CIA accidentally overthrows Costa Rica's government. WikiLeaks not!

It is from America's Finest News Source, of course:


O-SPAN Classic: CIA Accidentally Overthrows Costa Rica

Where have the good men gone?

Wait, here is one--blogging away :)

Ok, jokes aside, the title of this post is the title of an article in the Wall Street Journal.
(editor: do you want your socialist colleagues to know you read this capitalist publication?  Hey, it is not like they get me Christmas gifts even now!)

The article is yet another addition to my ongoing blogging on the the rapidly disappearing males--"save the males" as one author put it.

Among pre-adults, women are the first sex. They graduate from college in greater numbers (among Americans ages 25 to 34, 34% of women now have a bachelor's degree but just 27% of men), and they have higher GPAs. As most professors tell it, they also have more confidence and drive. These strengths carry women through their 20s, when they are more likely than men to be in grad school and making strides in the workplace. In a number of cities, they are even out-earning their brothers and boyfriends. Still, for these women, one key question won't go away:
Where have the good men gone? Their male peers often come across as aging frat boys, maladroit geeks or grubby slackers

How might we look at this from the perspective of a young male?

Today's pre-adult male is like an actor in a drama in which he only knows what he shouldn't say. He has to compete in a fierce job market, but he can't act too bossy or self-confident. He should be sensitive but not paternalistic, smart but not cocky. To deepen his predicament, because he is single, his advisers and confidants are generally undomesticated guys just like him.
...
Relatively affluent, free of family responsibilities, and entertained by an array of media devoted to his every pleasure, the single young man can live in pig heaven—and often does. Women put up with him for a while, but then in fear and disgust either give up on any idea of a husband and kids or just go to a sperm bank and get the DNA without the troublesome man. But these rational choices on the part of women only serve to legitimize men's attachment to the sand box. Why should they grow up? No one needs them anyway. There's nothing they have to do. They might as well just have another beer.

Ouch!  I wonder when "gender studies" in American universities will begin to address this situation.  (editor: was that a rhetorical question? We are supposed to say "never," right? Awshutup!)



I am not at all surprised with these developments--after having grown up with an elder sister, who excelled in school, and having been educated in a coeducational setting where girls gave us boys pretty good competition for grades and ranking (no, make that pretty girls who gave us boys good competition for grades and ranking), and then having lived a family life with talented women.  If not for men restraining women through centuries, well, this day would have arrived a lot, lot earlier.

Lauryn Hill v. Esperanza Spalding: Who has more hair? :)

I was confused when I heard the news that Esperanza Spalding won the Grammy for best new artist.  New artist?  Even a music ignoramus like me knows of her and her music from two-plus years ago.  I have even gifted her music CDs--ok, I did that once!

Oh well ... I like her and her music.  I suppose she became that much more of an interest for me thanks to the lengthy profile the New Yorker had some time ago.  Her Oregon (Portland) roots help too ...

Anyway, back to the hair!  Doesn't her hair pale next to Lauryn Hill's? :)

Back to Spalding; here she is performing her version of Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed"



And here is one of my favorites by Lauryn Hill, which is also a cover version:

The Qu'osby Show: The All(ah) American Muslim sitcom :)

- Allah in the Family

No Ukrainian nurse can help Libya's Gaddafi. Cheering the protesters

So, it appears that the Arab youth are mad as hell. 

And, Libya's Gaddafi is now at the receiving end of the  raging emotions that have been bottled up for 41 long years.  Yes, it was in 1969, almost 42 years ago, this maniac took over the country! 

But, Gaddafi will clearly not go away without putting up a fight, and he has quickly resorted to dirty tricks:

The mainstay of the unrest is in regional towns and cities, where many people live in poverty.
Foreign journalists operate under restrictions in Libya, so it has been impossible to independently verify much of the information coming out of the country.
But the BBC has confirmed that several websites - including Facebook and al-Jazeera Arabic - have been blocked.
And the airport in Benghazi, the country's second largest city, has been closed, amid reports that protesters have taken it over.
Residents in Benghazi told the BBC that electricity has been cut off, and tanks are posted outside the court building.
Benghazi protesters have told international media they have learnt from Tunisia and Egypt, and are determined to depose Col Gaddafi.
Media outlets loyal to Col Gaddafi had earlier conceded that security forces had killed 14 protesters in Benghazi on Thursday, though other accounts put the death toll much higher.

 The news channel that US cable corporations refuse to carry, Al Jazeera, also has a similar report:

Marchers mourning dead protesters in Libya's second-largest city have reportedly come under fire from security forces, as protests in the oil-exporting North African nation entered their fifth day.
Mohamed el-Berqawy, an engineer in Benghazi, told Al Jazeera that the city was the scene of a "massacre," and that four demonstrators had been killed on Friday.
"Where is the United Nations ... where is (US president Barack) Obama, where is the rest of the world, people are dying on the streets," he said. "We are ready to die for our country."

