quinta-feira, 25 de dezembro de 2014

Chavismo - o modelo econômico do século XXI

10 Reasons Why I Am a Chavista

You Can't Deny the Joys of Socialist Paradise

1. Waiting in line builds community spirit.
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quarta-feira, 24 de dezembro de 2014

Para um 2015 melhor

6 verdades chocantes que irão fazer de você uma pessoa melhor

Fique livre para parar de ler isso se sua carreira está indo muito bem, você está super satisfeito com sua vida e está feliz com seus relacionamentos. Curta o resto do dia, amigo, este artigo não é para você. Você está fazendo um ótimo trabalho, estamos orgulhosos de você. Então para você não sentir que desperdiçou seu clique nessa página, aqui vai uma foto do Lenny Kravitz com um cachecol gigante.

terça-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2014

Novas verdades sobre a Idade Média

The Middle Ages Hardcover – January 13, 2015

by Johannes Fried  (Author), Peter Lewis (Translator)
Since the fifteenth century, when humanist writers began to speak of a “middle” period in history linking their time to the ancient world, the nature of the Middle Ages has been widely debated. Across the millennium from 500 to 1500, distinguished historian Johannes Fried describes a dynamic confluence of political, social, religious, economic, and scientific developments that draws a guiding thread through the era: the growth of a culture of reason.
Beginning with the rise of the Franks, Fried uses individuals to introduce key themes, bringing to life those who have too often been reduced to abstractions of the medieval “monk” or “knight.” Milestones encountered in this thousand-year traversal include Europe’s political, cultural, and religious renovation under Charlemagne; the Holy Roman Empire under Charles IV, whose court in Prague was patron to crowning cultural achievements; and the series of conflicts between England and France that made up the Hundred Years’ War and gave to history the enduringly fascinating Joan of Arc. Broader political and intellectual currents are examined, from the authority of the papacy and impact of the Great Schism, to new theories of monarchy and jurisprudence, to the rise of scholarship and science.
The Middle Ages is full of people encountering the unfamiliar, grappling with new ideas, redefining power, and interacting with different societies. Fried gives readers an era of innovation and turbulence, of continuities and discontinuities, but one above all characterized by the vibrant expansion of knowledge and an understanding of the growing complexity of the world.

segunda-feira, 22 de dezembro de 2014

Democracia no caminho do declínio moral

In this tour de force essay, Hans-Hermann Hoppe turns the standard account of historical governmental progress on its head. While the state is an evil in all its forms, monarchy is, in many ways, far less pernicious than democracy. Hoppe shows the evolution of government away from aristocracy, through monarchy, and toward the corruption and irresponsibility of democracy to have been identical with the growth of the leviathan state. There is hope for liberty, as Hoppe explains, but it lies not in reversing these steps, but rather through secession and decentralization. This pocket-sized, eye-opening pamphlet is ideal for tabling, conferences, or sharing with friends. It can revolutionize the way a reader sees society and the state
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Drogas letais

Painkillers Kill More Than Heroin and Cocaine Combined
Over 12 million on painkillers without a real medical reason - See more at: http://naturalsociety.com/painkillers-kill-more-than-heroin-and-cocaine-combined/#sthash.zEFpEXYW.dpuf
Yes, prescription painkillers do in fact take more lives per year than two of the hardest illegal drugs in the nation — surpassing both heroin and cocaine in their total related deaths. It all has to do with how these prescription pharmaceuticals work in the brain, and how many individuals around the country are easily acquiring them to feed their deadly habits.
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terça-feira, 16 de dezembro de 2014

Escravidão no Brasil

A ESCRAVIDÃO NO BRASIL EM FOTOS REAIS INÉDITAS

A escravidão brasileira retratada em fotos inéditas de um período vergonhoso de nossa história.FOTOS DO INSTITUTO MOREIRA SALLES. Músicas : ''Retirantes'' (Dorival Caymmi) e ''Negro Rei'' (Cidade Negra)

segunda-feira, 15 de dezembro de 2014

Pearl Harbour

Pearl Harbor and the Engineers of War
How FDR lied us into World War II
by , December 08, 2014
What gets me are the lies. Iraq’s "weapons of mass destruction" – Iran’s (nonexistent) nuclear weapons program – the Vietnamese "attack" in the Gulf of Tonkin – Germans bayoneting Belgium babies – the sinking of the USS Maine: over the long and bloody history of US imperialism, these are just a few of the fabrications US policymakers have seized on to justify Washington’s aggression. It’s quite a record, isn’t it? Not only that, but there’s been little if any acknowledgment by the American political elites that they’ve ever lied about anything: it’s all been thrown down the Memory Hole, along with whatever sense of shame these people ever had.
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Pensadores contro o estado


