The previous post arose from things I came across while failing to find what I was looking for. I was trying to find concrete data on the reportedly increasing use of credit "scoring" by prospective employers and its relation to the disturbing trend of very long-term unemployment. Because the two trends seem to me to be related — like the two sides of a vise. MSN Money's Liz Pulliam Weston says a survey of HR managers found the use of... Read more
I'm proud to report that our team at the Worthiness Bureau has completed the first step toward a more just world. Meritocratic utopia is now just around the corner. We have devised a new, perfect, authoritative metric for human worth: the Human Worthiness Algorithm. Our formula is, of course, proprietary and thus must be kept as a closely guarded secret. But trust me, we've factored in everything and just because no one else is allowed to know the process doesn't... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 257 Rayford dozed with his earphones on in first class. Images from the news filled the screen in front of him, but he had lost interest in reports of record crime waves throughout the United States. I'm not buying this. This is the sort of detail one can't just off-handedly toss into a novel and have it be convincing or believable. It's not just a detail, really. What the authors are suggesting is the transformation of the... Read more
I'm going to take the risk here of recommending a book I'm only a third of the way through: A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, by Barbara Tuchman. It's a fascinating tour through a fascinating time and the sort of book that might make you decide Tuchman is your second-favorite history writer. I say second favorite because she introduces readers to Giovanni Villani of Florence, "the great historian of his time." And while I have only read of him... Read more
Just one false move and the shooting starts … "Emancipation," Level Heads"Embraceable You," Oleta Adams"Embraceable You," Billie Holiday"Embraceable You," Chet Baker"Emily," Los Lobos"Emily," Randy Stonehill"Emily, Sing Something Sweet," Bright Eyes"Emma's Song," Sinead O'Connor"Emotional War Games," Tonio K"The Emperor's New Clothes," Sinead O'Connor Since she came up twice in this list, here's a bonus video link: Kris Kristofferson's "Sister Sinead." I love that when reaching for the highest compliment he might pay someone Kristofferson settles on "she's never been partial to... Read more
Let’s start with water. I personally am mostly made up of water, so it’s an important topic for me. One problem here in 2010 is that most of our drinking water in America comes to us through really, really old pipes and mains. America’s towns, cities, counties, states and federal government have been thinking about and worrying about fixing these for decades. But we haven’t done it yet. It’s the old accounting trick of deferred maintenance. Are the water mains... Read more
Tom Corbett, the Republican candidate for governor in Pennsylvania, explains his understanding of unemployment: During a campaign appearance in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, Corbett told a reporter from Pennsylvania Public Radio that "the jobs are there," but he'd been told by business owners that, "one of the issues, and I hear it repeatedly – one of the individuals said, 'I can't get workers. People don't want to come back to work while they still have unemployment.''' Corbett told the radio outlet... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 251-257 Buck is of course on the telephone, talking to Marge Potter. Nominally, Marge Potter is Stanton Bailey's secretary, but her duties apparently also include tracking down leads and setting up interviews for Buck Williams. From what we read here, it seems like Marge deserves either a joint byline or at least a "contributed to" credit for everything Buck has ever written. She tells Buck she's got his interviews lined up with "your one-world religion guys" and... Read more
A segment on NPR yesterday had me going back to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail." What an astonishing and rich document that is. The epistle of Martin to the churches that are in Alabama is inspired and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. Which may explain why King's words these days are treated with the kind of disingenuous but-of-course lip service usually reserved for the Bible or the Constitution. Martin Luther... Read more
Cut it loose or let it drag you down … "Danger in the Halls," Bitter Bitter Weeks"Daniel," Elton John"Danny Says," The Ramones"Danny Says," Tom Waits"The Daring Eye," The Channel"Dark Blue," Jack's Mannequin"Dark Come Soon," Tegan & Sara"A Dark Love Song," Jeffrey Gaines"Dark Stranger," Kristy Kruger"Darkness on the Delta," Cassandra Wilson"Darkness on the Edge of Town," Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band As Jon Stewart said, it doesn't matter if you're the world's biggest loser. When you listen to Springsteen,... Read more
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