Adonis Diaries

Tidbits #10

“Children are much easier to reach with advertising. They pick up on it fast. And quite often we can exploit that relationship and get them pestering their parents.”—Stephen Colegrave

Pestering is one of the Power of children: Lucy Hughes has identified two distinct forms of pester power: “persistent nagging,” characterized by frantic whining, and “important nagging,” in which children present their parents with a reasoned case for the object of their desire.

The 10 largest fortunes with links to greenhouse gas emissions are valued at $537 billion.

What are the economic threats that could cause a recession? 

1. Corporate debt in the US and emerging markets,
2. the trade war, and
3. An over-reliance on central banks are among the many imbalances that could contribute to a crisis this year. And now coronavirus and fear for tourism activities

Wuhan, China. Two hospitals are being constructed for coronavirus patients in a matter of days.Millions are watching livestream footage that shows a ballet of bulldozers and trucks racing to complete a 1,000-bed hospital by Feb. 3 and a 1,300-bed one a few days later.

Do you know that Chinese in large cities are confined in two dozens high rise building around a commercial center? Each of these “autonomous” compounds can host about 50,000 persons. No surprises that epidemics can spread quickly.

The Trump Administration’s decision to cancel a policy to eliminate all antipersonnel landmines reverses years of steady steps toward alignment with the 1997 treaty banning the weapons.

The last big locust crisis, in north-west Africa, lasted from 2003 to 2005 and caused an estimated $2,5bn worth of damage to harvests. ⁠Now the locust is spreading in East Africa.

At the point where the states of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand converge sits a casino “Laos Vegas”. ⁠ It is a palatial confection featuring faux-Roman statuary and ceilings covered in frescoes. Inside “Laos Vegas” the croupiers accept only Chinese yuan or Thai baht.

Of the 821 million hungry people on the planet, 60% are women

Last year the average income of the richest 1% of Brazilians was 33.8 times that of the poorest 50%, a ratio surpassed only by Qatar. ⁠

Bolsa Família (Family Fund), a conditional cash-transfer programme that supports millions of poor Brazilians, was once a model anti-poverty programme. ⁠Jair Bolsanaro started cancelling payments to existing ones. ⁠

The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, stating “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Post-partum hemorrhage accounts for one-fourth of maternal deaths worldwide.⠀

Out of the dozens of articles I’ve read about the virus, I can only condense one helpful piece of advice: Wash your hands properly and dry them on clean towels.’ (Better, use paper towel). Paper face mask is a illusion

“The world today has very few institutions that can go out and do the reporting independently, powerfully, and that’s what I want to do,”

South Korea launched the world’s first air quality satellite. Chollian 2B will monitor fine dust and other air pollutants in the East Asian region. The information it will gather could pave the way for a new disaster relief communications system.