Ownership

A primer on measuring household income

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 19, 2024

But not all components of income generate a positive cash flow for households.

Key Points: 
  • But not all components of income generate a positive cash flow for households.
  • One indicator of growth in household income that comes closer to household perceptions is compensation of employees.

Press release - Economic governance reform: improving credibility, ownership and scope to invest

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 17, 2024

It replaces the regulation on multilateral budgetary surveillance, the so-called ‘preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact’ and contains substantial changes to the Commission’s original proposal.

Key Points: 
  • It replaces the regulation on multilateral budgetary surveillance, the so-called ‘preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact’ and contains substantial changes to the Commission’s original proposal.
  • The mandate was prepared by the co-rapporteurs Esther De Lange (EPP, NL) and Margarida Marques (S&D, PT).
  • Two other texts complete the overhaul of the framework of the EU’s economic governance.
  • These are necessary to ensure EU governments respect the requirements of economic and monetary union and do not run excessive deficits.

A raunchy new 'Big History' tells the story of sex, but raises some unanswered questions

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

The book is one of the latest additions to the popular “Big History” genre.

Key Points: 
  • The book is one of the latest additions to the popular “Big History” genre.
  • Baker is a science writer with a PhD in Big History and one of the writers behind the Big History Crash Course on YouTube.
  • Sex: Two Billion Years of Procreation and Recreation – David Christian (Black Inc.) The book is divided into three sections.
  • This development was followed by the rapid appearance of diverse animal species, from fish and amphibians to reptiles, insects, dinosaurs, birds and mammals.
  • The final section, Cultural Afterglow, which extends from 315,000 years ago to the present, traces the history of Homo sapiens from hunter-gatherers, to the first agrarian societies, and on to the present day.
  • Read more:
    Sex and the single gene: new research shows a genetic ‘master switch’ determines sex in most animals

Evolution

  • But to weave his “grand narrative of sex” he also anthropomorphises reproduction of even the earliest living organisms.
  • His argument is that asexual reproduction at this time of catastrophic climatic conditions was causing overpopulation and that sexual reproduction would slow population growth.
  • A few pages later, he writes “furthermore, sex bequeathed upon those hardy, horny eukaryotes the potential for rapid evolution into increasingly complex species”.
  • The long bow being drawn between “sexual” behaviour involving the first exchange of DNA by single-celled organisms and the first modern humans is long indeed.
  • He notes differences in anatomy and genital size, and considers variations in practices such as masturbation and sexual partnering, including polygamy, monogamy, promiscuity, homosexual and bisexual behaviour.
  • He delves into the issues of pleasure, romantic love and parenting, and related forms of social organisation, such as patriarchy and matriarchy.
  • It is, however, the evolution of human culture that radically changes everything.

The future of sex

  • Informing some of Baker’s thinking are statistics about the number of Millennials “projected to never get married in their lifetimes” and the decline in rates of casual sex.
  • It would involve more hook-ups and the growing replacement of human-to-human sex with sex dolls and bots.
  • In a “possible future”, he considers how internet technology might lead to virtual, AI-driven partnered sex.
  • Finally, in a “preposterous future”, he suggests that sex could cease to be important to living organisms at all.
  • While Baker’s deliberations are interesting and worth pondering, it is difficult to accept his claim that “the liberalisation of attitudes towards sex has released human sexuality from the grip of culture”.
  • The “grip of culture” is still ever-present in the policing of female sexual behaviour, which continues to the present day the world over.
  • While there is an impressive list of references at the end of the book, Baker admits that many of the beliefs he shares about the evolution of sex are not certain.
  • If Baker’s book helps this endeavour by getting us to think about human sexuality more deeply, then it will prove worthwhile.


Melissa Kang has received research funding from government grant schemes (including the NHMRC and ARC). She is the co-author of books and book chapters about adolescent sexuality and adolescent health.

