Friday, October 31, 2014

Middle East Relationships, Explained Through An Interactive Map

Middle East Relationships, Explained Through An Interactive Map: "By highlighting or clicking on any of the actors in the region, the reader can explore the actor's relevant connections. Clicking on Islamic State, for example, shows that the extremist group has a mutual hatred with just about everyone else, with the exception of Qatar. Despite having participated in international airstrikes against IS, the Gulf State has been accused of being a hotspot for terror funding.

While some of the connections may be up for debate, the chart is a great supplementary guide for an often incomprehensible topic. As with anything in the region, though, it will likely be subject to change as political bonds break and forge."



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Our World Is Mesmerizing On The Micro Level, And These Award-Winning Photos Are Proof

Our World Is Mesmerizing On The Micro Level, And These Award-Winning Photos Are Proof: "You've never seen a spider, a caterpillar, or even a DVD reader quite like this before.

The winning photos this year in Nikon's annual Small World Photomicrography Competition offer a very up-close look at these three things and many others--and they're absolutely beautiful.

The annual competition, which is celebrating its 40th year, showcases some of the best microphotography from around the world. This year, more than 1,200 entries from at least 79 countries were vying for top honors. The entries were judged by biologist Dr. Paul Maddox, Slate science editor Laura Helmuth, and Popular Science's online director Dave Mosher.

Which photo took first place? Panama resident Rogelio Moreno's image of a rotifer's open mouth. Rotifers are sometimes called microscopic "wheel" animals and are commonly found in freshwater."



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Mexico Is Looking For 43 Missing Students. What Has Been Found Is Truly Terrifying

Mexico Is Looking For 43 Missing Students. What Has Been Found Is Truly Terrifying: "After a student protest in Iguala, Mexico, last month, dozens of young men were seen being hauled off into police vans. Then, they vanished.

One month later, 43 students from the Ayotzinapa rural teachers college are still missing and presumed dead. Instead of finding the students, authorities investigating the events of Sept. 26 have instead found other horrors: a string of mass graves, police working for drug cartels and government officials at the helm of a dark underworld.

The hunt for the students has laid bare the brutality and lawlessness in parts of Mexico still under the grip of the cartels, despite years of Mexico’s war on drugs."



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40 Photos From An Epic Road Trip Through North Korea

40 Photos From An Epic Road Trip Through North Korea: "When North Korea opens its doors, it does so for a reason. So it was when the authoritarian government granted permission for a road trip so extensive that few North Koreans — let alone a pair of American journalists — could imagine taking it.

We drove 2,150 kilometers (1,336 miles) in a country that has barely 25,000 kilometers of road, and only 724 kilometers of those paved. By the time we returned to the capital a week later, our Chinese-made Great Wall SUV had a few new scratches and one less hubcap.Our official destination was majestic Mount Paektu, with its jagged peaks surrounding a crystal-blue crater lake. North Korea is pursuing a plan to create dozens of special foreign investment and tourism zones, and this is one of the places it most wants to promote.

The easiest way to get there is to fly, but we had been granted permission to drive. This, we were told, would mean traveling through places that no foreign journalists had been allowed to see before."



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Violent Protests Topple Government in Burkina Faso - NYTimes.com

Violent Protests Topple Government in Burkina Faso - NYTimes.com: "OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — The government of Burkina Faso collapsed on Thursday as demonstrators protesting President Blaise Compaoré’s plans to stay in office after 27 years surged through the streets of Ouagadougou, the capital, overrunning state broadcasters, setting fire to Parliament and torching the homes of the president’s relatives.



 Authorities imposed martial law, according to a communiqué from the presidential palace.



 After several hours of increasingly violent protests, a government spokesman announced that a bill to extend the term of Mr. Compaoré had been dropped, or at least delayed. Yet the protests continued, and later in the day, Mr. Compaoré announced that the government had been dissolved and promised more talks with the opposition “to end the crisis,” according to a statement read on a local radio station.



If the protests do unseat Mr. Compaoré, it will mark the first time since the Arab Spring that a popular movement has succeeded in removing an autocrat in sub-Saharan Africa. "



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San Francisco scientists find autism linked to dozens of genetic mutations - San Jose Mercury News

San Francisco scientists find autism linked to dozens of genetic mutations - San Jose Mercury News: "Not all cases of autism have a gene-based beginning. Growing brains can also be influenced by environmental events.

In many cases, a combination of factors may be involved, he said.

While a rare few of the newly detected mutations are inherited from the parents' genomes, most families do not have a family history of the disorder.

Rather, these mutations arose during the creation of a father's sperm cell or mother's egg cell, they found.

The scientists tied mutations in more than 100 genes to autism. Sixty of these genes met a "high-confidence" threshold, indicating that there is a greater than 90 percent chance that mutations in those genes contribute to autism risk."



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Halloween Draws Muslim Ire in Malaysia as Tensions Simmer - WSJ - WSJ

Halloween Draws Muslim Ire in Malaysia as Tensions Simmer - WSJ - WSJ:



"KUALA LUMPUR—A Muslim religious edict denouncing Halloween parties in Malaysia might not seem like a significant move. Plenty of Christian groups also view the commerce and frivolity that accompany the celebration as vaguely pagan and a little bit off-color.



 But the role of Islam in public life is becoming a combustible issue here, driven on in part by the deepening conflict between government supporters and backers of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, whose trial on sodomy charges at the country’s highest court is gaining momentum.



 Muslim leaders recently criticized a dog-petting event in Kuala Lumpur, accusing the organizer, himself a Muslim, as spreading un-Islamic practices. Dogs are considered unclean in some interpretations of Islam. Oktoberfest beer celebrations, while aimed at Malaysia’s large ethnic-Chinese and Indian populations, have also been criticized. The edict, or fatwa, against Halloween, posted on the “e-fatwa” website of the religious affairs ministry, warned that the day “cannot be celebrated by Muslims.”"



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Nurse defies Ebola quarantine with bike ride; negotiations fail | Reuters

Nurse defies Ebola quarantine with bike ride; negotiations fail | Reuters: "The quarantine showdown between Hickox and Maine has become the focal point of a struggle between several U.S. states opting for stringent measures to guard against Ebola and a federal government wary of discouraging potential medical volunteers.

Mandatory quarantines ordered by some U.S. states on doctors and nurses returning from West Africa's Ebola outbreak are creating a "chilling effect" on Doctors Without Borders operations there, the humanitarian group said on Thursday."



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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Sweden recognizes Palestinian state, hopes will revive peace process | Reuters

Sweden recognizes Palestinian state, hopes will revive peace process | Reuters: "(Reuters) - The Swedish government officially recognized the state of Palestine on Thursday, the first Western European country to do so, reflecting growing international exasperation over the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom told reporters her government hoped it would bring a new dynamic to the situation.

"Our decision comes at a critical time because over the last year we have seen how the peace talks have stalled, how decisions over new settlements on occupied Palestinian land have complicated a two-state solution and how violence has returned to Gaza," she said."



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Foreigners buying up Penang’s heritage properties | Free Malaysia Today

Foreigners buying up Penang’s heritage properties | Free Malaysia Today: "GEORGE TOWN: Gerakan has urged the Penang government to stop foreigners and non-Penangite Malaysians from buying heritage properties in the state.
Penang Gerakan Secretary Oh Tong Keong suggested this as a first step towards a general control to protect the right of Penang-born Malaysians to own properties in the state.
“Such control will also control the surging property prices in Penang,” he told FMT today.
He claimed that outsiders had been buying up “rows of heritage structures” in the Unesco-recognised inner city heritage zone, covering Lebuh Muntri, Love Lane, Lebuh Chulia and the surrounding vicinities.
He warned that ownership of heritage properties by outsiders would compromise the state’s international heritage status."



