Kilimanjaro ice could vanish within 20 years, study suggests | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "Global warming not local weather variations to blame for loss of up to 17 feet of ice, say scientists".
terça-feira, 3 de Novembro de 2009
Educação e democracia
Want a Stronger Democracy? Invest in Education - Economix Blog - Edward L. Glaeser - NYTimes.com: Argentina’s poor economic performance during the 20th century reflects, in part, political instability and the mistaken policies of dictatorial regimes. Before 1930, Argentina had seemed a stable republic, but for 53 years from 1930 to 1983, Argentina was whipsawed by frequent military coups and uprisings. Why was Argentina unable to remain a stable democracy? Education, education, education."
Esta nota vem no seguimento de outras sobre o mesmo assunto (ver aqui).
Irlanda: a experiência dos outros (III)
A experiência irlandesa nesta crise, interessa-nos. Por exemplo, veja-se o que se propõe em The Irish Economy » Blog Archive » Mis-Diagnosis:
"Outside the monetary union, other countries are undertaking currency depreciation to achieve real devaluation. The equivalent for Ireland is to reduce domestic wages and prices. Since aggregate inflation is low in the euro area, a reduction in Ireland’s relative wage and price level requires nominal reductions. While this is uncharted territory, real devaluation by this method should parallel the gains obtained by those countries that achieve the same outcome through nominal depreciation outside the currency union".
"Outside the monetary union, other countries are undertaking currency depreciation to achieve real devaluation. The equivalent for Ireland is to reduce domestic wages and prices. Since aggregate inflation is low in the euro area, a reduction in Ireland’s relative wage and price level requires nominal reductions. While this is uncharted territory, real devaluation by this method should parallel the gains obtained by those countries that achieve the same outcome through nominal depreciation outside the currency union".
Noutro sentido, isto que é dito a seguir:
"For such reasons, I consider that those who advocate an ‘off the shelf’ Keynesian prescription [...] do not have a correct diagnosis of Ireland’s current economic and fiscal situation. The standard Keynesian prescription is appropriate if an economy on a sustainable growth path and with sustainable public finances has been temporarily knocked off course by a demand slump. For the reasons given above, this is not the situation in Ireland" vem validar o referido aqui, ao fim.
"For such reasons, I consider that those who advocate an ‘off the shelf’ Keynesian prescription [...] do not have a correct diagnosis of Ireland’s current economic and fiscal situation. The standard Keynesian prescription is appropriate if an economy on a sustainable growth path and with sustainable public finances has been temporarily knocked off course by a demand slump. For the reasons given above, this is not the situation in Ireland" vem validar o referido aqui, ao fim.
Reforma da Administração Pública: o que os outros propõem e discutem
Desigualdade, Mérito, Redistribuição, Dotação genética e cultural ...
Recomenda-se, vivamente, a leitura. Ah, e para apimentar a recomendação, sublinhe-se que é um economista, do "main stream", que fala: Do Smart, Hard-Working People Deserve to Make More Money? « The Baseline Scenario.
De como as disfunções da política interna norte-americana, conformam a situação no Próximo Oriente
Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com: " An Israeli columnist issues a scathing indictment of Israel and calls on the U.S. to apply pressure."
segunda-feira, 2 de Novembro de 2009
Mais um exemplo de colapso, ou de como os humanos alteram os ecosistemas
Ancient Peruvian Nazca turned land to desert | Environment | The Guardian: "Ancient Peruvian Nazca turned land to desert Lessons to be learned from Nazca civilisation, which exposed itself to floods after mass deforestation, research says".
Sobre a questão do "colapso" fazer um pesquisa no motor de busca que a Google disponibiliza no cimo do blogue.
Ranking das drogas de acordo com a sua perigosidade: existem surpresas!
David Nutt's dangerous drug list | Science | guardian.co.uk: "David Nutt's dangerous drug list: research carried out by the ousted government drugs adviser and his colleagues on the most dangedrous drugs"
Como educar os novos professores a serem bons professores
"First, future teachers should continue studying the subject they hope to teach, with outstanding professors. It makes no sense at all to stop studying the thing you want to teach at the very moment you begin to learn how.
