The menace of the public option
By M.C. Blakeman: 
Of all the current assaults on our noble republic, perhaps none is more dangerous than the public option – specifically, the public library option.
For far too long, this menace has undermined the very foundations of our economy. While companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble struggle valiantly each day to sell books, these communistic cabals known as libraries undercut the hard work of good corporate citizens by letting people read their books for free. How is the private sector supposed to compete with free? And just what does this public option give us? People can spend hours and hours in these dens of socialism without having to buy so much as a cappuccino. Furthermore, not only can anyone read books for free in the library, they can take them home, too. They get a simple card that can be used at any library in town. No checking on the previous condition of books they’ve read. No literacy test. Nothing. Yet, do these libertines of literature let you choose any book you want, anytime you want it? No. Have you ever tried to get the latest best-seller at a public library? They put you on a waiting list for that, my friend. And if you do ask these government apparatchiks a question about a book, they start talking your ear off, and pretty soon they’re telling you what to read.
Of course, if you break one of their petty rules and return a book late, you have to pay fines that mount grotesquely each day. Even if you die, your overdue fees keep piling up. Is that not a death tax? How long must the elderly live in fear of burdening their children with these unfair sanctions on their estates?
Don’t be fooled for a minute. Somebody has to pay for these “free” libraries, and I’ll tell you who it is, pal. Those good ol’ suckers, the American taxpayers, that’s who.
Have you ever wondered who’s really behind this public library option? And don’t you think it’s fishy that they mask their nefarious activities with benign-sounding names, like Friends of the Library? What’s their real agenda – and why do they have so many “volunteer” meetings, anyway?
No, my fellow Americans. We cannot wait until we’re all goose-stepped into a massive book checkout line. This assault on capitalism and our very way of life has got to end. Be subversive … burn your library card! Go out and buy a book!
M.C. Blakeman is the co-author of “Safe Homes, Safe Neighborhoods” (Nolo Press).
Happy (?) Labor Day
Rutgers University just released the Labor Scorecard, confirming that 2009 will not be a happy labor day.
According to the study, nearly 17% of Americans are unemployed, discouraged from seeking work or underemployed. In last month alone, 216,000 Americans lost their jobs (via Economic Policy Institute). But this figure doesn’t paint the entire picture. The working class is experiencing 15% unemployment, while the high-paid “creative class” (i.e. senior managers and doctors) is only at 4-5%.
The disparities go deeper, into race, gender, and disabilities. As summed up in HuffPo: “The unemployment rate is 8.6 percent for whites; 14.5 percent for blacks; 12.3 percent for Hispanics and 15.1 percent for people with disabilities.”
And women still make less than men. Twenty percent less, which is barely an improvement from 24% a decade ago.
And here’s something interesting: inflation has been slower than wages; so those who are actually employed are seeing average inflation-adjusted wages increasing. A bit of twisted silver lining, to enjoy with today’s BBQ.
Testosterone
Testosterone is that elusive hormone associated with masculinity, aggressiveness, and a lustful sexual appetite. While the average male produces 40-60 times more testosterone than the average female, the overall range is so wide that many men and women overlap (I’d love to know the actual gender breakdowns and overlap).
A recent study from the University of Chicago and Kellogg measured the effects of testosterone on financial risk-aversion and long-term career choices. They found that higher levels of testosterone in women led to less risk aversion. And among women and men with similar levels of testosterone, there was no difference in risk aversion. But interestingly enough, risk aversion among men was not determined by levels of testosterone. Does this mean there is a minimum bar of testosterone that turns on the “risky” switch?
The researchers also reported a link between testosterone and career. Those who were high in testosterone chose riskier careers in finance.
All this reminds me of one of the most interesting This American Life episodes from last year. The first act interviews a man who lost his testosterone; the second interviews a trans-gender man (born a woman) who has taken massive testosterone injections for seven years. Read the rest of this entry »
Kiva loans: not just for third-world entrepreneurs
Today was an exciting day in the office, as Kiva announced its expansion to entrepreneurs in the US.
This strategic move raised both enthusiasm and skepticism. I blogged about this a while ago and expressed that I would personally be excited about funding an entrepreneur next door. There’s no doubt that micro-loans should be available to entrepreneurs in the US. The question is: should Kiva be the one doing it? Read the rest of this entry »
Supporting same-sex marriage: to know is to accept?
