Marty Nemko's Blog, page 433

Career Advice for Students Starting Their Last Year of School

My USNews.com article today: career advice for students in their last year of school.



It presents ideas on how to choose courses and extracurriculars with an eye to career and how to make the most of each.

Obama is Making an Honest Conversation About Race LESS Likely

President Obama injected race into the acquittal of George Zimmerman despite a year-long FBI investigation that found not a shred of evidence of racial animus, and despite the jury finding Zimmerman not-guilty at all. And President Obama has asked his Attorney General, Eric Holder, to see if he can reopen the investigation that it was a hate crime.This is a political witch hunt reminiscent of the Salem witch trials.



Obama used as evidence of non-Blacks being unfair to Blacks that, for example, a woman might hold her breath and her purse tight when in an elevator with a young Black male. Well, fact is, she--whether white, Black, or of any background--has more reason to worry than if, for example, she were in an elevator with an old, Asian, woman. It is indisputable that young, Black males, especially in low-income areas, commit a disproportionate percentage of the violent crime.



In every other context, we not only accept but extol people for making reasonable inferences based on the inevitably limited information available. For example, any good physician deems a patient healthy based on limited data and a probabilistic assessment that ordering more tests is unwise. Indeed, a physician that tested everything to 100% certainty would legitimately be accused of overtreating and even lose his or her license to practice medicine.



Yet when a woman gets nervous in a low-income, high-crime area upon seeing a young Black male, President Obama denies her even the right to hold her breath and her purse more tightly. Note, we're not talking here about something serious, for example, unfairly denying someone admission to college. Indeed, the opposite is true there. Blacks are admitted to colleges with grades and test scores that would result in whites or Asians being rejected. What Obama is demanding is that we not even think the truth--that young Black males are far more likely commit violent crime than are other groups. We can't even hold our breath.



Mr. Obama's statements and policies and those of Attorney General Holder, newly appointed Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, etc., reflect a core belief in "redistributive justice," institutional racism," and "Disparate Impact" theory. which requires, for example, employers to spend a fortune on customized statistical data before using a test of thinking ability as a criterion for hiring employees, because it would result in fewer non-Asian minorities to be hired. Of course, the result is that most employers will forgo using a measure of thinking ability in hiring. Somehow, the Obama Administration believes the nation is better if proportionate percentages of races are hired even if employers are severely disincented from testing what often is the most important attribute in a employee: thinking ability.



All this will only make race relations more difficult, an honest conversation about race impossible, and most important, accelerate America's descent into becoming just another struggling nation.



I sent a draft of this to three people I respect, of different political persuasions. They all agreed that it's a worthy essay but two warned me that lesser lights will somehow find a way to call it "racist." I certainly hope not. That is the last thing I want to be.

A Wise Response to the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman Decision

I find Linda Chavez's latest syndicated column to be a fair-minded response to the Zimmerman/Martin verdict and to the Obama Administration's response to it.



In my view, fairness is more likely to emerge from such reasoning than from the political theater being staged by the Obama administration.




Inciting Racial Paranoia

by Linda Chavez



In speaking to the NAACP last week in the wake of the acquittal of George
Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin, Attorney General Eric Holder
performed a serious disservice to his audience and to his office. By suggesting
that the Department of Justice might pursue civil rights charges against
Zimmerman for Martin's death, Holder encouraged the belief that racism motivated
the shooting.



Calling the shooting "tragic and unnecessary," Holder said, "Independent of
the legal determination that will be made, I believe this tragedy provides yet
another opportunity for our nation to speak honestly -- and openly -- about the
complicated and emotionally charged issues that this case has raised."



But his remarks were anything but honest or open. Instead of focusing on
the actual events that led up to the shooting, he chose to talk about his own
brushes with prejudice and police bias.

"Years ago," he said, "some of these same issues drove my father to sit
down with me to have a conversation -- which is no doubt familiar to many of you
-- about how as a young black man I should interact with the police, what to
say, and how to conduct myself if I was ever stopped or confronted in a way I
thought was unwarranted."



Though Holder didn't divulge the contents of his talk with his father or
his subsequent talk with his own son on the issue, one can assume it didn't
include a recommendation to confront the person suspected of being a racist,
much less pound his head against the ground. But evidence at the trial suggests
that's what happened on the night Zimmerman shot Martin.



Eyewitness testimony coupled with photographs of injuries to Zimmerman's
head and face suggests that at the point of the shooting Martin had become the
aggressor and Zimmerman the one under attack -- which one can speculate is why
the jury voted to acquit Zimmerman.

If Holder had been honest with his audience, he would have admitted that
both Zimmerman and Martin made bad decisions that ended in Martin's death. We
never will know exactly what happened that night, but we do know some of what
occurred and how events spiraled out of control.



In the wake of a flurry of break-ins in the gated community where he acted
as a neighborhood watch volunteer, Zimmerman was overzealous in pursuing Martin.
He should not have gotten out of his vehicle after he was instructed to remain
in it, even to locate the nearest address to properly direct police, as he
claimed. Had he stayed in place, Martin would be alive.



But Martin also exercised bad judgment, which culminated in his death. When
he realized he was being followed, he could have proceeded home without stopping
or, as the defense alleged, circling back. He also could have hung up with the
girl he was talking to and called the police to report what was happening.
 Instead, he chose to confront Zimmerman and, from the cuts and bruises on
Zimmerman's face, none too gently.



Once Martin was on top of Zimmerman and punching him in the head, Zimmerman
had a right to defend himself. The state's stand-your-ground law wasn't a
factor. No one has to take a beating before protecting himself.



"There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if -- and the
'if' is important -- no safe retreat is available," Holder told the NAACP -- but
he nonetheless blamed such laws for "senselessly expand(ing) the concept of
self-defense and sow(ing) dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods."



