The Realist Idealist

Just above Ben Stein’s column in yesterday’s Sunday Times (telling us that things really aren’t that bad in our nation’s economy …Bueller? Bueller? …anyone?) was a piece by Alan Blinder with the title “A Modest Proposal: Eco Friendly Stimulus”

The gist of Blinder’s proposal can be boiled down to providing “cash” to low-income Americans for their [...]

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“The current race is to see who will control renewable energy technologies, and we are in the race,” Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil told reporters. “We have the human and financial resources, and we have the will.”
Minister Khelil’s statement was made in the recent announcement that Algeria is undertaking a massive initiative to generate enough [...]

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Why and how have banks made half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income?
In keeping with the recent Realist Idealist theme of sharing information that has been incredibly useful in my understanding of the world, its history, its processes, and how things have unfolded (so that we can do something about it [...]

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I just finished Walter Isaacson’s biography of Benjamin Franklin this weekend, and without knowing exactly how to say this, I’ll simply say that I was completely inspired.  “Inspired” is quite an understatement actually.  I found myself at times with chills running through my body as Isaacson described the various successes and challenges Franklin faced throughout [...]

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This six part series by Richard Behar of Fast Company entitled “China in Africa” is the single best piece of investigative journalism I’ve read in months. Maybe years. Maybe ever.

Behar breaks down and brilliantly weaves the geo-political, business, governmental, community, historical, and personality issues that plague a handful of resource-rich countries across the sub-Saharan [...]

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