Nock in his book summarized Oppenheimer’s theory and applied it to American history. The American state, like all others, was predatory. Nock strongly supported the view of Charles A. Beard An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (1913). According to Beard, the Constitution was written to advance the economic interests of a particular group of wealthy people. The American state was a predatory gang, just like all other states.
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Democracia na América

 
In case anybody hasn't noticed, democracy in America is dying now. This isn't an overstatement; it's a fact. Corporate interests dominate our politics so much at this point that our government, for all intents and purposes, is merely its handmaiden. Whatever Wall Street wants, Wall Street gets. Corporatism is the new order of the day. One political party stands for it; the other political party won't stand against it.
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sábado, 13 de dezembro de 2014

Distribuição de renda e patrimômio - EUA

The median wealth for whites in the US is nearly $142,000. For blacks, it's $11,000.

Vox.com
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A modernidade começou cedo

Economy and Nature in the Fourteenth Century: Money, Market Exchange, and the Emergence of Scientific Thought (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series) by Joel Kaye  (Author)

Intellectual developments pioneered by scholastic natural philosophers of the fourteenth century constituted a critical stage in the emergence of scientific thought. Beneath these technical developments lay a profound reconceptualization of nature. The purpose of this book is to analyze the components of this reconceptualization, and to speculate on the influences that shaped it. It argues that the transformation of the conceptual model of the natural world c. 1260-1380 was strongly influenced by the rapid monetization of European society during the same period...
..... 
The Middle Ages appears surprisingly modern 

Aprender pela história

 “The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumpti...ons, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false." Historiador Paul Johnson

quarta-feira, 10 de dezembro de 2014

Foucault e o neolibaralismo

Can We Criticize Foucault?

Late in life, Michel Foucault developed a curious sympathy for neoliberalism.

07_revolteJean-Paul Sartre and Michel Foucault at GIP (Groupe d’information sur les prisons) press conference, January 17, 1972. Photo by Elie Kagan.
Since his death in 1984, Michel Foucault’s work has become a touchstone for the academic left worldwide. But in a provocative new book published in Belgium last month, a team of scholars led by sociologist Daniel Zamora raises probing questions about Foucault’s relationship with the neoliberal revolution that was just getting started in his last years.
In an interview this month with the new French journal Ballast, Zamora discusses the book’s fascinating findings and what they mean for radical thought today. Below is the text of the interview, translated from French by Seth Ackerman.
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terça-feira, 9 de dezembro de 2014

quarta-feira, 3 de dezembro de 2014

Libertarianismo

Understanding Libertarian Morality: The Psychological Dispositions of Self-Identified Libertarians

Abstract


Libertarians are an increasingly prominent ideological group in U.S. politics, yet they have been largely unstudied. Across 16 measures in a large web-based sample that included 11,994 self-identified libertarians, we sought to understand the moral and psychological characteristics of self-described libertarians. Based on an intuitionist view of moral judgment, we focused on the underlying affective and cognitive dispositions that accompany this unique worldview. Compared to self-identified liberals and conservatives, libertarians showed 1) stronger endorsement of individual liberty as their foremost guiding principle, and weaker endorsement of all other moral principles; 2) a relatively cerebral as opposed to emotional cognitive style; and 3) lower interdependence and social relatedness. As predicted by intuitionist theories concerning the origins of moral reasoning, libertarian values showed convergent relationships with libertarian emotional dispositions and social preferences. Our findings add to a growing recognition of the role of personality differences in the organization of political attitudes.
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Livros que mudam o pensamento

The Chronicle Review asked 12 scholars what nonfiction book published in the last 30 years has most changed their minds—not merely inspired or influenced their thinking, but profoundly altered the way they regard themselves, their work, the world.
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terça-feira, 2 de dezembro de 2014

História esquecida

Was Britain's WWI Blockade The First Atrocity Of The 20th Century?

