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More on topic, it does seem like higher education is quite a bubble. I am of the opinion that the Ivies and Friends (Harvard, Stanford, et al.) will make it through this. I would imagine that the smaller colleges and state funded schools will be forced to do some extreme pruning of divisions that don't generate any money (philosophy, english literature).
I have not been able to find good information about when these cuts might happen. Does anyone have a guess?
Regarding education anywhere (especially "Ivies and friends") -- Can $50K+ annual tuitions survive? What about scholarships when the endowments are taking huge investment hits??
Too many people are going to college these days and the colleges are catering to the least common denominator. This is not your father's college education. It's a racket and the gig/scam is up. Hopefully, places of higher education will disappear in the next decade and the number of mainly ceremonial degrees will decrease substantially. I take this news as a positive.
Looking forward to CA bankruptcy, BTW. The only way to fix this state is blow it up and rebuild from scratch.
Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) | 01.13.09 - 6:48 pm | #
But what about bgates? He will blow up with it. How sad.
How can business schools specifically charge ridiculous tuitions? MBAs from "major financial institutions" have got to be flooding the job market now. How many MBAs did it take to drive Citi, Lehman, Bear, et al into the ground? MBAs are in a bubble too.
I am of the opinion that the super-elite schools and their ridiculous tuitions will be okay only due to the fact that the elite have managed to concentrate the wealth of the past 10 years into their hands. The super-elite schools really don't have too many students, so they need only appeal to the very wealthy. I am uncertain what someone would say the intrinsic value of these schools education is... my opinion is that it is much less well defined than what a house's worth is. Who knows though, perhaps the continuum of students for education isn't large enough to even support the Ivies and Friends at current levels. This is always possible.
Regarding their endowments, they are still sickeningly large, even after these giant haircuts. What these giant haircuts do is force them to repeal their recent promises of free tuition for a substantial portion of their populace.
Someone posted an interview of Arnie on 60 Minutes and Arnie's pumped (haha) about making Cali the leader in Green Business. He's spent over a $100,000 greenifying his Hummer. He cares.
My link in the UC chain -- UC Santa Cruz -- has a library expansion and a new Digital Arts building under weigh; the library is most of the way there, the digital arts building, not so much. Be interresting to see what comes down the pike in the next few weeks.
And don't ask me what digital arts is all about; I've worked her for years and I'm still not sure. Which may tell you something.
Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) writes:
I vote for closing most of the economics departments, since current circumstances illustrate how miserably they've performed.
I always wonder what "educated" is supposed to mean when it comes to college. Going to college is mainly about getting a piece of paper to prove you paid to play, and maybe about networking. It certainly isn't about learning stuff. Most college students today can't even locate Vietnam on a map. They don't read for pleasure, they have no intellectual curiosity, they only have resumes overstuffed with Volunteerism-in-a-Box. Trained seals. They get overspecialized college "training" for jobs that probably aren't even going to be there in 20 years. The idea that every kid in America needs to go to college in order to join the suit-and-tie office overseer class of the New World Order while their less fortunate compatriots serve them as chai wallahs... insane. Who seriously thought that could continue?
Anyone associated with UC in any way knows they have been on a monster, utterly unsustainable construction binge for a long time. They also tend to build things for maximum expense with lots of granite, marble etc. and of course lots of problems always seem to turn up in more complex buildings such as laboratory space. Ooops - we forgot the researchers want some kind of separate water system and need emergency showers.
Last UC bash - when I left UCSD rumor was they were offering subsidized home loans to execs and tenure track people up to $1 million.
On the other hand, for whatever reason, the community colleges of California seem to be a giant collection of trailer classrooms.
the elite have managed to concentrate the wealth of the past 10 years into their hands. kahni | 01.13.09 - 6:53 pm | #
Ain't that the truth! Having known a few Harvard/Princeton/Wharton types I've found that it's the connections they make much more than the education they get.
Not to mention the office spaces that the collegiate support staff have to work in are often dark, moldy, falling apart and crawling with cockroaches while they're building the masturbatory granite monuments on the Quad.
I definitely learned "stuff" in college. The physics program had about 1 elective I could take per year and the rest of the time the profs made me grind my ass on homework about 2-3 hours a night. Add lab hours into the course work and it was about 20 hours a semester that I got 14 hours of credits for. Business school was different.
Exactly, Mal. It does teach them to be adroit sychophants. If the fools had any ability to think freely, it is quickly stripped of them when they join a fraternity or sorority, which are basically boot camps for corporate america.
Maybe it's different in the sciences. But your typical liberal arts/business/communications student is mainly working on trying to find a job (networking, interning, etc), not serious intellectual pursuit, unless they're aspiring to become a professor themselves.
I understood Arnold developed personal military Hummer for street legal use for 150K. Arnold showed Detroit how to, rest is history
LAM | 01.13.09 - 7:03 pm | #
He did that, as well. But he had it retooled to take Biodiesel and to run on a hydrogen cell which he had in the back.
MIT has to revamp their program because attendance has become such a huge issue. One professor says the failure rate is 10-15% because kids can't make the effort to attend class.
One further thought - college students today are so very, very busy doing so very, very little (intellectually). And there are so many of them. I'm almost inclined to believe that the only way you can stand out to an employer now is to be smart, skilled and have NO college on your resume (or pretend that you don't). "He pulled himself up by his own bootstraps! I like a kid like that..."
in't that the truth! Having known a few Harvard/Princeton/Wharton types I've found that it's the connections they make much more than the education they get. Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) | 01.13.09 - 7:03 pm | #
When I was a hiring manager for a small software company in the SF Bay Region, I noted that Harvard grads tended to put their university info near the top of the resume -- even though it was standard to put work experience and skills at the top.
The inference was obvious. I routinely threw out their resumes. Plenty more where that came from.
I agree with you. College seemed to be tailoring degrees to whatever recruiters job titles seemed to want. I didn't play that game. Natural sciences is different. In NS you learn about all the things man has figured out up to now, and very few people outside of academia or publicly funded research labs want to hire you. People yammer on about how we need more math and science majors blah blah blah, but no one wants to pay them for the time they spend actually studying and learning. Important businessmen types and Universities like to leech off the real studious people for as little as they can get away with paying them.
MIT has to revamp their program because attendance has become such a huge issue. One professor says the failure rate is 10-15% because kids can't make the effort to attend class.
This is MIT!
anonymous | 01.13.09 - 7:09 pm | #
It's all the electronics. Our neural pathways are being rewired by all of this electromagnification. More and more people can't committ. We've been increasingly experiencing it with friends. Something's going terribly wrong.
Reporter: Mr Paulson, do you have a response to reports of China shying away from US Treasuries?
Paulson: New customers are like razor-toothed gree-worms. They can be succulent, but sometimes they bite back.
Reporter: Could you elaborate please?
Paulson: Once you have their money, you never give it back.\t
Reporter: Mr Paulson, what do you have to say about the quitting of the CBO's chief over fears of a sovereign US bankruptcy?
Paulson: Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer.
Reporter: Ms Bair, will the FDIC negotiate a pizza supply contract given their new popularity?
Bair: Never begin a negotiation on an empty stomach.
others:
Never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own.\t
Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.\t
Treat people in your debt like family ... exploit them.\t
Hear all, trust nothing.\t
Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success. Don't hesitate to step on them.\t
Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
Going to college is mainly about getting a piece of paper to prove you paid to play, and maybe about networking. It certainly isn't about learning stuff
Mal
Whoa. The Daughter is in UCDavis getting a spectacular education in biosciences, research track. The stuff that make things better. Straight A's. Hard worker. Tough classes. Don't even get general with college education. There are sham ops and there are not sham ops. You are way off base when you generalize.
Then there is the whole thing where college students today are soooooo busy that they just cannot drag themselves in for Friday classes, and Thursday night is the new Friday night of drinking, so some colleges are now thinking about scheduling no Friday classes. Soooo much extracurricular work, the unpaid internships, the job on the side... at what point do we just finally say, "Look, this higher educational model just isn't producing anything of value any more."
These kids do NOT need to be in college for four years if all they're doing is looking for internships, going on internships, networking, and learning about job trends in their fields. Of course, the higher ed industry needs them to be.
Before they started spending more on prisons than on education, CA was better off. I grew up in CA when an in-state student could go to UC for free -- well, books, housing, etc. were yours to pay for, but what a deal.
And bee colonies are collapsing and bats are dying...
anonymous | 01.13.09 - 7:15 pm | #
Maybe Bob's daughter can help. Of course, the corporations have been increasingly creeping their way into education and shutting down any research that may potentially be damning to their revenue streams. Monsanto is one of the most egregious.
MIT has to revamp their program because attendance has become such a huge issue. One professor says the failure rate is 10-15% because kids can't make the effort to attend class.
This is MIT! anonymous | 01.13.09 - 7:09 pm | #
I read the article. The new approach is sound teaching technique. The old way, the giant lecture hall, is just "the way it's always been done." Actual retention of knowledge is quite low, except for the rare individual who learns that way. But most people learn best through experimentation, especially working with others in a social atmosphere and just enough coaching to move them from one step to the next.
It's called constructivism. It's the way people actually learn and teach each other in "real life," outside the academic environment. Unfortunately, it traditionally doesn't lend itself to industrial-scale one-size fits all schooling, which is the most prevalent form of higher learning because, frankly, it is the cheapest.
As an engineer, I will say that going to higher ed wasn't about getting a piece of paper to prove you paid to play. Hell, it wasn't even really about networking. Engineering is pretty hard regardless of discipline and school. It isn't a nice thing to hear on the first day "Look to your left. Look to your right. One of these people will not be here in 6 months."
Granted... those people went to business and communications... hmmm... I being to see a pattern...
Your main point is good though, as a society, it is going to be difficult to support those who go to higher ed for kicks. And for those people, the economic justification of going to higher ed is going to start withering away (well... most likely it withered away about 10 to 15 years ago).
reptilian: Before they started spending more on prisons than on education, CA was better off. I grew up in CA when an in-state student could go to UC for free -- well, books, housing, etc. were yours to pay for, but what a deal.
Wow that sounds like a fantasy land to me. Education costs have been rising at double or triple the rate of inflation for 20 - 30 years -- this recession/depression will finally give some difficult to achieve, but very necessary relief.
This was my favorite part of the NYT MIT article posted above:
One of the newer professors, Gabriella Sciolla, who arrived in 2003, was teaching a TEAL class on circuits recently. She gauged the level of understanding in the room by throwing out a series of multiple-choice questions. The students voted with their wireless personal response clickers the clickers are essential to TEAL which transmitted the answers to a computer monitored by the professor and her assistants.
Park next to Arnold's 18 wheel Pirus.
LAM | 01.13.09 - 7:18 pm | #
You should have heard the thing. They were conducting part of the interview in the Hummer with the windows down. Obviously, noise pollution wasn't taken into account.
Bob Dobbs - Do you know of any History of Consciousness PhD's that have actually gone on to secure employment anywhere other than at a UC campus? NiNM | 01.13.09 - 7:14 pm | #
I actually don't know ANY HoC majors -- none that will admit it, anyway. I'm staff.
But I did once see Angela Davis high on mimosas at Zachary's on a Sunday morning.
In Studs Terkel's book "Hard Times", one of the interviewees commented that in Chicago, there were unfinished buildings abandoned when the Depression started and were still unfinished in the late '40s.
Wonder when these things will finally get done?
And yep, college isn't for everybody and y'know, that's okay. That includes one of my kids, who's probably going to wind up dictator of some 'Stan somewhere.
After he's Grand High Poobah, then he'll appreciate the value of a good education and get 'Stani tax dollars to pay for it.
And yep, college isn't for everybody and y'know, that's okay. That includes one of my kids, who's probably going to wind up dictator of some 'Stan somewhere.
Take heart. That's probably just what Bill Gates' parents used to say.
University today is nothing like it was even 10 years ago.
Profs dump assignments 1 day before the due date over e-mail or web pages and you have no choice but to complete them.
I'm not sure about essay writing degrees, but I doubt there were as many long essays required before computer printing.
There is no longer the room for a calm well scheduled course, it's just a lineup of dump trucks and the real problem is that skipping class allows one to be more productive.
Citigroup Inc. may sell its CitiFinancial consumer-lending unit and rein in trading with the banks own capital after agreeing to cede control of its Smith Barney retail brokerage, people familiar with the plan said.
But I did once see Angela Davis high on mimosas at Zachary's on a Sunday morning.
Bob Dobbs
Are you sure that Zachary's doesn't put a little bit of the kind in the Mikes Mess? Last time I ate there downtown was not much more than tents and holes in the ground. Then the internet really ruined things although it is probably nice to be able to walk downtown without worrying about being mugged.
There is no longer the room for a calm well scheduled course, it's just a lineup of dump trucks and the real problem is that skipping class allows one to be more productive.
Very good perspective, and my own point basically was, Higher education is not working very well for many many students.
lol
You expect attendance to stay high all semester long? Let's do some math:
30 hours of class, 10 hours of labs that actually take 15 hours but it was a scheduling complication
20 hours of assignments
15 hours of group work
15 hours of lab write ups
30+15+20+15+15=95 hours
There are 168 hours in a week.
That leaves 9 hours a day for eating, sleeping, commuting, studying, extracurricular, volunteering, working
The situation is that the impersonal lecture adds the least value and is the first to be cut if pressed for time.
The real problem are the curriculums, which because in some departments they have to be approved by an accrediting body, are extremely inflexible. What happens is that it is easy to add stuff, but nigh impossible to remove it. Over time you push people to their limits and they'll just accept it because they don't know any better.
If kids had the choice of going to school in the 60s 70s or 80s instead, I very much doubt anyone would say no to that.
Since we're OT - one of these Swedish headlines does not belong here. See if you can guess which one:
Volvo plans 1,620 layoffs
Consumer prices fell on average 1.3 percent
Swedish-Finnish telecommunications operator TeliaSonera gave notice to 1,200 employees in Sweden on Monday
New Wave Group, owner of famed Swedish glassmaker Orrefors Kosta Boda, announced on Monday it will cut an addition 200 jobs to avoid bankruptcy.
Alfa Laval to trim 300 jobs in Sweden
Riksbank's deputy governor Barbro Wickman-Parak said, "Our forecasts, and those of most other experts, indicate that growth will recover in 2010 and that inflation will then increase."
Are you sure that Zachary's doesn't put a little bit of the kind in the Mikes Mess? Last time I ate there downtown was not much more than tents and holes in the ground. Then the internet really ruined things although it is probably nice to be able to walk downtown without worrying about being mugged. NiNM | 01.13.09 - 7:29 pm | #
All the dot-com software companies are gone, and you can once again get mugged on Lower Pacific. The last one or two holes in the ground haven't been filled in yet, but the funky feel -- which never quite went away -- is starting to come back. Economic downturns are good for some things.
I'm looking at a "Floor & Decor" mailer: travertine tile less than $2 sq. ft; solid bamboo (15 yr. warranty) less than $2 sq. ft; polished granite less than $2 sq. ft; however, in "absolute black" it's less than $5 sq. ft. This stuff is less than carpeting.
"The old way, the giant lecture hall, is just "the way it's always been done." "
Before the printing press was invented the only way a scholar could get reference material was to scribble notes while the professor lectured. Don't tell anyone that you could record a professor once and then play him back for any number of students indefinitely. Far from putting professors out of business it would free them up to do one on one teaching as needed which would actually be useful. When I took chem 101 I never bothered to go to lectures, just read the book, still got an A.
Bob Dobbs - Do you know of any History of Consciousness PhD's that have actually gone on to secure employment anywhere other than at a UC campus?
NiNM | 01.13.09 - 7:14 pm | #
HA! I knew a few folks with that Ph.D! Most of them are NOT working in the academy. They are churned out much faster than the job market can absorb them. I'd guess no more than 1-2 a year get a job in their field. The rest go to law school or become a barista or do freelance writing or teach in the California CC and they learn the meaning of "sunk costs" and "opportunity costs" and they stare in horror at their annual earnings on their SS statements each year. Academia chews them up and spits them out on the high end too!
Sorry to see so much anti-college posting on this thread.
The lousy schools and students described on the thread are very far from my own experiences as a student (private U) and as an administrator at a campus research institute (UC school). In both cases, I worked mostly with highly motivated students who gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and personal growth from the time spent on coursework and on the campus.
I am particularly pained by comments (here and outside of CR) which emphasize students as economic units rather than the future voters and leaders of our country.
And, to correct one particular error above, NiNM wrote: Last UC bash - when I left UCSD rumor was they were offering subsidized home loans to execs and tenure track people up to $1 million.
There is no subsidy involved. The UC has what they call a Short Term Investment Pool (STIP). The MOP is a mortgage funded by STIP money. It is a mortgage with a variable interest rate (with no cap) based on a quarterly average of the STIP earnings plus 0.25%.
When the mortgage bubble was inflating, the rates offered by MOP were well above what the private lenders were offering.
Pfizer is directing 800 members of its research department to the unemployment line.
