Alex Kudera's Blog, page 125
February 8, 2014
jobs
The stock market rallied fiercely the past two days despite a second straight month of mediocre job creation. For the January report, five people left the workforce for every one who gained a job, and the February report suggests a similar pattern, as the number of jobs created fell below expectations even as the unemployment rate was reduced to 6.6%. It's also hard to get a raise these days.
February 5, 2014
happiness
On Tuesday evening, after devouring chicken and eggplant in garlic sauce, I broke a cookie and read this fortune:
Happiness is a state of mind.
Happiness is activity.
Happiness is a state of mind.
Happiness is activity.
capitalist immigration
Australia sings give me your tired, your hungry, your rich for investment, and in return receive a "millionaire visa." And, of course, even as millionaire investors are welcome with open visas, part-time employment is surging in Australian academia. Indeed, these trends are global, and yeah, what else is new?
February 3, 2014
Woody and Philip
So one of my favorite actors killed himself by overdosing on heroin while one of my favorite directors faced renewed accusations that he's a pedophilia.
For Woody Allen, I feel no need to defend him, and, alas, bad behavior does seem prevalent among too many superstar athletes, entertainers, and writers, but who really knows? I guess Woody and Dylan know, and it's even possible they are both remembering inexactly. An awkward aspect to the whole business is that those of us who respect Woody's several masterpieces (and willingly admit he has at least a dozen mediocre ones) do tend to return to them as a kind of "comfort food" for film. That is, we watch Annie Hall or Manhattan when we are feeling blue. Yeah, we turn to Woody to take the edge off our own lives.
Even before Dylan's op-ed in The New York Times, there were already plenty of swirling rumors, so I guess this isn't exactly the unexpected thing. And of course, everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and the rich, miraculously, wind up much more innocent than the rest of us. . . well, erring on the side of the victim, and assuming Dylan's version is truthful or more accurate, I hope she has found a bit of peace by expressing herself. I appreciated hearing former NBA star Keyon Dooling express as much once he spoke out about his childhood abuser although his wife did not look pleased to hear him say as much to Katie Couric on television. Of course, many victims never find peace.
As for Philip Seymour Hoffman, it's a sad story, and, for me, not being aware of his history almost an unbelievable one. How is it that someone so productive, operating on such a high level in so many films over so many years, could also be a heroin addict? Unlike Woody, who, as stated, did produce numerous B and C films in between his best ones, almost everything Hoffman touched turned to gold, at least his role in it. I'd say State and Main, 25th Hour , and Charlie Wilson's War are some of my favorites from him. And it's always particularly sad, even scary, to see a contemporary move on.
I suspect that us more regular and less productive types will never know how either one of these guys operates.
For Woody Allen, I feel no need to defend him, and, alas, bad behavior does seem prevalent among too many superstar athletes, entertainers, and writers, but who really knows? I guess Woody and Dylan know, and it's even possible they are both remembering inexactly. An awkward aspect to the whole business is that those of us who respect Woody's several masterpieces (and willingly admit he has at least a dozen mediocre ones) do tend to return to them as a kind of "comfort food" for film. That is, we watch Annie Hall or Manhattan when we are feeling blue. Yeah, we turn to Woody to take the edge off our own lives.
Even before Dylan's op-ed in The New York Times, there were already plenty of swirling rumors, so I guess this isn't exactly the unexpected thing. And of course, everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and the rich, miraculously, wind up much more innocent than the rest of us. . . well, erring on the side of the victim, and assuming Dylan's version is truthful or more accurate, I hope she has found a bit of peace by expressing herself. I appreciated hearing former NBA star Keyon Dooling express as much once he spoke out about his childhood abuser although his wife did not look pleased to hear him say as much to Katie Couric on television. Of course, many victims never find peace.
As for Philip Seymour Hoffman, it's a sad story, and, for me, not being aware of his history almost an unbelievable one. How is it that someone so productive, operating on such a high level in so many films over so many years, could also be a heroin addict? Unlike Woody, who, as stated, did produce numerous B and C films in between his best ones, almost everything Hoffman touched turned to gold, at least his role in it. I'd say State and Main, 25th Hour , and Charlie Wilson's War are some of my favorites from him. And it's always particularly sad, even scary, to see a contemporary move on.
I suspect that us more regular and less productive types will never know how either one of these guys operates.
