How Jeffrey Sachs failed to save Africa – The Globe and Mail.

There are some choice quotes in this article about the failure Jeffrey Sachs to achieve his desire “save” Africa. To wit:

What he forgot was the human factor. It turns out that people are not always rational. They don’t always do what’s in their own best interests, even when the benefits are completely clear to a development economist.

“We want to empower. But no one can come and change them if they do not want to change themselves.”

“I think we’d all be a lot better off if we were a little more humble.”

Any Animal That Touches This Lethal Lake Turns to Stone.

This is both terrifying and fascinating! I’d love to see a nature show do a series on places like this. In this particular instance I’d be so interested to understand the process, and the speed by which that process occurs.

The Banality of Systemic Evil – NYTimes.com.

This is spot on. The way that a person behaves when they’re a cog in a machine can be totally at odds with their own personal values. It’s a fascinating and disturbing quirk of the human mind. The extremes to which this influence can be applied is something everyone should be aware of. There is nothing more valuable to a group of people, and humanity itself, than a critical mind able to step back and examine a situation honestly.

How the 'Failure' Culture of Startups Is Killing Innovation | Wired Opinion | Wired.com.

This is an insightful post about one of the issues caused by the current business environment. And specifically by the business culture of Internet-based software companies. In truth it is both a blessing and a curse. It’s too easy to come up with ideas that seem both obvious and unmet. And almost as easy to build out these ideas into a test platform. This could almost be considered research in it’s own right. But throwing money at ideas without any research into need and long-term viability will likely result in more failures than successes. Eventually the quick wins and cash outs are going to fade away as the business environment continues to mature. Perhaps this is only the natural progression of a new marketplace, but the pain on the other side will be all too real and result in a significant paradigm shift in how businesses are funded. Perhaps we are in the middle of that transition, from one based on venture funding to one based on crowd funding. In fact, perhaps the advent of companies like Kickstarter is the beginning of the next phase. A phase based on, at the least, a basic level of research that leads to a base level of funding from the general public, followed by product development, followed by more traditional funding.

Slashdot – Are the NIST Standard Elliptic Curves Back-doored?.

Though this is not entirely unexpected considering the NSA revelations that have already been made it is still a jaw-dropping revelation and very unsettling.

President Obama shows the progress we’ve made. His speech shows how terribly we’ve failed. – The Washington Post.

It’s easy for some to dismiss the complaint of white privilege. But this post succinctly outlines the problem. Of course it’s a problem of not just race, but also of class (a theme running through some of the links I’ve posted lately). However, it is still apparent that minorities bear a greater share of the burden that results from the U.S. class structure.

How the cult of shareholder value wrecked American business – The Washington Post.

Another good article outlining what is, in my opinion, one of the most pressing and systemic issues facing the U.S. today. It feels like something that, if not addressed, has the potential to significantly affect this country’s power and prosperity.