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Penang water park cost does not add up | Free Malaysia Today

Penang water park cost does not add up | Free Malaysia Today: "GEORGE TOWN: The public has the right to know what happened to the RM2.7 million if the cost of setting up the Wet World Wild (WWW) Adventure Park in Penang is only RM280,000, state Gerakan chief Hng Chee Wey said today.
WWW was a brainchild of Theme Park Concepts & Services Sdn Bhd (TPCS) in collaboration with the Penang Global Tourism (PGT) Board, which was set up by the state government to promote tourism at a cost of RM3 million."



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Penang to host country’s largest science fair next month | Malaysia | The Malay Mail Online

Penang to host country’s largest science fair next month | Malaysia | The Malay Mail Online: "The PISF is an event organised as part of the Penang Science Cluster’s (PSC) mission of “Inspiring Innovation”, which focuses on developing young minds and exposing them to science and engineering through a unique, stimulating and innovative experience.

The event is a collaborative effort between the Penang state government and the manufacturing industry.

Lim said the fair will also host the first-ever “Maker Faire” in Malaysia, which he said will put Malaysia on the map for its participation in the global community of makers and innovators.

The Maker Faire, which originated in the Bay Area in United States in 2006, is an international fraternity of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, students, science clubs and artists who will come together to showcase and share their work."



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Foreigners will cook no more in Penang | Free Malaysia Today

Foreigners will cook no more in Penang | Free Malaysia Today: "PETALING JAYA: Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng has put months of speculation to rest with the official announcement that foreigners will be banned from cooking at all roadside hawker stalls on the island.
He said the main reasons for the ban was to “safeguard” the heritage of Penang food and to “maintain the flavours” of Penang cuisine for the sake of both locals and tourists.
Lim also explained that foreign cooks would be banned from not just roadside hawker stalls but council and private food courts in shopping malls as well.
Saying failure to adhere to the new ruling would result in the revoking of licences, Lim added that hawkers had a year’s grace period to get their businesses in order. The grace period will begin next year.
Addressing fears that foreigners would not be able to work in eating establishments at all, Lim clarified that the ban only referred to cooking and not the cleaning up of premises or preparation of ingredients. Foreigners would also still be allowed to serve customers."



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In Penang, 17 murders in 10 months with victims’ throats slit | Malaysia | The Malay Mail Online

In Penang, 17 murders in 10 months with victims’ throats slit | Malaysia | The Malay Mail Online: "NIBONG TEBAL, Oct 27 — A 17th case of a murder victim with his throat slit occurred over the weekend in Penang.



 The decomposed remains of a man, believed to be a foreigner, was found at a nursery near a housing project in Tiga Kongsi, Simpang Ampat, on Saturday night.



 He was killed in a similar manner in which 16 other Myanmar nationals were murdered in the state this year.



 Police were quick to downplay it, saying the murder had nothing to do with communal clashes between Myanmar nationals, but could not provide a motive for the killings.



 Like in previous cases, the victim in the latest incident was believed to have been killed elsewhere and dumped in a remote area."



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Scenes From A Giants Victory In The Lower Haight | Hoodline

Scenes From A Giants Victory In The Lower Haight | Hoodline: "As it does every other year, the Lower Haight celebrated a Giants World Series victory tonight with fireworks, champagne, and plenty of toilet paper.

Haight between Fillmore and Steiner was shut down to traffic as fans spilled into the street following the Giants' 3-2 victory over the Royals tonight. As in 2012 and 2010, the celebration was peaceful, if not a bit messy and loud. 
"



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Zambia's Guy Scott makes history as white president - CNN.com

Zambia's Guy Scott makes history as white president - CNN.com: "When Guy Scott takes the reins in Zambia, he'll become the first white African President in sub-Saharan Africa since apartheid.
Scott became vice president three years ago.
His boss, President Michael Sata, died Tuesday while undergoing treatment for an unknown illness in London.
Zambia's constitution requires fresh elections within 90 days.
Until then, Scott, who is of Scottish descent, assumes interim presidency.
It's unclear, however, whether he can run for President in the elections. The nation's constitution says a candidate's parents must have been born in Zambia; his were not."



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Liz Obert: Dualities looks at the hidden and visible worlds of people living with mental illness (PHOTOS).

Liz Obert: Dualities looks at the hidden and visible worlds of people living with mental illness (PHOTOS).: "For many years, Liz Obert woke up, got dressed, went to work, and acted as if everything was fine. Once she returned home, however, she found herself lying around depressed, feeling hopeless and full of dread. Diagnosed in her early 20s with depression, Obert said she tried therapy and medication, but nothing seemed to work until around five years ago when a psychiatrist diagnosed her with bipolar II disorder and put her on mood stabilizers.

Although she’s had a few medication tweaks since then—“that’s kind of the life of someone who has bipolar”—Obert said she has for the most part been in a good place.

Obert feels the dual life she led for so long isn’t unique for people who suffer from mental illnesses and who “must mask their symptoms in order to function in the outside world.”"



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The Bengal Famine: How the British engineered the worst genocide in human history for profit - World Observer Online

The Bengal Famine: How the British engineered the worst genocide in human history for profit - World Observer Online: "The British had a ruthless economic agenda when it came to operating in India and that did not include empathy for native citizens. Under the British Raj, India suffered countless famines. But the worst hit was Bengal. The first of these was in 1770, followed by severe ones in 1783, 1866, 1873, 1892, 1897 and lastly 1943-44. Previously, when famines had hit the country, indigenous rulers were quick with useful responses to avert major disasters. After the advent of the British, most of the famines were a consequence of monsoonal delays along with the exploitation of the country’s natural resources by the British for their own financial gain. Yet they did little to acknowledge the havoc these actions wrought. If anything, they were irritated at the inconveniences in taxing the famines brought about."



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This is why people leave your company - Quartz

This is why people leave your company - Quartz: "When Carly Guthrie was running HR for Per Se, one of the hottest restaurants in New York, the general manager gave her a piece of advice: “You know, Carly,” he said. “If we’re doing our job as leaders, a performance review should only be two columns: Column A is what you do great and Column B is what you do not-so-great. Now, here’s how we move things from Column B to Column A.”



This approach stuck with Guthrie as she left the restaurant world to head up people operations for tech companies. It shocked her that these types of candid conversations were hardly ever happening, and people left as a result. “There’s a mercenary mentality in tech right now—an idea that there’s always going to be something hotter, faster, more groundbreaking,” she says. “And yet, there’s very little internal discussion about how to keep people.”



Guthrie has been watching employees take and leave jobs for over 15 years. Turns out, the reasons people love and hate their work are largely the same across sectors.



In this exclusive interview, Guthrie shares what she’s learned about why people quit, and what startups can do after an employee’s first day to make sure they stay happy, engaged in their work, and committed to your company (and to deleting every email they are most certainly receiving from recruiters)."



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Aluminum Debris from Amelia Earhart's Plane Found | IFLScience

Aluminum Debris from Amelia Earhart's Plane Found | IFLScience: "New evidence (the strongest yet) suggests that a piece of aluminum debris found on a remote island in the South Pacific called Nikumaroro back in 1991 came from Amelia Earhart’s aircraft, according to a statement from TIGHAR, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. The new work bolsters speculation that a sonar anomaly detected off the uninhabited island’s west end is Earhart’s lost aircraft."



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14 Companies to Avoid If You Support Equality in America - Mic

14 Companies to Avoid If You Support Equality in America - Mic: "The midterm elections are right around the corner, presenting a perfect opportunity to exercise our right to vote — despite what Fox News might suggest. But as critical as casting ballots is to ensuring democracy and expanding equality, there is another important albeit often overlooked way that Americans can vote: with our wallets.



 In the context of our capitalist democracy, dollars aren't just green pieces of paper we exchange for goods and services, they represent our values and our priorities. If we invest in women-friendly and LGBT-friendly companies and divest from those with ties to anti-equality groups and politicians, we have a chance to dramatically impact our country's political and social landscape. Not for nothing, "money talks" is one of this country's more ubiquitous expressions.



