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C Robert O'Dell the American physics and astronomy professor has been featured by Rick Docksai in an article published in the Science Recorder titled ‘Ring Nebula is expanding at 43,000 miles an hour, according to Hubble’. Docksai states “The Ring Nebula apparently has been misnamed: It’s not a ring at all, but a football-shaped jelly doughnut.  …Scientists [had] concluded that this nebula has a hollow middle and ring-shaped—hence came its present-day moniker. But the latest analysis, led by Robert O’Dell, …arrived at a wholly other conclusion. The nebula’s center is quite full, O’Dell and his team state. However, varying patterns of motion may cause the middle to look unlike the rest of the nebula from our vantage point, and hence some of the visual illusion. The entire cloud is expanding by more than 43,000 miles an hour, but the growth is even faster at the center than it is in the outer ring. Consequently, the middle is much lower-density than the rest of the nebula. The Hubble images that O’Dell and his team used are the highest-precision views of the nebula taken yet. While earlier observations had identified the presence of gaseous material in the center, none had gathered all of the detail of this latest Hubble presentation, such as the star that is indeed at the center—though it is now dying. The nebula measures just one light-year across, so it’s compact enough that this one star’s end-of-life expansions and contractions could stand out prominently to observers here on Earth, even if those observers were using eighteenth-century telescopes. In fact, this dying star is probably what brought the nebula into being in the first place. Scientists designate the Ring Nebula a “planetary nebula,” which means that it forms out of the gas and dust that emanates from a star that’s fading out. While this nebula’s star will continue to shine for a fairly long while by human time, scientists say that it is definitively on its way to white-dwarf status.”  Inspired by Rick Docksai, Science Recorder ow.ly/lMDlV Image source Vanderbilt ow.ly/lMBEF A football-shaped jelly doughnut (June 28 2013)

C Robert O’Dell the American physics and astronomy professor has been featured by Rick Docksai in an article published in the Science Recorder titled ‘Ring Nebula is expanding at 43,000 miles an hour, according to Hubble’. Docksai states “The Ring Nebula apparently has been misnamed: It’s not a ring at all, but a football-shaped jelly doughnut.  …Scientists [had] concluded that this nebula has a hollow middle and ring-shaped—hence came its present-day moniker. But the latest analysis, led by Robert O’Dell, …arrived at a wholly other conclusion. The nebula’s center is quite full, O’Dell and his team state. However, varying patterns of motion may cause the middle to look unlike the rest of the nebula from our vantage point, and hence some of the visual illusion. The entire cloud is expanding by more than 43,000 miles an hour, but the growth is even faster at the center than it is in the outer ring. Consequently, the middle is much lower-density than the rest of the nebula. The Hubble images that O’Dell and his team used are the highest-precision views of the nebula taken yet. While earlier observations had identified the presence of gaseous material in the center, none had gathered all of the detail of this latest Hubble presentation, such as the star that is indeed at the center—though it is now dying. The nebula measures just one light-year across, so it’s compact enough that this one star’s end-of-life expansions and contractions could stand out prominently to observers here on Earth, even if those observers were using eighteenth-century telescopes. In fact, this dying star is probably what brought the nebula into being in the first place. Scientists designate the Ring Nebula a “planetary nebula,” which means that it forms out of the gas and dust that emanates from a star that’s fading out. While this nebula’s star will continue to shine for a fairly long while by human time, scientists say that it is definitively on its way to white-dwarf status.”

 

Inspired by Rick Docksai, Science Recorder ow.ly/lMDlV Image source Vanderbilt ow.ly/lMBEF

Ashoka Mody the Indian visiting Professor in International Economic Policy and former Deputy Director in the International Monetary Fund’s Research and European Departments, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Misreading the Global Economy’ in which he states “…Consider India, where growth is now running at an annualized rate of 4.5%, down from 7.7% annual growth in 2011. To be sure, the IMF projects that India’s economy will rebound later in 2013, but the basis for this optimism is unclear, given that all indicators so far suggest another dismal year. The emerging economies’ supposed resilience, which has buoyed economic forecasts in recent years, needs to be reassessed. Like the advanced economies, emerging economies experienced a boom in 2000-2007. But, unlike the advanced economies, they maintained high GDP growth rates and relative stability even at the height of the crisis. This was viewed as powerful evidence of their new economic might. In fact, it was largely a result of massive fiscal stimulus and credit expansion. Indeed, as the effects of stimulus programs wear off, new weaknesses are emerging, such as persistent inflation in India and credit misallocation in China. Given this, the notion that emerging economies will recapture the growth levels of the bubble years seems farfetched. Economic forecasts rest on the assumption that economies ultimately heal themselves. But economies’ powerful self-healing capabilities work slowly. More problematic, a misdiagnosis can lead to treatments that impair the healing process. Overly optimistic economic projections based on mistaken assessments of the global economy’s ailments thus threaten recovery prospects – with potentially far-reaching consequences. In Europe, the banks’ wounds must be closed – weak banks must be shut down or merged with stronger banks – before recovery can begin. This will require an extensive swap of private debts for equity. For the global economy, the malaise reflected in anemic trade growth calls for coordinated fiscal stimulus by the world’s major economies. Otherwise, the risk of another global recession will continue to rise.”  Inspired by Ashoka Mody, Project Syndicate ow.ly/lCCay Image source politicalworld ow.ly/lCC3V Risk of another global recession (June 17 2013)

 

Ashoka Mody the Indian visiting Professor in International Economic Policy and former Deputy Director in the International Monetary Fund’s Research and European Departments, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Misreading the Global Economy’ in which he states “…Consider India, where growth is now running at an annualized rate of 4.5%, down from 7.7% annual growth in 2011. To be sure, the IMF projects that India’s economy will rebound later in 2013, but the basis for this optimism is unclear, given that all indicators so far suggest another dismal year. The emerging economies’ supposed resilience, which has buoyed economic forecasts in recent years, needs to be reassessed. Like the advanced economies, emerging economies experienced a boom in 2000-2007. But, unlike the advanced economies, they maintained high GDP growth rates and relative stability even at the height of the crisis. This was viewed as powerful evidence of their new economic might. In fact, it was largely a result of massive fiscal stimulus and credit expansion. Indeed, as the effects of stimulus programs wear off, new weaknesses are emerging, such as persistent inflation in India and credit misallocation in China. Given this, the notion that emerging economies will recapture the growth levels of the bubble years seems farfetched. Economic forecasts rest on the assumption that economies ultimately heal themselves. But economies’ powerful self-healing capabilities work slowly. More problematic, a misdiagnosis can lead to treatments that impair the healing process. Overly optimistic economic projections based on mistaken assessments of the global economy’s ailments thus threaten recovery prospects – with potentially far-reaching consequences. In Europe, the banks’ wounds must be closed – weak banks must be shut down or merged with stronger banks – before recovery can begin. This will require an extensive swap of private debts for equity. For the global economy, the malaise reflected in anemic trade growth calls for coordinated fiscal stimulus by the world’s major economies. Otherwise, the risk of another global recession will continue to rise.”