The world's largest pharmaceutical company by sales confirmed Tuesday that it was continuing with ongoing plans to lay off 5.0% to 8.0% of its research and development organization globally. The previously unannounced layoffs are further evidence that Pfizer's labs have failed to produce results, despite the millions of dollars invested in their efforts.
I guess those R&D budgets are really crushing Big Pharma's profits. eye roll
Last UC bash - when I left UCSD rumor was they were offering subsidized home loans to execs and tenure track people up to $1 million.
NiNM | 01.13.09 - 7:03 pm | #
UCD still does these. These seed money loans are all at far below market rates. They also do them for revonation projects like a 120k dog run on someone's property.
Not to mention the office spaces that the collegiate support staff have to work in are often dark, moldy, falling apart and crawling with cockroaches while they're building the masturbatory granite monuments on the Quad.
mal | 01.13.09 - 7:05 pm | #
That sounds like my office! My computer literally sits on a card table and rest of the junk in my office is 20+ yrs old. but I'm ok as long as it works and serves it's function. As a ca taxpayer, I don't want to fund the buying of went more stuff with money we don't have.
Now if only the faculty felt a little less entitled sighs
I know those loans well having processed them as part of recruiting packages. They were indeed below market. It's all about what you can milk out of the offer.
HSBC Holdings Plc (HBC.N) (HSBA.L), Europe's biggest bank, may have to raise as much as $30 billion in capital and halve its dividend as earnings are likely to deteriorate more than expected, Morgan Stanley analysts said on Tuesday.
HSBC earnings are likely to fall more "sharply" this year with no recovery until 2011 at the earliest, the analysts, including Anil Agarwal and Michael Helsby, wrote in a note. ...
Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for the District of Columbia
The President today declared an emergency exists in the District of Columbia and ordered Federal aid to supplement the District's response efforts in support of the 56th Presidential Inauguration.
The President's action makes Federal funding available to the District of Columbia.
Specifically, assistance is available to the District for emergency protective measures that are undertaken to save lives and protect public health and safety. Direct Federal assistance, at 100 percent Federal funding will be provided during the period of January 17-21, 2009, and reimbursement of emergency protective measures (Category B), under the Public Assistance program, at 100 percent Federal funding for work performed on January 20, 2009.\t
FEMA will reimburse for eligible emergency protective measures performed on January 20, 2009, only if the District has expended on the Presidential Inauguration during the period of January 17-21, 2009, the $15 million appropriated to it for "Emergency Planning and Security Costs" by the Continuing Appropriations Resolution 2009, P.L. 110-329.
R. David Paulison, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Donald L. Keldsen as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.
That sounds like my office! My computer literally sits on a card table and rest of the junk in my office is 20+ yrs old. but I'm ok as long as it works and serves it's function. As a ca taxpayer, I don't want to fund the buying of went more stuff with money we don't have. deflationary jane | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 7:51 pm | #
That's an important point. In my personal experience, a lot of buildings on UC campuses are falling apart: because of deferred maintenance, because they were cheaply built to start with, because they're so old they really need to be completely reamed out to remain useful, and there's no money for anything but patches. In one building I worked in, they actually allowed space heaters -- against campus energy conservation policy -- because the heating system was dysfunctional and nobody knew how to fix it.
Most of the CSU capital projects were stopped last week.
The change orders for de-mobilization and re-mobilization will be significant. The contractors really know how to play that game to put margin back into their low bid.
I know a few people employed on those projects.
The good news is that one of the people working on that job now has time off to take a ski trip with me.
Bank of Montreal announced Tuesday it is buying the Canadian life insurance business of financially troubled American International Group Inc. for $375 million in cash.
The deal, which is expected to be completed by June 1, is projected to boost BMO's earnings within a year.
AIG Life of Canada has about 300 employees and 400,000 customers. Bloomberg said the business posted about $571.4 million in revenue through the first six months of 2008.
The deal may not be the only sale of AIG assets to a Canadian buyer. Manulife Financial is reported to be in the running for AIG assets in China and Japan.
CBC article excerpts.
Price is 65% of annual revenue
$938 per customer
Looks like AIG can make its interest payment for a few days, score one for the tax payer
University in the US of A - I could never figure out why a PhD took 5 years, when doing the same in the UK or Australia took three. Maybe it's the lost Fridays.
Someone told me it's about basically a do-over of yr Masters for two years, then getting on with the Doctoral.
If that's the case one or other of a couple of things apply:
1) Masters courses are sh!tpile and need to be repeated
2) Regulatory capture by unis to extend fees beyond equivalent degree requirements
3) Something to do with cohort irresponsibility and letting Jonnie and Janie grow up a bit before entering the job market.
Godamn I've seen plenty of eager Jonnies and Janies in my recruitment experience - great on paper all of them - and I've chucked out a lot of them in favour of the B+ student with some modesty, curiosity, and passion.
Comments regarding what the bond sales might indicate, if anything?
CUNY (City University of NY) schools had no tuition until about 1978 or so. Even in the early '80's when the city was going through one of its perennial downswings & was spending as little as possible on CUNY, Queens College still got more pre meds admitted to medical schools (in the US) than the private colleges in NY. Last I heard (alumni newsletters) Queens College is doing pretty well & still offers a pretty good undergrad education.
On the value of Higher Ed: I was a history and Poli Sci double major, which is probably up there close to english lit in terms of "no practical" use. Only later in grad school did i do Econ and Finance. However, I have found the training in history to be at least as useful as the training in finance in my work. By the way, the thing that changed my undergrad education from good to great was a semester abroad in Kenya. One of the things history classes did was teach me to write well, a very valuable skill. The other was to give me a sense of perspective. The time in Kenya did that even more. Yeah I drank and partied to much in college, but I always made it to class (and would schedule classes so I was sure I could) and followed some other very key rules. First and foremost among them was "no bongs before breakfast". Now thats a rule that everyone should impress on their kids before they go off freshman year.
Well it was a while back, early 80's and to tag on to the other comment, it was at CUNY (Baruch). Pretty good deal financially, was a grad research assistant and actually got paid (starvation wages) to go to school. Not much in the was of facilities or sports teams or that sort of stuff.
mal writes:
I always wonder what "educated" is supposed to mean when it comes to college.
IMO, what you learn in college is "how to learn" and also critical thinking. You also get exposure to the wider world. It also proves you can finish something.
Lost in all the snarkery is that today's youth will enjoy much less than their parents did--and that once we lose worldwide college superiority, we ain't got nuttin.
I hope the first major school to fail is U of Chicago, the school that proudly fathered corporate oversight neglect. It was as much Chicagonomics as it was Reaganomics.
After about 5 minutes at law school, I did Chinese history and sociolinguistics in the late 80s. I was told by Everyone Knowledgeable that it was Officially Useless. Japan's moment had arrived. Why do China?!?
Then came to finance and economics, thru circuitous professional path.
Am currently feeding soupcons of crow to many former colleagues and uni class.
And what I studied about Ming era bureaucracy could not be more relevant to my current outfit...
In both cases, I worked mostly with highly motivated students who gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and personal growth from the time spent on coursework and on the campus. ottnott | 01.13.09 - 7:48 pm | # ----- It's all in the formula.
Lawyerliz and myself have discussed the joys and pains of going the Way of the Lawyer, and while the idea of a J.D. may have addressed deficiencies in the field of law back at the end of the 1800s, the mechanization of the process is so etched into stone that the process has seemingly stopped. Are there no longer any problems with the American Legal System and how we develop future career folk? Academia's actions say, "No problems here." It is in this mode that the critiques and the "anti-college" vibe originates.
I've only enjoyed higher education in public systems, and I can't discuss the joys and sorrows of private schooling. However, I've had many classes that could be passed with little/no class attendance, participation, and even studying unless it was mandated in a syllabus. Is that the sign of a good process, diploma mill, or both? Also, I know that it places the burden of benefit on the student which may "just want a job" and not compete with the foreign slave labor, err... "foreign graduate students". Our system no longer has the "Move From Secondary Schooling Into Work" option if you want anything above serving fries or wearing a vest at a big box retailer. Heck, besides being a car salesman, I can't think of many jobs that would provide comfortable middle class options sans that "Undergraduate Program" on a resume.
While I'm rather Anti-Ivory Tower, I know that their world is going to get clocked with megatons of TnT over the next few years, and I will be waiting in the soup lines to see if/when any of 'em joy the rest of us--especially business professors. Maybe I'll be wrong and they will all scurry along with their grad students and research and not even know what is going on outside the walls of their campus, but we could also miss a deep (dep)recession too...
Contrast my outlook with some of my faculty and it's night and day. I had one campus researcher shouting in the halls because he was promised lunch and by god where was his food! Then there are the folks close to retirement screaming about being able to take their wives with them to EU conferences on the UC dime. It's amazing.
Right now,everyone is scrabbling because with the CA bond money freeze, projects had a stop of 12-17 and how do they cover salary for soft money employees that has already gone out with no other backstop. I'm the local grants and contracts guru so this is all I do now.
When I was a hiring manager for a small software company. . .Harvard grads tended to put their university info near the top of the resume--I routinely threw out their resumes.
And that small software company is defunct, right?
You can get away with anything...anything...as long as you act like whatever it is you're doing is exactly what you're supposed to be doing. I learned this lesson a long time ago, back in grade school. Back when a buddy of mine and I went into our biology teacher's unlocked classroom during lunch, unfastened the movie screen from the wall, and carried it out to the trunk of my car. We had to pass through busy hallways and walk by numerous teachers and administrators. One of them even held the door for us as we walked along with the rolled-up screen propped over our shoulders. Nobody thought to ask us what we were doing and nobody challenged us.
The more absurd the action and the more deliberate your undertaking of it, the more likely it is you can get away with whatever you're doing.
That is how managers were able to boost their profit by mispricing the risk
"During grad school, my roommate and I ate 32 coons one winter. It was all free, and it was really good. If you think about being green and eating organically, raccoon meat is the ultimate organic food," with no steroids, no antibiotics, no growth hormones.
just think about the rats and cats and whatnot that the coons ate on the way to your table.
Ran into an acquaintance today saying he was laid off this morning from 1 of 3 State jobs his employer was doing due to the budget crunch. He'll get unemployment. The 2 ex's will be missing payments and might have to leave school. Hmmm.
is it just me or does this seem odd --
"The $42 million building is 36 percent completed." and "The $40.5 million, 67,000 square foot building is 40 percent complete."
this seems like way to much precision. 36% of the money has been spent? ok. 36% of the (non-$ metric) has been completed? damn near impossible to estimate with that degree of accuracy.
to me it looks like someone who doesn't know what the hell is going on is trying to dazzle me with numbers.
I cant ever remember having to stop construction on a building, but weve never faced a financial crisis like this, said Ray Dormaier, UCIs vice chancellor of planning and budget.
hmm... i plan and budget for two things. things i expect and things i don't expect.
-5 years in a chiropractic college library (doctoral degrees offered)
-5 years at a psychology schhol library (more doctoral degrees offered)
-1 semester as a seminarian
-4 years of library school (got my Master's)
-6 years undergrad (2 degrees)
I have spent much of my adult life around universities.
I can tell you that the bad outweighs the good.
Most schools are cookie cutter. In the old days, you went to grad school to work with a specific professor. Now it seems everyone has to go just to keep up.
And trust me I have seen hundreds, if not thousands that DO NOT BELONG in school.
This shows the severity of the crisis here in Southern California:
Wife laid off from her job last week;
Brother laid off from his job today;
Video Store we rent videos from ("Hollywood Video") closed; place we buy shoes from ("Vans") closed; place we eat at ("Dakotas") closed. All since the New Year. I call it "the quikening". California bankrupt beyond hope.
I went to a city council meeting last night and complained about the video cameras when I stop at an intersection for a red light. I look up and see a video camera pointed in my face. There mounted on the traffic light booms directly in front of me. I said, now what's that all about. I went on to explain how the are bad on so many levels. After pussyfooting around a little bit by the council, they finally gave me an answer that yes they are in fact video surveillance cameras. I want them disabled and removed.
I'm hoping the city and states budgets get so bad that they cut the funding for this nonsense also.
As opposed to our wonderful financial institutions and large high-tech companies that hire ivy leaguers are driving innovation.. and creating jobs.. and a brighter future.
El Cliffo writes:
When I was a hiring manager for a small software company. . .Harvard grads tended to put their university info near the top of the resume--I routinely threw out their resumes.
And that small software company is defunct, right?
El Cliffo | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 8:14 pm | #
We're feeling the college pains right now- but with a weird twist.
My daughter will graduate from a public high school this spring at age 12. She's done all the things kids are supposed to do- AP classes, volunteering, earning high grades.
I've learned two things in the past couple months. First, that there's a law called the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) which forbids collection of electronic data on kids under 13. She is legally forbidden from applying for online scholarships or even scholarship searches. I can't tell you the number of times she's been kicked off an application with a note that she has an "invalid birthday." Sheesh. First she can't get a scholarship and then they want to take away her birthday.
Second thing is that no one knows what to do with an intellectual kiddo.
This is correct. The PMIA at the State Treasury has shut down GO sponsored projects to conserve cash.
Our campus is looking at a very expensive dirt pit with walls.
To say its a cash flow problem is to understate the enormity of 16 billions dollars worth of bond funded projects shut down throughout California. Definitely TARP (shovel read) potential.
A long-delayed update to the leading credit scoring formula is rolling out in 2009, offering a few advantages to consumers -- and some serious new risks.
FICO 08, the latest version of the FICO scoring model, was initially supposed to be introduced in the fall but was delayed by lawsuits between its creator, Fair Isaac, and the nation's three main credit bureaus.
I know those loans well having processed them as part of recruiting packages. They were indeed below market. It's all about what you can milk out of the offer.
No, jane. You can't just look at the rate. Consider some of the features of the MOP loan and think about the terms available during the bubble:
--no maximum interest cap
--due in full within 6 months of separating from UC (unless by retirement or disability)
--minimum 10% down
--full doc on income, of course
--max 40% payment to income
--non-assumable
--no initial teaser rate
--not eligible if you've owned a home near the campus within 12 months prior
--must be primary residence
--must be near campus
The MOP loans provide UC with a fair risk-adjusted rate of return on the STIP funds while also providing a well-targeted piece of a recruitment package.
Sorry, but both have nukes (and more fun stuff). The west has much to lose, they don't.
Do you really think that China would not resort to using their abilities to get what they wanted? Do you really think that, if push came to shove, they would not liquidate australia and new zealand for land? Do you think that your skin color gives you some magical protection from being run over?
//China could always end up more like India and starving. Time is very short to build up the necessary wealth
Anonymous | 01.13.09 - 8:41 pm | #//
"even though it was standard to put work experience and skills at the top."
I have been seeing quite a few programmer resumes recently and I don't see any such standard. Personally when writing a resume my rule is to put whatever I think is strongest at the top. Long ago it was education, then briefly (when switching careers) it was skills, now it is work experience. However I just looked at half a dozen, all from experienced people, and the order of sections seems very random (I had to look because I don't remember because it isn't worth noticing to begin with).
My eyes tend to glaze over in the "Skills" section. IMO it is targeted at clueless HR people who can just barely manage to compare a list on a resume to a list on a job description and at keyword driven search. The main value that section has to me is that I can ask the person about some of those things in interviews to find out if they are lying.
One of the offspring is more temperamentally suited to being a 'Stani dictator (lotta street smarts and interestingly cynical view) than belonging in college.
Decent grades but could do better.
Was responding to your comment at 8:00 about chucking out the Ivy League resumes and taking the curious B students.
Nope, they do not have to actually use force! They just have to threaten to use it.. China will start with probably take over Australia and NZ if they require land/ resources in a hurry.
They will first try the economic route, however non-compliance will result in.. you get it..
The Senate appears to be poised to live up to its' reputation as an old boys club.
While Zoe Baird, Kimba Wood, and Linda Chavez were held to a higher standard, Geithner may get pass.
Come on Boxer, Feinstein, Snowe, Clinton (!), Hutchinson, show us some balls!!! You're not gonna just let the penis brigade get away with this now, are you?
The largest shipyard crane in the western hemisphere, located in Quincy, Massachusetts, has been sold. It is now being dismantled for shipment to Romania.
Why do I never really feel like I'm "having a nice day" after one of Conjure's fun facts? I suppose that means we won't be building anything very large soon. I wonder what Romania needs it for?
If India or China was going to nuke the west (east to them mind you) and rob them to take over the world then what are we waiting for? Don't China and India have serious issues between them when it comes to water from the Himalayas?
The USA may have a mountain of debt today, but it has the Mississippi with good flow as it precipitates, that won't run out like the Ganges or Yangtze when the glaciers diminish. Fresh water = irrigation = low cost food. Nuking it won't bring anyone more food, cooperation is a must
With state government facing a $41.6 billion budget hole over 18 months, residents are bracing for higher taxes, cuts in education and postponed tax rebates.
...it has the Mississippi with good flow as it precipitates...Fresh water = irrigation... Anonymous | 01.13.09 - 8:56 pm | # ----- Speaking as someone who is intimately familar with the lower part of the Mighty "Mizzippi", it isn't "fresh", and I wouldn't want to try to irrigate necessary farm land with it...
lets also ignore that 200 million pissed away to give illegal immigrants free college tuition each year, on top of the 2 billion to educate illegal immigrant kids in K-12.
