See the girl as the solution: The Girl Effect
You can see the simple concept in the related vids above or at The Girl Effect website. Be sure to click through to The Girl Effect’s YouTube channel to see some of the other videos.
The Ripple Effect (stats from United Nations and other organizations)
- When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children. ( Population Fund, State of World Population 1990.)
- An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10-20%. An extra year of secondary school: 15 to 25 percent.
- Research in developing countries has shown a consistent relationship between better infant and child health and higher levels of schooling among mothers.
- When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90% of it into their families, as compared to only 30% to 40% for a man.
Rock always wins
An episode of Seinfeld proved that rock shatters scissors and flies through paper. In short, nothing beats rock. Rock is immovable and obdurate – it makes no compromise and brooks no discussion. Rock simply is.
I’m tempted to say that for 8 years we Americans have acted as if this wasn’t so.
I realize, however, that we’re talking about a number far greater than any one man or nation, a problem more complex than any single issue and a time that is quite a bit longer than any handful of turnings of the seasons.
The drugstore pony of “cheap” energy we have ridden for centuries is playing out. The equations of growth appear impossible to solve and armies of woe march across our world unchecked. Consequences unimaginable don’t seem quite so unimaginable any more.
We’re about to wrench the wheel of the world, to set ourselves on a new course.
The course correction can be to whatever degree we want.
I’m hoping it’s to the degree we need.
Canary in a Depression
CNN reports that some member of Congress are upset that the Big Three auto CEOs flew private jets to ask for taxpayer money:
At Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California, pressed the private-jet issue, asking the three CEOs to “raise their hand if they flew here commercial.”
“Let the record show, no hands went up,” Sherman said. “Second, I’m going to ask you to raise your hand if you are planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial. Let the record show, no hands went up.”
Let the record show that I don’t F*&^ing care if they flew a M0^%#&^@&* experimental CONCORD that burns $1000 bills. And neither should you.
Yes, the auto industry needs to watch the bottom line but this isn’t about nickels and dimes, this is about the future of America’s auto industry and ultimately, the economic vitality and military security of our country. This is the same auto industry that won WWII and has tens of thousands of former employees who have been promised pensions and health care for life. Foreign companies do not have those obligations and probably won’t build tanks and stuff for us if we need them in any case.
The auto industry is a canary in the coal mine that is the US transformation from an economy fueled by cheap petroleum and providing lifelong security to workers to one fueled by renewable energy that provides who knows what. Other industries have made similar promises to workers (though none to so many or frankly as much) an other industries will be facing re-tooling challenges that will require massive reinvestment and retraining.
Each one that we let sink beneath the waves will make it harder to lift our whole economy.
The photo is Canary in a coal mine from David Ambridge. He writes that it’s a gas detecting canary from the Haig coal mine in Whitehaven, Cumbria. Like me, he’s unable to resist linking to The Police’s Canary in a Coalmine.
More discussion and links about this on Michigan in Pictures.
Abusing the News
The Onion News Network wonders if the Government should stop dumping money into a giant hole.
There are lots more that you can get from the Onion News Network (also at tv.theonion.com), video arm of the Onion. Some of my favorites: the effect of Obama’s win on some followers, the Supreme Court’s opinion on the death penalty, Cindy McCain just like any other female human, a hilarious viewer mail segment and our robot overlords.
Choose your adventure!
Go watch mean automakers dashing hopes of a flying car and the classic Flying Car video from Kevin Smith
OR turn a little more seriously to There used to be blue skies at General Motors… on Michigan in Pictures.
SMT: Steampunk Explorations
Nominated for an Oscar and for a BAFTA award, The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello is bringing 110% of the awesome to Sunday Morning Theatre this week.
The silhouette animation was developed by director Anthony Lucas and you can get all kinds of info about Gothia, Jasper Morello and upcoming features & films from jaspermorello.com and read an interview with Anthony Lucas at Reader’s Voice.
The world of Jasper Morello is one of many works in the genre known as steampunk. Wikipedia says that steampunk:
…is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of “the path not taken” of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality.
…Although many works now considered seminal to the genre were published in the 1960s and 1970s, the term steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue in cheek variant of cyberpunk. It seems to have been coined by the science fiction author K. W. Jeter, who was trying to find a general term for works by Tim Powers (author of The Anubis Gates, 1983), James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986) and himself (Morlock Night, 1979 and Infernal Devices, 1987) which took place in a 19th-century (usually Victorian) setting and imitated conventions of actual Victorian speculative fiction such as H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine.
Like many others, I first read William Gibson and Bruce Sterling’s 1990 novel The Difference Engine before wandering off into Tim Powers and books like The Anubis Gates. I was unaware that steampunk is apparently becoming a subculture that is influencing film, music and fashion.
Curiously enough, a friend messaged me from a large steampunk convention last weekend and I also just read What Is Steampunk? A Subculture Infiltrating Films, Music, Fashion, More.
The photo was taken by Drhaggis and features the steampunk band Abney Park (entry is kind of hidden) – more about Abney Park in their video below. It’s part of his Steampunk & Clockwork set (slideshow). He writes the blog Slashboing, which looks pretty cool.
Yeah, it ends early … I assume that’s some kind of inside code. Check out Abney Park’s videos.
Barack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States of America
Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4th, 2008 in Chicago.
Someone said “A speech worthy of the office” and I heartily agree.
President Obama will have a lot of work to do but he makes it clear that he will not be doing it along and will not be playing the stupid game red vs. blue that has allowed our nation to slide toward the abyss.
We can and we did and we will restore this nation.
Here’s the link to Obama’s acceptance speech on YouTube and you can get some great photos from the Barack Obama Flickriver.
Not voting is a vote too.
I don’t think this video from hoomandottv requires much explanation. It was produced for mobilizethevote2008.com. Mobilize yer friends!!
Obama is asking for more
Reason #4 in the 30 Days | 30 Reasons series by Lee Stranahan is that Obama is asking for more of us than McCain. For Obama to do this takes not only courage, but also takes a level of trust in Americans to realize that you can’t shop or tax cut your way out of the massive challenges we face.
Lee has many more of these are they’re all great – find one that resonates for you and share it around!
More of his work can be found leestranahan.com.
Vote. Everyone. Please.
Please watch this short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCx0J3NiABY
If you agree that we have an economy to fix, two wars to end, veterans and veterans’ families to care for, cities and towns to rebuild, children to educate and nurture and feed and a planet to protect for the next generation and those after, then ask yourself: which candidate can help to put us on the road to accomplish all that and more?
If your answer as mine: the candidate who talks about doing it and has energized millions of people all across the country and the world, then please send it along to friends – tell them WHY they should treat this election as the most important thing they will do this week.
You never get another chance to be ten years old, to catch your first fish, to hear a story from your grandmother, to be a new father or mother, to watch your oldest graduate from college or dance at the wedding of your youngest, to see the Grand Canyon or whales off Alaska.
Vote. Everyone. Please.
