“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” — Albert Einstein
What Really Wrecked Boeing–Neoliberalism is an ideology that attempts to subject all of human activity to the invisible hand of the market, and since 1997, when Boeing acquired rival McDonnell Douglas (and more consequentially, its management), it has been neoliberalism that has guided the company on its decades-long flight from quality. It was neoliberalism...
Women in the DRC are pushing for land rights, and curbing gender-based violence in the process–“We learned that women have a legal right to own the land – that it was Congolese law,” Mwa Namupopa says. “We talked about regional, national and international laws protecting women’s rights and how customs cannot be above laws.” www.positive.news Becoming Jerry...
The Parents in My Classroom– Recently, one of my ninth grade English students told me her parents rewarded her for making the honor roll by allowing her to text them during class. “They like to know what I’m doing in the classroom as it’s happening live,” she said. “We have a cellphone policy,” I reminded her. slate.com He died in a Jewish ghetto. How did his...
Alabama Ruled Frozen Embryos Are Children — Now What?–Frozen embryos are children under Alabama law, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Friday in a decision that could have a huge impact on fertility treatments in the state. Burdick-Aysenne v. Center for Reproductive Medicine is a pair of consolidated wrongful-death cases brought by three couples whose frozen...
How the Refrigerator Became an Agent of Climate Catastrophe–Much of the world’s recent growth in cooling capability has been an adaptive response to global warming. The problem is self-perpetuating, because the electricity that refrigerators and air-conditioners run on is mostly generated by burning fossil fuels. There are other climate impacts...
Hog farming has a massive poop problem–North Carolina is not the only place where the lagoon and sprayfield system exists. A lot of large-scale pig farms in the US store and dispose of waste in this way. However, in states like Iowa that experience more frequent freezing temperatures, farms store the waste in deep pits under the hog buildings. Other states...
Can Britain Turn Bosnia Away from Secessionism?–Instead of first dealing with those who are the source of the crisis, and then looking for sustainable long-term Constitutional reform solutions, the currently proposed changes would permanently cement the ethnonational principle of ethnic clans, and would de facto legitimize apartheid. They are also in conflict...
Rats Are Us–That discovery was just the tip of the iceberg. We now know that rats don’t live merely in the present, but are capable of reliving memories of past experiences and mentally planning ahead the navigation route they will later follow. They reciprocally trade different kinds of goods with each other – and understand not only when they owe a favour to...
DIGITAL AUTHORITARIANISM: FINDING OUR WAY OUT OF THE DARKNESS–While democrats once believed that innovations in information and communications technology and data analysis would promote more open societies, the actual effects of these tools have been mixed. Authoritarians are using technology to deepen their grip internally, spread propaganda, undermine basic...