The more relevant point: I went to a small liberal arts school. I took classes in music, English, philosophy, the sciences, foreign languages, economics... and I'm a more informed, well-rounded person because of it.
You apparently also learned how to be pretty full of yourself...which, though it might turn of some people, will prepare you to become a C-level executive!
that of all possible career paths, education has the lowest financial incentive?
Public school teacher salaries are typically directly linked with seniority, as negotiated by the union with the government (whose re-reelection the union pays for), thus they are pretty unlinked with standard market forces. The income of teachers in years 1-3 significantly bring down the median.
Public school teacher salaries are also typically linked with graduate school education, i.e. if you get a Master's Degree or Ph.D., your union has negotiated a higher rate for you, regardless of how good a teacher you are or whether the graduate degree aids your teaching ability.
The Chronicle article data was based on "full-year workers ages 25 to 64 whose highest degree is a bachelorâ(TM)s", thus ignoring the public school teachers who get an M.A. or Ph.D. to bump up their salary.
I dropped out of University and eventually persued vocational and on-the-job training. I now earn the equivalent of US $175,000 a year
Indeed, if you have enough drive, motivation, and sales ability, there are plenty of non-degree vocations available (such as HVAC, auto repair, etc.) that can allow you to earn plenty.
But you only make the big money when you are on your own or run your own company.
One suggestion to worrying about melt-down is to have the fissile material already melted. Flibe Energy is suggesting the use of molten thorium flouride salt reactors, which have the interesting property of not generating plutonium in the waste stream.
1) We know that JPEG 2000 (part 1) is most likely truly freely licensable. It was designed this way, and has been around for many years and used by deep pocketed companies for digital cinema, this I suspect any submarine patents would have surfaces by now. I can't say the same for WebP, WebM, or even H.264.
2) JPEG 2000 can have whatever color components you want. If you want a component to be an alpha channel, that is great, do it.
3) JPEG 2000 was developed by and international standards organization, so you know a lot of eyes saw the specification during development to ensure it is a well defined standard.
Medical expert systems already diagnose better than human doctors. What they can't do is figure out the best way to bill your insurance. That requires real intelligence.
Actually all broadcast stations MUST transmit on-air required weekly test and must re-broadcast on-air required monthly EAS tests they receive from upstream.
Weekly tests can be audio-only though, but the required monthly test must include video information about the test message.
I got a 3DS (for research purposes), and I think the AR games are pretty cool in 3D. It is neat to see a hole open up in the middle of your desk, and you then have to shoot down the hole to hit a target.
Plus when you update the software, you get a 3D video to watch from OK Go.
The 3DS stereoscopic camera functionality is also very cool. Too bad they can't do 3D video capture as well.
I do get the "early iPhone feeling" on the 3DS, that there is a lot more they plan on doing with it software-wise (like adding a web browser), but they are not there yet.
I will be honest that after about 15 minutes of play on the 3DS I have to let my eyes rest. On the other hand, I have no problem watching a full-length glasses-based stereoscopic 3D movie in the cinema or watching large-screen 3DTVs. I suspect the much smaller screen-eye distance on the 3DS means you are more likely to experience discomfort due to vergence/accommodation mismatch.
English major should pay a lot more given that their contribution to the tax base will be much lower than an actual degree.
For private institutions, majors that have greater post-grad incomes should be charged more, because the student is clearly getting greater value.
But yes, perhaps for state institutions, majors that have greater post-grad incomes (and thus return higher post-grad taxes to the state) should be charged less.
Or perhaps for public institutions, majors that do have have a provable return on investment for the state government should be eliminated?
It's large enough to throw the entire world into a great world-wide depression (yes, worse than it is now) via domino effect of defaulting debts.
My understanding is that few foreign banks have been allowed to widely play in China, thus most of the losses will be limited to the country's own (typically state-owned) banks. The contagion will be minimal. Compare with the US bubble pop, where financial institutions from all over the world were invested in US mortgage-backed securities.
Now if China decided to stop purchasing additional US Federal debt because of their crash, that would mean something for the US government, but not the world.
