The Austrian flagAustria’s far right candidate, Norbert Hofer, has lost the second round of the election for the presidency by a mere thirty thousand votes to Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Green Party leader. Europe has breathed a sigh of relief, but the stunning success of the nationalists, who won the first round and caused the resignation of the Socialist primer minister, is the symptom of a serious illness in the old world. It calls itself the Freedom Party, but it was founded by former Nazis and is led by a populist firebrand named …
New UK aid strategy – prioritising research and crisis response
On the 23rd, DFID announced their new strategy for the next 5 years. This included at least £2.5bn in extra funding for research into high priority areas – like new treatments for neglected tropical diseases and malaria. We have been advocating this, because we think it could be much more effective than direct overseas health […] The whole story can be found at The Global Priorities Project
Three areas of research on the superintelligence control problem
This is a guide to research on the problem of preventing significant accidental harm from superintelligent AI systems, designed to make it easier to get started on work in this area and to understand how different kinds of work could help mitigate risk. I’ll be updating this guide with a longer reading list and more detailed […] The whole story can be found at The Global Priorities Project
Indianapolis looks to student-based budgeting to fix school funding gaps
Indianapolis could be the next city to implement portable student funding for its school district. The board is currently considering a proposal to change Indianapolis Public Schools’ (IPS) funding formula to a weighted student formula where education funding would follow each individual child directly to their school, with additional weights Read more at Reason.org
Are Today’s Newborns the Luckiest Generation in U.S. History?
By James D. Agresti In his annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett—the world’s third richest person—remarked on the state of the U.S. economy and current political fracas by writing: It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course, only they can solve). As a result of this negative drumbeat, many Americans now believe that their children will not live as well as they themselves do. That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history. Buffett …
Canada Removes Objector Status Officially Adopts United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Canada Removes Objector Status and Officially Adopts United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Government of Canada voted against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (“UNDRIP”) when it was first passed by the General Assembly in 2007. Three years later, the federal government accepted UNDRIP with qualifications as an “aspirational document”. On May 10, 2016, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett officially announced that Canada would now fully support UNDRIP, without qualification, and affirmed Canada’s commitment to adopt and implement UNDRIP in accordance with the Canadian Constitution.[1] UNDRIP recognizes …
Global Catastrophic Risks 2016
Global Catastrophic Risks 2016 Global catastrophes sometimes strike. In 1918 the Spanish Flu killed as many as one in twenty people. There have been even more devastating pandemics – the Black Death and the 6th century Plague of Justinian may have each killed nearer to one in every six people on this earth. More recently, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought us to the brink of nuclear war – President John F. Kennedy thought the chances were “between 1 in 3 and even”. These represent global catastrophic risks – events that might kill a tenth of …
Arizona Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Public Safety Pension Reform
On Tuesday, Arizona voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 124, the final piece of the Arizona public safety retirement system reform signed into law in February. Proposition 124’s passage enacts a constitutional amendment that fully implements the package of reforms that Reason Foundation’s Pension Integrity Team played a key role in developing and negotiating Read more at Reason.org
Iowa Takes First Steps Toward Criminal Justice Reform
Last week, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed several criminal justice reforms into law. House File 2064 loosened sentencing requirements for some nonviolent drug offenders, while increasing penalties for child endangerment crimes. House File 2064 does the following: Allows the parole board to release nonviolent drug offenders who have served at least half Read more at Reason.org
Government of Canada offers tax relief to Canadians affected by wildfires in north-east Alberta
National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier announced today that tax relief will be offered to Canadians affected by the devastating wildfires currently affecting Fort McMurray and areas of north-east Alberta. When natural disasters occur, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) immediately evaluates the measures that can be taken to help Canadians. See more at the Goverment of Canada Website
Georgia Governor Signs Additional Criminal Justice Reforms
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal recently signed SB 367 into law, which builds upon the series of criminal justice reforms that have been enacted in the state over the past several years. Speaking to the bill, Governor Deal said, “The incentives included in this legislation are cost-effective strategies that will increase Read more at Reason.org
OPEC’s Days As Economic Power Are ‘Over’
Opec’s economic power is broken, says the unofficial historian of the oil industry, who has argued that the association of oil exporting countries has become irretrievably divided and is unable to reverse the current slump in crude prices. Daniel Yergin, whose Pulitzer-prize winning book The Prize provides a comprehensive history of See More at the Global Warming Policy Foundation
