Brian Gongol
Physical distance from Wall Street may help people understand money better
Admittedly, the latest item of evidence is based upon a small sample set -- Bloomberg asked a bunch of economists to submit forecasts about the US economy, and many of the best performers ended up being people who don't even live in the United States. But there's something to be said for being away -- literally -- from the epicenter of groupthink, particularly as it regards money. For while macroeconomic forecasting is a difficult game (at best), getting things right in business and in personal finance can be a lot easier. And there's no doubt that geographic isolation from the shouting on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange has probably made Warren Buffett a better investor. There are even some likely micro-economic advantages to doing business in the Midwest, rather than in other parts of the country. But much of it probably does come back to being away from the echo chamber of New York City finance -- just like it probably makes politicians better servants of the people when they leave the Beltway and visit their constituents on their home turf. Say what you will about Senator Chuck Grassley, but when he sends Tweets from his "99 county meetings", he probably gets a better feel for what the public needs than he would have gotten from a think tank in DC.
Some steps for protecting your kids' online reputation
Parents probably need to be as deliberate about scoping out and protecting their children's online reputations as they would be about vetting their friends and dates. Reserving your child's name as a domain name (i.e., BrianGongol.com) is a sensible, low-cost affair, and a very wise piece of insurance on your child's digital footprint in the future. PairNIC is a very good service for registering a domain name; fair pricing and decent business practices.
Seven diseases; one billion affected lives
There are seven "neglected tropical diseases", according to the World Bank, that make a billion people's lives directly poorer. They could be fixed cheaply and with low-cost drugs. Fixing them would benefit the current victims directly, and the rest of us indirectly...because who knows what could be imagined, done, or produced by the billions of Earthlings currently living in poverty if only they had the opportunity to flourish?
We love you, dear Britain, but why do you bother still having a monarchy?