A Gallup Poll on acceptance of same-sex marriage came out soon after the terrible news of California Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold Prop 8 (also known as Prop-H8). The poll shows that those who know someone who is gay are significantly more supportive of gay marriage than those who do not.
There are two explanations for this relationship. One is the contact hypothesis, stating that exposure leads to greater tolerance. And there’s the other direction of causality, suggesting that if you are more accepting of this group then you are more likely to put yourself in a situation in which you are exposed to this group (like living in San Francisco). I imagine a similar poll from the civil rights era would show similar findings: those who knew blacks were more supportive of equal rights. Let’s just hope one day we look back at this the same way.
life without soda
Exactly three months ago, I was sitting in a London cafe, sipping a Diet Coke, when I declared I would give up that sweet addiction. This wasn’t my first time giving something up (I’ve given up meat, alcohol, and sour jelly bellys). But it was certainly the most difficult.
The first three weeks were the worst. I call them the dark days. I had painful migraines, which were only exacerbated by light. I craved for a sip of diet coke. No substitute could satisfy my craving. It was always. on. my. mind.
After the migraines subsided, I shifted to resentment. I was disgusted by the power of this addiction; and the control this corn-syrup concoction had over my mind and body. I began an exploration for alternatives (mostly for the caffeine and refreshment). For me, the best substitutes have been simple (and conveniently healthier): water and tea. They don’t have the upper and energy-boost of soda, but I’m pretty sure they’re better for me in the long run.
Now I feel healthier, less anxious, and I swear my teeth are whiter. The cravings are less often, and I’m beginning to forget the taste. And because water and tea are far cheaper than a can of soda, I’m saving a few bucks too.
Do you own a tool box?
Matthew B. Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work had a great excerpt in the Times recently. Crawford is a writer, and a PhD Graduate from the University of Chicago, who has chose to open a motorcycle repair shop to work as a mechanic. He praises manual trades, and argues that society unfairly discredits their merits while molding our generations into “knowledge workers”.
And he’s absolutely right. In high school, a portion of the students took vocational classes (mechanics, child-care, beauty school). These programs were given little honor and usually reserved for those with lower grades. I can imagine the reaction of a PTA mom when her son tells her he’s forgoing college to learn how to fix bikes.
Just as college is viewed as a ticket to an open future; vocational trades were seen as a closed one. But is that fair? Read the rest of this entry »
This food is disgusting.
Did you know I could be sued for saying that?
There are actually laws– Veggie Libel Laws– which make it easier for the corporate food industry to sue critics for libel. Oprah was sued in 1996 for shaming hamburgers after the mad-cow-disease disaster. And perhaps I too, can be sued for saying that McDonald’s hamburgers are downright disgusting.
This is just one thing unveiled to me at tonight’s screening of Food Inc., followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Robert Kenner and author Michael Pollan. As a six-year pescatarian and (unrepentant) fan of Omnivores Dilemma and Fast Food Nation, I expected to be moved by this film. What I quickly realized is that everyone will be moved by this film. Food and health affect us all. Three times a day.
And just like big tobacco was exposed to consumers over the past 20 years, so too will the curtain of the corporate food industry rise to unveil the truth of what we eat. Health, worker-rights, animal-rights, and environmental concerns about our food are becoming more transparent, and consumers are speaking up. This film has the opportunity to shake a movement and turn our food crisis into an opportunity. I hope they make this valuable information and transparency accessible to everyone– from big cities to small rural areas. Everyone deserves affordable, healthy, and delicious food.
Food, Inc. opens in theaters on June 12th.
Mortgage-back securities: gizzards packaged as breasts
An article in this week’s New Yorker shares a pretty good poultry analogy for understanding debt securitization:
You can turn a bunch of whole chickens into packages of chicken parts, of ascending quality, from gizzards to breasts, and charge a premium for the best cuts. The butcher gets paid, and the shopper gets what he wants. The problem was, eventually, the gizzards were packaged as breasts. And then there was the salmonella.
- Quoting Simon Mikhailovich in The Death of Kings: Notes from a meltdown by Nick Paumgarten.
For others who are also puzzled by this mess, this is a good video explanation.
A Nonprofit Model for the NY Times
Is the New York Times successful?