 

Inspired by Ashoka Mody, Project Syndicate ow.ly/lCCay Image source politicalworld ow.ly/lCC3V

Divina Frau-Meigs the 53 year old Moroccan professor in information science and communication and language has been interviewed by Clarinha Glock for the IPS News Service titled ‘Schools need Transliteracy’ in which she states “It [transliteracy] is knowing how to read, write, calculate and compute. But “compute” includes understanding these three categories of information: code, document and current events/press. Students and teachers must be trained. The role of school is to clarify and help people understand all kinds of contents, modify them, and comment on them. …Students think they know everything, from their perspective of dealing with computers and tablets. And professors say that if students have good knowledge to read and write, it is enough. It is necessary to break down this resistance to awareness-raising, in hands-on practical classrooms. For example: I ask students to look for the information they need for their projects. They respond: “There are millions of pieces of information, I don’t know where to start.” Teaching students to eliminate, evaluate, assess, change – that is the role of schools. It’s a way of learning to learn, which is what we must put again at the centre of the curriculum. …Transliteracy doesn’t only occur in schools. School rhythms are changing, because students can now connect at night, outside the school premises. The role of teachers will also be different. Their salaries must be enhanced, but knowing what they need in terms of training, and the new conditions of schedules, rhythms and resources. The decision must be assumed by teaching staff, government ministries, trade unions, companies and students – as a new social contract. …Since the 19th century, the social contract has been free, public – even though many schools are private – and secular education. And another characteristic has to be incorporated: “open” – through informatics, which gives access to many contents from other countries and cultures. With informatics, ideas can be developed to the maximum. And if we use it well, it can empower everyone…”  Inspired by Clarinha Glock, IPS News ow.ly/l33Ri Image source Frau-Meigs ow.ly/l34fd Schools need Transliteracy (June 4 2013)

Divina Frau-Meigs the 53 year old Moroccan professor in information science and communication and language has been interviewed by Clarinha Glock for the IPS News Service titled ‘Schools need Transliteracy’ in which she states “It [transliteracy] is knowing how to read, write, calculate and compute. But “compute” includes understanding these three categories of information: code, document and current events/press. Students and teachers must be trained. The role of school is to clarify and help people understand all kinds of contents, modify them, and comment on them. …Students think they know everything, from their perspective of dealing with computers and tablets. And professors say that if students have good knowledge to read and write, it is enough. It is necessary to break down this resistance to awareness-raising, in hands-on practical classrooms. For example: I ask students to look for the information they need for their projects. They respond: “There are millions of pieces of information, I don’t know where to start.” Teaching students to eliminate, evaluate, assess, change – that is the role of schools. It’s a way of learning to learn, which is what we must put again at the centre of the curriculum. …Transliteracy doesn’t only occur in schools. School rhythms are changing, because students can now connect at night, outside the school premises. The role of teachers will also be different. Their salaries must be enhanced, but knowing what they need in terms of training, and the new conditions of schedules, rhythms and resources. The decision must be assumed by teaching staff, government ministries, trade unions, companies and students – as a new social contract. …Since the 19th century, the social contract has been free, public – even though many schools are private – and secular education. And another characteristic has to be incorporated: “open” – through informatics, which gives access to many contents from other countries and cultures. With informatics, ideas can be developed to the maximum. And if we use it well, it can empower everyone…”  Inspired by Clarinha Glock, IPS News ow.ly/l33Ri Image source Frau-Meigs ow.ly/l34fd

Paul De Grauwe the 66 year old Belgian Economist and Professor emeritus in European Political Economy, and former member of the Belgian Federal Parliament, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Debt Without Drowning’. De Grauwe states “Since the 1970’s, economists have warned that a monetary union could not be sustained without a fiscal union. But the eurozone’s leaders have not heeded their advice – and the consequences are becoming increasingly apparent. Europe now faces a difficult choice: either fix this fundamental design flaw and move toward fiscal union, or abandon the common currency. Choosing the latter option would have devastating consequences. Indeed, while the desirability of establishing a monetary union may have been open to question in the 1990’s, dismantling the eurozone now would trigger profound economic, social, and political upheaval throughout Europe. To avoid this outcome, Europe’s leaders must begin designing and implementing strategies aimed at bringing the eurozone closer to a fiscal union. To be sure, a fiscal union such as that in the United States is a distant prospect that eurozone leaders should not expect to achieve any time soon – or even in their lifetimes. But that does not mean that establishing a fiscal union is a chimera. Small steps in the right direction now can make a significant difference. …the eurozone is gripped by an existential crisis that is slowly, but inexorably, destroying the monetary union’s very foundations. The only way to stem the erosion is to take determined action that convinces financial markets that the eurozone is here to stay. A debt-pooling scheme that satisfies the requirements outlined here would signal that the eurozone member countries are serious about sticking together. Without this gesture, further market turmoil is inevitable – and the eurozone’s collapse will become only a matter of time.”  Inspired by Paul De Grauwe, Project Syndicate ow.ly/l2YzK Image source kuleuven ow.ly/l2YmE Debt Without Drowning (June 1 2013)

 

Paul De Grauwe the 66 year old Belgian Economist and Professor emeritus in European Political Economy, and former member of the Belgian Federal Parliament, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Debt Without Drowning’. De Grauwe states “Since the 1970’s, economists have warned that a monetary union could not be sustained without a fiscal union. But the eurozone’s leaders have not heeded their advice – and the consequences are becoming increasingly apparent. Europe now faces a difficult choice: either fix this fundamental design flaw and move toward fiscal union, or abandon the common currency. Choosing the latter option would have devastating consequences. Indeed, while the desirability of establishing a monetary union may have been open to question in the 1990’s, dismantling the eurozone now would trigger profound economic, social, and political upheaval throughout Europe. To avoid this outcome, Europe’s leaders must begin designing and implementing strategies aimed at bringing the eurozone closer to a fiscal union. To be sure, a fiscal union such as that in the United States is a distant prospect that eurozone leaders should not expect to achieve any time soon – or even in their lifetimes. But that does not mean that establishing a fiscal union is a chimera. Small steps in the right direction now can make a significant difference. …the eurozone is gripped by an existential crisis that is slowly, but inexorably, destroying the monetary union’s very foundations. The only way to stem the erosion is to take determined action that convinces financial markets that the eurozone is here to stay. A debt-pooling scheme that satisfies the requirements outlined here would signal that the eurozone member countries are serious about sticking together. Without this gesture, further market turmoil is inevitable – and the eurozone’s collapse will become only a matter of time.”

