Sunday, May 25, 2014

Americans, Sick And Tired Of Politics As Usual

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

12 Numbers Which Prove That Americans Are Sick And Tired Of Politics As Usual Washington's Blog: " . . . The following are 12 numbers which prove that Americans are sick and tired of politics as usual…
#2 According to a Real Clear Politics average of national polls, only 29 percent of Americans believe that the country is heading in the right direction. #3 According to a Real Clear Politics average of national polls, Americans disapprove of the job that Barack Obama is doing by a 52.2 to 43.7 percent margin. #4 According to a Real Clear Politics average of national polls, Americans disapprove of the job that Congress is doing by a 77.6 percent to 14.2 percent margin. #5 52 percent of Americans “do not think the economy is fair to those willing to work hard”. #6 65 percent of Americans are dissatisfied “with the U.S. system of government and its effectiveness”. That is the highest level of dissatisfaction that Gallup has ever recorded. #7 Only 4 percent of Americans believe that it would “change Congress for the worse” if every member was voted out during the next election....#12 70 percent of Americans do not have confidence that the federal government will “make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2014″. (read more at link above)





Sunday, May 18, 2014

How Obama lost friends and influence in the BRICs

How Obama lost friends and influence in the Brics - FT.com: "....Each of these deteriorating relationships has specific narratives. But there are two larger themes linking them together. First, the world is adjusting to declining US power. America retains by far the world’s largest military force. But it gets a little less so each year. China’s defence budget continues to grow by double digits while that of the US is falling in real terms. The US miscalculated badly in its 2003 invasion of Iraq...."





Sunday, May 11, 2014

Our Loss of Wisdom, Barry Schwartz (video)



View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/our-loss-of...
Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for "practical wisdom" as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world. Our Loss of Wisdom: "A wise person knows when and how to make the exception to every rule, as the janitors knew when to ignore the job duties in the service of other objectives. A wise person knows how to improvise, as Luke did when he re-washed the floor. Real-world problems are often ambiguous and ill-defined and the context is always changing. A wise person is like a jazz musician — using the notes on the page, but dancing around them, inventing combinations that are appropriate for the situation and the people at hand. A wise person knows how to use these moral skills in the service of the right aims. To serve other people, not to manipulate other people. And finally, perhaps most important, a wise person is made, not born. Wisdom depends on experience, and not just any experience. You need the time to get to know the people that you’re serving. You need permission to be allowed to improvise, try new things, occasionally to fail and to learn from your failures. And you need to be mentored by wise teachers."





Sunday, May 4, 2014

The Google Rumors are True





















The Google Rumors are True (source: XKCD)



Reuters: World News

Top Stories - Google (UK) News

Reuters: Technology News

The Register articles by Kieren McCarthy

Altucher Confidential

BuzzMachine - Jeff Jarvis

OUPblog

My Reading List