Yeah? Wait til Saturday:
A crossword-solving computer program yesterday triumphed in a competition against humans. Two versions of the program, called WebCrow, finished first and second in a competition that gave bilingual entrants 90 minutes to work on five different crosswords in Italian and English.
.... WebCrow uses four techniques in parallel to find possible answers to a clue. Two involve looking for the clue or a near match in a database of solved crosswords or using a dictionary. Another uses rules known to work on a kind of Italian clue with two letter answers and the fourth technique is to search the internet.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
It's time for the tomatoes
In August, in Spain:
BUNOL — Photographs of revelllers splattered in tomatoes adorned newspapers in Spain and abroad on Thursday after the town of Bunol's traditional 'Tomatina'.
The Tomatina (Get Juicy) is friendly fight in which the only weapons employed are more than 110 tons of overripe tomatoes.
As it has being going for the past 61 years in this small town near Valencia
Tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world arrived to take part.
In addition to local residents, visitors come from the Americas, Asia and the rest of Europe.
....According to the town councillor for Parties, Fairs, Culture and Sports, Pilar Garrigues, "the people are given various recommendations before starting the fight, one of which encourages them to use common sense so as to not cause harm to others."
"Here one comes dressed in white and should leave (dressed) in red if they had a good time; that's what the Tomatina is all about," Garrigues said.
Not going to do it. Wouldn't be prudent.
Byron York attempts to talk to David Corn about his conspiracy mongering past in this video.
Hilarious.
[Update]
The reason Corn doesn't want to talk to York is because he knows that York will demolish his claims not to have promoted conspiracy theories. York mentioned two pieces that do just that;
1. Rove Scandal: A Conspiracy Charge for the White House?
2. The Cheney Conspiracy?
From #1 above we can read him relating what a friend who is a prosecutor told him:
...check out Title 18, Section 371, of the US Code, he advises. It's entitled "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States."
This...is straightforward and rather wide-ranging:
If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
....Under this law, if there was any conspiring among the leakers--say, one White House aide suggested to another that they use the classified information in hand to disclose Valerie Wilson's connection to the CIA in order to undermine Wilson's account of his trip to Niger--then the acts of each conspirator can essentially be charged to the other(s).
If I understand this correctly--did I say I was no lawyer?--that means if one person violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (or lied to Fitzgerald or the grand jury) any one who conspired with them to make the leak happen (or concoct the false account) could be nailed. "From a prosecutor's standpoint," this former prosecutor says, "a conspiracy charge is how you get in each strand--all the strands--of what happened."
Nabbing Karl Rove on a conspiracy? To some that might sound rather appropriate.
[emphasis the FLUBA's]
Hilarious.
[Update]
The reason Corn doesn't want to talk to York is because he knows that York will demolish his claims not to have promoted conspiracy theories. York mentioned two pieces that do just that;
1. Rove Scandal: A Conspiracy Charge for the White House?
2. The Cheney Conspiracy?
From #1 above we can read him relating what a friend who is a prosecutor told him:
...check out Title 18, Section 371, of the US Code, he advises. It's entitled "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States."
This...is straightforward and rather wide-ranging:
If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
....Under this law, if there was any conspiring among the leakers--say, one White House aide suggested to another that they use the classified information in hand to disclose Valerie Wilson's connection to the CIA in order to undermine Wilson's account of his trip to Niger--then the acts of each conspirator can essentially be charged to the other(s).
If I understand this correctly--did I say I was no lawyer?--that means if one person violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (or lied to Fitzgerald or the grand jury) any one who conspired with them to make the leak happen (or concoct the false account) could be nailed. "From a prosecutor's standpoint," this former prosecutor says, "a conspiracy charge is how you get in each strand--all the strands--of what happened."
Nabbing Karl Rove on a conspiracy? To some that might sound rather appropriate.
[emphasis the FLUBA's]
What's in a name?
Geography and migration patterns for one thing:
The biggest concentration of people called Salt is in Stoke-on-Trent, as is the greatest number of people called Pepper, according to a new study which maps the spread of British names across the globe.
The number of people with either surname is roughly equal so the reason for this is likely to be that both Salts and Peppers derived their names from people who made pots for condiments in the Potteries, according to the authors of the study, published at the Royal Geographical Society's annual conference yesterday.
What the study of 20,000 British surnames over five generations has enabled researchers to do for the first time is to track the migration of people with British names and to see where the largest concentration of people of that name lives.
And, for another, who's movin' on up:
Researchers compiled a list of "most embarrassing" names, which people have tended to change.
There were 3,211 Cocks in Britain in 1881 — when most were centred around Truro — but only 826 in 1996. Likewise, the number of Handcocks, Smellies, Haggards, Slows, Willys, Piggs, Hustlers, Nutters and Glasscocks has fallen.