And it is OT, but having just paid my quarterly taxes, is anyone else disturbed by Geithner not having paid taxes for a couple of years?
No time to bother with his illegal housekeeper, but this guy is supposed to run the Treasury and he can't be bothered to hire an accountant or do his own taxes?
April 15th is not a date that means anything to him?
This is not the change I voted for...already I feel shortchanged.
The super-elite schools really don't have too many students, so they need only appeal to the very wealthy.
The super-elite schools have not charged middle class students ANY tuition for quite some time. And there are pretty generous definitions of "middle class" - Stanford, eg, is tuition-free up to $100k income. The Ivy League schools are generally free tuition and free room/board for anyone from a family making less than ~$70k.
"And it is OT, but having just paid my quarterly taxes, is anyone else disturbed by Geithner not having paid taxes for a couple of years?"
No.
It sounds like it is a common mistake for people working at IMF which isn't doing taxes for employees in the usual way (because of their absurdly international workforce), and he paid the taxes way back then, and disclosed it.
Many if not most upwardly aspiring colleges and college systems have been overbuilding. I suppose the lucky schools are the urban campuses that didn't really have much room to expand and couldn't use eminent domain to take over city blocks.
[With state government facing a $41.6 billion budget hole over 18 months, residents are bracing for higher taxes, cuts in education and postponed tax rebates.
km4 ]
As a condition of any Fed bailout Prop13 needs to be repealed. There is no reason California should have lower property taxes and higher home prices than the bulk of the nation.
Plenty of wealth left to confiscate from the citizenry and the Kremlin (DC) should recognize it.
This is not the change I voted for...already I feel shortchanged. fried | 01.13.09 - 9:02 pm | # ----- What more needs to be said? I agree with your thought.
Countries take the path of least resistance. Therefore they will first try to get things done in a conventional mode. So they will first try raising their own outputs etc.. For both countries investing in cheap technology and more farmer friendly laws would increase their yields by over 50% with very few additional inputs.
The real question is- What if that is not enough? Or worse- if they perceive that some aging western countries are ganging up on them- then things start getting funny. First they will try to buy them up.. however both(esp China) have younger populations that might not play the game like their grandparents did. Essentially the younger generations in both countries are not deferential to the west- unlike their current crop of geriatric leaders- and both have many more young men than women. Add in a younger charismatic leader who promises to restore national honor.. and take what is rightfully ours.. you know the rest..
About the US- it is unlikely they will strong arm the US, because they know they can buy influence in the government for much less.
Sick and Tired Dude --
Princeton does no scholarships, but financial aid for almost everyone. If you're poor, they give you a good paying job and you pay a reduced amount but you still pay. The downside is they consider your parents income whether or not you get any of it
ottnott writes:
Sorry to see so much anti-college posting on this thread.
Don't misinterpret my sentiment. I'm not anti-learning, I am anti-college as the system currently exists. There are certainly exceptions within that system, but overall the system, to me at least, produces homogeneity. Thta's especially true in business, finance and economic curriculums, but it is also true, amy be to a lesser extent, in the sciences and liberal arts. Also, corporations and welathy benefactors have their meddlesome fingers in institutions of higher learning at an ever increasing rate. That is not conducive to pure research, or free thinking.
of course, arnuld proposes a 2 day furlough for all state workers, and what do the Union scum do, ignore it. You could cut California's state employees by 2/3 and still not see a drop in services.
State Dems only do the bidding of their union bosses. A weak republican party is ineffective at getting anything passed and can only stop tax increases, which the Dems are passing as "fees" illegally.
Meanwhile, the "media" sits on its ass and proposes raising taxes on the "rich" as if that will fix anything, except to drive anyone who doesn't work in Hollywood out of the state for good.
is anyone else disturbed by Geithner not having paid taxes for a couple of years?
Damn right I'm disturbed! (Well maybe you knew that already)
Obama is a joke if he doesn't ask Geithner to withdraw his nomination.
However, I have the feeling he won't. Remember back during the Clinton era when all the feminists held their noses and looked the other way during Bill's "bimbo eruptions"? It was obvious that they put his politics above the ramifications of his behaviour.
I'm not holding my breath to hear much from Diane Feinstein or Boxer on this. A classic example of situational ethics.
It sounds like it is a common mistake for people working at IMF which isn't doing taxes for employees in the usual way (because of their absurdly international workforce), and he paid the taxes way back then, and disclosed it.
And the illegal immigrant nanny doesn't bother you?
Someone owes one heckuva apology to Linda Chavez, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood.
I'm sorry, but did any of you pay attention to who "the one" nominated to the CIA? Why would he expect Geithner to withdraw his nomination over something as petty as tax evasion?
This isn't 1992, and the press won't bother to dig any further than the scripts Team Obama has prepared for them.
Princeton does no scholarships, but financial aid for almost everyone.
The financial aid is loan-free. We can dice this nine ways from Sunday, the bottom line is "normal" students from "normal" families can graduate with no school debt.
Whether they choose to do so is of course another question altogether, as the evidence suggests middle class parents absolutely suck at passing along concepts of fiscal responsibility to their kids.
That characterization was contested by Senate Finance panel Republicans, who produced IMF documents showing that employees are repeatedly told they are responsible for paying their payroll taxes.
As to why Mr. Geithner didn't pay all his back taxes after the 2006 audit, an Obama aide said the nominee was advised by his accountant that he had no further liability. Senate Finance Committee aides said they were concerned that either Mr. Geithner or his accountant had used the IRS's statute of limitations to avoid further back-tax payments at the time of the audit.
Geithner ought to be gone. Bringing this guy onboard is insult to americans who pay their taxes in full and on time.
I lived in CA for the last 9 years, and I continue to work for a UC school. I can say for certain that a big part of California's problems can be attributed to taxpayer-funded entitlements for illegal aliens. Period, end of story. The state welcomes a class of modern-day slave laborers to subsidize corporate farming and construction. It's pure absolute insanity that illegals were sold homes in CA. When I first discovered this, I was shocked. All it takes is 1 foreclosure in 500 homes to destroy a housing market. California has 3-6 million illegal immigrants, which represents around 10% of it's population. They were sold homes with teaser loans, and the teaser rates expired along with their employment. Millions of illegals are now living in converted garages, and squeezed 10-20 into a house. Not only that, but since property taxes in CA are so insanely low relative to home "values", the prices shot up exponentially, and the State spent EVERY DAMN PENNY. Now, they are fucked because property values are 1/2, and the tax rates are allowed to readjust lower, but not higher than the purchase price- limited to a 2% increase per year. The nonlinearity of the property tax calculation is now fucking the State like so many gays love it in SF. CA needs a 9.0 earthquake right about now.
mp - I too have a question for Conjure. What's a global depression?
To expand slightly, what differentiates it from a global recession, and further what are the criteria for it to be "global" instead of "several nations coincidentally"?
thegreatsatan writes:
Why would he expect Geithner to withdraw his nomination over something as petty as tax evasion?
I understand it was an honest mistake and besides the secretary of the treasury is responsible for the IRS - so even if it wasn't honest - he can fix it
Do you really think that a country that let 40-60 million of its own people starve (cultural revolution) to death gives a f**k. They have a different concept of the world, and they can function with a lot more damage that any western country could take. They can simply win by economic attrition!
PS- They also have nukes, missiles and a large industrial base. Not worth it..
//I wonder what a nice big daisy cutter bunker buster bomb would do to that big beautiful mile long 3 gorges dam in China. Don't screw with me Burt.
Michael | 01.13.09 - 9:17 pm | #//
even back in 2006 the state was spending around 2.2billion a year on k-12 illegal immigration education. In a state where 40% of the budget is mandated to be spent on education, they spend almost 60%, this is a testement to the power of the California Teachers Association.
To keep a prisoner in a California jail/prison costs around 48k per year, next door in Arizona its 24k per year. The main factor is the cost of labor for the Prison Guards, whose union extracted massive pay raises and benefits packages during Gray Davis's tenure.
Do you get 90% pension benefits at early retirement? Nope? Most California public employees do, along with free medical. You think that doesn't rape the State coffers?
This state needs to BK, and fast. It needs to terminate all funding for illegal immigrants, it needs to reduce by half the number of state employees. I mean really, 90% of the functions performed by the DMV could be done through mail, online or via a kiosk. Rampant waste has gone unchecked and the end result is a once great state in terminal condition.
I understand it was an honest mistake and besides the secretary of the treasury is responsible for the IRS - so even if it wasn't honest - he can fix it
That excuse ever worked for you when dealing with the IRS? Didn't think so.
As for UC schools...the liberal education and watered-down cookie cutter degree programs are mostly worthless. Many Professors are overpaid and granted tenure too easily. About 1/2 of the Professors are not even US citizens (yet more jobs that Americans won't do). Many students on financial aid for diversity quotas drive around BMWs and blow their financial aid checks at area casinos. Over 1/2 of UC's graduate student body consists of foreign nationals on student visas (more jobs that American's won't do), and are paid on US taxpayer-paid-for grants. Post-doctoral workers are also majority foreign visa workers (yet more jobs that American's won't do). Many come, get a top notch education experience, have a baby, apply for green cards or leave the country. Many Professors make more than the President of the United States. Administrators are overpaid and over coddled with their own offices while Ph.D.s are stuck in cubicles. The whole system is ass backwards.
I do not expect much in the way of depth when discussing California politics here.Rob Dawg had some historical perspective but abandoned CR.Willie Brown's redistricting had a huge effect,prior to that the growth in Boards and commissions which started to take effect under Reagan and have since grown like Topsy have provided a safe haven for otherwise unemployable pols and their buddies.Once you become part of the political class in California you are forever on the public Teat...Arnold is without any real power because he does not have enough $ and because NO member of the State Legislature has to worry about reelection due to Gerrymandering.And for you California Bashers,look at what percentage of our citizens are immigrants who had to leave new jersey because they were too rude.
Sick and Tired Dude writes:
I can say for certain that a big part of California's problems can be attributed to taxpayer-funded entitlements for illegal aliens.
Ok.
But is the net effect on the US economy better or worse than paying 3x the current price for food?
Sick and Tired Dude | 01.13.09 - 9:17 pm | #
I'm sick and tired of this argument. It's an absolute fallacy that food prices would be 3x more. They would be at most 50% more, and your State and local governments might actually be solvent too. I'd rather pay 3x more for food than 3x more for my pathetic health care benefits, property taxes, crappy schools, crammed emergency rooms, overcrowded highways, out-of-control crime rates, and car insurance.
You who can't be granfalloons amuse us. We live on all continents (at least the places we consider continents), you foolish two leggers with your border fetishes will be assimilated.
thegreatsatan - please cite the source for those numbers for costs per inmate.
Just as cross-reference, the last numbers to which I have easy access are for 2005. The DoC of California had a total budget of ~5.7 Billion. Ignoring the fact that DoC has to spend money on parolees and probationaries, that worked out to about $33,730 per incarcerated inmate (168,982 total in the system). If you include all criminals the cost was closer to $26,000 per inmate.
So again, please cite source for those numbers you're flinging.
Kirk Spencer- "mp - I too have a question for Conjure. What's a global depression?"
Conjure says, "Kirk, I'll take this one for mp."
"First of all, GDP growth 10% or more below potential is a 'depression.' The depression is 'global' when all major economies are affected, and in a similar way."
"In other words, Kirk, get ready. We may see a shitstorm."
studies have shown that the price of a head of lettuce would increase by at most .10 cents per head if illegal farm labor was removed from the equation.
furthermore, using manual labor is far cheaper than automation, but far less efficient. the mega farms who get billions in taxpayer subsidies don't want to invest in automation technology when they can pay juan valdez 20 bucks a day instead.
illegal labor stifles innovation, improvement, and efficiency, just like union labor does on our nations docks. singapore has shipping systems that are vastly superior in almost every aspect compared to the US primarily because they dont have to pay a guy 80k a year to write on a container with chalk, they have a crane arm with a scanner instead and its automated.
Just thank God the economic catastrophe is solving the illegal immigration problem for us. I go into my local wall-mart now and I outnumber the illegals 100 to 1. 2 years ago it was just the opposite.
Sandblaster,
Any decent colleges in your local area, talk to the school about your situation and ask if she can just audit a bunch of classes. No cost but no credit.
I've been reading an economics text book since I got home, and had a little light bulb go off. Microsoft is toast.
My daughter is almost college age. A lot of small, and not so small colleges, seem to be state funded. I was reading in the comments about one that it is already becoming noticable that professors are not being replaced in certain areas. Or senior professors are staying on to help their departments.
I would rather my daughter get a Liberal Arts degree then end up in a resume enhancing, career generating job.
Sick and Tired Dude writes:
I'm sick and tired of this argument. It's an absolute fallacy that food prices would be 3x more. They would be at most 50% more...
Ok.
Would raising food prices by 50% be better or worse than eliminating illegal employment?
Sick and Tired Dude | 01.13.09 - 9:32 pm | #
It would be far better to raise food prices, employ US citizens, provide them with living wages and managed healthcare because the cost of so many other variables would drop. Your argument is that the government manages taxpayer money for illegals better than employers would manage money for legal workers. It simply doesn't work that way. When I see 2/3 babies being born to illegal immigrants in Sacramento paid for by MediCal, IT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE. GET A CLUE.
We promise Conjure that we will season him nicely with that fantastic Hungarian Paprika we know he likes, the smoked kind that will be hard to come by if his predictions play out.
Movies are old school. Competitive cooking shows are all the rage in our new new economy.
...studies have shown that the price of a head of lettuce would increase by at most .10 cents per head if illegal farm labor was removed from the equation.
Ok. Using the latest numbers I could find, and making some assumptions about the average size of a head of lettuce, your figure of $0.10/head works out to an aggregate cost increase of approximately $1B per year.
That's just for lettuce, and just for California.
Look, I'm not saying it is or isn't "worth it" to have illegals. I'm ASKING if it is. That's why there were question marks at the end of my sentences - to indicate I'm ASKING.
Has anybody done an actual, legit cost-benefit on this?
question for mp and the rest of y'all--seems likely to me that China and Japan are not going to be able to buy bonds pretty soon, probably sometime this year. What happens when that happens? I mean, what's the cascade?
Mortgage delinquency rate for illegals is below that for citizens. Not to suggest illegal immigration is all gravy, but it's obvious where you're coming from. You sound oddly like kidbuck.
I would rather my daughter get a Liberal Arts degree then end up in a resume enhancing, career generating job.
nova | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 9:38 pm | #
So she can be what, a liberal?
Women have a uterus and two mammary glands for a reason, and it's not for sexual exploitation at a UC school.
The most useless degree imaginable is a liberal arts degree. You virtually never see Asians and Indian students go for liberal arts degrees because they're SMART.
About 2.5 million individuals do farm work for wages sometime during a typical year, so that farm workers represent less than two percent of the 140 million persons with work experience in the US. About 80 percent or two million of these farm workers are immigrants, and an estimated 55 percent were unauthorized in 1999.
A large increase in farm wages translates into a small retail cost increase because: (1) farm labor is a third of farmers' costs; and (2) farmers receive only a fraction of the retail price of food. For a typical 2.5-person consumer unit, a 40 percent increase in farm worker wages that led to a three percent increase in retail fresh fruit and vegetable costs would increase the spending of a typical consumer unit by $9 a year, raising expenditures from $301 to $310.
I love competitive cooking shows...I wonder if the "secret ingredient" will be squirrel in the new Season?
Comrade Kristina
It's going to be a regional thing. Squirrel = North
Canadian Geese = Mid Atlantic
Old People = South
Gophers = Midwest
Jack Rabbit = West
Canadians = NorthWest
I graduated with an Engineering degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1979.
I think this qualifies me both as an "old-timer" as well as a graduate with quantitative and marketable skills. I went on to a successful career, both in my business as well as my technical pursuits.
For those of you that despair of our younger generation and the poor quality of the current higher educational system, I must tell you, after all these years, I still don't know what has most contributed to my success:
Was it the deep study and mastery of the hard sciences? Maybe. Was it the extreme sexual debauchery that I enjoyed? Possibly. Was it the overuse of marijuana, LSD, and hallucinogenic mushrooms? Could be. Was it the exposure I had to a wider world of people that were quite different than the folks I had grown up with? Definitely.
I have confidence that the younger generation will learn the same lessons that I did, irrespective of how they study, fornicate, self-medicate, and experience freedom from the conventions of their upbringing.
Years ago, the chinese had some contention with Philippines over some islands near the Philippines. As I recollect, the chinese based troops there and that's pretty much the end of what I heard.
That said, I do recall wondering whether they were starting to "creep" abroad in search of new resources (think food) for all of the masses. Think Australia as the bread drawer...
got into Wasteland heavily last summer on a C64 emulator shortly after getting Fallout working under WINE... ahh, the geeky memories... love those games, I just never wanted to consider their themes as survival training for the future. Dr. Strangelove also takes on an uncanny significance nowadays.
