Thursday, September 26, 2013

The real boy crisis: 5 ways America tells boys not to be “girly” - Salon.com

The real boy crisis: 5 ways America tells boys not to be “girly” - Salon.com:
The ability to feel what others feel has many well-documented benefits, including, for empathetic people, greater psychological and physical health. The real and socially significant positive impact of empathy, however, is the ways in which it affects behavior toward others. People who are empathetic are less aggressive and prone to denigrate others; they are predisposed to act with care and compassion; they have increased egalitarian beliefs and act with less prejudice and stereotype-based hatred. Empathetic behaviors, however, are associated with being female. And weak.

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Thursday, September 19, 2013

wait but why: Putting Time In Perspective

wait but why: Putting Time In Perspective:
Humans are good at a lot of things, but putting time in perspective is not one of them.  It's not our fault—the spans of time in human history, and even more so in natural history, are so vast compared to the span of our life and recent history that it's almost impossible to get a handle on it.  If the Earth formed at midnight and the present moment is the next midnight, 24 hours later, modern humans have been around since 11:59:59pm—1 second.  And if human history itself spans 24 hours from one midnight to the next, 14 minutes represents the time since Christ.

To try to grasp some perspective, I mapped out the history of time as a series of growing timelines—each timeline contains all the previous timelines (colors will help you see which timelines are which).  All timeline lengths are exactly accurate to the amount of time they're expressing.

A note on dates:  When it comes to the far-back past, most of the dates we know are the subject of ongoing debate.  For these timelines, it's cumbersome to put a ~ sign before every ancient date or an asterisk explaining that the date is still being debated, so I just used the most widely accepted dates and left it at that.


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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Tools and methods for M&E | Institutional Learning and Change Initiative

Tools and methods for M&E | Institutional Learning and Change Initiative: "Tools and methods for M&E
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 22:31 — web10
This section of the website summarizes methods, tools and approaches for monitoring and evaluation of collaborative projects.

The texts are drawn from different sources and recognized accordingly.

There are various techniques associated with M&E as Table 5, extracted from Fahrenkrog et al (2002), illustrates."

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Friday, September 13, 2013

Kerry opens Syria talks in Geneva by declaring: 'This is not a game' - World News

Kerry opens Syria talks in Geneva by declaring: 'This is not a game' - World News: "In a move Assad had promised as part of an agreement to avoid U.S. strikes, Syria's U.N. envoy announced that his country became a full member of the global anti-chemical weapons treaty Thursday.
"Legally speaking Syria has become, starting today, a full member of the (chemical weapons) convention," Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afar said after submitting relevant documents to the United Nations. "

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Taking Lead in Syria Talks, Russia Works to Preserve Assad Regime | TIME.com

Taking Lead in Syria Talks, Russia Works to Preserve Assad Regime | TIME.com:

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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Would It Have Been Legal to Shoot and Kill George Zimmerman? - Abby Ohlheiser - The Atlantic Wire

Would It Have Been Legal to Shoot and Kill George Zimmerman? - Abby Ohlheiser - The Atlantic Wire: "Yesterday, Shellie Zimmerman told a 911 operator that her husband George "was going to shoot" her and her father at their Florida home. "I'm really, really afraid," she added. And while the incident did not end in violence — nor has anyone been charged as the facts are still sorted out  — Shellie's panicked 911 call poses an obvious question: would Florida law have offered Shellie the same defense had she used lethal force against her husband, as George used after he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin? "

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AP - Convicted Indian rapist shouts, 'I am innocent!'

AP - Convicted Indian rapist shouts, 'I am innocent!':
On Wednesday, as their sentencing hearing began, prosecutor Dayan Krishnan called for the death penalty, saying "there can be nothing more diabolic than a helpless girl put through torture."
He said the crime shocked India's "collective conscience," and noted the police report showed the men pulled out some of the victim's body parts after savagely penetrating her with an iron rod
The four men stood or sat in T-shirts or short-sleeved polo shirts as arguments began, unshackled and with policemen holding them from both sides. They appeared impassive, though it was not clear how much they understood of the proceedings. English is the main language of India's court system but only one of the men, Vinay Sharma, speaks any English. They had no translator.
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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Syria-chemical weapons: Did John Kerry just accidentally find a workable solution for Syria?

Syria-chemical weapons: Did John Kerry just accidentally find a workable solution for Syria?:

Speaking in London earlier today, John Kerry appeared to issue a long-shot ultimatum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, suggesting that if he turned over his complete stockpile of chemical weapons within the next week he could avoid an attack from the United States. The State Department, however, would later walk back those comments, saying they were a "rhetorical argument" and not an actual proposal, adding that Assad "cannot be trusted" to take such action.

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Sunday, September 8, 2013

Malawi sells jet to avert food crisis - Al Jazeera English

Malawi sells jet to avert food crisis - Al Jazeera English: "Presidency sells plane for $15m to feed poor and grow crops to fight malnutrition in southern African country.
Malawi will use $15m from the sale of the country's presidential jet to feed the poor and grow crops to
fight malnutrition, an official has said.

"It was a collective government decision that the money realised from the sale of the jet will be used to purchase maize locally and some for legume production," said Nations Msowoya, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance.

Food experts have said 10 percent of the country's 13 million citizens face food shortages this year.

President Joyce Banda decided last year to sell the jet, bought by her predecessor Bingu wa Mutharika for $22m, due to the cost of running it.

Former colonial power Britain, Malawi's main bilateral donor, reduced its aid to Malawi by $4.7m after the 14-passenger aircraft was purchased."

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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Poverty and cognitive impairment: Study shows money troubles make decision-making difficult. - Slate Magazine

Poverty and cognitive impairment: Study shows money troubles make decision-making difficult. - Slate Magazine: "Such are the privileges of affluence. It’s not just that you can afford nicer stuff than poor people or have a greater ability to spend money for the sake of convenience. You get to take advantage of what is, in some ways, the greatest convenience of all—the convenience that comes from not having to sweat the small stuff.
A study published last week in the journal Science shows that the stress of worrying about finances can impair cognitive functions in a meaningful way."

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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Senegal's new prime minister names cabinet - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Senegal's new prime minister names cabinet - Africa - Al Jazeera English: "Senegal's new Prime Minister Aminata Toure has named a cabinet, putting a veteran human rights campaigner in the key post of justice minister, suggesting high-profile corruption and rights cases are likely to remain a priority."

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