Since I am on vacation, I thought I would share something completely different. There is something to be said for sheer magic, watch this Canadian.
An excerpt from The Economist, June 14th, 2014
For decades, governments from Egypt to Indonesia have subsidised the price of basic fuels. Such programmes often start with noble intentions--to keep down the cost of living for the poor or, in the case of oil producing countries, to provide a visible example of the benefits of carbon wealth--but they have disastrous consequences, wrecking budgets, distorting economies, harming the environment and, on balance, hurting rather than helping the poor.
The world is a poorer place when a musician is silenced, but there is another brighter star in the sky. Paul Horn has died, Ann Mortifee's partner. Ann wrote, "I have been privileged to share the love of a man who has always been true to his Highest Self. He followed the call of his inner knowing wherever it led him".
"You should be innovating so fast that your're invalidating your prior patents". Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announcing that his company is opening up its patents--on everything from batteries to charges--for fair use (Maclean's Magazine, July 7, 2014). Opening up the Tesla technology is an important contribution to reducing GHG emissions in the baby boomer lifetimes.
Why are non profits not a serious part of the conversation. Why, watch this. When you prohibit failure, you kill innovation, think about it!
I love a critical analysis that turns the cake upside down, like our new project, Changing the Conversation.
I participated recently in a conference at the University of Ottawa on Sustainable Prosperity. Although originally devoted to the use of market-based instruments for sustainable development and climate action, a powerful argument was made for a mix of policy and legislative innovations, combined with market-based instruments, a dynamic balance.
This interview with Zita Cobb about the revitalization of Fogo Island touches on a major issue in sustainable community development, the revitalization of small and rural communities. Cobb states we need a revolution of thought, recognizing that nature and culture are the two great garments of human life. We have faulty accounting, let us reflect as a country, who hasn’t met a Canadian whose money didn’t come from a rural place?
We designed our way into our problems, equally we can design our way out of them. This video, argues for the integration of art, design and engineering. The arts are important, as they are a different way of communicating ideas, they bridge the worlds of knowledge and insight.
It is interesting that there is a number of economists who are now talking about the need for capitalism to address issues of social inequality and the 'growing' uneven distribution of income. Most recently, Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, warned, We simply cannot take the capitalist system which produces such plenty and so many solutions, for granted.
This video by John Oliver is great, humour goes a long way to opening up the mind and hopefully the heart. But how do you change someone who is ideologically opposed to the issue, it doesn't matter what the facts are, they will deny the problem as it means having to change?