The UN predicts that by the year 2050, the number of people living in cities will double.  However, a recent study warns of an increasing risk for disease outbreaks in cities, “Cities become incubators where all the conditions are met for outbreaks to occur.”

We’ve all received criticism—at home, in the neighborhood, or in a workplace—for something we did or didn’t say or do. Perhaps we at some point have been the critic. How should we handle criticism?

Britain just held a national referendum on revising the voting system for the House of Commons.  But was this a pointless exercise?

When I was in college, many years ago, sowing a bumper crop of “wild oats,” my time was crammed with activities.  You have probably experienced something like it—classes to attend, research and studies to complete, extra-curricular activities and social obligations, with a healthy dose of goofing off mixed in, each day starting early and going late, seldom taking time to pause and reflect.

Yet, in one of those rare, quiet moments, as I looked inwardly—thinking about who I was, what I was doing and where I was going—a few poetic lines came to my mind:

In April, China posted an $11.4 billion trade surplus—up significantly from the previous three months, and far above the predicted $1 billion surplus.  Imports and exports also rose significantly in April, over one year ago (Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2011).  China also maintains over $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves.  Although China is wrestling with inflation, their workers’ salaries are rising, giving greater ability to purchase Chinese-made goods within China, and further fueling its economy.