Conclusions can also be reached about Christian names. The upper classes, defined by educational achievement, have tended to stick to the same Christian names over time — the top 10 being Felicity, Katherine, Phillippa, Penelope, Elizabeth, Hilary, Giles, Annabel, Alastair and Jeremy. The lower classes, defined by education, are more likely to choose newer names. Tracey or Tracy, topping the list, followed by Michelle, Lee, Darren, Jason, Donna, Annie and Kelly.
The biggest concentration of people called Salt is in Stoke-on-Trent, as is the greatest number of people called Pepper, according to a new study which maps the spread of British names across the globe.
The number of people with either surname is roughly equal so the reason for this is likely to be that both Salts and Peppers derived their names from people who made pots for condiments in the Potteries, according to the authors of the study, published at the Royal Geographical Society's annual conference yesterday.
What the study of 20,000 British surnames over five generations has enabled researchers to do for the first time is to track the migration of people with British names and to see where the largest concentration of people of that name lives.
And, for another, who's movin' on up:
Researchers compiled a list of "most embarrassing" names, which people have tended to change.
There were 3,211 Cocks in Britain in 1881 — when most were centred around Truro — but only 826 in 1996. Likewise, the number of Handcocks, Smellies, Haggards, Slows, Willys, Piggs, Hustlers, Nutters and Glasscocks has fallen.
Conclusions can also be reached about Christian names. The upper classes, defined by educational achievement, have tended to stick to the same Christian names over time — the top 10 being Felicity, Katherine, Phillippa, Penelope, Elizabeth, Hilary, Giles, Annabel, Alastair and Jeremy. The lower classes, defined by education, are more likely to choose newer names. Tracey or Tracy, topping the list, followed by Michelle, Lee, Darren, Jason, Donna, Annie and Kelly.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
We've been over into the future...
...and it's getting grim for Europe's pensions:
The looming deficits in [Greece's] troubled pension system have spurred the government to push for reforms which some consider controversial because they could cut benefits and force people to work longer.
....Total spending on health and welfare this year will demand 18.82 billion euros from the national budget compared to 17 billion euros last year.
Workers are expected to hand over 9.6 billion euros to funds this year.
....as more retirees draw pensions, fewer workers are contributing to social security funds, according to the government’s data.
This year, there are 3.93 million workers paying into a system that supports 2.21 million pensioners. This figure means that for each pensioner there are 1.77 contributors. In 2005, the respective figure was slightly higher at 1.79 while more than 15 years ago it stood at 2.4.
Experts believe that there needs to be four active workers for every pensioner in order for the system to be viable.
The looming deficits in [Greece's] troubled pension system have spurred the government to push for reforms which some consider controversial because they could cut benefits and force people to work longer.
....Total spending on health and welfare this year will demand 18.82 billion euros from the national budget compared to 17 billion euros last year.
Workers are expected to hand over 9.6 billion euros to funds this year.
....as more retirees draw pensions, fewer workers are contributing to social security funds, according to the government’s data.
This year, there are 3.93 million workers paying into a system that supports 2.21 million pensioners. This figure means that for each pensioner there are 1.77 contributors. In 2005, the respective figure was slightly higher at 1.79 while more than 15 years ago it stood at 2.4.
Experts believe that there needs to be four active workers for every pensioner in order for the system to be viable.
Gone Fishin'
David Corn decides to duck and run from Christopher Hitchens:
A bunch of emails arrived today from people asking for (or, demanding) a response to Christopher Hitchens' attack in Slate on me and my coauthor Michael isikoff. I'm going to refrain from taking the bait, as we prepare for next week's release of our book. HUBRIS ....
Sure, David. You're just toooo busy to respond to Hitchens' juxtaposing what you said back in July 2003:
The Wilson smear was a thuggish act. Bush and his crew abused and misused intelligence to make their case for war. Now there is evidence Bushies used classified information and put the nation's counter-proliferation efforts at risk merely to settle a score. It is a sign that with this gang politics trumps national security.
With what he and Isikoff are saying now:
The disclosures about Armitage, gleaned from interviews with colleagues, friends and lawyers directly involved in the case, underscore one of the ironies of the Plame investigation: that the initial leak, seized on by administration critics as evidence of how far the White House was willing to go to smear an opponent, came from a man who had no apparent intention of harming anyone.
Hitchens accurately comments:
In the stylistic world where disclosures are gleaned and ironies underscored, the nullity of the prose obscures the fact that any irony here is only at the authors' expense.
A bunch of emails arrived today from people asking for (or, demanding) a response to Christopher Hitchens' attack in Slate on me and my coauthor Michael isikoff. I'm going to refrain from taking the bait, as we prepare for next week's release of our book. HUBRIS ....
