Adding the yuan alongside the dollar, euro, pound and yen is a symbolic victory for Beijing. It reflects the rising importance of the world's second-largest economy and is an endorsement of gradual Chinese moves toward making the currency freely traded.

Currency traders and economists see the change as encouragement to Beijing to make faster progress on promises to make the yuan "freely tradable" and open its financial system.

———

WHAT HAPPENED

The IMF added the yuan to the basket of currencies used to calculate the value of Special Drawing Rights, a notional currency used as the standard for dealing with its member governments. That came after IMF staff concluded in a Nov. 13 report that the yuan was "freely usable," meaning widely used for international transactions and widely traded in foreign exchange markets. The IMF created SDRs in the 1960s as a possible international currency, but they failed to gain wider acceptance. Until 1980, the basket was 16 currencies including Iran and South Africa but that was reduced. Following the global financial crisis, Beijing called in March 2009 for creation of a new currency, possibly based on the SDR, to reduce reliance on dollars but failed to attract support.

———

WHY ADD THE YUAN?

China is the second-biggest economy after the United States and the biggest trader. The yuan is the No. 4 currency for global trade, accounting for about 2.5 percent of the total, according to SWIFT, the organization for interbank financial transfers. Beijing controls the flow of money into and out of its economy but has encouraged the use of the yuan abroad, especially for trade, which helps Chinese exporters by eliminating the cost and risk of volatile exchange rates. Since 2009, China has signed currency swap agreements with central banks in Britain, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, South Korea and other countries. Branches of Chinese state-owned banks in Britain, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, France and Singapore have received authorization to take deposits or settle trade-related transactions in yuan.

———

IMPACT ON GLOBAL FINANCE

The SDR has no direct link to financial markets or private business. Over time, the IMF decision might prompt central banks to hold more reserves in yuan. JP Morgan economist Haibin Zhu said yuan holdings might rise to 5 percent of global reserves, or about $350 billion, over five years. That might encourage more use of yuan for trade and investment. "Longer term, this is a huge step," said Stephen Innes, chief trader for the currency firm OANDA in Singapore. "Once investors become more comfortable with Chinese markets, especially if they continue to progress with opening policies and make the same strides they did over the past year, international markets will really embrace Chinese capital markets."

———

IMPACT ON CHINA

Economists say the IMF decision could encourage Chinese leaders to further relax controls on the yuan. The ruling Communist Party's latest five-year development plan says the yuan will be "freely tradable and freely usable" by 2020. The surprise August introduction of a new mechanism for setting the government-controlled exchange rate led to a 3.5 percent devaluation. But the country's top economic official, Premier Li Keqiang, said in September that there were no plans for further declines. Some traders worry Beijing might devalue once it achieved its goal of being added to the IMF basket. But others say Chinese leaders want to be seen as reliable. The yuan's addition is "an endorsement as an international currency," said Chen Kang, chief bond analyst for SWS Research Co. in Shanghai. "That will encourage China to adopt more measures toward accelerating the process of the opening of its foreign exchange markets and capital markets."

———

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

The yuan's government-set exchange rate still follows the dollar despite the new mechanism for setting its value. For now, that makes the yuan a dollar in disguise, according to Derek Scissors of the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Until the yuan is allowed to trade freely, the IMF decision will "increase the dollar's importance," said Scissors in an email. "Those governments or investors hoping for a dilution of dollar dominance for portfolio diversification or political reasons are getting exactly the opposite."