ESMA to put cyber risk as a new Union Strategic Supervisory Priority

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, November 9, 2023

ESMA to put cyber risk as a new Union Strategic Supervisory Priority

Key Points: 
  • ESMA to put cyber risk as a new Union Strategic Supervisory Priority
    The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, is changing its Union Strategic Supervisory Priorities (USSPs) to focus on cyber risk and digital resilience alongside ESG disclosures.
  • With this new priority, EU supervisors will put greater emphasis on reinforcing firms’ ICT risk management through close monitoring and supervisory actions, building new supervisory capacity and expertise.
  • Meanwhile, ESMA and national competent authorities (NCAs) will carry out preparatory work planning and shaping the supervisory activities to undertake under this priority.
  • Paying close attention to this topic remains fundamental in building a data-driven supervisory approach, a key strategic objective under the ESMA Strategy.

Ice hockey player Johnson dies after neck cut

Retrieved on: 
Sunday, October 29, 2023

Adam Johnson: Nottingham Panthers forward dies after neck cut in Challenge Cup match

Key Points: 
  • Adam Johnson: Nottingham Panthers forward dies after neck cut in Challenge Cup match
    Last updated on .From the section Ice hockey
    Nottingham Panthers forward Adam Johnson has died after suffering a serious cut to his neck from a skate during Saturday's Challenge Cup match.
  • "Adam, our number 47, was not only an outstanding ice hockey player, but also a great team-mate and an incredible person with his whole life ahead of him.
  • The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) confirmed Sunday's matches across the UK have been postponed "in light of this deeply upsetting news".
  • Johnson previously played in North America's National Hockey League (NHL), playing 13 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Gun deaths among children and teens have soared – but there are ways to reverse the trend

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Firearm injuries are now the leading cause of death among U.S. children and teens following a huge decadelong rise.

Key Points: 
  • Firearm injuries are now the leading cause of death among U.S. children and teens following a huge decadelong rise.
  • Analyses published on Oct. 5, 2023, by a research team in Boston found an 87% increase in firearm-involved fatalities among Americans under the age of 18 from 2011 to 2021.

Trends in firearm deaths

    • This data also provides information on whether firearm deaths were the result of homicide, suicide or unintentional shootings.
    • Whereas the proportion of youth firearm-involved deaths due to unintentional shootings is typically highest during childhood, the share of gun deaths due to suicide peaks in adolescence.
    • Racial disparities in firearm deaths, which have been present for multiple generations, are also expanding, research shows.
    • More research is needed to fully understand why firearm-involved deaths are universally increasing across homicide, suicide and unintentional deaths.

How to reduce gun fatalities

    • Data shows that only one-third of firearm-owning households with teens in the U.S. currently store all their firearms unloaded and locked.
    • Reducing the number of young people who carry and use firearms in risky ways is another key step to prevent firearm deaths among children and teens.
    • Existing hospital- and community-based prevention services support this work by identifying and enrolling youth at risk in programs that reduce violence involvement, the carrying of firearms and risky firearm behaviors.

Support structures

    • In addition to ongoing focused prevention efforts, hospital-, school- and community-based interventions that support youth in advancing social, emotional, mental, physical and financial health can reduce the risk of firearm deaths.
    • Allocating resources toward these initiatives is an investment in every community member’s safety.
    • Over the past decade, we have seen an 87% increase in firearm-involved fatalities among children and teens in the United States.

Gangsters are the villains in 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' but the biggest thief of Native American wealth was the US government

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

White settlers targeted members of the Osage Nation to steal their land and the riches beneath it.

Key Points: 
  • White settlers targeted members of the Osage Nation to steal their land and the riches beneath it.
  • From the early 1800s through the 1930s, official U.S. policy displaced thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homes through the policy known as Indian removal.
  • But it failed to account for these trust funds for decades, let alone pay Indians what they were due.
  • From my perspective, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is just one chapter in a much larger story: The U.S. was built on stolen lands and wealth.

Westward expansion and land theft

    • In fact, hundreds of Native nations already lived on those lands, each with their own unique forms of government, culture and language.
    • In the early 1800s, eastern cities were growing and dense urban centers were becoming unwieldy.
    • But the most pernicious land grab was yet to come.

The General Allotment Act

    • Then, in 1887, it passed the General Allotment Act, also known as the Dawes Act.
    • With this law, U.S. policy toward Indians shifted from separation to assimilation – forcibly integrating Indians into the national population.
    • The General Allotment Act was designed to divvy up reservation lands into allotments for individual Indians and open any unallotted lands, which were deemed surplus, to non-Indian settlement.
    • Once this happened, the allotment was subject to taxation and could immediately be sold.

