1. Loved this one: 22 Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Totally Differently From Each Other. Here is one example.
2. In print and on stage, the Bible makes surprise comeback in secular Norway
3. Japan enters the African aid game: Japan $1 billion aid earmarked for northern Africa
4. The Economist had a great editorial: Towards the end of poverty
Nearly 1 billion people have been taken out of extreme poverty in 20 years. The world should aim to do the same again.
5. Global Wealth Grew 7.8% In 2012, Driven By Developing Economies
BCG found that global private financial wealth grew at the impressive clip of 7.8% in 2012, besting the 7.3% and 3.6% expansion logged in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
And which countries are driving global growth? Tyler Cowen reports that China and India for half of the growth. He also lists these nations as the fastest growing:
| South Sudan | 32.1 |
| Libya | 20.2 |
| Sierra Leone | 17.1 |
| Mongolia | 14.0 |
| Paraguay | 11.0 |
| Timor-Leste | 10.0 |
| Iraq | 9.0 |
| Panama | 9.0 |
| The Gambia | 8.9 |
| Mozambique | 8.4 |
source: IMF
6. 5 Maps That Show How Divided America Really Is. Here is an example:
7. Toward a Self Employed Nation?
The United States labor market has been undergoing a substantial shift toward small-scale entrepreneurship. The number of proprietors – owners of businesses who are not wage and salary employees, has skyrocketed, especially in the last decade. Proprietors are self employed business owners who use Internal Revenue Service Schedule C to file their federal income tax. Wage and salary workers are all employees of any establishment (private or government), from executives to non-supervisory workers.
From 2000 to 2011, the number of non-farm proprietors grew by 10.7 million. Total wage and salary employment grew by only 105,000 between 2000 and 2011. Government employment, including federal, state and local, grew 1.36 million, while private employment declined by 1.26 million (Figure 1).
8. This looks like an interesting read: Living Faith: Everyday Religion and Mothers in Poverty. Christian Century writes:
For her award-winning book Living Faith: Everyday Religion and Mothers in Poverty, Susan Crawford Sullivan interviewed a diverse group of women who were living in poverty. She asked them about the challenges of parenting, working and surviving on little income. She discovered that many drew on strong religious beliefs as they struggled with everyday problems. Sullivan teaches sociology at the College of the Holy Cross.
9. Business Insider reports that Millions Of Seniors Are Moving Back To Big Cities
10. Forbes explores How To Use Pinterest For Small Business
11. Atlantic explores Why the Boomers Are the Most Hated Generation. (I think part of it might be that we are obnoxious.)
12. RJS at Jesus Creed with another great post about the historicity of Adam and Eve: Jesus on Adam and Eve (RJS)
... There are ways to reconcile a literal Adam and Eve with the scientific data. I have posted on the question of Adam many times. See for example the last part of Evolution, Entropy, and Human Beings 2 or other posts on the question of Adam listed about 3/4 of the way down the Science and Faith index. Reconciling a literal Adam and Eve with the scientific data requires something of a stretch, but is not impossible if one feels that the theological teaching of the sweep of scripture requires Adam, Eve, and the Fall.
There are also ways to understand the sweep of scripture and the fallen nature of mankind without reference to a historical Adam and Eve. These do not necessarily diminish the inspiration and authority of scripture as witness to the work of God in the world.
This shouldn’t be a make or break issue. Rather, it is an issue where we need to spend more time and thought.
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