 "Women should vote on their wallet and their rights — both on Election Day and when they shop," Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, told Mic. 



 With that in mind, here are some examples of companies to avoid, as well as few we should patronize:"



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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

NASA Contracted Rocket Explodes on Launch for Space Station Supply Trip - ABC News

NASA Contracted Rocket Explodes on Launch for Space Station Supply Trip - ABC News: "An unmanned space station supply rocket exploded into a fireball seconds after launch from Wallops Island, Virginia Tuesday. No injuries were reported.

Orbital Sciences Corp. said in a Tweet shortly after the 6:22 p.m. ET explosion that there had been "a vehicle anomaly.""



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In East Delhi, women describe how Diwali riot escalated into sexual threat

In East Delhi, women describe how Diwali riot escalated into sexual threat: "The scale of violence in my neighbourhood this week, the resulting police presence and media attention, have set in motion currents of religious resentment that will poison the air for some time to come. But the most familiar story here, is still the one that is the most easily dismissed ‒ of how politically loaded events like riots, revolutions and uprisings escalate instantly into sexually threatening situations for women.

The accounts are endless. Twenty-year-old Chandni, beaten and stripped by a gang of four policemen until she fainted, dragged into safety to a neighbour’s home on Saturday. Thirty two-year-old Rehana, whose wrist was broken by a policeman repeatedly asking her why Muslim men were such cowards, running away and leaving their women behind for the Hindus. Forty three-year-old Tahira, who sent her three daughters away to their grandparents home, when Hindu rioters pulled down their pyjamas to “show the weapons they would use on Muslim women”."



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Zambia President Sata Dies Raising Succession Questions - Businessweek

Zambia President Sata Dies Raising Succession Questions - Businessweek: "The death of Zambian President Michael Sata at a hospital in London yesterday is raising questions about who will replace him as head of Africa’s second-biggest copper producer.

Vice President Guy Scott should become acting leader, according to the nation’s constitution, while elections must be held in 90 days. Scott, whose parents were born outside the southern African nation, doesn’t meet criteria to be a candidate in that vote. When Sata, 77, left Zambia for medical treatment in London on Oct. 19, he named Defense Minister Edgar Lungu acting president."



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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Bicycle traffic deaths soar; California leads nation - LA Times

Bicycle traffic deaths soar; California leads nation - LA Times: " If you are going to be killed by a car while riding a bicycle, there’s a good chance you are male, older than 20 and living in California or Florida.

That’s the finding of a report issued Monday by the Governors Highway Safety Assn. that also noted that between 2010 and 2012, U.S. bicyclist deaths increased by 16%.

California, with 338 cyclists killed in collisions with motor vehicles, and Florida, with 329, had the highest totals during that period, the report said."



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Monday, October 27, 2014

Want to Touch a Dog? In Malaysia, It’s a Delicate Subject - NYTimes.com

Want to Touch a Dog? In Malaysia, It’s a Delicate Subject - NYTimes.com: "KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia —



When he organized a get-together for dog lovers and their canine-averse neighbors, Syed Azmi Alhabshi thought he was doing a public service.



 But after hundreds of people showed up to the event, billed as “I Want to Touch a Dog” on Facebook, and when pictures started circulating on the Internet of Muslim women in head scarves happily hugging dogs, Mr. Syed Azmi became an unwitting protagonist in the latest chapter of Malaysia’s culture wars.



 In the week since the event, Mr. Syed Azmi, a pharmacist, has received more than 3,000 messages on his phone, many of them hateful and a dozen of them threatening physical harm. The police advised him to stay at home."



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The Cheapest Generation - Derek Thompson and Jordan Weissmann - The Atlantic

The Cheapest Generation - Derek Thompson and Jordan Weissmann - The Atlantic: "In 2009, Ford brought its new supermini, the Fiesta, over from Europe in a brave attempt to attract the attention of young Americans. It passed out 100 of the cars to influential bloggers for a free six-month test-drive, with just one condition: document your experience online, whether you love the Fiesta or hate it.



 Young bloggers loved the car. Young drivers? Not so much. After a brief burst of excitement, in which Ford sold more than 90,000 units over 18 months, Fiesta sales plummeted. As of April 2012, they were down 30 percent from 2011.



 Don’t blame Ford. The company is trying to solve a puzzle that’s bewildering every automaker in America: How do you sell cars to Millennials (a k a Generation Y)?"



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The man with the golden blood | Mosaic

The man with the golden blood | Mosaic: "The man with the golden blood
Meet the donors, patients, doctors and scientists involved in the complex global network of rare – and very rare – blood. By Penny Bailey.



 21 October 2014



His doctor drove him over the border. It was quicker that way: if the man donated in Switzerland, his blood would be delayed while paperwork was filled out and authorisations sought.



 The nurse in Annemasse, France, could tell from the label on the blood bag destined for Paris that this blood was pretty unusual. But when she read the details closely, her eyes widened. Surely it was impossible for this man seated beside her to be alive, let alone apparently healthy?



 Thomas smiled to himself. Very few people in the world knew his blood type did – could – exist. And even fewer shared it. In 50 years, researchers have turned up only 40 or so other people on the planet with the same precious, life-saving blood in their veins. "



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Friday, October 24, 2014

A Guy Held a Dog-Petting Event and Got Death Threats From Muslim Hard-Liners | TIME

A Guy Held a Dog-Petting Event and Got Death Threats From Muslim Hard-Liners | TIME: "A Malaysian social activist has received death threats and torrents of online abuse for organizing a dog-familiarization event that religious conservatives claim insults Islam.



More than 1,000 people attended the “I Want to Touch a Dog” event in the affluent Bandar Utama neighborhood on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to learn about Islam’s views on canines and become familiar with the animals, which are a source of fear for many Malaysians.



 But the event’s planner, Syed Azmi Alhabshi, has now been forced into hiding after hard-liners insisted he “should be stoned to death.”"



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AfDB staffing review to encourage more local hires, consultants | Devex

AfDB staffing review to encourage more local hires, consultants | Devex: "The African Development Bank’s current hiring freeze may be coming to an end in early 2015 — but staff composition and hiring needs could look different within the newly-relocated financial institution.

With roughly 60 to 70 percent of its employees already relocated from a temporary office in Tunis to the bank’s former — and perhaps permanent — headquarters in Abidjan, management is likely to consider whether it can operate with fewer international staff and more locals and consultants than in the past, according to David Munyoro, AfDB’s chief recruitment coordination officer."



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Thursday, October 23, 2014

20 Things to Remeber If You Love Someone With ADD

20 Things to Remeber If You Love Someone With ADD:

"People who have ADD/ADHD are suffering. Life is more difficult for them than the average person. Everything is intense and magnified. Their brilliant minds are constantly in gear creating, designing, thinking and never resting. Imagine what it would feel like to have a merry-go-round in your mind that never stops spinning.



 From emotional outbursts to polar opposite extremes; ADD presents several behaviors that can be harmful to relationships. ADD is a mysterious condition of opposites and extremes. For instance, when it comes to concentration, people with ADD cannot concentrate when they are emotional or when their thoughts are distracted. However, when they are interested in a specific topic, they zone in so deep that it’s hard to pull them out of that zone. Starting a project is a challenge; but stopping it is an even bigger challenge.



 True love is unconditional, but ADD presents situations that test your limits of love. Whether it’s your child, boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse or soon-to-be spouse, ADD tests every relationship. The best way to bring peace into both your lives is to learn a new mindset to deal with the emotional roller-coaster that ADD brings all-day-every-day.



