Mois : mai 2014

Poverty in the European Union on the increase, on Real-World Economcs Review Blog, by merijknibbe. May 29, 2014 … people at risk of poverty or social exclusion … According to Deirdre McCloskey, poverty (and growth) is a much more important problem than inequality …;

680,000 Greek Children at Risk of Living in Poverty, on Greek Reporter, by Nikoleta Kalmouki, May 29, 2014;   Continuer la lecture de « Poverty in Europe »

Published on Aspects of India’s Economy/Vol 57, by Sandhya Srinivasan, May 2014.

… What are BMGF’s objectives?

Key elements of the BMGF strategy(5) – as described on the Foundation website – are as follows:     Continuer la lecture de « The Gates Foundation in India: A Primer »

Published on Russia Today RT, May 27, 2014.

Circumstances surrounding the European and Ukrainian elections were far from being a mere coincidence.

The regime changers in Kiev decided to hold a presidential election on May 25, the same day as European Parliament elections, in order to demonstrate their desire to follow a European-centric foreign policy.   Continuer la lecture de « Europe and Ukraine: A tale of two elections »

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Spiegel staff, May 26, 2014.

In a SPIEGEL interview, American data scientist Alex Pentland discusses how data streams can be used to determine the laws of human interaction. He argues the information can be used to help forge better societies.

Alex Pentland, 62, heads the Human Dynamics Lab at the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is considered one of the world’s leading data scientists. In his new book, Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread — The Lessons from a New Science, he argues that human communication behaviors follow the rules of mathematics. Continuer la lecture de « Interview with Alex Pentland: Can We Use Big Data to Make Society Better? – part 1 »

Published on Global Research.ca (first on Market Oracle), by Jo-Shing Yang, May 22, 2014.

A disturbing trend in the water sector is accelerating worldwide. The new “water barons” — the Wall Street banks and elitist multibillionaires — are buying up water all over the world at unprecedented pace. Continuer la lecture de « The New “Water Barons”: Wall Street Mega-Banks are Buying up the World’s Water »

Published on Contrary Perspective, by Anonymous, May 2014 (the author teaches at the collegiate level and prefers to remain anonymous).

Everyone knows that one has to go to school to receive a formal education and formal credentials. But schools are also social institutions. As institutions, schools often stand in the way of education. A competitive education driven by credentials is often responsible for lowering the self-esteem of both students and teachers as a consequence of grading and various other evaluation processes.   Continuer la lecture de « Institutionalized Education: A Quasi-Anarchist’s Perspective »

Published on ZNet (first on Wikileaks.org), by Julian Assange, May 23, 2014 (Links posted in our pages Civil Liberties, Politics/Gov, Repression, SourceZ, US).

The National Security Agency has been recording and storing nearly all the domestic (and international) phone calls from two or more target countries as of 2013. Both the Washington Post and The Intercept (based in the US and published by eBay chairman Pierre Omidyar) have censored the name of one of the victim states, which the latter publication refers to as country “X”.     Continuer la lecture de « WikiLeaks statement on the mass recording of Afghan telephone calls by the NSA »

Published on Intrepid Report, by Martha Rosenberg, May 23, 2014.

“Never mind” said the Obama administration in March after its proposal to limit automatic Medicare coverage of pricey depression and psychiatric drugs was met with a Pharma funded backlash. It apparently wasn’t worth it as “patients” on the Hill yelled “You’re going to limit WHAT?” and won.   Continuer la lecture de « US: Why Medicare pays so much for psychiatric drugs »

Published on E-International Relations, by MANUELA LAVINAS PICQ, MAY 21, 2014.

Indigeneity is an unusual way to think about International Relations (IR). Most studies of world politics ignore Indigenous perspectives, which are rarely treated as relevant to thinking about the international (Shaw 2008; Beier 2009). Yet Indigenous peoples are engaging in world politics with a dynamism and creativity that defies the silences of our discipline (Morgan 2011). In Latin America, Indigenous politics has gained international legitimacy, influencing policy for over two decades (Cott 2008; Madrid 2012).   Continuer la lecture de « Self-Determination as Anti-Extractivism: How Indigenous Resistance Challenges IR »

Published on Humanitarian News (first in AidNews.org), May 21, 2014.

The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said Wednesday it has begun a bypass system that diverts groundwater into the sea in a bid to reduce the volume of contaminated water.
The move is an attempt to stop tonnes of unpolluted groundwater flowing under the battered plant and mixing with water already there and laced with radioactive isotopes.
Dealing with the huge — and growing — amount of water at the tsunami-damaged plant is proving to be one of the biggest challenges for Tokyo Electric Power co. (TEPCO), as it looks to clean up the mess after the worst nuclear disaster in a generation.   Continuer la lecture de « Japan Fukushima operator starts diverting groundwater to sea »

Published on OpEdNews, by Ellen Brown, May 19, 2014.

The movement to break away from Wall Street and form publicly-owned banks continues to gain momentum. But enthusiasts are deterred by claims that a state-owned bank would violate constitutional prohibitions against « lending the credit of the state. »   Continuer la lecture de « Are Public Banks Unconstitutional? No. Are Private Banks? Maybe »

Published on FreePress.net/blog/take action, by Candace Clement, May 16, 2014.

On Thursday, the FCC released its proposal on how it intends to protect Net Neutrality in the wake of a January court case that tossed out the agency’s rules.

And, just as we feared, the rules pay lip service to the idea of the open Internet while proposing solutions that would create a two-tiered Internet with fast lanes for those who can afford it — and dirt roads for the rest of us. Continuer la lecture de « Net Neutrality: So … Now What? »

… with Videos – Published on Russia Today RT, May 18, 2014.

Thousands of activists took to the streets of Germany and Spain on Saturday to protest the EU’s policies as the union prepares for parliamentary elections at the end of May.

In Germany, the EU’s powerhouse, people participated in a day of anti-Brussels protests in Hamburg and the capital Berlin.   Continuer la lecture de « Thousands across Europe rally against EU policies »

Published on Al-Aham weekly online, by Sherine Abdel-Razek, May 15, 2014.

The presidential poll will take place before a backdrop of economic woes. The budget deficit has ballooned. There is a deep-rooted energy crisis and foreign investors continue to give Egypt the cold shoulder. Unemployment and inflation are compounding already high levels of poverty in a country whose population — emboldened by two revolutions — is unlikely to shy away from taking to the streets.

So what are the candidates promising on the economic front?   Continuer la lecture de « Egypt: Ambiguous economic map »

Published on ThinkProgress, by Jack Jenkins, May 15, 2014.

… Nunzio Galantino, the secretary-general of the Italian bishops’ conference (CEI) and bishop of the southern diocese of Cassano all’Jonio, reportedly told a Florence-based newspaper on Tuesday that Italian church leaders should embrace the more liberal path paved by Pope Francis and pay closer attention to progressive religious arguments.   Continuer la lecture de « Top Catholic Bishop Says Church Should Consider Accepting Gays »