GUN LAWS AND MURDER RATES

America Is a Violent Country

JUL 20TH, 2012  From Kieran Healy  http://www.kieranhealy.org/blog/

The terrible events in Colorado this morning prompted me to update a post about comparative death rates from assault across different societies. The following figures are from the OECD for deaths due to assault per 100,000 population from 1960 to the present. As before, the most striking features of the data are (1) how much more violent the U.S. is than other OECD countries (except possibly Estonia and Mexico, not shown here), and (2) the degree of change—and recently, decline—there has been in the U.S. time series considered by itself. Note that “assault” as a cause of death does not distinguish the mechanism of death (gunshot, stabbing, etc.). If anyone knows of a similar time series for homicides specifically, let me know.

Peter’s Comment

The difference is guns. America has one of the easiest accesses to guns laws in the world.

Americans buy guns for protection but it rarely works out that way.

A typical ratio of gun murders to total murders in most countries is less than 50% involving guns. The USA has a similar rate of non-gun murders. However, because of easy access to guns the statistics show that the higher overall murder rate is attributed entirely to guns.

Think about the countless mass shootings. What other murder means could render such horrendous statistics? Strangulation, stabbing, bashing? Could any of those means take a toll of dozens of lives in minutes the way shooting can?

America has a high murder rate because too many people buy guns for protection and others buy guns because they a military nutters.

Here in New Zealand our murder rate is low and getting lower. We have laws which impose very tight controls on sporting weapons and it is virtually impossible to get a firearm for any other purpose. Even our police don’t carry guns except in special circumstances.

America, get rid of your guns and your country will be safer.

HIGHWAY AMERICA

TRUCKING IN OUTBACK AUSTRALIA

Road Train life not for everyone

It takes a special kind of man, or woman, to drive in Australia's harsh outback where there are no towns and no backup when the chips are down.

Watch the video, listen to the Outback drawl and see if it's a job you could do. Australia needs experienced drivers, like the one in the video.

The advice about avoiding kangaroos is sound. I know from personal experience.

http://youtu.be/5gWFsFnswLs

BERLIN WALL TO BE REBUILT

Cash-strapped Berlin stalked by 540-year-old debt

Reuters – 15 hours ago

BERLIN (Reuters) - The sleepy hamlet of Mittenwalde in eastern Germany could become one of the richest towns in the world if Berlin were to repay it an outstanding debt that dates back to 1562.

A certificate of debt, found in a regional archive, attests that Mittenwalde lent Berlin 400 guilders on May 28 1562, to be repaid with six percent interest per year.

According to Radio Berlin Brandenburg (RBB), the debt would amount to 11,200 guilders today, which is roughly equivalent to 112 million euros ($136.79 million).

Adjusting for compound interest and inflation, the total debt now lies in the trillions, by RBB's estimates.

Town historian Vera Schmidt found the centuries-old debt slip in the archive, where it had been filed in 1963. Though the seal is missing from the document, Schmidt told Reuters that she was certain the slip was still valid.

"In 1893 there was a debate in which the document was examined and the writing was determined to be authentic," Schmidt said.

Schmidt and Mittenwalde's Mayor Uwe Pfeiffer have tried to ask Berlin for their money back. Such requests have been made every 50 years or so since 1820 but always to no avail.

Reclaiming the debt would bring significant riches to Mittenwalde, a seat of power in the middle ages, which now has a population of just 8,800. Red brick fragments of medieval fortifications still dot the leafy town center.

The town's Romanesque church was once the provost seat for Paul Gerhardt, one of Germany's most prolific hymn writers. Gerhardt, who lived there briefly in the 17th century, is the only noted Mittenwalde resident to date.

Schmidt and Pfeiffer met with Berlin's finance senator Ulrich Nussbaum, who ceremonially handed them a historical guilder from 1539. The guilder was put in a temporary display at the Mittenwalde museum.

"This case shows that debts always catch up with you, no matter how old they are," Nussbaum told the Berliner Zeitung paper.

The debt-laden German capital would have difficulty meeting Mittenwalde's demands anyway. According to a report released by the senate finance administration in June 2012, Berlin is already close to 63 million euros in the red.

