Markets in political stability

Muammar Qaddafi of Libya, the king of Bahrain and the emir of Kuwait are offering one-off handouts to stop people demonstrating. These are princely, worth $4,000 per person in Kuwait and $2,500 per family in Bahrain

Arab economies: Throwing money at the street | The Economist

The blurred reality of humanity - Science, News - The Independent

Neuroscience seems to deny the self. We're just a jazz combo that plays and improvises brilliantly but with no conductor and, maybe, no musical score. So, what of our immortal soul?

The blurred reality of humanity - Science, News - The Independent

The end of the world?

No, the half-life of the radioactive gases like H2, O2, N2 are measured in seconds. That's why the radiation counts in Japan are still within normal limits. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese paranoia about radiation is understandable.

The paranoia elsewhere is politically motivated by:

1. "greens" that are adamant against nuclear energy,
2. US establishment that sees this as a way of increasing the dependence of Japan which has been recently assertive under the DPJ.

Unless we can cover the deserts with photovoltaic film to power the grid; wind, tide, hydro and all renewables combined just cannot meet our energy needs. And, if we don't start soon to reserve oil for aircraft that cannot use any other energy source, we will have to use ships for travel.

Real development

It's the median trajectory for the development of societies: struggle, success, complacency ....

The potentially lethal third stage can be avoided if success brings with it a sense of belonging and an interest in intellectual pursuits like music, mathematics, poetry, sculpture ... These in turn stimulate innovations in design, marketing and distribution, finance, architecture and urban development, education and training, maybe even national defence and internal security - a virtuous circle of inspiration, innovation, organisation and more success.

Has this happened here? Personally, I saw lots of it during our early success but progress was blocked by "globalisation" which is neo-colonialism in financial disguise. We now have expat CEOs for home grown enterprises and buildings designed by foreign architects. These CEOs are respectfully listened to by Cabinet Ministers when they justify themselves by describing and explaining our deficiencies! Ministers not included. And the buildings look strangely similar to those designed by the same architect in another city; so maybe we actually asked for these!

I think our condition is not terminal but can be reversed by:

1. Immigration, as suggested by Adam Khoo.
2. Using experts not expats. Techies like banking treasury operations, biomedical engineer, resort entertainment director, international tax lawyer ... But no CEOs whose skill sets are at least 80% generic admin and leadership.
3. Existing CEOs given three years to find a suitable S'pore successor. The first year for executive search, the second for on-the-job training and the third, if it's for a MNC, at HQ for bonding.
4. All government-funded buildings to be designed by S'[poreans. For private developments, faster approvals and discounted development charges for S'pore designs.
5. Schools to teach broad curriculum for International Baccaleurate, requiring at least four arts and four science subjects for examination.. Scholars to be selected from those who have balanced scores for the arts and sciences.
6. Moratorium on engineering scholarships as there are too many Perm Secs and Ministers with engineering major.

Lim Swee Say claimed another world best for Singapore: it's public servants. This includes, presumably, the police force.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1103473/1/.html

So, how did the best civil service in the world fail to get it's police force to respond to an arrest warrant for Nurdin Cuaca wanted by Interpol on a "Red Notice"?

http://www.interpol.int/public/wanted/default.asp