The Bottom-Line Benefits of Hope

Though hope may seem like a soft concept, it has hard-edged bottom-line implications for businesses. So says Shane J. Lopez, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Kansas School of Business, a Gallup senior scientist, and a leading researcher on hope.Hopeful leaders get rid of the clumsy obstacles and processes that get in the way.Hope is the basis of all positive change because hope is the belief that things could be better and one can make them so, Lopez writes in his new book Making Hope Happen. That belief can be learned and taught, and executives would do well to keep hope alive in their companies, as Lopez says in this interview.

via The Bottom-Line Benefits of Hope.

Legalised pot takes on state of the union

I was part-way through an interview with a defence lawyer and an AIDS activist when a warm sensation stole over me.I had been in the activist’s illegal grow-house, inspecting a little stainless steel mixing bowl full of capsules of intensely concentrated cannabis oil he had extracted the night before from two garbage bags full of buds. Their skin was greasy and they glowed a dull green when I held them up to the light.Half an hour later we were discussing medical uses of pot when their voices seemed to fade and I found myself gazing happily at a door.”Can those things make you stoned just by touching them?” I asked the activist.Advertisement”Ah, shit,” he said. ”Sorry.” He added unhelpfully: ”Jesus. Look at your eyes.”

via Legalised pot takes on state of the union.

How Paul Krugman broke a Wikipedia page on economics – Salon.com

There’s a lockdown on the Wikipedia page for Austrian economics and wouldn’t you know it, one or way or another, it all seems to be Paul Krugman’s fault.

Broadly speaking, Austrian economics, for those who have not yet had the pleasure of being introduced, are characterized by an extreme distrust of state intervention in markets, a distaste for statistical modeling and a general confidence that markets, left to their own devices, will avoid booms and busts and nasty things like inflation. From a political perspective, Austrian economics tends to lurk to the right of even such conservative icons as Milton Friedman.

For more detail, you can go, of course, to the Wikipedia page for Austrian economics. But until at least Feb. 28, if you do so, you will find that the page “is currently protected from editing.” An “edit war” has been raging behind the scenes. Two factions were repeatedly deleting and replacing a section of text that had to do with a description of a critique of Austrian economics made by economist Paul Krugman.

via How Paul Krugman broke a Wikipedia page on economics – Salon.com.

Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? | Joanna Blythman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Not long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain you could only buy in wholefood shops. We struggled to pronounce it its keen-wa, not qui-no-a, yet it was feted by food lovers as a novel addition to the familiar ranks of couscous and rice. Dieticians clucked over quinoa approvingly because it ticked the low-fat box and fitted in with government healthy eating advice to “base your meals on starchy foods”.Adventurous eaters liked its slightly bitter taste and the little white curls that formed around the grains. Vegans embraced quinoa as a credibly nutritious substitute for meat. Unusual among grains, quinoa has a high protein content between 14%-18%, and it contains all those pesky, yet essential, amino acids needed for good health that can prove so elusive to vegetarians who prefer not to pop food supplements.

via Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? | Joanna Blythman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.

Churnalism on the rise as news sites fill up with shared content and wire copy

This week’s unfolding print news crisis may have taken newspaper workers by surprise, but it has an inevitable feel to those who’ve been studying the latest phase of restructuring in our digital media industries.

Australia’s print media companies have been preparing for a leaner, cross-platform future since as far back as 2006, when the Howard government, after at least a decade of aborted attempts, finally succeeded in watering down Paul Keating’s 1987 media ownership laws.

via Churnalism on the rise as news sites fill up with shared content and wire copy.

The Value of an Educated Mind in a High-Tech World Truthout

And now for something completely different. About 15 years ago, before I became a regular columnist, The New York Times asked me and other people to contribute to a special edition celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Sunday magazine. The stated rule was that the pieces should be written as if submitted in 2096, looking back at the magazines second century.

via The Value of an Educated Mind in a High-Tech World Truthout.

Ireland’s Paradise Lost – NYTimes.com

For an American tourist weaned on Gaelic kitsch and screenings of “The Quiet Man,” the landscape of contemporary Ireland comes as something of a shock. Drive from Dublin to the western coast and back, as I did two months ago, and you’ll still find all the thatched-roof farmhouses, winding stone walls and placid sheep that the postcards would lead you to expect. But round every green hill, there’s a swath of miniature McMansions. Past every tumble-down castle, a cascade of condominiums. In sleepy fishing villages that date to the days of Grace O’Malley, Ireland’s Pirate Queen (she was the Sarah Palin of the 16th century), half the houses look the part — but the rest could have been thrown up by the Toll brothers

via Ireland’s Paradise Lost – NYTimes.com.

Australia information on economic freedom | Facts, data, analysis, charts and more

Australia rates high in virtually all the of the 10 economic freedoms. Monetary stability and openness to global commerce buttress an internationally competitive financial and business enviroment………….Australia information on economic freedom | Facts, data, analysis, charts and more

Australia information on economic freedom | Facts, data, analysis, charts and more