University should be for gaining a very broad education in a wide range of subjects, NOT for vocational training.
You are assuming that Universities are for anything else except "signaling" the intellectual and motivational ability of the student to be able to make it through them.
You should know how to write a basic research paper well before going to university
So you are displeased with the socialist monopoly unionized K-12 school system?
Do you know why the Fed exists and has actual power? Because last time things were allowed to work on their own we got the Great Depression.
Actually the Fed screwed up during the lead up to the Great Depression. As documented in Milton Friedman & Anna Schwartz's history of the Great Depression, the Fed forced a rapid deflation that may have turned a slight bubble pop into a horrific series of years known as the "Great Contraction" from 1929-1933 (the worst losses ended after FDR devalued the dollar in 1933).
Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Fed, said about the Federal Reserve: "Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry."
Why the economy did not recover well during 1933-1941 ("The Long Stagnation") is a matter of more dispute.
You might want to look at this Quantitative Analyst position, they are looking for someone with MS in Applied Math. Living Social is also looking (but you better be familiar with Ruby on Rails).
Your statement was "the middle class is diminishing". Increases in income or wealth to the top 1% is another issue altogether. With increasing productivity due to automation, information systems, expansions in markets due to a world becoming richer overall, it is not surprising that those with the right technical or business skills would be achieving higher income, while those with almost no skills are facing enhanced competition from automation and low-skilled foreign workers.
I will concur that US real median household income has been steady for quite a while, however this does not count non-wage benefits that are part of employer total compensation.
I'm not sure we have a good way of measuring median real compensation. But we do know that overall real compensation per hour has been tracking well with productivity increases for 30 years graph here.
There also is a confounder on looking at median household income - household size has decreased from 3.14 in 1970 to 2.6 today, but some argue this has been approximately balanced by the larger number of women with children entering the workforce.
Also regarding "diminishing", these examinations of median household incomes ignore the fact that individual incomes change over time, generally rising over lifetime. I myself have been through every household income quintile over my lifetime.
A study found that from 1996-2005 more than half of taxpayers moved to a different income quintile. Half of the lowest quintile moved up, and overall real median incomes of all taxpayers increased by 24% over that period.
The top 1% is not static either. Less of half the top 1% of income earners in 1996 were still in the top 1% in 2005.
We should also not forget that extremely poor immigrants have come into this country (legally or not), and are now making far more than they could have in their home countries, although many end up in the bottom US income quintile. Their US-educated children are likely to do even better than they did.
I can't find any examples of IMF loans actually being tied to GMO crops in the google search you linked to. Perhaps linking to an actual article would help.
I would not be surprised if a World Bank loan could be for GMO crop supplies if the recipient government requested it.
"I believe many WTO loans require the use of GM seeds."
The World Trade Organization negotiates trade treaties and adjudicates them. It does not offer loans.
The International Monetary Fund loans to member countries that have a balance of payment need. I don't believe South Africa has received an IMF loan since the 1980's. Ethiopia did receive an IMF loan in 2009, so I guess the who "require the use of GM seeds" does not apply to the IMF.
The World Bank provides loans to developing countries for capital purposes. Both Ethiopia and South Africa have received recent World Bank Loans. So as GMO crops are not legal in Ethiopia, it looks like WB loans don't require GM seeds either.
The biggest political challenge to Africa regarding GMO crops is EU country bans on GMO crop imports. But fortunately there are hungry people in Africa and other parts of the world ready to buy and eat African GMO crops, not just in Europe.
"I have friends from Angola. They tell me when they were growing up there in the 60s, there was food everywhere. You didn't even need to take food with you if you went on a journey, you just ate whatever was growing on the side of the road. Now it's a desert. Capitalism and farming really, really don't go well together for the simple reason that a true farmer/husbandsman/peasant does not treat his land as a resource to exploit, but as the means of his great grandchildren not starving. He cares his land. Capitalism rapes it."
Well there was the horrific civil war from 1975-2002 between the MPLA and UNITA that might have made life in Angola a bit tough.
But beyond that, the basically victorious MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) that now rules has a Marxist-Leninist ideology.