Sure, David. You're just toooo busy to respond to Hitchens' juxtaposing what you said back in July 2003:
The Wilson smear was a thuggish act. Bush and his crew abused and misused intelligence to make their case for war. Now there is evidence Bushies used classified information and put the nation's counter-proliferation efforts at risk merely to settle a score. It is a sign that with this gang politics trumps national security.
With what he and Isikoff are saying now:
The disclosures about Armitage, gleaned from interviews with colleagues, friends and lawyers directly involved in the case, underscore one of the ironies of the Plame investigation: that the initial leak, seized on by administration critics as evidence of how far the White House was willing to go to smear an opponent, came from a man who had no apparent intention of harming anyone.
Hitchens accurately comments:
In the stylistic world where disclosures are gleaned and ironies underscored, the nullity of the prose obscures the fact that any irony here is only at the authors' expense.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Prohibition, The Sequel
Easy to have predicted too:
A number of illegal "smoke-easies", reminiscent of the speakeasies set up in the United States during the Prohibition era when alcohol was banned, have sprung up across Scotland.
Forest, the pro-smoking lobby, said such "lock-ins" had started up in Ireland and New York after their smoking bans were imposed.
Latest figures from New York, which implemented a ban in 2003, show that the city's health department issued 601 'violations' in the 12 months to May to premises operating "smoke-easies".
One smoker, who has been invited three times to join a selected group after closing time in his local pub in the east of Scotland, said: "We tend to sit and wait to be given the signal. Then the door was slammed and locked and the ashtrays came out. I think the manager drew the curtains as well.
"There was about ten-12 of us, men and women from ages about early 20s to their 70s, and we had another couple of drinks and a smoke.
"It felt like such a treat. I think in a way it's nostalgic for me because I associate pubs with the smell of smoke and beer. Although in general I think the ban is a good thing, it will be horrible for people being forced to go outside on cold winter nights."
A number of illegal "smoke-easies", reminiscent of the speakeasies set up in the United States during the Prohibition era when alcohol was banned, have sprung up across Scotland.
Forest, the pro-smoking lobby, said such "lock-ins" had started up in Ireland and New York after their smoking bans were imposed.
Latest figures from New York, which implemented a ban in 2003, show that the city's health department issued 601 'violations' in the 12 months to May to premises operating "smoke-easies".
One smoker, who has been invited three times to join a selected group after closing time in his local pub in the east of Scotland, said: "We tend to sit and wait to be given the signal. Then the door was slammed and locked and the ashtrays came out. I think the manager drew the curtains as well.
"There was about ten-12 of us, men and women from ages about early 20s to their 70s, and we had another couple of drinks and a smoke.
"It felt like such a treat. I think in a way it's nostalgic for me because I associate pubs with the smell of smoke and beer. Although in general I think the ban is a good thing, it will be horrible for people being forced to go outside on cold winter nights."
Dirt Cheap
And going fast:
Rome, August 29 - Italian environmentalists are worried about the future of the country's finest beaches, which they say are threatened by a growing trade in 'souvenir sand'.
Concern flared after it was discovered that an enterprising German was trying to sell packets of sand from a beach on the island of Elba over the Internet.
The seller, who is still nameless, posted an advert on the German eBay website offering packets of sand for 1.99 euros each. There were photos of the little sachets alongside the offer.
"It's a new fad for collectors which is putting our natural resources in danger," said Umberto Mazzantini of Legambiente. Illegal trading in sand from Italy's beaches was aimed at a market of sand collectors which was expanding fast, he continued, adding that buyers were both tourists and people interested in minerals.
However, when property rights were introduced, the story changed:
One famous case involved the 'Spiaggia Rosa', a Sardinian beach famed for its pink sand. The sand appealed to many visitors so much that they started taking it away and the beach began to lose its distinctive colour.
Here the problem was confronted by limiting the number of people allowed onto the beach in a day and making them pay for the privilege of being there.
Some expected this approach to make people even keener to take away some sand, as a sort of payback for their entry fee. But in fact it seemed to make visitors more aware of the beach's value and fragility .
Rome, August 29 - Italian environmentalists are worried about the future of the country's finest beaches, which they say are threatened by a growing trade in 'souvenir sand'.
Concern flared after it was discovered that an enterprising German was trying to sell packets of sand from a beach on the island of Elba over the Internet.
The seller, who is still nameless, posted an advert on the German eBay website offering packets of sand for 1.99 euros each. There were photos of the little sachets alongside the offer.
"It's a new fad for collectors which is putting our natural resources in danger," said Umberto Mazzantini of Legambiente. Illegal trading in sand from Italy's beaches was aimed at a market of sand collectors which was expanding fast, he continued, adding that buyers were both tourists and people interested in minerals.
