real-social-connections-reduce-all-time-high-student-stress

Most Popular Course In Yale University’s History Teaches Students How To Reduce Stress Through Real Social Interactions

Yale Professor Julia Santos teaches the most popular class in Yale University history on how to reduce stress through routine real, physical social interaction.  Social Media give today’s students the impression of interaction but it is so cursory as to only cause increase angst because students end up unnecessarily comparing Read more…

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5 Reasons Why China is Going After Boeing

In our article BoycottUSA and BoycottTrump Does Not Mean Not Buying American, we explain that China is applying there retaliatory tariffs to Donald Trump supporters and no the US as a whole.  That brings up the question of why China would target Boeing.

chicago-2016-presidential-election-results-no-support-trumpBoeing is based in Chicago and Chicago did not support Trump in the 2016 and they certainly don’t support him now:

Boeing’s primary assembly plant, which is the largest building on earth, is in Everett Washington and Washington State did not support Trump in 2016.  In fact Hillary Clinton won all 12 Washington State electoral votes.


Why Did China Target Boeing?

1: Boeing Is Perceived As Trump Friendly

boeing-chinese-targetWhile it is common sense and standard operating procedure for companies to quietly support their political leaders Boeing seems particularly aggressive in this area.  When it looked like Hillary Clinton was going to win the 2016 Presidential Election, Boeing was there to help

Boeing, like many companies, woke up on November 9 to an unexpected political landscape. The company had been preparing for a Clinton presidency. Timothy Keating, its long-time senior VP of government operations, served under President Bill Clinton. There was even internal discussion at Boeing that Keating might join a new Clinton administration. Source: money.cnn.com/2017/02/17/news/companies/boeing-trump-dennis-muilenburg/index.html

Now the Donald J Trump has won the White House, Boeing has not unexpectedly flip flopped but they have taken it further than most, making some believe that they have a genuine support for Trump.  From Presidential visits to photo opportunities to political conversation, Boeing is now tied to President Trump.

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Why Russia Turned Out So Differently From Germany & Japan

After World War 2 the US (and West in general) supported its former enemies.  Rebuilding cities, legal systems, and economies on a massive scale.  Germany and Japan were the primary beneficiaries of that financial aid and guidance and today those two countries are large stable entities that improve the West’s standard of living by providing both solid trading partners and political allies.

Some argue that those countries now take “our” jobs when in fact the evidence is clear that those countries have expanded the global economy for all.   It is true that the US, Canada and the UK have a smaller slice of the global economic pie in 2018 compared to1950, but the pie is many times larger, so the net benefit to those countries is irrefutable.

The rebuilding (not reconstruction) plan was named after then US Secretary of State George Marshall.  Today the Marshall Plan is touted as the cure all for every failing state, from Afghanistan to Mozambique but, as this New Yorker article explains, for a Marshal Plan had a lot more to do with reassurance and a lot less to do with money than most people think.

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US and Canadian Crime Rates Are Way Down Thanks To Engagement

If you live in the United States or Canada and you feel less safe than you did 20 years ago, you are likely either in one of the very few geographic bubbles (like Chicago or rural Alberta) or you are a victim of politicians and social media trying to manipulate your natural fears.  The fact is that crime, violent and otherwise is waaaay down.

Canadian Crime Statistics

Below are the Canadian statistics and they roughly concur with the US crime statistics in that crime peaked near the year 1990 and then declined between 30 to 80% in all categories and in nearly all regions.  This despite the fact that it is more likely a citizen will report a crime today than they would have 30 years ago.

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What Is Induced Seismicity in Oil & Gas Exploration & What Can Be Done About It?

What is Induced Seismicity?

Induced Seismicity is just another way to say ‘man made earthquakes’ and are sometimes referred to “induced earthquakes”.  Induced Seismicity can be caused by many things humans do including:

  1. damming rivers for hydro power build a vast water weight behind the dam which was not their previously
  2. having old mine shafts collapse
  3. draining of underground water reservoirs
  4. tunneling / boring for transit systems

Induced-Seismicity-caused-by-oil-gas-explorationbut the focus of this article is Induced Seismicity caused by oil and gas exploration and production.  There are some unexpected results in the latest research that governments and citizens should be aware of.

The picture to the right is the standard graphic used by industry to explain that when we search for or produce oil and gas near existing fault lines, the added (or reduced!) pressures can cause the faults to activate resulting in earthquakes.  Nowhere has this been more pronounced than in Oklahoma over the previous decade and their citizens and governments are taking it very seriously.

What are the Main Causes of Oil & Gas Related Induced Seismicity?

The two major causes of oil and gas related Induced Seismicity are:

  1. Fracking HORIZONTAL wells
  2. Waste water disposal wells

What is Fracking?

Hydraulic Fracturing or “fracking” is simply the process of injecting materials (often including water, sand, chemicals, CO2…) into a well under very high pressure.  The idea is to crack the rock and release the oil and gas contained.

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