Was Britain's WWI Blockade The First Atrocity Of The 20th Century?Expand
From 1914 to 1919, the Allied powers restricted the maritime supply of raw materials and foodstuffs to the Central Powers. The policy is often called a key component in the Allied victory, but it resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, and introduced the world to a terrifying new kind of warfare.
The Great War is primarily remembered for its stifling land battles, but one of the conflict's largest and most sophisticated operations was conducted primarily at sea. Right from the start of the war, and until the mid part of 1919, the Allied powers, led by Britain's powerful sea fleet, obstructed Germany's and Austria-Hungary's ability to import goods. The basic idea was to starve the Central Powers and their military into submission.

A Violation of International Law

Despite its best efforts to do so in the preceding decades, Germany was never able to catch up to Britain in terms of its ability to control the seas. Once hostilities commenced in August 1914, Britain began restricting access to the North Sea, instituting checks on the shipping passing through the English Channel and posting a force, the X Cruiser Squadron, to patrol between the Shetland islands and Norway. As a result, German maritime trade was confined to the Baltic.
Was Britain's WWI Blockade The First Atrocity Of The 20th Century?Expand
It was an action that, quite understandably, shocked and outraged the Central Powers. As the global conflict began to take on the character of an attritional war, the encircled combattants became rightfully worried of the stranglehold.
Though largely forgotten by history, the actions of the British were in contravention of international law. According to the 1856 Declaration of Paris (still in force in 1914), blockades were permitted, but only if they were so-called "effective" blockades — meaning that blockades should only take on the form of a cordon of ships off an enemy port or coast. Blockades 'from a distance' were strictly prohibited.
The blockade also violated the 1909 London Declaration which established the rules under which items could be confiscated (Britain was not a signatory, but the international community — especially the United States — still expected Britain to honor the spirit of the Declaration; it was, after all, Britain's idea).
As noted by historian Alexander Watson, the actions of the British "placed [them] outside the pre-war moral consensus on how naval warfare should be conducted."

'Starvation War'

domingo, 30 de novembro de 2014

Prisioneiros

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Desenvolvimento econômico

Why are some parts of the world so rich and others so poor? Why did the Industrial Revolution--and the unprecedented economic growth that came with it--occur in eighteenth-century England, and not at some other time, or in some other place? Why didn't industrialization make the whole world rich--and why did it make large parts of the world even poorer? In A Farewell to Alms, Gregory Clark tackles these profound questions and suggests a new and provocative way in which culture--not exploitation, geography, or resources--explains the wealth, and the poverty, of nations.
Countering the prevailing theory that the Industrial Revolution was sparked by the sudden development of stable political, legal, and economic institutions in seventeenth-century Europe, Clark shows that such institutions existed long before industrialization. He argues instead that these institutions gradually led to deep cultural changes by encouraging people to abandon hunter-gatherer instincts-violence, impatience, and economy of effort-and adopt economic habits-hard work, rationality, and education.
The problem, Clark says, is that only societies that have long histories of settlement and security seem to develop the cultural characteristics and effective workforces that enable economic growth. For the many societies that have not enjoyed long periods of stability, industrialization has not been a blessing. Clark also dissects the notion, championed by Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel, that natural endowments such as geography account for differences in the wealth of nations.
A brilliant and sobering challenge to the idea that poor societies can be economically developed through outside intervention, A Farewell to Alms may change the way global economic history is understood.

quarta-feira, 26 de novembro de 2014

Apresentação do modelo GSMS-SS





Sabe que significa "Beg the question"?


Beg the Question

Common Saying: To beg the question
Please.JpgLet’s face it – 99% of people reading this list will not know the correct meaning of “beg the question”, but that implies that the mistaken meaning should really be considered correct through common usage – so let us not fight about right or wrong – I will just state the facts: “to beg the question” does not mean “to raise the question”. Originally the phrase was “to begge the question” and it appeared in English around the 1580s. It is a reference to a question (or phrase) which implies the truth of the thing it is trying to prove. Confusing? Okay – here is an example: “why does England have fewer trees per acre than any other country in Europe?” This is a “begged question” – the person asking is implying that England has fewer trees – when in fact, it may not. Another example is “he must be telling the truth because he never lies”. Decartes was begging the question when he said “I think, therefore I am”. Oh – and for those of you who are used to using the term in the wrong way, consider using “prompt the question” as a correct alternative.
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segunda-feira, 24 de novembro de 2014