However, when property rights were introduced, the story changed:
One famous case involved the 'Spiaggia Rosa', a Sardinian beach famed for its pink sand. The sand appealed to many visitors so much that they started taking it away and the beach began to lose its distinctive colour.
Here the problem was confronted by limiting the number of people allowed onto the beach in a day and making them pay for the privilege of being there.
Some expected this approach to make people even keener to take away some sand, as a sort of payback for their entry fee. But in fact it seemed to make visitors more aware of the beach's value and fragility .
Monday, August 28, 2006
Okay...maybe one bad companion
Austrian teenager and recently escaped kidnapping victim Natascha Kampusch, finds a silver lining amongst the clouds:
In my view his death was unnecessary. A penalty would not have been the end of the world. He was a part of my life and this is why I am, in a way, mourning him.
Of course it is true my youth was different from many other people. But generally I don't have the feeling I missed anything. I spared myself many things, I did not start smoking or drinking and I did not hang out in bad company.
In my view his death was unnecessary. A penalty would not have been the end of the world. He was a part of my life and this is why I am, in a way, mourning him.
Of course it is true my youth was different from many other people. But generally I don't have the feeling I missed anything. I spared myself many things, I did not start smoking or drinking and I did not hang out in bad company.
Sittn' on the bottom of the world...
Means it's winter in August, and you've got an export market wide open to you:
Not content with taking on the French at making wine, Australians are now getting into another hallowed Gallic tradition - truffle cultivation.
The first Australian truffle farm was established in Tasmania and the first "black diamond", as the French call them, was triumphantly plucked from the ground in 1999.
Since then around 50 truffle plantations have been established in Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria.
The business has been pioneered by Duncan Garvey, a former agricultural economist....
He has brought along his trusty truffle-hunting hound, an English springer spaniel called Pickles.
.... Duncan encourages his dog in a soft voice: "Find truffles, Pickles, find truffles."
....The plantation around which we are walking is the property of husband and wife team Bill and Pat deCorsie.
....This is the deCorsie's first harvest and so far they have gathered around six kilograms of the black treasure. That does not sound much until you learn that a kilo of good quality truffles sells for USD $2,300.
....Earlier this month, a small consignment of truffles was sent to a gourmet restaurant in Tokyo. It was the first time that Australian truffles had been exported abroad.
Duncan says the Japanese were "blown away" by the fact that they were eating fresh truffles in August - Europe's truffles will not be ready for harvest for another six months, which is why the Australians think they can compete with Italy and France.
[Thanks to This French Life]
Not content with taking on the French at making wine, Australians are now getting into another hallowed Gallic tradition - truffle cultivation.
The first Australian truffle farm was established in Tasmania and the first "black diamond", as the French call them, was triumphantly plucked from the ground in 1999.
Since then around 50 truffle plantations have been established in Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria.
The business has been pioneered by Duncan Garvey, a former agricultural economist....
He has brought along his trusty truffle-hunting hound, an English springer spaniel called Pickles.
.... Duncan encourages his dog in a soft voice: "Find truffles, Pickles, find truffles."
....The plantation around which we are walking is the property of husband and wife team Bill and Pat deCorsie.
....This is the deCorsie's first harvest and so far they have gathered around six kilograms of the black treasure. That does not sound much until you learn that a kilo of good quality truffles sells for USD $2,300.
....Earlier this month, a small consignment of truffles was sent to a gourmet restaurant in Tokyo. It was the first time that Australian truffles had been exported abroad.
Duncan says the Japanese were "blown away" by the fact that they were eating fresh truffles in August - Europe's truffles will not be ready for harvest for another six months, which is why the Australians think they can compete with Italy and France.
[Thanks to This French Life]
Do they not take the entire afternoon off?
Spain finds it can import prosperity:
MADRID — Large scale immigration to Spain in recent years has been behind the country's rapid economic growth, according to a report published on Monday.
The study, by the Caixa Catalauna savings bank, said the Spanish economy grew by 2.6 percent each year in the past decade on average because of the input from immigrants.
If large-scale immigration had not happened, the per capita GDP of the country would have actually fallen by 0.6 percent, the report adds.
Raquel Vazquez, head of studies at Caixa Cataluna, told the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser: "More than 50 percent of the rise in employment has been due to immigration."
Vazquez said immigrants had also helped to boost domestic demand and the building boom and increase demand for homes.
The size of Spain's immigrant population, who represents about 9 percent of the population of more than 44 million, is well above the European average.
MADRID — Large scale immigration to Spain in recent years has been behind the country's rapid economic growth, according to a report published on Monday.