 

Inspired by Paul De Grauwe, Project Syndicate ow.ly/l2YzK Image source kuleuven ow.ly/l2YmE

Lauren Carasik the American Professor and nationally recognized expert in the field of disability law has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘When fear eclipses justice, we all lose: Shutter Guantanamo now’ stating the US intransigence on Guantanamo issue is counterproductive, as it only serves to stoke animosity and contempt. In the article Carasik states “Eleven years into their incarceration at Guantanamo Bay, many desperate detainees are exerting what little control they still exert over their lives: they are refusing to eat. As word of the hunger strikes began trickling out of the prison in February, lawyers for the detainees became increasingly alarmed at the harrowing conditions their clients were reporting. Even now a vast discrepancy separates the official story and what numerous counsels have witnessed and heard firsthand from their clients. According to various detainees, the roots of the resistance originated when the prison authorities seemed to revert to their pre-Obama levels of brutality.  Cells were searched, family photos and other cherished, tangible reminders of life before Guantanamo were confiscated and harsh treatment ensued. Perhaps more upsetting to detainees was that Qurans were rifled through in a manner detainees had repeatedly denounced as desecration of their holy book. The justification centred on arguments that such searches were necessary security measures, though detainees were reportedly willing to surrender their Qurans instead of having them subjected to search, while observing that hiding items in the Quran would violate their religious practices. …According to lawyers for the detainees, after almost two months of striking, the health of the men is deteriorating rapidly, and others are already in critical condition. Medical experts warn that long-term hunger strikes can cause severe and irreversible physiological and neurological damage, which is compounded by the psychological distress of indefinite detention and isolation. An unconfirmed number of detainees are prepared to die, and may in fact prefer death to living their remaining years within the confines of Guantanamo. The US can and must act: if it has any hope of regaining its moral authority, these men should not be reduced to a despair so profound that they feel their only way out of Guantanamo is in a coffin.”  Inspired by Lauren Carasik, Aljazeera ow.ly/k6H4b Image source WNE ow.ly/k6HA7 When fear eclipses justice we all lose (May 10 2013)

 

Lauren Carasik the American Professor and nationally recognized expert in the field of disability law has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘When fear eclipses justice, we all lose: Shutter Guantanamo now’ stating the US intransigence on Guantanamo issue is counterproductive, as it only serves to stoke animosity and contempt. In the article Carasik states “Eleven years into their incarceration at Guantanamo Bay, many desperate detainees are exerting what little control they still exert over their lives: they are refusing to eat. As word of the hunger strikes began trickling out of the prison in February, lawyers for the detainees became increasingly alarmed at the harrowing conditions their clients were reporting. Even now a vast discrepancy separates the official story and what numerous counsels have witnessed and heard firsthand from their clients. According to various detainees, the roots of the resistance originated when the prison authorities seemed to revert to their pre-Obama levels of brutality.  Cells were searched, family photos and other cherished, tangible reminders of life before Guantanamo were confiscated and harsh treatment ensued. Perhaps more upsetting to detainees was that Qurans were rifled through in a manner detainees had repeatedly denounced as desecration of their holy book. The justification centred on arguments that such searches were necessary security measures, though detainees were reportedly willing to surrender their Qurans instead of having them subjected to search, while observing that hiding items in the Quran would violate their religious practices. …According to lawyers for the detainees, after almost two months of striking, the health of the men is deteriorating rapidly, and others are already in critical condition. Medical experts warn that long-term hunger strikes can cause severe and irreversible physiological and neurological damage, which is compounded by the psychological distress of indefinite detention and isolation. An unconfirmed number of detainees are prepared to die, and may in fact prefer death to living their remaining years within the confines of Guantanamo. The US can and must act: if it has any hope of regaining its moral authority, these men should not be reduced to a despair so profound that they feel their only way out of Guantanamo is in a coffin.”

 

Inspired by Lauren Carasik, Aljazeera ow.ly/k6H4b Image source WNE ow.ly/k6HA7

Jean Pisani-Ferry the 61 year old French Professor, economist and public policy expert, currently the Director of Bruegel a Brussels-based economic think tank, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Is the Euro Crisis Over?’. Pisani-Ferry states “Financial crises tend to start abruptly and end by surprise. Three years ago, the euro crisis began when Greece became a cause for concern among policymakers and a cause for excitement among money managers. Since the end of 2012, a sort of armistice has prevailed. Does that mean that the crisis is over? By the usual standards of financial crises, three years is a long time. A year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, confidence in the United States’ financial system had been restored, and recovery had begun. A little more than a year after the 1997 exchange-rate debacle triggered Asian economies’ worst recession in decades, they were thriving again. Has the eurozone, at long last, reached the inflection point? Many battles were fought in the last three years – over Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Italy, to name the main ones. The European Union’s financial warriors are exhausted. Hedge funds first made money betting that the crisis would worsen, but then lost money betting on a eurozone breakup. Policymakers first lost credibility by being behind the curve, and then recouped some of it by embracing bold initiatives. Recent data suggest that capital has started returning to southern Europe. The current change in market sentiment is also motivated by two significant policy changes. First, European leaders agreed in June 2012 on a major overhaul of the eurozone. By embarking on a banking union, which will transfer to the European level responsibility for bank supervision… Second, by launching its new “outright monetary transactions” scheme in September, the European Central Bank took responsibility for preserving the integrity of the eurozone…”  Inspired by Jean Pisani-Ferry, Project Sync ow.ly/j4ps2 Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4p4X Is the Euro Crisis Over? (April 3 2013)

 

Jean Pisani-Ferry the 61 year old French Professor, economist and public policy expert, currently the Director of Bruegel a Brussels-based economic think tank, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Is the Euro Crisis Over?’. Pisani-Ferry states “Financial crises tend to start abruptly and end by surprise. Three years ago, the euro crisis began when Greece became a cause for concern among policymakers and a cause for excitement among money managers. Since the end of 2012, a sort of armistice has prevailed. Does that mean that the crisis is over? By the usual standards of financial crises, three years is a long time. A year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, confidence in the United States’ financial system had been restored, and recovery had begun. A little more than a year after the 1997 exchange-rate debacle triggered Asian economies’ worst recession in decades, they were thriving again. Has the eurozone, at long last, reached the inflection point? Many battles were fought in the last three years – over Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Italy, to name the main ones. The European Union’s financial warriors are exhausted. Hedge funds first made money betting that the crisis would worsen, but then lost money betting on a eurozone breakup. Policymakers first lost credibility by being behind the curve, and then recouped some of it by embracing bold initiatives. Recent data suggest that capital has started returning to southern Europe. The current change in market sentiment is also motivated by two significant policy changes. First, European leaders agreed in June 2012 on a major overhaul of the eurozone. By embarking on a banking union, which will transfer to the European level responsibility for bank supervision… Second, by launching its new “outright monetary transactions” scheme in September, the European Central Bank took responsibility for preserving the integrity of the eurozone…”

 

Inspired by Jean Pisani-Ferry, Project Sync ow.ly/j4ps2 Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4p4X

