The idea of "too big to fail" is that certain corporations, especially banks, are so large and interconnected that the government would have to bail them out in the event of failure to avoid catastrophic ripple effects throughout the economy.
Life cycle analysis is a “systematic approach of looking at a product's complete life cycle, from raw materials to final disposal of the product. It offers a 'cradle to grave' look at a product or process, considering environmental aspects and potential impacts.” (Life Cycle Analysis: A Step by Step Approach, 2009, Aida Sefic Williams).
For those who want to understand the Other Side better, here’s a few do’s and don’ts: ...Don’t paint the Other Side with a broad brush; realize there is a range of opinions within all groups. ...Don’t attribute the opinions of the most extreme of the Other Side to the whole group. ...
Comment on: A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind by Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert; 12 November 2010 Vol 330 Science ...
If I were president, we’d have a modest BIG, which would be paid for out of the existing federal budget, as follows: $150b – elimination of safety net programs (TANF, EITC, and SSI) $150b – state matching funds related to the above $ 70b – half of SSDI funds $ 25b – half of the HUD budget $ 25b – budget reductions in some remaining programs (e.g., Pell/SEOG grants) $ 25b – elimination of redundant programs (guided by US Gov. Accountability Office) $100b – unemployment compensation..
For much of the last century, buying stuff has meant driving to a store, at least for most Americans most of the time. According to the federal government, “shopping and errands” accounted for 35.4% of all household vehicle travel in 1990 – more than double that of 1969. But the trend is reversing: in 2009, shopping and errands accounted for just 30.7% of household vehicle travel.
To truly observe a thought as it “unfolds” would disrupt its progression. As soon as we direct attention to the thought, it loses its vitality. It stops moving. The thought-process chokes. Observing a thought is more like hearing the echo of what just passed. An echo is a dead thing: it has no vitality.
Observing thoughts is like registering words without trying to understand what is being said. If we’re talking to someone, we want them to listen to us, not observe us. Listening requires relinquishing control, allowing oneself to enter another world – to be taken into that world. To follow the sprites. Listening involves a lot of non-listening - attention to something other than the just the words: gestures, facial expressions, inflections, interpretations of what we’re hearing, inchoate reactions, incipient responses partly rehearsed.
Per Laska and Gurman, “common factors” are those that are “necessary and sufficient for change: (a) an emotionally charged bond between the therapist and patient, (b) a confiding healing setting in which therapy takes place, (c) a therapist who provides a psychologically derived and culturally embedded explanation for emotional distress, (d) an explanation that is adaptive (i.e., provides viable and believable options for overcoming specific difficulties) and is accepted by the patient, and (e) a set of procedures or rituals engaged by the patient and therapist that leads the patient to enact something that is positive, helpful, or adaptive.” (p. 469)
Savings are important for investments that create opportunities later (e.g., school, car, first/last/deposit for moving) and research has shown that people are more likely to save when they receive occasional lump sum payments than when they receive modest monthlies. Also, an important poverty-reducer is geographic mobility and savings makes it a lot easier to move. A BIG should not make it easier to live in low opportunity areas, and if doled out in bits every month, it might do that (at least for some people).
When does observing or awareness of a thought happen? Is it simultaneous with the comprehension of the thought? Or is more mental machinery, requiring a bit more time, needed to actually “process” the thought?
Here’s another advantages of the modest Basic Income Guarantee (BIG): child support could be electronically deducted from BIG directly, so less time and money would be spent chasing down fathers and at least some child support would be guaranteed. Automatic child support deductions would likely influence the dynamics of gender relations by making men a bit more cautious about casual sex.
According to this article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the EPA has found a clear level of concentration of the pesticide imidacloprid in which things start to go badly for the local honey bee population: "If nectar brought back to the hive from worker bees had more than 25parts per billion of the chemical, 'there's a significant effect,' namely fewer bees, less honey and 'a less robust hive,' ... But if the nectar chemical level was below 25 parts per billion, it was as if there were no imidacloprid at all, with no ill effects, Jones said. It was a clear line of harm or no harm, he said."
A few types of Power: Control over Resources, Control over Rewards, and Coercion/Punishment. Power is subject to the Law of Personal Exploitation – the person/entity who cares less has the power to exploit the person who cares more (applicable to government services to employer-employee relations to marriages, etc.).
A common metaphor in mindfulness discourse is that observing thoughts and emotions is like being on a hillside watching the clouds go by: if you observe long enough, you'll notice that they just fade away, like puffy little clouds do.
The last post included ideas on reducing emissions in freight transport. This and the next few posts will be about reducing the carbon footprint of personal vehicle travel. How much CO2 do cars actually emit?
When we are advised to Recognize, Accept, Investigate emotions with Non-attachment (RAIN) I wonder what is being recognized, accepted and investigated through the observational lens of non-attachment. Emotions and their associated thoughts require attentional resources. Accepting, observing, and investigating require attentional resources.
Our brains engage in two distinct cognitive modes: the attention-demanding “task-positive mode” and the go-with-the-flow task-negative mode, also known as the default mode. Observing thoughts is a cognitive task; the thoughts themselves arise while the brain is in default mode. Here’s the thing: these two modes reciprocally inhibit each other; that is, our brain can’t be in both modes at the same time. They alternate.
The idea is that a modest BIG would eliminate severe poverty but not be so generous as to disincentivize work any more than the current safety net system does.
Reducing emissions from transportation is mostly a matter of reducing demand for transported goods, improving fuel efficiency and improving transportation efficiency – that is, moving the same amount of cargo (e.g., people and things) with fewer trips and fewer vehicles. We’re going to start with freight transportation. This includes shipping, rail, and road transport.