famous separatists

Good tea-time to y'all,

Washington state is in the national news on this side of the ocean, with the "You take the dry side" story in the Economist.

A handful of state politicians, mostly from the eastern half, don't see colourful diversity; they see a reason to split the state in two.

The big city vs. the rural farmers, the centralization of decision-making, Microsoft and Boeing, the rain and the dry side, the Cascades, the Columbia River and the salmon - all the normal soundbites are in there. And in a brilliant lack of comparative analysis, the article goes on to conclude that it's just a matter of the West being more deferential. But do they realize that the American political system is in fact one that forces/incentivizes the most politicians to actually travel to all the more remote areas because votes are weighed more heavily towards rural areas? Anyway, don't be surprised if the BBC starts to interview you next time you drive over the cascades ;) .

Wal-Mart is making waves in Canada by closing down the unionized Woolco stores, regardless of their profitability. I tell you, Europeans should really tighten up relationships with Canada; it's doing a great job of fighting some of Europe's favorite battles. Politicians are even calling for a boycott of the store. And the unions are attacking the chain's mandatory morning cheerleading session.

Reaction was swift. There were bomb threats at other Wal-Marts. Columnists spoke of "capital terrorism" and called the closure "brutal and savage". (...) News of the Jonquière store's closure was widely reported south of the border. Two days later all 17 workers of the car-maintenance department at a Wal-Mart in New Castle, Pennsylvania voted against joining the union.

In other news, I'm in the process of applying for jobs - not always fun given that they generally want people to start right away but that now is the recruiting cycle. Mmh... I've got my first rejection letter (which I'm actually grateful for, the others generally don't even bother). If I believe the Economist (a giganormous IF), I could try to market myself as a logistician instead (true, I'm only taking one class, but work with me): chiefs of purchasing departments and "spend-management experts" (what jargon crap) are now increasingly reporting directly to the boards. Oh wait, I forgot: I don't want to work in a for-profit again.

All is not rosy in China: they've realized that the famous little emperor single-child cocooned by 2 parents and 4 grand-parents will one day have to be the one person earning income to pay for 6 pensions. ouch. As a funny side, the picture that adorns the story (Economist of Feb 26-March 4th, p.74) cracks me up: it's a store-front for a swimsuit/lingerie store, and all the mannequins are adorned with a couple of bras strapped around their thighs. Interesting fashion statement !

Finally, we are back on the topic of education.

As most education was publicly funded, the state had a big say in what was taught, to how mnay and for how long. Insofar as it existed at all, competition was a gentlemanly business; few educators thought much about customers, fewer about profit.

I disagree about the battle for educators: even a century ago, the battle to attract top faculty was brutal and savage among the top American schools. But that's not the point of the article. They, you guessed it, go on to extol the virtues of managing education like any other business, profit margins and getting rid of least attractive students.

In short, the system resembled a Soviet-style planned economy. (...) So, just like their counterparts in manufacturing industry 20 years ago, rich-world universities are concentrating on businesses that make money, dumping lines do do not and shifting production to cheaper markets abroard.

So, if I get this right, not only is the education sector 20 years behind in realizing that education equals another form of manufacturing (and who cares if majors are dropped because they're insufficiently profitable, I mean, who needs art historians when you can ride on the booming demand for forensic science degrees?), but education in "rich-world universities" so far resembled the worst of communist USSR without us noticing - how dumb we must all be.