America's self-inflicted decline; Lessons at the world's biggest school; Hi-tech loos are big biz; Television going the print media way -- to doom

1 America’s self-inflicted decline (Ting Xu in The Diplomat) America’s greatness was very much a function of the visionary pragmatism of its founding fathers. The common sense decision to pursue liberty, equality and individual well-being was achieved through creativity, openness and consensus based on compromise.  American leadership internationally is based on not only its economic prosperity, but also the sense of hope it brings to those who seek peace and development.

Unfortunately, this sense of hope will wane if America continues on its current path. Inadequate regulation of the financial sector among other factors has dragged the country into one of its worst recessions ever, yielding historically high unemployment and an expansion of people (over 46 million in 2010) living below the poverty level. Undisciplined public spending pushed the total debt to GDP ratio over 100% this year.

Not only is the US digging its own grave domestically, it is also doing so internationally as well. After entering a decade-long war in Iraq, the legitimacy of which is still being debated, the US is seen by many as more of a bully than a leader for global peace. The most disturbing fact from an American perspective is that the more than $3 trillion war bill and the 4,487 casualties have overstretched America’s resources and diminished the public’s tolerance for legitimate military interventions.

The country suffers from self-inflicted wounds the most critical of which is polarizing partisan politics. To heal the divide in society and put the nation back on a healthy track , we need to start to work on problems at home. In this election season, Americans need to follow those who can provide a clear and pragmatic path. The world will not wait for American leadership forever, now is the time to act.

2 Lessons at the world’s biggest school (Johannesburg Times) The first day in class for any new pupil can be an overwhelming experience, so imagine arriving for lessons as one of 40,000 pupils on the roll-call of the world's biggest school. The latest edition of Guinness World Records awards the title to the City Montessori School in the Indian city of Lucknow with 39 437 registered pupils in the 2010-2011 academic year.

 

The school says that enrolment numbers have already risen above 45,000, with 2,500 teachers, 3,700 computers, 1,000 classrooms - and one of the hardest first eleven cricket teams to break into. CMS, as it is known, was opened by Jagdish Gandhi and his wife Bharti in 1959 with a loan of 300 rupees ($6 at current rates) and just five pupils. Today it sprawls over 20 sites in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, and is as famous for its exam results and international exchange programmes as for its scale.

"The phenomenal growth of our school is a reflection of our efforts to please our parents with our service to their children," said Gandhi, who is still involved in the school's management at the age of 75. "Our students have exceptional academic results each year and outstanding global exposure. Getting this Guinness record is heartening but it's not just about size," he said.

CMS, which receives no government funding, charges 1,000 rupees a month in fees for younger pupils, rising to 2,500 a month for seniors. The school's size is matched only by its idealistic ambitions, with pupils taught a philosophy of universal peace and globalism under the motto "Jai Jagat" (Victory be to the World).

3 Hi-tech loos are big biz (Matthew Wall on BBC) In a world where 2.5 billion people still do not have access to basic sanitation facilities, and 1.5 million children die each year from preventable diseases as a result, there is a pressing need to find sustainable solutions to this most ancient of human problems. But this isn't just a humanitarian issue - it is also about hard-headed economics.

"The United Nations estimates that achieving the Millennium Development Goal for sanitation could save us $66bn in time, productivity, averted illness and death," says Sanjay Bhatnagar, chief executive of WaterHealth International, a provider of water purification centres to developing economies. "Every dollar spent on improving sanitation generates nine times the amount in economic benefit."

So the world's finest scientists and inventors have been applying their technological know-how to the unglamorous but important issue, and coming up with some ingenious solutions. In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, awarding $3.2m in grants to promising entrants. Bill Gates writes in his blog: "Inventing new toilets is one of the most important things we can do to reduce child deaths and disease and improve people's lives." Sanitation and economic development are inextricably linked. Better loos will mean big business.

4 Television going the print media way – to doom (Steve Johnson in Sydney Morning Herald) Television has been by far the most resilient form of “old media”. For more than four decades, television has delivered huge audiences that advertisers crave. The rise of the internet has killed the newspaper business model, but demand for television remains enormous. Does it make the battered shares of Seven, Nine and Ten cheap buying for potentially-rich stocks? No.

Australian television broadcasters are at the very same tipping point newspapers reached a few years ago, just before their problems became near-terminal. While new technology is already eating away at TV's margins, faster broadband speeds will demolish the business model altogether. Just as you can now read a newspaper on your computer, soon people will be streaming video content to their TV, from a diverse variety of providers, not just conventional stations.

The newspaper business model was upended when readers could go online and cherry pick stories from media organisations and bloggers the world over. The same is about to happen to television. Most of us can't be bothered searching for a new program to watch. We just crash in front of the telly and take what's served up. The internet can do a much better job of satisfying our cravings, for very little effort. Once your television starts telling you what's popular amongst friends and other like-minded people, it's goodbye to sloth profits for the free-to-air television networks.

How long will it take? The wave of destructive change takes longer to build than most pundits expect, but the demolition itself is surprisingly quick. The technology is ready. We're ready. All we're waiting for is faster internet speeds. And that's about to arrive. Video may not have killed the radio star. But the NBN is about to kill the television station.