09.21.07
Well played
‘God’ responds to legislator’s lawsuit
Well played, God. But how will you handle discovery?
09.13.07
Job Ideas For The Adventurous and Stupid
6 Exciting Job Ideas for the Adventurous
This little snippet of wisdom, featured on the Yahoo front page today, is full of delicious ridiculousness. For example, did you know that “with language skills and a criminal justice degree, you can qualify for agency training that can lead to a job paying $53,000 per year”? Isn’t that awesome? Sign me up for some advanced spy training!
The list:
1. Police Detective
2. Undercover Operative
3. International Business and Trade
4. Adventure Resort Chef
5. Private Investigator
6. Emergency Medical Technician
Other highlights include the selling points for #6 (”A combination of on-the-job learning and medical training can help you earn $25,000 or more per year in this heart-pounding profession”) and #4 (”Want to wield a sharp knife under duress?”) Personally, I think the latter would be a much better lead-in for #2, but I guess that kind of thing is on the decline after the latest round of CIA reforms.
Of course, the whole thing is just a shill for craptastic “online training”, mainly emphasizing the “criminal justice” degree (note that three of the six professions are conveniently related to the field of kicking ass and - optionally - taking names). It was slightly surprising that this drivel was featured in the top spot on the front page, but I guess it shouldn’t be - after all, Yahoo sold out a long time ago.
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09.12.07
Oh, Putin
In Surprise Move, Putin Names New Prime Minister
Russian politics is so entertaining.
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09.04.07
From the Department of “Duh”
Rock stars more likely to die prematurely
I wonder, though, whether this holds true today - or, more interestingly, whether the risk factors are different (Tupac and Hendrix both died early, but from rather different causes).
08.20.07
When Is Too Early To Decide?
Forced to Pick a Major in High School
I’ve railed about over-specialization in education before, and this is yet another example. I just don’t see how freshmen in high school - or middle schoolers applying to high schools - can make these sort of decisions with any sort of pretense to legitimacy.
For yet more confirmation of why this is an atrocious idea, consider the six majors currently offered by the school profiled in the article:
“sports management, fine and performing arts, health sciences, international studies and global commerce, communications and new media and or liberal arts.”
Are you shitting me? What about, umm, math? Or history? Or, for that matter, agriculture or culinary arts?
And how the fuck is putting “sports management” in the same category as “health sciences” a good idea? Is anyone really surprised that it is, in fact, the most popular major? I’m willing to bet that there are more doctors and lawyers minted every year than sports agents. Shit, I’m guessing there are more doctors and lawyers minted every year than professional athletes. So why pretend like it’s a ubiquitous profession when in reality it’s a definitionally tiny field? I’m not saying that it’s a totally unreasonable ambition, or that students who are motivated and inspired to pursue that as a calling should be discouraged. I’m just saying that making it one of your six core majors inflates it to an unbelievable degree.
So, other than terrible implementations, why is it problematic to have 12-year-olds make potentially irrevocable decisions about their academic track? Because:
Two years ago, Akelia applied to the magnet program’s law and public safety academy because she wanted to be a lawyer. But after finding many of the legal cases boring and hard to relate to, she was unable to take classes in other fields because she was locked into her specialization.
“Now I wish I had probably gone to another academy because I like computers,� said Akelia, who is 16 and starting her junior year. “When you’re 13, you don’t realize how much work you have to put in to be a lawyer. It’s not like you just go to court, and win or lose, you make a lot of money.�
08.19.07
The Syrian Ambassador Blogs
Syrian diplomat in U.S. writes blogs
I’ve actually met the ambassador at JSA functions, and he’s an exceptionally charismatic guy (not altogether shocking - I imagine that’s sort of one of the selection criteria for the job). But reading the blog, I couldn’t help but be awed by the breadth of subject matter (for example, the post about Sartre, Camus and de Beauvoir. Say what you will, this isn’t your standard diplo-speak.
Of course, no amount of ambassadorial charm can vindicate a regime responsible for Hama and countless other atrocities. But the blog’s very existence, to say nothing of the subject matter, raises the question of whether Syria is a likely candidate for a Lybia-style strategic about-face.
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05.06.07
Jail For Special People
For $82 a Day, Booking a Cell in a 5-Star Jail
No comment.
Okay, one comment: fuck that.
04.11.07
If A Famous Musician…
That’s a pretty interesting experiment: a world-famous violinist playing a D.C. metro station… to little reaction. I wonder how I’d react; I’d like to think that I’d stop and listen, though I’m certain I wouldn’t recognize him by name, and quite probably not as a master.
[via Danny]
03.22.07
The Real Scandal Is What’s Legal
FDA to tighten conflict-of-interest rules
The first paragraph says it all:
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it would bar outside medical experts with a financial interest in a manufacturer from voting on advisory panels assessing whether drugs or other products made by that company are safe and effective.
Umm… yeah. As many have remarked about campaign finance and other matters, the real scandal isn’t what’s illegal - it’s what’s legal.
Look - I agree that this is a good thing. I’m just a bit shocked that people with financial interests in certain drugs were allowed to vote in the approval process. The best part? If you read the rest of the article, you find that even the new rules allow scientists with a financial stake in the process to serve on the advisory panels (though not vote).