Ahmet Davutoglu the 54 year old Turkish Foreign Minister, former political scientist, academic Professor and an ambassador at large has stated that “'Jihad' not to be confused with terrorism”. In an article on France 24 reports that Davutoglu told a business conference in Istanbul, the idea of jihad should not be confused with terrorism adding that the notion is often misunderstood by American "neo-cons and pro-Israelis".  There is no connection between jihad and terrorism, adding that suggestions to the contrary come from American neo-cons and Israelis. “'Jihad' is the name of fighting for our honour, if required, but above all it means fighting against one's own limitations,” Davutoglu said at a business conference entitled “Turkey in light of international developments, 2013” at the headquarters of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association. “For us, jihad is a sacred notion; let us not taint this notion by using it like neo-cons and pro-Israelis in America,” Davutoğlu said, while condemning an opposition party deputy who asked the Turkish government on its policy regarding the jihadist movement in Syria at a Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting on Feb15. Wikipedia states Davutoglu was granted a title of ambassador in 2003 by the joint decision of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Abdullah Gül. His publications include Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory, and his book Strategic Depth is a very influential book in Turkey's foreign policy orientation. He is very influential in the military, academic, and government triangle shaping Turkish foreign policy. Davutoglu was one of the leading actors on behalf of the Turkish government during the shuttle diplomacy for the settlement of 2008 Israel–Gaza conflict. He has since called for Turkey to become more than just a regional power within Europe and the Middle East and desires Ankara to have a far more influential role in world politics.  Inspired by France24 ow.ly/iuWZ0 Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/iuX5X Jihad not to be confused with terrorism (March 31 2013)

 

Ahmet Davutoglu the 54 year old Turkish Foreign Minister, former political scientist, academic Professor and an ambassador at large has stated that “’Jihad’ not to be confused with terrorism”. In an article on France 24 reports that Davutoglu told a business conference in Istanbul, the idea of jihad should not be confused with terrorism adding that the notion is often misunderstood by American “neo-cons and pro-Israelis”.  There is no connection between jihad and terrorism, adding that suggestions to the contrary come from American neo-cons and Israelis. “’Jihad’ is the name of fighting for our honour, if required, but above all it means fighting against one’s own limitations,” Davutoglu said at a business conference entitled “Turkey in light of international developments, 2013” at the headquarters of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association. “For us, jihad is a sacred notion; let us not taint this notion by using it like neo-cons and pro-Israelis in America,” Davutoğlu said, while condemning an opposition party deputy who asked the Turkish government on its policy regarding the jihadist movement in Syria at a Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting on Feb15. Wikipedia states Davutoglu was granted a title of ambassador in 2003 by the joint decision of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Abdullah Gül. His publications include Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory, and his book Strategic Depth is a very influential book in Turkey’s foreign policy orientation. He is very influential in the military, academic, and government triangle shaping Turkish foreign policy. Davutoglu was one of the leading actors on behalf of the Turkish government during the shuttle diplomacy for the settlement of 2008 Israel–Gaza conflict. He has since called for Turkey to become more than just a regional power within Europe and the Middle East and desires Ankara to have a far more influential role in world politics.

 

Inspired by France24 ow.ly/iuWZ0 Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/iuX5X

Stefano Ragazzi the Italian Professor undertaking experiments to understand dark particles has been featured by Rebecca Morelle the BBC Science reporter in an article titled ‘Dark Matter: Experiment to shed light on dark particles’ in which she states “In a man-made cavern, deep beneath a mountain, scientists are hoping to shed light on one of the most mysterious substances in our Universe - dark matter. The Gran Sasso National Laboratory seems more like a Bond villain's lair than a hub for world class physics. It's buried under the highest peak of Italy's Gran Sasso mountain range; the entrance concealed behind a colossal steel door found halfway along a tunnel that cuts through the mountain. “The feeling is that dark matter could be just around the corner, so everybody is rushing to be the first to find it” [states] Stefano Ragazzi Director, …But there's a good reason for its subterranean location. The 1,400m of rock above means that it is shielded from the cosmic rays that constantly bombard the surface of our planet. It provides scientists with the "silence" they need to understand some of the strangest phenomena known to physics. Inside three vast halls, a raft of experiments are running - but with their latest addition, DarkSide50, scientists are setting their sights on dark matter. Everything we know and can see in the Universe only makes up about 4% of the stuff that is out there. …They predict that about 73% of the Universe is made up of dark energy - a pervasive energy field that acts as a sort of anti-gravity to stop the Universe from contracting back in on itself. The other 23%, researchers believe, comes in the form of dark matter. The challenge is that until now nobody has seen it. … [Ragazzi] hopes that the first glimpse of dark matter will be in his research facility.”  Inspired by Rebecca Morelle, BBC ow.ly/iuL6f Image source infn.it ow.ly/iuL1I Dark matter could be just around corner (March 29 2013)

Stefano Ragazzi the Italian Professor undertaking experiments to understand dark particles has been featured by Rebecca Morelle the BBC Science reporter in an article titled ‘Dark Matter: Experiment to shed light on dark particles’ in which she states “In a man-made cavern, deep beneath a mountain, scientists are hoping to shed light on one of the most mysterious substances in our Universe – dark matter. The Gran Sasso National Laboratory seems more like a Bond villain’s lair than a hub for world class physics. It’s buried under the highest peak of Italy’s Gran Sasso mountain range; the entrance concealed behind a colossal steel door found halfway along a tunnel that cuts through the mountain. “The feeling is that dark matter could be just around the corner, so everybody is rushing to be the first to find it” [states] Stefano Ragazzi Director, …But there’s a good reason for its subterranean location. The 1,400m of rock above means that it is shielded from the cosmic rays that constantly bombard the surface of our planet. It provides scientists with the “silence” they need to understand some of the strangest phenomena known to physics. Inside three vast halls, a raft of experiments are running – but with their latest addition, DarkSide50, scientists are setting their sights on dark matter. Everything we know and can see in the Universe only makes up about 4% of the stuff that is out there. …They predict that about 73% of the Universe is made up of dark energy – a pervasive energy field that acts as a sort of anti-gravity to stop the Universe from contracting back in on itself. The other 23%, researchers believe, comes in the form of dark matter. The challenge is that until now nobody has seen it. … [Ragazzi] hopes that the first glimpse of dark matter will be in his research facility.”

 

Inspired by Rebecca Morelle, BBC ow.ly/iuL6f Image source infn.it ow.ly/iuL1I

Jeffrey Alexander Frankel the 60 year old American Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and former member of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Bill Clinton has published an article on Project Syndicate titled ‘Will Europe’s Fiscal Compact Work?’. Frankel states “At the start of 2013, the eurozone’s “fiscal compact” entered into force... The compact – technically called the Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union – requires member countries to introduce laws limiting their structural government budget deficits to less than 0.5 % of GDP (or less than 1% of GDP if their debt/GDP ratio is “significantly below 60%”). So, will this new approach work? A limit on the “structural deficit” means that a country can run a deficit above the limit to the extent – and only to the extent – that the gap between revenue and spending is cyclical (that is, its economy is operating below potential due to temporary negative shocks). In other words, the target is cyclically adjusted. …The aim is to fix Europe’s long-term fiscal problem, which has been exacerbated by three factors: the failure, since the euro’s inception, of the eurozone-wide Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) to enforce deficit and debt limits; the crisis that erupted in Greece and other countries on the eurozone periphery in 2010; and the various bailouts that have followed. …Ever since the eurozone was established, its members have issued official fiscal forecasts that are systematically biased in the optimistic direction. Other countries do this, too, but the bias among eurozone countries is, if anything, even worse than it is elsewhere. …if forecasts are biased, fiscal rules will not constrain budget deficits. In any given year, governments can forecast that their growth rates, tax revenues, and budget balances will improve in subsequent years, and then argue the following year that the shortfalls were unexpected.”  Inspired by Jeffrey Frankel, Project Syndicate ow.ly/hnJJp Image source Harvard ow.ly/hnJIm Will Europe’s Fiscal Compact Work? (February 14 2013)