It is revered as one of the top publications in the world, attracting top journalists and writers. They have the third highest circulation in the US, with a circulation revenue increase of 3% last year. And the online presence is at the forefront of the industry, with more online visitors than any other newspaper. (Not to mention very cool data visualizations). As the gatekeeper to news around the world, most of us would agree that the NY Times is a influential contributor to society. A successful one at that.
But there’s one big problem that has a lot of shareholders experts worried. The NY Times is no longer a money-making machine. In fact, the Times debt rating was recently downgraded to “junk” status by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s; and the stock price is down to $5 (it was $20 this time last year).
So if the Times is successful in every measure except profit- why not turn the paper into a nonprofit institution?
Billionaire David Geffen dreams of a NY Times with the sole mission of public service. He recently tried to acquire a large stake of the company to turn it into a nonprofit operating without the ultimate responsibility of paying dividends or being profitable, describing this as “the best way to run an institution like the New York Times”.
In addition to tax-exemption, non-profit status frees journalists from pressures to generate profits, appease advertisers, and maximize shareholder wealth. Instead, the paper can focus on just being a really good newspaper.
In a January op-ed, David Swensen and Michael Schmidt wrote:
Aside from providing stability, an endowment would promote journalistic independence. The best-run news organizations insulate reporters from pressures to produce profits or to placate advertisers. But endowed news organizations would be in an ideal situation – with no pressure from stockholders or advertisers at all.
Others argue that the best way to save the Times is to cut costs and start charging for online content. While these are good ideas for any self-sustaining enterprise, I believe that the for-profit model is fundamentally incompatible for this type of entity. The New York Times needs to be freed from the capitalist handcuffs that define success only in terms of profits. I’m with Geffen– the Times is a national treasure meriting preservation into perpetuity.
An argument for longer dinners
Correlation is not causation, but it is reason for discussion and further research. Every country has access to different foods, so part of this is geographically circumstantial. Notice that the five countries with the lowest BMI are surrounded with water on 3 sides. We know that a diet rich in seafood is less fattening than one with red meat.
That being said, a mindset of taking your time to eat probably translates into taking your time to select, cook, and prepare your food. If you care enough to sit down for two hours to consume your meal— it’s probably not fast-food or a frozen dinner.
Visualization via Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
the recessionary beard
In March, NYC hosted the third annual Beard & Mustache competition where an entire new category was introduced: recession beards. The only qualifications were that you had to be unemployed and beard-donning. I thought it was just a trend, but apparently there’s more to the recent beard phenomenon.
According to the marketing research company the NPD Group, sales of electric shavers and men’s facial trimmers have dropped 12% in the last year. Some suggest that unemployment offers the beard grower a greater level of freedom to experiment with his appearance.
Others look at a deeper psychological reason, stating that facial hair is an outward sign of one’s masculinity. And by growing beards, unemployed workers can offset any ego-damage caused by job troubles. While this is an interesting theory, I wouldn’t go so far as to generalize masculinity and ego.
It would be interesting to break down razor sales by gender. Are women shaving less, too?
talking too much
I am loud and sometimes I talk too much.
Especially after a few drinks, I find myself in deep, long-winded conversations. Sometimes with people I barely know.
Humans can be grouped in three talking categories: quiet, average, and talkative. But I was curious about the talkative types, and how they (we) came to be that way.
My initial hypothesis was that talkers are born and socially conditioned. The ‘talking gene’ must be related to other traits like aggressiveness, openness, and friendliness; but that a child’s upbringing either encourages or suppresses this behavior.
So I did a little research. Read the rest of this entry »
Disguising money-saving acts as eco-conciousness
Have you noticed the signs in hotel bathrooms that try to appeal to your green conscious? “Save Our Planet … Every day millions of gallons of water are used to wash towels that have only been used once … Please decide for yourself.”
I recently stayed in a hotel that actually had a framed note saying:
“We have a genuine commitment to be supportive members of the community… Our efforts include water and energy conservation program and purchasing environmentally sensitive products…”
It goes on to explain that the sheets would only be washed every other day. The ironic part was that on the back of the frame, was a “Made in China” sticker. What a disingenuous appeal.
Do they really care about the environment, or are they using this as a clever guise to save money? This encouraged me to do a bit of research.
