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The Joy of Trump
Friday, December 24, 2010
ASCAR
ASCAR
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Frost over the World - Julian Assange
The WikiLeaks founder talks about secrets, leaks and why he will not go back to Sweden.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe - Part I Einstiens Universe ariainvictus.comlu.com
53:15 - 3 years ago
ariainvictus.comlu
PBS-Nova-The.Elegant.Universe-Part.II-Strings.the.Thing-SctV.avi
50:10 - 3 years ago
String Theory, Nova, PBS
How Your Brain Can Turn Anxiety into Calmness
Physician, author, speaker, researcher, and consultant Martin L. Rossman, MD, discusses how to use the power of the healing mind to reduce stress and anxiety, relieve pain, change lifestyle habits, and live with more wellness. Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public [3/2010] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 17631]
Nanaimo, British Columbia
A Vancouver Island, beach front cottage complete with sleigh rides, cookie decorating and a fireplace. Starting at $140 per night.
Speedlite Portraits?
Nanaimo (Canada 2006 Census population 78,692) is a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia,Canada. It has been dubbed the "Bathtub Racing Capital of the World" and "Harbour City". Nanaimo is also sometimes referred to as the "Hub City" because of its central location on Vancouver Island and due to the layout of the downtown streets which form a "hub" pattern. It is also fondly known as the "Hub, Tub, and Pub City" because of its association with the bathtub racing and the numerous "watering holes" in Old Nanaimo. It is the location of the headquarters of the Regional District of Nanaimo.
History
The first Europeans to find Nanaimo Bay were those of the 1791 Spanish voyage of Juan Carrasco, under the command of Francisco de Eliza. They gave it the name Bocas de Winthuysen.
Nanaimo began as a trading post in the early 19th century; in 1849 the Snuneymuxw chief Ki-et-sa-kun ("Coal Tyee") informed the Hudson's Bay Company of the presence of coal in the area, and in 1853 the company built a fort known as the Nanaimo Bastion (still preserved). Subsequently the town was chiefly known for the export of coal.
Robert Dunsmuir helped establish coal mines in the Nanaimo harbour area as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, and later mined in Nanaimo as one of the first independent miners. In 1869 Dunmuir discovered coal several miles North of Nanaimo at Wellington, and subsequently created the company Dunsmuir and Diggle Ltd so he could acquire crown land and finance the startup of what became the Wellington Colliery. With the success of Dunsmuir and Diggle and the Wellington Colliery, Dunsmuir expanded his operations to include steam railways. Dunsmuir sold Wellington Coal through its Departure Bay docks, while competing Nanaimo coal was sold by the Vancouver Coal Company through the Nanaimo docks.
Source
Description above from the Wikipedia article Nanaimo, British Columbia, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors here. Community Pages are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, anyone associated with the topic.
Speedlite Portraits?
Nanaimo (Canada 2006 Census population 78,692) is a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia,Canada. It has been dubbed the "Bathtub Racing Capital of the World" and "Harbour City". Nanaimo is also sometimes referred to as the "Hub City" because of its central location on Vancouver Island and due to the layout of the downtown streets which form a "hub" pattern. It is also fondly known as the "Hub, Tub, and Pub City" because of its association with the bathtub racing and the numerous "watering holes" in Old Nanaimo. It is the location of the headquarters of the Regional District of Nanaimo.
History
The first Europeans to find Nanaimo Bay were those of the 1791 Spanish voyage of Juan Carrasco, under the command of Francisco de Eliza. They gave it the name Bocas de Winthuysen.
Nanaimo began as a trading post in the early 19th century; in 1849 the Snuneymuxw chief Ki-et-sa-kun ("Coal Tyee") informed the Hudson's Bay Company of the presence of coal in the area, and in 1853 the company built a fort known as the Nanaimo Bastion (still preserved). Subsequently the town was chiefly known for the export of coal.
