Hans Rosling again, this time explaining to the US State Department that datasets beat mindsets. He shows them (among other things) that even in sub-Saharan Africa has countries as advanced and well off as the US. is today. He says to beware of lumping all of Africa together. Within parts of the poorest sub-Saharan countriesContinue reading “The USA leads the way”
Monthly Archives: August 2010
Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion? – The Hans Rosling edition
TED video, “Hans Rosling explains why ending poverty” and increasing wealth “– over the coming decades – is crucial to stop population.” http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf
Rational Optimism versus locavorism
Over at Cafe Hayek, George Mason University professor Don Boudreaux posted a letter he wrote to the NY Times. David Sassoon of Harlemville, NY, is a locovore because, in his words, he’s “interested in restoring community through the act of eating, rather than swallowing the cold logic of global economics” (Letters, Aug. 28). So BoudreauxContinue reading “Rational Optimism versus locavorism”
iPads and Kindles are better for the environment than books? Come again?
Brian Palmer (aka Slate’s Green Lantern) writes that “iPads and Kindles are better for the environment than books.” If the Lantern has taught you anything, it’s that most consumer products make their biggest scar on the Earth during manufacture and transport, before they ever get into your greedy little hands. He then papers glosses overContinue reading “iPads and Kindles are better for the environment than books? Come again?”
Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion? – iPat edition redux
Steven Earl Salmony of the AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population, commented on Dot Earth’s, “Do the Top Billion Need New Goals?” Dear Timberati, Do you think there is any chance at all that Paul Ehrlich, despite his poor showing as prognosticator and gambler, will be shown to be one of the greatest scientists ofContinue reading “Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion? – iPat edition redux”
Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion? – The iPat edition
Andrew Revkin asks on his blog, Dot Earth, ‘Would the world benefit from a set of millennium development goals for the “top billion”?’ Michael Schesinger, a climatologist at the University of Illinois, among other things, wrote, “Perhaps humanity and the Earth can survive with 9 billion people in 2050, but what type of world willContinue reading “Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion? – The iPat edition”
Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion?
Andrew Revkin asks on his blog, Dot Earth: “Would the world benefit from a set of millennium development goals for the ‘top billion’?” He notes: There’s a set of Millennium Development Goals for the poorest of the poor — a cohort of humanity sometimes described as the “ bottom billion.” But, as yet, there’s noContinue reading “Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion?”
Weekend Postcard – Yosemite
I thought we would look at some more pictures from Yosemite National Park. I took most of these on the east side of Yosemite National Park. The lake is Tenaya Lake (not to be confused with the smaller beaver ponds). If you want to know the location or subject of any of these, leave aContinue reading “Weekend Postcard – Yosemite”
Gapminder
If you’ve not discovered Gapminder, try it. It’s amazing. It shows demographic trends. Graphically. Click here and see how life expectancy at birth and number of children born per woman changes. http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf Here, Hans Rosling explains his reasons for developing Gapminder and how it helps to debunk myths about the developed and developing world. FromContinue reading “Gapminder”
Book Review: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
Let me recommend a startling book to you, because whether you read a book a week or you haven’t picked one up since you discovered the wonders of the internet, this one deserves your attention. The book is The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves (438 pages) written by Matt Ridley and published by HarperCollins ($26.99).Continue reading “Book Review: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves”
Nullius in Verba 