The study, by the Caixa Catalauna savings bank, said the Spanish economy grew by 2.6 percent each year in the past decade on average because of the input from immigrants.
If large-scale immigration had not happened, the per capita GDP of the country would have actually fallen by 0.6 percent, the report adds.
Raquel Vazquez, head of studies at Caixa Cataluna, told the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser: "More than 50 percent of the rise in employment has been due to immigration."
Vazquez said immigrants had also helped to boost domestic demand and the building boom and increase demand for homes.
The size of Spain's immigrant population, who represents about 9 percent of the population of more than 44 million, is well above the European average.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Zoned Out
Mark Thoma excerpts a lengthy bit from a Washington Post article on the shortage of 'affordable housing'. The Fly Under the Bridge Academy Committee on Making it Short, but Sweet edits for the Bingo Moment:
...in many communities, local regulations have stifled multifamily housing and even modest single-family housing. Minimum lot requirements, minimum parking requirements, density restrictions and other controls go well beyond the traditional mission of the building code and end up artificially reducing the development of safe, affordable housing.
.... Economist Christopher Thornberg notes that California's private market added 120,000 urban rental units in 1987; in the first half of 2006, the total was just 232. The main obstacle, Thornberg concludes, is "the intransigence of local zoning boards."
In other words, the best thing local officials can do to promote affordable housing is to get out of the way....
...in many communities, local regulations have stifled multifamily housing and even modest single-family housing. Minimum lot requirements, minimum parking requirements, density restrictions and other controls go well beyond the traditional mission of the building code and end up artificially reducing the development of safe, affordable housing.
.... Economist Christopher Thornberg notes that California's private market added 120,000 urban rental units in 1987; in the first half of 2006, the total was just 232. The main obstacle, Thornberg concludes, is "the intransigence of local zoning boards."
In other words, the best thing local officials can do to promote affordable housing is to get out of the way....
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Berry, Berry Good For Him
Thanks to Katie Newmark, we congratulate Chicago's newest economist:
After a long and fruitful career, 79-year-old master’s degree graduate Herbert Baum has returned to the University of Chicago to earn his Ph.D. The oldest person ever to be awarded a doctorate by the University, Baum will receive the degree in economics Friday, Aug. 25.
When he left the University in 1951 to become a government agricultural economist in Washington, D.C., Baum had a master’s degree and was just short of writing his dissertation to earn a doctorate.
His dissertation contributes to agricultural economics by examining how to measure the impact of fees charged producers for commodity promotion and research. The thesis, based on a case study of the strawberry industry in California in which he was a leader, developed a model for researchers to understand the long-term value of the fees assessed growers. The model shows how the policies of the state strawberry commission, which supported research into improved varieties, improved production per acre and grower profitability.
.... Baum’s work with strawberries began shortly after he went to work in California in 1953 after working for the federal government upon completing is master’s degree. Inspired by former professor and free-market economist Milton Friedman who went on to receive a Nobel Prize, Baum decided to find work in private industry. He went on to became a leading figure in the development of the state’s strawberry industry.
....Friedman, the Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Economics, was one of the faculty members who approved granting Baum a Ph.D. Joining Friedman on the committee were Nobel Prize-winning economists Gary Becker, University Professor in Economics, and committee chair [and also a Nobelist] James Heckman. Roger Myerson, the William C. Norby Professor in Economics, also served on the committee.
After a long and fruitful career, 79-year-old master’s degree graduate Herbert Baum has returned to the University of Chicago to earn his Ph.D. The oldest person ever to be awarded a doctorate by the University, Baum will receive the degree in economics Friday, Aug. 25.
When he left the University in 1951 to become a government agricultural economist in Washington, D.C., Baum had a master’s degree and was just short of writing his dissertation to earn a doctorate.
His dissertation contributes to agricultural economics by examining how to measure the impact of fees charged producers for commodity promotion and research. The thesis, based on a case study of the strawberry industry in California in which he was a leader, developed a model for researchers to understand the long-term value of the fees assessed growers. The model shows how the policies of the state strawberry commission, which supported research into improved varieties, improved production per acre and grower profitability.
.... Baum’s work with strawberries began shortly after he went to work in California in 1953 after working for the federal government upon completing is master’s degree. Inspired by former professor and free-market economist Milton Friedman who went on to receive a Nobel Prize, Baum decided to find work in private industry. He went on to became a leading figure in the development of the state’s strawberry industry.