Política e ordem legal numa sociedade sem estado

This book elaborates and defends the idea of law without the state. Animated by a vision of peaceful, voluntary cooperation as a social ideal and building on a careful account of non-aggression, it features a clear explanation of why the state is illegitimate, dangerous and unnecessary. It proposes an understanding of how law enforcement in a stateless society could be legitimate and what the optimal substance of law without the state might be, suggests ways in which a stateless legal order could foster the growth of a culture of freedom, and situates the project it elaborates in relation to leftist, anti-capitalist and socialist traditions.
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quinta-feira, 20 de novembro de 2014

Conheça a elite do poder do Brasil

http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/os-60-mais-poderosos/aldemir-bendine/524e9963bea86fca0d000001.html#

Presta atenção, por favor


Ironia

9 Irony
On the previous list of errors I included Irony as a bonus – it deserves its own place and a fully description so here it is. There are four types of irony (none of which resemble remotely anything in Alanis Morissette’s song:
I. Verbal irony
This is when the speaker says one thing but means another (often contrary) thing. The most well known type of verbal irony is sarcasm. For example: “He is as funny as cancer”.
II. Tragic irony
Tragic irony occurs only in fiction. It is when the words or actions of a character contradict the real situation with the full knowledge of the spectators. For example: In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo mistakenly believes that Juliet has killed herself, so he poisons himself. Juliet awakens to find Romeo dead so she kills herself with his knife.
III. Dramatic Irony
In drama, this type of irony is when the spectator is given a piece of information that one or more of the characters are unaware of. For example: in Pygmalion, we know that Eliza is a prostitute, but the Higgins family don’t.
IV. Situational Irony
Situational irony is when there is a difference between the expected result and the actual result. Take for example this account of the attempted assassination of Ronald Regan: “As aides rushed to push Reagan into his car, the bullet ricocheted off the [bullet-proof] car, then hit the President in the chest, grazed a rib and lodged in his lung, just inches from his heart.” The bullet proof car – intended to protect the president, nearly caused his death by deflecting the bullet.
You may want to check out our list of 10 images of irony.
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Sabemos que ....

This Crisis Was Foreseeable … Thousands of Years Ago


Economists, Military Strategists and Others Warned Us … Long Ago

We’ve known for 5,000 years that mass spying on one’s own people is always aimed at grabbing power and crushing dissent, not protecting us from bad guys.
We’ve known for 4,000 years that debts need to be periodically written down, or the entire economy will collapse. And see this.
We’ve known for 2,500 years that prolonged war bankrupts an economy.
We’ve known for 2,000 years that wars are based on lies.
We’ve known for 1,900 years that runaway inequality destroys societies.
We’ve known for thousands of years that debasing currencies leads to economic collapse.
We’ve known for millennia that torture is a form of terrorism.
We’ve known for thousands of years that – when criminals are not punished – crime spreads.
We’ve known for hundreds of years that the failure to punish financial fraud destroys economies, as it destroys all trust in the financial system.
We’ve known for centuries that monopolies and the political influence which accompanies too much power in too few hands are dangerous for free markets.
We’ve known for hundreds of years that companies will try to pawn their debts off on governments, and that it is a huge mistake for governments to allow corporate debt to be backstopped by government.
We’ve known for centuries that powerful people – unless held to account – will get together and steal from everyone else.
We’ve known for hundreds of years that standing armies and warmongering harm Western civilization.
We’ve known for over 300 years that going into debt to pay for war ruins any nation.
We’ve known for 200 years that allowing private banks to control credit creation eventually destroys the nation’s prosperity.
We’ve known for two centuries that a fiat money system – where the money supply is not pegged to anything real – is harmful in the long-run.
We’ve known for 200 years that a two-party system quickly becomes corrupted.
We’ve known for over a century that torture produces false and useless information.
We’ve known since the 1930s Great Depression that separating depository banking from speculative investment banking is key to economic stability. See this, this, this and this.
We’ve known for 80 years that inflation is a hidden tax.
We’ve known for 79 years that war is a racket that benefits the elites but harms everyone else.
We’ve known since 1988 that quantitative easing doesn’t work to rescue an ailing economy.
We’ve known since 1993 that derivatives such as credit default swaps – if not reined in – could take down the economy. And see this.
We’ve known since 1998 that crony capitalism destroys even the strongest economies, and that economies that are capitalist in name only need major reforms to create accountability and competitive markets.
We’ve known since 2007 or earlier that lax oversight of hedge funds could blow up the economy.
And we knew before the 2008 financial crash and subsequent bailouts that:
  • The easy credit policy of the Fed and other central banks, the failure to regulate the shadow banking system, and “the use of gimmicks and palliatives” by central banks hurt the economy
  • Anything other than (1) letting asset prices fall to their true market value, (2) increasing savings rates, and (3) forcing companies to write off bad debts “will only make things worse”
  • Bailouts of big banks harm the economy
  • The Fed and other central banks were simply transferring risk from private banks to governments, which could lead to a sovereign debt crisis
Postscript:  Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it … and we’ve known that for a long time.
Fonte