 Understanding what a person with ADD feels like will help you become more patient, tolerant, compassionate, and loving. Your relationships will become more enjoyable and peaceful. This is what goes on in the mind of a person with ADD/ADHD:"



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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Halting Schizophrenia Before It Starts : Shots - Health News : NPR

Halting Schizophrenia Before It Starts : Shots - Health News : NPR: "It's the loss of insight that signals a psychotic break. This can lead to several different diagnoses, but in people ultimately diagnosed with schizophrenia, the break signals the formal onset of the disease. Typically, a first psychotic break occurs in a person's late teens or early 20s. In men, the range is 15 to 24; in women, 25 to 34.

That first psychotic break can lead to a series of disasters: social isolation, hospitalization, medications with sometimes disabling side effects, and future psychotic episodes.

So, what if you could intervene earlier, before any of that? Could you stop the process from snowballing?"



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John Humphrey and Ewan Robinson: From Partnerships to Market Transformation - How Do We Achieve Scale in Markets for Nutritious Food? - Business Fights Poverty

John Humphrey and Ewan Robinson: From Partnerships to Market Transformation - How Do We Achieve Scale in Markets for Nutritious Food? - Business Fights Poverty: "By John Humphrey and Ewan Robinson, IDS
There is unprecedented interest in building
value chains and market-based solutions to make nutritious foods more accessible to the people who need the most, and drive better nutrition. Efforts are spanning conventional sectorial divisions: agricultural development programs are introducing nutrition targets, national-level fortification programs are being scaled up and enterprises are developing specially-formulated supplementary foods for young children and mothers.
"



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One step forward for Indonesia, one step back for Malaysia

One step forward for Indonesia, one step back for Malaysia: "While Indonesia marked another democratic advance on Monday, democracy in neighbouring Malaysia goes backwards.

Indonesia inaugurates the man that most voters chose to be leader, while Malaysia concludes a sham trial to destroy the man that most voters chose to be leader.

Indonesia is conducting the first transfer of power from one directly elected president to another.

And Malaysia? It remains under the control of the same party that has ruled continuously since independence in 1957.

"While Indonesia is making huge progress, we are rewinding and the democratic space is going back to the Mahathir era of the 1990s," says Malaysia's opposition treasury spokesman, Rafizi Ramli, during a visit to Australia on Monday. "We have not recovered from last year's election."



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Indonesia's President Widodo sworn in - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

Indonesia's President Widodo sworn in - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English: "Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has been inaugurated as Indonesia's new president, facing the challenges of rebooting a slowing economy and working with a potentially hostile opposition that has already landed some blows against him.

Widodo, the first Indonesian president not to come from the ranks of the country's established political, business and military elite, took the oath of office in a ceremony at the parliament in the capital, Jakarta, attended by regional leaders and US Secretary of State John Kerry."



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Monday, October 20, 2014

Manufacturers Struggle to Turn Data Into Insight | Techonomy

Manufacturers Struggle to Turn Data Into Insight | Techonomy: "Let's tone down the hype about the Industrial Internet of Things. While the concept shows promise--building smart machines that use sensors and Internet connectivity to improve performance and catch problems--the far more pressing opportunity is learning to make better use of the mountains of data that factories already generate each year, data that manufacturers today often discard after a production run or store unexamined.

I recently visited an auto plant that is facing enormous pressure to reduce defects in a critical component. For each part produced, sensors at a single machine measure 50,000 data points looking for defects, while other machines capture x-ray and heat treatment data. Separate databases track supplier data and quality data.

Despite all that data, too many defective parts escape detection and get installed into vehicles. The plant manager wants to identify correlations within these heterogeneous sets of data, but lacks the tools to collect, condition, and analyze the information."



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NASA Ames turns 75; tens of thousands flock to open house - San Jose Mercury News

NASA Ames turns 75; tens of thousands flock to open house - San Jose Mercury News: "Visitors to the event visited booths set up by NASA researchers looking at everything from nanotechnology to astrobiology. They walked inside Hangar One and peered through its steel skeleton. They walked through an inflatable mock-up of an International Space Station module, pretended to take a ride in a model of a lunar rover, and took pictures next to an inflatable model of the new Orion space capsule."



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Malaysia's 'I Want to Touch a Dog' Event Popular With Canine-Curious Muslims

Malaysia's 'I Want to Touch a Dog' Event Popular With Canine-Curious Muslims: "our-legged friends helped close a cultural gap in Malaysia during a unique event that invited Muslims to pet dogs — some for the very first time.

The "I Want to Touch a Dog" event, held in Central Park in Petaling Jaya, attempted to dispel myths about canine cleanliness. Some Muslims believe dog fur and saliva is unclean, and prefer not to keep them inside their homes."



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Catholic Bishops Scrap Welcome To Gays

Catholic Bishops Scrap Welcome To Gays: "VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Catholic bishops scrapped their landmark welcome to gays Saturday, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis to chart a more merciful approach to ministering to Catholic families.

The bishops failed to approve even a watered-down section on ministering to homosexuals that stripped away the welcoming tone of acceptance contained in a draft document earlier in the week.

Rather than considering gays as individuals who had gifts to offer the church, the revised paragraph referred to homosexuality as one of the problems Catholic families have to confront. It said "people with homosexual tendencies must be welcomed with respect and delicacy," but repeated church teaching that marriage is only between man and woman. The paragraph failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to pass."



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Thursday, October 16, 2014

Pico Iyer: Where is home? | Talk Video | TED.com

Pico Iyer: Where is home? | Talk Video | TED.com: "The real voyage of discovery, as Marcel Proust famously said, consists not in seeing new sights, but in looking with new eyes. And of course, once you have new eyes, even the old sights, even your home become something different."



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25 Is the New 21 - The Atlantic

25 Is the New 21 - The Atlantic: "Emma’s job is a good one, and she is lucky to have it. She is an editorial assistant at a well-respected magazine. But it is the kind of job that countless millennials are landing these days: part-time, low paying, with no benefits.

So, after we spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars on her college education, one thing has become clear: Our investment in our daughter’s future is far from over.

We are hardly alone: Across America, 25 is the new 21."



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Artist Tries 44 Drugs Then Draws 44 Paintings. The Result Are Petrifying But Incredible

Artist Tries 44 Drugs Then Draws 44 Paintings. The Result Are Petrifying But Incredible: "In what is surely the craziest/most creative drug experiment of all time, artist Bryan Lewis Saunders pushed himself to the limit when he decided to take a different drug every day for a couple weeks, talk about walking the line. He documented the entire process by drawing self-portraits whilst high on various substances, and the pictures really are all they cracked up to be. Word of warning: please don’t try this at home."



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8 Months Since Legalizing Marijuana, Here's What's Happening in Colorado - Mic

8 Months Since Legalizing Marijuana, Here's What's Happening in Colorado - Mic: "As activists on both sides of the legalization debate in Colorado have conceded, the state's model is a work in progress. And while Colorado is far from the lawless hellscape skeptics predicted — Denver's crime rates have actually gone down since legal weed became available — authorities erring on the side of caution.



 Last month, the state tightened regulations for both recreational and medical marijuana dispensaries, putting a cap on greenhouse or outdoor production and requiring "responsible vendor training." Pro-legalization activists have also rolled out a statewide awareness campaign to promote responsible pot use."



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These Stunning Illustrations Contain Powerful Messages For Women Around The World

These Stunning Illustrations Contain Powerful Messages For Women Around The World: "These Stunning Illustrations Contain Powerful Messages For Women Around The World
The artist Carol Rossetti spoke to BuzzFeed News about what inspired her to create these pictures."



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Apple and Facebook Pay for Female Employees to Freeze Eggs | WIRED

Apple and Facebook Pay for Female Employees to Freeze Eggs | WIRED: "Silicon Valley is long way from solving its many gender issues. But at least in some ways, it’s helping to break new ground for women in the workforce.

