{"id":522,"date":"2014-05-01T08:49:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T08:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/todays-links.html"},"modified":"2014-05-01T08:49:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-01T08:49:00","slug":"todays-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/todays-links.html","title":{"rendered":"Today’s links"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

1) \u00a0The Swiss are voting, in one of their national referenda, on what would be, by far, the world\u2019s highest minimum wage, according to Bloomberg<\/a>. \u00a0The proposed rate is CHF 22 per hour, which works out to USD 25 per hour; on a purchasing-power-parity basis, it\u2019s only $14, due to the high cost of living in Switzerland. \u00a0 Compared to other European countries: \u00a0\u201cCorrected for purchasing power, Switzerland\u2019s planned minimum would work out to about 2,500 euros a month, more than the 1,921 euros in Luxembourg and 1,502 euros in Belgium, the bloc\u2019s two highest in early 2014, according to its statistics office.\u201d<\/p>\n

As is the case in the U.S., critics say it\u2019ll cost jobs, and defenders dispute this. \u00a0In particular, in Switzerland, \u201cthe Swiss Federation of Labor Unions says a minimum wage wouldn\u2019t lead to higher unemployment because it would mostly affect domestically-oriented sectors where outsourcing isn\u2019t possible,\u201d \u2014 but they miss the point that, if a wage increase drives up the cost of services, including such things as restaurant meals, then people will cut down on their purchases.<\/p>\n

But you know what? \u00a0Part of me hopes this passes. \u00a0Better that they be the guinea pigs, than the U.S.; trouble is, Switzerland is a quite different country than the U.S. so the effects there will be muted compared to the U.S., with the high numbers of unskilled workers we have.<\/p>\n

2) \u00a0Here\u2019s a myth-busting piece<\/a> on immigration in the National Review. \u00a0And, as a companion, here\u2019s an article on \u201crescue beacons\u201d<\/a> that DrudgeReport linked to. \u00a0But here\u2019s the peculiar thing: \u00a0after reading that article, but not really noticing the images, I was curious about the mention of \u201cthree languages\u201d and looked this up. \u00a0According to one article<\/a>, the third language is a local Indian language. \u00a0But that doesn\u2019t seem to consistently be the case: \u00a0in at least some instances<\/a>, the third language is Chinese<\/i> \u2014 with what prevalence I can\u2019t figure out. \u00a0Now, I\u2019d read in the past statements that there were large numbers of Arabs (= potential terrorists) crossing the border from Mexico, and hadn\u2019t given these claims much credence, but if there are enough Chinese crossing that the Border Patrol considers it appropriate to include that language on their signs, what is going on?<\/p>\n

3) Locally, the Independent Maps group for fair, nonpartisan voting districts has now submitted their petitions, some 500,000+, well in excess of the required 300,000, to allow for signatures which will inevitably be disallowed. \u00a0And already Madigan and his proxies are fighting this, filing suit to block the amendment<\/a>. \u00a0Sure, they\u2019ve identified reasons: \u00a0they say, for instance, that the proposed remapping process improperly takes this authority away from the General Assembly \u2014 which is sort of missing the fact that this is a constitutional amendment, which, by it\u2019s definition, changes the constitution. \u00a0But according to this Tribune editorial<\/a> from a couple days ago, Madigan is pretty open in his opinion that remaps are political, they\u2019re supposed to be political, it\u2019s all about one party gaining an edge over the other, and Republicans are just trying to change the game because they\u2019ve lost:<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan wants you to believe about that redistricting amendment: It\u2019s all about electing more Republicans. Baloney.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cOver the last 50 years, five maps. Republicans have done one out of five,\u201d Madigan said last week. \u201cThey\u2019re angry, and this is part of their Republican politics.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So ordinarily I\u2019d say that their lawsuits are going nowhere, and that reason will prevail. \u00a0The Independent Maps leadership has said repeatedly that they have had the amendment thoroughly vetted with top lawyers to withstand any challenge. \u00a0But this is Illinois, so who knows?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1) \u00a0The Swiss are voting, in one of their national referenda, on what would be, by far, the world\u2019s highest minimum wage, according to Bloomberg. \u00a0The proposed rate is CHF 22 per hour, which works out to USD 25 per hour; on a purchasing-power-parity basis, it\u2019s only $14, due to the high cost of living […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nToday's links<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"1)  The Swiss are voting, in one of their national referenda, on what would be, by far, the world's highest minimum wage, according to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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