Meanwhile, students should learn their craft the way a surgeon learns to operate: by intense supervision in a real setting with expert mentors. Student-teachers are usually observed only twice during a semester and then given a written evaluation. But young teachers, like young doctors, should work side by side with skilled mentors, getting plenty of feedback, having plenty of opportunities to observe and taking on greater and greater responsibility as they improve.
Teacher training can also learn from family therapy programs. Therapists spend a great deal of time watching videotapes of themselves in action, reflecting on their sessions and discussing the most difficult moments with senior therapists to explore other ways they might have responded. In much the same way, young teachers need to record their daily encounters with their classrooms and then, with mentors and peers, have serious, open-minded conversations about what’s working and what isn’t.
Teacher training can also learn from family therapy programs. Therapists spend a great deal of time watching videotapes of themselves in action, reflecting on their sessions and discussing the most difficult moments with senior therapists to explore other ways they might have responded. In much the same way, young teachers need to record their daily encounters with their classrooms and then, with mentors and peers, have serious, open-minded conversations about what’s working and what isn’t.
Teachers must also learn far more about children: typically, teaching students are provided with fairly static and superficial overviews of developmental stages, but learn little about how to watch children, using research and theory to understand what they are seeing. As James Comer, a professor of child psychiatry at Yale, has argued for years, if we disregard the developmental needs of our students it’s unlikely we’ll succeed in teaching them.
One more thing is required — give as many public schools as possible the financial incentives to hire these newly prepared teachers in groups of seven or more. This way, talented eager young teachers won’t languish or leave teaching because they felt bored, inept, isolated or marginalized. Instead, they will feel part of a robust community of promising professionals. They will struggle and learn together. Good teachers need good colleagues.
To fix our schools, we need teaching programs that are as rich in resources, interesting, high-reaching and thoughtful as the young people we want to attract to the profession. Show me a school where teachers are smart, well-educated, skilled and happy to be there, and I’ll show you a group of children who are getting a good education."
Continuar a ler em Op-Ed Contributor - Teach Your Teachers Well - NYTimes.com.
Alemanha: a experiência dos outros
Mudança de rumo da política económica alemã interessante. Não pode ser seguida por Portugal, mas favorece-nos:
"Faced with the contradictory problems of rapidly emptying state coffers and an economy still reeling from this year’s recession, Ms Merkel has opted to fight the crisis with an injection of funds on an unprecedented scale. The new “black-yellow” coalition between her Christian Democrats and the FDP plans to cut income and corporate taxes by €24bn ($35bn, £21bn) a year up to 2013 – a boost equivalent to about 1 per cent of gross domestic product. “Just saving, saving, saving will not do us any good,” she said when presenting her plan. “This is why we have decided to follow a path that concentrates on growth” rather than focus on fixing the federal budget.”
Though she has been careful not to call it a third fiscal stimulus, this is in effect what Ms Merkel is proposing for Europe’s largest economy. If this programme – the centrepiece of the coalition agreement – works, it should in theory boost growth, save jobs and create new ones, helping generate the tax and social security contributions needed to bring Germany’s fiscal house back into order. If it fails, Berlin will see its margin for manoeuvre constrained anew."
Ler em FT.com / Comment / Analysis - Merkel’s bold gamble.
"Faced with the contradictory problems of rapidly emptying state coffers and an economy still reeling from this year’s recession, Ms Merkel has opted to fight the crisis with an injection of funds on an unprecedented scale. The new “black-yellow” coalition between her Christian Democrats and the FDP plans to cut income and corporate taxes by €24bn ($35bn, £21bn) a year up to 2013 – a boost equivalent to about 1 per cent of gross domestic product. “Just saving, saving, saving will not do us any good,” she said when presenting her plan. “This is why we have decided to follow a path that concentrates on growth” rather than focus on fixing the federal budget.”
Though she has been careful not to call it a third fiscal stimulus, this is in effect what Ms Merkel is proposing for Europe’s largest economy. If this programme – the centrepiece of the coalition agreement – works, it should in theory boost growth, save jobs and create new ones, helping generate the tax and social security contributions needed to bring Germany’s fiscal house back into order. If it fails, Berlin will see its margin for manoeuvre constrained anew."