I hope my intro class students are tuned in--one of the two short stories that I have assigned for their final projects is Hisham Matar's "Naima."  Matar writes in the Guardian:

I appeal to Colonel Gaddafi and his security forces: for the sake of the mothers, for the sake of those who died, for the sake of Libya, please don't shoot and torture your people.

I blogged before that Matar knows well about this dictator and his cronies ...

So, why the Ukrainian nurse in the heading you ask?  Thank WikiLeaks for that

Writing, in 800 words or less

Paul Krugman writes:

If I had my way, we’d require students to write 800-word essays, just for writing and reasoning practice.

I have been doing this for years now.  It forces students to develop well-focused arguments.  There is also one other huge benefit: it minimizes the possibility of Bullshit.  (Come to think of it, we need to impose such word restrictions whenever faculty speak or write anywhere, anytime!  editor: does that include you? Awshutup!)

Anyway, back to Krugman:

It’s really, really hard to say something meaningful in a limited space. And yet, that constraint has its virtues: it forces you to be concise, to figure out what you really need to say and skip the rest, to find turns of phrase that are shorter and usually plainer. And my experience is that the process of doing all that almost always makes the thing read better.

Yep.  While my columns do not have the importance or reach that Krugman's have, I am always aiming for a length of between 675 and 725 words.  Unless the newspaper restricts me to 500 words or less.

Demand Al Jazeera in the US.

Women's Economic Opportunity: Eastern Europe looking good!

From the Economist:

Opportunity is defined as a combination of prevailing labour policies, access to finance, education and training, and legal and social status. One surprising finding: under communism women were encouraged (or expected) to work, and this attitude has persisted in many former communist countries, which continue to provide more opportunities for women.

The (worst) pun of the day! One hell of a groaner :)

Thanks to a friend who emailed this, along with nine others!

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet.
He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath.
This made him (Oh, dude, this is so bad, it's good..)
a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

A tale of two cities: Portland and Chicago

Lots of "city" news especially the last couple of days.

First, it turns out that Chicago's up and down ride the roller-coaster of economics and demographics continues:

A larger-than-expected exodus over the past 10 years reduced the population of Chicago to a level not seen in nearly a century.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that during the decade ended in 2010, Chicago's population fell 6.9% to 2,695,598 people, fewer than the 2.7 million reported back in 1920.
After peaking at 3.62 million people in 1950, Chicago underwent a half century of decline that ended only when the 1990s boom years produced a small gain in the 2000 count. At that time, the city loudly celebrated its comeback.
But the recent recession accelerated a migration both to the metropolitan area's farthest suburbs and to the Southern U.S. Chicago nonetheless is expected to remain the nation's third-largest city, behind New York and Los Angeles and just ahead of Houston, for which final census numbers aren't in yet.
The exodus took a big chunk out of the city's black population in particular, shrinking it to 887,608 from 1,065,009, according to William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington.

Second, and in contrast to Chicago, it turns out that cities like Portland attract youth from all over, even when they are fully aware of the rather bleak economic conditions there.  Not entirely news to us, but, more evidence of the continuing trend.

Twenty years ago, the percent of people with college degrees in Portland was lower than the national average. Now, it's more than 10 points higher — about 40 percent. And Cortright says the grads aren't just coming for high-tech jobs. ...
Oregon economist Christian Kaylor says he can think of only one explanation for the migration into Portland: the quality of life.
Kaylor says wages there are sometimes 20 percent lower than in Seattle or San Francisco. But people keep coming. In fact, Portland's appeal is part of why the city's unemployment rate tends to be about a point higher than the national average.
"In recessions, Portland tends to see population growth, even as we lose jobs," Kaylor says. "So one of the reasons we have that higher unemployment rate is because people do continue to move here even as jobs disappear."

So, what is it about cities, right? 

Ed Glaeser was on the Daily Show last night talking about cities, which is what his latest book is about.  I have seen him up close and personal at a conference--it was last year at the AAG Annual Meeting, and I was in the front row!  I was particularly looking forward to seeing him in live action after having read a lengthy profile ...  Glaeser is one non-stop bullet train from the time he begins to speak, and boy does he cover a lot of intellectual territory above and beyond economics itself.  One can easily see why he is a Ivy-Leaguer :)

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

David Brooks apparently liked Glaeser's book and arguments a lot, and writes:

Cities magnify people’s strengths, Glaeser argues, because ideas spread more easily in dense environments. If you want to compete in a global marketplace it really helps to be near a downtown. Companies that are near the geographic center of their industry are more productive. Year by year, workers in cities see their wages grow faster than workers outside of cities because their skills grow faster. Inventors disproportionately cite ideas from others who live physically close to them.

