12/3/14 Today's Inquiries

Posting links like it's my job. So, part time job. I guess.


The Links:

Who'd have thought that the LAUSD's 1 iPad per student project would be fertile grounds for corruption? Well, the FBI just seized their records relating to the billion dollar deal. More info here. Last I heard, they were abandoning the project because the kids might have access to the internet, or something. Sounds like rent seeking got a little too corrupt:

The tech project was dogged by problems almost from the start, from technology and security snafus to broader questions about why a curriculum supposed to be pre-loaded into the devices was not ready. The curriculum problems caused confusion in LAUSD schools, as was documentedby Education Week's Benjamin Herold in a detailed report about the district's tech rollout.

Over the past few months, other controversies followed—including revelations, documented in a district report, that Deasy and a then-top-deputy, had contact with officials from Apple and Pearson in the period before the district awarded the contract. Deasy, who has since resigned, has strongly denied any wrongdoing, saying criticism of him was politically motivated, and that the communications with the companies were routine and not indicative of favoritism.

Are colleges failing mentally ill students?

It's time to being back that good old fashioned class prejudice.

Which is good because recent evidence shows that elite families can stay in the elite for centuries.

Ferguson protests and a new civil rights movement. Making these changes is going to be more difficult than in the past because much of the problem has roots in whites' perceptions rather than outwardly discriminatory laws.

Looking ahead to the jobs report this Friday, ADP's estimates are below expectations.

What happens when your paycheck is variable both in timing and amount but your bills arrive like clockwork?

A Farewell to (Keynesian) Arms.

It is one of the strange paradoxes that those who disbelieve that government spending can stimulate the economy are sometimes the same individuals that believe reduced government spending can decrease economic activity. (G.W. Bush is not subject to this criticism; see [1].) Well, internal consistency has not always been a strong suit for some. What is interesting is that spending on national defense has declined substantially proportionately; my view is that this has resulted in some drag in growth.

Social insurance schemes provide a safety net for entrepreneurs. Perhaps that's one reason why the recent boom in tech entrepreneurs seems mostly privileged and white.

Why are there fewer abortions?

The Tea Party and traditional Republicans are split on science.

"There are greater differences on environment and science questions between Tea Party supporters and non-Tea Party Republicans than there are between non-Tea Party Republicans and Independents," says sociologist Lawrence Hamilton of the University of New Hampshire, who co-authored the paper with his university colleague Kei Saito. "As far as I know, that hasn’t been found before, and we found that standing out in our data analysis." 

The real world contradicts right wing tax theories. There's more than I can quite here but there is a comparison between policies in California and Kansas. I recommend reading the whole thing.

Oil prices are dropping fast. That's good news in come ways but bad news for the Fracking economy, which is bigger than you might think. Also, lots of international relations ramifications. Saudi Arabia has basically declared Oil War.

The TSA may ban all carry-on luggage because terrorism or something. Thank goodness they've been so vigilant up until now by catching all those bombs hidden in carry-ons.

Criticism of Vox's revenue strategy.

Berlin adopts pre-crime system, casts Tom Cruise as detective.

Pizza Hut wants to read your mind.

Stephen Hawking warns of the rise of the machines.

Highschool girls build kickass robots.

(No picture here.)