Ler em FT.com / Comment / Analysis - Merkel’s bold gamble.
Irlanda: a experiência dos outros (II)
Vem no seguimento de outra nota sobre a Irlanda (aqui):
The Irish Economy » Blog Archive » Macroeconomic Adjustment and Fiscal Policy in Ireland
O que os outros vão fazendo, e mais um exemplo de um pequeno empurrão ("nudge")
"This fall, 50,000 Massachusetts power customers are getting their first energy report cards in the mail. Just as in school, they’re being judged against their peers, with the model citizens getting smiley faces and the laggards getting advice for cleaning up their acts. Until now, these homeowners could only judge their own energy use by their month-to-month bills. The new Home Energy Reports (HERs) compare their energy use to that of neighbors with similar demographics and similar size homes. Officials hope the peer pressure encourages users to take a few simple steps to stop wasting electricity — and money.[...]"
"[...] In 2007, Cialdini and colleagues conducted an experiment that involved placing one of four door hangers on the doors of participants once a week for a month. The door hangers informed residents that (1) they could save money by conserving energy, or (2) they could save the earth’s resources by conserving energy, or (3) they could be socially responsible citizens by conserving energy, or (4) the majority of their neighbors tried regularly to conserve energy. Although residents reported that they would be least influenced by their neighbors’ energy usage, this was the only type of door hanger information that led to significant efforts to conserve energy.[...]"
"[...] In 2007, Cialdini and colleagues conducted an experiment that involved placing one of four door hangers on the doors of participants once a week for a month. The door hangers informed residents that (1) they could save money by conserving energy, or (2) they could save the earth’s resources by conserving energy, or (3) they could be socially responsible citizens by conserving energy, or (4) the majority of their neighbors tried regularly to conserve energy. Although residents reported that they would be least influenced by their neighbors’ energy usage, this was the only type of door hanger information that led to significant efforts to conserve energy.[...]"
Continuar a ler em Keeping Up With The Joneses to Save Energy | SolveClimate.com. Sobre o "nudge", o pequeno empurrão, ver também aqui e aqui.
Sem comentário
"Segundo Carvalho da Silva, no Público (ainda com José Manuel Fernandes), a presença de Valter Lemos no Emprego é um sinal “absolutamente desastroso” do Governo."
Continuar a ler em Canhoto: Défices de fair play e de factualidade.
E continua ...
A tese não é nova - penso que a vi referida, pela primeira vez, no livro de Hansen sobre o aquecimento global (aqui): as democracias poderão não sobreviver às tensões e às disrupções (de todo o tipo) que trará a intensificação do aquecimento global:
The climate of fear | Peter Preston | Comment is free | The Guardian: "Unless our leaders take radical action, global warming could usher in the far-right strongmen"
Canhoto: Como destruir a democracia
De acordo com Rui Pena Pires na apreciação que faz do que diz Vasco Pulido Valente sobre os partidos:
"A permanente manifestação pública de nojo pelos partidos e a sistemática caracterização destes como máquinas de corrupção ameaçam de morte a democracia, pois afastam os cidadãos da prática institucionalizada da política. E fazem, assim, de VPV um inimigo declarado da democracia."
Continuar a ler em Canhoto: Como destruir a democracia.
PS: Como é óbvio outra coisa totalmente diferente é esperar, e desesperar, que os partidos fizessem muito do que precisam de fazer, e não fazem.
"A permanente manifestação pública de nojo pelos partidos e a sistemática caracterização destes como máquinas de corrupção ameaçam de morte a democracia, pois afastam os cidadãos da prática institucionalizada da política. E fazem, assim, de VPV um inimigo declarado da democracia."
Continuar a ler em Canhoto: Como destruir a democracia.
PS: Como é óbvio outra coisa totalmente diferente é esperar, e desesperar, que os partidos fizessem muito do que precisam de fazer, e não fazem.
Investimento público lá e cá
Vital Moreira faz referência ao que é defendido nos EUA quanto à sua infraestruturação e retira daí evidência a favor dos grandes projectos de obras públicas em Portugal: Causa Nossa: «O presidente dos EUA, Barack Obama, sublinhou este sábado a importância dos investimentos públicos em infra-estruturas, sublinhando que os mesmos permitiram criar centenas de milhares de empregos e que, graças a eles, a economia está no bom caminho."
