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American Obesity Rates
African-American adults have the highest obesity rates — 37 percent among men and nearly 50 percent among women. For Hispanic women, the rate is 43 percent. Hispanic and black children have higher rates than non-Hispanic whites.
via nytimes.com
Seems all the McDonalds and fast food in general is really affecting the lower tier of society.
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Post-American World
I just finished reading The Post-American World
which complements Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat
thesis is that America is not declining, but everyone else is rising.
America's current xenophobia, however, is thwarting our positive role
in the world as a sole superpower and as a model for other nations.
Zakaria further states that the rising nations of China and India (and
the rest of the BRIC group) are not going to start waging wars and
disrupting peace. We are all heavily dependent on one another, as has
been shown in the current recession. Having written this book right as
the recession was starting Zakaria's outlook has been surprisingly
accurate. His view that American politicians will start calling for
attacks on someone or another if there was to be an another terrorist
attempt has played out as he wrote it, especially since the Christmas
terrorist attempt.
disappear: we have the best universities and most innovative companies
in the world. What needs to happen is America needs to view itself no
longer as the center of things using force whenever applicable, but it
needs to use more soft power bring everyone together. The world of
American centrism has long passed and we are entering a multi-polar
world.
Filed under //
book review
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Things that suck about Skype
I like Skype. There are instances where it doesn't work for certain people (Akshay for some reason can't send messages), but I've had no trouble using it. But here are some things that just could be made better which would kick ass if implemented. The major point is they are not major changes!
- Ability to receive SMS messages. Come on! I want to send messages and receive them. You can even start doing it country by country! In this day and age we need both damn it.
- Number portability. It would be nice if you wanted to just transfer your existing number over to Skype and use it. (I want to transfer my parents business number to Skype and use the subscription plan)
- Multi-party video would be cool.
- Cheaper calls. I understand that Skype gets their revenue from these calls, but come on $0.10 cents to India (It costs $0.03 on Callcentric)? It's cheaper to write a Skype extension to route a call.
- Conference call with Skype and PTSN numbers.
Okay. My major beef with Skype is I view them as a telephone provider. But you know what they are! If they can get through the extra yard in those areas they might actually make unified communication possible.
Filed under //
rant
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How To Rise Fast At Work: A True Story
via forbes.com
This article is interesting as it gets to what Michel Foucault calls the practice of the self and the moral subject: a good ruler is one who has ruled himself and his desires. In this example, Mark has controlled his desires. Even though he might want a promotion he is not actively seeking that position he is concerned with his co-workers in terms of helping the "family". He wants to make things more efficient and help his family out.
Ted on the other hand is concerned with himself and how he is going to succeed. He is not concerned with others at all, he is not concerned about family as much as he is concerned about getting the most love.
The difference here is that Mark will do things that people are going to think is stupid, but Mark is also disciplined and controls his desires. He is not trying to promote himself. He is in essence ruling because he shows no desire to rule, but to improve people's lives. Ted can't be seen as doing the same.
Power is best in the hands of those who don't actually rule or have ruled themselves. Only when a person has ruled themselves and their desires can they effect a change. Funny where Foucault's power relations are seen.
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In Australia, Curbs on Credit Card Fees Backfired
But the fees also generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue each year for banks that issue cards branded by Visa and MasterCard. In the United States alone, banks that issue credit cards get an estimated $40 billion to $50 billion in income annually from interchange fees, and the companies are lobbying heavily against proposed changes. They warn that lower fees will lead them to squeeze credit and raise the cost of credit cards at a time when the economy thirsts for credit to sustain an economic recovery.
via nytimes.com
We might find credit cards convenient, but to the merchants who accept credit cards it is not as it costs them extra per item to sell. This is why many places have a minimum before they accept credit even though the terms of service agreements with Visa and MasterCard prohibit that.
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Twitter and the Protest
Today I used Twitter to update and to understand what was going on at the Wheeler Hall Barricade Strike. I finally understood what the fuss is over twitter! It was a great way to disseminate information and be able to follow others who were also spreading information. I was able to understand what was happening because of people who were able to tweet within Wheeler Hall as well as people who were close to the information. I was able to understand what people wanted us to do even when the megaphones sucked and I wan't able to hear what the speakers were saying. I was able to read about what happened on different parts of the barricades when things go rough. All of these were important in giving me an accurate portrait of the protest even when the word on the ground was inaccurate.
Being able to see a picture from the inside of an occupation from as student who is part of that occupation is pretty powerful!
Posted from Berkeley, CA
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