Tag Archives: Education

Arizona has plenty of roadside attractions, but these eight are undoubtedly the weirdest. Arizona is known for its impressive natural wonders. It is also home to a treasure trove of quirky and offbeat roadside attractions that offer a different kind of adventure for those willing to take the road less traveled. These eight unusual stops range from the downright bizarre and whimsically charming to historical symbols and pop culture references,...

Just finished reading an Economist article on education or the lack thereof in high schools. They are not picking on US high school but instead used an example of the short comings in England schools. I am older so definitely we were taught in a different manner. Learning vowels in grade or grammar school was a big deal. One of my short comings which I slowly picked up later in life. The topic and problems of education becomes clearer in the...

Peat bogs capture much more carbon per acre than forests. Currently, peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests . One problem is that they are being drained to free up the land. (also but I think less importantly peat and non-rotten sphagnum moss are harvested for gardening). Various sources (most or all of which seem to be advocacy organisations – yes there are pro-bog advocacy organizations) claim that this causes 10% of global...

This is actually related to my day job. For some decades I have been puzzled by two of Kahneman and Tversky’s discoveries (reported very well in this excellent book). First, there is the excessive reliance on diagnostic characteristics (called diagnostic expectations by economists). A classic example is the room with 90 lawyers and 10 engineers. Jim is quiet and hardworking and likes model trains. It is human nature to conclude he is an engineer...

I had studied architecture in the Chicago high school I attended and found the idea of drafting homes and buildings with the other features to be interesting. Why(?) is another story. What interfered with my going further into the interest was “not ready for college,” a war-time US, and probably the lack of maturity then. When I left the Corps and returned to Chicago with a wife, I discovered a lack of a college degree impeded my ability to...

Brief discussion by an intelligent basketball legend on hot weather caused by pollution and the resulting deaths from it. “Heat aggravated by carbon pollution killed 50,000 in Europe last year – study,” The Guardian, as discussed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Summary: Hot weather inflamed by carbon pollution killed nearly 50,000 people in Europe last year, with the continent warming at a much faster rate than other parts of the world, research has...

GOP’s attack on Americans’ retirement savings just went to the next disgusting level, Opinion, Alternet. “To protect older Americans’ life savings, President Biden pledged in October to crack down on financial advisers who recommend investments just because they pay higher commissions. Then the insurance industry got to work.” Explained: The Controversy Over Tim Walz’s Military Service, Snopes. The claim that Walz “abandoned” his...

Workers across the US rally after string of heat-related deaths. Grist This story was originally published by Grist. Ayurella Horn-MullerFor the last two years, Cecilia Ortiz has worked as a passenger service agent at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. She typically has to walk 10 to 15 miles a day, up and down ramps, pushing heavy wheelchairs and carrying passengers’ luggage. This summer, temperatures have reached over 110 degrees Fahrenheit...

It is a common trope that university faculty don’t understand or live in “the real world.” This always tickled me. The unemployment rate for college grads has always been lower than for those without a degree, I guess university faculty do know a thing or two about the real world, since they can train students who are prepared for it. Yes, I know about Bill Gates, but you have to get into Harvard before you can drop out from it.Yesterday, I wrote...

In my lifetime, I’ve seen plenty of changes. The business model for recorded music (LPs, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, streaming), the business model for movies (theaters, Blockbuster, online), the business model for cameras (film SLRs, digital SLRs, mirrorless), the model for lecture presentations (live with chalkboard, live with overhead projector, live with Powerpoint, online recorded) all come to mind.It should hardly be surprising that the business...