Month: May 2009

  • Apache FOP and document properties

    I am a little bit obsessive about checking out the document properties in PDF files I read. I can’t explain why, but there you have it. I was sad when I noticed the PDF file being emitted by my XML has no document properties. So I figured, no problem, I can just go find the…

  • The <xen> of <xslt>

    For a project I am doing right now, I descended into DocBook hell. Not completely unscathed, I made it through the learning curve (why don’t they call it what it is: The Unfathomable and Horrific Tunnel of Learning) and blinked slowly in the light of day. I realized DocBook is nice, but it’s not actually…

  • Trafigura’s West African dumping

    Here’s an interesting story, well told, about an industrial process that takes refinery waste from the United States (derived from high-sulfur Mexican crude oil), cycles it through Europe, then dumps the result in West Africa. The company running this racket (or “innovative commodity exchange”, as they call it) is Trafigura. Learn more here: Coker gasoline…

  • Gates Foundation vs the Lancet

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    The Lancet has published an academic paper analyzing the deployment of funds at the Gates Foundation against a backdrop of the actual burden of disease. The bottom line is the Gates Foundation does not come out looking too good, seemingly interested in whizbang gadgets and not in focusing on the job at hand. Another really…

  • Just DO It

    There’s a guy in Philly who realized he’s rich, because me makes $30,000 as a community organizer, and many people in the world live on far less. He decided to go on a diet, for his own helath, but also to understand what it means to live on a simple diet. That’s already an interesting…

  • 50 pennies for your thoughts

    I love Alex Chadwick. He’s proven he’s a real artist for finding stories on 50 cent interviews. He’s Studs Terkel for another generation.

  • Community Finance in West Africa

    Vasco Pyjama talks about community finance. The ROSCA is known as a “sou-sou” in west Africa, or at least in Nimba county, Liberia. Sousous run for a fixed term, based on the number of members. If there are 10 members and the contribution is $10, each month one of the members will get $90 (9…

  • Learning to Love Social Welfare

    When you fall in love with someone from another country, it just happens. Then what comes after that takes more effort. You have to learn to love the other culture you’ve thrown your lot in with. That process is, and will continue to be, a joy for Marina and me. Here’s an article that describes…