Robert Dunsmuir helped establish coal mines in the Nanaimo harbour area as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, and later mined in Nanaimo as one of the first independent miners. In 1869 Dunmuir discovered coal several miles North of Nanaimo at Wellington, and subsequently created the company Dunsmuir and Diggle Ltd so he could acquire crown land and finance the startup of what became the Wellington Colliery. With the success of Dunsmuir and Diggle and the Wellington Colliery, Dunsmuir expanded his operations to include steam railways. Dunsmuir sold Wellington Coal through its Departure Bay docks, while competing Nanaimo coal was sold by the Vancouver Coal Company through the Nanaimo docks.
Source
Description above from the Wikipedia article Nanaimo, British Columbia, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors here. Community Pages are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, anyone associated with the topic.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Jared Diamond
Jared Diamond is the author of "Guns, Germs and Steel" and the current New York Times' best selling "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed." This lecture examines the factors that caused great civilizations of the past to collapse and what we can learn from their fates. Series: "Voices" [4/2005] [Humanities] [Show ID: 9390]
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Cat Laine: Engineering a better life for all | Video on TED.com
Cat Laine: Engineering a better life for all | Video on TED.com
At the BIF innovation summit, Cat Laine draws on the Greek myth of Tantalus to explain the frustration developing countries face. She shows how
we might help communities rich in human capital, but poor in resources and infrastructure, with cleverly engineered solutions.
Cat Lainé
Deputy Director, Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group
Deputy Director, Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, describes the simply genius of empowering people to change their communities.
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 15:21
Hans Rosling: The good news of the decade? | Video on TED.com
Hans Rosling: The good news of the decade? | Video on TED.com
Hans Rosling reframes 10 years of UN data with his spectacular visuals, lighting up an astonishing -- mostly unreported
-- piece of front-page-worthy good news: We're winning the war against child mortality. Along the way, he debunks
one flawed approach to stats that blots out such vital stories.
Melinda French Gates: What nonprofits can learn from Coca-Cola | Video on TED.com
Melinda French Gates: What nonprofits can learn from Coca-Cola | Video on TED.com
t TEDxChange, Melinda Gates makes a provocative case for nonprofits taking a cue from corporations such as Coca-Cola,
whose plugged-in, global network of marketers and distributors ensures that every remote village wants -- and can get -- a Coke.
Why shouldn't this work for condoms, sanitation, vaccinations too?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/26-S
Published on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 by Civil Eats
Beeline to Extinction
by Naomi Starkman
According to the recently released annual survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America(AIA) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), more than a third of U.S. managed honeybee colonies-those set up for intensified pollination of commercial crops-failed to survive this past winter. Since 2006, the decline of the U.S.'s estimated 2.4 million beehives-commonly referred to as colony collapse disorder (CCD)-has led to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of colonies: Hives are found empty with honey, larvae, and the queen intact, but with no bees and no trail left behind. The cause remains unknown, but appears to be a combination of factors impacting bee health and increasing their susceptibility to disease. Heavy losses associated with CCD have been found mainly with larger migratory commercial beekeepers, some of whom have lost 50-90 percent of their colonies.
A "keystone" species-one that has a disproportionate effect on the environment relative to its biomass-bees are our key to global food security and a critical part of the food chain. Flowering plants that produce our food depend on insects for pollination. There are other pollinators-butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and birds-but the honeybee is the most effective, pollinating over 100 commercial crops nationwide, including most fruit, vegetables, and nuts, as well as alfalfa for cattle feed and cotton, with a value estimated between $15-$20 billion annually. As much as one of every three bites of food we eat comes from food pollinated by insects. Without honeybees, our diet would be mostly meatless, consisting of rice and cereals, and we would have no cotton for textiles. The entire ecosystem and the global food economy potentially rests on their wings.
