Europe v America; Cheesy songs; planners v searchers; war in Southern Sudan; torturing English and the Gazprom song: links I liked
‘what European experience actually demonstrates is that social justice and progress can go hand in hand’ Paul Krugman hits back at one of the US health reform critics’ key arguments: that a welfare state undermines economic dynamism.
Cheesy idea and corny song , but people from 156 countries simultaneously singing ‘love is all you need’ to raise awareness about HIV in Africa gets to you anyway. [h/t Richard Cunliffe]
Bill Easterly describes a brilliant planners v searchers experiment – finding 10 large red balloons spread randomly across the US. Searchers win hands down, of course,
Oxfam’s take on what could be one of the grimmest conflicts of 2010 if governments don’t act – Southern Sudan (not Darfur, the other one)
Lucy Kellaway in the FT awards prizes for torture of the English language including top cliché of the year ‘the elephant in the room’. In leading newspapers and journals alone, last year 3,700 elephants were reported as being in rooms, while in 2000 the number was only 175. [h/t Kirsty Hughes]
Lucy also links to the slightly sinister (’Don’t bother trying, you’ll never find a surer friend than Gazprom’) Gazprom corporate video. Borat lives. Still, at least they’ve never heard of greenwash.