My first stop was GreenHotels.com, a site that actually sells those little placards to hotels. To my surprise, the first line claims: Haven’t you heard? Being green goes directly to your bottom line. Being green goes directly to a higher long-term value of your property. Being green goes directly to your front doors which open wide to bring guests back again and again.
It’s estimated that hotels save $2 per day per room for guests who reuse linens and towels. That’s certainly enough to buy picture frames that were not transported overseas. It seems that hotels are more concerned about their bottom line than actually saving the environment. What I’d like to see is hotels passing on the cost-savings to customers… or better yet, environmental charities.
The smallest country in the world is building the largest solar power plant on the continent
Vatican City, the 0.2 square mile country with 900 citizens in the middle of Rome, recently announced it will be spending $660 million to build Europe’s largest solar power plant. The 100 megawatts created by the plant will be able to supply 40,000 households, far more than Pope Benedict XVI and the other inhabitants of Vatican City.
“Now is the time to strike,” Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican City’s governor, said in an interview from his study overlooking the Michelangelo-designed Basilica of St. Peter’s. “One should take advantage of the crisis to try and develop these renewable-energy sources to the maximum, which in the long run will reap incomparable rewards.”
The Vatican has listed pollution as one of seven “social” sins. During an address for World Peace Day in 2006, the Pope said: “The destruction of the environment, its improper or selfish use, and the violent hoarding of the Earth’s resources cause grievances, conflicts and wars, precisely because they are the consequences of an inhumane concept of development.”
This isn’t all the Vatican is doing to reduce its greenhouse emissions. They are also contemplating using an electric popemobile and decking the Vatican cafeteria with a solar heating system to provide heating and cooling. “When looking for inspiration, the Pope defers towards the heavens, but when looking for electricity, the sun is his choice.”
Via Bloomberg.com
coachella in summary: musicality and happiness
I just got back from a long weekend of music and dancing in the desert of Indio, California. While the days were hot, nights were cool and perfect for dancing to all sorts of favorites like Paul McCartney, the Killers, the Cure, Girltalk, the Ting Tings, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, and so much more.
Coachella takes place in the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, just a few miles from Palm Springs. This meant major allergies and sneezing-fests on my part, but this didn’t stop me from having an amazing time. I was joined with two of my very best girlfriends– my college roommate Lauren and one of my best friends in SF, Tamara. We made new friends and ran into old friends, and did nothing but celebrate life through music all weekend.
This got me thinking about how happiness can be lifted by just listening to a certain song (don’t we all have that one go-to song?). The happiest song I can think of is ‘Just like Heaven’ by the Cure [Dancing in the deepest oceans / Twisting in the water / You're just like a dream]. That song never fails to put a smile or tear on my face, and it was remarkable hearing it performed live.
But music goes so far beyond the individual experience. Music aids the creation and maintenance of social relationships. A group of people listening to one song is able to experience an adventure with shared rhythm, prosody, and lyrics– making music a sort of social glue.
“Music is the most physically arousing of the arts – it makes your heart beat faster, opens up your pores, makes you sweat emotionally. That’s what it’s good at. I think it’s a myth that sad music makes you happy. It often makes me feel absolutely suicidal. But it exalts you – purges you of emotions. You find stiff-upper-lip people bursting into tears, or getting up and dancing. It makes it all come out.” -Rupert Christiansen
an embarrassment to modern society
via Michael at Ecorazzi.
If you’ve ever wanted a visual representation of the word “desperate”, may I present to you this latest anti-gay marriage ad from a group called Nation For Marriage. As you’ll see, it features actors and actresses discussing their heartaches over laws allowing gays and lesbians to be married — while all the while lightning flashes and heavy, dark clouds swirl all around them in the background. What’s next? Blood-filled rivers? Death and destruction? These groups are an embarrassment to modern society. (For additional laughs, check out the outtakes from the auditions for this ridiculous PSA.)
mind-reading robots
The future is here. Or at least within sight.
Honda unveiled a mind-reading robot, similar to the one you invented when you were six. This Jetson-like helmet allows the wearer to control a robot by thought alone. The helmet scans brain activity and relays it to a computer, which then instructs the robot what to do.
