Remember when I griped that some know-it-alls thought that the cure for what ails Detroit is to import 50,000 Syrians?  And, earlier, I had similarly complained about Jeb Bush’s similar solution, bringing in “dynamic” “hard-working” immigrants, by means of, presumably, some requirement that immigrants under some special visa be required to live in Detroit. But in reading about Hamtramck and Highland Park for my pair of posts from earlier this week, I poked around at what I could find about... Read more

So my kids have been watching “Numberphile” videos on youtube lately. Like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-I6XTVZXww and this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oazb7IWzbA in which we learned that 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + . . . , that is, the sum of all natural numbers to infinity, equals – 1/12. Yeah, I know, but watch the video — maybe a couple times.  There’s a step that looks like a “trick” partway along the way, like cheating, but the physicist explaining this... Read more

Funny, earlier today I speculated that devolving Detroit — that is, letting certain parts of Detroit self-govern and attract residents via a separate identity — could be a better solution to its depopulation woes than urban farms.  Then, while eating lunch, I checked the headlines:  “Snyder hints he wants to avoid dissolving Highland Park.” Gov. Rick Snyder signaled Friday he wants to avoid an unprecedented action of dissolving the city of Highland Park through bankruptcy to erase a $25.6 million... Read more

From the L.A. Times. Labor leaders, who were among the strongest supporters of the citywide minimum wage increase approved last week by the Los Angeles City Council, are advocating last-minute changes to the law that could create an exemption for companies with unionized workforces. . . . “With a collective bargaining agreement, a business owner and the employees negotiate an agreement that works for them both. The agreement allows each party to prioritize what is important to them,” Hicks said... Read more

Chicagoland readers will recognize Eric Zorn as one of the Tribune’s columnists, whose writing has evolved over the years to become much more political and much more unapologetic on his stands, has declared “mission accomplished“:  citing the Pew-reported rise of the “nones”, gay marriage in Illinois and Ireland, the rejection of the death penalty in Nebraska, and the decriminalization of pot in Illinois, he declares, taking the long view, this era-defining set of cultural debates — this “war” — looks... Read more

The kids are in bed, or nearly so, so here are some further thoughts on this whole STEM/STEAM business: Some time ago, I wrote that I back in high school and college, I had a fair bit of aptitude for math and science, and wondered whether, had I been given the encouragement which a multitude of programs so diligently offer students these days, especially girls, under the rubric of STEM education, I might have chosen a “STEM field” rather than heading... Read more

Over the weekend, the newspaper featured, in its “family activity” listings, a set of activities at the Chicago library around the idea of “turning STEM into STEAM” — by adding an A for Art. Have you seen this before? Apparently, it’s a thing: The website steamintosteam.org says, What is STEAM? In this climate of economic uncertainty, America is once again turning to innovation as the way to ensure a prosperous future. Yet innovation remains tightly coupled with Science, Technology, Engineering... Read more

Upwards of $30,000, right? Wrong. Slate (even the old blind sow. . .) had a quick piece this morning, which linked back to an older article of theirs, from 2013, which reports that (a) the “average cost” cited in the surveys that the news outlets cite so breathlessly, in particular, the survey from theknot.com, are self-selected from site users who are disproportionately likely to plan extensively and spend lavishly, and, (b) what’s more, are averages which are much higher than... Read more

Here’s instapundit, from this morning, with a particularly-extended pulling-together of  links on Iraq and Syria, and the fact that (in a rare direct quote from Glenn Reynolds) As late as 2010, things were going so well in Iraq that Obama and Biden were bragging. Now, after Obama’s politically-motivated pullout and disengagement, the whole thing’s fallen apart. This is near-criminal neglect and incompetence, and an awful lot of people will pay a steep price for the Obama Administration’s fecklessness. It truly is extraordinary,... Read more