Jeffrey Alexander Frankel the 60 year old American Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and former member of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Bill Clinton has published an article on Project Syndicate titled ‘Will Europe’s Fiscal Compact Work?’. Frankel states “At the start of 2013, the eurozone’s “fiscal compact” entered into force… The compact – technically called the Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union – requires member countries to introduce laws limiting their structural government budget deficits to less than 0.5 % of GDP (or less than 1% of GDP if their debt/GDP ratio is “significantly below 60%”). So, will this new approach work? A limit on the “structural deficit” means that a country can run a deficit above the limit to the extent – and only to the extent – that the gap between revenue and spending is cyclical (that is, its economy is operating below potential due to temporary negative shocks). In other words, the target is cyclically adjusted. …The aim is to fix Europe’s long-term fiscal problem, which has been exacerbated by three factors: the failure, since the euro’s inception, of the eurozone-wide Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) to enforce deficit and debt limits; the crisis that erupted in Greece and other countries on the eurozone periphery in 2010; and the various bailouts that have followed. …Ever since the eurozone was established, its members have issued official fiscal forecasts that are systematically biased in the optimistic direction. Other countries do this, too, but the bias among eurozone countries is, if anything, even worse than it is elsewhere. …if forecasts are biased, fiscal rules will not constrain budget deficits. In any given year, governments can forecast that their growth rates, tax revenues, and budget balances will improve in subsequent years, and then argue the following year that the shortfalls were unexpected.”

 

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The twin child of the Big Bang (October 9 2012) The twin child of the Big Bang (October 9 2012)

Frank Close the 67 year old British particle physicist, Professor and author has published an article in the Prospect Magazine titled ‘The twin child of the Big Bang’ discussing the first moments of the universe, how we may soon find out why matter overpowered antimatter, its mirror opposite. Close states “…We know how the energy in the heat of the Big Bang created the basic seeds of matter, and how over the eons these particles have formed galaxies of stars, including our own Milky Way and solar system. …Matter is not the Big Bang’s only child. It was born with a long-lost twin: antimatter. Matter and antimatter are the yin and yang of reality. … When the energy of the Big Bang congealed into the fundamental particles of matter, an imprint in the form of metaphorical holes, their antimatter siblings, was also formed. …Experiments have shown that quarks are the basic seeds of matter as we know it. There are also exotic forms of matter, containing what are known as strange, charm or bottom quarks, which rarely exist independently, except under very special conditions, such as briefly during or just after the Big Bang. They are unstable and their decays produce the stable forms from which our mature universe is made. …tantalising results are beginning to emerge. As data accumulate, the experiments at Cern will reveal sharper images of the processes at work in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang. Why the Big Bang happened is likely to remain an enigma. Why the universe managed to survive, and evolve, may soon be answered.”

 

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Social construction of nature through advertising (October 2 2012) Social construction of nature through advertising (October 2 2012)

Marie Sierra the American Australian Artist and academic Professor researching the social construction of nature through the advertising of ‘green’ whitegoods, has a particular interest in how art constitutes research, leading her to be active in visual arts advocacy, representing the interests of practising artists through committee positions with Contemporary Art Spaces, the Public Art Committee and the Cultural Affairs Committee for the City of Melbourne. Sierra is the Head of the School of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Tasmania, and a past board member of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, performing consulting work for local government and industry in relation to commissioning and strategic planning for public art. Sierra has held numerous solo exhibitions and has participated in group shows in Australia, the US, and France. Active as an arts writer, Sierra regularly presents research papers at conferences and written a number of essays and reviews for magazines such as Agenda, Kerb, Art Monthly and Meanjin, and an art critic for a Melbourne based newspaper. Sierra recently ran the department of Sculpture and Spatial Practice at the Faculty of VCA & Music at Melbourne University, holding senior positions as Graduate Research Coordinator and Associate Dean Research, winning several grants and awards, including a 2007 Venice Biennale educator.

 

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Jesus said to them, ‘My wife’ (October 1 2012) Jesus said to them, ‘My wife’ (October 1 2012)

Karen Leigh King the 58 year old American Professor of Ecclesiastical History working in the field of early Christianity and Gnosticism has revealed a 1,600-year-old text fragment that suggest some early Christians believed Jesus was married—possibly to Mary Magdalene. The ancient papyrus fragment has a phrase, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife.’” The text also mentions “Mary,” arguably a reference to Mary Magdalene. In a Smithsonian Magazine article by Ariel Sabar states “The fragment was a shade smaller than an ATM card, honey-hued and densely inked on both sides with faded black script. …in the ancient Egyptian language of Coptic, into which many early Christian texts were translated in the third and fourth centuries, when Alexandria vied with Rome as an incubator of Christian thought. …The fragment’s 33 words, scattered across 14 incomplete lines, leave a good deal to interpretation. But in King’s analysis, and as she argues in a forthcoming article in the Harvard Theological Review, the “wife” Jesus refers to is probably Mary Magdalene, and Jesus appears to be defending her against someone, perhaps one of the male disciples. “She will be able to be my disciple,” Jesus replies. Then, two lines later, he says: “I dwell with her.” …The question the discovery raises, King told me, is, “Why is it that only the literature that said he was celibate survived? And all of the texts that showed he had an intimate relationship with Magdalene or is married didn’t survive? Is that 100 percent happenstance? Or is it because of the fact that celibacy becomes the ideal for Christianity?”

 

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Trolling for trolls in the real world (September 14 2012) Trolling for trolls in the real world (September 14 2012)

April Alliston the American Professor of Comparative Literature and Guggenheim Fellow has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Trolling for trolls in Disney World and the real world’ referring to the increase in internet trolling – much of it misogynistic and damaging. Alliston states “You may have thought trolls were those fairytale ogres who lurked under bridges once upon a time, or maybe those vintage naked plastic dolls with the big shocks of brightly-coloured hair that are so ugly they’re cute. But recently, trolls – fictional and nonfictional – are turning up everywhere, from cyberspace to the school bus, on screens large and small, showing us how fantasy can disturb reality, and folks from schoolboys to grannies can turn into trolls. A global outcry faulted British police last week for penalising trolls who use Twitter for hate speech. After his close friends were ridiculed and lambasted online following the stillborn birth of their child, television host Piers Morgan declared this week, “But what I am going to do is go to war with these trolls.” Earlier this summer another global outcry led to the suspension of schoolboys who aped cyber-trolls in person. The one thing that’s clear is how confused we all are about the line between fantasy and reality, words and deeds, victims and trolls. …While speaking out against internet trolls is gaining momentum, shouldn’t the incidents of cruel trolling be decreasing, not increasing? Instead of rewarding their victim by sending her away from the real world, let’s teach everyone – schoolchildren and adults – that trolling isn’t tolerated.”