domingo, 16 de novembro de 2014

Alturas

Homens mais alto e mais baixo do mundo se encontram em Londres

Um chega aos 2,51 metros, o outro não passa dos 54,6 centímetros: o homem mais alto do mundo, o turco Sultan Kösen, encontrou-se, nesta quinta-feira, com o menor, o nepalês Chandra Bahadur Dangi.
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Proteção de minoria


sexta-feira, 14 de novembro de 2014

Armadilha da violencia

As 50 cidades mais violentas do mundo; Brasil tem 16 na lista

SÃO PAULO – Antes de escolher um destino para viajar, muitos se preocupam em conferir se o local é seguro. O Business Insider listou as 50 cidades mais violentas ao redor do mundo.
Trinta e quatro das piores cidades do ranking estão localizadas na América Latina, sendo que o assassinato é o crime mais comum na região do que em qualquer outra parte do mundo. O destaque vai para San Pedro Sula, uma cidade em Honduras.
O Brasil não passa longe dessa lista negra e abriga 16 municípios violentos. Além dos assassinatos, o tráfico de drogas, guerras de gangues, instabilidade política, corrupção e a pobreza influenciam na alta violência nas cidades da lista. Confira:

quinta-feira, 13 de novembro de 2014

"Esquerda" e "direita" no Brasil

O começo do fim da hegemonia 'de esquerda'
Julio Daio Borges


Desde o século XX que a Europa tem uma referência para o mal, é o nazismo. E o fascismo. Por causa das guerras. Por causa da destruição. Por causa do genocídio.

Talvez por serem ditaduras de esquerda, Stálin, na "Eurásia", e Mao, na Ásia, perdem para Hitler e Mussolini na comparação. Embora tenham matado mais gente. E governado por mais tempo, causando diferentes estragos.

No Brasil da metade do século XX pra cá, a ditadura militar é o mal. E a direita. Por isso qualquer pessoa que se identifique, minimamente, com a direita é logo chamada de "fascista".

Nesse contexto, desde 1964, ser "de esquerda" ficou, automaticamente, associado a ser "do bem". A querer o bem do Brasil. O bem do povo, o bem de todos...

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terça-feira, 11 de novembro de 2014

Vortex

Você tem ideia de como nosso sistema solar se move no universo? Choque-se


Todos nós conhecemos o modelo acima, que mostra o nosso Sol parado no centro de nosso sistema solar e os planetas girando ao seu redor. Fomos apresentados a esse modelo durante nossa vida escolar, o que nos levou a acreditar que ele se trata de uma verdade quase incontestável. E agora que sabemos que até mesmo a nossa estrela principal está em movimento na galáxia, surge a questão de como os mundos que a cercam a acompanham.

Como as leis da física mentem

In this sequence of philosophical essays about natural science, the author argues that fundamental explanatory laws, the deepest and most admired successes of modern physics, do not in fact describe regularities that exist in nature. Cartwright draws from many real-life examples to propound a novel distinction: that theoretical entities, and the complex and localized laws that describe them, can be interpreted realistically, but the simple unifying laws of basic theory cannot.
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Luther insulta

Martin LutherWhoever tolerates and listens to you should know that they are listening to the devil himself, incarnate and abominable, as he speaks out of the mouth of a possessed person.
From Infiltrating and Clandestine Preachers, pg. 393 of Luther's Works, Vol. 40

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Insultos filosóficos

2. Friedrich Nietzsche on Immanuel Kant
“That most deformed concept-cripple of all time.” [via]
1. Arthur Schopenhauer on Georg Hegel
“Hegel, installed from above, by the powers that be, as the certified Great Philosopher, was a flat-headed, insipid, nauseating, illiterate charlatan who reached the pinnacle of audacity in scribbling together and dishing up the craziest mystifying nonsense.” [via]
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sexta-feira, 7 de novembro de 2014