(Reporting by Sophie Duvernoy, editing by Paul Casciato)

@YahooNZBusiness 

Peter's Comment

So it's true. The Berlin Wall is to be rebuilt to keep out the debt collectors.

http://www.gypsybooks.co.nz

https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Peter+Blakeborough

NO RECESSION IN PERU

Lima, Peru

Peru Economic Activity Increased 6.47 Percent In May
by Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES Thursday, July 19, 2012

Peru’s economy grew by 6.47 percent in May, which was higher than economic growth a month earlier, as domestic demand remained strong and also the demand abroad for non-traditional products.

Peru’s national statistics bureau, INEI, said the construction sector rose 15.8 percent in May, boosted by domestic consumption of cement and progress in works in the mining sector, shopping malls, industrial units and road infrastructure.

The agriculture sector gained 7.75 percent in May, while the restaurant and hotel industry rose 8.8 percent.

Finance and insurance sector activity rose 6.83 percent, while transportation and communications increased 6.33 percent. Commerce grew by 6.47 percent and electricity and water rose 5.34 percent in May.

The manufacturing sector rose 2.69 percent in May, while mining and hydrocarbon activity gained 1.28 percent. Fishing activity was the only sector that saw declines, down 7.63 percent in May, according to the government.

In April, Peru’s economy expanded by 4.37 percent, while a number of economists expect it to grow 6 percent in 2012.

Peter’s Comment

Who said there is a worldwide recession? I doesn’t seem to have hit Peru yet.

However, their figures appear a little misleading. I’m sure it was never intending that the quoted monthly economic growth rate should be multiplied by 12. The percentage increase for May has already been adjusted to show an annual rate of 7.75%. That’s still pretty good.

http://www.gypsybooks.co.nz

https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Peter+Blakeborough

DRUG ADDICTION

Bottom of Form

Drug decriminalization in Portugal decreases number of addicts

After 11 years, the effectiveness of the policy has been measured.

Samuel Blackstone, Business Insider July 18, 2012 16:50

A TV cameraman records the three-ton cocaine seizure on
February 3, 2006 in Braga, northern Portugal. Many nations
thinking about decriminalizing drugs may look to
Portugal as an example.
(Miguel Riopa /AFP/Getty Images)

On July 1, 2001, Portugal decriminalized every imaginable drug, from marijuana, to cocaine, to heroin. Some thought Lisbon would become a drug tourist haven, others predicted usage rates among youths to surge.

Eleven years later, it turns out they were both wrong.

Over a decade has passed since Portugal changed its philosophy from labeling drug users as criminals to labeling them as people affected by a disease. This time lapse has allowed statistics to develop and in time, has made Portugal an example to follow.

First, some clarification.

Portugal's move to decriminalize does not mean people can carry around, use, and sell drugs free from police interference. That would be legalization. Rather, all drugs are "decriminalized," meaning drug possession, distribution, and use is still illegal. While distribution and trafficking is still a criminal offense, possession and use is moved out of criminal courts and into a special court where each offender's unique situation is judged by legal experts, psychologists, and social workers. Treatment and further action is decided in these courts, where addicts and drug use is treated as a public health service rather than referring it to the justice system (like the US), reports Fox News.

Peter’s Comment

The drug policies of most countries, including New Zealand, are not working in spite of billions of dollars budgeted worldwide trying to beat the problem.

Perhaps Portugal has the answer. A radically different approach is certainly needed.

Treating drug addiction as a disease is an enlightened policy and most people would understand that no amount of punishment will ever cure sickness or disease.

The Asker Trilogy

TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Tombstone, Arizona

If you are cruising Interstate 10 in Arizona just east of Tucson there is a great little scenic detour that you can take when you get to Benson.

Tombstone founder
Ed Schiefflin

Go south on Route 80 for about 20 miles (31 kilometers) and you will come to historic Tombstone, famous for its Boot Hill cemetery and the 1881 Gunfight at the O. K. Corral.

Tombstone was founded in 1879 by mining prospector Ed Schieffelin. He was warned that if he ventured into areas occupied by Apache Indians the only stone he would get would be a tombstone. So he called the place Tombstone.

