Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Drug Our Drinking Water
"Drug Our Drinking Water". I'm not a proponent of this idea, but nonetheless, it's quite amusing
Big Think_Check this website out
I have found this brilliant website, called "Big Think" that posts phenomenal short videos about wide variety of issues. I will frequently share my favorite videos, but if you think you don't need an editor, help your self by clicking here
Saturday, December 25, 2010
The OER revolution
Open Educational Resources (OER), which roughly means “digitized materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning and research”, has the potential to change our world as we know it, through providing premium-quality education at the cost of an internet connection.
The movement was started by MIT through their ingenious “MIT OpencourseWare”, and it was aimed at offering free education to unprivileged people in the third world countries. Nonetheless, it is a fantastic source of learning for us, privileged, in North America, if you have enough time on hands and the same amount of intellectual curiosity.
You can find a fine selection of these free courses here at “Openculture.com”.
Personally, I am a big fan of “Yale Open University” which has kicked its archrival’s ass; Harvard, in offering a variety of top-notch free online courses. I have taken a phenomenal “Introduction to Psychology” course, by "Paul Bloom" and an mesmerizing course called “Listening to Music" by "Craig Wright", both courses are HIGHLY recommended. Currently I’m in the middle of a course called “Death” by Shelly Kagan who never stops to fascinate me with his mesmerizing take on this morbid subject!
By the way, all the courses are easily downloadable through website (or directly through iTunes). You can chose between Audio or Video version and you can also download the course’s slides and transcripts. What do you need more to indluge yourself in the world's - arguably - most fascinating and empowering activity: learning?
Iran: Reform of Energy Subsidies
An interesting article about Iran's recent reform on Energy Subsidies. I do not necessarily agree with the author's point of view, but it's a fun read, nonetheless. Read it here
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
An Erotic Take on Unemployment - By Mehrad Ahari
1. Introduction
People, in general, like to know about others' erotic lives, and – although many don’t acknowledge – they enjoy erotica. Interestingly enough, researchers at Duke University have proven that this interest of ours is also shared by primates, indicating that there might be an evolutionary basis for our fascination with pornography. (Click here to read about it)
Unfortunately, the knowledge of Macroeconomics – despite its unquestionable importance for every citizen in a democratic society – does not enjoy the same allure. While it is almost a civic duty to understand the fundamental of Macroeconomics, the majority is deeply uninterested to read about it.
Hence - and as a civic duty of mine! - I took it upon myself to combine the latter, with a mild dose of the former to make it palatable for everyone, pretty much like adding a bit of sugar to the medicine.
So, here is the important subject of Unemployment, erotically explained!
2. The Labor market
Imagine a secluded singles’ resort in the Caribbean filled with young men and women, who’re looking forward to have some fun [The Labor market].
First of all, let’s see what The “Labor Force” is: Although the majority of these singles can’t wait to see some action, not everyone is interested in fooling around: Some are committed [retired], some are not in the mood for love [under 16], some are celibate [sick, mentally unstable and etc.] and some are there, merely to enjoy the scenery [full-time students]. Hence the labor force is, simply, the whole population of vacationers, minus those who’re not looking for sex. Therefore, the “unemployment rate” is the percentage of those who’re looking for sex but aren’t having any, over the “labor force”. As simple as that!
Now that we know what the “labor force” is, and we can also calculate the “rate of joblessness”, let’s continue with the story of our little resort…
3. Full Employment
Every night, for a given level of expectation [real wage], a certain percentage of vacationers can get laid.
Moreover, there are certain delightful nights where almost every man who has reasonable expectations, and is looking for a partner can find a suitable one. In the Caribbean, they call a night as such “La Noche de Amor”. In Macroeconomics, they’re simply called “Full Employment”!
During these enchanting nights, theoretically, there should be no room for anyone who doesn't need a room! But in practice, there “is not enough love to go round”, even during “the night of love” and some people will end up with no one to couple with, but their own hands. Those who remain celibate during the night of love are considered to be “Naturally Unshagables” [Natural Unemployment]. Let’s explore why?