Democratismo


Venezuela

000_Mvd6644356.jpgVenezuela vive como se fosse um "estado de exceção", diz ONU

Nações Unidas acusam o país de torturar e humilhar presos políticos e forçar mulheres presas a praticar sexo oral com seus captores

da recação com AE

A ONU acusou o governo da Venezuela de ter humilhado, ameaçado e torturado cerca de três mil manifestantes presos durante protestos realizados no primeiro semestre de 2014. A acusação foi feita nesta quinta-feira 6, em reunião do Comitê de Defesa dos Direitos Humanos das Nações Unidas, que afirma que o país latino-americano vive como se estivesse em um “estado de exceção”. Esta é a primeira vez em mais de uma década que a Venezuela participa do encontro, que acontece em Genebra, na Suíça, e vai até a sexta-feira 7.

De acordo com a ONU, que diz estar impedida de entrar no país, os presos foram obrigados a ficarem nus e foram ameaçados de estupro. “Temos informações de que, durante os distúrbios de fevereiro, mais de três mil pessoas foram detidas, desnudadas, ameaçadas de estupro e não foram autorizadas a ter acesso a um advogado”, afirmou o relator do comitê, o dinamarquês Jen Modvig, que diz haver diversas denúncias além das 183 violações aos direitos humanos e dos 166 casos de maus tratos registrados oficialmente. Entre as denúncias, estão as de que mulheres detidas foram “forçadas a manter sexo oral” em seus captores e liberadas dias depois.
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quinta-feira, 6 de novembro de 2014

Quem são nossos lideres?


Macroeconomia depois o Crash

Some would argue that the financial crash revealed failings in the discipline of economics as well as in the financial system. The main post-war approaches to economics, based on neo-classical and new- Keynesian principles and modelling, failed to anticipate the crash or the depth of the slump that followed. In this monograph, Roger Koppl, drawing on ideas from the Austrian school and the work that has been done on policy uncertainty argues that the missing ingredient in many economic theories is a proper theory of "confidence". The author is not only able to make sense of Keynes' "animal spirits", but also demonstrates how "Big Players" - often, though not always, government agencies - can undermine confidence, reduce long-term investment, increase speculation and reduce economic growth over a long period of time. From crisis to confidence not only describes the process through which the economy must go through before a full recovery after the financial crash, it also describes the journey that must be travelled by the discipline of economics. As economics students and other commentators question post-war macro-economics, Roger Koppl provides some of the answers needed to understand the long slump after the financial crash. A theory of confidence is needed in any economic framework that is to explain one of the most important periods in modern economic history.
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segunda-feira, 3 de novembro de 2014

A importância de dizer histórias fictivas

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/11/the-psychological-comforts-of-storytelling/381964/
Stories can also inform people’s emotional lives. Storytelling, especially in novels, allows people to peek into someone’s conscience to see how other people think. This can affirm our own beliefs and perceptions, but more often, it challenges them. Psychology researcher Dan Johnson recently published a study in Basic and Applied Social Psychology that found reading fiction significantly increased empathy towards others, especially people the readers initially perceived as “outsiders” (e.g. foreigners, people of a different race, skin color, or religion).

A corrupção de lei

Justiça no mundo moderno
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/11/bionic-mosquito/mr-justice-stalin/

domingo, 2 de novembro de 2014

Gravidade

You Know How This Experiment Ends, But You Should Watch It Anyway

You Know How This Experiment Ends, But You Should Watch It Anyway
Most of you know that any two objects dropped in a vacuum will fall at the same rate. Some of you have probably even seen it demonstrated in person. But you've never seen this classic experiment reproduced in the world's biggest vacuum chamber – and you really should.

sexta-feira, 31 de outubro de 2014

História soviética

Yuri Maltsev - The Soviet Story: Film & Personal Reflections - 

Estudar online

Rápidos e gratuitos: os cursos MOOCs vão substituir os MBAs?