 

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Veils, polleras and mini-skirts (September 10 2012) Veils, polleras and mini-skirts (September 10 2012)

Manuela Lavinas Picq the former professor and researcher at Amherst College and currently researching in Brazil on politics for indigenous women in the Andes, has released an article on Aljazeera titled ‘The politics of veils, ‘polleras’ and mini-skirts’, where veils and ‘polleras’ are modern expressions of “political contestation and negotiation” between state and society. In the article Picq states “What a difference a piece of cloth makes. Indigenous’ polleras, or Muslim headscarves tend to be read as signs of poverty and subjugation whereas a mini-skirt usually asserts a woman’s emancipation. Of course, women’s rights do not reside in dress. Yet the way one dresses has political significance. A mini-skirt or a headscarf can both be symbols of oppression or emancipation, depending on the context. At first sight, indigenous women wearing polleras in the Bolivian Congress do not seem to have much in common with young Muslim women defending their right to wear the scarf to attend French universities. Looking closer, however, their insistence in bringing cultural attire into public realms points at similar practices of resistance. In both cases, clothing becomes a strategic site of political contestation to negotiate rights and authority. …Both polleras and veils are perceived as signs of cultures that keep women down, cultures that have not yet achieved political modernity. As different as they may be, in the collective imaginary both are signs of the oppression of women, visual reminders of gender inequality and implicitly indicators of underdevelopment. …Today, wearing polleras on the floor of the Peruvian Congress or headscarves in French universities represents a more fundamental challenge to oppressive power structures than women donning high fashion silk “power suits” as they struggle for conventional forms of success in the executive suites of governments or multinational corporations.”

 

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The hunger wars in our future (August 20 2012) The hunger wars in our future (August 20 2012)

Michael T Klare the American Professor of Peace and World Security Studies published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘The hunger wars in our future’ highlighting the rising food prices due to drought may again lead to social unrest and violent conflict. Klare states “With more than one-half of US counties designated as drought disaster areas, the 2012 harvest of corn, soybeans and other food staples is guaranteed to fall far short of predictions. This, in turn, will boost food prices domestically and abroad, causing increased misery for farmers and low-income Americans – and far greater hardship for poor people in countries that rely on imported US grains. This, however, is just the beginning of the likely consequences. …Food – affordable food – is essential to human survival and well-being. Take that away, and people become anxious, desperate and angry. …many nations depend on grain imports from the US to supplement their own harvests, and because intense drought and floods are damaging crops elsewhere as well, food supplies are expected to shrink and prices to rise across the planet. …keep an eye out for the social and political effects that undoubtedly won’t begin to show up here or globally until later this year or 2013. Better than any academic study, these will offer us a hint of what we can expect in the coming decades from a hunger-games world of rising temperatures, persistent droughts, recurring food shortages and billions of famished, desperate people.”

 

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UN corrupts Somali political transition (August 15 2012) UN corrupts Somali political transition (August 15 2012)

Abdi Ismail Samatar the 62 year old Somalian-American Professor of Geography whose research focuses on the relationship between democracy and development in the Third World has published an article on Aljazeera titled the ‘UN corrupts Somali political transition’. In the article Samatar states “For over the two decades, sectarian Somali leaders and their international patrons dominated political transitions in the country. The end results of these affairs have been perpetual political instability, endless violence and the misery for the population without any one being held accountable. Another transition is looming and the UN which is midwifing the process is enabling several Somali actors to gerrymander the process in order to predetermine the outcome to their advantage. …Notwithstanding these odds, faithful people are relentlessly working to change the course of history for the better while they pray for a miracle. The Somali civic movement is engaged in such a struggle and is striving for a miracle under horrific circumstances, but their efforts are continuously undermined by regional and international actors who seem to relish the humiliation of the Somali. Conceiving and executing a corrupt political process designed to disable the Somali people, the UN strategy makes mockery of the high democratic and humanitarian ideals international actors claim to cherish and could very well instigate a new wave of violence. Let us hope that the civics miraculously triumph and human dignity restored.”

 

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The idea of a "responsibility to protect" (July 24 2012) The idea of a “responsibility to protect” (July 24 2012)

Joseph Samuel Nye the 75 year old American political science Professor and co-founder of the international relations theory neoliberalism, developing the concepts of asymmetrical and complex interdependence. Nye has published an article on the Project Syndicate where he discusses with reference to Syria, when should States intervene militarily to stop atrocities in other countries. Nye states, …The idea of a “responsibility to protect” (R2P) was adopted unanimously at the UN’s World Summit in 2005, but subsequent events showed that not all member states interpreted the resolution the same way. Russia has consistently argued that only Security Council resolutions, not General Assembly resolutions, are binding international law. Meanwhile, Russia has vetoed a Security Council resolution on Syria, and, somewhat ironically, Annan has been called back and enlisted in a so-far futile effort to stop the carnage there. …In fact, R2P is more about struggles over political legitimacy and soft power than it is about hard international law. Some Western lawyers argue that it entails the responsibility to combat genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes under the various conventions of international humanitarian law. But Russia, China and others are reluctant to provide a legal or political basis for actions such as what occurred in Libya. …There are other reasons why R2P has not been a success in the Syrian case. Drawn from traditional “just war” theory, R2P rests not only on right intentions, but also on the existence of a reasonable prospect of success.”

 

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The Wrong Austerity Cure (July 21st 2012) The Wrong Austerity Cure (July 21st 2012)

Laura D’Andrea Tyson the 65 year old American Economist Professor and former Chair of the US President’s Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘The Wrong Austerity Cure’. In the article Tyson states “Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and French President François Hollande are right: Europe needs bold, coordinated policies to promote growth, along with market-based structural reforms to foster competition and an easing of fiscal targets until output and employment recover. But how can significant new growth initiatives be financed? The reality is that the rest of Europe cannot succeed in restoring growth without Germany, and Germany remains wedded to the austerity cure. With a modest fiscal deficit, record-low borrowing costs, and a huge current-account surplus, Germany has the financial firepower to unleash a significant stimulus. But Germany sees no need to stimulate its own economy, and is willing to consider only modest eurozone measures… Despite pleas from the IMF and the OECD, Germany also remains implacably opposed to Eurobonds, which could ease the funding constraints of other eurozone members… the worsening banking crisis, with deposits fleeing from the eurozone periphery, is further strangling Europe’s growth prospects. It is probably too late to save Greece. But a shift towards policies to promote growth, supported by the easing of deficit targets and the issuance of Eurobonds, is essential to bring Europe back from the brink of sustained recession, to stabilise Europe’s financial markets, and to prevent another significant disruption to global capital markets.”