4. Frictional and Structural Unemployment
Imagine a lovely bonfire on the beach, very close to the ocean, where young men and women are dancing and singing [Graduates, right out of the school], flirting and cuddling [workers between jobs and so on]. These folks want to mate, and they want it badly. Otherwise, they would have been sleeping in their rooms. However, unlike those who right at that movement are having steaming hot sex [those who’re employed], they aren’t getting any. But they’re on the right path and hopefully, they’ll have some job to do, before the dawn! These people, who’re doing the dance of love, but not making any love, are called “Between loves” or from the perspective of Macroeconomics “Frictionally unemployed” (Isn’t it amusing when the actual term in the Economics is actually sexier?!)
But apart from those, there is a second group of folks who’re willing to copulate but can’t succeed. Here is the story: There’s a not-so-charming, and a bit overweight girl at the bar, who wants to fool around with that geeky guy who’s sipping his beer on the back porch. However, the geeky guy doesn’t want to sleep with her. He’s fancying that hot voluptuous goddess who’s dancing passionately in her short red skirt. Yet, the gorgeous girl has her eyes on that tall handsome man who’s sitting at the corner, not knowing that he’s gay and he’s dreaming about the muscular bartender, who is; by the way, straight!
At the end of the night, this horny bunch [Structurally unemployed] will sleep alone, despite the fact that there were enough willing partners to sleep with. It’s just that what they want and what they can get, don’t match each other [skills that employers are looking for don’t match that of job seekers in that geographical area].
Nonetheless, if the situation continues for few nights, two things might happen: Either the sexual pressure might convince the gorgeous girl to sleep with the geeky guy [Underemployment], or she might give up on the whole idea of getting laid for a while and start reading or scuba diving! In either of those cases, she’s out of the labor market. That is exactly why the existence of this kind of sexually-deprived people [structurally unemployed] bothers the resort manager [the government] the most!
5. Cyclical Unemployment
It would be fantastic if every night was “La Noche de Amor”, but unfortunately, life [Economy] doesn’t work that way. There would be many nights where even handsome vacationers should sleep alone [Recession]!
Let’s imagine a night that has coincided with the final match of the European champions’ league between Bayern Munich and Barcelona (North Americans can alternatively read: “Super Bowl” or “Stanley cup’s final”). There’re still enough beautiful and willing ladies around the resort [supply in abundance] but most of gents prefer to spend their nights in front of a giant flat screen TV, enjoying the intense suspense and their pints of beer. In response, ladies might try their finest seduction techniques [promotion, lowering price and etc], but sometimes, even the fatal attraction of a goddess falls short of the allure of the live sport. Consequently, most of the ladies would give up on that tasteless bunch and would go to their rooms, frustrated [a recession due to demand shock].
The manager of the resort [governments and central banks], however, has many tools in his toolbox to prevent, or shorten the misery. He can organize a topless bikini contest [lowering taxes], offer an open bar [fiscal stimulus], or even extend it till the morning [lowering interest rates], all of which, designed to tempt sports fans to give up on football and get back to bed. Sometimes, those techniques work and a sexual boom follows the erotic bust. Other times, the resort steps into a depression mode!
There is another form of recession and that happens where – this time – ladies stop supplying their femininity. Imagine that a female-empowering-self-help book is going around the resort that encourages women to save themselves for their one true love and refrain from meaningless sex with random strangers [high price of oil and other raw materials for example]. The result would be dozens of bored, eligible men around the pool with very few women to hang out with [Recession due to Supply shock]. The result of this event would be almost the same as the previous one: sharp reduction in the erotic action. Nonetheless, there would be one major difference here: Those few women who either didn’t read the book, or weren’t convinced of the premise, will become extremely popular and in ridiculously high demand [Inflation]. Nonetheless, the resort manager can still try to remedy the situation by supplying more alcohol [reducing the production barrier, corporate tax rates and etc].
There would be cases where both demand and supply diminish. Suppose that a rumor is going on around the resort that some sort of STD epidemic is on the rise [collapse of the financial system for example]. Crab-fearing vacationers; both men and women, would abstain from sexual contacts and their actions would cause the resort to move away from a Pazzollini’s cinematic creation toward something that satisfies the Pope!