Experts now believe bees are heading for extinction and are racing to pinpoint the culprit, increasingly blaming pesticide usage. U.S. researchers have reported finding 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax, and pollen. New parasites, pathogens, fungi, and poor nutrition stemming from intensive farming methods are also part of the equation. Three years ago, U.S. scientists unraveled the genetic code of the honeybee and uncovered the DNA of a virus transmitted by the Varroa mite-Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV)-found in almost all of the hives impacted by CCD. Researchers have alsofound the fungus Nosema ceranae and other pathogens such as chalkbrood in some affected hives throughout the country. Other reported theories include the effects of shifting spring blooms and earlier nectar flow associated with broader global climate and temperature changes, the effects of feed supplements from genetically modified crops, such as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and the effects of cell phone transmissions and radiation from power lines that may be interfering with a bee's navigational capabilities. (Last year, a study revealed that a contaminant from heat-exposed HFCS might be killing off the bees.) However, according to a recent congressional report on CCD, contributions of these possible factors have not been substantiated.
The industrial bee business and the demands of intensified food production could also be playing a role in the bees' demise. Widespread migratory stress brought about by increased needs for pollination could be weakening the bees' immune systems. Most pollination services are provided by commercial migratory beekeepers who travel from state to state and provide pollination services to crop producers. These operations are able to supply a large number of bee colonies during the critical phase of a crop's bloom cycle, when bees pollinate as they collect nectar. A hive might make five cross-country truck trips each year, chasing crops, and some beekeepers can lose up to 10 percent of their queens during one cross country trip. Bees are overworked and stressed out.
California's almond crop is a prime example of our reliance on bees' industriousness for our agriculture success. The state grows 80 percent of the world's almonds, making it our largest agricultural export and bringing in a whopping $1.9 billion last year. The crop-with nearly 740,000 acres of almond trees planted-uses 1.3 million colonies of bees, approximately one half of all bees in the U.S., and is projected to grow to 1.5 million colonies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now predicting that Central Valley almond growers will produce about 1.53 billion pounds of almonds this year, up 8.5 percent last year. To meet the demand, bee colonies are trucked farther and more often than ever before and demand for bees has dramatically outstripped supply. Bee colonies, which a decade ago rented for $60, cost as much as $170 this February in California.
Few organic beekeepers have reported bee losses, suggesting that natural and organic bee keeping methods may be the solution. In addition, organic farmers who maintain wildlife habitat around their farms are helping to encourage bees to pollinate their crops. "The main difference between our farm and our conventional neighbors is the amount of wildlife and insect habitat that we have around the edge of our farm," said Greg Massa, who manages Massa Organics, a fourth generation 90-acre certified organic rice farm near Chico. Massa started growing organic almonds six years ago, and works with a small, organic beekeeper in Oregon who brings in 30 hives to his farm. Massa's farm has a large wildlife corridor which has been revegetated with native plants and covered in mustard, wild radish, and vetch, a favorite of bees and also a good nitrogen source for his rice crop.
Time might be running out for the bees, but there are simple actions we can take to make a difference. First, support organic farmers who don't use pesticides and whose growing methods work in harmony with the natural life of bees. In particular, buy organic almonds. Don't use pesticides in your home garden, especially at mid-day when bees most likely forage for nectar. You can also plant good nectar sources such as red clover, foxglove, bee balm, and other native plants to encourage bees to pollinate your garden. Provide clean water; even a simple bowl of water is beneficial. Buy local honey; it keeps small, diversified beekeepers in business, and beekeepers keep honeybees thriving. In addition, you can start keeping bees yourself. Backyard and urban beekeeping can actively help bring back our bees. Finally, you can work to preserve more open cropland and rangeland. Let's use our political voices to support smart land use, the impact of which will not only result in cleaner water, soil, and air, but also just might help save the humble honeybee.
© 2010 Civil Eats
Naomi Starkman is a food policy media consultant to Consumers Union and others. She served as the Director of Communications & Policy at Slow Food Nation ’08 and has been a media consultant to The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, GQ and WIRED magazines. She was previously a senior publicist at Newsweek magazine and was the Director of Communications for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). From 1997 to 2000, she served as Deputy Executive Director of the S.F. Ethics Commission. She is the co-founder of Civil Eats and Kitchen Table Talks, a local food forum in San Francisco, and a board member of 18 Reasons, a nonprofit connecting community through food. Naomi works with various clients on food policy and advocacy and is an aspiring organic grower, having worked on several farms.
