Montenegro

It's been almost four years already.

Quantitave easing explained

Quantitative easing from Marketplace on Vimeo.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad 2008 Christmas Message Speech

Sometimes I take part in the Press TV programs Off the Cuff and Forum. These two programs are not fundamentally religious and you would not recognised that they are produced by Iran-funded TV:

Press TV is an English language international television news channel which is funded by the Iranian government, based in Tehran and broadcasts in English on a round-the-clock schedule. With 26 international correspondents and more than 400 staff around the world, its stated mission is to offer a different view of the world events

In Turkey I had the option to watch Al-Jazeera more often and I realised that what Western media cover can biased. It does not mean that there is an intention to be biased but simply because they can not often understand local problems.
As my Turkish friend in Adiyaman said about the US attempt to rule the Middle East:

They have only 300 years of history, they don't know where Turkey is, and they want to rule our region?

Therefore it was very interesting to watch the alternative Christmas message by Iranian President Ahmadinejad.The Christmas speech by President Ahmadinejad to the British people is surprisingly tolerant, he speaks about hope that countries will unite, that atheism can not be the option and that next year shall be the year of happiness and humanity. Ahmadinejad congratulates the British on the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ:

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Channel Four's facing increasing criticism for allowing the Iranian president to broadcast an alternative Christmas message:
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I don't think that banning information is the key to solve any problem. It is education, learning about the Iranian history, negotiation and staying with democratic principles (I know it might be a contradiction to use democratic principles and to negotiate with a President who wants to wipe Israle out of the world map).
Hopefully, the new Obama administration will understand that.

Inside Story - The future of Gaza - Dec 25 - AlJazeeraEnglish

Interesting and very tough discussion between leaders from Israel, Palestine, and Egypt:

Stiglitz

The Global Financial Crisis: Lessons for Policy and Implications for Economic Theory

Interview with Dr. John Nash

Interview with Dr. John Nash at the 1st Meeting of Laureates in Economic Sciences in Lindau, Germany, September 1-4, 2004. Interviewer is freelance journalist Marika Griehsel. Dr. Nash talks about the impact the Prize had on his life, his talent for mathematics as a child (5:31), the work that gave him the Prize (8:55), gives some advice to young students (13:00), talks about important economic issues of today (15:20), and shares his thoughts about the movie on his life, A Beautiful Mind (21:10)

The Lecture in Text Format

The Czech society lacks well-educated elites

“Identify the most important economic, political or social issue
facing your country. Please explain its significance and offer at
least one solution“:

The Czech Republic is a very successful country according to statistical data. There
are, however, certain problems that lie behind statistics and are difficult to deal with.
During the communist regime, elites were either forced to leave the country or were
not allowed to study properly. This is the reason why our country still lacks well-
educated elites.
The Czech Society Lacks Well-educated Elites ESSAY

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The story of Madonna of the Pinks

The story of this painting is very interesting.
For many years the painting was considered as the best of several copies of a lost Raphael's original (worth 2,500 pounds). In 1991 was recognized as original (only thanks to the fact that the Renaissance scholar - and now the director of the British Gallery - personally visited the place). In 2004 the painting was sold for 35 million pounds.
This visit paid off. The price of the painting increased 14 000 times.

Check your walls whether you don't have originals there.

Wiki:

Only in 1991 was the painting identified as a genuine Raphael, by the Renaissance scholar Nicholas Penny. Although Raphael scholars were aware of the existence of the work, which had hung in Alnwick Castle since 1853, they considered it merely the best of several copies of a lost original. After a huge public appeal the Madonna of the Pinks was bought in 2004 by the National Gallery from the Duke of Northumberland for £34,88 million, with contributions from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Art Collections Fund. To justify the vast expenditure it went on a nationwide tour to Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Barnard Castle.

British National Gallery:

This small devotional picture was painted for Christian contemplation; its original owner would have held the painting in his or her hand. It shows the Virgin and Child seated in a bedchamber (the bed-curtain is looped behind the Virgin's head) with a view of a sunny landscape seen through a window. They hand flowers between them - pinks which are symbols of marriage - depicting the Virgin Mary as not only the Mother but the Bride of Christ.

Learn English with Iva

Here

Mankiw on GDP measure

Here

Usually, GDP is a reasonable proxy for economic well-being, so more is better, but that is not true in this example. Part of the problem here is that GDP includes government purchases at cost. If the government hires people to produce stuff that is worthless, that stuff is included in GDP just as much as if the government buys something valuable. When calculating GDP, the national income accountants do not pass judgment on the social utility of government spending. Anyone concerned with economic well-being has to go beyond thinking about GDP.