I would rather my daughter get a Liberal Arts degree then end up in a resume enhancing, career generating job.
nova | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 9:38 pm | #
Liberal Arts is the way to go. My undergrad was from a Liberal Arts institution and it was an excellent education. They make you read and write, as opposed to just cliff noting a dull text and taking multiple choice exams. There is a great deal to learn about life from the humanities. It was a Jesuit College and they helped me lose my faith, but were honest enough to say that was an acceptable possibility up front. The student body was a bunch of spoiled rich wankers that stayed drunk and drugged 90% of the time. Sure, you could say that about most colleges, but this one was over the top. It was ranked as one of the top ten party schools by playboy.
I was addicted to "Age of Empires" but it got really old getting my ass kicked by 14 year olds. If you play online, like 1942, it is interesting how you almost tell how good your partners will be by their nationality.
Jes writes:
question for mp and the rest of y'all--seems likely to me that China and Japan are not going to be able to buy bonds pretty soon, probably sometime this year. What happens when that happens? I mean, what's the cascade?
China is a country of savers some 50% of their salary I here. When the unemployed savers start using their savings to survive, does this also have an effect on Chines purchase of US Treasuries? And if so, does the flow of funds eventually reverse?
mp, um, there's two ways to take that. if I think something is likely and conjure says it is the max max scenario, then either he agrees and is suggesting it'll be really, really awful soon, or he disagrees and says I'm coming up with sci fi movie plots. I kind of hope he meant the latter.
In my personal experience, even a 40% increase from the currently pathetically low illegal wages will still attract primarily illegal workers. We experimented with this on one small vineyard over a two year span, and found that the "equilibrium" wage was nearly 3x what our neighbors were paying.
So the question, I think, is better phrased as...
...what is the economic impact of paying enough to attract resident workers?
I certainly agree that if "reasonable" wages HAD to be paid, there would be a terrific incentive to reduce the amount of physical labor.
Read some books. It is free. All the accumulated knowledge of history is free. And you idiots pay big money to have someone assign you to read these books.
Mortgage delinquency rate for illegals is below that for citizens. Not to suggest illegal immigration is all gravy, but it's obvious where you're coming from. You sound oddly like kidbuck.
sanity clause | 01.13.09 - 9:42 pm | #
As if the WSJ or any news outlet is a credible source of any information. I lived in CA for 9 years. I saw it with my OWN EYES. I knew illegal aliens. I saw them build thousands of houses. I saw them working in the fields. I saw them slaving 12-15 hours a day. I ate their food. My kids played with their kids. I saw them walk away from homes. I saw predatory lenders going after their signatures for refinances. Not too long ago, a HUD worker let slip that 5 million illegals have mortgages. Of course, the media jumped all over it, and the statement was retracted by HUD. The proof is in the default listings. Look at the pre-foreclosures for any zip in California (at http://www.foreclosures.com) Safely, 80% of all foreclosures are to Latinos. With 3-6 million illegals in CA, some large percentage of illegals are foreclosing.
I ask you this- would you buy a home in a neighborhood with 20% illegal alien home ownership? Would you send your kids to school with their kids?
California is only 1/2 as bad as Nevada. Nevada is absolutely full of illegals. They were as cheap to employ as the loans that they took out to buy homes.
I was accepted at Johns Hopkins in 1979. Didn't know anyone there so the school arranged to put me up for the visit with a freshman volunteer host. When he opened his dorm room door I said my name and, "Hi, I'm visiting the school" He said "Wanna smoke some opium?"
Read some books. It is free. All the accumulated knowledge of history is free. And you idiots pay big money to have someone assign you to read these books.
We drink your milkshake.
The United Squirrel Union | 01.13.09 - 9:54 pm | #
That's a fair point. Many who have advanced degrees stop learning once they receive their degree. Life should be perpetual learning, and a higher degree doesn't mean you're more knowledgeable or intelligent.
I work with a group of people who all have advanced degrees. For the most part, if you dropped them on an island with a crate of food, a can opener, and a bowl, they would starve to death. Why? Because they would be to dumb to feed themselves.
Morocco Bama writes:
I would rather my daughter get a Liberal Arts degree then end up in a resume enhancing, career generating job.
nova | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 9:38 pm | #
Liberal Arts is the way to go. My undergrad was from a Liberal Arts institution and it was an excellent education.
The humanities program at all Colleges and Universities is just pure brainwashing to create a population of atheists and hedonists. Don't believe in the other side? Watch Ghost Hunters sometime. There's undeniable scientific proof of another side to our existence.
A large increase in farm wages translates into a small retail cost increase because: (1) farm labor is a third of farmers' costs; and (2) farmers receive only a fraction of the retail price of food. For a typical 2.5-person consumer unit, a 40 percent increase in farm worker wages that led to a three percent increase in retail fresh fruit and vegetable costs would increase the spending of a typical consumer unit by $9 a year, raising expenditures from $301 to $310.
thegreatsatan | 01.13.09 - 9:44 pm | #
MP/Conjure - given your outlook.. have you set any targets on the S&P, or will it even matter (i.e. madmax scenario) - where do you see things going index wise?
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage-
finance company in the U.S., will offer renters cash to vacate
foreclosed properties as part of a new policy aimed at saving
tenants from eviction.
The company will offer people living in homes that are lost
to foreclosure new monthly leases at market rates or cash for
keys, the company said in an e-mailed statement today. Fannie,
now under federal control, said the option was being offered as
part of a program announced in December to help renters remain
in their homes following foreclosure.
Too bad they didn't cancel the new law school.
First?
But I thought public works projects were the key to economic growth!
All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
OT, but Never mind your squirrel:
The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table | McClatchy
Utter failure. And we have another budget due in what..four months or so?
Hmm... Nemo must be travelling home?
More on topic, it does seem like higher education is quite a bubble. I am of the opinion that the Ivies and Friends (Harvard, Stanford, et al.) will make it through this. I would imagine that the smaller colleges and state funded schools will be forced to do some extreme pruning of divisions that don't generate any money (philosophy, english literature).
I have not been able to find good information about when these cuts might happen. Does anyone have a guess?
My alma mater! arts-schamrts. who needs another arts building.
Regarding education anywhere (especially "Ivies and friends") -- Can $50K+ annual tuitions survive? What about scholarships when the endowments are taking huge investment hits??
Not to worry. I've just learnt that constructionism is zero sum. cause if we destroy it all, we've got nothing.
just wait till CA starts paying in IOUs!
YouTube - Dumb & Dumber -- Empty Suitcase of Money
I guess it no longer stands for "Under Construction Indefinitely"
Looking forward to CA bankruptcy, BTW. The only way to fix this state is blow it up and rebuild from scratch.
divisions that don't generate any money (philosophy, english literature).
kahni | 01.13.09 - 6:45 pm | #
Now how can you print that so close to a Pavel C. post, even a squirrelly one.
first RRE, then CRE, now PRE goes down?
Too many people are going to college these days and the colleges are catering to the least common denominator. This is not your father's college education. It's a racket and the gig/scam is up. Hopefully, places of higher education will disappear in the next decade and the number of mainly ceremonial degrees will decrease substantially. I take this news as a positive.
Looking forward to CA bankruptcy, BTW. The only way to fix this state is blow it up and rebuild from scratch.
Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) | 01.13.09 - 6:48 pm | #
But what about bgates? He will blow up with it. How sad.
Agree with TJ and Bama,
How can business schools specifically charge ridiculous tuitions? MBAs from "major financial institutions" have got to be flooding the job market now. How many MBAs did it take to drive Citi, Lehman, Bear, et al into the ground? MBAs are in a bubble too.
gotta get that univ of phoenix mba before the racket is up
I vote for closing most of the economics departments, since current circumstances illustrate how miserably they've performed.
Morocco Bama is right: it's turned into a huge racket.
Wait until America's yoots figure that out, it'll make Paris '68 look tame.
Hey Kewl, Public See Throughs.
I am not surprised.
Anybody want to buy a University?
Arizona has three that will be up for sale next week.
Calling Dr. John Sperling- how about a football team for your stadium?
Someday this war's gonna end...
tj & the bear,
I am of the opinion that the super-elite schools and their ridiculous tuitions will be okay only due to the fact that the elite have managed to concentrate the wealth of the past 10 years into their hands. The super-elite schools really don't have too many students, so they need only appeal to the very wealthy. I am uncertain what someone would say the intrinsic value of these schools education is... my opinion is that it is much less well defined than what a house's worth is. Who knows though, perhaps the continuum of students for education isn't large enough to even support the Ivies and Friends at current levels. This is always possible.
Regarding their endowments, they are still sickeningly large, even after these giant haircuts. What these giant haircuts do is force them to repeal their recent promises of free tuition for a substantial portion of their populace.
Someone posted an interview of Arnie on 60 Minutes and Arnie's pumped (haha) about making Cali the leader in Green Business. He's spent over a $100,000 greenifying his Hummer. He cares.
My link in the UC chain -- UC Santa Cruz -- has a library expansion and a new Digital Arts building under weigh; the library is most of the way there, the digital arts building, not so much. Be interresting to see what comes down the pike in the next few weeks.
And don't ask me what digital arts is all about; I've worked her for years and I'm still not sure. Which may tell you something.
Ditto Business Administration and Finance. They don't make money either.
digital arts used to be called massage therapy
Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) writes:
I vote for closing most of the economics departments, since current circumstances illustrate how miserably they've performed.
x2
Other states are putting holds on aspects of their capital construction programs.
Buildings & Grounds - The Chronicle of Higher Education
my local U has a big new dorm going up. Was supposed to be the super duper deluxe amenities dorm. I think it will be completed, but not filled.
peak dorm
Wait until America's yoots figure that out, it'll make Paris '68 look tame.
Then, we'll have the exact same conversation about the non-dischargeability of student loans that we're having about lien-stripping.
Quick "cut-n-paste" of the transcripts should do it; the arguments pro/con are pretty much identical.
I guess that gives new meaning to my alma mater's nickname:
Under Construction Indefinitely
LOL
He's spent over a $100,000 greenifying his Hummer.
--Bama
He wallpapered his Hummer with money? Respek!
I always wonder what "educated" is supposed to mean when it comes to college. Going to college is mainly about getting a piece of paper to prove you paid to play, and maybe about networking. It certainly isn't about learning stuff. Most college students today can't even locate Vietnam on a map. They don't read for pleasure, they have no intellectual curiosity, they only have resumes overstuffed with Volunteerism-in-a-Box. Trained seals. They get overspecialized college "training" for jobs that probably aren't even going to be there in 20 years. The idea that every kid in America needs to go to college in order to join the suit-and-tie office overseer class of the New World Order while their less fortunate compatriots serve them as chai wallahs... insane. Who seriously thought that could continue?
Anyone associated with UC in any way knows they have been on a monster, utterly unsustainable construction binge for a long time. They also tend to build things for maximum expense with lots of granite, marble etc. and of course lots of problems always seem to turn up in more complex buildings such as laboratory space. Ooops - we forgot the researchers want some kind of separate water system and need emergency showers.
Last UC bash - when I left UCSD rumor was they were offering subsidized home loans to execs and tenure track people up to $1 million.
On the other hand, for whatever reason, the community colleges of California seem to be a giant collection of trailer classrooms.
the elite have managed to concentrate the wealth of the past 10 years into their hands.
kahni | 01.13.09 - 6:53 pm | #
Ain't that the truth! Having known a few Harvard/Princeton/Wharton types I've found that it's the connections they make much more than the education they get.
"He's spent over a $100,000 greenifying his Hummer"
Morocco Bama
I understood Arnold developed personal military Hummer for street legal use for 150K. Arnold showed Detroit how to, rest is history
Not to mention the office spaces that the collegiate support staff have to work in are often dark, moldy, falling apart and crawling with cockroaches while they're building the masturbatory granite monuments on the Quad.
@mal,
I definitely learned "stuff" in college. The physics program had about 1 elective I could take per year and the rest of the time the profs made me grind my ass on homework about 2-3 hours a night. Add lab hours into the course work and it was about 20 hours a semester that I got 14 hours of credits for. Business school was different.
Exactly, Mal. It does teach them to be adroit sychophants. If the fools had any ability to think freely, it is quickly stripped of them when they join a fraternity or sorority, which are basically boot camps for corporate america.
Hey, Weather Helm, nice to see another Anteater. I don't run into many.
Maybe it's different in the sciences. But your typical liberal arts/business/communications student is mainly working on trying to find a job (networking, interning, etc), not serious intellectual pursuit, unless they're aspiring to become a professor themselves.
I understood Arnold developed personal military Hummer for street legal use for 150K. Arnold showed Detroit how to, rest is history
LAM | 01.13.09 - 7:03 pm | #
He did that, as well. But he had it retooled to take Biodiesel and to run on a hydrogen cell which he had in the back.
Those two unfinished projects are going to be quite the eyesore. What a waste.
Is this where the demolition comes in, or are they just going to let the half-finished projects sit and rot?
From the NYTimes:
At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard - NY Times
MIT has to revamp their program because attendance has become such a huge issue. One professor says the failure rate is 10-15% because kids can't make the effort to attend class.
This is MIT!
And yet California State University, Bakersfield continues to build its $25 million recreation center as if nothing has changed.
One further thought - college students today are so very, very busy doing so very, very little (intellectually). And there are so many of them. I'm almost inclined to believe that the only way you can stand out to an employer now is to be smart, skilled and have NO college on your resume (or pretend that you don't). "He pulled himself up by his own bootstraps! I like a kid like that..."
in't that the truth! Having known a few Harvard/Princeton/Wharton types I've found that it's the connections they make much more than the education they get.
Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) | 01.13.09 - 7:03 pm | #
When I was a hiring manager for a small software company in the SF Bay Region, I noted that Harvard grads tended to put their university info near the top of the resume -- even though it was standard to put work experience and skills at the top.
The inference was obvious. I routinely threw out their resumes. Plenty more where that came from.
"But he had it retooled to take Biodiesel and to run on a hydrogen cell which he had in the back."
No retooling necessary for biodiesel. Just pay more at the pump, and put it into the tank. That's why it's called biodiesel, and not vegetable oil.
(In practice some gaskets and filters might have to be replaced, but it shouldn't be major surgery.)
Mal,
I agree with you. College seemed to be tailoring degrees to whatever recruiters job titles seemed to want. I didn't play that game. Natural sciences is different. In NS you learn about all the things man has figured out up to now, and very few people outside of academia or publicly funded research labs want to hire you. People yammer on about how we need more math and science majors blah blah blah, but no one wants to pay them for the time they spend actually studying and learning. Important businessmen types and Universities like to leech off the real studious people for as little as they can get away with paying them.
MIT has to revamp their program because attendance has become such a huge issue. One professor says the failure rate is 10-15% because kids can't make the effort to attend class.
This is MIT!
anonymous | 01.13.09 - 7:09 pm | #
It's all the electronics. Our neural pathways are being rewired by all of this electromagnification. More and more people can't committ. We've been increasingly experiencing it with friends. Something's going terribly wrong.
Reporter: Mr Paulson, do you have a response to reports of China shying away from US Treasuries?
Paulson: New customers are like razor-toothed gree-worms. They can be succulent, but sometimes they bite back.
Reporter: Could you elaborate please?
Paulson: Once you have their money, you never give it back.\t
Reporter: Mr Paulson, what do you have to say about the quitting of the CBO's chief over fears of a sovereign US bankruptcy?
Paulson: Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer.
Reporter: Ms Bair, will the FDIC negotiate a pizza supply contract given their new popularity?
Bair: Never begin a negotiation on an empty stomach.
others:
Never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own.\t
Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.\t
Treat people in your debt like family ... exploit them.\t
Hear all, trust nothing.\t
Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success. Don't hesitate to step on them.\t
Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
Going to college is mainly about getting a piece of paper to prove you paid to play, and maybe about networking. It certainly isn't about learning stuff
Mal
Whoa. The Daughter is in UCDavis getting a spectacular education in biosciences, research track. The stuff that make things better. Straight A's. Hard worker. Tough classes. Don't even get general with college education. There are sham ops and there are not sham ops. You are way off base when you generalize.
Bob Dobbs - Do you know of any History of Consciousness PhD's that have actually gone on to secure employment anywhere other than at a UC campus?
Our neural pathways are being rewired by all of this electromagnification. More and more people can't committ.
And bee colonies are collapsing and bats are dying...
And bee colonies are collapsing and bats are dying...
The Bat Bomb
Then there is the whole thing where college students today are soooooo busy that they just cannot drag themselves in for Friday classes, and Thursday night is the new Friday night of drinking, so some colleges are now thinking about scheduling no Friday classes. Soooo much extracurricular work, the unpaid internships, the job on the side... at what point do we just finally say, "Look, this higher educational model just isn't producing anything of value any more."
These kids do NOT need to be in college for four years if all they're doing is looking for internships, going on internships, networking, and learning about job trends in their fields. Of course, the higher ed industry needs them to be.
Before they started spending more on prisons than on education, CA was better off. I grew up in CA when an in-state student could go to UC for free -- well, books, housing, etc. were yours to pay for, but what a deal.
He did that, as well. But he had it retooled to take Biodiesel and to run on a hydrogen cell which he had in the back.