There are still quite a few imperfections to work out. It takes up to three hours to analyze your specific brain activity, and the computer equipment is the size of a refrigerator, But Honda hopes that by 2020 the robot will be cheap and capable enough to help nurses with simple tasks. The video below suggests that the robot would auto-change the temperature in your house or open the trunk of your car, with just a thought. Let’s just hope there aren’t too many minds working at once…
eating together
family dinner: with my step sister, step mum, and dad
Growing up, we had tons of rules. But the two that seemed to be most important to my father were 1. no riding in cars with boys and 2. be home for dinner. I’m not sure if the first rule prevented any dangers, but it turns out family meals can be of great value.
According to a study from the University of Minnesota: Parents who have regular meals with their adolescent children might help lessen the chances they will start drinking or smoking later in their teen years. In another study, researchers found “eating family meals together during adolescence resulted in adults who ate more fruit, dark-green and orange vegetables and key nutrients, and drank less soft drinks… Frequency of family meals as adolescents predicted eating dinner more frequently as adults, placing a higher priority on structured meals and a higher priority on social eating.”
Other interesting studies on nutrition and family meals:
- The ‘Clean Plate’ Club May Turn Children into Overeaters
- The Bigger the Serving, the More Young Children Will Eat
- Less Television, More Gathering Around the Dinner Table Prevents Kids From Being Overweight
- Children Eat More Fruits and Vegetables If They Are Homegrown
- Making Time for Meals: Meal Structure & Associations With Dietary Intake in Young Adults
The ritual of our family meals may be the reason I feel so strongly about group dinners. I love cooking for people, cooking with people– and the closeness that it brings. I may ride in cars with boys, but I certainly won’t miss a dinner.
shark attacks are down, condom sales are up
Blame it on the economy. Or thank the economy. People are relating every shifting trend on this recession.
A dentist on This American Life podcast shared an interesting circumstance this recession has left us. He claims he has seen an increase in broken teeth, from night grinding (nervous energy that surfaces during sleep).
There have also been fewer shark attacks. Ichthyologist George Burgess said that in 2008, attacks dipped to their lowest level in five years, a sign that Americans may be forgoing vacation trips to the beach (or forgoing atrociously expensive medical care?).
People may not be going to the beach, but at least they’re reading. Escapist romance fiction sales are up. So are sales of Dickens, Fitzgerald, and Ayn Rand’s paean to capitalism. From The Times on March 12th, 2009: “Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s epic 1,000-page novel extolling capitalism and the virtues of self-interest, has tripled its sales in the past seven months, and sold an astonishing 200,000 copies in the US in 2008, more than at any time since it was first published in 1957″.
And sleeping pills haven’t had a rest. According to IMS Health, prescriptions for major sleeping-pill brands rose 7% last year, while antidepressant-brand prescriptions jumped 15%. The economy is keeping Americans up at night, according to a new “Sleep In America” poll from the National Sleep Foundation. Some 31% of respondents said they are losing sleep over the dismal economy and their own financial situation.
But people still have hope (or were they brainwashed by the Obama campaign?). Lottery ticket sales are up. Twenty-five states with lotteries have experienced higher sales of scratch-off and daily lottery games since July, according to Scientific Games, a maker of scratch-offs.
At least Americans understand that, in the long run, babies are more expensive than protection. Condom sales are up. They rose 5% in the fourth quarter of 2008, and 6% in January. VP of Marketing for Trojan claims another valid reason for this counter-cyclical trend: “If people don’t have the money to go out to a fancy dinner or are looking to cut back, Trojan gives them some real affordable ways to stay in and make some great memories together.”
top 5 blogs with photos, videos, and rather long URLs
Sometime over the past year or two a blog meme began popping up, each with a theme, collection of supporting media, and extra-long URL. I joined the bandwagon and bought lastonesonthedancefloor.com, jumpingpicturesaroundtheworld.com, and lipstickandapassport.com. But I lacked the dedication to keep up, except for this one which catalogs photos of people jumping.
Anyhow, here are my five favorites (in order of shortest to longest URL):
1. MyKidTookThese.com is a look into the life of a 3-year old. This kid loves taking photos, and is shockingly talented!
2. I heard a rumor that ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com had a million hits within the first week. From deep-fried twinkies to peanut-butter glazed donuts sprinkled with bacon, photos of repulsive food combinations stick to the tag line: where dreams become heart attacks. This post are revolting; but like a road-side accident, you can’t help but look (and think “WTF?”).