....Friedman, the Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Economics, was one of the faculty members who approved granting Baum a Ph.D. Joining Friedman on the committee were Nobel Prize-winning economists Gary Becker, University Professor in Economics, and committee chair [and also a Nobelist] James Heckman. Roger Myerson, the William C. Norby Professor in Economics, also served on the committee.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Size Matters
To some women, the size of the wallet:
Wealthy Men is the one and only online personals dating site dedicated to those men seeking a higher quality online dating experience. Women who visit Wealthy Men, will find that each profile is of real men who have excelled greatly in their life, but are still seeking a partner to share their experiences with. All women can set up a free profile, however, only a select few men can join Wealthy Men as each of our members are verified by a salary approval process.
Wealthy Men is the one and only online personals dating site dedicated to those men seeking a higher quality online dating experience. Women who visit Wealthy Men, will find that each profile is of real men who have excelled greatly in their life, but are still seeking a partner to share their experiences with. All women can set up a free profile, however, only a select few men can join Wealthy Men as each of our members are verified by a salary approval process.
Duh Reich Stuff
Former Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich is stumped:
I 'm baffled by the way the press has covered the tenth anniversary (this week) of Bill Clinton's welfare reform -- full of praise for a policy that has led to more poverty in America among single mothers and their children than before.
Let us help; from Brookings we can produce some facts:
From 1993 to 2000 the portion of single mothers who were employed grew from 58 percent to nearly 75 percent...employment among never-married mothers, most of whom join the welfare ranks within a year or two of giving birth, grew from 44 percent to 66 percent. Before [the Welfare Reform Act] 1996 never-married mothers were the ones most likely to be school dropouts, to go on welfare, and to stay on welfare for a decade or more. Yet their employment over this period grew by 50%. Employment changes of this magnitude over such a short period for an entire demographic group are unprecedented in Census Bureau records.
[all emphases the FLUBA's]
But, faux economists might ask, how about their economic well-being:
Census Bureau data for female headed families in the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution...show that...earnings had leaped by an astounding 136 percent....
...with earnings and EITC payments leading the way, the total income of these low-income families increased by about 25 percent [in real terms]. Even after the recession of 2001, earnings remained above their 1993 level. The predictions of doom turned out to be wrong.
Anyone remember all the critics predicting that Welfare Reform would throw over one million children into poverty?
...by 2000 the poverty rate of black children and of children in female-headed families was the lowest it had ever been. The percentage of families in deep poverty, defined as half the poverty level...also declined until 2000, falling about 35% during the period. Even after four consecutive years of increasing child poverty [following the recession of 2001] poverty was still 20 percent below it 1993 peak.
Even the very bottom (by income) 10% of single mothers who show a decrease in income after 1996, show increased consumption at the same time.
Even Christopher Jencks, a well known critic of the 1996 law, found that:
...single mothers had fewer problems related to food in 2001 than in 1995, the last year before welfare reform. ...that, although the number of low-income mothers receiving welfare between 1995 and 1999 fell from 58 percent to 29 percent, food related problems dropped dramatically.
The question now on the table being; just where did Reich get the idea that Welfare Reform was 'a policy that has led to more poverty in America among single mothers and their children than before'?
I 'm baffled by the way the press has covered the tenth anniversary (this week) of Bill Clinton's welfare reform -- full of praise for a policy that has led to more poverty in America among single mothers and their children than before.
Let us help; from Brookings we can produce some facts:
From 1993 to 2000 the portion of single mothers who were employed grew from 58 percent to nearly 75 percent...employment among never-married mothers, most of whom join the welfare ranks within a year or two of giving birth, grew from 44 percent to 66 percent. Before [the Welfare Reform Act] 1996 never-married mothers were the ones most likely to be school dropouts, to go on welfare, and to stay on welfare for a decade or more. Yet their employment over this period grew by 50%. Employment changes of this magnitude over such a short period for an entire demographic group are unprecedented in Census Bureau records.
[all emphases the FLUBA's]
But, faux economists might ask, how about their economic well-being:
Census Bureau data for female headed families in the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution...show that...earnings had leaped by an astounding 136 percent....
...with earnings and EITC payments leading the way, the total income of these low-income families increased by about 25 percent [in real terms]. Even after the recession of 2001, earnings remained above their 1993 level. The predictions of doom turned out to be wrong.
Anyone remember all the critics predicting that Welfare Reform would throw over one million children into poverty?
...by 2000 the poverty rate of black children and of children in female-headed families was the lowest it had ever been. The percentage of families in deep poverty, defined as half the poverty level...also declined until 2000, falling about 35% during the period. Even after four consecutive years of increasing child poverty [following the recession of 2001] poverty was still 20 percent below it 1993 peak.
Even the very bottom (by income) 10% of single mothers who show a decrease in income after 1996, show increased consumption at the same time.
Even Christopher Jencks, a well known critic of the 1996 law, found that:
...single mothers had fewer problems related to food in 2001 than in 1995, the last year before welfare reform. ...that, although the number of low-income mothers receiving welfare between 1995 and 1999 fell from 58 percent to 29 percent, food related problems dropped dramatically.