"Business Freedom: Despite some progress, burdensome regulations continue to hinder private-sector development. The regulatory system lacks transparency and clarity, and regulations are inconsistently enforced."
"Trade: Barriers to free trade include preferential treatment for domestic companies with respect to government procurement, variable and high customs fees and taxes, import licensing, government import authorizations, the unclear regulatory environment, inadequate customs capacity, and issues involving enforcement of intellectual property rights."
"Business Taxes: The top corporate tax rate is 35 percent, though the mining and oil industries are subject to rates as high as 50 percent, while agriculture benefits from a 20 percent rate."
"Inflation: Inflation rose to an average of 13.7 percent in 2009."
"Foreign investment: Government approval is needed for foreign investments exceeding $100,000 and investments that require a concession (such as oil and mining). The regulatory system is non-transparent and time-consuming, lacks capacity, and is subject to corruption. There are few specific performance requirements on foreign investments, but "Angolanization" of companies and greater use of Angolan suppliers are encouraged...Land generally must be obtained from the state. "
"Property Rights: Angola's legal and judicial system is inefficient and subject to executive influence. Legal fees are high, and most businesses avoid taking commercial disputes to court. All non-urban and some urban land is ultimately state-owned but can be leased to private entities. Regulations to implement the 2004 land-tenure law have not been issued. Property registration is lengthy and expensive. Angola ranked 114th out of 115 countries in the 2009 International Property Rights Index."
"Labor regulations: Restrictive labor regulations hinder employment and productivity growth... dismissing a redundant employee is relatively costly."
Does not sound like free market capitalism to me, but an overly statist & socialist government.
"I don't like the fact that our version of it makes it so only the lucky and rich can get rich if you know what I mean."
I like the fact that even our "poor" people are rich by global standards. About half the people in the world live on under $2.50 per day, which makes the US poverty line of $63/day look pretty good.
Slashdot Mirror
The more relevant point: I went to a small liberal arts school. I took classes in music, English, philosophy, the sciences, foreign languages, economics... and I'm a more informed, well-rounded person because of it.
You apparently also learned how to be pretty full of yourself...which, though it might turn of some people, will prepare you to become a C-level executive!
that of all possible career paths, education has the lowest financial incentive?
Public school teacher salaries are typically directly linked with seniority, as negotiated by the union with the government (whose re-reelection the union pays for), thus they are pretty unlinked with standard market forces. The income of teachers in years 1-3 significantly bring down the median.
Public school teacher salaries are also typically linked with graduate school education, i.e. if you get a Master's Degree or Ph.D., your union has negotiated a higher rate for you, regardless of how good a teacher you are or whether the graduate degree aids your teaching ability.
The Chronicle article data was based on "full-year workers ages 25 to 64 whose highest degree is a bachelorâ(TM)s", thus ignoring the public school teachers who get an M.A. or Ph.D. to bump up their salary.
I dropped out of University and eventually persued vocational and on-the-job training. I now earn the equivalent of US $175,000 a year
Indeed, if you have enough drive, motivation, and sales ability, there are plenty of non-degree vocations available (such as HVAC, auto repair, etc.) that can allow you to earn plenty.
But you only make the big money when you are on your own or run your own company.
One suggestion to worrying about melt-down is to have the fissile material already melted. Flibe Energy is suggesting the use of molten thorium flouride salt reactors, which have the interesting property of not generating plutonium in the waste stream.
1) We know that JPEG 2000 (part 1) is most likely truly freely licensable. It was designed this way, and has been around for many years and used by deep pocketed companies for digital cinema, this I suspect any submarine patents would have surfaces by now. I can't say the same for WebP, WebM, or even H.264.
2) JPEG 2000 can have whatever color components you want. If you want a component to be an alpha channel, that is great, do it.
3) JPEG 2000 was developed by and international standards organization, so you know a lot of eyes saw the specification during development to ensure it is a well defined standard.
4) JPEG 2000 has a lossless option.
Angela Merkel (Chancellor of Germany): Studied physics, got doctorate for work in quantum chemistry.
