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Materialism makes trauma harder to handle Andy Henion-Michigan State Materialistic people experience more stress from traumatic events and are more likely to spend compulsively as a result, a new study suggests. "When the going gets tough, the materialistic go shopping," says Ayalla Ruvio, assistant professor of marketing in Michigan State University's Broad College of Business. "And this compulsive and impulsive spending is likely to produce even greater stress and lower well-being. Essentially, materialism appears to make bad events even worse." http://www.futurity.org/materialism-makes-trauma-harder-handle/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/world/asia/in-indonesia-a-governor-at-home-on-the-streets.html In Indonesia, a Governor at Home on the Streets Rony Zakaria for The International Herald Tribune Joko Widodo, the governor of Jakarta, made an unannounced visit to the Tanah Abang market in August, where he is a frequent visitor. By  JOE COCHRANE Published: September 25, 2013 JAKARTA, Indonesia — Each day, Joko Widodo, the governor of Jakarta, does something practically unheard-of among Indonesia's political elite: he ventures into the streets to speak with the people who elected him. Most times, he is mobbed as he wanders through slums, traditional markets and other neighborhoods. Women, and men, try to touch him. Younger people grab his hands and lay them on their foreheads — a sign of respect. Many share their concerns over how their city is working (or not), a practice he encourages. The people, he jokes, are not so much excited to see him; they are merely "sho

http://gizmodo.com/how-an-engineer-earned-1-25-million-air-miles-by-buying-1339646546 How an Engineer Earned 1.25 Million Air Miles By Buying Pudding Air Miles are awesome, they can be used to score free flights, hotel stays and if you're really lucky, the scorn and hatred of everyone you come in contact with who has to pay full price when they travel. The king of all virtually free travelers is one David Phillips, a civil engineer who teaches at the University of California, Davis. David came to the attention of the wider media when he managed to convert about 12,150 cups of Healthy Choice chocolate pudding into over a million Air Miles. Ever since, David and his entire family have been travelling the world for next to nothing. So how did he do it? Well, first we need to explain the kind of man David Phillips is; he's the kind of guy who reads every inch of the small print on things. The kind of guy who learned to count cards just so he'd never