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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?

In this remarkable video, Amanada Burden, Chief City Planner for the City of New York, discusses that cities are about people, where people go and where people have spaces to meet, and what attracts people to successful public places--a place to pause, to stop. A great city is about great open public space, which is also good for the common good. Public space is a place where people want to be, places that tap into your humanity, see into and out of us, where can find your very own seat?