Happy weekend

Ayutthaya, Thailand, from my trip in 2008. 

A reminder of the impermanence of all things

I hope you have some time to set aside for yourself this weekend. I'm trying to get outside to relax and enjoy the sun for at least an hour every.single.day. no matter how busy I might be, and it's been nice to indulge myself in the sunshine. Here's some interesting reads I found for your weekend:

Fashion

Cheap-clothing giant H&M warned they might raise prices to pay higher wages to its factory workers. "Might" being the operative word. I don't shop much at H&M but I might consider it; I'll gladly pay a little more if I know it means a worker is no longer living below the poverty line.


Feminism

A Virginia Republican Congressman suggested that access to abortion should be restricted because more children = more jobs. People actually think like this! I'm frightened by people in power who seem to have the mentality that women's value lies solely in their ability to create babies.


Some good news: Out of all that abortion legislation I talked about last week, a North Carolina law that required doctors to display and explain ultrasounds images to women seeking abortions was struck down yesterday.


A Rothstein Kass study showed that women-owned and managed hedge funds outperform the market. A few pension funds and institutional investors have even created mandates to invest into these women-run funds, but those mandates are not the norm. Overall, the it seems that most investors don't expect to allocate more to women-owned or managed funds, but it's comforting to know that this guy was wrong.


Food

Wal-Mart joined the CIW's the Fair Food program. This is a BIG DEAL for organized labor. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida's tomato fields have been dealing with food industry giants for an extra penny per pound to go directly, which goes directly to workers. Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, Chipotle, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have all signed on, but this is certainly the largest private food buyer in the US. This is a great take on this historic moment.

Did you know the cashew shell is toxic? And cashews are never sold raw, since they contain an resin that can cause rashes and be toxic as well.


Random

An interesting article that questions the mantra "do what you love." I never really gave this idea a second thought - and in fact, felt encouraged my entire life to find something I'm passionate about to be the seeds of a career. I definitely look up to and envy those who have found their livelihood in a profession that they love. This article calls "Do What You Love" the ultimate anti-worker ideology - because maybe work should feel like work, so workers demand and receive fair compensation and benefits in exchange for what they do. So that work is not divided into that which is lovable (creative, intellectual, socially prestigious) and that which is not (the cubicle drones, manual laborers). I have been encouraged to stop focusing on finding love for a career - and start finding love for life, for the pursuit of knowledge, for the happiness I can find outside of work - and I find it interesting how fully this idea of "do what you love" has penetrated my philosophies and my life. So this is something I have never before considered, that I need to think deeply about.