Barack Obama gave a speech in Washington DC which described economic themes for the rest of his term. “The combined trends of increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American Dream, our way of life, and what we stand for around the globe,” he said. “The idea that so many children …
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Author:astraea
Babies in a bucket
From CNN Faces of the world: National Geographic photographer’s amazing portraits Babies in a bucket, in a tent city after the earthquake, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2010 “When the quake hit on January 12, 2010, I had been staying in a decadent US$10,000 a night villa while photographing the stunning Amanyara on Turks and Caicos Island. One …
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Biosphere destruction is being ignored but happening fast and time is running out.
In Dangerous Global Warming Closer Than You Think, Climate Scientists Say, Scientific American outlines two reports encouraging immediate and extensive action, before it’s too late. The message of the reports is that climate volatility is already here, species extinction is close to a critical level, as are levels of toxic concentrates. They are now talking …
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Bicycles outselling cars.
Data shows that in 2012, bicycles outsold cars in 26 of the European Union’s 28 states. That sounds like good news. The reasons are undocumented though informed conjecture suggests that the cost of fuel and the opportunity for a more healthy lifestyle are helping boost demand for cycles. Cities are also promoting cycling, through bicyle …
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You are twice as likely to pay a bribe if you live in a poor country
That’s a simple summary of Transparency International’s 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index. A big headline this year was the drop in Spain’s ranking because of a number of public scandals. But do not imagine that corruption in Spain has actually gone up or down, just because perception has changed. Actual corruption is pretty much the same …
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Yahoo, Bing, Scroogle, Scraper, and anonymous search
How embarrassing! I knew it, but forgot it. But luckily was reminded yesterday that Yahoo doesn’t offer search any more. In mid-2009 Yahoo gave up on search and contracted with Bing to supply teh service. I was reminded when I saw the confession at the bottom of a Yahoo search page. Further investigation reminded me …
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The truth about hedge funds: Expensive and limp.
BloombergBusinessweek’s picture says it all: Hedge funds talk big, but results are limp. Sheelah Kolhatkar reported back in July on the poor performance and high cost of specialist investor funds. The follow up for the 3rd quarter tells the same story: Hedge Funds Continue to Be for Suckers If the fund managers had to suffer …
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Fossil fuel subsidies: over $ 500,000,000,000 a year.
That’s about $112 for each adult in the world. It’s a lot of money for any industry. It’s a huge commitment of resources for a sunset industry. Subsidies must be eliminated. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) report notes that “these subsidies outweigh the support provided to fast-start climate finance by a ratio of 7:1”. That …
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Listen to your gut.
It’s not always what you want and it’s not always right, BUT it is at least as good as your head when it comes to emotional response and relationships, and life is all about relationships. A study on gut-feeling as it relates to the longevity of matrimonial relationships indicates that it is a better predictor …
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1945 – 2013: Where has common sense gone?
From somewhere in the noosphere. It’s not all wrong now. But it’s not good or right either. But the humourous contrast below hints at the difficulties of implementing rules, laws, and even guidelines. Education in body and consciousness as well as mind, can resolve the dilemmas. (And it would be good if there were fewer …
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