Schiefflin found silver, a town sprung up and by 1881 there was a population of 14,000. Tombstone had two banks, three newspapers, 110 saloons, 14 gambling halls and an array of shops and theaters.

But there was conflict in the town and county. The town and the county each had its own cowboy enforcers with the Earp brothers (five of them) on one side and the McLaurys and some ring-ins on the other side.

The conflict quickly escalated into open warfare with a climax that became famous as The Gunfight at the OK Corral. Within 30 seconds Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton were dead. Surviving the shoot-out were the Earp brothers; Virgil, Wyatt and Morgan. Morgan was later killed and Wyatt was injured in reprisal raids.

After the Earps left Arizona Territory the next year the county sheriff hired 15 year-old gunslinger Burt Alford to bring order to the town, which he did for three years until overtaken by drink.

The main industry in Tombstone now is tourism.

Boot Hill cemetery got its name from the fact many of its now quiet residents were tough guys who died with their boots on.

A famous epitaph stands over the remains of Les (Lester) Moore and reads:

HERE LIES LES MOORE,
FOUR SLUGS FROM A FORTY-FOUR,
NO LES NO MORE

Photos courtesy of TombstoneWeb.com: http://www.tombstoneweb.com/

HOW TO BE A BETTER MANAGER

The Essential Psychology Books for Business Students 

From Alissa Alvarez and OnlineMBA.com http://www.onlinemba.com/ July 16, 2012

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You may have aced your courses in finance, business law, and management, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready to head out into the business world just yet. A well-rounded business education should also include the study of psychology, because an understanding of the human mind and human behavior can make the difference between success and failure in any kind of business venture, from finding investors to managing employees.

Knowing how to be persuasive, make hard decisions, motivate others, and work within a group are all essential skills in the business world, and they’re practices that have been the subject of much psychological research and writing, the most accessible of which can be incredibly enlightening for future businesspeople. If you don’t have time to take a course in business psychology, consider reading one, a few, or all of these books that are related to the topic. You’re bound to find some powerful insights into the human mind that will make it easier to get where you want to go in your career.

·         Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D.:

Knowing how to persuade others is at the heart of being successful in business. You’ll need the skill to get funding, lead, and sell products and services, so read up on some of the most revealing studies on influence and persuasion in this classic pop-psych tome.

·         Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour by Eugene McKenna: If you need a textbook on the ins and outs of business psychology, this is a great choice, regardless of whether you’re enrolled in a business psych course. It’s a great place to get foundational knowledge and could give you some business-focused tips on understanding human behavior and motivations.

·         Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek: Ever wonder why some leaders can get people to do what they want while others struggle? It may boil down to simple psychology, as you’ll learn in this book from Simon Sinek. Sinek offers insights into what communication methods great managers and business leaders use that really deliver results.

·         The Winner’s Brain: 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Success by Jeff Brown, Liz Neporent, and Mark Fenske: Your brain is more than just another organ in your body, as it controls everything that you do from breathing to complex mathematical calculations. Yet your brain can also hold you back, as these authors demonstrate that a large part of success is really all in your head.

·         The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar:

In business, you’re going to have to make a lot of choices, some of them pretty tough, but do you ever stop to think about why you make the choices you do? This book examines the psychology behind choice and may help you to be more conscious of even the small decisions you make, as they can have far-reaching consequences.

·         Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath: Get advice from this dynamic brotherly duo on how to make difficult changes in your life or your company with greater ease, defeating the innate predilection for comfort to help you make changes for the better.

·         Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Dan Pink: You might think you understand what motivates you and your employees, but this book will likely show you that you don’t know the whole truth. The psychology behind motivation is often much more complex than we allow for, and this book offers some great lessons that will help you be a more effective leader and manager.

·         The Human Side of Enterprise by Douglas McGregor: This management classic was first published in 1960, and despite all that has happened since, it still holds a lot of wisdom for modern managers. This expanded edition holds not only McGregor’s original text, but also stories of how today’s business leaders are applying his strategies, based in motivation psychology, with great success.

·         The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowieki: We tend to think of the mob mentality as being a bad thing, but this book will show you that that’s not always the case. Your employees, when working together, can often be a much wiser, more powerful, and productive force than when working independently.

