How Austerity Kills

First, do no harm. 

Second, treat joblessness like the pandemic it is. Unemployment is a leading cause of depression, anxiety, alcoholism and suicidal thinking. Politicians in Finland and Sweden helped prevent depression and suicides during recessions by investing in “active labor-market programs” that targeted the newly unemployed and helped them find jobs quickly, with net economic benefits.

Finally, expand investments in public health when times are bad. The cliché that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure happens to be true. 

“This is the exact opposite of how medical insurance companies operate when dealing with medical practitioners and members of their insurance plan.”

“This is the exact opposite of how medical insurance companies operate when dealing with medical practitioners and members of their insurance plan.”

Justin Rosenstein (DFJ Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders) talks about mindfulness and ‘willful intention with non-concern for results’ …

Equanimity (starts at 43:40)

What is free software?

Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer”.

Here’s what I know for sure: we could regulate it if we wanted. That is very clear.
On Bitcoin, Chilton, Financial Times

In a humiliating blow to the American Psychiatric Association, the NIMH made clear the agency would no longer fund research projects that rely exclusively on DSM criteria.

“The weakness of the manual is its lack of validity.”

“Unlike our definitions of ischemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure.”

NIMH Withdraws Support for DSM-V
Distributions of Industry Payments to Massachusetts Physicians

Financial relationships between pharmaceutical manufacturers and health care professionals remain controversial. Some interactions, such as those involving research and exchange of expertise, promote the development and study of new drugs; by contrast, payments in the form of meals and continuing medical education (CME) programs have been criticized for being promotional and have been linked to non–evidence-based prescribing practices

This is unprecedented and is very dangerous. We must educate ourselves and others about our precious civil liberties to ensure that we never accept demands that we give up our Constitution so that the government can pretend to protect us.
Ron Paul
There’s a difference between paralysis and stillness. Stillness is deliberate. It was a tool – a tactical move. The police did not order us to stay in our houses – they requested it, and we complied, not because we were terrorized and not because we were sheep to the police state, but because we knew that in doing so, we left the police and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as the only pieces out on the board. We wanted him captured. For us, staying indoors on Friday was no different from staying in during a winter storm so that the snowplows could clear the streets. We were giving the professionals room to work.
Marathon Day
Wittgenstein illustrated 

Wittgenstein illustrated 

What India can teach Sweden about healthcare

Shetty’s solution was simple yet radical: make heart surgery affordable for the poor through higher efficiency.

A Senate in the Gun Lobby’s Grip

“I am asking every reasonable American to help me tell the truth about the cowardice these senators demonstrated. I am asking for mothers to stop these lawmakers at the grocery store and tell them: You’ve lost my vote. I am asking activists to unsubscribe from these senators’ e-mail lists and to stop giving them money. I’m asking citizens to go to their offices and say: You’ve disappointed me, and there will be consequences.”

At the end of the day, there are those people who will go quietly about their jobs, perhaps grumbling about not having a “seat at the table.” These people may have also been taught the right way to do things. Then, there are others who–regardless of their titles or position–will stand up and say, “Wait a minute, why are we doing it this way?”

What sets these folks apart is a relentless curiosity.

They are the people who ask all the “what if?” and “why not?” questions. They disrupt processes when the process isn’t paying off. And they defy decisions, when the decisions don’t make sense. They may be subversive, but their goal isn’t subversion. Rather, they care. About the experience being designed for, and the people who will have to live with these experiences.

What is UX?

3. User Experience is not an optional extra
Your product, service or interface will have one whether you like it or not. The choice is whether it’s good or not.

9. It is all about the end-results
It’s a passion for creating the right product – no matter what. The right experience for the user. People like and interact with things that work – not just look beautiful.

10. Experience Design starts and stops with people.
Our job is to understand people; their attitudes and motivations towards a category, brand or product in context. Building an understanding of what influences our behaviour and decision making means we can apply all the disciplines to design experiences that work.

10 Observations from a UX “guy”
Of course, just paying a UX professional or a SCRUM master an exorbitant amount of money won’t solve the real problem, in the same way that going to a therapist won’t automatically guarantee that any deep psychological issues will magically disappear.

UX and Agile: Tying the knot