The same logic, however, applies to Martin's actions that night. Martin was
the one who stood his ground in the face of a perceived racial insult. And
Holder's words will make it more likely that other black teenagers may look for
reasons to believe they are being singled out because of their skin color and
perhaps act as tragically as Martin did.



In the end, Holder is unlikely to bring civil rights charges against
Zimmerman. There is simply no evidence to suggest Zimmerman acted as a result of
racial animus. Zimmerman's history of good -- exemplary -- racial interactions
makes it clear he was no bigot looking to kill an innocent black kid for
sport.





Holder should have used his time with the NAACP to talk down racial
paranoia, not increase it. Instead, he chose to inflame passions for political
advantage.




Linda Chavez is the author of "An Unlikely Conservative: The
Transformation of an Ex-Liberal." Her column is nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate. She is the Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity.

Will You Actually Make a Bigger Difference in a Government Job?

Conventional wisdom is that you're more likely to "make a difference" working for the government or a non-profit than for a company.



My AOL.com article today raises questions about that.



A bit more complete version of the article appears as #5 in the transcript  of a talk I gave, Eight Career "Truths" That May Not Be So True.

The Rose "Secret:" The Most Beautiful Thing I've Ever Cut from My Garden

I just cut this stem from my garden. It's the rose, Secret. It is beautiful and intensely fragrant but evanescent, which some say enhances its appeal. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Jaron Lanier will Appear on "Work with Marty Nemko"

I rarely tout one of my upcoming radio programs. This is an exception.



While I'm grateful that many luminaries have appeared on my program, I'm finding myself particularly excited about my guest on Aug, 18. Beyond being an expert on technology and society, he pieces together disparate nuggets into very smart, unconventional approaches to society's big problems.



He is Jaron Lanier.



We will collaboratively try, on air, to develop a bold yet realistic plan for reversing the middle class's shrinking.



I invite you to listen to the program. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can hear it live on KALW, 91.7 FM (NPR-San Francisco) or worldwide live on www.kalw.org. After that, it will be archived for a week on the National Public Radio website. After that, in perpetuity, the link will be on www.martynemko.com.

An Alternative to Going Back to School

Are you thinking about going back to school but wonder if it will be worth the time and money? Especially when there is such an oversupply of degree holders? Might the time and money be better spent other ways?



 In my USNews.com piece today, I propose an alternative: forgoing State U, let alone Private U, in favor of You U. And I detail the specifics---including how to get an employer to hire you, a You U "graduate" over a traditional graduate.

Want to be Your Own Boss? Seven Self-Employment Ideas

Of course, it's not easy to be self-employed, to be your own boss.



My latest AOL article offers some of my favorite self-employment ideas that don't require you to be a born entrepreneur.

My Dad, My Hero

My mom is failing. I'm going to visit her in NY tomorrow. Among the many thoughts that float through me are of my dad, Boris Nemko.



I've often written about his having used work to get past his Holocaust memories and to afford to move my mom, sister, and me from a Bronx tenement. But I just flashed on some other things about him that, on reflection, really were quite heroic. Perhaps they'll inspire you as they continue to inspire me.



My dad didn't open his clothing store in one of New York City's poorest neighborhoods (105 Moore St. Brooklyn) because he had a political desire to serve the poor. It was all he could afford. He didn't charge $1 for shirts and $1.98 for Ray-Ban sunglasses because he wanted to be kind to the poor. That was all the market there could bear.



But even after he could afford to move his store to a less dangerous neighborhood, he stayed...for 40 years. He stayed even though people would constantly steal from his store. Twice, he was awakened in the middle of the night by the police--they
called to tell him that robbers had emptied his store. A third time, the police called to say that someone broke a window and tossed a lighted kerosene-soaked towel into his store. Half the merchandise was burned, much the other half ruined because of the smoke.



Apart from those anomalies, every day, my dad had to endure the smell of stale blood from the live chicken market next door merging with
the smell of deep-fried pork intestines from the deli on the other side
plus the smell of the garbage that people would throw into the street. So often, he had to endure unfair customers. For example, when I was helping my dad out at the store one Saturday, I recall one customer who, for 20 minutes, tried on suit after suit, asking my father question after question, which made all the other customers wait. And after that, he said he couldn't afford the $25 for the suit and asked if my father would sell it to him for $10. My father said the best he could do was $20 and the customer pranced out laughing.



My father kept his store open from 8:30 am until 7 PM Monday through Saturday. And before he could afford a car, he would take a bus, train, plus a six-block walk (rain, snow, or shine) to and from his store. And on many Sundays, he would go to the Lower East Side to buy merchandise for the store, carting boxes of shirts, pants, etc back to his store. 



Nevertheless, my dad stayed for 40 years, serving that community, providing
basic products, things they really needed, at an affordable price, and
providing services unheard of today. For example, my dad would do alterations for
customers for free. He had a sewing machine in the back and did the
work when business was slow.



I believe that the small shopkeepers who, like my dad, endured everything from ongoing robbery to ongoing stench and kept on serving--with integrity--the poor are far more worthy of praise than are the politicians, athletes, and pop culture stars we genuflect before.



I miss my dad and I'm going to miss my mom.

Helping Loved Ones with Career Issues

Often, our spouse, adult child, or even parent struggle to find good work. How can our efforts help rather than annoy them?



That's the topic of this week's column by Michael Bernick, former head of California's Employment Development Department. HERE's the link.



I'm pleased that he interviewed me for that column although his calling me "the dean of California's job coaches" reminds me how old I am. Usually people are described as "the dean" when they have one foot in the grave. It's a little like those lifetime achievement Oscars. The subtext is, "Your life's over, dude."