Morocco Bama
Park next to Arnold's 18 wheel Pirus.
And bee colonies are collapsing and bats are dying...
anonymous | 01.13.09 - 7:15 pm | #
Maybe Bob's daughter can help. Of course, the corporations have been increasingly creeping their way into education and shutting down any research that may potentially be damning to their revenue streams. Monsanto is one of the most egregious.
MIT has to revamp their program because attendance has become such a huge issue. One professor says the failure rate is 10-15% because kids can't make the effort to attend class.
This is MIT!
anonymous | 01.13.09 - 7:09 pm | #
I read the article. The new approach is sound teaching technique. The old way, the giant lecture hall, is just "the way it's always been done." Actual retention of knowledge is quite low, except for the rare individual who learns that way. But most people learn best through experimentation, especially working with others in a social atmosphere and just enough coaching to move them from one step to the next.
It's called constructivism. It's the way people actually learn and teach each other in "real life," outside the academic environment. Unfortunately, it traditionally doesn't lend itself to industrial-scale one-size fits all schooling, which is the most prevalent form of higher learning because, frankly, it is the cheapest.
"No Cal SC writes:
Hey, Weather Helm, nice to see another Anteater."
Then you would recognize UCI's other nickname, University of Chinese Immigrants.
As an engineer, I will say that going to higher ed wasn't about getting a piece of paper to prove you paid to play. Hell, it wasn't even really about networking. Engineering is pretty hard regardless of discipline and school. It isn't a nice thing to hear on the first day "Look to your left. Look to your right. One of these people will not be here in 6 months."
Granted... those people went to business and communications... hmmm... I being to see a pattern...
Your main point is good though, as a society, it is going to be difficult to support those who go to higher ed for kicks. And for those people, the economic justification of going to higher ed is going to start withering away (well... most likely it withered away about 10 to 15 years ago).
reptilian: Before they started spending more on prisons than on education, CA was better off. I grew up in CA when an in-state student could go to UC for free -- well, books, housing, etc. were yours to pay for, but what a deal.
Wow that sounds like a fantasy land to me. Education costs have been rising at double or triple the rate of inflation for 20 - 30 years -- this recession/depression will finally give some difficult to achieve, but very necessary relief.
This was my favorite part of the NYT MIT article posted above:
One of the newer professors, Gabriella Sciolla, who arrived in 2003, was teaching a TEAL class on circuits recently. She gauged the level of understanding in the room by throwing out a series of multiple-choice questions. The students voted with their wireless personal response clickers the clickers are essential to TEAL which transmitted the answers to a computer monitored by the professor and her assistants.
Big Bang Theory, anyone? (my fav)
Park next to Arnold's 18 wheel Pirus.
LAM | 01.13.09 - 7:18 pm | #
You should have heard the thing. They were conducting part of the interview in the Hummer with the windows down. Obviously, noise pollution wasn't taken into account.
Bob Dobbs - Do you know of any History of Consciousness PhD's that have actually gone on to secure employment anywhere other than at a UC campus?
NiNM | 01.13.09 - 7:14 pm | #
I actually don't know ANY HoC majors -- none that will admit it, anyway. I'm staff.
But I did once see Angela Davis high on mimosas at Zachary's on a Sunday morning.
At least they had the fortitude to stop building. There's a mega-mall in Folsom, CA being built like it's 2005.
In Studs Terkel's book "Hard Times", one of the interviewees commented that in Chicago, there were unfinished buildings abandoned when the Depression started and were still unfinished in the late '40s.
Wonder when these things will finally get done?
And yep, college isn't for everybody and y'know, that's okay. That includes one of my kids, who's probably going to wind up dictator of some 'Stan somewhere.
After he's Grand High Poobah, then he'll appreciate the value of a good education and get 'Stani tax dollars to pay for it.
And yep, college isn't for everybody and y'know, that's okay. That includes one of my kids, who's probably going to wind up dictator of some 'Stan somewhere.
Take heart. That's probably just what Bill Gates' parents used to say.
University today is nothing like it was even 10 years ago.
Profs dump assignments 1 day before the due date over e-mail or web pages and you have no choice but to complete them.
I'm not sure about essay writing degrees, but I doubt there were as many long essays required before computer printing.
There is no longer the room for a calm well scheduled course, it's just a lineup of dump trucks and the real problem is that skipping class allows one to be more productive.
Take heart. That's probably just what Bill Gates' parents used to say.
Outsider | 01.13.09 - 7:24 pm | #
Bill Gates is a seed stashing douchebag.
We've been increasingly experiencing it with friends. Something's going terribly wrong.
Morocco Bama | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 7:12 pm | #
If they're failing to commit to social plans with you, I can think of alternate explanations.
Hey-o!
Morocco, really. Do you like anybody?
Gary,
LOL. You love stirring the hornets nest.
Morocco, really. Do you like anybody?
Outsider | 01.13.09 - 7:26 pm | #
I like Gary. He may be a pussy, but I like him.
Citi never sleeps...
MS old news
Citigroup Inc. may sell its CitiFinancial consumer-lending unit and rein in trading with the banks own capital after agreeing to cede control of its Smith Barney retail brokerage, people familiar with the plan said.
Okay. Well, we've made progress. Now let's work on the name calling.
You are what you . . . nah, too easy.
But I did once see Angela Davis high on mimosas at Zachary's on a Sunday morning.
Bob Dobbs
Are you sure that Zachary's doesn't put a little bit of the kind in the Mikes Mess? Last time I ate there downtown was not much more than tents and holes in the ground. Then the internet really ruined things although it is probably nice to be able to walk downtown without worrying about being mugged.
Gary (Patrick Star) writes:
You are what you . . . nah, too easy.
Gary | 01.13.09 - 7:28 pm | #
Come on, spit it out ya big pussy. Or do I have to kick it out of you?
2005: peak of the "home ownership for everyone" bubble
????: peak of the "college education for everyone" bubble
Mikes Mess was killer. Haven't had that in a decade.
There is no longer the room for a calm well scheduled course, it's just a lineup of dump trucks and the real problem is that skipping class allows one to be more productive.
Very good perspective, and my own point basically was, Higher education is not working very well for many many students.
lol
You expect attendance to stay high all semester long? Let's do some math:
30 hours of class, 10 hours of labs that actually take 15 hours but it was a scheduling complication
20 hours of assignments
15 hours of group work
15 hours of lab write ups
30+15+20+15+15=95 hours
There are 168 hours in a week.
That leaves 9 hours a day for eating, sleeping, commuting, studying, extracurricular, volunteering, working
The situation is that the impersonal lecture adds the least value and is the first to be cut if pressed for time.
The real problem are the curriculums, which because in some departments they have to be approved by an accrediting body, are extremely inflexible. What happens is that it is easy to add stuff, but nigh impossible to remove it. Over time you push people to their limits and they'll just accept it because they don't know any better.
If kids had the choice of going to school in the 60s 70s or 80s instead, I very much doubt anyone would say no to that.
Thursday night was drinking night 'way back' when I was in school (is Chester Drawers still on 17th in Costa Mesa?).
One of the perils of UCI -- the temptations of the beach beckoned day and night.
Weather Helm, I had actually never hear the construction nickname. The Chinese immigrants one, yes.
Since we're OT - one of these Swedish headlines does not belong here. See if you can guess which one:
Volvo plans 1,620 layoffs
Consumer prices fell on average 1.3 percent
Swedish-Finnish telecommunications operator TeliaSonera gave notice to 1,200 employees in Sweden on Monday
New Wave Group, owner of famed Swedish glassmaker Orrefors Kosta Boda, announced on Monday it will cut an addition 200 jobs to avoid bankruptcy.
Alfa Laval to trim 300 jobs in Sweden
Riksbank's deputy governor Barbro Wickman-Parak said, "Our forecasts, and those of most other experts, indicate that growth will recover in 2010 and that inflation will then increase."
Are you sure that Zachary's doesn't put a little bit of the kind in the Mikes Mess? Last time I ate there downtown was not much more than tents and holes in the ground. Then the internet really ruined things although it is probably nice to be able to walk downtown without worrying about being mugged.
NiNM | 01.13.09 - 7:29 pm | #
All the dot-com software companies are gone, and you can once again get mugged on Lower Pacific. The last one or two holes in the ground haven't been filled in yet, but the funky feel -- which never quite went away -- is starting to come back. Economic downturns are good for some things.
Yes, and a Mike's Mess tastes as good as ever.
I'm looking at a "Floor & Decor" mailer: travertine tile less than $2 sq. ft; solid bamboo (15 yr. warranty) less than $2 sq. ft; polished granite less than $2 sq. ft; however, in "absolute black" it's less than $5 sq. ft. This stuff is less than carpeting.
FYI: the History of Consciousness program lists all its PhD graduates, with dates and thesis titles.
Anyone can look over who was there and how they did.
The early graduates seem to have done very well for themselves, judging by random sampling.
"The old way, the giant lecture hall, is just "the way it's always been done." "
Before the printing press was invented the only way a scholar could get reference material was to scribble notes while the professor lectured. Don't tell anyone that you could record a professor once and then play him back for any number of students indefinitely. Far from putting professors out of business it would free them up to do one on one teaching as needed which would actually be useful. When I took chem 101 I never bothered to go to lectures, just read the book, still got an A.
Bob Dobbs - Do you know of any History of Consciousness PhD's that have actually gone on to secure employment anywhere other than at a UC campus?
NiNM | 01.13.09 - 7:14 pm | #
HA! I knew a few folks with that Ph.D! Most of them are NOT working in the academy. They are churned out much faster than the job market can absorb them. I'd guess no more than 1-2 a year get a job in their field. The rest go to law school or become a barista or do freelance writing or teach in the California CC and they learn the meaning of "sunk costs" and "opportunity costs" and they stare in horror at their annual earnings on their SS statements each year. Academia chews them up and spits them out on the high end too!
Sorry to see so much anti-college posting on this thread.
The lousy schools and students described on the thread are very far from my own experiences as a student (private U) and as an administrator at a campus research institute (UC school). In both cases, I worked mostly with highly motivated students who gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and personal growth from the time spent on coursework and on the campus.
I am particularly pained by comments (here and outside of CR) which emphasize students as economic units rather than the future voters and leaders of our country.
And, to correct one particular error above, NiNM wrote: Last UC bash - when I left UCSD rumor was they were offering subsidized home loans to execs and tenure track people up to $1 million.
What you are referring to is the Mortgage Originatiion Program (MOP): Housing Assistance Programs for Faculty
There is no subsidy involved. The UC has what they call a Short Term Investment Pool (STIP). The MOP is a mortgage funded by STIP money. It is a mortgage with a variable interest rate (with no cap) based on a quarterly average of the STIP earnings plus 0.25%.
When the mortgage bubble was inflating, the rates offered by MOP were well above what the private lenders were offering.
Pfizer is directing 800 members of its research department to the unemployment line.
The world's largest pharmaceutical company by sales confirmed Tuesday that it was continuing with ongoing plans to lay off 5.0% to 8.0% of its research and development organization globally. The previously unannounced layoffs are further evidence that Pfizer's labs have failed to produce results, despite the millions of dollars invested in their efforts.
I guess those R&D budgets are really crushing Big Pharma's profits. eye roll
oh where to start...
Last UC bash - when I left UCSD rumor was they were offering subsidized home loans to execs and tenure track people up to $1 million.
NiNM | 01.13.09 - 7:03 pm | #
UCD still does these. These seed money loans are all at far below market rates. They also do them for revonation projects like a 120k dog run on someone's property.
Not to mention the office spaces that the collegiate support staff have to work in are often dark, moldy, falling apart and crawling with cockroaches while they're building the masturbatory granite monuments on the Quad.
mal | 01.13.09 - 7:05 pm | #
That sounds like my office! My computer literally sits on a card table and rest of the junk in my office is 20+ yrs old. but I'm ok as long as it works and serves it's function. As a ca taxpayer, I don't want to fund the buying of went more stuff with money we don't have.
Now if only the faculty felt a little less entitled sighs
Getting back to CR's article, how many people does this now unemploy?
Did workers show up one morning to be told they had no job?
Do companies have any jobs waiting in the wings when they are working on such a big project?
This has got to hurt.
Is it really a budget problem or a roll over and play dead for OB's stimulus money?
ottnot,
I know those loans well having processed them as part of recruiting packages. They were indeed below market. It's all about what you can milk out of the offer.
HSBC may need $30 billion: Morgan Stanley
HSBC Holdings Plc (HBC.N) (HSBA.L), Europe's biggest bank, may have to raise as much as $30 billion in capital and halve its dividend as earnings are likely to deteriorate more than expected, Morgan Stanley analysts said on Tuesday.
HSBC earnings are likely to fall more "sharply" this year with no recovery until 2011 at the earliest, the analysts, including Anil Agarwal and Michael Helsby, wrote in a note. ...
404 Page Not Found | The White House
Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for the District of Columbia
The President today declared an emergency exists in the District of Columbia and ordered Federal aid to supplement the District's response efforts in support of the 56th Presidential Inauguration.
The President's action makes Federal funding available to the District of Columbia.
Specifically, assistance is available to the District for emergency protective measures that are undertaken to save lives and protect public health and safety. Direct Federal assistance, at 100 percent Federal funding will be provided during the period of January 17-21, 2009, and reimbursement of emergency protective measures (Category B), under the Public Assistance program, at 100 percent Federal funding for work performed on January 20, 2009.\t
FEMA will reimburse for eligible emergency protective measures performed on January 20, 2009, only if the District has expended on the Presidential Inauguration during the period of January 17-21, 2009, the $15 million appropriated to it for "Emergency Planning and Security Costs" by the Continuing Appropriations Resolution 2009, P.L. 110-329.
R. David Paulison, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Donald L. Keldsen as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.
"History of Consciousness PhD"
I was unaware of any such degree.
That sounds like my office! My computer literally sits on a card table and rest of the junk in my office is 20+ yrs old. but I'm ok as long as it works and serves it's function. As a ca taxpayer, I don't want to fund the buying of went more stuff with money we don't have.
deflationary jane | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 7:51 pm | #
That's an important point. In my personal experience, a lot of buildings on UC campuses are falling apart: because of deferred maintenance, because they were cheaply built to start with, because they're so old they really need to be completely reamed out to remain useful, and there's no money for anything but patches. In one building I worked in, they actually allowed space heaters -- against campus energy conservation policy -- because the heating system was dysfunctional and nobody knew how to fix it.
halve its dividend
RE | 01.13.09 - 7:56 pm | #
Oh, the outrage!
Most of the CSU capital projects were stopped last week.
The change orders for de-mobilization and re-mobilization will be significant. The contractors really know how to play that game to put margin back into their low bid.
I know a few people employed on those projects.
The good news is that one of the people working on that job now has time off to take a ski trip with me.
"History of Consciousness PhD"
I was unaware of any such degree.
Pavel, welcome to America!
Bank of Montreal announced Tuesday it is buying the Canadian life insurance business of financially troubled American International Group Inc. for $375 million in cash.
The deal, which is expected to be completed by June 1, is projected to boost BMO's earnings within a year.
AIG Life of Canada has about 300 employees and 400,000 customers. Bloomberg said the business posted about $571.4 million in revenue through the first six months of 2008.
The deal may not be the only sale of AIG assets to a Canadian buyer. Manulife Financial is reported to be in the running for AIG assets in China and Japan.
CBC article excerpts.
Price is 65% of annual revenue
$938 per customer
Looks like AIG can make its interest payment for a few days, score one for the tax payer
I don't want to fund the buying of went more stuff with money we don't have.
deflationary jane | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 7:51 pm | #
That line of thought is not helpful for a recovery. You should be demanding the latest and greatest of supplies.
University in the US of A - I could never figure out why a PhD took 5 years, when doing the same in the UK or Australia took three. Maybe it's the lost Fridays.
Someone told me it's about basically a do-over of yr Masters for two years, then getting on with the Doctoral.
If that's the case one or other of a couple of things apply:
1) Masters courses are sh!tpile and need to be repeated
2) Regulatory capture by unis to extend fees beyond equivalent degree requirements
3) Something to do with cohort irresponsibility and letting Jonnie and Janie grow up a bit before entering the job market.
Godamn I've seen plenty of eager Jonnies and Janies in my recruitment experience - great on paper all of them - and I've chucked out a lot of them in favour of the B+ student with some modesty, curiosity, and passion.
Just ideas.
C
OT, Bloomberg reports that McDonald's & Fedex, among others, sold corporate bonds totaling 16.5 billon. According to article, corporate bonds, offering better yield than Treasuries, are selling well. McDonald’s, FedEx Lead $16.7 Billion of Offerings (Update2) - Bloomberg.com
Comments regarding what the bond sales might indicate, if anything?
CUNY (City University of NY) schools had no tuition until about 1978 or so. Even in the early '80's when the city was going through one of its perennial downswings & was spending as little as possible on CUNY, Queens College still got more pre meds admitted to medical schools (in the US) than the private colleges in NY. Last I heard (alumni newsletters) Queens College is doing pretty well & still offers a pretty good undergrad education.
