One of my cousins came across this TEDtalk recently and shared it.  It is an interesting take on charities.  I think that it reinforces the lessons that INDEVours are being taught, as we have had many courses on business, which has reinforced the perspective that Dan Pallotta shares in his talk, that we ought to treat not-for-profits as businesses.

As the talk progressed, I realized that I definitely have the ingrained reaction that he proposes as 'wrong', and I am still figuring out whether or not that needs to be changed drastically or just tweaked.

Readers - what do you think about this presentation and the principles in it?  Does it echo your feelings about charity, or are 
your feelings echoed louder in the methodology that Dan Pallota presents as incorrect?

My mom came across an interesting article a few days ago, which describes the unique way in which the University of Engineering and Technology of Peru has decided to advertise.

They have installed a billboard that condenses the highly humid air of Lima into water droplets, filters, and stores it, with a faucet waiting at the bottom for passers-by to utilize.  What a neat way to assist the locals who may face difficulties acquiring potable water, and at the same time, advertise extremely effectively for the university!

Check out more by reading the article here: http://techland.time.com/2013/03/05/finally-a-billboard-that-creates-drinkable-water-out-of-thin-air/

Take a few minutes to watch the following video.  It is a very interesting and surprisingly dramatic representation of the wealth distribution of the United States of America.

A few weeks ago, my mother and I were discussing the Royal Bank of Canada, as we are customers and are also shareholders.  As such, we received the Annual Report, which she perused, and then stopped, shocked by the numbers.  The president of RBC has an annual salary of $1.5 million, and with added bonuses, earns approximately $13.8 million per annum!  We proceeded to have a long discussion about the validity of that number in regards to the amount of work and perceived knowledge contribution that he invests as the president.  Does he really deserve to earn that amount of money?  Couldn’t the bonuses be less and still be competitive enough to attract high-quality candidates for that job?

Then this past week, the EU voted to cap banker bonuses at twice their salary!
Read more at these links:
http://ivn.us/2013/03/03/european-union-puts-a-cap-on-bankers-bonuses/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/eu-agrees-to-cap-bankers-bonuses-at-two-times-salary/article9145666/

And today, I read a blog post by an orphan advocate, encouraging us to think about justice as children often do.

Read the rest of the post at http://youwillgooutwithjoy.blogspot.ca/2013/03/thats-not-fair.html.

Do you have any ideas or concerns about this?  What do you think should be done, if anything, about the large salaries and bonuses at the top of the pyramid?