Published on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 by Civil Eats
Beeline to Extinction
by Naomi Starkman
According to the recently released annual survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America(AIA) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), more than a third of U.S. managed honeybee colonies-those set up for intensified pollination of commercial crops-failed to survive this past winter. Since 2006, the decline of the U.S.'s estimated 2.4 million beehives-commonly referred to as colony collapse disorder (CCD)-has led to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of colonies: Hives are found empty with honey, larvae, and the queen intact, but with no bees and no trail left behind. The cause remains unknown, but appears to be a combination of factors impacting bee health and increasing their susceptibility to disease. Heavy losses associated with CCD have been found mainly with larger migratory commercial beekeepers, some of whom have lost 50-90 percent of their colonies.
A "keystone" species-one that has a disproportionate effect on the environment relative to its biomass-bees are our key to global food security and a critical part of the food chain. Flowering plants that produce our food depend on insects for pollination. There are other pollinators-butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and birds-but the honeybee is the most effective, pollinating over 100 commercial crops nationwide, including most fruit, vegetables, and nuts, as well as alfalfa for cattle feed and cotton, with a value estimated between $15-$20 billion annually. As much as one of every three bites of food we eat comes from food pollinated by insects. Without honeybees, our diet would be mostly meatless, consisting of rice and cereals, and we would have no cotton for textiles. The entire ecosystem and the global food economy potentially rests on their wings.
Experts now believe bees are heading for extinction and are racing to pinpoint the culprit, increasingly blaming pesticide usage. U.S. researchers have reported finding 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax, and pollen. New parasites, pathogens, fungi, and poor nutrition stemming from intensive farming methods are also part of the equation. Three years ago, U.S. scientists unraveled the genetic code of the honeybee and uncovered the DNA of a virus transmitted by the Varroa mite-Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV)-found in almost all of the hives impacted by CCD. Researchers have alsofound the fungus Nosema ceranae and other pathogens such as chalkbrood in some affected hives throughout the country. Other reported theories include the effects of shifting spring blooms and earlier nectar flow associated with broader global climate and temperature changes, the effects of feed supplements from genetically modified crops, such as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and the effects of cell phone transmissions and radiation from power lines that may be interfering with a bee's navigational capabilities. (Last year, a study revealed that a contaminant from heat-exposed HFCS might be killing off the bees.) However, according to a recent congressional report on CCD, contributions of these possible factors have not been substantiated.
The industrial bee business and the demands of intensified food production could also be playing a role in the bees' demise. Widespread migratory stress brought about by increased needs for pollination could be weakening the bees' immune systems. Most pollination services are provided by commercial migratory beekeepers who travel from state to state and provide pollination services to crop producers. These operations are able to supply a large number of bee colonies during the critical phase of a crop's bloom cycle, when bees pollinate as they collect nectar. A hive might make five cross-country truck trips each year, chasing crops, and some beekeepers can lose up to 10 percent of their queens during one cross country trip. Bees are overworked and stressed out.
California's almond crop is a prime example of our reliance on bees' industriousness for our agriculture success. The state grows 80 percent of the world's almonds, making it our largest agricultural export and bringing in a whopping $1.9 billion last year. The crop-with nearly 740,000 acres of almond trees planted-uses 1.3 million colonies of bees, approximately one half of all bees in the U.S., and is projected to grow to 1.5 million colonies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now predicting that Central Valley almond growers will produce about 1.53 billion pounds of almonds this year, up 8.5 percent last year. To meet the demand, bee colonies are trucked farther and more often than ever before and demand for bees has dramatically outstripped supply. Bee colonies, which a decade ago rented for $60, cost as much as $170 this February in California.