Almost every tourism experts [economists] believe that in those situations, the resort manager should; first and foremost, deal with the rumor of STD [save the finical system, even if a massive bail out is necessary] otherwise the resort will never recover.
In all those cases, those who did not make love are called “periodically sex-deprived” [Cyclically unemployed].
Now let’s leave the island for a minute and get back to real life. Can you tell me:
- What is the labor market and how we can calculate unemployment rate?
- What are the full employment and the natural rate of unemployment?
- Why some people are still unemployed, even during full employment?
- What are the definition of structural and frictional unemployment?
- What is the cyclical unemployment and how it is different from Natural unemployment?
As you just saw, Macroeconomics is not difficult, and it is much harder for politicians to fool those who know it.
Well, that was my civic duty, fulfilled I suppose!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Coffee Mate!
Coffee drinkers have long used the “coffee whitener / coffee mate” to simulate the effect of milk or cream. But have you ever wondered what’s inside a coffee mate jar?
Yesterday at work, while I was waiting for the electric kettle to bring some water to boil, I got bored and found myself reading the list of the ingredients that together make our coffees white. Here’s the list:
- Glucose Syrup
- Hydrogenated Vegeteble Oil (May contain Coconut, Palm Kernel and/or Soybean Oil)
- Dipostassium Phosphate
- Sodium Aluminum Silicate
- Monoglycerides
- Acetylated Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono – and Dyglycerides
- Artificial Flavours
- Colour
- Sodium Caseinate (a Milk derivative)
Well, I’m neither a doctor nor medically inclined, but if I’d been a coffee drinker, I would have put a carton of milk in the fridge! My guess is that it’s better for you than “Sodium Aluminum Silicate”!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Made in Dagenham
Made in Dagenham, the latest film from Nigel Cole (Calendar Girls) depicts the heart-warming story of working women in Ford assembly plant in Dagenham who, in 1968, walked out in protest against gender discrimination; a bold move that resulted in “Equal pay Act of 1970” in England.
Made in Dagenham is a well-made, witty, thoughtful and stylish movie that although is not a cinematic masterpiece, it is head and shoulders above much of what you can see these days in theatres. Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky) brilliantly revives the heroine of the story; Rita O’grady, in an Oscar-worthy performance and the rest of the actors are no less impressive, specifically after you get use to their thick cockney accents that make the first twenty minutes of the movie, literally incomprehensible.
I admit that Made in Dagenham is, at times, predictable and it never shies away from using clichés. It is, nonetheless, an inspiring movie that challenges you to think and encourages you to empathize, and even shed a few tears on the side. Meanwhile, the movie keeps a fine line between optimism and realism and it is delightfully cautious, not to over-milk sentimental moments. It is an easily enjoyable movie that provides an utterly refreshing and satisfying experience.
I strongly recommend this movie, particularly to all my friends from Iran, where women have been fighting bravely, not for the right to equal pay, but sadly, for the right of equal existence! Made in Dagenham reassures you that if your cause is so obviously right, even an ostensibly powerless but highly motivated group can accomplish the seemingly impossible!
And for my female friends in North America: If this wonderful film, sells one cent short of that hideous “Sex and the city 2”, you should all be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves! So rush to the theatres and support the movie that empowers women, through encouraging them to demand their rightful place in the society, and not through excessive shoe shopping!
When Zombies Win - By Paul Krugman
"Free-market fundamentalists have been wrong about everything — yet they now dominate the political scene more thoroughly than ever."...
"A policy under which government employment actually fell, under which government spending on goods and services grew more slowly than during the Bush years, hardly constitutes a test of Keynesian economics."...
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Touching Bases!
Don’t you think that we use way too many sports lingo in our daily conversations, specifically in our business meetings?!
Just think about it: The ball is in your court, don’t drop the ball, get the ball rolling, right off the bat, he doesn’t play ball with us, ballpark figure, keep your eyes on the ball, hands down, go to distance, and the list goes on and on and on, like a boring game of baseball from which most of these expressions have derived!!!
