Sunspots 430

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: (and Animal Behavior) National Public Radio reports on a Thai orchestra. The members are retired work elephants.

Christianity: Ken Schenck points out the flaws in both communism and capitalism.

Computing: You probably know (and do) all this, but just in case, Gizmo's Freeware has published "Twelve Things You Need to Know About Internet Privacy."

Education: The Pew Research Center has published a study of how modern digital tools impact the writing of high school students.

Health: Two reports on dieting, from National Public Radio:
Fasting for two days can help lose weight.

How to get off the diet plateau.



Image source (public domain)

Why do we have stock markets?

Wired has a most interesting piece, mostly about why stock traders want to trade at as close to light speed as possible, and how that's being accomplished, but the article also raises a fundamental question, and gives a disquieting answer:

"High-frequency trading raises an existential question for capitalism, one that most traders try to avoid confronting: Why do we have stock markets? . . . Trading increasingly is an end in itself, operating at a remove from the goods-and-services-producing part of the economy and taking a growing share of GDP . . ."

I'm not an economist, but I'd suggest a small tax on each stock/commodity/futures/whatever transaction.

Definitely worth a read.

Sunspots 263

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Science:National Public Radio reports (with a picture comparing before and after) that Jupiter has lost one of the large bands around its Southern half. This has happened before.

Politics:
(or Economics, or Christianity) Ken Schenck, religion professor, tells us why he believes in capitalism.

The Arts:
National Public Radio reports that Emily Dickinson (Wikipedia article here) was best known for her gardening, among her neighbors. (Photos here.)

Christianity:
Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength continues her posts on controversies among Christians. In this one, she considers John 14:28, which says that the Father is greater than the Son, and it's implications for understanding (if that's possible!) of the Trinity.



Image source (public domain)