Hans Rosling on Global Development

Came across this video presentation today, and totally geeked out! This is another look at the issues of global development, population, and health that most classes have been examining at the end of this semester. Very interesting look!

Centraal Station Antwerpen gaat uit zijn dak!

This video was sent to me by student John Dixon. This highlights items similar to contagion theory and collective behavior.

A similar phenomenon to this video here is called "flash mobs". Read a bit from wikipedia here.

A highly popular flash mob can be seen here, and here.

Interesting stuff!

Happy Earth Day?

Shopping Our Way to Safety: Sociology professor Andrew Szasz says 'buying green' may be lulling consumers into a false sense of security

A good article citing Sociologist Andrew Szasz regarding 'buying green' and false sense of security.

Bottom line: if we are to sincerely address environmental issues, we have got to focus on large scale infrastructure change.  Recycling cans and going green is not gonna make it happen.

When Did Your County's Jobs Disappear?

An interactive map of vanishing employment across the country. - By Chris Wilson - Slate Magazine

This is an awesome interactive map.  There is so much information to be discerned regarding job gain/loss over time, by county across the United States.

Durban Review Conference: Issues of International Inequality

This is the webpage of archived videos from the Durban Review Conference.  There are some fantastic insights into racial inequality from viewpoints around the world.

Must have Real Player installed to watch (and can be downloaded for free when prompted).

Try "Voices:everyone affected by racism has a story that should be heard".

The Beauty Breakdown

The True Cost of Lifetime Beauty Care

This is a wonderful interactive graphic from Newsweek about beauty and the modern girl/woman.

What norms lead girls and women to spend so much money on beauty and cosmetic products?

"China's birth limits create dangerous gender gap"

China's birth limits create dangerous gender gap

The news report above was sent to me by soc student, S. Tanner. 

After reading the article, what else is assumed about violent crime as it relates to men and women? 

Lastly, 5 extra credit points to the first student that can go to the Population Reference Bureau website, and post as a comment to this post the following information:

*  the top five most populated countries in the world
and
*  the number living in each of those countries

To Tweet or Not to Tweet Presentation

Keep in mind I have been sick with the flu the past three weeks. So cut me some slack!

The video watched in this presentation can be found here: Michael Wesch's Information R/evolution

Social Media is About Sociology not Technology

In light of the changes in society we've recently discussed in the Intro classes, this blog post from Brian Solis provides a clear understanding about the significance of Twitter, Facebook, etc...relationships between people.

Question:  Do you think social networking tools such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogs, and others will become important parts of our lives?  What function do they serve?

Pregnancy, poverty, and identity

Sociology professor delves into why poor women find redemption in having a baby | The Columbia Daily Tribune - Columbia, MO

The story above has highlights from some interesting research around poverty, pregnancy, and identity.

One question to consider:  why would having a child increase the sense of purpose for poor women more so than middle or upper class women?

Just a photo I saw, that made me think...

This pic appeared on the front page of one of the primary sections of today's local paper.

First of all, social service agencies and volunteers do what they can to provide skills training and education development to the inmate population.

But, this picture brings several questions to mind. The first I will pose: Is this an effort to train inmates to be circus clowns? This image strikes me in many ways.

What other questions does it bring up?

Did You Know Resources

I received a question today about whether the information in the Did You Know video were facts.

Here are some interesting links to the authors of the presentation. They are reputable folks, and yes I take the data to be accurate.

Karl Fisch

Scott McLeod

Public Knows Basic Facts About Financial Crisis

(Click image to enlarge)

Just saw this from the Pew Research Center; research regarding public awareness of the current financial crisis.

These numbers surprise you? They do me, seems like many folks in the U.S. are following along.

Early Childhood Investment in KY

The information to the side comes from a recent release from the Horizon report from the Kentucky Long Range Policy Research Center.

(Click the picture to see a larger version)

What is meant by "cost/benefits/rate-of-return analysis using human capital theory"?

What would investment in early childhood education look like? How do you think that that investment yield positive results?

Go here for a search on human capital theory economics