Few organic beekeepers have reported bee losses, suggesting that natural and organic bee keeping methods may be the solution. In addition, organic farmers who maintain wildlife habitat around their farms are helping to encourage bees to pollinate their crops. "The main difference between our farm and our conventional neighbors is the amount of wildlife and insect habitat that we have around the edge of our farm," said Greg Massa, who manages Massa Organics, a fourth generation 90-acre certified organic rice farm near Chico. Massa started growing organic almonds six years ago, and works with a small, organic beekeeper in Oregon who brings in 30 hives to his farm. Massa's farm has a large wildlife corridor which has been revegetated with native plants and covered in mustard, wild radish, and vetch, a favorite of bees and also a good nitrogen source for his rice crop.
Time might be running out for the bees, but there are simple actions we can take to make a difference. First, support organic farmers who don't use pesticides and whose growing methods work in harmony with the natural life of bees. In particular, buy organic almonds. Don't use pesticides in your home garden, especially at mid-day when bees most likely forage for nectar. You can also plant good nectar sources such as red clover, foxglove, bee balm, and other native plants to encourage bees to pollinate your garden. Provide clean water; even a simple bowl of water is beneficial. Buy local honey; it keeps small, diversified beekeepers in business, and beekeepers keep honeybees thriving. In addition, you can start keeping bees yourself. Backyard and urban beekeeping can actively help bring back our bees. Finally, you can work to preserve more open cropland and rangeland. Let's use our political voices to support smart land use, the impact of which will not only result in cleaner water, soil, and air, but also just might help save the humble honeybee.
© 2010 Civil Eats
Naomi Starkman is a food policy media consultant to Consumers Union and others. She served as the Director of Communications & Policy at Slow Food Nation ’08 and has been a media consultant to The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, GQ and WIRED magazines. She was previously a senior publicist at Newsweek magazine and was the Director of Communications for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). From 1997 to 2000, she served as Deputy Executive Director of the S.F. Ethics Commission. She is the co-founder of Civil Eats and Kitchen Table Talks, a local food forum in San Francisco, and a board member of 18 Reasons, a nonprofit connecting community through food. Naomi works with various clients on food policy and advocacy and is an aspiring organic grower, having worked on several farms.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Salish Sea Description
The waters of Puget Sound, Georgia Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca define the natural boundaries of the maritime Pacific Northwest. Known collectively as the Salish Sea, it also defines the people who’ve lived in this place from centuries past to the present.
Fenner's view of extinction is pretty extreme but another scientis who gets more credilbility everyday is Lovelock who things there will be a cull of over 5 billion humans. The planet is being destroyed by human over-population
Lovelock: 'We can't save the planet' | |
Professor James Lovelock, the scientist who developed Gaia theory, has said it is too late to try and save the planet. The man who achieved global fame for his theory that the whole earth is a single organism now believes that we can only hope that the earth will take care of itself in the face of completely unpredictable climate change. Interviewed by Today presenter John Humphrys, videos of which you can see below, he said that while the earth's future was utterly uncertain, mankind was not aware it had "pulled the trigger" on global warming as it built its civilizations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Vip-PbuZQ | |
Human race 'will be extinct within 100 years', claims leading scientist
Professor Frank Fenner has warned that the human race can not survive
As the scientist who helped eradicate smallpox he certainly know a thing or two about extinction.
And now Professor Frank Fenner, emeritus professor of microbiology at the Australian National University, has predicted that the human race will be extinct within the next 100 years.
He has claimed that the human race will be unable to survive a population explosion and 'unbridled consumption.’
Fenner told The Australian newspaper that 'homo sapiens will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years.'
'A lot of other animals will, too,' he added.
'It's an irreversible situation. I think it's too late. I try not to express that because people are trying to do something, but they keep putting it off.'
Since humans entered an unofficial scientific period known as the Anthropocene - the time since industrialisation - we have had an effect on the planet that rivals any ice age or comet impact, he said.
Fenner, 95, has won awards for his work in helping eradicate the variola virus that causes smallpox and has written or co-written 22 books.