On the value of Higher Ed: I was a history and Poli Sci double major, which is probably up there close to english lit in terms of "no practical" use. Only later in grad school did i do Econ and Finance. However, I have found the training in history to be at least as useful as the training in finance in my work. By the way, the thing that changed my undergrad education from good to great was a semester abroad in Kenya. One of the things history classes did was teach me to write well, a very valuable skill. The other was to give me a sense of perspective. The time in Kenya did that even more. Yeah I drank and partied to much in college, but I always made it to class (and would schedule classes so I was sure I could) and followed some other very key rules. First and foremost among them was "no bongs before breakfast". Now thats a rule that everyone should impress on their kids before they go off freshman year.
Dirk,
Not to be cruel, but I am doubtful of the benefit of finance and economics as taught in higher ed today...
Oh, the outrage!
Blackhalo | 01.13.09 - 7:58 pm | #
Well, getting the $30 billion could be a little more of a challenge.
Are the staff worried the payroll checks will bounce? Oh, wait, the CA government will issue IOUs.
Move along no problem here...
The problem with economics is that it shouldn't be a separate degree.
It is the meeting of math & psychology in the context of political history.
The problem with it are the demagogues that assert none of those matter much, and that their way is the one true divine solution because they said so.
That Art Laffer still gets interviewed is a stupendously damning indictment on the title economist.
Well it was a while back, early 80's and to tag on to the other comment, it was at CUNY (Baruch). Pretty good deal financially, was a grad research assistant and actually got paid (starvation wages) to go to school. Not much in the was of facilities or sports teams or that sort of stuff.
Anon, how very true, and why the background I have in history and poly sci serves me well in doing semi economist work.
mal writes:
I always wonder what "educated" is supposed to mean when it comes to college.
IMO, what you learn in college is "how to learn" and also critical thinking. You also get exposure to the wider world. It also proves you can finish something.
Lost in all the snarkery is that today's youth will enjoy much less than their parents did--and that once we lose worldwide college superiority, we ain't got nuttin.
I hope the first major school to fail is U of Chicago, the school that proudly fathered corporate oversight neglect. It was as much Chicagonomics as it was Reaganomics.
Dirk
After about 5 minutes at law school, I did Chinese history and sociolinguistics in the late 80s. I was told by Everyone Knowledgeable that it was Officially Useless. Japan's moment had arrived. Why do China?!?
Then came to finance and economics, thru circuitous professional path.
Am currently feeding soupcons of crow to many former colleagues and uni class.
And what I studied about Ming era bureaucracy could not be more relevant to my current outfit...
C
In both cases, I worked mostly with highly motivated students who gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and personal growth from the time spent on coursework and on the campus.
ottnott | 01.13.09 - 7:48 pm | #
-----
It's all in the formula.
Lawyerliz and myself have discussed the joys and pains of going the Way of the Lawyer, and while the idea of a J.D. may have addressed deficiencies in the field of law back at the end of the 1800s, the mechanization of the process is so etched into stone that the process has seemingly stopped. Are there no longer any problems with the American Legal System and how we develop future career folk? Academia's actions say, "No problems here." It is in this mode that the critiques and the "anti-college" vibe originates.
I've only enjoyed higher education in public systems, and I can't discuss the joys and sorrows of private schooling. However, I've had many classes that could be passed with little/no class attendance, participation, and even studying unless it was mandated in a syllabus. Is that the sign of a good process, diploma mill, or both? Also, I know that it places the burden of benefit on the student which may "just want a job" and not compete with the foreign slave labor, err... "foreign graduate students". Our system no longer has the "Move From Secondary Schooling Into Work" option if you want anything above serving fries or wearing a vest at a big box retailer. Heck, besides being a car salesman, I can't think of many jobs that would provide comfortable middle class options sans that "Undergraduate Program" on a resume.
While I'm rather Anti-Ivory Tower, I know that their world is going to get clocked with megatons of TnT over the next few years, and I will be waiting in the soup lines to see if/when any of 'em joy the rest of us--especially business professors. Maybe I'll be wrong and they will all scurry along with their grad students and research and not even know what is going on outside the walls of their campus, but we could also miss a deep (dep)recession too...
Bob,
Contrast my outlook with some of my faculty and it's night and day. I had one campus researcher shouting in the halls because he was promised lunch and by god where was his food! Then there are the folks close to retirement screaming about being able to take their wives with them to EU conferences on the UC dime. It's amazing.
Right now,everyone is scrabbling because with the CA bond money freeze, projects had a stop of 12-17 and how do they cover salary for soft money employees that has already gone out with no other backstop. I'm the local grants and contracts guru so this is all I do now.
When I was a hiring manager for a small software company. . .Harvard grads tended to put their university info near the top of the resume--I routinely threw out their resumes.
And that small software company is defunct, right?
You can get away with anything...anything...as long as you act like whatever it is you're doing is exactly what you're supposed to be doing. I learned this lesson a long time ago, back in grade school. Back when a buddy of mine and I went into our biology teacher's unlocked classroom during lunch, unfastened the movie screen from the wall, and carried it out to the trunk of my car. We had to pass through busy hallways and walk by numerous teachers and administrators. One of them even held the door for us as we walked along with the rolled-up screen propped over our shoulders. Nobody thought to ask us what we were doing and nobody challenged us.
The more absurd the action and the more deliberate your undertaking of it, the more likely it is you can get away with whatever you're doing.
That is how managers were able to boost their profit by mispricing the risk
Outsider:
Thanks for the kind word earlier.
C:
That's what I'm thinking in regard to the future 'Stani dictator. Is a great barracks lawyer...
China has an aging population as well. Countries can only lie in the sunlight like a dog napping during the day for so long.
Are the 'stans next? Or is it a period of war first
"During grad school, my roommate and I ate 32 coons one winter. It was all free, and it was really good. If you think about being green and eating organically, raccoon meat is the ultimate organic food," with no steroids, no antibiotics, no growth hormones.
just think about the rats and cats and whatnot that the coons ate on the way to your table.
Ran into an acquaintance today saying he was laid off this morning from 1 of 3 State jobs his employer was doing due to the budget crunch. He'll get unemployment. The 2 ex's will be missing payments and might have to leave school. Hmmm.
Maybe Geithner can arrange a refund of the fine he had to pay to the IRS since it will come under his jurisdiction.
http://www.ustreas.gov/organization/org-chart-04242008.pdf
"No Cal SC writes:
Thursday night was drinking night 'way back' when I was in school (is Chester Drawers still on 17th in Costa Mesa?)."
I believe so. The Omelet Parlor next door is still there.
is it just me or does this seem odd --
"The $42 million building is 36 percent completed." and "The $40.5 million, 67,000 square foot building is 40 percent complete."
this seems like way to much precision. 36% of the money has been spent? ok. 36% of the (non-$ metric) has been completed? damn near impossible to estimate with that degree of accuracy.
to me it looks like someone who doesn't know what the hell is going on is trying to dazzle me with numbers.
I cant ever remember having to stop construction on a building, but weve never faced a financial crisis like this, said Ray Dormaier, UCIs vice chancellor of planning and budget.
hmm... i plan and budget for two things. things i expect and things i don't expect.
Anon@ 8:14 -
And that would be the operative mode of the future 'Stani dictator.
the 24oz tecate can in my left hand is 87% empty.
"just think about the rats and cats and whatnot that the coons ate on the way to your table.
JimPortlandOR | 01.13.09 - 8:20 pm | # "
Rats and cats... those would be the organic coons. The non-organic coons dumpster-dive for rancid meat, used diapers, and old sponges.
(I myself have enjoyed a good coon or two, but from very rural areas only.)
I might as well chime in as well.
Some credentials.
-5 years in a chiropractic college library (doctoral degrees offered)
-5 years at a psychology schhol library (more doctoral degrees offered)
-1 semester as a seminarian
-4 years of library school (got my Master's)
-6 years undergrad (2 degrees)
I have spent much of my adult life around universities.
I can tell you that the bad outweighs the good.
Most schools are cookie cutter. In the old days, you went to grad school to work with a specific professor. Now it seems everyone has to go just to keep up.
And trust me I have seen hundreds, if not thousands that DO NOT BELONG in school.
This is another bubble that needs to be retooled.
Def. the Law of Diminishing Returns on this one!
This shows the severity of the crisis here in Southern California:
Wife laid off from her job last week;
Brother laid off from his job today;
Video Store we rent videos from ("Hollywood Video") closed; place we buy shoes from ("Vans") closed; place we eat at ("Dakotas") closed. All since the New Year. I call it "the quikening". California bankrupt beyond hope.
I went to a city council meeting last night and complained about the video cameras when I stop at an intersection for a red light. I look up and see a video camera pointed in my face. There mounted on the traffic light booms directly in front of me. I said, now what's that all about. I went on to explain how the are bad on so many levels. After pussyfooting around a little bit by the council, they finally gave me an answer that yes they are in fact video surveillance cameras. I want them disabled and removed.
I'm hoping the city and states budgets get so bad that they cut the funding for this nonsense also.
We're all jus gettin finer:
YouTube - nightmares on wax - finer
C
As opposed to our wonderful financial institutions and large high-tech companies that hire ivy leaguers are driving innovation.. and creating jobs.. and a brighter future.
El Cliffo writes:
When I was a hiring manager for a small software company. . .Harvard grads tended to put their university info near the top of the resume--I routinely threw out their resumes.
And that small software company is defunct, right?
El Cliffo | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 8:14 pm | #
Counterpointer, could you describe the Chinese golden triangle? Is it much different than the situation in the United States?
Good. Typical public sector play book. Cut visible projects...protect the fat. It's the gov't way.
However, I can't wait for all the Donna's around to start whinning how this is gonna hurt the children.
Nostrovia,
homedad - that's too obscure on the 'stani front.
What gives?
C
List folks, you are way behind the curve.
What is old is new baby.
First we need a big war to end this depression.
Then the reintroduction of GI bill which will cause those university buildings to be completed.
Followed by a big demand for new housing and GM/Ford cars,
You heard it here first!
Look at the bright side, we will be able to better understand China's future by watching aging western countries go bankrupt.
Anonymous writes:
China has an aging population as well. Countries can only lie in the sunlight like a dog napping during the day for so long.
Are the 'stans next? Or is it a period of war first
Anonymous | 01.13.09 - 8:19 pm | #
We're feeling the college pains right now- but with a weird twist.
My daughter will graduate from a public high school this spring at age 12. She's done all the things kids are supposed to do- AP classes, volunteering, earning high grades.
I've learned two things in the past couple months. First, that there's a law called the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) which forbids collection of electronic data on kids under 13. She is legally forbidden from applying for online scholarships or even scholarship searches. I can't tell you the number of times she's been kicked off an application with a note that she has an "invalid birthday." Sheesh. First she can't get a scholarship and then they want to take away her birthday.
Second thing is that no one knows what to do with an intellectual kiddo.
We are so hosed.
lucifer,
China could always end up more like India and starving. Time is very short to build up the necessary wealth
This is correct. The PMIA at the State Treasury has shut down GO sponsored projects to conserve cash.
Our campus is looking at a very expensive dirt pit with walls.
To say its a cash flow problem is to understate the enormity of 16 billions dollars worth of bond funded projects shut down throughout California. Definitely TARP (shovel read) potential.
A long-delayed update to the leading credit scoring formula is rolling out in 2009, offering a few advantages to consumers -- and some serious new risks.
FICO 08, the latest version of the FICO scoring model, was initially supposed to be introduced in the fall but was delayed by lawsuits between its creator, Fair Isaac, and the nation's three main credit bureaus.
deflationary jane writes:
ottnot,
I know those loans well having processed them as part of recruiting packages. They were indeed below market. It's all about what you can milk out of the offer.
No, jane. You can't just look at the rate. Consider some of the features of the MOP loan and think about the terms available during the bubble:
--no maximum interest cap
--due in full within 6 months of separating from UC (unless by retirement or disability)
--minimum 10% down
--full doc on income, of course
--max 40% payment to income
--non-assumable
--no initial teaser rate
--not eligible if you've owned a home near the campus within 12 months prior
--must be primary residence
--must be near campus
The MOP loans provide UC with a fair risk-adjusted rate of return on the STIP funds while also providing a well-targeted piece of a recruitment package.
Sorry, but both have nukes (and more fun stuff). The west has much to lose, they don't.
Do you really think that China would not resort to using their abilities to get what they wanted? Do you really think that, if push came to shove, they would not liquidate australia and new zealand for land? Do you think that your skin color gives you some magical protection from being run over?
//China could always end up more like India and starving. Time is very short to build up the necessary wealth
Anonymous | 01.13.09 - 8:41 pm | #//
Anonymous - remind me what the Chinese Golden Triangle is?
I can post on triangular debt, if that's what you mean.
Rgds
C
They do not have to create wealth. They just have to liquidate others and take over.
// Time is very short to build up the necessary wealth
Anonymous | 01.13.09 - 8:41 pm | #//
lucifer,
You propose India and/or China invading the Americas or Africa? .,,, and by nuking it first...
Something just doesn't add up
Credit Default Swaps on Ireland, Spain Surge on Ratings Threat
Credit Swaps on Ireland, Spain Rise on Ratings Threat (Update1) - Bloomberg.com
Counterpointer, yes triangular debt it is then. Thanks!
"even though it was standard to put work experience and skills at the top."
I have been seeing quite a few programmer resumes recently and I don't see any such standard. Personally when writing a resume my rule is to put whatever I think is strongest at the top. Long ago it was education, then briefly (when switching careers) it was skills, now it is work experience. However I just looked at half a dozen, all from experienced people, and the order of sections seems very random (I had to look because I don't remember because it isn't worth noticing to begin with).
My eyes tend to glaze over in the "Skills" section. IMO it is targeted at clueless HR people who can just barely manage to compare a list on a resume to a list on a job description and at keyword driven search. The main value that section has to me is that I can ask the person about some of those things in interviews to find out if they are lying.
Sorry C:
One of the offspring is more temperamentally suited to being a 'Stani dictator (lotta street smarts and interestingly cynical view) than belonging in college.
Decent grades but could do better.
Was responding to your comment at 8:00 about chucking out the Ivy League resumes and taking the curious B students.
Sorry for the confusion.
Anonymous,
Nope, they do not have to actually use force! They just have to threaten to use it.. China will start with probably take over Australia and NZ if they require land/ resources in a hurry.
They will first try the economic route, however non-compliance will result in.. you get it..
OT (as usual)
The Senate appears to be poised to live up to its' reputation as an old boys club.
While Zoe Baird, Kimba Wood, and Linda Chavez were held to a higher standard, Geithner may get pass.
Come on Boxer, Feinstein, Snowe, Clinton (!), Hutchinson, show us some balls!!! You're not gonna just let the penis brigade get away with this now, are you?
Let me hear you roar!
aah.. dammed keyboard.. so small.
OFF-TOPIC, but ON-TOPIC
CONJURE'S FUN FACTS
The largest shipyard crane in the western hemisphere, located in Quincy, Massachusetts, has been sold. It is now being dismantled for shipment to Romania.
Conjure says, "The Gutting continues."
"Have a nice day."
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has suspended construction projects for at least three months.
Why do I never really feel like I'm "having a nice day" after one of Conjure's fun facts? I suppose that means we won't be building anything very large soon. I wonder what Romania needs it for?
lucifer,
If India or China was going to nuke the west (east to them mind you) and rob them to take over the world then what are we waiting for? Don't China and India have serious issues between them when it comes to water from the Himalayas?
The USA may have a mountain of debt today, but it has the Mississippi with good flow as it precipitates, that won't run out like the Ganges or Yangtze when the glaciers diminish. Fresh water = irrigation = low cost food. Nuking it won't bring anyone more food, cooperation is a must
Bye Bye California dream...
With state government facing a $41.6 billion budget hole over 18 months, residents are bracing for higher taxes, cuts in education and postponed tax rebates.
No, all it shows is the profound level of incompetence that absolute Democrat control gives a state.
...it has the Mississippi with good flow as it precipitates...Fresh water = irrigation...
Anonymous | 01.13.09 - 8:56 pm | #
-----
Speaking as someone who is intimately familar with the lower part of the Mighty "Mizzippi", it isn't "fresh", and I wouldn't want to try to irrigate necessary farm land with it...
lets also ignore that 200 million pissed away to give illegal immigrants free college tuition each year, on top of the 2 billion to educate illegal immigrant kids in K-12.
MORE CONJURE'S FUN FACTS
The crane was used to install 120-ft diameter pressure vessels in LNG ships. The crane was built for General Dynamics.
The shipyard is being razed and condominiums will replace it. The natural harbor at Quincy will be lost.
Well-scrubbed people will live there and sell each other life insurance and real estate.
Conjure says, "Have a nice day."
" I wonder what Romania needs it for?"
I sincerely hope it is not an aircraft carrier for Werner.
And it is OT, but having just paid my quarterly taxes, is anyone else disturbed by Geithner not having paid taxes for a couple of years?
No time to bother with his illegal housekeeper, but this guy is supposed to run the Treasury and he can't be bothered to hire an accountant or do his own taxes?