Não estou nesta de acordo com o Vital Moreira. E isso por três ordens de razões: 1) O parque infraestrutural dos EUA encontra-se em má condição, o que não sucede com o português (é assim mesmo); 2) Em Portugal, a contrário dos EUA, não se discute a bondade da intervenção do Estado na provisão de infraestruturas, mas tão somente a relacção custo-benefíco de alguns daqueles projectos, e a tempestividade da concretização daqueles com mérito social-económico, devido ao endividamento externo; 3) Ora, os EUA não estão confrontados com as restrições com que Portugal se debate, no que concerne ao financiamento interno e externo desses programas de obras públicas.
domingo, 1 de Novembro de 2009
Da dificuldade de governar em maioria absoluta
Miguel Sousa Tavares ao comentar o clima que vive o país face ao seu governo minoritário, no Expresso desta semana - narrativa que cola, convenhamos, em parte - conclui que: "difícil, afinal, é governar Portugal em maioria absoluta e sentir a obrigação e a responsabilidade de mudar o que dramaticamente precisa há décadas de ser mudado". Espero, sinceramente, que Sócrates prove o contrário. Não, que ser minoritário não conforme a latitude das reformas que podem ser feitas, mas porque há muito que pode ser feito, mesmo nas condições actuais.
Mas, existem razões para preocupação. Já as tinha manifestado aqui. A ver vamos.
Mas, existem razões para preocupação. Já as tinha manifestado aqui. A ver vamos.
"That is functionally insane " ou a irracionalidade do "capitalismo" norte-americano
Al Gore tem novo livro sobre o problema do aquecimento global, mas, agora, incidindo sobre as soluções. O que se transcreve abaixo é de um artigo da Newsweek:
"[...]In the obligatory chapter on wind, he writes that it is cheaper and faster-growing than any other renewable except geothermal, and competitive with fossil fuel in some places and for some uses. (Wind supplies just over 1 percent of U.S. electricity, but the DoE projects that could easily reach 20 percent by 2023.) Gore doesn't try to pick winners, instead taking an "all of the above" approach. He is predictably bullish on efficiency, noting that McKinsey & Co. released a report in July concluding that replacing inefficient motors, windows, and other energy guzzlers with high-efficiency ones could cut U.S. energy use 23 percent by 2023.
So, if efficiency is so great and saves so much money (leave aside the CO2 part), I ask, why don't businesses do it? "You know, I was raised in an Enlightenment-influenced family," Gore says. "Both my parents were such believers in the preeminence of reason, and I still believe all that." Other people, not so much. Gore offers a disquisition on how U.S. utility regulations make it more profitable to waste two thirds of the energy in the fuel they burn than to capture waste heat and make it move electrons. But there is also the irrationality factor, which drives him crazy. In a poll, he says, 80 percent of CEOs and CFOs said they would not spend money to make their factories more efficient and save money in the long run if it hurt their next-quarter bottom line. "That," says Gore, "is functionally insane. [...]"
(via The must-read solutions book — “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis” by Al Gore. « Climate Progress
....
Theodor Adorno (1903–1969)“The conversion of all questions of truth into questions of power … has attacked the very heart of the distinction between true and false.”"
Tirado de The must-read solutions book — “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis” by Al Gore. « Climate Progress: "
Um destes dias até poderemos encontrar isto no discurso público
"One of the oldest rhetorical tricks is to emphasize a point by pretending to deny it. This notion is so core to rhetoric that the ancient Greeks even had a few related figures of speech named for it — most broadly, apophasis (from the Greek word for “to deny”), the figure of speech that stresses an idea or image by negating it. [...]
There is a related figure, Paralipsis, [...] is a rhetorical figure of speech wherein the speaker or writer invokes a subject by denying that it should be invoked. [...] Paralipsis is usually employed to make a subversive ad hominem attack. The device is typically used to distance the speaker from unfair claims, while still bringing them up. For instance, a politician might say, “I don’t even want to talk about the allegations that my opponent is a drunk.” … Proslepsis is an extreme kind of paralipsis that gives the full details of the acts one is claiming to pass over [...]"
