Month: August 2022

Business Leaders’ Optimism at Record Low

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Justin McDevitt

Is the American Dream dead?

A new study reveals that optimism in the business community has hit a record low, making many question the root causes, the current dilemmas, and the future of an ideal.

Pandemic fatigue? Inflation fatigue? American Dream fatigue? What’s causing the negative feelings?

In Arthur Miller’s seminal classic, Death of a Salesman, Biff Loman, son of the eponymous salesman, asks, “What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!” While the play went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and has been taught in school ever since, Miller’s classic may ask more questions than it provides answers.

Seventy-three years later, exhausted by a pandemic, the war in Ukraine, Monkeypox, and soaring inflation, Americans are asking the same questions. They deserve answers. Continue reading

Cold showers, no lights: Europe saves as Russian gas wanes

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

Hadj Benhalima from the the collective “On the Spot” jumps to turn off lights during a night of action where they will extinguish the lights on dozens of storefronts in Paris, Friday, July 29, 2022. The collective had been acting against wasteful businesses in Paris long before Russia started cutting energy supplies to Europe in a battle of wills over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. As such, the campaigners were precursors of the energy economy drive becoming all the rage in France, Germany and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

By JOHN LEICESTER and NICOLAS GARRIGA Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Fanning out like urban guerrillas through Paris’ darkened streets well after midnight, the anti-waste activists shinny up walls and drain pipes, reaching for switches to turn off the lights.

Click. Click. Click.

One by one, the outdoor lights that stores had left on are extinguished. It’s one small but symbolic step in a giant leap of energy saving that Europe is trying to make as it rushes to wean itself off natural gas and oil from Russia so factories aren’t forced to close and homes stay heated and powered. Continue reading

Winning lottery jackpot is lucky for some, tragic for others

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – Powerball lottery winners David, left, and Erica Harrig, of Gretna, Neb., speak during an interview at the law office of their attorney Darren Carlson in Omaha, Neb., on Dec. 13, 2013. (Kent Sievers /Omaha World-Herald via AP, File)

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press

Dave and Erica Harrig stayed true to their values when they won a lottery jackpot of more than $61 million in 2013. It made all the difference.

The couple from Gretna, Nebraska, a community on the outskirts of Omaha where Dave Harrig now is a volunteer firefighter, allowed themselves to buy a new home, some vintage automobiles and a few ocean cruises after they both quit their jobs.

But nine years later, they still live much as they always did, remaining in their community, keeping up with church, family and friends, and teaching their children to work hard to make a living despite any financial windfall that might come their way.

Many other winners haven’t been as lucky, suffering personal setbacks and lawsuits or becoming the victims of scams. The latest winner of a big jackpot came Friday, when a single ticket sold in Illinois matched the numbers for a $1.337 billion Mega Millions prize. Illinois is among the states where winners of more than $250,000 can choose to not reveal their names. Continue reading

Why Louvre’s Mona Lisa keeps a smile: Paris’ cooling system

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

A worker inspects machines at part of Fraicheur de Paris’ underground cooling system, in Paris, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. The system, which uses electricity generated by renewable sources, is the largest in Europe and goes unnoticed above ground. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

By THOMAS ADAMSON and NICO GARRIGA Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The Mona Lisa may maintain her famously enigmatic smile because she benefits from one of Paris’ best-kept secrets: An underground cooling system that’s helped the Louvre cope with the sweltering heat that has broken temperature records across Europe.

The little-known “urban cold” network snakes unsuspecting beneath Parisians’ feet at a depth of up to 30 meters (98 feet), pumping out icy water through 89 kilometers (55 miles) of labyrinthine pipes, which is used to chill the air in over 700 sites. The system, which uses electricity generated by renewable sources, is the largest in Europe — and chugs on around the clock with a deafening noise totally inaudible above ground.

Paris City Hall has now signed an ambitious contract to triple the size of the network by 2042 to 252 kilometers (157 miles). It would make it the largest urban cooling system in the world. The new contract intends to help the city to both adapt to and combat the threat of global warming. Many parts of Europe hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in July. Continue reading