Sunday, April 19, 2015
Saturday, April 18, 2015
UC SANTA BARBARA
- Mark
Friday, April 17, 2015
GRAVITY'S NEW MINIMUM WAGE: $70,000 PER YEAR
The founder and CEO of Gravity Payments, Dan Price, just gave up $900,000 a year in wages so that over the next three years all of his employees could make $70,000 a year as their minimum wage ...
To be sure, bonuses and dividends should keep Price comfortable. Still, the move is a marketing and labor motivating stroke of genius.
The genesis of the raise is tied to some solid research. Specifically, "happiness research" carried out by a Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton found that the emotional quality of an individuals daily experience rises with income, but only to a point. That point is about $75,000.
They also found that while more money doesn't buy much more happiness after $75,000, earning less than $75,000 can deprive you of happiness and emotional well-being because of the stress associated with trying to make ends meet.
Whatever Price's motivation, or what the cynics might say about his bonuses and dividend payouts, it's clear that Price is embracing a salary model that both puts him ahead of the curve and makes many corporate CEOs uneasy
- Mark
The genesis of the raise is tied to some solid research. Specifically, "happiness research" carried out by a Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton found that the emotional quality of an individuals daily experience rises with income, but only to a point. That point is about $75,000.
They also found that while more money doesn't buy much more happiness after $75,000, earning less than $75,000 can deprive you of happiness and emotional well-being because of the stress associated with trying to make ends meet.
Whatever Price's motivation, or what the cynics might say about his bonuses and dividend payouts, it's clear that Price is embracing a salary model that both puts him ahead of the curve and makes many corporate CEOs uneasy
- Mark
Thursday, April 16, 2015
MID-WEEK READING (4-16-15)
Spain, South Korea and Australia approved as founding member of China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (Russian Times).
We are all in this together; Elizabeth Warren understands that (Buzz Flash).
Seriously, stop demonizing almonds (Gizmodo).
Federal judge says Blackwater guard who murdered innocents is a "good young man," gives him a life sentence (BoingBoing).
POLICING IN AMERICA
Police have killed way more Americans in America than terrorists (BoingBoing).
Former police commander sentenced to prison for multiple abuses (Nation of Change).
Police sergeants says cop who killed unarmed Eric Harris is a "true victim" (Truth Out).
Texas wants to outlaw filming police (Truth Out).
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
War makes men hot. What about women (OZY)?
Woman admits to marrying at least 1 of her 10 husbands for money (NY Times).
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The banana massacre in Central America, and the roots of our global assault on labor (OZY).
The tragedy of Robert Oppenheimer (Prospect Magazine).
STUFF LIBERALS SHOULD LEARN & REPEAT, OVER AND OVER
Social Security ... where government excels, so let's deepen it (Paul Krugman / NY Times).
Bill Clinton slams Dick Cheney: 'If they hadn't gone to war in Iraq none of this would be happening' (Crooks & Liars).
Scapegoat Economics 2015 ... How the bailout of Greece was really a bailout for German, French, and Greek bankers, and a blueprint of what's happening around the world (Richard Wolff / Truth Out).
HOW THE FINANCIAL SECTOR RIPS YOU OFF (still)
New Report: Big banks require tellers to use predatory practices to extract bigger fees and penalties from customers (Crooks & Liars).
White House report makes it clear that investment advisers are more interested in jacking up their fees than they are in building your retirement nest ... and it's costing you/us money (White House).
One example of the rip off: Wall Street fees wipe out $2.5 billion in New York City pension gains from 1994 through 2014 (NY Times).
RIGHT WING NUTS & BOLTS
The NRA's open-carry hypocrisy shines at their annual convention (Salon).
Let's ban 'war' while we're at it ... First Florida, now Wisconsin bans the words 'climate change' (Nation of Change).
Senate Republicans vote to sell off our national parks to private industry (Reverb Press).
Fast & Fringiest: Meet the top cranks and conspiracy theorists in Rand Paul's world (TPM).
MISCELLANEOUS
The most amazing houses on earth ... or at least in the United States (Front Door).
I'm taking a Chicano Studies course and I'm angry - Now what (OC Weekly)? [Be sure to read the follow up Q&A.]
This refrigerator uses zero energy & cools your food by suspending it in gel-like substance (Collective Evolution).
How politics and red tape are preventing doctors from practicing around the world (OZY).
- Mark
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
APRIL 15, 1865 ... REMEMBERING LINCOLN'S LEGACY IN NORTH AMERICA
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| Abraham Lincoln and Benito Jaurez in the Governor's Palace in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. |
It was 150 years ago this month that President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Apart from the great things he accomplished as president, few people realize that President Lincoln was also one of the biggest supporters of Mexico's president at the time, Benito Jaurez (1806-1872). President Jaurez is considered one of Mexico's greatest icons - their George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - and perhaps their greatest president (I would agree).
President Juarez was chased across Mexico by France's imperial army, and was considered a political nuisance to Mexico's "king" from 1864 through 1867, the Austrian monarch Maximiliano Joseph. The United States, under the direction of President Lincoln (then Andrew Johnson), supported Benito Jaurez' claim to the presidency because both nations stood for the same ideas. In particular, both countries stood together in their opposition to European intrigue in the Americas.
In the end, Maximilian was captured and shot in Queretaro, Mexico. A statue of Benito Jaurez stands on the site where Maximilian was executed.
If this story intrigues you, you're not alone. We need to know more about this relationship, and President Lincoln's role in standing up for Mexico's sovereignty, even while he was consumed with managing the Civil War at home.
And, yes, at a time when relations between Mexico and the United States are often strained by petty provincialism, President Lincoln should be recognized for helping to bring both countries closer together in difficult times.
- Mark
150 YEARS AGO TODAY ... LINCOLN DIED
President Lincoln died 150 years ago today, early in the morning, after being shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. And we're still dealing with the consequences ...
- Mark
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
THIS DEFINITELY IS NOT GOOD NEWS ...
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From End of the American Dream ...
According to two University of Washington scientific research papers that were recently released, a 1,000 mile stretch of the Pacific Ocean has warmed up by several degrees, and nobody seems to know why this is happening. This giant “blob” of warm water was first observed in late 2013, and it is playing havoc with our climate. And since this giant “blob” first showed up, fish and other sea creatures have been dying in absolutely massive numbers. So could there be a connection? And what is going to happen if the Pacific Ocean continues to warm up? Could we potentially be facing the greatest holocaust of sea life in the Pacific that anyone has ever observed? If so, what would that mean for the food chain and for our food supply?
There's more - which you can read here and here - but one thing is clear. Ocean warming is now off the charts, and business as usual should not be part of our future.
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