WEEKEND READS: Catch Up On The Best Economics And Finance Links Of The Week (DIA, SPY, SPX, QQQ) | ||
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Did you miss something on the internet this week? No matter who you are, the answer is probably yes. We’re here to help you catch up. Here’s a smattering of excellent posts, both short and long, from the last few days that make for a good weekend read. How climate change will end wine as we know it — Sandra Allen The hardest part about making a viral video of grandmas smoking weed for the first time is finding grandmas who have never smoked weed — Jack Marshall Millennials are not good at saving, but their parents were even worse — Allison Schrager Economics is a terrible profession for women — Noah Smith 'Frozen' might be everything that's wrong with the US economy — Jim Tankersley and Binyamin Appelbaum Does demography explain secular stagnation? — The Economist There's a glut in the cranberry market — Tom Moroney You can grow bananas in Iceland — Betty Wood If you enjoy Twitter, you might want to buy this print — Michelle Vaughan Cultural Interlude: In defense of the thought police — Hallie Bateman
Self promotion: How patience pays off for investors — Sam Ro Jeremy Grantham: The world doesn't have enough stuff to make it as great as we want it to be — Myles Udland Putin: There's a plus side to the economic sanctions making Russians miserable — Elena Holodny Bill Ackman just perfectly executed the "heads I win, tails you lose" trick that makes Wall Street famous — Linette Lopez The era of $100 a barrel oil is over — Tomas Hirst Why QE is the most important thing on the planet right now — Mike Bird A legal victory for strippers is bad news for the "1099 economy" — Me SEE ALSO: Why It's Important That A Georgia O'Keeffe Painting Sold For $44 Million Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Rosberg leads Hamilton in final Abu Dhabi practice | ||
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Abu Dhabi (AFP) - Nico Rosberg posted the fasted time ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in the third and final free practice Saturday for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was the first time in three attempts that Rosberg had beaten his Mercedes partner in practice. The 29-year-old German responded to Hamilton’s domination of both practice sessions on Friday with a best lap of one minute and 41.424 seconds, edging 0.369sec clear of the title favourite. Hamilton leads Rosberg by 17 points going into Sunday's race when the normal points will count double. Rosberg must win, with the British leader out of the top two, or finish second with Hamilton failing to score. If Hamilton finishes ahead he will claim his second world drivers' title. The two Mercedes men were a second clear of the field as they pursued their private duel for the drivers’ crown. Brazilian Felipe Massa was third fastest for Williams ahead of Ferrari's two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Spain in his final drive for the Italian team. Alonso had been left without any running due an electrical problem in Friday’s second practice session and took part in only half of Saturday’s hour before withdrawing to preserve his engine. His successor at Ferrari, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was fifth quickest in his Red Bull ahead of Briton Jenson Button for McLaren.
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Here's The New 'Average' Barbie Doll — She Has Stretch Marks And Cellulite And Is Coming In Time For Christmas | ||
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Meet Lammily, the new "average" Barbie doll that's challenging the toy industry and helping kids see life for what it is. After going down a storm in the US, her creator has just announced a shipping date for the toys and is also releasing stickers to make them even more realistic. (The dolls are obviously not in any way connected to the Mattel toy that they implicitly criticise.) Nickolay Lamm successfully raised more than $500,000 this year — after hoping for only $95,000 — for his vision of fashion doll with normal human body proportions. He says the dolls, 19,000 of them, starting at $25 each, will be shipped on Black Friday — in time for Christmas. In January, Lamm is launching his first batch of accessories. They're called Lammily Marks, and they replicate the various "flaws" that women might have in real life, like stretch marks and cellulite.
