Tuesday, December 07, 2004
another believer
" Capitalism, as practiced, is a financially profitable, nonsustainable aberration in human development." (in Natural Capital: The Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory B Lovins and L Hunter Lovins)
Sunday, December 05, 2004
political affirmative action
oh, one thing I forgot: a long article on the need for political diversity in American universities. They find it deplorable that (as most educated people actually), much of the faculy in top universities is democrat. They cite Harvard and U of California as the biggest employee donors for Kerry, ahead of Microsoft, Time Warner or Goldman Sachs.
And go on to make the claim that since a lot of academics are for diversity of the student and faculty body, they should also push for political diversity of the faculty body. hence, hire lots of conservatives.
What seems fundamentally flawed to me is that you're born male or female, black, latino or white. There's nothing (in most cases) you can do about it. But you're not born democrat or republican. I don't think it should be used in cases where you really do have a choice on where you stand. Not to mention that it would seriously dilute an already struggling affirmative action. Ah, maybe that's what they're after.
Thoughts anyone?
And go on to make the claim that since a lot of academics are for diversity of the student and faculty body, they should also push for political diversity of the faculty body. hence, hire lots of conservatives.
What seems fundamentally flawed to me is that you're born male or female, black, latino or white. There's nothing (in most cases) you can do about it. But you're not born democrat or republican. I don't think it should be used in cases where you really do have a choice on where you stand. Not to mention that it would seriously dilute an already struggling affirmative action. Ah, maybe that's what they're after.
Thoughts anyone?
christmas season
Good morning everyone,
things are looking pretty good here. i'm done with the majority of the work on my paper for my "globalisation and the big business revolution" class. I missed the last conference though, I was sleeping. In fact I double-napped that day, which never happens to me. I was completely exhausted and useless after the really long rowing race (4.3km). now it's time to get cracking on the issue of good indicators of environmental and social sustainability for an airport extension project...
I'm a lot calmer this morning than normal when i read the economist, but that may have to do with the late night christmas party till 3 last night.
Kofi Annan actually wrote an article in this week's magazine. He quotes figures I had no idea anyone had calculated, namely that the september 11 cost $80bn and pushed 11m people in developing countries into poverty. I don't know how I feel about that kind of analysis. I mean, isn't it a bit close for comfort to the claim that it is the duty of the rich countries to grow recklessly in order to help the developing countries? I don't like that claim. more importantly i don't believe in it.
What else do we have? A ranking of income for different california female population groups. At the top of the earning ladder: the Asian US-born. Then come the whites (first US-born, then not), then Asian other foreign born, black, asian SE Asia born, Latinas US born and Latinas foreign born, which earn on average almost exactly half of the top female earners. Still, for all categories that's about 20% less than the male counterparts.
Speaking of gender, I now have a new advisor (yipee, the other one was the most ill fit you could imagine), and some contacts in other departments of women who do similar kinds of work (including one in the department of geography. that department does some really cool stuff, including patterns in asylum seekers). I also just realized how much of a joke the dissertation is going to be. I was up to 9,700 words on my globalization paper before i started trimming back to the 5,000 required. The dissertation is only 12,000. And it only took me a week for the globalisation paper. I guess it'll have to be dense material.
Interesting article that puts every job search in perspective: land mine removal for $6 a day in Angola. It'll take all the deminers another decade before they demine all of the country's mines. Of course it really is 'too bad' isn't it that the US has refused to sign the global ban on mines, because of North Korea supposedly. "Nonetheless, the devices still kill or maim 40 people a day". Even China is considering signing. Where is the leadership of the US and the belief in democracy and throwing its weight around?
I finished a book on the Ballard company which did a lot for commercialization of PEM hydrogen-powered bus/cars/generators. Very narrative account, but quite interesting. Now moving on to the much drier "Natural Capitalism: the next industrial capitalism". I'm always put off a bit with the grandiose and crazy scenario predictions they do at the beginning of these idealistic books. something about dramatic increases in living standards for all in a few years and no more unvoluntary unemployment rings unrealistic, unacademic and therefore why continue with the next 300 pages. but actually it seems pretty good past the intro.
no comments at the moment on having all savings in dollars and living in pounds, except: OUCH!
alrighty, time to get to work.
ciao.
things are looking pretty good here. i'm done with the majority of the work on my paper for my "globalisation and the big business revolution" class. I missed the last conference though, I was sleeping. In fact I double-napped that day, which never happens to me. I was completely exhausted and useless after the really long rowing race (4.3km). now it's time to get cracking on the issue of good indicators of environmental and social sustainability for an airport extension project...
I'm a lot calmer this morning than normal when i read the economist, but that may have to do with the late night christmas party till 3 last night.
Kofi Annan actually wrote an article in this week's magazine. He quotes figures I had no idea anyone had calculated, namely that the september 11 cost $80bn and pushed 11m people in developing countries into poverty. I don't know how I feel about that kind of analysis. I mean, isn't it a bit close for comfort to the claim that it is the duty of the rich countries to grow recklessly in order to help the developing countries? I don't like that claim. more importantly i don't believe in it.
What else do we have? A ranking of income for different california female population groups. At the top of the earning ladder: the Asian US-born. Then come the whites (first US-born, then not), then Asian other foreign born, black, asian SE Asia born, Latinas US born and Latinas foreign born, which earn on average almost exactly half of the top female earners. Still, for all categories that's about 20% less than the male counterparts.
Speaking of gender, I now have a new advisor (yipee, the other one was the most ill fit you could imagine), and some contacts in other departments of women who do similar kinds of work (including one in the department of geography. that department does some really cool stuff, including patterns in asylum seekers). I also just realized how much of a joke the dissertation is going to be. I was up to 9,700 words on my globalization paper before i started trimming back to the 5,000 required. The dissertation is only 12,000. And it only took me a week for the globalisation paper. I guess it'll have to be dense material.
Interesting article that puts every job search in perspective: land mine removal for $6 a day in Angola. It'll take all the deminers another decade before they demine all of the country's mines. Of course it really is 'too bad' isn't it that the US has refused to sign the global ban on mines, because of North Korea supposedly. "Nonetheless, the devices still kill or maim 40 people a day". Even China is considering signing. Where is the leadership of the US and the belief in democracy and throwing its weight around?
I finished a book on the Ballard company which did a lot for commercialization of PEM hydrogen-powered bus/cars/generators. Very narrative account, but quite interesting. Now moving on to the much drier "Natural Capitalism: the next industrial capitalism". I'm always put off a bit with the grandiose and crazy scenario predictions they do at the beginning of these idealistic books. something about dramatic increases in living standards for all in a few years and no more unvoluntary unemployment rings unrealistic, unacademic and therefore why continue with the next 300 pages. but actually it seems pretty good past the intro.
no comments at the moment on having all savings in dollars and living in pounds, except: OUCH!
alrighty, time to get to work.
ciao.
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