Is Travel Teaching Right for You?
Many recent college grads looking to break out and get some experience under their belts have likely considered the prospect of teaching in another country as a way to see the world, meet new people, and give something of themselves. Teaching abroad is an excellent way to meet all of these goals in one fell swoop. And whether you go to another country to teach your own native language or you learn a second language in order to teach outside your nation of origin, you stand to gain a lot in the way of insight and experience by interacting with other cultures. However, there may also be some drawbacks to leaving familiar surroundings for foreign locales. So here are just a few things to consider before signing up for travel teaching. Read more
Banning Smoking in UK Cars: The Arguments For and Against
Last week plenty of newspaper columns were overtaken with arguments regarding whether or not smoking should be banned from vehicles on UK roads. It was revealed that the British Medical Association (BMA) is pushing the Government to be "bold and courageous" and make puffing cigarettes in cars illegal for the sake of the population’s health.
The Problem with Pesticide Drift
There are a lot of environmental problems surrounding modern methods of farming. For one thing, soil used to grow crops is saturated with chemical fertilizers that seep into the surrounding bodies of water (ground water and nearby rivers and lakes, for example) only to damage the delicate ecosystems that these water supplies support. Then there are the harmful pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and so on that penetrate the very crops themselves, entering our bodies through the food we eat and the clothes we wear, working who-knows what kind of damage through years of exposure. But at least we can take comfort in the fact that only miniscule traces of these toxins ever reach us. Right? Actually, thanks to the drift phenomenon, you may be getting a bigger dose than you bargained for. Read more
District of Columbia incidence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Using data from Sexually Transmitted Disease Morbidity on CDC WONDER the above graphic shows the District of Columbia having a far greater number of Syphilis cases per 100,000 population than any other State.
Whilst the above chart shows Syphilis cases, DC is top in almost every sexually transmitted disease that can be charted.
When Giving Is Taking
The Roman philosopher Cicero wrote “In nothing do humans approach so nearly to the gods as doing good to others.” The human capacity for helping complete strangers is one of the behaviors which truly defines us as humans. Unfortunately, many of us are trapped into a bad mode of thinking where we morally equate the laudable act of helping others with other very different behaviors.
When you give $20 to a homeless person, that is charity. When you donate $20 to the United Way to get a write-off on your taxes, that is not charity, that is financial planning. When you vote for the government to take money from one of your neighbors and give it to another of your neighbors, that is not charity, it is using the force of government to take away the right of your neighbor to make her own financial choices.
Giving is a personal choice. When you choose to give, you receive the good feeling which naturally comes from sharing your strength with others. When you choose to give as a financial strategy to avoid taxes, you are not really giving anything. You are simply using government-approved charities as a technique to lower your tax burden. This does not make you any more or less moral than anyone else, because you are not giving of yourself. When you choose to use the force of government to take from one neighbor to give to another neighbor, you are not giving anything of yourself and you are stealing two things from your neighbor. Most obviously you are stealing her money, but more importantly you are stealing her right to make her own decisions. Your neighbor can no longer decide what to do with the money you have taken from her, because you have taken that decision from her. She is no longer a free person making her own free decisions, she is now enslaved to your wishes. You have given nothing and you have taken a persons freedom.
The American President Thomas Jefferson wrote To take from one, because it is thought that his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, ‘the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it.’
The next time you think about giving, be sure to differentiate between true giving of yourself and violating the rights of others to make decisions for themselves.
Tax Cuts for the Wealthy: A Recipe for Disaster
If you pay attention to current events, then you have probably heard about President Obama’s long crusade to end the tax cuts for the wealthy that flourished under the Bush administration. In fact, it was a big selling point in his bid for presidency. Unfortunately, he recently made an abrupt about-face on his stance, reneging on his promise to end unfair exemptions for the wealthiest Americans. Although this has a lot to do with selling his agenda for extending unemployment benefits for the many jobless citizens who continue to go without work (back-alley deal-making at its finest), he may not realize the blow he has dealt the country. And many nations that deal with tax brackets can learn a valuable lesson from the blunder that the American government is about to make. Read more
How Much Do Americans Save
How much money does the average American have in their savings account, and how does that compare against other nations? How much do Americans put away each month, and is that better or worse than a decade ago?
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Google’s “Instant” Impacts The Global Environment
Google have as part of their corporate philosophy the statement “You can make money without doing evil” which most of us know as Don’t be evil.
With the recent launch of the Google Instant they may be impacting on the environment in ways they hadn’t foreseen.
Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Explained
Infographic by probiotics.org