Sunday 19 July 2009

Ascent of Money

PBS is airing a very good documentary series on the history of money, the markets and financial history in general. The Ascent of Money is available online from PBS.org:

Sunday 3 May 2009

Drop by Drop....

“Damlaya damlaya göl olur” means “Drop by drop you can build a lake.” in Turkish, according to this article on Wisebread.com.

Thursday 23 April 2009

Happy Thursday: Great Day

I start my day with breakfast, some webcomics and some inspiration. One of my favourite websites to hit first thing each morning is Great Day... a bit of motivation, inspiration and positivity to start my day off right.

Thursday 16 April 2009

Happy Thursday: Susan Boyle

OK... unless you've been on vacation or completely disconnected from the net, the media and news sources in general, you will undoubtedly have heard about Susan Boyle. She's a 47 year old, church-going singer from the remote backwaters of Scotland who wowed Simon Cowel and friends at Saturday night's airing of Britain's Got Talent. She may not look like a superstar, but she has the voice of someone who should be one.

At the time of writing, this youtube video had just over 12 million hits.

I get shivers whenever I watch this video. Susan: You go, Girl! You are an inspiration to us all!

Wednesday 11 March 2009

50 years of poppadoms: A microfinance success story

If you thought that microfinance was a relatively new concept associated only with Kiva.org and Grameen, here's a story of seven women who, with an 80 rupee loan (currently $1.50 USD or $2.00 CAD), some initiative and lots of hard work, created a business cooperative called Lijjat Papads that now employs 45,000 women in India.

The original BBC story is here.

That original 80 rupee loan (about $2.00 CDN today) is a tiny amount of money that has had an amazing positive influence on the lives of thousands of people.

As we sit in our first world homes, grousing about the economic downturn and market crises and the like, let's take a step back for a moment and consider the amount of good that can be done with few resources...

Friday 6 February 2009

Snow joy

Caught this clip on the BBC website... looks like fun!

Tuesday 20 January 2009

The audacity to hope

I was fortunate enough to be able to be at home today to watch the broadcast of Barak Obama's inauguration festivities. While I do not envy the huge tasks ahead of him (and the even huger expectations on him), I could not help but feel hopeful at his confidence, his charisma, his eloquence and the grace with which he delivered his first official message to the world.

Particularly poignant: "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

New regime, new year, new challenges and the audacity to have hope. 2009 will be a memorable year!