April 15th is not a date that means anything to him?
This is not the change I voted for...already I feel shortchanged.
Backers of the new psychology center at my alma mater have reneged, and the name will be changed to The Edifice Complex
Here is what is sad about CA's problem.
It was posted on this board several weeks ago that the state employs 250K people with a total salry of almost 20 bil a year.
Think about this.
Even if the state let everyone go for a year, they would still be in a hole.
This is serious, folks.
I live here and can see and feel the angst.
The state has gone off the deep end.
What is even scarier is that neither side can agree on what needs to be done.
Lastly, how did the last budget pass and no one realized that the state would run out of money by Feb this year?
Bozos. Spent it even faster, huh? I can't believe that taxes have fallen that fast.
P.S. lastly: if you run out of money and are already in the hole for 20 bil on the year, why keep going?
Just tell the last person to shut the lights off and lock up. Why make it worse?
This whole problem makes no sense to me. The legislature and AHHHHHHHHHHnold were not paying attention. Bidness as usual until no more bidness!
The UC's have been building like nuts.
About 3 years ago, UC Davis alone had 1 billion in projects underway simultaneously.
"I wonder what Romania needs it for?"
"I sincerely hope it is not an aircraft carrier for Werner."
You can be sure that it will be for something with some serious value-added.
The super-elite schools really don't have too many students, so they need only appeal to the very wealthy.
The super-elite schools have not charged middle class students ANY tuition for quite some time. And there are pretty generous definitions of "middle class" - Stanford, eg, is tuition-free up to $100k income. The Ivy League schools are generally free tuition and free room/board for anyone from a family making less than ~$70k.
mp --
Is Sweden not in the western Hemisphere? It had the world's largest gantry crane although it was sold/moved in 2002
source: Dark Roasted Blend: Dismantling the World's Largest Gantry Crane
"And it is OT, but having just paid my quarterly taxes, is anyone else disturbed by Geithner not having paid taxes for a couple of years?"
No.
It sounds like it is a common mistake for people working at IMF which isn't doing taxes for employees in the usual way (because of their absurdly international workforce), and he paid the taxes way back then, and disclosed it.
Many if not most upwardly aspiring colleges and college systems have been overbuilding. I suppose the lucky schools are the urban campuses that didn't really have much room to expand and couldn't use eminent domain to take over city blocks.
[With state government facing a $41.6 billion budget hole over 18 months, residents are bracing for higher taxes, cuts in education and postponed tax rebates.
km4 ]
As a condition of any Fed bailout Prop13 needs to be repealed. There is no reason California should have lower property taxes and higher home prices than the bulk of the nation.
Plenty of wealth left to confiscate from the citizenry and the Kremlin (DC) should recognize it.
I wonder what Romania needs it for?
Constanta, Romania, is the 4th largest port in Europe.
This is not the change I voted for...already I feel shortchanged.
fried | 01.13.09 - 9:02 pm | #
-----
What more needs to be said? I agree with your thought.
Sweden is not in the Western Hemisphere.
It's east of Greenwich...
Anonymous,
I do not think you understand the problem.
Countries take the path of least resistance. Therefore they will first try to get things done in a conventional mode. So they will first try raising their own outputs etc.. For both countries investing in cheap technology and more farmer friendly laws would increase their yields by over 50% with very few additional inputs.
The real question is- What if that is not enough? Or worse- if they perceive that some aging western countries are ganging up on them- then things start getting funny. First they will try to buy them up.. however both(esp China) have younger populations that might not play the game like their grandparents did. Essentially the younger generations in both countries are not deferential to the west- unlike their current crop of geriatric leaders- and both have many more young men than women. Add in a younger charismatic leader who promises to restore national honor.. and take what is rightfully ours.. you know the rest..
About the US- it is unlikely they will strong arm the US, because they know they can buy influence in the government for much less.
Sick and Tired Dude --
Princeton does no scholarships, but financial aid for almost everyone. If you're poor, they give you a good paying job and you pay a reduced amount but you still pay. The downside is they consider your parents income whether or not you get any of it
ottnott writes:
Sorry to see so much anti-college posting on this thread.
Don't misinterpret my sentiment. I'm not anti-learning, I am anti-college as the system currently exists. There are certainly exceptions within that system, but overall the system, to me at least, produces homogeneity. Thta's especially true in business, finance and economic curriculums, but it is also true, amy be to a lesser extent, in the sciences and liberal arts. Also, corporations and welathy benefactors have their meddlesome fingers in institutions of higher learning at an ever increasing rate. That is not conducive to pure research, or free thinking.
I'm starting to wonder if ANYONE who hangs out with presidential candidates pays taxes or hires non-illegals.
Apropos of nothing, I wonder if Kimba Wood's friends at school called her "Kimba the White Lawyer."
of course, arnuld proposes a 2 day furlough for all state workers, and what do the Union scum do, ignore it. You could cut California's state employees by 2/3 and still not see a drop in services.
State Dems only do the bidding of their union bosses. A weak republican party is ineffective at getting anything passed and can only stop tax increases, which the Dems are passing as "fees" illegally.
Meanwhile, the "media" sits on its ass and proposes raising taxes on the "rich" as if that will fix anything, except to drive anyone who doesn't work in Hollywood out of the state for good.
California should change its name to Mexico
is anyone else disturbed by Geithner not having paid taxes for a couple of years?
Damn right I'm disturbed! (Well maybe you knew that already)
Obama is a joke if he doesn't ask Geithner to withdraw his nomination.
However, I have the feeling he won't. Remember back during the Clinton era when all the feminists held their noses and looked the other way during Bill's "bimbo eruptions"? It was obvious that they put his politics above the ramifications of his behaviour.
I'm not holding my breath to hear much from Diane Feinstein or Boxer on this. A classic example of situational ethics.
It sounds like it is a common mistake for people working at IMF which isn't doing taxes for employees in the usual way (because of their absurdly international workforce), and he paid the taxes way back then, and disclosed it.
And the illegal immigrant nanny doesn't bother you?
Someone owes one heckuva apology to Linda Chavez, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood.
I'm sorry, but did any of you pay attention to who "the one" nominated to the CIA? Why would he expect Geithner to withdraw his nomination over something as petty as tax evasion?
This isn't 1992, and the press won't bother to dig any further than the scripts Team Obama has prepared for them.
Someone owes one heckuva apology to Linda Chavez, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood.
Which they'll never get, because they're wimmin and were supposed to be doing their own housework anyway. < /sarcasm >
Princeton does no scholarships, but financial aid for almost everyone.
The financial aid is loan-free. We can dice this nine ways from Sunday, the bottom line is "normal" students from "normal" families can graduate with no school debt.
Whether they choose to do so is of course another question altogether, as the evidence suggests middle class parents absolutely suck at passing along concepts of fiscal responsibility to their kids.
From the WSJ....
That characterization was contested by Senate Finance panel Republicans, who produced IMF documents showing that employees are repeatedly told they are responsible for paying their payroll taxes.
As to why Mr. Geithner didn't pay all his back taxes after the 2006 audit, an Obama aide said the nominee was advised by his accountant that he had no further liability. Senate Finance Committee aides said they were concerned that either Mr. Geithner or his accountant had used the IRS's statute of limitations to avoid further back-tax payments at the time of the audit.
Geithner ought to be gone. Bringing this guy onboard is insult to americans who pay their taxes in full and on time.
Rodentia are fair game.
Only a dope would kill a bat, bee, or frog.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96282292
A bat can eat 100 mosquitos in an hour.
Frogs may be getting too UV.
The bee decline is quite a serious issue.
I lived in CA for the last 9 years, and I continue to work for a UC school. I can say for certain that a big part of California's problems can be attributed to taxpayer-funded entitlements for illegal aliens. Period, end of story. The state welcomes a class of modern-day slave laborers to subsidize corporate farming and construction. It's pure absolute insanity that illegals were sold homes in CA. When I first discovered this, I was shocked. All it takes is 1 foreclosure in 500 homes to destroy a housing market. California has 3-6 million illegal immigrants, which represents around 10% of it's population. They were sold homes with teaser loans, and the teaser rates expired along with their employment. Millions of illegals are now living in converted garages, and squeezed 10-20 into a house. Not only that, but since property taxes in CA are so insanely low relative to home "values", the prices shot up exponentially, and the State spent EVERY DAMN PENNY. Now, they are fucked because property values are 1/2, and the tax rates are allowed to readjust lower, but not higher than the purchase price- limited to a 2% increase per year. The nonlinearity of the property tax calculation is now fucking the State like so many gays love it in SF. CA needs a 9.0 earthquake right about now.
Work-study doesn't help if you're 4 years too young to legally work.
I wonder what a nice big daisy cutter bunker buster bomb would do to that big beautiful mile long 3 gorges dam in China. Don't screw with me Burt.
mp - Any impact on the D-Clock from the FHLB news?
I can say for certain that a big part of California's problems can be attributed to taxpayer-funded entitlements for illegal aliens.
Ok.
But is the net effect on the US economy better or worse than paying 3x the current price for food?
I wonder what a nice big daisy cutter bunker buster bomb would do to that big beautiful mile long 3 gorges dam in China
Why waste a perfectly good daisy cutter on that?
An empty Beazer or Toll Brothers development would make a much more useful target.
They will first try the economic route, however non-compliance will result in.. you get it..
lucifer | 01.13.09 - 8:51 pm | #
diplomacy -> economic persuasion -> political black ops/psyops -> covert military strikes -> overt military conflict.
strictly my (paranoid but occasionally-informed) opinion...
mp - I too have a question for Conjure. What's a global depression?
To expand slightly, what differentiates it from a global recession, and further what are the criteria for it to be "global" instead of "several nations coincidentally"?
Thank you.
thegreatsatan writes:
Why would he expect Geithner to withdraw his nomination over something as petty as tax evasion?
I understand it was an honest mistake and besides the secretary of the treasury is responsible for the IRS - so even if it wasn't honest - he can fix it
c_s,
"An empty Beazer or Toll Brothers development would make a much more useful target."
Still a waste. Let's round up Dimon et al and drop it on them. That would at least make me feel better...wouldn't help much though.
Nostrovia,
Do you really think that a country that let 40-60 million of its own people starve (cultural revolution) to death gives a f**k. They have a different concept of the world, and they can function with a lot more damage that any western country could take. They can simply win by economic attrition!
PS- They also have nukes, missiles and a large industrial base. Not worth it..
//I wonder what a nice big daisy cutter bunker buster bomb would do to that big beautiful mile long 3 gorges dam in China. Don't screw with me Burt.
Michael | 01.13.09 - 9:17 pm | #//
even back in 2006 the state was spending around 2.2billion a year on k-12 illegal immigration education. In a state where 40% of the budget is mandated to be spent on education, they spend almost 60%, this is a testement to the power of the California Teachers Association.
To keep a prisoner in a California jail/prison costs around 48k per year, next door in Arizona its 24k per year. The main factor is the cost of labor for the Prison Guards, whose union extracted massive pay raises and benefits packages during Gray Davis's tenure.
Do you get 90% pension benefits at early retirement? Nope? Most California public employees do, along with free medical. You think that doesn't rape the State coffers?
This state needs to BK, and fast. It needs to terminate all funding for illegal immigrants, it needs to reduce by half the number of state employees. I mean really, 90% of the functions performed by the DMV could be done through mail, online or via a kiosk. Rampant waste has gone unchecked and the end result is a once great state in terminal condition.
I appreciate the elaboration, Mobama.
I'd discuss further, but this is already buried in the dregs of the comments.
I understand it was an honest mistake and besides the secretary of the treasury is responsible for the IRS - so even if it wasn't honest - he can fix it
That excuse ever worked for you when dealing with the IRS? Didn't think so.
They are already working on step 2..
//diplomacy -> economic persuasion -> political black ops/psyops -> covert military strikes -> overt military conflict.//
You think you have problems now. We are coming for you. Pussies.
As for UC schools...the liberal education and watered-down cookie cutter degree programs are mostly worthless. Many Professors are overpaid and granted tenure too easily. About 1/2 of the Professors are not even US citizens (yet more jobs that Americans won't do). Many students on financial aid for diversity quotas drive around BMWs and blow their financial aid checks at area casinos. Over 1/2 of UC's graduate student body consists of foreign nationals on student visas (more jobs that American's won't do), and are paid on US taxpayer-paid-for grants. Post-doctoral workers are also majority foreign visa workers (yet more jobs that American's won't do). Many come, get a top notch education experience, have a baby, apply for green cards or leave the country. Many Professors make more than the President of the United States. Administrators are overpaid and over coddled with their own offices while Ph.D.s are stuck in cubicles. The whole system is ass backwards.
It's a free money thingie. Whether single family, commercial or government. "If it's free, they will build."
MrM- "mp - Any impact on the D-Clock from the FHLB news?"
Conjure says, "MrM, just for you."
CONJURE'S GLOBAL DEPRESSION CLOCK
The time is now--
11:59:56
Conjure asks, "Do you know what time it is?"
I've never been Secretary of the Treasury.
The squirrels are coming? Like Willard?
One word response:
NUTS!
I don't see why we have to get into conflicts with other countries over this. It's only money.
I do not expect much in the way of depth when discussing California politics here.Rob Dawg had some historical perspective but abandoned CR.Willie Brown's redistricting had a huge effect,prior to that the growth in Boards and commissions which started to take effect under Reagan and have since grown like Topsy have provided a safe haven for otherwise unemployable pols and their buddies.Once you become part of the political class in California you are forever on the public Teat...Arnold is without any real power because he does not have enough $ and because NO member of the State Legislature has to worry about reelection due to Gerrymandering.And for you California Bashers,look at what percentage of our citizens are immigrants who had to leave new jersey because they were too rude.
Sick and Tired Dude writes:
I can say for certain that a big part of California's problems can be attributed to taxpayer-funded entitlements for illegal aliens.
Ok.
But is the net effect on the US economy better or worse than paying 3x the current price for food?
Sick and Tired Dude | 01.13.09 - 9:17 pm | #
I'm sick and tired of this argument. It's an absolute fallacy that food prices would be 3x more. They would be at most 50% more, and your State and local governments might actually be solvent too. I'd rather pay 3x more for food than 3x more for my pathetic health care benefits, property taxes, crappy schools, crammed emergency rooms, overcrowded highways, out-of-control crime rates, and car insurance.
or cal sc,
lived in newport next to UCI fraternity in balboa...boy could those guys party.....fun group...
people let's stop putting down students...they are caught in this mess...
UCI is a top notch life sciences-chemistry school..
UCDavis great ag, life sciences etc...
The bee die off foretells the end of civilization, they are the canary in coal mine...
OT
allegedly the obama team that vets appointees discovered Geithners IRS errors
errors plural
originally i supported geithners appointment
i question the mistakes as "excusable"
You who can't be granfalloons amuse us. We live on all continents (at least the places we consider continents), you foolish two leggers with your border fetishes will be assimilated.
thegreatsatan - please cite the source for those numbers for costs per inmate.
Just as cross-reference, the last numbers to which I have easy access are for 2005. The DoC of California had a total budget of ~5.7 Billion. Ignoring the fact that DoC has to spend money on parolees and probationaries, that worked out to about $33,730 per incarcerated inmate (168,982 total in the system). If you include all criminals the cost was closer to $26,000 per inmate.
So again, please cite source for those numbers you're flinging.
Tom, you add nothing to the argument. Keep being PC.
Kirk Spencer- "mp - I too have a question for Conjure. What's a global depression?"
Conjure says, "Kirk, I'll take this one for mp."
"First of all, GDP growth 10% or more below potential is a 'depression.' The depression is 'global' when all major economies are affected, and in a similar way."
"In other words, Kirk, get ready. We may see a shitstorm."
"Have a nice day."
I'm sick and tired of this argument. It's an absolute fallacy that food prices would be 3x more. They would be at most 50% more...
Ok.
Would raising food prices by 50% be better or worse than eliminating illegal employment?
How many CA prisoners are illegal aliens?
We have recipes for stewed Conjure
Let's round up Dimon et al and drop it on them.
Nah, too easy on 'em.
A slower, more "interesting" fate would suit Dimon and da Boyz.
Think Jack Bauer, a darkened room, and lots of syringes with mysterious green fluid.
Oh noez...The squirrels are after Conjure now...It's Armegeddon for sure...
studies have shown that the price of a head of lettuce would increase by at most .10 cents per head if illegal farm labor was removed from the equation.
furthermore, using manual labor is far cheaper than automation, but far less efficient. the mega farms who get billions in taxpayer subsidies don't want to invest in automation technology when they can pay juan valdez 20 bucks a day instead.
illegal labor stifles innovation, improvement, and efficiency, just like union labor does on our nations docks. singapore has shipping systems that are vastly superior in almost every aspect compared to the US primarily because they dont have to pay a guy 80k a year to write on a container with chalk, they have a crane arm with a scanner instead and its automated.
Just thank God the economic catastrophe is solving the illegal immigration problem for us. I go into my local wall-mart now and I outnumber the illegals 100 to 1. 2 years ago it was just the opposite.
Kristina, Conjure has promised me the movie rights to "Conjure Versus The Squirrels."