He announced the eradication of the disease to the World Health Assembly in 1980 and it is still regarded as one of the World Health Organisation's greatest achievements.
He was also heavily involved in helpin
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1287643/Human-race-extinct-100-years-population-explosion.html#ixzz0rL7lIjdf
When I was 10 years old my friends and I would cut down caterpillar nests and put them on ant hills to watch insect wars. This was my first impression of overpopulation and its terrible affects looking at the disgusting caterpillar nests filled with garbage. No wate-to-energy system on Planet caterpillar. I just hope no superior being puts Earth on an anthill or burns the place like orchard keepers do with tent caterpillars.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Ray Anderson on the business logic of sustainability | Video on TED.com
im:
Ray Anderson is the founder of Interface, the company that makes those adorable Flor carpet tiles (as well as lots of less whizzy but equally useful flooring and fabric). He was a serious carpet guy, focused on building his company and making great products. Then he read Paul Hawken's book The Ecology of Commerce. Something clicked: with his company's global reach and manufacturing footprint, he was in a position to do something very real, very important, in building a sustainable world.
Anderson focused the company's attention on sustainable decisionmaking, taking a hard look at suppliers, manufacturing processes, and the beginning-to-end life cycle of all its products. (For example: If you can't find a place to recycle a worn or damaged Flor tile, Interface invites you to send it back to them and they'll do it for you.) They call this drive Mission Zero: "our promise to eliminate any negative impact our company may have on the environment by the year 2020."
"Just trust me and order some tiles. What more do you need to see that sustainability looks pretty good?"Jill Danyelle, fiftyRX3
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
International Crime networks as seen by Misha Glenny
Why you should listen to him: .In minute detail, Misha Glenny's 2008 book McMafia illuminates the byzantine outlines of global organized crime. Whether it's pot smugglers in British Columbia, oil/weapons/people traffickers in Eastern Europe, Japanese yakuza or Nigerian scammers, to research this magisterial work Glenny penetrated the convoluted, globalized and franchised modern underworld -- often at considerable personal risk.
The book that resulted is an exhaustive look at an unseen industry that Glenny believes may account for 15% of the world's GDP.
Legal society ignores this world at its peril, but Glenny suggests that conventional law enforcement might not be able to combat a problem whose roots lie in global instability.
While covering the Central Europe beat for the Guardian and the BBC, Glenny wrote several acclaimed books on the fall of Yugoslavia and the rise of the Balkan nations. He's currently researching a new book on cybercrime.
"Glenny is not afraid to put himself in threatening situations -- one imagines his name is conspicuously absent from the Christmascard list of the world's major criminals."
The Observer
The book that resulted is an exhaustive look at an unseen industry that Glenny believes may account for 15% of the world's GDP.
Legal society ignores this world at its peril, but Glenny suggests that conventional law enforcement might not be able to combat a problem whose roots lie in global instability.
While covering the Central Europe beat for the Guardian and the BBC, Glenny wrote several acclaimed books on the fall of Yugoslavia and the rise of the Balkan nations. He's currently researching a new book on cybercrime.
"Glenny is not afraid to put himself in threatening situations -- one imagines his name is conspicuously absent from the Christmascard list of the world's major criminals."
The Observer
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Banking on Change: Microcredit and Community Organizing in India
Banking on Change: Microcredit and Community Organizing in India
J. S. Parthiban might be the only banker whose office comes equipped with a kickstand. A native of Tamil Nadu, India's southernmost state, Parthiban makes microloans to local communities, all from the back of his small, black Hero Honda motorcycle.
Microcredit, an approach to poverty alleviation that's seen significant success in India, Bangladesh, and elsewhere, involves making small loans to people—mainly women—who have no access to traditional credit so they may start local businesses. Microcredit's success is tied, in part, to its emphasis on community, cooperation, and person-to-person relationships, all keys to vibrant local economies.
"When you begin a new venture, don't think only of yourself and your family. It should benefit the community, the village, and the entire surroundings," says Parthiban, whose work shows that community-based banking has little in common with the risky financial speculation that contributed to the current recession.