According to a report from NBC News, Apple will start paying for the costs of egg freezing for their female employees beginning in January, following in the footsteps of Facebook. It’s all part of a recent movement among Silicon Valley companies to bolster their arsenal of perks for female workers, which include everything from giving employees $4,000 in “baby cash” to use however they choose (Facebook) to paying for fertility treatments up to $15,000 (Apple)."



'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Malaysia arrests 13 people suspected of Islamic State links - Yahoo News

Malaysia arrests 13 people suspected of Islamic State links - Yahoo News: "Malaysian authorities said on Wednesday they had arrested 13 Malaysians suspected of having links to Islamic State and who were planning to leave for Syria.

Police on Monday raided a restaurant in Shah Alam, a suburb 30 minutes from the capital of Kuala Lumpur, after authorities discovered the group, which included women, was making plans to leave Malaysia."



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This Tiny Box Will Let You Stay Anonymous on the Internet - Mic

This Tiny Box Will Let You Stay Anonymous on the Internet - Mic:



"The news: From National Security Agency spying to governments blocking portions of the Internet in times of unrest, recent controversies have demonstrated just how little freedom we actually have online

But what if there were a way to stay hidden 24/7 on the Internet, free from detection and censorship?



 Meet anonabox, a new Kickstarter project that promises to be "a networking device that provides anonymous Internet access and encryption, and helps to bypass censorship in places where access to the Internet is limited." By routing all Internet activity to the Tor network, the tiny device hides your traffic through other computers using Tor, making it nearly impossible to track you down."



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From Miasma to Ebola: The History of Racist Moral Panic Over Disease

From Miasma to Ebola: The History of Racist Moral Panic Over Disease: "Aranda's photograph is in stark contrast to the images of white Ebola patients that have emerged from the United States and Spain. In these images the patient, and their doctors, are almost completely hidden; wrapped in hazmat suits and shrouded from public view, their identities are protected. The suffering is invisible, as is the sense of stench produced by bodily fluids: these photographs are meant to reassure Westerners that sanitation will protect us, that contagion is contained.



 Pernicious undertones lurk in these parallel representations of Ebola, metaphors that encode histories of nationalism and narratives of disease. African illness is represented as a suffering child, debased in its own disease-ridden waste; like the continent, it is infantile, dirty and primitive. Yet when the same disease is graphed onto the bodies of Americans and Europeans, it morphs into a heroic narrative: one of bold doctors and priests struck down, of experimental serums, of hazmat suits and the mastery of modern technology over contaminating, foreign disease. These parallel representations work on a series of simple, historic dualisms: black and white, good and evil, clean and unclean."



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Guy Lets His Artist Wife Doodle With Sharpie Pen On His Nissan Skyline GTR | Bored Panda

Guy Lets His Artist Wife Doodle With Sharpie Pen On His Nissan Skyline GTR | Bored Panda: "While tuning up his Nissan Skyline GTR sports car, one auto enthusiast, together with his talented and supremely dedicated artist wife, accidentally stumbled upon an amazing way to give their sleek silver vehicle an unforgettable paintjob.
The car enthusiast, who is a member of the U.S. Military, hated the car’s silver color. One evening, he let his wife doodle on a few scratches on the bumper, and when the sun came up and he saw her stunningly intricate and elegant drawings, they knew they had to forge on. While he worked on tuning the insides, she drew on the car.
After roughly 100 hours of work and several clear coats to protect the design, they had an impressively beautiful car that they had tuned up as a team!"



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Feminist Cancels Speech at Utah State Amid Threat - ABC News

Feminist Cancels Speech at Utah State Amid Threat - ABC News: "A feminist speaker has canceled a speech at Utah State University after learning the school would allow concealed firearms despite an anonymous threat against her."



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Zappos just abolished bosses. Inside tech's latest management craze. - Vox

Zappos just abolished bosses. Inside tech's latest management craze. - Vox: "The latest management trend to sweep Silicon Valley requires CEOs to formally relinquish their authority and grants special protection for every employee to experiment with ideas. It's called holacracy and big name tech leaders have jumped on the bandwagon.



 Twitter co-founder Evan Williams adopted it for his new blogging platform startup, Medium. The management movement started making headlines when Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh announced that he will transition his entire Las Vegas company — with a billion dollars of revenue and 1500 workers — to holacracy by the end of 2014."



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Eric Schmidt on the special trait of Google's top talent and how to attract them (in 3 quotes) | VentureBeat | Business | by Gregory Ferenstein

Eric Schmidt on the special trait of Google's top talent and how to attract them (in 3 quotes) | VentureBeat | Business | by Gregory Ferenstein: "Google’s Eric Schmidt is out promoting the company in a new management tell-all, How Google Works. He and his co-author Jonathan Rosenberg argue that because the Internet industry is littered with the graves of fallen empires, companies need to attract and be structured around entirely new type of employee: “smart creatives.”

He has an interesting set of tips on how Google gets its top talent:

“These are the folks who combine technical knowledge, business expertise, and creativity.”"



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New Ebola Cases May Soon Reach 10,000 a Week, Officials Predict - NYTimes.com

New Ebola Cases May Soon Reach 10,000 a Week, Officials Predict - NYTimes.com: "the World Health Organization reported that new cases could reach 10,000 a week by December — 10 times the current rate.

The head of the new Ebola Emergency Response Mission, Anthony Banbury, told the Security Council that none of the three most heavily affected countries — Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea — is adequately prepared. Only 4,300 treatment beds will be available by Dec. 1, according to current projections, and even those would not have an adequate number of staff members. The acceleration of new cases, if not curbed, could easily overwhelm them."



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All The Items Of Clothing Women Have Been Told Not To Wear In 2014

All The Items Of Clothing Women Have Been Told Not To Wear In 2014: "Women around the world are still being banned, criminalised, or shamed for wearing clothes that are either too “revealing” or that cover up too much.

There are numerous laws restricting what women can wear in countries ranging from France to Uganda. But it’s not just laws that dictate how women should dress; slut-shaming and the policing of girls’ school uniforms are also commonplace.
Here are the items of clothing that have caused trouble for women this year so far."



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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

4 Northern California Faults Primed for Big Quakes - ABC News

4 Northern California Faults Primed for Big Quakes - ABC News: "Three fault segments running beneath Northern California and its roughly 15 million people are overdue for a major earthquake, including one section that lies near the dams and canals that supply much of the state's water, according to a geological study published Monday.

The three fault segments and one other in the region are loaded with enough tension to produce quakes of magnitude 6.8 or greater, according to a geological study published Monday."



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Neil deGrasse Tyson rips startup culture: “Society has bigger problems than what can be solved with your next app” - Salon.com

Neil deGrasse Tyson rips startup culture: “Society has bigger problems than what can be solved with your next app” - Salon.com: "“But, society has bigger problems than what can be solved with your next app, in transportation, and energy and health. And these are huge sectors of society and they are solved by innovations in these fields,” Tyson continued. “Without it we might as well just proceed back into the cave, because that’s where we’re headed.”

“We’re a sleepy nation right now. I want us to be a nation of innovation,” Tyson stated later. The entire speech is a fascinating listen here:"




 'via Blog this'

Catholics React To Vatican 'Relatio' Document's 'Revolutionary' Tone On Gay Relationships

Catholics React To Vatican 'Relatio' Document's 'Revolutionary' Tone On Gay Relationships: "Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian community: are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a further space in our communities? Often they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of proving that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?"



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Planned Parenthood Supports Over-The-Counter Birth Control, But Only Alongside Obamacare's Contraceptive Mandate

Planned Parenthood Supports Over-The-Counter Birth Control, But Only Alongside Obamacare's Contraceptive Mandate: "Every medical authority agrees that birth control is advantageous to both individual women and society at large. The easier it is for women to prevent unintended pregnancies, the better they are able to control their bodies, take care of their health, and protect the well-being of their families.  It is precisely for this reason that the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate, which stipulates coverage of contraceptives with no out-of-pocket or copay cost for the patient, was created on the recommendation of the nonpartisan Institute of Medicine."