·         The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor:

If you’re not familiar with positive psychology, this book can be a great primer, showing you how to apply many of its central principles to your life at work, making you happier and ultimately more successful, even when the going gets tough.

·         Power, Influence, and Persuasion: Sell Your Ideas and Make Things Happen by Harvard Business School Press: This is another great read on understanding the psychology of persuasion. Let Harvard Business School experts teach you how to command attention, change minds, influence decision-making, and more.

·         The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg: While patterns and habits get a bad rap, they can be a boon for businesses that are savvy enough to realize they exist. Duhigg explains how some of the most successful businesses and products simply capitalized on or transformed existing patterns, making this an enlightening read for any prospective entrepreneur.

·         The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible by Brian Tracy:In business, you’re always selling something, even if you’re not a salesman. You sell your ideas, your expertise, and even yourself to potential employers, so you had better be good at doing it. Learn some of the essential psychological tricks behind successful sales from Brian Tracy in this book.

·         Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck:It’s not hard to see how what you think can influence your reality or at least your perception of it. In this book, psychologist Dr. Dweck explains how establishing a positive mindset is as essential to success as talent and ability.

·         The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help–or Hurt–How You Lead by Carol Kinsey Goman:

You might not be saying anything, but your body language may be speaking volumes. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, and management theory, Carol Kinsey Goman can help instruct you to be more aware of your body language and to be better at reading that of others.

·         Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath:In order to get a business off of the ground, you have to have your idea stick, yet it can be hard to figure out just what makes an idea so “sticky” in the first place. This book will shed some light on the matter, using the theory of memory, the human scale principle, and a little something called curiosity gaps to explain why some ideas live on while others die.

·         Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely: Think your decisions are perfectly rational? Think again. Dan Ariely explains some of the unconscious factors at play when we’re trying to make decisions, which could have a big impact on your success (or failure) at work.

·         The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home by Dan Ariely:In this sequel of sorts to his previous book, Ariely explains why being irrational isn’t always a bad thing, explaining some of the surprisingly positive effects (though some negative, too) that our predictably irrational decisions can have on our lives.

·         Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently by John C. Maxwell: It’s easy to talk but much more difficult to really be heard; at least that’s the lesson that Maxwell is trying show here. He offers up some great practices that can help you take advantage of human nature to become a better communicator and leader.

·         A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness by S. Nassir Ghaemi:

Sometimes, qualities that come along with mood disorders or other mental illnesses, also lend themselves to great leadership, especially under pressure. In this book, you’ll learn about the connections between mental illness and greatness in some of the world’s most famous leaders, perhaps changing how you think about qualities you had previously regarded as weaknesses.

·         Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky: In today’s world, it’s impossible to operate without harnessing the power of the web. In this book, you’ll learn more about the new ways that people are organizing, cooperating, and joining up by using the Internet, changing some of the basics of social interactions. A great primer for anyone looking to learn more about marketing.

·         Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin: Sometimes, becoming indispensable at a business has a lot to do with being able to think differently than others. In this book, you’ll learn how to set yourself apart and what qualities you can cultivate to change how others see your role in a business.

·         Entrepreneurial DNA: The Breakthrough Discovery that Aligns Your Business to Your Unique Strengths by Joe Abraham: Entrepreneurs are a much more diverse group and there’s a much wider range of talents and abilities that lead to success than we are often led to believe. Learn how your brain is hardwired for entrepreneurship and how you can capitalize on your own talents for business.

·         How to Click with People: The Secret to Better Relationships in Business and in Life by Rick Kirschner:

One of the benefits of knowing a bit about psychology is getting better at interacting with others in personal and professional relationships, and this book offers some helpful guidelines for doing just that.

Peter’s Comment

From my experience, men and women aspiring to be managers must first know how to manage themselves.

In management there will always be pressure and when the pressure is on, logic and reasoning can quickly fly out the window.

Some people have a natural ability to manage, while others have to make an effort to learn their management skills. But every manager can be a better manager with study.

http://www.gypsybooks.co.nz

https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Peter+Blakeborough