To Parthiban, solving problems, including economic ones, is ultimately about cultivating healthy communities. Changing broken systems is important, he agrees, but the real work is with people: "If you help them change their attitude toward life—what they are doing, why they are doing, how they can be—if you can help them find an answer to all these things, I think we have found an answer to all the big headlines in the newspapers."
J. S. Parthiban might be the only banker whose office comes equipped with a kickstand. A native of Tamil Nadu, India's southernmost state, Parthiban makes microloans to local communities, all from the back of his small, black Hero Honda motorcycle.
Microcredit, an approach to poverty alleviation that's seen significant success in India, Bangladesh, and elsewhere, involves making small loans to people—mainly women—who have no access to traditional credit so they may start local businesses. Microcredit's success is tied, in part, to its emphasis on community, cooperation, and person-to-person relationships, all keys to vibrant local economies.
"When you begin a new venture, don't think only of yourself and your family. It should benefit the community, the village, and the entire surroundings," says Parthiban, whose work shows that community-based banking has little in common with the risky financial speculation that contributed to the current recession.
To Parthiban, solving problems, including economic ones, is ultimately about cultivating healthy communities. Changing broken systems is important, he agrees, but the real work is with people: "If you help them change their attitude toward life—what they are doing, why they are doing, how they can be—if you can help them find an answer to all these things, I think we have found an answer to all the big headlines in the newspapers."
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Markets
The price pattern reminds you that every movement of importance is but a repetition of similar price movements, that just as soon as you can familiarize yourself with the actions of the past, you will be able to anticipate and act correctly and profitably upon forthcoming movements. —Jesse Livermore
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Venture-Capital Firms Caught in a Shakeout - WSJ.com
Venture-Capital Firms Caught in a Shakeout - WSJ.com
The technology bubble popped a decade ago, but the venture-capital industry that helped finance the boom stayed largely intact. Now venture-capital firms are going through their own brutal culling.
Venture firms are struggling to raise new cash, hampered by poor investment returns and a difficult economy. Last year, 125 venture funds in the U.S. collected $13.6 billion, down from 203 funds that raised $28.7 billion in 2008 and down from 217 funds that raised $40.8 billion in 2007, according to data tracker VentureSource.
Business.view: Wominnovation | The Economist
Business.view: Wominnovation | The Economist
TWO recent innovations have garnered a lot of attention for the way they empower women. One is microcredit, a system of lending to very poor people, the majority of whom are female microentrepreneurs who are thus helped to climb out of poverty. The other is the mobile phone, which among other things has led to the emergence of an army of “telephone ladies” in countries such as Bangladesh, who earn a decent living by buying a phone and renting it out to other villagers.
That said, some innovations have been harmful to women, especially in the developing world. As the cover story of the latest issue of The Economist points out, at least 100m female lives have been lost in recent decades due to “gendercide” in countries such as China, where the number of live male births recorded enormously exceeds the number of live female births. One factor in this has been new technology that allows parents to determine their embryo’s sex early in a pregnancy—and thus to abort females in countries where male offspring are valued more highly. Other innovations also bring more benefits to men than women. For example, women are estimated to be only 25% of internet users in Africa, 22% in Asia, 38% in Latin America and just 6% in the Middle East.
“How can we harness innovation’s power to empower women and promote greater gender equality?” asks a new study by the International Centre for Research on Women. Its authors try to answer this question first by examining eight inventions that they say have helped women dramatically, including village mobile phones and microcredit.
Another example is the birth-control pill: there is a strong case to be made that it has brought more benefits for women than any other invention, although the report does not attempt such a ranking. The automatic washing-machine might give it a close run in countries where it is commonplace, by freeing women from an activity that used to take many hours a week. Instead of studying that, the report instead considers a number of “social innovations”, ranging from land titling in Peru to the successful anti-foot-binding campaign in China, that the authors say have had a massive beneficial impact.
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