You can even add a mole:
The stickers also include modifiers like tattoos and spots, which the US-based artist hopes will help children better understand what real life is about. Basically, Lammily is just like every normal girl. She's a realistic representation of humans. Sometimes she gets spots:
Lamm told Business Insider he's got 25,000 dolls in stock at the moment, and wanted to further enhance the toys. "I feel that reality is cool and although it's not perfect, it's beautiful," he says. "I feel that current dolls on the market, their bodies are just so noticeably different from what we have. I'm not a psychologist but I remember there was a time in my life when I really cared about how I looked, it defined me, it was such a bad time. "When I found what I was passionate about, all those bad feelings went away because I defined myself by what I did and who I was, and not what I looked like." Here's another design, which can be added to the doll to represent an injury, or "booboo":
Lamm told Business Insider it just represents the occasional injury we get and says it highlights that life's "not perfect, but we get back up and move forward!" Here's a new video of youngsters playing with the doll:Back in spring, Lamm caused waves when he talked about promoting "realistic beauty standards". The artist feels Barbie dolls portray an unhealthy image of society and is challenging toy companies. Writing on his website after his Lammily funding campaign became a hit, he explains further: "I want to show that reality is beautiful, that life is beautiful, and there should be a line of dolls, which reflects this fact." Here's Lammily enjoying some biscuits:
And hanging out with her friend:
He has a long-term vision for the project. Future accessories may include things like books, musical instruments; activities such as gardening might be made possible; her wardrobe will be improved. Here's the official launch video:Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Bank of England 'probes money-market rigging' | ||
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London (AFP) - The Bank of England has opened a formal investigation into the possible manipulation of money-market auctions held at the start of the financial crisis and whether its officials were involved, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. The months-old probe is being conducted by the lawyer who led the Bank's investigation into the rigging of forex markets, Anthony Grabiner, and he has so far interviewed about ten Bank staff, the business daily said. The Bank said it would not provide a "running commentary" into any investigations but confirmed no action had been taken or was being considered against any of its employees. "If the bank were conducting an investigation or review of any of its activities, as it does from time to time, it would be wholly inappropriate to provide a running commentary via the press," a spokesman told AFP. "I can tell you that no actions have been taken or are currently being contemplated against any employee of the Bank." When the financial crisis hit in 2007 and 2008, concerns that major banks could not fund their debts damaged confidence in the interbank lending system, where commercial banks lend to each other. Banks were left struggling to obtain the money required to meet their day-to-day operating needs. So the Bank intervened, auctioning off billions of pounds (euros, dollars) of what were effectively short-term loans at low interest rates.
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Moscow accuses West of seeking Russia 'regime change' | ||
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Moscow (AFP) - Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday accused the West of seeking to force a regime change in Russia through sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. "The West is showing unambiguously that they do not want to force (Russia) to change policy, they want to achieve a change of regime," Lavrov told a forum of politics experts in Moscow.
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Kiev says Russia has 7,500 troops in Ukraine | ||
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Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine said Russia has thousands of troops in its conflict-ravaged east and vowed to boost its own military capacity, ratcheting up tensions Saturday after Kiev's new coalition pledged to make joining NATO a priority. The latest declarations from Ukraine's defence minister threaten to provoke fresh Russian anger as the government in the former Soviet state flags its allegiance to the West ever more clearly. Russia denies providing military support to pro-Moscow separatists fighting Ukrainian forces in the east, where nearly 1,000 people have died since a ceasefire was implemented in September. "Unfortunately, the stabilisation of the situation in the east of Ukraine does not depend only on us," Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said in a statement. "The presence of 7,500 representatives of Russian armed forces in Ukraine destabilises the situation and prevents us from stabilising it." Cash-strapped Ukraine also plans to "increase the strength of the armed forces" and boost levels of arms and equipment, Poltorak said, pledging this would take place "in the nearest time" but not giving a specific timeframe. His comments came after Ukraine's new coalition declared that joining NATO was a priority and stipulated that a law be passed by the end of the year confirming the country's intention to push for membership. The five-party coalition, agreed on Friday following October elections, features the groupings of President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and former premier Yulia Tymoshenko. NATO, a military alliance of 28 nations including the US, this week warned of a "very serious build-up" of Russian troops, artillery and air defence systems inside Ukraine and on the Russian side of the border. - More deaths despite ceasefire - In the latest batch of US assistance to Ukraine, three radar systems designed to detect incoming mortar fire were delivered Friday following a visit by Vice President Joe Biden. A total of 20 counter-mortar radar systems are due to arrive over the next few weeks and Ukrainian troops will undergo training on them from mid-December, the Pentagon said. President Barack Obama has so far ruled out providing weapons and ammunition to Ukraine and instead approved the delivery of "non-lethal" assistance such as radars, night vision goggles, and body armour. Fighting in the east since April has claimed over 4,300 lives since April, the United Nations said in a report out this week. That figure includes the 298 killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in July. In the past 24 hours, four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded in the east, security officials in Kiev said. One civilian, a 60-year-old man, was also killed in the eastern region of Lugansk on Friday, the governor's office announced. Ukraine's military on Friday accused Russia of shelling its territory for the first time since the ceasefire was signed. That came as Kiev marked a year since the start of protests on the city's Independence Square which led into the ousting of the previous pro-Moscow regime, Russia's annexation of Crimea and the conflict in the east. The current situation has plunged the West's relations with Russia to a new post-Cold War low. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Shebab Islamists claim responsibility for deadly Kenya bus attack | ||
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Nairobi (AFP) - Somalia's Shebab Islamists on Saturday claimed responsibility for a deadly bus attack in neighbouring Kenya in which gunmen slaughtered 28 non-Muslim passengers. A spokesman for the Islamists said the attack was in revenge for raids that Kenyan security forces carried out over the past week on mosques in the port city of Mombasa. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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