Fred Clark has an idea for you: Start with the housekeeping staff at a Manhattan hotel. They’ve just learned that their next contract includes no raise, but doubles the employee share of the cost of health benefits. The Norma Rae of this bunch — let’s say Jennifer Lopez* — convinces them to strike, but they… Continue reading Attention, Hollywood
Category: Politics
Economic Astronomy II: Gender Shares of Jobs
The other big gender-disparity graph making the rounds yesterday was this one showing the gender distribution in the general workforce and comparing that to science-related fields: This comes from an Economics and Statistics Administration report which has one of the greatest mismatches between the tone of the headline of the press release and the tone… Continue reading Economic Astronomy II: Gender Shares of Jobs
Fracking Liars
Back at the AAAS Meeting, I was really annoyed by a session on fracking, the process by which natural gas is extracted from shale deep underground. As I wrote at the time, regarding the industry shills who spoke: I left before the whole thing had wrapped up, because it was that or start throwing stuff… Continue reading Fracking Liars
Adulthood Never Ends
Several weeks ago, now, SteelyKid flipped out at bedtime. We had told her that the episode of MythBusters playing on the DVR was the last one for the night, but when it ended, she demanded more. When we said no, she went into a full-on toddler freakout, screaming, crying, kicking the floor. I eventually carried… Continue reading Adulthood Never Ends
Quantum Politics
In the “ideas I wish I’d thought of first” file, the Canberra Times has an op-ed comparing politicians to quantum objects, because they seem to hold contradictory positions at the same time, and are impossible to pin down. It garbles the physics a little, and is very specific to Australia, though, so let’s see if… Continue reading Quantum Politics
Financiers Aren’t Rocket Scientists
Kevin Drum is puzzled by default panic: If we run out of money, the federal government will stop paying some of its bills. That’s bad, and it will quite likely have a negative effect on the economy. Corporations are right to be apprehensive about this. But that’s all that will happen. Treasury bonds will continue… Continue reading Financiers Aren’t Rocket Scientists
Spaced Out
The final Space Shuttle landed the other day, leading to much lamentation over the end of the program, all over the Internet. It was absolutely choking my Twitter feeds for a while, which is mostly what I was thinking about when I re-tweeted this snide comment from Robert Lamb (though, to be fair, most of… Continue reading Spaced Out
Being Educated Is All About Half Guessing
Keeping the week’s unofficial education theme, Kevin Drum posts about the latest “kids these days” study, namely the just-released NAEP Geography results. Kevin makes a decent point about the 12th grade questions being fairly sophisticated, but includes one comment that struck me as off base: I gotta tell you: I went through the five sample… Continue reading Being Educated Is All About Half Guessing
Reforming Education: Bonuses Aren’t Enough
One of the standard education reform proposals that gets suggested every time somebody brings up the condition of American public education is that teachers should be offered some form of performance incentive, whether in the form of “merit pay” programs on a continuing basis, or bonuses for reaching particular targets. This is one of those… Continue reading Reforming Education: Bonuses Aren’t Enough
Negotiations Break Down Again; Administration Warns of Possible Depression
(A white house, Niskayuna, NY) Negotiations stalled for the 125th consecutive minute, dashing early hopes that a compromise might be reached in the tense talks that have gripped this otherwise quiet suburban neighborhood. As the crisis enters its third hour, both sides reiterated their long-standing positions. “It’s 8:45pm, MythBusters is over, it’s time to go… Continue reading Negotiations Break Down Again; Administration Warns of Possible Depression