February 1, 2014
contrast
Late last night I watched (and read the subtitles) for this 130-minute film aptly titled Paris, and then in the morning, courtesy of China File on twitter, I saw this 4-minute preview for a new documentary on over 460 landfills for trash in Beijing, China.
2014 Adjunct Articles
Already in 2014, there has been a sharp increase in the number of online articles and blogs leading to news of adjunct instructors, and here are some of the URLs (I'll post more when I have time and as I see them):
http://www.democracychronicles.com/adjunct-justice/
http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/sites/democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/files/documents/1.24.14-AdjunctEforumReport.pdf
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-quick/professor-working-poor_b_4645217.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/counter_narrative/2014/01/adjunct_crisis_in_higher_ed_an_all_too_familiar_story_for_black_faculty.html
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/24/house-committee-report-highlights-plight-adjunct-professors#
http://www.campusequityweek.org/2013/adjunct-advocacy-in-d-c-today/
http://wnpr.org/post/adjuncts-academia?utm_referrer=http%3A//m.wnpr.org/%3Futm_referrer%23mobile/16180
http://www.nickysaeun.com/the-white-elephant-in-the-ivory-tower-of-higher-education/
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/01/adjuncts_in_american_universities_u_s_news_should_penalize_colleges_for.html
http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/2014/01/07/the-rise-of-adjunct-faculty/
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/29/book-argues-adjunct-conditions-must-be-viewed-civil-rights-issue#ixzz2rn2ljMC5
http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/contingent-mother-role-gender-plays-lives-adjunct-faculty/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HybridPed+%28Hybrid+Pedagogy%3A+A+Digital+Journal+of+Teaching+%26+Technology%29
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/the-stream/the-stream-officialblog/2014/1/28/-notyouradjunctsidekickadjunctprofessorshighlightpoorworkconditi.html
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/20...
http://www.democracychronicles.com/adjunct-justice/
http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/sites/democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/files/documents/1.24.14-AdjunctEforumReport.pdf
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-quick/professor-working-poor_b_4645217.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/counter_narrative/2014/01/adjunct_crisis_in_higher_ed_an_all_too_familiar_story_for_black_faculty.html
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/24/house-committee-report-highlights-plight-adjunct-professors#
http://www.campusequityweek.org/2013/adjunct-advocacy-in-d-c-today/
http://wnpr.org/post/adjuncts-academia?utm_referrer=http%3A//m.wnpr.org/%3Futm_referrer%23mobile/16180
http://www.nickysaeun.com/the-white-elephant-in-the-ivory-tower-of-higher-education/
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/01/adjuncts_in_american_universities_u_s_news_should_penalize_colleges_for.html
http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/2014/01/07/the-rise-of-adjunct-faculty/
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/29/book-argues-adjunct-conditions-must-be-viewed-civil-rights-issue#ixzz2rn2ljMC5
http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/contingent-mother-role-gender-plays-lives-adjunct-faculty/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HybridPed+%28Hybrid+Pedagogy%3A+A+Digital+Journal+of+Teaching+%26+Technology%29
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/the-stream/the-stream-officialblog/2014/1/28/-notyouradjunctsidekickadjunctprofessorshighlightpoorworkconditi.html
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/20...
January 31, 2014
Happy Year of the Horse
Happy Chinese New Year!
It's the year of the horse, a year characterized by stubbornness and disputes according to an article from the British Independent. Here's an excerpt:
GET READY TO RUMBLE
It will be a fast year full of conflicts according to some astrologers, who see wood as providing fuel for the energetic horse sign. The later part of the year is “yin fire”, increasing the potential for heated clashes even more. Feng shui practitioner Raymond Lo told Reuters: “The upcoming Horse year is also a 'yang wood' year, when people will stick more to their principles and stand firm. So it is hard to negotiate or compromise as there are more tendencies for people to fight for their ideals.”
Of course, toward the bottom of the article, where there is a slideshow for predictions based on the year one was born in, there is a wider range of possibility.
My earliest memory of a Chinese New Year is walking through New York City's Chinatown in the mid to late 1970s and being terrified of the firecracker noises and the smoke that was visible all around. I'm pretty sure we were trying to get to our car to go home. If I'm not mistaken I was with my father and sister, and I can't remember much of what we did that day in the big city.
