Magic Statistics

The French are inordinately worried about cost of living increases and lagging salaries, so much so that a recent poll showed that 48% think they could end up homeless and on the street.

Even if the French are being a tad melodramatic, the poor economic mood has already affected the presidential race between Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy of the centre-right.  Both pledge to tackle heavy taxation and generous welfare benefits, as only the French can.  More of the same!

They are . . . promising good old French remedies: more taxes, more welfare spending and more restrictions on the private sector. They are also both blaming Europe for France's woes.

France’s anti-free market policies, which both candidates promise to uphold and strengthen, have nothing to do with it.

Times of London Paris correspondent Charles Bremner accuses the pair of duplicity.

Both are guilty of hypocrisy. They know that France badly needs tough medicine. They say so in private but they also acknowledge that they are wary of alarming voters.

According to recent polls, only about 20% of French voters want radical economic reforms.  The other 80%, apparently, would be alarmed by honesty about France’s prospects if present socio-economic policies are not fundamentally altered.

Previous related posts:

• The jackpot pension of French civil servants
• UK must choose between EU and US: French presidential candidate

China’s ruthlessly enforced one-child-per-couple policy has succeeded in severely curtailing population growth in the world’s most populous country, but it has also set the foundation for a huge surplus of seniors by mid-century.  Not only that, the present generation of children is encountering rampant discrimination in the job market.  Employers don’t want to hire them.  Why not? Basically, because they’re spoiled.

When Chen Fengxin, a hydro-electricity major, handed in his resume to potential employers at a job fair for students majoring in hydro-electricity in the central province of Henan, he was stunned by the questions he received from recruitment personnel, reported the Dong Fang Jin Bao on November 27.

"Are you from a village? Do you have any sisters or brothers?"

A female employee from the Sinohydro Engineering Bureau No.1 said her company favors non-only children because of several years of experience.

"Students from cities and only children cannot endure the hardships incurred in the process of geological exploitation. Brain drain is rife," she told the paper, adding that parents of only children hope their offspring can stay close to them and not work too far away.

This helps explain why an increasing number of Chinese university students are joining the army.  A two-year stint in the tough, disciplined, and teamwork-oriented armed forces teaches students important skills and makes them more attractive to employers.

h/t: Acton Institute PowerBlog

Previous related post: Low-income countries are aging, too

Newly developed nanowelding techniques are being used in the world’s smallest construction site, located in a Swiss laboratory.

The researchers behind the techniques say they can be used to assemble electronic components at smaller scales than have ever been possible.

One technique, called "nanorobotic" spot welding, uses molten copper to join up objects in the same way that a human electrician might use solder.
. . .
"We position a 50-nanometre-wide carbon nanotube filled with copper inside a nanorobotic manipulator, and run a small voltage through it to melt the copper," explains [Lixin] Dong [of the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, Zurich, Switzerland]. In experiments the researchers positioned the manipulator so the melting metal connected one carbon nanotube to another.

Nano-scalpels for cutting living cells have already been made.  The scalpels, measuring 10 nanometres by 20 nanometres, are only a few nanometres in thickness.

h/t: Faith-Science News

Eid ul-Adha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice marking the end of the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, is coming up at the end of this month. Muslims who can afford to do so are expected to purchase and slaughter animals and share the meat with relatives, neighbours, and the poor.

Because of local laws, Muslims in most Western countries have in the past been unable to participate in the sacrificial rituals; but this year is different, thanks to some entrepreneurial Pakistani Muslims.  You can buy an animal and even watch it being slaughtered online.

"It is not easy for them to buy animals and carry out the sacrifice according to our religious rites in those countries," said Sohail Ahmed, an official at the Al-Khidmat trust Islamic welfare organization.

"They are turning to the Internet to complete their religious obligations," said Ahmed, whose organization offers the service.

The “service” is also proving popular among Pakistanis.  Sometimes fulfilling religious responsibilities is just too much of a hassle.

"It is a matter of convenience. People nowadays don't have time to go to the markets and haggle over prices," [Farukh] Sheikh [of the Sahara trust for life] said.

"We are offering a service at competitive rates. People trust us to distribute the meat according to religious obligations among the poor and needy," Sheikh said.

Why go to all the inconvenience and bother of performing your Islamic duties yourself when you can pay someone else to do the heavy lifting?

Prices for sacrificial animals range from about $100 for a goat up to $450 for a cow.

I have a question: What would Mohammed say about this?

h/t: Subzero Blue and Global Voices Online.