The question now on the table being; just where did Reich get the idea that Welfare Reform was 'a policy that has led to more poverty in America among single mothers and their children than before'?
Chocolates on the Pillow?
Scotland takes pains to be nice...to its prisoners:
STAFF IN Scottish jails should always refer to prisoners as “Mr” or “Mrs” or call them by their first names—and should knock on the door before entering their cells.
This was just one of the standards laid down yesterday by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland Dr Andrew McLellan.
....Dr McLellan said he expected that if a lavatory is in a cell it should be enclosed to provide privacy, and if prisoners have to call for the cell door to be opened to use a lavatory staff should respond within a stated time that is “reasonable.”
STAFF IN Scottish jails should always refer to prisoners as “Mr” or “Mrs” or call them by their first names—and should knock on the door before entering their cells.
This was just one of the standards laid down yesterday by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland Dr Andrew McLellan.
....Dr McLellan said he expected that if a lavatory is in a cell it should be enclosed to provide privacy, and if prisoners have to call for the cell door to be opened to use a lavatory staff should respond within a stated time that is “reasonable.”
Each prisoner should get at least one hour in the open air each day, in space large enough for “meaningful” exercise.
If it was cold, raining or snowing, “appropriate” bad-weather clothing must be provided.
Every prison should have sufficient phones to enable every prisoner to have daily access.
The phones, he said, should not be in noisy places where prisoners cannot hear properly, and they should be able to talk on the phone without being overheard by other inmates.
Healthcare in prison should be of the same standard as in the outside world.
Prisoners should be treated with respect by staff.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
You can't take it all off with you?
Funereal is as funereal does:
CHINA may be giving striptease funerals the last rites after officials arrested five people and ordered an end to the practise.
Strip shows have been commonly used to attract more mourners to funerals, as villagers believe a crowded send-off brings more honor to the deceased, Xinhua news agency said.
....Wealthier families in villages often employ two troupes of performers to try to draw a crowd at the funerals of their loved ones.
....A hotline was also set up for residents to report on "funeral misdeeds," it said. The funeral striptease is also a popular custom in parts of Taiwan.
CHINA may be giving striptease funerals the last rites after officials arrested five people and ordered an end to the practise.
Strip shows have been commonly used to attract more mourners to funerals, as villagers believe a crowded send-off brings more honor to the deceased, Xinhua news agency said.
....Wealthier families in villages often employ two troupes of performers to try to draw a crowd at the funerals of their loved ones.
....A hotline was also set up for residents to report on "funeral misdeeds," it said. The funeral striptease is also a popular custom in parts of Taiwan.
RIP
Aristocrat, architect, bicycle racer, painter, politician, WWII bomber pilot, and elderly pornographer.
Where else, but England:
The 6th Lord Deramore, who died on Sunday aged 95, was an example of that breed of mildly eccentric hereditary peer whose presence for generations embellished, informed and entertained the "unreformed" House of Lords.
Deramore was a man of diverse talents and enthusiams. As a young man he won the 1½ litre class in the Paris to Nice Trail in an HRG open sports car, and he held a cycling record of 149 miles in one day - from York to Cambridge.
He became an architect, and was a stalwart of the Conservative Party in north Yorkshire (he briefly abandoned the Tories for the UK Independence Party in the 1990s) and an assiduous writer of letters to editors, his favourite topic being the evils of bureaucracy, both the Brussels and the home-grown varieties. He was also a keen and reasonably proficient amateur watercolourist.
Deramore's chief claim to fame, however, or at least so far as the press was concerned, was as a writer of erotic fiction. Sadly, much of his work remains unpublished - he was engagingly frank about his ever-growing pile of rejection slips.
But success finally came in 1997 when, aged 85, he published his first novel. Illustrated on the cover with one of the author's own watercolours, of a naked girl with a teddy bear, Still Waters concerns a young woman who is seduced by a female friend.
After the friend is killed in a motor accident, she falls in love with a divorced man, but cannot have sex with him because she suffers from a rare clinical condition called vaginismus.
According to the author's account, the book concerned "a not very attractive girl who has a bad complex about a small bosom". His inspiration for the more eye-popping gynaecological details came from a newspaper article on an embarrassing medical condition, and his motivation was altruistic: "I wanted to show how there is hope for a woman, even if she is not very attractive."
.... Asked why he had written such a novel at his age, he replied: "I'm old, so there's not a lot else I can do."
Where else, but England:
The 6th Lord Deramore, who died on Sunday aged 95, was an example of that breed of mildly eccentric hereditary peer whose presence for generations embellished, informed and entertained the "unreformed" House of Lords.
