Catchup Link Collection

The "Editorial Board" (of one now?) agrees with what I have believed since asking for a walk-through last summer. The mall has got to go.

Lots of India news lately. Among it, Indians have made up their own currency sign. In the USA for the dollar we have $, the Indian Rupee now has it's own made up character that is a cross between a capital R and and an ancient symbol. One wonders how many national currency symbols there are. I also wonder if this won't become a trend. My initial thought though was about how much work this is going to be for computer people.

While in Uganda last summer I learned a few things. When applied to developing nations, the national parks systems modeled on the USA's system is a leading cause of "Internal Displacement". (That's when someone cannot live in their home anymore but stays in their country. Refugees, OTOH, are in the same situation but go to another country.) Famine and wars are the most newsworthy causes but it turns out national park creation is also a leading cause. I also learned that "poaching" is a problem. When I was there, no one would say they knew anyone who did it but did say that it happens. It is difficult for me to think of it as poaching though. These people live in mud huts and have a warrior/hunting tradition and everyone is very thin. The situation from their perspective reminded me of the European lord or king who claims all of the wild game in the woods while peasants starve. Is it any wonder that game is disappearing from the parks?

Speaking of people unable to support themselves... U.S. employment is still continues to make small gains but not enough.

And we start near where we began. Did you see this Green Bay Press Gannet?! I believe anonymous publishing is a right. I do not believe anyone is obliged to provide it for anyone else. If you want to survive, it is past time for real names in the forums. Let the trolls set up their own forums without your name on them. It is past time for community based content at places like gb.pressgazette.com, howard.pressgazette.com, bellevue.pressgazette.com etc. It is past time to enable paying users to tag content so that it appears in their community. Let people create their own communities. It is past time for paying users to be able to write and post their own letters to the editor. And it's way, way past time for you to allow paying online subsribers to view your paper online add free and to allow only those subscribers to publish in the forums with their real names. Sure, keep publishing the paper online with adds for those who want it for free. I like having local content creators, I'm begging you to do something to ensure we will still have them.

Creativity Crisis?

I'd never heard of the creativity quotient before. Apparently it's declining in the United States.

World Cup Decided By Parasites

"It looks like having some Toxoplasma gondii in the collective brains of your home country makes your team a little bit better at soccer..." Courtesy of Patrick House with Slate.

American Jobs Strategy

In any given work day, I deal with coworkers from Europe and India. Most weeks, I'm working a customer issue somewhere abroad. Today was Argentina. Last week Romania. Most are in the USA. I'm always sorry to see the disruption that happens when jobs are shifted from one market where compensation is higher to one where it's lower. Let's face it, getting laid off sucks even if what used to be the funds for the compensation package that supported your family will now support three somewhere else.

A wise businessman thinks companies should have an America strategy. The guy is an Elder, he makes points worth considering. I recognize some of what he talks about in my experiences.

Union Day?

With some folks south of the Mason-Dixon always pushing to remember the Confederacy and it's ideals, maybe July 3rd should become a Union Day federal holiday. I'm not student of history, but this article discusses two events that maybe just should be remembered.

Hope everyone had a fun, safe and healthy Fourth!