 

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Obama is morphing Into Dick Cheney (July 20th 2012) Obama is morphing Into Dick Cheney (July 20th 2012)

Michael T. Klare the American Professor of Peace and World Security Studies has published an article on TomDispatch questioning if Barack Obama is morphing into Dick Cheney, highlighting four ways he is pursuing Cheney’s geopolitics of global energy. In the article Klare states “As details of his administration’s global war against terrorists, insurgents, and hostile warlords have become more widely known — a war that involves a mélange of drone attacks, covert operations, and presidentially selected assassinations — President Obama has been compared to President George W. Bush in his appetite for military action. …When it comes to international energy politics, however, it is not Bush but his vice president, Dick Cheney, who has been providing the role model for the president.  …it is possible to reconstruct the geopolitical blueprint that Cheney followed …a blueprint that President Obama, eerily enough, now appears to be implementing, despite the many risks involved.1. Promote domestic oil and gas production at any cost to reduce America’s dependence on unfriendly foreign suppliers… 2. Keep control over the oil flow from the Persian Gulf … in order to retain an “economic stranglehold” over other major oil importers. 3. Dominate the sea lanes of Asia, so as to control the flow of oil and other raw materials to America’s potential economic rivals, China and Japan. 4. Promote energy “diversification” in Europe, especially through increased reliance on oil and natural gas supplies from the former Soviet republics of the Caspian Sea basin… This four-part geopolitical blueprint, relentlessly pursued by Cheney while vice president, is now being implemented in every respect by President Obama.”

 

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Feigned friendship and ill-disguised mistrust (July 16th 2012) Feigned friendship and ill-disguised mistrust (July 16th 2012)

Andrew J. Bacevich the 65 year old American Professor of International Relations and retired career officer in the US Army has published an article in the LA Times titled ‘Divorcing Pakistan’ which contends the interests of Washington and Islamabad do not align, and neither do their preferred forms of paranoia. Bacevich states “The history of U.S.-Pakistani relations is one of wild swings between feigned friendship and ill-disguised mistrust. When the United States needs Pakistan, Washington showers Islamabad with money, weapons and expressions of high esteem. Once the need wanes, the gratuities cease, often with brutal abruptness. Instead of largesse, Pakistan gets lectures, with the instruction seldom well received. …But seldom has a marriage of convenience produced greater inconvenience and consternation for the parties involved. Simply put, U.S. and Pakistani interests do not align. Worse, neither do our preferred forms of paranoia. Pakistanis don’t worry about Islamists taking over the world. Americans are untroubled by the prospect of India emerging as a power of the first rank. The United States stayed in this unhappy marriage for the last decade in large part because Pakistan provided the transit route for supplies sustaining NATO’s ongoing war in landlocked Afghanistan. … A recently negotiated agreement with several former-Soviet Central Asian republics creates alternatives, removing Pakistan’s grip on NATO’s logistical windpipe. …As with most divorces, the proceedings promise to be ugly. Already, the U.S. is escalating its campaign of missile attacks against “militants” on Pakistani soil. U.S. officials dismiss complaints that this infringes on Pakistan’s national sovereignty.”

 

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Analysts are asking: Has the revolution failed? (July 11th 2012) Analysts are asking: Has the revolution failed? (July 11th 2012)

Hamid Dabashi the 63 year old Iranian-American Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘The mother of the world: The birth of Egypt’s democracy’ referencing the Egyptian election as not a ‘referendum’ on the revolution, but a step in the only direction possible: forward. Dabashi states “Analysts are asking: Has the revolution failed? …there are other historical comparisons we can make. If you want to have a simple sense of what exactly has happened in the Arab and Muslim world that we celebrate as the “Arab Spring”, just compare the Iranian Revolution of 1979 with the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 – in a span of just a little more than three decades. …The Egyptian revolution is everything that the Iranian revolution was not: calm, composed, gentle, civil, human, hopeful, principled. All the legitimate fear that all Egyptians now have for the future of their revolution is fuel for visionary progress. …Those who fear that Egyptians are not revolutionary enough, or that they are caught in a “Stockholm Syndrome” ought to ask themselves: Do they want Egypt to be thirty years from now where Iran is today – ruled by a fraudulent tyranny, violently opposed by career opportunists in cahoots with the neocons, with the vast majority of Iranians sick and tired of one and disgusted by the other?”

 

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The Big-Lie Coup d’Etat (July 2nd 2012) The Big-Lie Coup d’Etat (July 2nd 2012)

Robert Bernard Reich the 66 year old American political economist and professor has published an article on his blog titled ‘The Big-Lie Coup d’Etat’ assessing the “… launching [of] a multi-million dollar TV ad buy [by] Crossroads GPS, the sister organization to the super PAC American Crossroads run by Republican political operative Karl Rove. …is a tax-exempt nonprofit group, it can spend unlimited money on politics — and it doesn’t have to reveal where it gets the dough. By law, all it has to do is spend most of the money on policy “issues,” which is a fig leaf for partisan politics. …The narrator in the ad … solemnly intones: “In 2008, Barack Obama said, ‘We can’t mortgage our children’s future on a mountain of debt.’ Now he’s adding $4 billion in debt every day, borrowing from China for his spending. Every second, growing our debt faster than our economy,” he continues. “Tell Obama, stop the spending.” This is a baldface lie, by the way. Obama isn’t adding to the debt every day. The debt is growing because of obligations entered into long ago, many under George W. Bush – including two giant tax cuts that went mostly to the very wealthy that were supposed to be temporary and which are still going, courtesy of Republican blackmail over raising the debt limit. In realty, government spending as a portion of GDP keeps dropping.”

 

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Wage Theft: A Crime Without Punishment (June 28th 2012) Wage Theft: A Crime Without Punishment (June 28th 2012)

Ruth Milkman the 57 year old Professor of Sociology “likes to tell the story of a hotel housekeeper and her tip-stealing boss because it brings together so many features of the phenomenon of wage theft, the subject of her research” according to Katha Pollitt in her article titled ‘Wage Theft: A Crime Without Punishment?’ published in The Nation magazine. Pollitt states ““She was an undocumented Mexican immigrant with four kids, very humble, and she worked in a brand-name Los Angeles hotel, …she worked more than forty hours a week, but was paid only for forty hours—minimum wage. The law says supervisors and managers can’t get any part of your tip, but she said her supervisor would go into hotel rooms and take the tips before the housekeepers came in to clean. She complained about not getting paid for all her hours and was fired.” Female, undocumented, low-wage, not paid for all her hours, fired when she complains—it’s an all-too-typical story. Low-wage workers in the United States face many harsh and demeaning circumstances—not being entitled to paid sick days, for instance. But there’s something particularly shocking about wage theft, an element of insult added to injury: not only does your boss pay you as little as he can get away with; he keeps a nice chunk of it for himself, just because he can.”

 

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Evi Pappa the Greek Professor of International Macroeconomics and Monetary and Fiscal Policy believes a Greek exit from the euro could have wide-ranging consequences for other European countries. Pappa in an interview with Sam Bollier for Aljazeera, states “The Greek election results express the anger of the Greek population. They had somehow to punish the two political parties that have been in power the past 20 years. So they voted in anger and in protest… I think that most of them realise that leaving the euro is going to be disastrous for Greece. …You would expect three things if Greece leaves the euro: inflation, devaluation, and banking collapse. …Inflation is sometimes good. But the problem is that Greece is not going to experience inflation. It is going to experience, most likely, hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is not good at any time. …Modern Greece, like Antigone [Classic Greek tragedy of Sophocles], is condemned to the austerity measures of the European Commission, burying it alive, and it looks like, when the Europeans come to her mercy, it might be too late – and Greece might commit suicide by deciding to leave the eurozone. I don’t have a lot of hope for Greece.”