But, does that mean that Glaeser is right?  I am not so sure.  Hi-tech has equally made it possible for dispersal of population.  So, the city might not necessarily be the kind of a 19th, or even 20th century city where one found dense urban cores for employment or residence or both.  The 21st century city might not have that much in common with the old model, when it comes to that "physically close" that Brooks and Glaeser write about.  As the Chicago and Portland stories tell us, city growth and decline in the 21st century might have dynamics that are very different from our old stories.

Watson on "Jeopardy!" ... cool!

So, Day 2 was neat--Watson is way ahead of the human competitors.

There were some puzzling moments, which I am sure sometime soon the IBM researchers will explain:

• Why did Watson come up with those strange dollar figures for the "Daily Double"
• Why did Watson come up with Toronto, when the question said "American cities?"
• And, of course, on Monday, Watson coming up with the same incorrect response that had already been given by another contestant (quickly clarified by IBM researchers that Watson didn't have the benefit of that input)

Should be an interesting finale later this evening.  We are certainly entering a brave new world.

"Adrift" is the word. Not Grease!

First it was the academe that was characterized as being adrift.
Now, Nouriel "Dr. Doom" Roubini says the world is adrift:

We live in a world where, in theory, global economic and political governance is in the hands of the G-20. In practice, however, there is no global leadership. And there is severe disarray and disagreement among G-20 members about monetary and fiscal policy, exchange rates and global imbalances, climate change, trade, financial stability, the international monetary system, and energy, food, and global security. ...
A G-Zero world without leadership and multilateral cooperation is an unstable equilibrium for global economic prosperity and security.

So, why this state of a world that is adrift?  Roubini has a few reasons; I like this one the best of 'em all:

G-8 leaders share a basic belief in the power of free markets to generate long-term prosperity and in the importance of democracy for political stability and social justice. The G-20, on the other hand, includes autocratic governments with different views about the role of the state in the economy, and on the rule of law, property rights, transparency, and freedom of speech.

Ok, so, does this mean that we are screwed?  Hey, Dr. Doom, you are usually way more cut and dried than this ... You are leaving it to me to conclude that we are screwed?

Why students need to worry about professors like me :)

Pity the rare students (you know who you are) who make the mistake of coming to me for advice when I am so far removed from the wisest of teachers who have made human progress possible!

"Spend, spend, spend" say the Democans

Call them not Democrats or Republicans at Congress. Instead, refer to them as Democans.
When they talk about the budget without talking about the real big expenditures, I say that is a wonderful example of bipartisanship.

Neither one wants to talk about the mandatory spending, but that is where the real money is! (source for the graph, via)
So, what is in this mandatory spending that takes up nearly 60 percent of the budget?

If only the joke weren't on us voters!
And, of course, even within the Discretionary Spending, way too much agreement on the need to spend a gazillion billion on defense :(

I like how Ezra Klein sums up the situation:

Well, the business of the American government is insurance. Literally. If you look at how the federal government spends our money, it’s an insurance conglomerate protected by a large, standing army.

More on Bahrain--the Shia canary in a Sunni coal mine

Last summer, in August, I blogged that Bahrain might be a critical link along the Sunni-Shiite chain and, in particular, when it comes to democracy and treatment of minorities. 

A couple of weeks later, I worried about the growing Shia-Sunni tensions in the region in the map to the right, with Iran in the middle to highlight its status as the leading Shia country, surrounded by Sunni Muslim states.

I didn't think that the unraveling would come from even beyond--from Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria--and, more so, not from the Shia-Sunni tensions.

But, it does not mean that these religious sectarian differences will not show up; they do, as we find out with the recent news from Bahrain.

the king of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, made a rare television appearance in which he offered condolences on the protesters' deaths.

He expressed his condolences for "the deaths of two of our dear sons" in a televised speech and said a committee would investigate the killings.

"We will ask legislators to look into this issue and suggest needed laws to resolve it," he said, adding that peaceful protests were legal.

Police reportedly fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the funeral procession [Mahmood Nasser Al-Yousif]

But angered by the two deaths, al-Wefaq, Bahrain's main Shia Muslim opposition group, announced it was suspending its participation in the parliament.

"This is the first step. We want to see dialogue," Ibrahim Mattar, an al-Wefaq parliamentarian, said. "In the coming days, we are either going to resign from the council or continue."

Al-Wefaq has a strong presence inside the parliament and within the Shia community.
The protesters say their main demand is the resignation of Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, the prime minister, who has governed Bahrain since its independence in 1971.

An uncle of the king, he is seen as a symbol of the wealth of the ruling family.