Herman Cain (GOP presidential candidate): Master of Arts degree in computer science from Purdue University in 1971.
Have an iPad point to http://easydiagnosis.com/
Medical expert systems already diagnose better than human doctors. What they can't do is figure out the best way to bill your insurance. That requires real intelligence.
Actually all broadcast stations MUST transmit on-air required weekly test and must re-broadcast on-air required monthly EAS tests they receive from upstream.
Weekly tests can be audio-only though, but the required monthly test must include video information about the test message.
Your radio station was breaking the law. For example, here is a station that was not re-transmitting the required monthly tests: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-305160A1.html
Here are some other similar projects:
Touch-over-IP
Breath-over-IP
I got a 3DS (for research purposes), and I think the AR games are pretty cool in 3D. It is neat to see a hole open up in the middle of your desk, and you then have to shoot down the hole to hit a target.
Plus when you update the software, you get a 3D video to watch from OK Go.
The 3DS stereoscopic camera functionality is also very cool. Too bad they can't do 3D video capture as well.
I do get the "early iPhone feeling" on the 3DS, that there is a lot more they plan on doing with it software-wise (like adding a web browser), but they are not there yet.
I will be honest that after about 15 minutes of play on the 3DS I have to let my eyes rest. On the other hand, I have no problem watching a full-length glasses-based stereoscopic 3D movie in the cinema or watching large-screen 3DTVs. I suspect the much smaller screen-eye distance on the 3DS means you are more likely to experience discomfort due to vergence/accommodation mismatch.
English major should pay a lot more given that their contribution to the tax base will be much lower than an actual degree.
For private institutions, majors that have greater post-grad incomes should be charged more, because the student is clearly getting greater value.
But yes, perhaps for state institutions, majors that have greater post-grad incomes (and thus return higher post-grad taxes to the state) should be charged less.
Or perhaps for public institutions, majors that do have have a provable return on investment for the state government should be eliminated?
It's large enough to throw the entire world into a great world-wide depression (yes, worse than it is now) via domino effect of defaulting debts.
My understanding is that few foreign banks have been allowed to widely play in China, thus most of the losses will be limited to the country's own (typically state-owned) banks. The contagion will be minimal. Compare with the US bubble pop, where financial institutions from all over the world were invested in US mortgage-backed securities.
Now if China decided to stop purchasing additional US Federal debt because of their crash, that would mean something for the US government, but not the world.
University should be for gaining a very broad education in a wide range of subjects, NOT for vocational training.
You are assuming that Universities are for anything else except "signaling" the intellectual and motivational ability of the student to be able to make it through them.
You should know how to write a basic research paper well before going to university
So you are displeased with the socialist monopoly unionized K-12 school system?
Do you know why the Fed exists and has actual power? Because last time things were allowed to work on their own we got the Great Depression.
Actually the Fed screwed up during the lead up to the Great Depression. As documented in Milton Friedman & Anna Schwartz's history of the Great Depression, the Fed forced a rapid deflation that may have turned a slight bubble pop into a horrific series of years known as the "Great Contraction" from 1929-1933 (the worst losses ended after FDR devalued the dollar in 1933).
Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Fed, said about the Federal Reserve: "Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry."
Why the economy did not recover well during 1933-1941 ("The Long Stagnation") is a matter of more dispute.
You might want to look at this Quantitative Analyst position, they are looking for someone with MS in Applied Math. Living Social is also looking (but you better be familiar with Ruby on Rails).
Fahrenheit is a perfectly logical system.
0F is the equilibrium temperature of a frigorific mixture of ice, water, and ammonium chloride. 100F is horse body temperature.
Your statement was "the middle class is diminishing". Increases in income or wealth to the top 1% is another issue altogether. With increasing productivity due to automation, information systems, expansions in markets due to a world becoming richer overall, it is not surprising that those with the right technical or business skills would be achieving higher income, while those with almost no skills are facing enhanced competition from automation and low-skilled foreign workers.
I will concur that US real median household income has been steady for quite a while, however this does not count non-wage benefits that are part of employer total compensation.