Reasonable people who seek to improve women’s health by providing coverage of basic preventive health care are left scratching their heads.  Every dollar spent in helping women avoid pregnancies they do not want saves $6 in Medicaid expenditures that otherwise would be needed, according to the Guttmacher Institute.



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This Comic Perfectly Captures How Feminism Helps Everyone

This Comic Perfectly Captures How Feminism Helps Everyone:



Rasenth, a 25-year-old based in Japan, has created a comic showing how sexism is hurtful to everyone -- and reminding us that we can only overcome it by working together.
Rasenth created the comic this summer, after student Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured 13 others in a spree allegedly in retribution against women who had rejected his romantic and sexual advances. Rodger's attitude towards women brought to light an online culture of misogyny blaming women for men's unhappiness -- when it may be that sexism is the ultimate culprit.



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Fold A Piece Of Paper In Half 103 Times And It Will Be As Thick As The UNIVERSE | IFLScience

Fold A Piece Of Paper In Half 103 Times And It Will Be As Thick As The UNIVERSE | IFLScience: "Did you know that if you could fold a piece of typical paper 42 times you would have a tower that would stretch to the moon? No? It's just one of the amazing examples of exponential growth given by Nikola Slavkovic in the video below.



 Ahh you say, but it is impossible to fold a piece of paper more than eight times. Turns out, like so many unreferenced claims, that isn't true. The record is in fact 12. Still that twelve-fold piece of paper isn't even table height – it's hard to imagine getting from there to the Moon in 30 folds. That's because our brains are inclined to think linearly, not exponentially."











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It’s Not Just You. Feminism Does Seem To Be Getting Weirder. | TIME

It’s Not Just You. Feminism Does Seem To Be Getting Weirder. | TIME: "To Salamishah Tillet, a cultural critic and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, feminism itself is a crossroad, because it is an intersection — where structural oppressions embedded in gender, race, sexuality and all forms of difference collide. For women of color and others for whom intersectionality is a way of life, feminism has and should always be that crossroad. As we look to the future with all these new feminists joining the ranks, the key question is: how can we honor, learn from, and draw upon the experiences of all kinds of women in order to form coalitions and move feminism forward? "



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This Rental Market Is Messing Up Relationships - The Bold Italic - San Francisco

This Rental Market Is Messing Up Relationships - The Bold Italic - San Francisco: "“The bottom line,” says Jennifer Cust of Eviction Free San Francisco, a group whose mission is to help stop the wave of evictions in the city, “is that in San Francisco, your choices are very limited unless you are very wealthy. You have to kind of barely hang on to be able to stay in the city if you’re not a millionaire. If you want to have children, for most people, the reality of that means choosing between moving outside the city or living in a cramped space.”"



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Monday, October 13, 2014

After gaffe, Microsoft board to look at gender pay gap, male culture : News, News - India Today

After gaffe, Microsoft board to look at gender pay gap, male culture : News, News - India Today:



"But the issue of unequal pay looms large.



 Numbers from job site Glassdoor show that men tend to earn more doing a similar job than women at Microsoft, though the data is far from complete and based on voluntary disclosure.



 For example, a male Microsoft senior software development engineer makes about $137,000 per year, according to Glassdoor, compared with about $129,000 for women. Microsoft declined to comment or provide data on what it pays staff.



 Microsoft is not alone. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that men earn 24 percent more, on average, than women in the tech sector. In computer and mathematical occupations, men working full-time make a median average of $1,452 per week, compared with $1,174 per week for women."



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The Fiddle Factor: How to Learn Enough to Fix Anything

The Fiddle Factor: How to Learn Enough to Fix Anything: "Most people assume that learning is about research, but for many of us, it's about poking things with a stick to see what happens. If you want to learn to make better use of your tech, it's about digging in and moving stuff around until it works. Anybody can do this, geek and luddite alike.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been the go-to iOS 8 troubleshooting guy for most of my friends. People ask me questions, I answer off the top of my head, and they think I'm some kind of genius magician. But the only reason I know this stuff is because I've poked every corner of the operating system to fix my own annoyances and troubleshoot my own problems. There's nothing inherently special about this. It just requires some patience and a bit of curiosity.

I like to refer to this as the fiddle factor. When you tinker with something, you'll learn about it and solve your own problems. The more often you do it, the more you learn and the better you get at it. This isn't just for techies, it's for everyone—you don't need any special skills to be good with computers and phones.

"



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Friday, October 10, 2014

Fund Helps Finance Responsible Shrimp Farming - The Fish Site

Fund Helps Finance Responsible Shrimp Farming - The Fish Site:



"GLOBAL - In order to help shrimp farmers finance a transition towards responsible shrimp production, a Farmers in Transition (FIT) Fund has been launched by the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) at the European Seafood Exposition in Brussels.



Responsible production will reduce negative impacts on the environment and local communities, while complying with food safety requirements. The US-based David and Lucile Packard Foundation has indicated its interest to develop a partnership in support of the FIT Fund.



Shrimp is one of the most popular types of seafood. Approximately five million tons are consumed annually. One-third of the shrimp we eat are farmed."



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How to Help a Grieving Friend: 11 Things to Do When You're Not Sure What to Do | Megan Devine

How to Help a Grieving Friend: 11 Things to Do When You're Not Sure What to Do | Megan Devine:



'via Blog this'

Microsoft CEO Tells Women Not to Ask For a Raise at Women in Tech Event

Microsoft CEO Tells Women Not to Ask For a Raise at Women in Tech Event: "Nope, I'd say Nadella was incredibly articulate on stage. His thoughts on how women should be compensated came across loud, clear, and very telling. This line from his tweet not so much: "Our industry must close gender pay gap so a raise is not needed because of a bias.""



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This Dating App Is Optimized For Humans, Not Creeps

This Dating App Is Optimized For Humans, Not Creeps: "If you could design the ideal dating app, what would it look like? For women, for starters, it would be about eliminating the most pernicious problems of male-female tech-based interactions: weed out guys who are creepy, hostile or both; control who can message you and see your photos. These are hardly unwarranted concerns, given that 42 percent of female online daters report having been contacted by someone through an online dating site “in a way that made them feel harassed of uncomfortable,” according to a Pew Research study on online dating and relationships. (For comparison, only 17 percent of male online daters can say the same.)"



'via Blog this'

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Cave Paintings in Indonesia May Be Among the Oldest Known - NYTimes.com

Cave Paintings in Indonesia May Be Among the Oldest Known - NYTimes.com: "There is nothing like a blank stone surface to inspire a widely shared urge to make art.

A team of researchers reported in the journal Nature on Wednesday that paintings of hands and animals in seven limestone caves on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi may be as old as the earliest European cave art."



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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Trust, patience, relationship-building skills: 3 must-haves for remote managers | Devex

Trust, patience, relationship-building skills: 3 must-haves for remote managers | Devex: "In both countries, Oxfam had decided that de la Torre Sans would operate the programs from afar — from Nairobi, Kenya. He helped build a remote management system for Somalia that “paid off largely once al-Shaabab expelled all international nongovernmental organizations in 2008,” he said, and did the same later for South Sudan.  

Managing humanitarian aid effort is a challenge in itself, but remote management ushers in an entirely new set of uncertainties and questions about what’s happening on the ground — and from a managerial perspective, it raises questions of what type of manager might be a good fit for the job."



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For would-be ‘integrators’: Is it easier to start in the private sector? | Devex

For would-be ‘integrators’: Is it easier to start in the private sector? | Devex:



"The intersection of the public and private sector will offer increasing opportunities in coming years, and contemplating a career there — as opposed to 20 year ago — doesn’t require that you say you’re solely going to gain experience on one side or another.