 

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F. Christopher Arterton the American Professor of Political Management and active in Democratic party politics has been interviewed by Sophie Sportiche in regard to President Obama’s shift on same-sex marriage. During the course of the interview Arterton states “I think having the president of the United States come out for that among a limited group of people may in fact cause them to pause and rethink this issue. …I would say that it’s important to bear in mind that over time, the drift has essentially been toward a greater acceptance of same-sex marriage. …There is a group in the middle that really wants a kind of civil discourse and wants US politicians to not be at each other’s throat. …I think that for the middle segment, which is where the battleground is going to be, they prefer that kind of statement rather than a virulent okay, it’s now time to go for same-sex marriage vehemently, to propose a constitutional amendment or to introduce legislation to totally gut the Defence of Marriage Act. And so to really make a fight out of this on either side, I think, is not in the interests of the group that they’re fighting over.”

 

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Joseph Eugene Stiglitz the 69 year old American economist and professor has published an article on The Daily Beast titled “The 99 Percent Wakes Up” pointing out  that “Inequality isn’t only plaguing America—the Arab Spring flowered because international capitalism is broken.” In the article Stiglitz states “…I met with protesters in Madrid’s Retiro Park, at Zuccotti Park in New York, and in [Tahrir Square] Cairo… The protesters have been criticized for not having an agenda, but such criticism misses the point of protest movements. They are an expression of frustration with the electoral process. They are an alarm. …they are asking for a great deal: for a democracy where people, not dollars, matter; and for a market economy that delivers on what it is supposed to do. The two demands are related: unfettered markets do not work well, as we have seen. For markets to work the way markets are supposed to work, there has to be appropriate government regulation. But for that to occur, we have to have a democracy that reflects the general interests, not the special interests. We may have the best government that money can buy, but that won’t be good enough.

 

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Robert Costanza the 61 year old USA ecological economist and professor of sustainability has published an article on Aljazeera questioning what we can expect from Rio+20, arguing “We should engage in a global dialogue to envision the future we want – and devise an adaptive strategy to get us there.” In the article Costanza states, “…Rio+20 may be the most critical and potentially most influential meeting of its kind ever. What would have to happen for this to occur? In a nutshell, our view of the world will have to change. Our fundamental goals will have to change from an unsustainable emphasis on economic growth to a much broader vision of human well-being that acknowledges our dependence on nature and on each other. …The ongoing financial crisis, the climate crisis, the crisis of well-being and happiness and the Occupy movement, all represent accumulating trends. The Rio+20 meeting could be the trigger to get off the growth bandwagon and start down the path to a more positive vision of the world we all want… We may have to wait for deeper crises, for a more severe collapse. I hope not. While it is not wise to raise expectations too high, it is also not wise to give up hope. Let us hope for the best.”

 

Inspired by Robert Costanza http://ow.ly/anDTS image source Eppyie http://ow.ly/anEi6

Michael Rakowitz the 38 year old Iraqi American Artist and Professor renowned for his conceptual art displayed in non-gallery contexts has a new installation work on the streets of Chicago, titled ‘Enemy Kitchen’. The work is a continuing project begun in 2004 as a collaboration with his Iraqi-Jewish mother. Rakowitz states on his web “…the first incarnation of the project  …with a group of middle school and high school students who live in Chelsea… Some had relatives in the US Army stationed in Iraq. …In preparing and then consuming the food [Baghdadi recipes], it opened up another topic through which the word ‘Iraq’ could be discussed… The project functioned as a social sculpture: while cooking and eating, the students engaged each other on the topic of the war and drew parallels with their own lives, at times making comparisons with bullies in relation to how they perceive the conflict.” This new phase of the project encompasses a mobile food truck in Chicago at the Smart Museum of Art. The food truck features a different Iraqi cook each day, serving cuisine from different regions of the country, and will be staffed by American veterans of the Iraq War who act as servers and sous-chefs.”

 

Inspired by Ruth Lopez http://ow.ly/a6YmI image source Vimeo http://ow.ly/a6Z5y

Eric Richard Kandel the 82 year old Austrian-US Professor and Neuropsychiatrist, the recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology Medicine research for his work on memory storage in neurons, has released his latest book, “The Age of Insight”. Kandel has been interviewed by Claudia Dreifus for the New York Times where he stated, “I’ve long been interested in memory. What does it look like on a physical level? …my mentor Harry Grundfest said, “Look, if you want to understand the brain you’re going to have to take a reductionist approach, one cell at a time.” He was so right. …in the 1960s, we went to a more reductionist approach. Instead of studying complicated mammalian brain cells, we studied the neural system of a simple animal — Aplysia, a snail with a very large nerve cell… We discovered that the snail’s reflexes could be modified by several forms of learning, and that learning involved alterations in how nerve cells communicated with one another. We next looked at short- and long-term memory in the snail…  It would turn out that short-term memory involves transient changes of the connections between the cells. There is no anatomical change. Long-term memory involves enduring changes that result from the growth of new synaptic connections…  When you see that at the cellular level, you realize that the brain can change because of experience. It gives you a different feeling about how nature and nurture interact. They are not separate processes.”

 

Inspired by Claudia Dreifus http://ow.ly/9ARU3 image source Eric Kandel http://ow.ly/9AS0g

Michael C Hudson the US Professor of Government and International Relations, and currently serving as the Director of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, states “For an unforgettable ‘Groundhog Day’ experience, there is nothing better than a trip to Palestine and Israel.  We’ve experienced multiple revolutions over the past six decades in information technologies, social mores and political upheavals. The Soviet empire collapsed, democracy advanced around the globe, Asia began to rise and the West began to decline. It is all quite disorienting. But one thing remains constant: The Arab-Israeli conflict. It just grinds on and on. For those of us who have been studying it professionally, there is something oddly reassuring about that. For most others not directly involved, it has just become boring. Too bad, because, like a smoldering peat fire, the Palestine problem helps keep the entire Middle East on the boil… the US is out to lunch as far as this matter is concerned … the Obama administration appears resigned to “muddling through” even though its fecklessness feeds America’s many other problems across the region.”

Inspired by Michael Hudson http://ow.ly/7OEPm image source Georgetown Uni http://ow.ly/7OEF2

Steven Arthur Pinker the 57 year old Canadian-American Professor of experimental psychology and cognitive science has argued in his recent book ‘The Better Angels of Our Nature’ that human violence has fallen drastically over thousands of years. Pinker’s investigation of human violence, one of the base primal aspects of our lives, takes consideration of homicide rates and war casualties as a percentage of national populations. Pinker is renowned for his theory of language acquisition through his research on verbs, morphology and syntax. Pinker is said to have “popularized Noam chomsky’s work on language as innate faculty of mind, with the twist that this faculty evolved by natural selection as a Darwinian adaptation for communication.” Pinker’s work on human cognition suggests that combinatorial symbol manipulation has a significant part to play in the workings of cognition, not just associations among sensory features as many connectionist models argue.

 

Inspired by Carl Zimmer http://ow.ly/7UVlm image source twitter http://ow.ly/7UVpe

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