Street art in Madrid prior to the mass protests on Thursday Another week, another bout of social unrest in a Euro peripheral nation, if the fourth largest econony in the area (Spain) can even be called that. Yesterday’s action saw more than a million people take to the streets in protest, while several million actually participated in the 24-hour general strike (about 77% of union workers), resulting in 176 arrests and a 104 injuries. It is estimated that 91% of
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G.G. Bain Wingmen October 1919 "Transcontinental air race, Roosevelt Field, New York. Col. A. Miller, Lt. E.C. Kiel, Sgt. F.K. McKee" This is Jerry McManus' follow-up to his very insightful article, Modeling Collective Behavior, and it delves into the scientific meaning of a commonly-used, but sometimes misunderstood term of complex systems theory – "tipping point". I have briefly added to his discussion of tipping points in forest ecosystems and financial systems by referencing a recent report produced by Goldman
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G. G. Bain Weighing The Jockeys 1908 “Racing — weighing the jockeys. New York” There are things that many people in the developed world take for granted, especially in the states and Western Europe. Jobs, health benefits, social safety nets, affordable credit for homes/cars/etc. and cheap energy certainly rank among the most vital expectations, but even those things have been called into question within the mainstream consciousness, if for no other reason than the fact that they have simply evaporated
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Teju Cole @tejucole 7- I deeply respect American sentimentality, the way one respects a wounded hippo. You must keep an eye on it, for you know it is deadly. The Atlantic Magazine features an excellent article by Teju Cole, which explains the mentality that gave rise to some of his “controversial” tweets regarding the African warlord, Joseph Kony, and the reaction of White America. It gets to the bottom line of why so many other populations around the
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Russell Lee It's All Over June 1939 "Veteran migrant agricultural worker camped in Wagoner County, Oklahoma. He has followed the road for about 30 years. When asked where his home was he said, 'It's all over.'" We are in Lyttelton, a suburb (albeit through a fairly recently built tunnel) of Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city. The entire city center has been cordoned off, and the vast majority of buildings have either collapsed or been condemned. Much of it can
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On the heels of the assessment we saw from Tyler Durden, via Fitch, of the implosion of US student loan debt, which stands at over $1 trillion, increases by $40-50 billion (!!) each month (or $500-$600 billion per year), and of which 27% is already 30 days or more delinquent, John Hechinger explains for Bloomberg how the US Education Department goes about collecting this debt. Turns out, it's a case of "Eat your heart out, Tony Soprano". Hard to believe
Read More...Tyler Durden quotes Fitch and other sources to make the case that US student loan debt is a bubble about to pop with a loud bang. 27% of loans are in effect delinquent, and that number is set to spiral higher. This will have bad consequences for the students carrying the debt: they will be weighed down by it for what will probably amount to the rest of their lives, since not even declaring bankruptcy can clear you from student
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The Arctic plains are an eminent example of nature’s untouched beauty: an endless nothing in which only few know how to survive. But a silent assassin is destroying the Inuit community in Greenland. Chemical residues from all over the world accumulate here invisibly, poisoning both humans and animals. By ocean currents and attached to snow, pesticides like DDT are carried northbound into Inuit land, causing illness and premature death. Watch the trailer: Silent Snow is a documentary
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Hey guys, Again apologies for the hiatus in posting from both Nicole and yours truly. It's been a crazy time lately, with 3-4 scheduled events daily, followed by not enough sleep and early buses, cars and speaking engagements. For the past 4 years, and certainly the past 2 when Nicole started developing her lecture tours, TAE for me meant 10+ hours a day 7 days a week on average of reading and writing. Australia and New Zealand
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Russell Lee Rice ParadeOctober 1938 “Boys at the National Rice Festival parade. Crowley, Louisiana” Both the mainstream and alternative media spend a good amount of time reporting on the excesses of Wall Street, which range from extremely disproportionate levels of compensation to blatantly criminal practices. Whether we are talking about Goldman Sachs defrauding and front-running clients or former New Jersey governor and MF Global CEO Jon Corzine illegally transferring client funds to JP Morgan, there is a certain air of
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