Apr 04
El otro día que estaba sentada en mi clase de Economía Política, mi profesor dio una respuesta muy sencilla de por qué surgen diferencias de desarrollo económico entre países: LAS INSTITUCIONES. Por supuesto, esta respuesta no es una epifanía, sino que más bien es una realización de lo que algunos países realmente carecen. Quizás no …
Jan 25
In today’s world exercise has become a daily routine for millions of people. Just about every town has at least one gym where herds of people flock in hopes to drop a waist size or two. We’ve all seen them, rooms that house a sea of stationary bikes, with pounding music, rhythmic humming of the …
Dec 16
A few months ago, I wrote an article about China’s effort to make the city of Shenyang more environmentally friendly. In recent days with the Durban Climate Change Conference having just finished in South Africa, environmental issues have garnered a little more focus in the last few weeks. While I am typically a quick skeptic …
Dec 01
Today is World Aid’s Day. We hope that you will use this day to support the local charities and organizations in your communities that are working to fight the spread of HIV and AIDS. We also hope that you will research and learn more about the impact of AIDS on global health, families and communities …
Oct 27
Creating freedom and peace in Palestine I’ve previously written about how art, and in particular music, can help to solve social and economical disparities (read post). I recently learned about another great example of how art can be useful to alleviate social conflicts. I attended a talk by Palestinian actors from The Freedom Theater. The Freedom …
Sep 30
Today I thought I would talk to you about an interesting twist on responsible tourism that I stumbled upon: the Youth Career Initiative (YCI). The YCI was launched in 1995 in Bangkok as part of a community initiative by the Pan Pacific Hotels Group, and was intended to “give back” to society by teaching disadvantaged …
Sep 26
Empowering the consumer through the power of stories. When we go to the supermarket, very often you only have a vague idea of where the product comes from, what the chain of production involved or how the product got to the stands. Most of us happen to be incredibly ignorant consumers, blind to what goes …
Aug 10
Are dogs really man’s best friend? As a dog owner of two, I would say so. The unconditional love and excitement they share is hard to find elsewhere. Every time I walk into my house from a bad day, I can always rely on their wagging tails and slobbery kisses to put a smile on …
Aug 09
El sistema es un programa de educación musical presente en Venezuela (y en algunos estados de los Estados Unidos) que ofrece a niños pobres la posibilidad de volverse músicos profesionales. El programa empezó en 1975, despés de que el economista y músico José Abreu dió una clase de música en un garage a 11 niños …
Aug 05
Our agricultural and food system have many inefficiencies. Damages to the environment and promotion of an unhealthy food system are both causes and consequences of bad agricultural practices. We’ve previously studied the dangers of the monocrops. They’re apparently threatening our long-term agricultural sustainability (to learn more see posts). A change is needed, but how can …
