China overtakes US in
world trade: $3.87 tn is the combined total for imports and exports of
Chinese goods in 2012. Still behind on service and no less dependent on the
rest of the world to generate jobs and income. [Note: the day comes sooner than
I expected]…Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/11/china-worlds-largest-trading-nation
Why has Canada killed
off the penny? The moment of death was May 2012. Main reason? It costs C$1.6 to manufacture, the government
saves C$11m a year by eliminating them, and its purchasing power has reduced by
95%. Too much hassle for nothing. [Note: Also note that US penny costs 2.4
cents to make]…Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2013/02/economist-explains-0
Brick-and-mortar’s
craving for online-caliber data analytics: security cameras and wifi could
help retailers understand customers better thus boost profits—via gender &
age “heat maps” or trafficking analysis. [Note: It’s a competitive retail
jungle out there]…Source: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21571452-security-cameras-are-watching-honest-shoppers-too-we-snoop-conquer
Inside the psyche of
the mass killer: According to Adam Lankford, a criminal justice professor
at U of Alabama between suicide bombers, school shooters, kamikaze pilots and
would-be presidential assassins, they are not motivated by a loftier principle
but are simply suicidal. Everyone from Atta to Lanza suffered combinations of
isolation, rage, guilt and shame, often compounded by mental health problems,
marital strife or addiction. Staging a mass killing offers a way out enabling
them to claim a purpose ostensibly more glorious than simply killing themselves.
[Note: Debatable, and seriously depressing.]…Source: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/948df080-715d-11e2-9b5c-00144feab49a.html#axzz2Kk8aGRbv
The history of Pad
Thai: Before the 1940s, there was no Pad Thai. Its birth and popularity
came out of the nationalist campaign of Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkram, one
of the revolutionary figures who in 1932 pushed Thailand out of an absolute
monarchy and into a Game of Thrones-style democracy. Pibulsongkram wanted to
create a new Thai diet while making more rice products available for export. So
he conjured the recipe, disseminated it throughout the country, and push carts
were sent into streets to make this new dish for the masses. To eat Pad Thai
would be a patriotic act. [Note: Sorry I couldn’t resist, it’s one of my
favorite dishes]…Source: http://www.themorningnews.org/post/pad-thai
No comments:
Post a Comment