3. CuteThingsFallingAsleep.org has run out of premium cuteness lately, but if you look back to the archives you can find gems like this sleepy 5-week old puppy.
4. CatsInSinks.com is photos of… cats in sinks. It’s nice to know my Fabio isn’t the only cat who likes the sink.
5. A guy on crutches uses his iPhone to snap shots of non-handicapped people sitting in the disability seats. The best part of PeopleWhoSitInTheDisabilitySeatsWhenImStandingOnMyCrutches.com may be the commentary.
Microfinance: would you lend to someone in the US?
This summer I have the honor of working with one of my favorite organizations, Kiva.org. After reading Banker to the Poor a few years ago, I was sold on the idea that we can effectively alleviate poverty through empowering (and enabling) entrepreneurs. As microfinance institutions began sprouting around the world, Kiva used technology to enhance the impact and allow anyone, anywhere to loan to a budding entrepreneur (read: Kiva is not the bank, it’s merely the lender-borrower match maker).
I made my first loan in 2007 to Sophath Mao, a flower seller, in Cambodia. I like flowers, so I was happy to be an investor in her venture. Sixteen loans later, not one of the entrepreneurs has defaulted. In fact, there has been a total of $65 million invested with an overall 2% default rate.
This week, Kiva announced a sort of social experiment. Kiva is partnering with new microfinance partners in the US. Borrowers will be Americans who don’t have bank accounts and “micro-enterprises” that often rely on high-interest loans or payday advances. Because of vastly different cost-of-living rates in the US, American entrepreneurs will be able to borrow as much as $10,000 (versus just $1,200 in the developing world).
There’s a bit of uncertainly on how lenders will respond. Is part of Kiva’s success thus far the difference in purchasing power between developed and developing countries? Or will Americans flock to the idea of lending to neighbors in their community? Personally, I’m stoked about the opportunity to invest in an entrepreneur whose business I could visit down the street. But I think many Americans may be drawn to the novelty, the exoticism, of connecting with someone in Uganda.
WalMart or Google: who will manage your health records?
the outsourcing of cheating
Like the BuyViagra.com websites, I always wondered who was behind the overnight-essays.com and custom-essays.com. What sort of company– what sort of people– are behind the proliferation of cheating? Certainly not employees that care about an impressive resume, or ethics. And certainly not a company planted in swanky offices in Silicon Valley.
So who are these people who have master-minded SEO for the search terms: buy + essays + term papers?
The Chronicle of Higher Education shared a great investigative article into cheating 2.0. They looked into BestEssays, “Providing Students with Original Papers since 1997.”
The most interest part was not that they interviewed an MIT (aerospace engineering) PhD student who was using the service to write his dissertation on static and dynamic stability of aircraft controls. The interesting part is that this MIT engineer was outsourcing his writing to essay-wrtiers like Paul Arhewe:
Paul Arhewe lives in Lagos, that nation’s largest city, and started writing for essay mills in 2005… In the past three years, he’s written more than 200 papers for American and British students. In an online chat, Mr. Arhewe insisted that the work he does is not unethical. “I believe it is another way of learning for the smart and hardworking students.”
Fast food and young waistlines make lousy neighbors
So what happens when you put fast food joints next to high schoolers?
In a study of more than a million California ninth-graders over 8 years, researchers found that the likelihood of obesity at schools near fast food restaurants was 5.2% higher than the state average, the Los Angeles Times reports.
But it’s not simply the presence of McDonald’s that’s at fault. Fact is, a great deal of fast food advertising targets low-income families and children. Couple that with the recent cuts in nutrition educational programs, and you can understand why kids may flock to the big mac and supersized fries.
“Fast food offers the most calories per price compared to other restaurants, and that’s combined with a high temptation factor,” said a member of the research team, which concluded that cities worried about kids’ obesity might want to ban fast-food restaurants close to schools. “I know it’s not very good for you, but I eat it because that is the closest place to school,” said one student.
This leads me to one of my favorite non-profits: the Edible Schoolyard, brain child of organic-chef Alice Walker. The school yard is an acre-big garden adjacent to a Berkeley public school. Teachers link garden experiences with students’ lessons for integrated experiential learning of science, nutrition, culture, ecology, math, history and responsibility through the cultivation and preparation of food.
