"I am the 1%"

Check out the article from a Duke student in the Chronicle. (Thanks, Jamie)

What percent are you?

With the Occupy Wall Street movement growing, do you know what percent you are? Take the WSJ poll here. (Thanks, Katie)

The Handel Halvorsen Passacaglia Music Video

Arianna Warsaw-Fan, violin, and Meta Weiss, cello, perform in a music video of The Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia.

Ten years on, Enron remains an open sore

Ernon collapsed 10 years ago, but the lessons still ring true today. Read the FT article. (Thanks, Claire)

What Women Do

"A recently published World Bank report finds that, although particular groups of ill-educated young men are doing badly, and although women's lives have improved a lot in the past 20 years, sexual inequality at work is remarkably stubborn. Globally, women earn 10 to 30 percent less than men. They are also concentrated in "women's" jobs.

Annoyingly, ehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifconomic growth does not seem to narrow the gap. This is surprising. You might expect that as countries get richer, women would become better educated and jobs requiring brute strength would become less important. Rich countries also have larger public sectors, where the wage gap is smaller.

Yet overall, the gap is no smaller in rich countries such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands than in poor ones such as the Philippines. The World Bank suggests three explanations for these findings: discrimination, unequal education, and constraints on women's time, which is disproportionately filled with housework and child care." Read the full Economist article.

Inspiration: Leila Chirayath Janah (Samasource CEO and Founder)

Check out the story behind Samasource.

This video was great, too:

At Elite Schools, Easing Up a Bit on Homework

It's about time!

Homework debates are both evergreen and charged in top-tier schools, but several private-school watchers say the recent moves to ease up are a marked shift. There remains a significant cadre of parents — call it the Tiger Mom camp — who see hard work as a rite of passage, part of what they pay $40,000 for and essential to making their children competitive. (One father commented wryly that it was unlikely that parents in India and China were fretting about overwork.)

But for the first time in recent memory, many see an edge by the other camp, fueled in part by the 2010 documentary “Race to Nowhere,” which focuses on the detrimental effects of overprogramming students who lack sleep and joy.

Read the NYT post.

Unreasonable, Maybe, but It’s on a Social Mission

Myshkin Ingawale, center, attended the Unreasonable Institute and leads a company in India that makes a medical testing device. The institute teaches commercial methods for tackling global issues.

And the founder of Unreasonable Institute is only 25! I have ramp up my game. Read the NYT article to learn about more social investors... who are profitable. (Thanks, Jules)

The Long Haul: Spenders Become Savers, Hurting Recovery

Good stats on how the recession has turned us into (more responsible) savers:

"Since the financial crisis erupted, millions of Americans have ditched their credit cards, accelerated mortgage payments and cut off credit lines that during the good times were used like a bottomless piggybank. Many have resorted to a practice once thought old-fashioned -- delaying purchases until they have the cash.

As a result, total household debt -- through payment or default -- fell by $1.1 trillion, or 8.6%, from mid-2008 through the first half of 2011, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York"

Read the WSJ article. (Thanks, Tom)

M-Pesa processing more payments in Kenya than Western Union globally

Mind-blowing stat. Huge advancement for financial inclusion (microfinance) via mobile technologies. Check out the full article.

Locals to big oil: We want our town back!

"For those who have spent their entire lives in the previously quiet farm towns that dot the northwestern corner of North Dakota, the discovery of oil in the Bakken formation has been anything but fortuitous.

The thousands of people from around the country flocking to these boomtowns has led to a housing shortage and an increase in traffic, crime and frustration among the locals who feel like their small, close-knit towns are now gone forever."

Check out the video on CNN Monday. (Thanks, Mom)

How to Measure a Storm's Fury One Breakfast at a Time

Disaster Pros Look to 'Waffle House Index'; State of the Menu Gives Clue to Damage. Read the WSJ article. (Thanks, Jamie!)

HBR Management Tip of the Day: Ask for a Favor

Really liked this one:

"Entrepreneurs or executives often hesitate to ask for help because they worry about being intrusive or appearing needy. The truth is that it's innately satisfying to assist others, and most people want to help. Next time you want to make a connection with someone, ask them for a favor. Request that they serve as a reference or provide a testimonial of your work. Hit them up for new client referrals or job leads. Don't be shy about it. Asking for favors can be a powerful way to get people to like you better, because they become invested in your success."

Extra! Bizarre Sales Spike for 2 Papers

"It is possible there is some larger lesson for ailing newspaper sales in the sudden good fortune of The Suffolk Times and The Riverhead News-Review, two modest Long Island weeklies that saw an unprecedented sales spike last week as mysterious buyers swooped in to buy every copy they could."
Read more about the mystery in the NYT. (Thanks, Gaurav)

Steve Jobs on rules for success

(Thanks, Claire)