Legal cultural genocide

    • Indian allottees often had little concept of farming and even less ability to manage their newly acquired lands.
    • Even after being confined to western reservations, many tribes had maintained their traditional governance structures and tried to preserve their cultural and religious practices, including communal ownership of property.
    • In total, allotment removed 90 million acres of land from Indian control before the policy ended in the mid-1930s.

A measure of justice

    • The federal government owns title to the lands, but holds them in trust for Indian tribes and individuals.
    • These lands contain many valuable resources, including oil, gas, timber and minerals.
    • But rather than acting as a steward of Indian interests in these resources, the U.S. government has repeatedly failed in its trust obligations.
    • After 16 years of litigation, the suit was settled in 2009 for roughly US$3.4 billion.

Who are the wolves?

    • “Can you find the wolves in this picture?” It’s clear from the movie that the town’s citizens are the wolves.
    • But the biggest wolf of all is the federal government itself – and Uncle Sam is nowhere to be seen.

The EBA publishes 2023 list of third country groups and third country branches operating in the EU/EEA

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

The EBA publishes 2023 list of third country groups and third country branches operating in the EU/EEA

Key Points: 
  • The EBA publishes 2023 list of third country groups and third country branches operating in the EU/EEA
    04 October 2023
    The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today the updated list of all third country groups (TCGs) with intermediate EU parent undertakings IPU(s), where applicable, and the list of all third country branches (TCBs) operating in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA).
  • This publication ensures that market participants have clarity on the direct ownership of the involved institutions.
  • In the course of the 2023 exercise, 461 TCGs from 47 third countries have been identified as operational in the EU/EEA.
  • Moreover, 65 TCGs have branches in the EU/EEA with a total of 105 third country branches of credit institutions operating in the EU/EEA.

Bradford birthplace of Brontë sisters goes up for sale

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 16, 2023

Bradford birthplace of Brontë sisters goes up for sale

Key Points: 
  • Bradford birthplace of Brontë sisters goes up for sale
    - Published
    The birthplace of the famous Brontë sisters has gone up for sale, with campaigners saying they hope to take it into community ownership.
  • Since launching on 9 October, the Brontë Birthplace Committee's appeal has already raised nearly £20,000.
  • Brontë Birthplace Committee vice-chair Steve Stanworth said: "Three world famous authors were born in this property.
  • Campaigners said the site would complement Thornton's Brontë Bell Chapel, where Patrick Brontë gave his sermons, and St James Church, where the sisters were baptised.

How Europe’s authoritarian populists maintain the illusion of a free press

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Authoritarian leaders might be good at damaging democracy, but unless they are pure dictators they often still need to worry about winning elections.

Key Points: 
  • Authoritarian leaders might be good at damaging democracy, but unless they are pure dictators they often still need to worry about winning elections.
  • In the last few years, Europe has seen the rise of a number of authoritarian populists who rely on winning mass support among ordinary people – as opposed to just rigging the vote.
  • It’s similar in many countries presided over by authoritarian populists.

Why media ownership matters

    • Yet a closer look reveals an interesting structural feature of media ownership networks in authoritarian populist countries.
    • For instance, in Hungary, the Central European Press and Media Foundation (Kesma) is a huge right-wing media conglomerate that controls more than 500 national and local media outlets.
    • Kesma was established in 2018, when most pro-government private media owners transferred their ownership rights to the foundation, which is headed by a board of trustees full of Orbán loyalists closely associated to the ruling party.

Love your enemies

    • You might expect authoritarian populist governments to be more like the old totalitarian regimes which pulled out all the stops to silence any dissenting voices.
    • This was the strategy of both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin.
    • It’s also convenient for an authoritarian regime to set up an “us versus them” situation, where “they” can be vilified and ridiculed by regime-friendly media.
    • In Hungary, for instance – in a wider strategy to discredit independent media news – pro-government media outlets have launched smear campaigns against independent media outlets funded by international grants.
    • This allows them to set up internal enemies as a target for their supporters.