The protesters say they are also demanding the release of political prisoners, which the government has promised, and the creation of a new constitution.
Tuesday's violence came a day after demonstrators observed a Day of Rage, apparently inspired by the recent uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

Thousands came out on the streets on Monday to protest, sparking clashes with riot police.
Video from YouTube showing riot police firing on largely peaceful protesters during that demonstration.

Poverty, high unemployment and alleged attempts by the state to grant citizenship to Sunni foreigners to change the demographic balance have intensified discontent among Bahrain's Shias.

Around half of the tiny island kingdom's 1.3 million people are Bahraini, with the rest being foreign workers. The majority of citizens are Shia.

Size does not matter is the ancient wisdom. V-Day message? Nah!

हस्ति स्थूलतरः स चांकुशवशः किं हस्तिमात्रोंऽकुशः
दीपे प्रज्वलिते प्रणश्यति तमः किं दीपमात्रं तमः ।
वज्रेणापि हताः पतन्ति गिरयः किं वज्रमात्रो गिरिः
तेजो यस्य विराजते स बलवान् स्थूलेषु कः प्रत्ययः ॥

- पञ्चतंत्र - मित्रभेद

An elephant is very big. But is controlled by a very small hook. Are they both of the same size? A small lamp destroys mighty darkness. Are they both of same size? A diamond can bring down a mountain. Are they both of the same size? He who has courage will become a winner. What has size got to with success?

- Panchatantra, Mitrabedha

Source

Artificial Intelligence: Watson on Jeopardy!

Strangely enough, I am rooting for Hal Watson to win, and to win by a huge margin.  Tune in, folks--the human competitors are tough champions. 
Should be a great show

Thanks to Egypt for eclipsing Reagan's 100th birthday :)

So, Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday was hailed, for all practical purposes, only the the likes of Sarah Palin.  Most of the rest of America was engrossed in Jersey Shore the developments in Egypt and, of course, the Super Bowl mania.

It is awful that Reagan is being elevated to such levels of political saintliness.  Michael Kinsley's column from a few years back is a must read on the myths about Reagan.  But, for those who prefer not to read more than a few words, and like the Reagan story in a cartoon, well, here it is:

Governor plans to eliminate faculty unions

In Wisconsin, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education:

Wisconsin's newly elected Republican governor announced a sweeping plan on Friday that would cut benefits for state employees, including those in the University of Wisconsin system, and eradicate the collective-bargaining rights ...
it would specifically remove the right of the university system's faculty and staff members to bargain collectively. That right was just won in 2009 under a bill signed by then-Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat. Since then, faculty members on two University of Wisconsin campuses, Eau Claire and Superior, have voted in favor of collective bargaining

Adjunct faculty unionization is something that makes sense to me.  But, tenured faculty in public universities unionizing always seemed bizarre to me.  Three layers of job protection: indefinite tenure, collective bargaining, and public sector?

Meanwhile, the flagship campus at Madison, wants to break free (not unlike the plans that the University of Oregon has):

In response to declining state support, Madison's chancellor, Carolyn A. (Biddy) Martin, proposed last fall a plan, dubbed the New Badger Partnership, that would free the university from state controls over various parts of its operation, allowing it to set differential tuition, provide more student aid, and compensate faculty members separately from pay plans for other state agencies.
Last week, the faculty senate at Madison adopted the principles of Ms. Martin's proposal.

Most of these problems will easily go away if only we stopped overselling higher education and college degree.  The more we do this, the more we make it worthless, while driving up the costs, and triggering the need for more faculty and graduate students, and ..... Instead, we have made higher education an expensive credentialing process that forces even the disinterested and unqualified to attend college on lots of borrowed money.  Apparently, we seem to be intent on making things even worse for the youth and, in particular, those from lower-income backgrounds. 



(Editor: aren't you forgetting full-disclosure? Yes, I am getting to it. I teach at a public university where faculty negotiate through collective bargaining.  But, I am not a member of the union.)

To celebrate freedom in Egypt: a music video?

What watching "Jersey Shore" does to books?

ht

Based on Ray Bradbury's warning, I imagine that books engage in self-immolation when Jersey Shore is on!

Chart of the day: America's exports and trading partners

This is a chart that definitely passes the test of "a picture is worth a thousand words"

So, what exactly do we export, you ask?  Remember that it is a myth that manufacturing is all but dead in America?

O'reilly, Obama, Beck, and SNL. Ah, what a laugh-off!

At least O'Reilly didn't say "tide goes in, tide goes out" :)

But, seriously, there are people who watch O'Reilly's show for information and not for entertainment? How do they avoid puking?

And, how did the world not stop "spinning" when O'Reilly chatted with Beck, and even ol' Bill finds that Glenn is nuts :)

Oh well ... that is capitalism for you!