More important, according to Bruce McNamer, head of global philanthropy for JPMorgan Chase and CEO of JPMorgan Chase Foundation, is to think about the value you can bring to whatever it is you’re interested in doing right now. How will you ensure that you’re continuing to invest in that value?"







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Wanted: Integrators | Devex

Wanted: Integrators | Devex:



"On several recent visits to Africa and Asia, I was struck by the number and diversity of organizations from all economic sectors working together in development. It was very encouraging to see so many donor organizations collaborating more and more, and on so many levels: from program design to implementation and impact monitoring. Besides the bigger players, there were community groups and implementers communicating their basic realities to the more established actors. It was the exciting interface we know so well, where intention becomes purpose, and purpose becomes impact.



 But amid all the energy and commitment, something unsettling was happening, as related to me by several individuals, with varying affiliations, in more than one country.



 Gaps were emerging in staffing, communication, follow-through and ownership. In some cases, the gaps were inevitable byproducts of complex projects with many actors. In other cases, the gaps resulted from breakdowns in communication between siloed units within and between organizations. People were confident that ad hoc solutions could be found. But the ultimate result was the same everywhere: a sense that increased effort and resources were not producing their full potential impact.



 For me, this is a serious challenge to development."



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What does a master's in tri-sector collaboration look like? | Devex

What does a master's in tri-sector collaboration look like? | Devex: "Florini helped to develop a master’s in tri-sector collaboration at the university to train professionals on the partnership mindset. Scenario building and bringing disparate people together to come up with common definition of a problem, she indicated, is a hugely important space.

Find out how the graduate program has already sparked collaboration across sectors."







'via Blog this'

Move over generalists, make way for integrators | Devex

Move over generalists, make way for integrators | Devex:



"However, there is a new career path emerging for professionals who don’t necessarily want to pursue a specialization but want to play a meaningful role in global development: the “integrator.” Over the past few months, I have increasingly heard leaders across multiple development disciplines use this term to describe what has quickly become a critical role to achieving development results.



 So what is an integrator?

 An integrator is someone who understands multiple specialties and how they impact each other and excels in fostering collaboration between various stakeholders who may not be accustomed to working together, like government, private sector and civil society.



 Solving complex challenges like food security, climate change, global health and extreme poverty will require multidisciplinary approaches with input from a wide array of specialties and actors. Historically, generalists could work between silos, applying their project management expertise where needed. But to stay in demand in today’s world, they will need to increasingly work across silos, fostering collaboration, seeing connections and building partnerships between stakeholders to achieve meaningful results."



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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Obama Creates World’s Largest Protected Marine Reserve in the Pacific Ocean | CTKN

Obama Creates World’s Largest Protected Marine Reserve in the Pacific Ocean | CTKN: "President Obama used his legal authority to create the world’s largest fully protected marine reserve in the central Pacific Ocean, following thru on a promise made in June, reports said.
According to an article by Juliet Eilperin, White House correspondent for The Washington Post, this move demonstrated the president’s increased willingness to advance a conservation agenda without the need for congressional approval.
By broadening the Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument from almost 87,000 square miles to more than 490,000 square miles, Obama has protected more acres of federal land and sea by executive power than any other president in at least 50 years and makes the area off-limits to commercial fishing."



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Four Reasons Why You Should NOT Hire a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer | Adventures

Four Reasons Why You Should NOT Hire a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer | Adventures: "Yes, you read that right: should not. Peace Corps used to have a saying: “At Peace Corps we are practical idealists.” Those kind of crazy ideas make Returned Peace Corps Volunteers terrible employees. Here are a few reasons why hiring a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer will ruin your business."



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If California doesn't get rain this winter ...

If California doesn't get rain this winter ...: ""Groundwater demand is normally around 40 percent a year," said Doug Carlson, information officer at the California Department of Water Resources ( DWR). "Now it's at 60 percent demand."

Carlson explained that groundwater is layered in clay and sandstone. Removing the water, he said, not only depletes the resource but often creates dangerous conditions of the earth sinking in on itself, which has already happened in parts of the state.

"Once that subsidence (collapse) happens, it's lost forever and rainfall won't replace it," he said."



'via Blog this'

BREAKING: Malaysian Warship Goes Missing off Sabah

BREAKING: Malaysian Warship Goes Missing off Sabah: "A Malaysian warship has gone missing in rough seas triggering a massive search off the coastal state of Sabah.

Three aircraft and seven vessels have been deployed to trace the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) gunship CB204. Bad weather conditions are hampering the search efforts.

The vessel lost contact with the base on Sunday at about 11:15am local time. There were seven naval officers on board the vessel, which was on en route to Pulau Layang Layang following a mission.

The search area has been divided into four zones and naval vessels are scouring the waters over a vast area.

The disappeared ship's last known position was about 20 nautical miles east of Mengalum Island off Sabah.

Twitter is abuzz with posts urging authorities to find the missing vessel after the two recent air tragedies that hit Malaysia."



'via Blog this'

Facebook closes $21.8 billion deal for WhatsApp - Houston Chronicle

Facebook closes $21.8 billion deal for WhatsApp - Houston Chronicle: "NEW YORK - Facebook has completed its acquisition of the mobile messaging service Whats-App for almost $22 billion, up from the original $19 billion when the cash-and-stock deal was struck early this year thanks in part to the rising price of Facebook shares.

Facebook named WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum to its board Monday. WhatsApp is by far the largest acquisition for the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company, and bigger than any deals made by Google, Microsoft or Apple."



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Rugged Seabed Seen in New Maps Further Complicates Search for Malaysia Airlines Jet - NYTimes.com

Rugged Seabed Seen in New Maps Further Complicates Search for Malaysia Airlines Jet - NYTimes.com: "SYDNEY, Australia — As searchers began a deep-sea hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on Monday, three-dimensional maps — the first produced of the remote region off the western Australian coast where the missing plane is thought to have run out of fuel — pointed to the huge scale of the task ahead."



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Caroline Ashley and Joe Shamash: Breaking Through at the BoP: Are Some Sectors Doing Better than Others? - Business Fights Poverty

Caroline Ashley and Joe Shamash: Breaking Through at the BoP: Are Some Sectors Doing Better than Others? - Business Fights Poverty: "By Caroline Ashley and Joe Shamash



 In which sectors is inclusive business flourishing? Which are showing strongest performance in terms of revenue or reach to the Base of the Pyramid? Why are Health and Energy initiatives reporting slow progress, yet demonstrating high reach? Is Financial Inclusion the easiest success story?


 It is early days to come up with any conclusive answers, but a review of Business Call to Action members reveals some interesting trends. For the report, Breaking Through: Inclusive Business and the Business Call to Action Today, we reviewed 94 initiatives which companies have committed to BCtA, and focused in on 49 initiatives that were involved in interviews and surveys. These initiatives can be grouped into seven different ‘impact sectors’ based on the type of benefits they aim to generate for people at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP)."



Figure 1: Companies’ perception of progress, breakdown by sector





'via Blog this'

Intensity of Friday’s downpour in Penang a once-in-40-year occurrence, says state exco - Nation | The Star Online

Intensity of Friday’s downpour in Penang a once-in-40-year occurrence, says state exco - Nation | The Star Online: "The high rainfall of 137mm, recorded during Friday’s storm, is a once-in-40-year occurrence, said State Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow.

“The downpour last night was estimated to be a 40-year average recurrence interval (ARI) which means that it will occur once every 40 years or at a 2.5% chance of occurrence in any given year,” he told a press conference at the Town Hall here, Saturday."



'via Blog this'

From The Archives: Behind the scenes of 'Twin Peaks' - LA Times

From The Archives: Behind the scenes of 'Twin Peaks' - LA Times:



"Back in 1990, the L.A. Times asked "Is TV ready for David Lynch?"