As the slow-food movement flourishes, and nutrition research comes to light, I hope our new administration expands the organic garden beyond the White House and into the homes of those who need it most.
World Water Day
Today is World Water Day, when the world is asked to focus on the issues that a lack of clean water poses to our society. Nearly 1 billion people worldwide don’t have access to clean water, and that lack of water is a serious cause of disease and economic hardship.
In honor of WWD, I wanted to share three very cool and interesting solutions to the water issues around the world:
1. The Hippo Water Roller is a simple invention that makes it easier to transport water from point A to point B. Water is heavy, and this device makes it easier for people to pull large amounts of water longer distances.
2. PlayPumps are marry-go-rounds for children that pump water from the ground into a storage tank at the rate of 370 gallons/hour! Kids get to play and families get to spend less time trekking for water. So far they have installed more than a thousand of these systems with a goal to have four thousand installed by 2010.
3. Charity: Water is one of the biggest (and definitely the most marketed) organizations in this space, and have funded 1,247 water projects in just two years.
If at first you don’t succeed, does it matter that you tried?
That is the question from an HBS working paper featured in the NY Times this weekend.
The study found that when it comes to venture-backed entrepreneurship, the only experience that counts is success.
The study only refers to the founders, and the definition of success is wall street focused and questionable (by measuring success as going public). They conclude that:
Already-successful entrepreneurs were far more likely to succeed again: their success rate for later venture-backed companies was 34 percent. But entrepreneurs whose companies had been liquidated or gone bankrupt had almost the same follow-on success rate as the first-timers: 23 percent.
This sort of conclusion goes against the Silicon Valley mantra that failure is an opportunity to learn. Perhaps because the majority of startup folks have spent some time at unsuccessful ventures, they understand that some lessons are only learnt the hard way.
Or perhaps the study is wrongly defining success. ”Going public” is not the only, nor the most common, planned exit strategy for entrepreneurs. In fact, I would imagine that a buy-out to a larger firm (like Google) is a more common goal for tech entrepreneurs (maybe this is not the case for only VC-funded startups). And perhaps those entrepreneurs who have IPO’d in the past are more likely to dream of an IPO at their next venture. Either way, bucketing entrepreneurs into “successful” and “not successful” using “IPO” or “no IPO” seems like a false dichotomy, and questionable basis for drawing grand conclusions.
I originally wrote this up for the Enternships.com blog.
Obesity is cheap. Tax unhealthy foods?
I cringe at the thought of government getting involved with my eating decisions.
But what I hate even more is the price structure of certain types of foods, especially when it leads to unhealthy eating decisions and obese children. Eating healthy is (perceived as) expensive. Eating cheap is the only option many people have.
But the fact is, the government is already involved. And they are involved in a way which promotes unhealthy eating. As described in the NY Times:
This perverse state of affairs is not, as you might think, the inevitable result of the free market. The Farm Bill.. sets the rules for the American food system… it determines which crops will be subsidized and which will not… For the last several decades — indeed, for about as long as the American waistline has been ballooning — U.S. agricultural policy has been designed in such a way as to promote the overproduction of these five (high carbohydrates and high fat) commodities, especially corn and soy.
If taxpayers have been subsidizing the (largely unregulated) food industry in favor of cheap calories of sugar and fat, then why can’t we reverse this and subsidize the fresh produce and fruits and whole grain to give everyone a healthier diet? A recent review in the The Milbank Quarterly explores how food prices can affect weight outcomes, proving that pricing interventions can have a significant effect on obesity rates. This is what Richard Thaler calls “nudging” people to better decision making, through libertarian paternalism. The concept is simple: help real, fallible people make better eating choices without removing their right to choose.
the first pizzeria in north korea
In North Korea, where millions suffer from undernourishment, the country’s first pizzeria has opened. For the past 10 years, leader Kim Jong-Il has had his army officers trained by Italian pizza chefs– down to how far apart to space the olives, reports the Guardian.
After years of training, Kim Jong-Il was finally satisfied and authorized the restaurant, which uses ingredients flown in from Italy. Although citizens must follow a national dress-code, Kim Jong-Il told a newspaper that the people should be allowed access to the world’s famous dishes. The dictator has indulged other culinary yens in the past: He once sent a chef to Denmark to fetch bacon and to Iran for caviar.