Quando Luis Ochoa tentou dar um salto na sua carreira, deixando de ser analista de investimentos para virar estrategista corporativo, ele resolveu não fazer o óbvio neste mercado, que é obter um Master of Business Administration, ou MBA.
Em vez disso, ele fez alguns cursos gratuitos de estratégia e contabilidade financeira no site Coursera, um dos maiores provedores de Massive Open Online Courses (cursos online abertos em massa, ou "MOOCs" na sigla em inglês).
"Eu ganhei uma base com esses cursos que me ajudou na transição para virar estrategista corporativo", diz o nova-iorquino de 29 anos. "Agora não pretendo fazer um MBA porque já estou onde queria chegar."
Como ele, um número cada vez maior de pessoas está buscando MOOCs como forma de se promover na carreira - sem necessidade de investir o mesmo tempo e dinheiro exigido por um título universitário tradicional.
O desafio para quem opta por essa modalidade é convencer seus empregadores e o mercado de trabalho sobre o valor destes cursos online.
"Nós ainda recebemos perguntas de várias empresas sobre o quão bons são os MOOCs, mas estamos percebendo que cada vez mais as empresas estão considerando esta modalidade para habilitar seus funcionários", diz Sebastian Thrun, da Udacity, da Califórnia, que oferece esse tipo de curso.
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quarta-feira, 29 de outubro de 2014

Primeira guerra mundial - uma vista contrafatual

11 Intriguing Ways World War I Could Have Turned Out Differently

11 Intriguing Ways World War I Could Have Turned Out DifferentlyExpand
The First World War may have have featured static battlefields and attritional strategies, but that doesn't mean the course of events from 1914 to 1918 couldn't have unfolded differently. Here are 11 events that could have changed the outcome of the Great War.

Top image: A French solider is shot during the Battle of Verdun, 1916 (Alamy).

Listed in roughly chronological order.

1. No Russian Mobilization in 1914

11 Intriguing Ways World War I Could Have Turned Out Differently

Russian troops prepare for war. The Great War/BBC

Had it not been for the Russian mobilization of July 1914, the Great War might not have ever happened. By rushing to the defense of its Slavic ally, Serbia, Russia set German plans into motion. Earlier, Germany had issued a "blank cheque" to Austria-Hungary, promising to come to its aid should Russia interfere with its efforts to tame Serbia. But after relations between Russia and Germany soured, and as Russian troops scrambled along the Austrian border, Germany believed it had no choice to but to roll out its Schlieffen Plan — a strategy wherein France, an ally of Russia, was to be defeated prior to launching an all-out assault on Russia; the idea was to prevent a war on two fronts, which is precisely what ended up happening anyway.
Russia mobilized for several reasons. It was looking to re-assert itself after an embarrassing defeat to Japan in 1905. It was also the era of pan-Slavism, in which dreams of independent slavic states fueled aggressive foreign policies. But from a purely strategic perspective, there was no critical reason for Russia to come to Serbia's defense. The Tsar's actions turned a regional Balkan conflict into a global conflagration. But perhaps intentionally, it thwarted the plans of Austria-Hungary to expand its aging Empire into a tripartite state — the never-achieved Austro-Hungarian-Balkan League. 

terça-feira, 28 de outubro de 2014

Decálogo de Bertrand Russell

Decálogo de Bertrand Russell:
1. Não tenhas certeza absoluta de nada.
2. Não consideres que valha a pena proceder escondendo evidências, pois as evidências inevitavelmente virão à luz.
3. Nunca tentes desencorajar o pensamento, pois com certeza tu terás sucesso....
4. Quando encontrares oposição, mesmo que seja de teu cônjuge ou de tuas crianças, esforça-te para superá-la pelo argumento, e não pela autoridade, pois uma vitória que dependente da autoridade é irreal e ilusória.
5. Não tenhas respeito pela autoridade dos outros, pois há sempre autoridades contrárias a serem achadas.
6. Não uses o poder para suprimir opiniões que consideres perniciosas, pois as opiniões irão suprimir-te.
7. Não tenhas medo de possuir opiniões excêntricas, pois todas as opiniões hoje aceitas foram um dia consideradas excêntricas.
8. Encontra mais prazer em desacordo inteligente do que em concordância passiva, pois, se valorizas a inteligência como deverias, o primeiro será um acordo mais profundo que a segunda.
9. Sê escrupulosamente verdadeiro, mesmo que a verdade seja inconveniente, pois será mais inconveniente se tentares escondê-la.
10. Não tenhas inveja daqueles que vivem num paraíso dos tolos, pois apenas um tolo o consideraria um paraíso.

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