Deramore was a man of diverse talents and enthusiams. As a young man he won the 1½ litre class in the Paris to Nice Trail in an HRG open sports car, and he held a cycling record of 149 miles in one day - from York to Cambridge.
He became an architect, and was a stalwart of the Conservative Party in north Yorkshire (he briefly abandoned the Tories for the UK Independence Party in the 1990s) and an assiduous writer of letters to editors, his favourite topic being the evils of bureaucracy, both the Brussels and the home-grown varieties. He was also a keen and reasonably proficient amateur watercolourist.
Deramore's chief claim to fame, however, or at least so far as the press was concerned, was as a writer of erotic fiction. Sadly, much of his work remains unpublished - he was engagingly frank about his ever-growing pile of rejection slips.
But success finally came in 1997 when, aged 85, he published his first novel. Illustrated on the cover with one of the author's own watercolours, of a naked girl with a teddy bear, Still Waters concerns a young woman who is seduced by a female friend.
After the friend is killed in a motor accident, she falls in love with a divorced man, but cannot have sex with him because she suffers from a rare clinical condition called vaginismus.
According to the author's account, the book concerned "a not very attractive girl who has a bad complex about a small bosom". His inspiration for the more eye-popping gynaecological details came from a newspaper article on an embarrassing medical condition, and his motivation was altruistic: "I wanted to show how there is hope for a woman, even if she is not very attractive."
.... Asked why he had written such a novel at his age, he replied: "I'm old, so there's not a lot else I can do."
How about sports car sales?
Eric Clapton wannabees abound in Britain:
Guitar sales in Britain hit a record £110 million last year, according to figures released yesterday.
Almost a million of the instruments - 470,000 electric and bass guitars and 520,000 acoustic guitars - were bought; twice as many as in 1999 and an increase of 200,000 on 2004.
....Guitars are now the most popular instrument in schools, and there has also been an increase in middle-aged lapsed players joining bands for the first time since they were in their twenties.
The [Music Industries Assoc.] said the number of guitars sold had risen even more sharply than their value because cheaper imports from countries such as China had brought down the average cost.
....Paul McManus, the chief executive of the MIA, said: "....we have an ageing population, with over-50s accounting for more than a third of the population.
"This ageing population is refusing to go quietly into the night. They want to return to things they did when they were young.
"An enormous number of guitars are being bought by these older people.
Guitar sales in Britain hit a record £110 million last year, according to figures released yesterday.
Almost a million of the instruments - 470,000 electric and bass guitars and 520,000 acoustic guitars - were bought; twice as many as in 1999 and an increase of 200,000 on 2004.
....Guitars are now the most popular instrument in schools, and there has also been an increase in middle-aged lapsed players joining bands for the first time since they were in their twenties.
The [Music Industries Assoc.] said the number of guitars sold had risen even more sharply than their value because cheaper imports from countries such as China had brought down the average cost.
....Paul McManus, the chief executive of the MIA, said: "....we have an ageing population, with over-50s accounting for more than a third of the population.
"This ageing population is refusing to go quietly into the night. They want to return to things they did when they were young.
"An enormous number of guitars are being bought by these older people.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Uh, aren't they supposed to know this...
one big thing for sure; stay out of the ice cream container:
In 2002, McDonald's agreed to look into redesigning the McFlurry cup after ten hedgehogs needed treatment at the SSPCA's Middlebank Wildlife Centre in Dunfermline.
Now they have come up with a new lid for their cartons which will have a hole big enough to get ice cream out of, but too small for a hedgehog to crawl though.
The new lids are set to be rolled out at fast food outlets across Europe.
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) warned about the problem in a recent newsletter. "In the hot weather we have been having, more ice cream is sold, and hedgehogs are desperate for food as the ground is hard and natural food is scarce," it said.
"Unfortunately we also get reports of hedgehogs found dead with heads stuck in McFlurry containers, and we can only guess the amount that are never found and die a slow death in a secluded spot."
In 2002, McDonald's agreed to look into redesigning the McFlurry cup after ten hedgehogs needed treatment at the SSPCA's Middlebank Wildlife Centre in Dunfermline.
Now they have come up with a new lid for their cartons which will have a hole big enough to get ice cream out of, but too small for a hedgehog to crawl though.
The new lids are set to be rolled out at fast food outlets across Europe.
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) warned about the problem in a recent newsletter. "In the hot weather we have been having, more ice cream is sold, and hedgehogs are desperate for food as the ground is hard and natural food is scarce," it said.
"Unfortunately we also get reports of hedgehogs found dead with heads stuck in McFlurry containers, and we can only guess the amount that are never found and die a slow death in a secluded spot."
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