The answer, it turned out, was yes and no. Lynch and collaborator Mark Frost's serialized murder mystery poking beneath the surface of small-town America was a pop culture phenomenon when it debuted. But by its second season, audiences had cooled to the series and it was canceled on a shocker of a cliffhanger.

But "Twin Peaks" has been credited as the show that opened up TV to all manner of weirdness and eccentricity. And its influence has lasted for 24 years, right up until Monday's announcement of a revival of the series in a nine-episode limited run on Showtime in 2016.

This story by Steve Weinstein was first published in the L.A. Times on Feb. 18, 1990, just as the series was debuting on ABC."



'via Blog this'

Friday, October 3, 2014

BBC News - Things that could only happen in a Hong Kong protest

BBC News - Things that could only happen in a Hong Kong protest: "Tear gas, pepper spray, feelings of anger and betrayal, crowds forced to run from riot police... and yet the protests retain that uniquely Hong Kong character.

Reporters and Hong Kong residents have shared their most surreal and charming experiences on the streets."



'via Blog this'

BBC News - Taboola: The internet firm at the forefront of 'click-bait'

BBC News - Taboola: The internet firm at the forefront of 'click-bait': "A charming Mr Singolda, 32, who is the company's chief executive, jokes that we only have ourselves to blame.

"The problem is that for everyone who hates one piece of content, many others love it, and click on it," he says.

"So we register it as a popular story, and leave it up, so more people can see it. If no-one clicked on it, or tweeted about it, then we would remove it."

He adds: "A journalist once complained that he was always seeing stories about [reality TV star] Kim Kardashian on Taboola. So I asked him if he ever clicked on them, and he said yes. So I replied, 'What are you calling me for then?'""



'via Blog this'

BBC News - NFL player Husain Abdullah 'gets penalty for praying'

BBC News - NFL player Husain Abdullah 'gets penalty for praying': "Michael Signora, NFL's vice president of communications, tweeted: "Abdullah should not have been penalised. Officiating mechanic is not to flag player who goes to ground for religious reasons."

American football fans took to social media to point out that there were plenty of Christian players who marked their touchdowns with signs of deference or religious tributes."



'via Blog this'

BBC News - Ecommerce: Tabaski rams bought in Paris, eaten in Dakar

BBC News - Ecommerce: Tabaski rams bought in Paris, eaten in Dakar: "Home delivery in countries where the transport infrastructure may be lacking, and mapping isn't accurate presents a challenge. Then there's the lack of standardised addresses - making local knowledge vital.

"A lot of our customers put things that help, like this is next to this school, or this very famous point of the neighbourhood. Often for the first delivery we do the last 200m on the phone," says Mr Liautaud."



'via Blog this'

BBC News - What a quiz tells us about US news habits

BBC News - What a quiz tells us about US news habits: "A survey measured the US public's awareness of certain news stories. What does it indicate about how knowledge of current affairs is shaped?

A Pew Research Center survey of 1,002 adults measured Americans' knowledge of key facts in the news - you can test yourself on the same 12 questions Pew asked the US public in this quiz.

Several questions were answered correctly by less than half the respondents, some by less than 30%."



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BBC News - Brazil election candidates stay silent on abortion issue

BBC News - Brazil election candidates stay silent on abortion issue: "Abortion can only be legally performed in Brazil if the pregnancy puts the life of the woman in danger, if the pregnancy is the result of a rape or when the foetus's brain cannot develop.

But according to Jefferson Drezett, director of the Legal Abortion Centre at Sao Paulo's Perola Byington State Hospital, the law has not deterred between 800,000 and 1.2 million women every year from seeking clandestine abortions."



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Researchers Pinpoint Origin of HIV Pandemic: First Human Case Was Probably in Kinshasa Around 1920

Researchers Pinpoint Origin of HIV Pandemic: First Human Case Was Probably in Kinshasa Around 1920: "A group of researchers from Oxford University and the University of Leuven say they have pinpointed the place where HIV was first transmitted between humans, sparking a pandemic that would go on to touch some 75 million people in every corner of the globe. Through statistical analysis, the group determined that HIV is “almost certain” to have begun its spread from Kinshasa, now the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, sometime around 1920."



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Thirst Turns to Desperation in Rural California - NYTimes.com

Thirst Turns to Desperation in Rural California - NYTimes.com: "But she has not had running water for more than five months — nor is there any tap water in her near future — because of a punishing and relentless drought in California. In the Gallegos household and more than 500 others in Tulare County, residents cannot flush a toilet, fill a drinking glass, wash dishes or clothes, or even rinse their hands without reaching for a bottle or bucket."



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How to Craft Your Brand Story

How to Craft Your Brand Story:



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Solving The World's Biggest Problems Takes Ensembles, Not Soloists

Solving The World's Biggest Problems Takes Ensembles, Not Soloists:

"The Takeaways:



  •  No single individual, organization, corporation, foundation, or nation can solve the significant problems of the world. So let’s stop looking for heroes to address the important issues of our day. Instead, let’s focus on the bringing together the teams of organizations and individuals that must collaborate to address problems. 
  • Start by identifying an honest broker to coordinate the collaboration—a person who is widely trusted and highly skilled in building partnerships. He or she will gather the limited funding needed to hold the collaboration together and measure its progress to common goals, the collaborative glue. 
  • Next, put together a Key Influencer Map to identify the people and organizations that need to be involved. Then meet with those influencers to launch a collaboration. If the problem doesn’t have a widely-accepted solution, the discussions may be heated—which may force you to simplify your goal or accept a partial solution on the way to your ultimate objective. 
  • Meeting periodically to share knowledge and measure progress can be useful. But deep collaboration is much more likely to produce fundamental/sustainable change."




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The Perfect Way to Identify Future Leaders

The Perfect Way to Identify Future Leaders: "The impact of high expectations causing a person to perform better is called the pygmalion effect. Ralph Waldo Emerson eloquently summed up the pygmalion effect with his famous words,

Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be.”"



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What's Blocking Innovation in Your Organization?

What's Blocking Innovation in Your Organization?: "Recently I asked in more than twenty Linkedin groups on innovation the question "what are the main obstacles for innovation within your organization?". The response was massive. This is a list of the ten most important innovation obstacles mentioned."



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I’ve Interviewed 100s of Candidates and the Ones I Hire Always Do This

I’ve Interviewed 100s of Candidates and the Ones I Hire Always Do This: "I recommend using some sort of structure to make sure your interviewer understands what you are trying to convey. I'm a fan of the STAR method: Situation (set the scene), Task (what was required), Action (what exactly you did), Result (what happened).

Setting up the scene is critical. While you are intimately familiar with what happened, the interviewer is not. Take the time to make sure they can place themselves at the scene. If you don't do this, the rest of the story will be lost on them.

I personally use the same method for any type of situational interview as well: "What would you do if you were placed in a specific situation?" Take the time to develop a shared understanding of the situation with the interviewer so that you are working together to determine what needs to be done."



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Pitch Perfect: 9 Do's & 6 Don'ts of Presentations

Pitch Perfect: 9 Do's & 6 Don'ts of Presentations: "How do you present so that you walk out with a yes?

One of the most frequent questions I get asked when people hear I sit on company boards isn’t about executive pay packages. Instead, they want to know how to present to a board so its members will say yes.

The question always calls to mind a presentation that went wrong. Several years ago, a rather dandified fellow from inside a company gave a presentation to a board I sat on. He was snide at times, made several off-colour jokes, winked at board members and made his political leanings clear with side remarks about the government of the day. When he didn’t know the answers to questions we asked, he tried to fob them off as irrelevant. When the chair finally ended the presentation, we looked at each other in disbelief. We weren’t just unsure about the proposal, but also unsure of the person who brought the proposal. I think you can guess how we voted.

Don’t let this be you."



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