kindergarteners' social-emotional skills

今天在美國公衛期刊發表的一篇文章提到，在20年前在美國三個地區，對753個5歲的小孩子(已經盡量排除家庭社經能力的差異),進行長時間的追蹤研究，20年以後的現在，得到的研究結果是，如果5，6歲的小孩子的社交情緒能力 (social-emotional skills)很強, 不論他(她)們的教育結果和智商如何，以後進入大學和找到工作的概率，比在5，6歲時候的社交情緒能力差的小孩，要強很多，可能高達4倍之多。  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/want-your-kids-to-go-to-college-and-get-a-job-make-sure-they-learn-how-to-share-in-kindergarten/2015/07/16/4c30726a-2b4e-11e5-a250-42bd812efc09_story.html

competition in globalization

最近一期時代雜誌報導, 在2009年，經濟衰退的最高峰時候，希臘政府因為缺錢，和中國政府簽下35年的賣身契，將Piraeus這個有兩千五百年歷史的港口，三個碼頭中的兩個租給中國經營，一個留給自己用。 結果這幾年來，這兩個中國經營的碼頭，吞吐量增加一倍，而希臘經營的碼頭卻縮減了三分之二的吞吐量。 全球化的激烈競爭， 使得我們這一代 "以前是這樣,現在為什麼不可以" 的觀念, 已經完全不適用了。http://time.com/3951187/greece-tempts-the-fates/

sequel of "to kill a mockingbird"

On this coming Tuesday, a sequel to the magnum opus, "to kill a mockingbird", will be published. I still remembered vividly, even after 50 years, the touching scene when the upright lawyer, Atticus Finch (played by Gregory Peck), despondently walked out of courtroom while all black people on the gallery stood up to show their respect. Now, this sequel totally upends this indelible image since Atticus Finch was a racist as revealed in this sequel. Though this is a fiction, "to kill a mockingbird" is a book that all U.S. school children have been required to read in the last 50 years, its impact will be enormous, especially in this era of racial conflicts.

income substitution rate

最近看到很多年金改革的新聞，大部分退休人員的所得替代率都超過5成，甚至超過八成。這在美國是很難想像的。 在美國每次的薪水都一定要扣6.2%的社會福利金和1.45%到65歲以後才能享受的老人醫療保險. 62歲以前不准拿退休金，66歲又兩個月才能夠拿全額退休金，而且要工作滿35年。 如果只有工作25年，那剩下十年的薪水全部以零計算。即使像這樣的社會福利基金制度，也將在不久的將來破產。 下面兩張圖表是根據美國社會安全福利局的公式算出來的。(美國去年的國民所得平均五萬五千美元)  

Superbugs resistant to all antibiotics

Value of human life is always eclipsed by the concern of profit. No pharmaceutical companies have done serious R&D on the new antibiotics to attack the two superbugs, NDM-1 and KPC. In 2011, KPC bacteria killed 12 patients inside the state-of-the-art NIH clinical center in Maryland, USA. NDM-1 and KPC are still lurking all around the whole world and prepare to launch another bout of outbreak.   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hunting-the-nightmare-bacteria/

plutocratic dog with two gold Apple watches

Perks enjoyed by dogs in the super-rich Chinese family? Two gold Apple watches owned by this "lucky" Alaskan husky (愛基斯摩狗).  dog wearing two gold Apple watches

wealth distribution in Taiwan and U.S.

台灣最富有的5%佔全國財富的25.3% 美國更嚇人, 全國最富有的1%就佔全國財富的39.8%