Big day in the news

1. "Let them eat cash." How can we best help the poor?

2. Hobby Lobby decision out today

3. Public sector unions decision out as well

4. Why United Airlines Will Track Tiny Animals From Its Jets

5. Students who sext are more likely to have sex. Who knew?

How to skip work to watch the USA-Germany game

Not condoning any illicit activities...but this was a fun read from WSJ.

Also of potential use for USMNT fans:

                                                         via Twitter

Links of the Day

1. Fan wins big after betting on Suarez bite

2. DC taxi drivers protest Uber, again

3. "Myths" of pot smoking

4. Supreme Court demands warrants for cell phone confiscation

5. Thai man arrested for reading Orwell

6. World Cup celebrations gets 3 Iranians arrested

7. Gay-marriage ban overturned in Indiana and Utah

Bonus: Jerry Seinfeld on appropriate interactions with technology

Interesting Links for the Day

1. World Cup Stress and the Chinese 

2.  Google and Nest's Home Maintenance Plans

3. Stoppage time is confusing for some

4. What big pharmaceuticals could learn from craft beer brewers

5. People don't mind taxes, but don't like "changing/canceling flights" fees

Another charge against Uber, courtesy of les Republique Francais

We know France has a troubled history with Uber - and things haven't cooled down.

Cab drivers opposed to Uber made another stand against the ride-sharing service, and in traditional French fashion, named their operation after what? Food. Of course. The dubbed "escargot operation" plans to create an embargo of Paris's city center via cab drivers operating at essentially a snail's pace on the highways surrounding the city.

It is interesting that the consistently "evolving" French Republic continues to find ways to stifle innovation and crowd out investors, even when opportunities for growth come knocking on its door (or cruising up to its driveway).

A few more World Cup charts...

It's always a great surprise when I meet someone I can talk soccer with here in America - whether the conversation involves my love for Arsenal, interest in Financial Fair Play, or development programs in the States - it doesn't matter. Regardless of the topic, it beats being called a socialist for loving the beautiful game (Jerry, take note). With the opening day of the World Cup tomorrow (arguably the most important day of every four year period), I thought it might be fun to look at a few more charts to see how soccer and the world unite.

First, let's consider the world's "disinterest" in soccer. This came from a recent New York Times article publishing a study conducted by YouGov. There are a lot of interesting facts in the article, but let's just look at something simple. Like yesterday's CMPB post on GDP, the USA finds itself on top of the charts in another competition with the remaining 31 World Cup challengers - being disinterested in soccer.

See here:

How can this be? Is there too much diversity in sports in America (lacrosse, hockey, wrestling, baseball, football, basketball, rugby, etc etc) for the sport to thrive elsewhere? Does being a wealthier nation mean kids have more money to play more sports that require lots of equipment? Or, is our nation's disinterest more a product of lack of exposure to soccer? Regardless, it's something to think about.

While you are pondering those last few questions, consider one more. Do you want fish to die? Do you like having a plethora of flourishing gill-bearing craniates amongst our lands and seas? Well then, maybe you should start getting involved with soccer, and stay interested! Keep telling your friends the same - until we reach a happy medium of about 27% of our population still being uninterested in the beautiful game. Let the rest of them keep their shoulder pads and mouth-guards. Do it for the fish.

Data taken from the World Bank

World Cup Nations and GDP

It's been a while! With moving for summer work and getting excited for the world's biggest sporting event, things have certainly not been at a standstill.

I thought it would be interesting to visualize GDP differences between the thirty-two qualifying teams for this year's World Cup. While the USA is clearly the dominant player in this chart, we can only hope for success in Brazil...

Note that the currency is measured in millions of US dollars. Data were taken from the 2012 United Nations study here.