Conjure says, "Bring it on."
"Have a nice day."
Sandblaster,
Any decent colleges in your local area, talk to the school about your situation and ask if she can just audit a bunch of classes. No cost but no credit.
I'll take Conjure on the over/under vs. the squirrels...
Tom Stone,
"Rob Dawg had some historical perspective but abandoned CR."
Hmmm...Didn't know. But this thread hasn't had much in it to comment about.
Ah, well...Laundry's about done...then off to Fallout 3 land. Good place to prepare for the future, if you ask me.
Nostrovia,
Mankind swims regularly in the sea of knowledge, emerging completely dry.
You learn this in college, where it is sink or swim.
Does creation of laws that incarcerate more people solve your problems? Ever heard of legalism'? Lets get real.. should any drug be illegal?
Anyway, if you want to pay to have a mexican behind bars.. go ahead.
//5DuckkcuD5 writes:
How many CA prisoners are illegal aliens?
5DuckkcuD5 | 01.13.09 - 9:32 pm | #//
I've been reading an economics text book since I got home, and had a little light bulb go off. Microsoft is toast.
My daughter is almost college age. A lot of small, and not so small colleges, seem to be state funded. I was reading in the comments about one that it is already becoming noticable that professors are not being replaced in certain areas. Or senior professors are staying on to help their departments.
I would rather my daughter get a Liberal Arts degree then end up in a resume enhancing, career generating job.
Sick and Tired Dude writes:
I'm sick and tired of this argument. It's an absolute fallacy that food prices would be 3x more. They would be at most 50% more...
Ok.
Would raising food prices by 50% be better or worse than eliminating illegal employment?
Sick and Tired Dude | 01.13.09 - 9:32 pm | #
It would be far better to raise food prices, employ US citizens, provide them with living wages and managed healthcare because the cost of so many other variables would drop. Your argument is that the government manages taxpayer money for illegals better than employers would manage money for legal workers. It simply doesn't work that way. When I see 2/3 babies being born to illegal immigrants in Sacramento paid for by MediCal, IT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE. GET A CLUE.
Do you live in California? If so, where?
We promise Conjure that we will season him nicely with that fantastic Hungarian Paprika we know he likes, the smoked kind that will be hard to come by if his predictions play out.
Movies are old school. Competitive cooking shows are all the rage in our new new economy.
Thanks, mp. Personally, I am more concerned. The speed and amount of hardballs and curveballs coming at the gov't is increasing fast.
I'll put dear ole Dad's 1938 diploma from Central High School in St. Joseph, Mo. against any university BA today.
He knew more in 38 than I did with a BA in 68. I can only imagine how dumbed down the system is today. Shameful.
"Conjure Versus The Squirrels."
mp | 01.13.09 - 9:36 pm | #
LMAO. Can't wait for the DVD.
I'd discuss further, but this is already buried in the dregs of the comments.
ottnott | 01.13.09 - 9:22 pm | #
Agree. The new topic is bombing China, but might as well be peanut butter and ecoli.
c_s,
"Think Jack Bauer, a darkened room, and lots of syringes with mysterious green fluid."
Eh...to each his own (btw, never saw 24...after...who was it, Scalia?...used it to justify torture, I almost puked)...
Anywho...dead is dead. My way they don't get a dirt nap. Hell, there ain't even red blotches to clean up.
Nostrovia,
Crane? bah. It was all over when the Chinese got Long Beach Naval base as their very own west coast port.
...studies have shown that the price of a head of lettuce would increase by at most .10 cents per head if illegal farm labor was removed from the equation.
Ok. Using the latest numbers I could find, and making some assumptions about the average size of a head of lettuce, your figure of $0.10/head works out to an aggregate cost increase of approximately $1B per year.
That's just for lettuce, and just for California.
Look, I'm not saying it is or isn't "worth it" to have illegals. I'm ASKING if it is. That's why there were question marks at the end of my sentences - to indicate I'm ASKING.
Has anybody done an actual, legit cost-benefit on this?
question for mp and the rest of y'all--seems likely to me that China and Japan are not going to be able to buy bonds pretty soon, probably sometime this year. What happens when that happens? I mean, what's the cascade?
Movies are old school. Competitive cooking shows are all the rage in our new new economy.
The United Squirrels Union
I love competitive cooking shows...I wonder if the "secret ingredient" will be squirrel in the new Season?
5DuckkcuD5
Mortgage Prospects Dim for Illegal Immigrants - WSJ.com
Mortgage delinquency rate for illegals is below that for citizens. Not to suggest illegal immigration is all gravy, but it's obvious where you're coming from. You sound oddly like kidbuck.
I would rather my daughter get a Liberal Arts degree then end up in a resume enhancing, career generating job.
nova | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 9:38 pm | #
So she can be what, a liberal?
Women have a uterus and two mammary glands for a reason, and it's not for sexual exploitation at a UC school.
The most useless degree imaginable is a liberal arts degree. You virtually never see Asians and Indian students go for liberal arts degrees because they're SMART.
The United Squirrels Union writes:
You think you have problems now. We are coming for you.
I didn't know we had a union - there's a lot of squirrel abuse on this blog - nice to be able to fight back -
All this talk about education reminds me of the old story that goes:
Sure dad, but we have video games, space travel, high tech pharma, better technology, etc.
Dad says that because we (his generation) invented all of it.
Hah!
About 2.5 million individuals do farm work for wages sometime during a typical year, so that farm workers represent less than two percent of the 140 million persons with work experience in the US. About 80 percent or two million of these farm workers are immigrants, and an estimated 55 percent were unauthorized in 1999.
How We Eat: 1999 Data - Rural Migration News | Migration Dialogue
A large increase in farm wages translates into a small retail cost increase because: (1) farm labor is a third of farmers' costs; and (2) farmers receive only a fraction of the retail price of food. For a typical 2.5-person consumer unit, a 40 percent increase in farm worker wages that led to a three percent increase in retail fresh fruit and vegetable costs would increase the spending of a typical consumer unit by $9 a year, raising expenditures from $301 to $310.
Microsoft is toast.
I agree and Vista is the proof.
GET A CLUE.
After you.
I have not stated any opinion - I have only asked questions. If you don't like questions, maybe you should spend less time on an internet chat board.
I love competitive cooking shows...I wonder if the "secret ingredient" will be squirrel in the new Season?
Comrade Kristina
It's going to be a regional thing. Squirrel = North
Canadian Geese = Mid Atlantic
Old People = South
Gophers = Midwest
Jack Rabbit = West
Canadians = NorthWest
@Jes
That's Conjure's "Mad Max Scenario"
...I wonder if the "secret ingredient" will be squirrel in the new Season?
We recommend making sure that you aren't the secret ingredient in this new new season.
Perhaps we can call it the Great New Depression? Eat or be...well you know the ending.
ova, ugh, I live in the South.
"Conjure Versus The Squirrels."
mp | 01.13.09 - 9:36 pm | #
Hope there's a gag reel on the DVD.. I love those bloopers.
Comrade Kristina
I know. You probably get the fatty ones.
It's going to be a regional thing. Squirrel = North
Canadian Geese = Mid Atlantic
Old People = South
Speaking of old people, what is that song KROQ in Pasadena plays about cooking up and eating all the old people?
Was a screamin' hilarious song!
I graduated with an Engineering degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1979.
I think this qualifies me both as an "old-timer" as well as a graduate with quantitative and marketable skills. I went on to a successful career, both in my business as well as my technical pursuits.
For those of you that despair of our younger generation and the poor quality of the current higher educational system, I must tell you, after all these years, I still don't know what has most contributed to my success:
Was it the deep study and mastery of the hard sciences? Maybe.
Was it the extreme sexual debauchery that I enjoyed? Possibly.
Was it the overuse of marijuana, LSD, and hallucinogenic mushrooms? Could be.
Was it the exposure I had to a wider world of people that were quite different than the folks I had grown up with? Definitely.
I have confidence that the younger generation will learn the same lessons that I did, irrespective of how they study, fornicate, self-medicate, and experience freedom from the conventions of their upbringing.
It has always been so, and it will always be.
They will deep fry nicely. Probably a little beer batter. Everything in the South is fried.
California will default--when squirrels fly!
Oh, wait..
I didn't know we had a union - there's a lot of squirrel abuse on this blog - nice to be able to fight back
Indeed. They post recipes about how to cook us, while they are the frogs in the slow boil, posting on their blogs while we eat their nuts.
(We aren't really a union, I just say that to scare the anti union types)
Lucifer:
Years ago, the chinese had some contention with Philippines over some islands near the Philippines. As I recollect, the chinese based troops there and that's pretty much the end of what I heard.
That said, I do recall wondering whether they were starting to "creep" abroad in search of new resources (think food) for all of the masses. Think Australia as the bread drawer...
Ah, well...Laundry's about done...then off to Fallout 3 land. Good place to prepare for the future, if you ask me.
Nostrovia,
Comrade Misean is Dope | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 9:37 pm | #
got into Wasteland heavily last summer on a C64 emulator shortly after getting Fallout working under WINE... ahh, the geeky memories... love those games, I just never wanted to consider their themes as survival training for the future. Dr. Strangelove also takes on an uncanny significance nowadays.
An absolute must for this blog reader.
THE ASCENT OF MONEY
Talks about Red Lining in Detriot, Fannie Mae etc.
Very Interesting.
I would rather my daughter get a Liberal Arts degree then end up in a resume enhancing, career generating job.
nova | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 9:38 pm | #
Liberal Arts is the way to go. My undergrad was from a Liberal Arts institution and it was an excellent education. They make you read and write, as opposed to just cliff noting a dull text and taking multiple choice exams. There is a great deal to learn about life from the humanities. It was a Jesuit College and they helped me lose my faith, but were honest enough to say that was an acceptable possibility up front. The student body was a bunch of spoiled rich wankers that stayed drunk and drugged 90% of the time. Sure, you could say that about most colleges, but this one was over the top. It was ranked as one of the top ten party schools by playboy.
I was addicted to "Age of Empires" but it got really old getting my ass kicked by 14 year olds. If you play online, like 1942, it is interesting how you almost tell how good your partners will be by their nationality.
Califoria needs to dismantle the CSU system entirely, and ensure that CA residents only are accepted into the UCs.
Really, what state needs two massive public university systems?
Jes writes:
question for mp and the rest of y'all--seems likely to me that China and Japan are not going to be able to buy bonds pretty soon, probably sometime this year. What happens when that happens? I mean, what's the cascade?
China is a country of savers some 50% of their salary I here. When the unemployed savers start using their savings to survive, does this also have an effect on Chines purchase of US Treasuries? And if so, does the flow of funds eventually reverse?
mp, um, there's two ways to take that. if I think something is likely and conjure says it is the max max scenario, then either he agrees and is suggesting it'll be really, really awful soon, or he disagrees and says I'm coming up with sci fi movie plots. I kind of hope he meant the latter.
...a 40 percent increase in farm worker wages...
In my personal experience, even a 40% increase from the currently pathetically low illegal wages will still attract primarily illegal workers. We experimented with this on one small vineyard over a two year span, and found that the "equilibrium" wage was nearly 3x what our neighbors were paying.
So the question, I think, is better phrased as...
...what is the economic impact of paying enough to attract resident workers?
I certainly agree that if "reasonable" wages HAD to be paid, there would be a terrific incentive to reduce the amount of physical labor.
You people with your "advanced degrees" amuse us.
Read some books. It is free. All the accumulated knowledge of history is free. And you idiots pay big money to have someone assign you to read these books.
We drink your milkshake.
sanity clause writes:
5DuckkcuD5
WSJ Error Page - WSJ.com SB...0372357037.html
Mortgage delinquency rate for illegals is below that for citizens. Not to suggest illegal immigration is all gravy, but it's obvious where you're coming from. You sound oddly like kidbuck.
sanity clause | 01.13.09 - 9:42 pm | #
As if the WSJ or any news outlet is a credible source of any information. I lived in CA for 9 years. I saw it with my OWN EYES. I knew illegal aliens. I saw them build thousands of houses. I saw them working in the fields. I saw them slaving 12-15 hours a day. I ate their food. My kids played with their kids. I saw them walk away from homes. I saw predatory lenders going after their signatures for refinances. Not too long ago, a HUD worker let slip that 5 million illegals have mortgages. Of course, the media jumped all over it, and the statement was retracted by HUD. The proof is in the default listings. Look at the pre-foreclosures for any zip in California (at http://www.foreclosures.com) Safely, 80% of all foreclosures are to Latinos. With 3-6 million illegals in CA, some large percentage of illegals are foreclosing.
I ask you this- would you buy a home in a neighborhood with 20% illegal alien home ownership? Would you send your kids to school with their kids?
California is only 1/2 as bad as Nevada. Nevada is absolutely full of illegals. They were as cheap to employ as the loans that they took out to buy homes.
I kind of hope he meant the latter.
I'm thinking not...but I'm sure mp will clarify
We drink your milkshake
I'm dyin... ha ha ha ha
Online war gaming
Americans are good team players but can be stupid aggressive.
Scandanavian and Nederlanders are very polite and fair.
Germans play good solid offense but a little to methodical on buildup
Brits - good, go for the throat, yet restrained.
French - will disapear in the middle of a game to eat. Yes, they surrender far to easy.
Spanish - easily discouraged. Have to get off to a fast start or they cry...
Asians - they cheat all the time
I was accepted at Johns Hopkins in 1979. Didn't know anyone there so the school arranged to put me up for the visit with a freshman volunteer host.
When he opened his dorm room door I said my name and, "Hi, I'm visiting the school"
He said "Wanna smoke some opium?"
Its on youtube in parts
THE ASCENT OF MONEY
You people with your "advanced degrees" amuse us.
Read some books. It is free. All the accumulated knowledge of history is free. And you idiots pay big money to have someone assign you to read these books.
We drink your milkshake.
The United Squirrel Union | 01.13.09 - 9:54 pm | #
That's a fair point. Many who have advanced degrees stop learning once they receive their degree. Life should be perpetual learning, and a higher degree doesn't mean you're more knowledgeable or intelligent.
Suicidal Squirrels
"sanity clause writes:"
You can't fool me, Boss. There ain't not Sanity Claus.
I work with a group of people who all have advanced degrees. For the most part, if you dropped them on an island with a crate of food, a can opener, and a bowl, they would starve to death. Why? Because they would be to dumb to feed themselves.
ova,
"Old People = South"
Soylent Green is Charlton Heston!?!?
"Asians - they cheat all the time"
Pffffff...yeah so do friggin 'merican teenagers. Sucks. Why I'm loath to play Quake: Enemy Territory.
Damn...I could go on and on on this one.
Nostrovia,
Morocco Bama writes:
I would rather my daughter get a Liberal Arts degree then end up in a resume enhancing, career generating job.
nova | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 9:38 pm | #
Liberal Arts is the way to go. My undergrad was from a Liberal Arts institution and it was an excellent education.
The humanities program at all Colleges and Universities is just pure brainwashing to create a population of atheists and hedonists. Don't believe in the other side? Watch Ghost Hunters sometime. There's undeniable scientific proof of another side to our existence.
Comrade Misean is Dope writes: then off to Fallout 3 land. Good place to prepare for the future, if you ask me.
That future is 200+ years away, after the fallout dispersed. We need to prepare how to deal with the fallout in the next 10 years
Though if you included a laptop they would probably do a good Powerpoint presentation on their plight.
Where's the thread about Tax Cheat Geithner?
Imagine giving a tax cheat $350B of money, from other people who did pay their taxes, to play with!
Please reject this nominee. Senators, do your duty!
Nostrovia,
Comrade Misean is Dope
Yeah, but they semi understand the concept of pre-agreed upon rules. Asians and for some reason Finish people will not.
A large increase in farm wages translates into a small retail cost increase because: (1) farm labor is a third of farmers' costs; and (2) farmers receive only a fraction of the retail price of food. For a typical 2.5-person consumer unit, a 40 percent increase in farm worker wages that led to a three percent increase in retail fresh fruit and vegetable costs would increase the spending of a typical consumer unit by $9 a year, raising expenditures from $301 to $310.
thegreatsatan | 01.13.09 - 9:44 pm | #
Thank you.
Retail sales in the premkt. That should bring out all the "The weather was terrible" 2nd half recovery crowd in droves.
MrM,
"We need to prepare how to deal with the fallout in the next 10 years :-)"
I plan on becoming a Ghoul...they live a long time...and if the mood strikes...well going feral can't be that bad...those guys can eat.
Nostrovia,
MP/Conjure - given your outlook.. have you set any targets on the S&P, or will it even matter (i.e. madmax scenario) - where do you see things going index wise?
thx!
Comrade Misean is Dope: ... you eat what you kill
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage-
finance company in the U.S., will offer renters cash to vacate
foreclosed properties as part of a new policy aimed at saving
tenants from eviction.
The company will offer people living in homes that are lost
to foreclosure new monthly leases at market rates or cash for
keys, the company said in an e-mailed statement today. Fannie,
now under federal control, said the option was being offered as
part of a program announced in December to help renters remain
in their homes following foreclosure.