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No Joke

A hole was torn in the language barrier recently when the International Center for Advanced Communication Technologies debuted a mechanism that translates whispered language into other tongues almost instantly. Szu-Chen Stan Jou, a Carnegie Mellon graduate student, demonstrated the device at an October conference at the university. When he mouthed words in Mandarin, 11 electrodes attached to his face detected the movements in his jaw and relayed them to a computer that simultaneously translated his words into English and Spanish, reports the blog We-Make-Money-Not-Art (Oct. 29, 2005). Reporters at the demonstration noted that the translator has difficulty identifying and translating humor.

Betting on Themselves

Native Americans have long been stalwarts of the Democratic base. But when it comes to actually holding office, they're often overlooked. That may be about to change. The Indigenous Democratic Network List (INDN's List), a group organized to recruit and train Indian candidates for local and state offices, held its first "Campaign Camp" in October at a tribal casino near Minneapolis, reports Indian Country Today (Oct. 21, 2005). "I'm sick of the [Democratic National Committee] treating Indians like an ATM machine that has to be courted every couple of years," founder Kalyn Free, an Oklahoma attorney, Democratic activist, and Choctaw, told the Washington Post. The group is set to make waves in the 2006 elections: The training event drew 109 participants from 21 states and 50 Indian nations.

PRIORITIES

$10 BILLION
Total annual spending of the United Nations and all its agencies, including global peacekeeping.

$1.04 TRILLION
Total worldwide annual military expenditures.

(Sources: Global Issues, www.globalissues.com; Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, www.sipri.org)

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