Transcrevi isto porque achei o apontamento pedagógico, e por memória.
Tirado de Meet trash journalist Keith Kloor « Climate Progress:
Transcrevi isto porque achei o apontamento pedagógico, e por memória.
Tirado de Meet trash journalist Keith Kloor « Climate Progress:
Sobre a necessidade da prevenção
"Um estudo observacional de 10 anos demonstra que alterações do estilo de vida que conduzam a uma perda de peso mesmo que modesta e a um aumento na actividade física, podem prevenir ou atrasar o início da diabetes tipo II.[...]"
"[...]A conclusão é que podemos fazer algo simples para prevenir esta doença altamente incapacitante e fatal a longo termo. Claro que programas de educação alimentar e de exercício não dão resultados palpáveis em quatro anos, e por isso também não dão votos…
"[...]A conclusão é que podemos fazer algo simples para prevenir esta doença altamente incapacitante e fatal a longo termo. Claro que programas de educação alimentar e de exercício não dão resultados palpáveis em quatro anos, e por isso também não dão votos…
Os governantes preferem investir somas astronómicas em medicação – cerca de 75 Euros mensais – e em internamentos ou cirurgias, mas que dão visibilidade de cuidados médicos e … votos."
Não acredito que o motivo seja o que é indicado no último parágrafo (TPC: vejam porquê), mas é relevante que haja médicos a referir que o SNS (e o SRS) não fazem o suficiente no que diz respeito à prevenção.
Ler a nota completa em (recomenda-se o blogue) DIABETES E ESTILOS DE VIDA - Consultório Anti-Envelhecimento
É uma boa sugestão
"[...] propus que se incluísse, nas normas redactoriais, que as matérias oriundas das agências de comunicação fossem assinaladas como tais, como se faz, aliás, para as notícias das clássicas agências de informação como a Reuters, a AFP, ou a Lusa. [...]"
Um pequeno empurrão ("nudge") [ver aqui)] na boa direcção.
Continuar a ler em Bicho Carpinteiro: As agências de comunicação tratadas como as de informação?
Sobre a hipótese de Gaia - Recensões da The New York Review of Books
- The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning, by James Lovelock, Basic Books, 278 pp., $25.00
- James Lovelock: In Search of Gaia, by John Gribbin and Mary Gribbin, Princeton University Press, 262 pp., $24.95
- The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive?, by Peter Ward, Princeton University Press, 180 pp., $24.95
Interessante, e com boa informação
- A Great Jump to Disaster? - The New York Review of Books (view on Google Sidewiki)
sábado, 31 de Outubro de 2009
Civilizações extraterrestres e o Paradoxo de Fermi revisitado (mais uma vez)
Technology Review: Blogs: Information Processing: Evolution, Design and the Fermi Paradox (via links for 2009-10-29 - J. Bradford DeLong's Grasping Reality with All Eight Tentacles.
Sobre os ET e o Paradoxo de Fermi pesquisar no blogue, através do motor de busca Google (ao cimo), sob a expressão "Paradoxo de Fermi"
sexta-feira, 30 de Outubro de 2009
Livros sobre o ensino nos EUA - Recensões da The New York Review of Books
- The Making of Americans: Democracy and Our Schools by E.D. Hirsch Jr. Yale University Press, 261 pp., $25.00
- Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us by Mike Rose New Press, 177 pp., $19.95
Eu penso que esta recensão carreia muito material de informação para a reflexão da educação em Portugal, pese, embora, as óbvias diferenças que temos com os EUA
Livros sobre as prisões nos EUA - Recensões da The New York Review of Books
- Race, Incarceration, and American Values by Glenn C. Loury, with Pamela S. Karlan, Tommie Shelby, and Loïc Wacquant Boston Review/MIT Press, 86 pp., $14.95
- Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice by Paul Butler New Press, 214 pp., $25.95
- Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities: Reentry, Race, and Politics by Anthony C. Thompson New York University Press, 262 pp., $39.00; $21.00 (paper)
Can Our Shameful Prisons Be Reformed? - The New York Review of Books
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