Just to be clear, unless you’re extremely hot, I won’t touch your base, neither you can touch mine! So stop suggesting it! :)
Monday, December 13, 2010
Fairness and Tax Policy
Recently, an economist friend of mine drew my attention to a tremendously interesting intellectual exchange of ideas, between Gregory Mankiw from Harvard and Jonathan Weinstein from Kellogg, on the subject of progressive taxation and income distribution: “Are the wealthiest citizens paying their fair share of taxes?”
Read "Spreading the wealth around" by Gregory Mankiw
Read "Fairness and Tax Policy" by Jonathan Weinstein
Amidst the heated debate over the extension of Bush’s tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, reading these two articles is HIGHLY recommended.
At the end; and in addition to the questions that were raised by Weinstein, I would like to raise a question of my own: Is it possible to argue – even when market imperfections are taken into consideration - that citizens’ contributions to the society are always proportionally rewarded? For one instance, in our media-heavy culture, anything that can entertain – and thus, attract viewership- can be heavily monetized through advertisements. Hence, it gives a disproportionate piece of the pie to those who can entertain - the funny host of a popular TV show, for example - compared to those whose invaluable contributions are much less entertaining, such as a world-class researcher who expands the frontiers of the human knowledge.
Block Those Metaphors - By Paul Krugman
"bad metaphors make for bad policy. The idea that the economic engine is going to catch or the patient rise from his sickbed any day now encourages policy makers to settle for sloppy, short-term measures when the economy really needs well-designed, sustained support." Read the article
Friday, December 10, 2010
Endgame in Sudan by George Clooney
"We were late to Rwanda. We were late to Congo. We were late to Darfur. We can't afford to be late again. This is our chance to actually stop a war before it starts." Read the article
George Carlin on the Sanctity of Life
"Life is sacred?! Who said so?! God?! Hey if you read history you realize that God is one of the leading causes of death. Has been for thousands of years. Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, all taking turns killing each other cause God told them it was a good idea! The sword of God, the blood of the lamb, vengeance is mine..millions of dead mother fuckers all because they gave a wrong answer to the God question!" George Carlin, Back in Town
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Sex by surprise!
Yesterday, the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, was arrested in London. He will be extradited to Sweden to be tried there. However, as the prosecutor of the case insisted, charges are totally unrelated to the fact that this guy has frequently and repeatedly embarrassed many of the world’s leaders and has been a permanent threat to their secretive machines. Instead, he was accused of rape (in fact, the technical term is "Sex by Surprise!!!"). As if the world’s most wanted anarchist; who happens to be a good-looking guy, needs force to get laid in SWEEDEN - among all places - for crying out loud!!!!
Another smooth move came from Assange’s bank in Switzerland. They froze his account due to a technical glitch: he did not have an address in that country! So I guess it was OK for Nazi leaders to live in Guatemala and have their bank accounts in Switzerland, but not for this guy, huh?!!
Well done folks, but you’re fooling no one!
Let’s see what this “crime of the century” was: During a slumber party, bunch of teenagers who were gossiping about some other teenagers, suddenly realized that they’ve forgotten to turn off their webcam! Now that the whole high school knows about it, their small brains can’t come up with a better idea than breaking the webcam!
That’s it! That’s the story! Only here, that webcam is Julian Assange, and those gossipy teenagers are – regretfully - folks who lead our world!!!
In fairness, they have a lot to be embarrassed about: They’re sending men and women to be killed for wars in which they don’t believe. They’re transferring billions of dollars to governments that are knee deep in corruption and their closest allies in the Middle-east are; and always have been, supporting their biggest enemy, Talibans!
But relax people! Sadly, none of this information is news to us! We already knew that you were bunch of lying hypocrites! We didn’t elect you for your honesty (at least, those among you who’ve been elected, for Christ sake!). We elected you because we didn’t have any better option, and we elected you to create some freaking jobs, balance the budget, and get the world’s economy out of this slump!
So shut the hell up, stop whining, get back to your jobs and leave this poor guy ALONE!
And for future references, if you can’t build more transparency, at least STOP acting like teenagers!
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
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