It's the year of the horse, a year characterized by stubbornness and disputes according to an article from the British Independent. Here's an excerpt:
GET READY TO RUMBLE
It will be a fast year full of conflicts according to some astrologers, who see wood as providing fuel for the energetic horse sign. The later part of the year is “yin fire”, increasing the potential for heated clashes even more. Feng shui practitioner Raymond Lo told Reuters: “The upcoming Horse year is also a 'yang wood' year, when people will stick more to their principles and stand firm. So it is hard to negotiate or compromise as there are more tendencies for people to fight for their ideals.”
Of course, toward the bottom of the article, where there is a slideshow for predictions based on the year one was born in, there is a wider range of possibility.
My earliest memory of a Chinese New Year is walking through New York City's Chinatown in the mid to late 1970s and being terrified of the firecracker noises and the smoke that was visible all around. I'm pretty sure we were trying to get to our car to go home. If I'm not mistaken I was with my father and sister, and I can't remember much of what we did that day in the big city.
January 30, 2014
Playing for Change
On his open facebook wall, the prolific novelist Richard Bausch shared this global cover of "Stand By Me," and I enjoyed it so much that I thought I'd share it with you. Bausch is great if you want to "friend" or "follow" a workaholic writer who offers a lot of useful advice and inspiration.
January 28, 2014
State of the Union?
According to this look at long-term unemployment, "there are still three times as many children living with parents who've been out of work more than six months as there were in 2007, before the recession hit."
Within higher education, many sole breadwinners count themselves among the working people qualifying for food stamps, subsisting, and generally struggling to feed children or survive at all.
Overall, according to the National Center for Children in Poverty, "More than 16 million children in the United States – 22% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level – $23,550 a year for a family of four."
And previous articles suggest, "All told, that places 100 million people — one in three Americans — either in poverty or in the fretful zone just above it."
As always then, if you want to hear about our "state of the union," you'll need to ask a lot of different people to even come close to get a full representation of how things are. Tonight we'll see how well the President expresses or shows understanding of all this.
The Economic Policy Institute says that President Obama may take executive action, thus bypassing Congress, to update overtime rules and raise the threshold on those eligible for overtime pay, and that this would be positive for both wages and workers.
Within higher education, many sole breadwinners count themselves among the working people qualifying for food stamps, subsisting, and generally struggling to feed children or survive at all.
Overall, according to the National Center for Children in Poverty, "More than 16 million children in the United States – 22% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level – $23,550 a year for a family of four."
And previous articles suggest, "All told, that places 100 million people — one in three Americans — either in poverty or in the fretful zone just above it."
As always then, if you want to hear about our "state of the union," you'll need to ask a lot of different people to even come close to get a full representation of how things are. Tonight we'll see how well the President expresses or shows understanding of all this.
The Economic Policy Institute says that President Obama may take executive action, thus bypassing Congress, to update overtime rules and raise the threshold on those eligible for overtime pay, and that this would be positive for both wages and workers.
January 24, 2014
D. C. Jones
As in, Dow "Carnage" Jones, an old friend who made a glorious cameo today.
When I heard "irrationally exuberant" Nobel Prize winner Robert Shiller confess, "I'm still investing in the stock market," I knew something like this was coming although the healthy 300-point drop was still a bit of a surprise. Indeed, Shiller is a leader of indexes, if not men precisely, and when the leader roars, we mice press an ear to the cheese.
Earlier today, I kept squinting at the public screen to see if I was reading the lower right corner correctly, but, of course, that was mainly because my eyes are so poor from reading, writing, and grading papers. Anyway, I suspect we will see some more wacky new highs this year, but that's based on no concrete evidence I have access to as of this writing. And, it's not investment advice either. Haha. But it's not.
Maybe in closing I should note that at a 16K+ opening bell, today's 318-point drop was of less than 2 percent. That's bound to make everyone feel better about their lavish weekend plans.
When I heard "irrationally exuberant" Nobel Prize winner Robert Shiller confess, "I'm still investing in the stock market," I knew something like this was coming although the healthy 300-point drop was still a bit of a surprise. Indeed, Shiller is a leader of indexes, if not men precisely, and when the leader roars, we mice press an ear to the cheese.
Earlier today, I kept squinting at the public screen to see if I was reading the lower right corner correctly, but, of course, that was mainly because my eyes are so poor from reading, writing, and grading papers. Anyway, I suspect we will see some more wacky new highs this year, but that's based on no concrete evidence I have access to as of this writing. And, it's not investment advice either. Haha. But it's not.
Maybe in closing I should note that at a 16K+ opening bell, today's 318-point drop was of less than 2 percent. That's bound to make everyone feel better about their lavish weekend plans.