I'm not sure we have a good way of measuring median real compensation. But we do know that overall real compensation per hour has been tracking well with productivity increases for 30 years graph here.
There also is a confounder on looking at median household income - household size has decreased from 3.14 in 1970 to 2.6 today, but some argue this has been approximately balanced by the larger number of women with children entering the workforce.
Also regarding "diminishing", these examinations of median household incomes ignore the fact that individual incomes change over time, generally rising over lifetime. I myself have been through every household income quintile over my lifetime.
A study found that from 1996-2005 more than half of taxpayers moved to a different income quintile. Half of the lowest quintile moved up, and overall real median incomes of all taxpayers increased by 24% over that period.
The top 1% is not static either. Less of half the top 1% of income earners in 1996 were still in the top 1% in 2005.
We should also not forget that extremely poor immigrants have come into this country (legally or not), and are now making far more than they could have in their home countries, although many end up in the bottom US income quintile. Their US-educated children are likely to do even better than they did.
I can't find any examples of IMF loans actually being tied to GMO crops in the google search you linked to. Perhaps linking to an actual article would help.
I would not be surprised if a World Bank loan could be for GMO crop supplies if the recipient government requested it.
"The middle class is diminishing."
What is your definition of "the middle class", and exactly what do you mean by "diminishing", and where is your data?
"But the quality of the movie was awful (very grainy in most scenes)"
The compression quality is very good so you can see all of the grains in the original film...
(what? you don't like the "film look"? heathen! ;)
"I believe many WTO loans require the use of GM seeds."
The World Trade Organization negotiates trade treaties and adjudicates them. It does not offer loans.
The International Monetary Fund loans to member countries that have a balance of payment need. I don't believe South Africa has received an IMF loan since the 1980's. Ethiopia did receive an IMF loan in 2009, so I guess the who "require the use of GM seeds" does not apply to the IMF.
The World Bank provides loans to developing countries for capital purposes. Both Ethiopia and South Africa have received recent World Bank Loans. So as GMO crops are not legal in Ethiopia, it looks like WB loans don't require GM seeds either.
The biggest political challenge to Africa regarding GMO crops is EU country bans on GMO crop imports. But fortunately there are hungry people in Africa and other parts of the world ready to buy and eat African GMO crops, not just in Europe.
"I have friends from Angola. They tell me when they were growing up there in the 60s, there was food everywhere. You didn't even need to take food with you if you went on a journey, you just ate whatever was growing on the side of the road. Now it's a desert. Capitalism and farming really, really don't go well together for the simple reason that a true farmer/husbandsman/peasant does not treat his land as a resource to exploit, but as the means of his great grandchildren not starving. He cares his land. Capitalism rapes it."
Well there was the horrific civil war from 1975-2002 between the MPLA and UNITA that might have made life in Angola a bit tough.
But beyond that, the basically victorious MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) that now rules has a Marxist-Leninist ideology.
Let's see how free market Angola is:
"Business Freedom: Despite some progress, burdensome regulations continue to hinder private-sector development. The regulatory system lacks transparency and clarity, and regulations are inconsistently enforced."
"Trade: Barriers to free trade include preferential treatment for domestic companies with respect to government procurement, variable and high customs fees and taxes, import licensing, government import authorizations, the unclear regulatory environment, inadequate customs capacity, and issues involving enforcement of intellectual property rights."
"Business Taxes: The top corporate tax rate is 35 percent, though the mining and oil industries are subject to rates as high as 50 percent, while agriculture benefits from a 20 percent rate."
"Inflation: Inflation rose to an average of 13.7 percent in 2009."
"Foreign investment: Government approval is needed for foreign investments exceeding $100,000 and investments that require a concession (such as oil and mining). The regulatory system is non-transparent and time-consuming, lacks capacity, and is subject to corruption. There are few specific performance requirements on foreign investments, but "Angolanization" of companies and greater use of Angolan suppliers are encouraged...Land generally must be obtained from the state. "
"Property Rights: Angola's legal and judicial system is inefficient and subject to executive influence. Legal fees are high, and most businesses avoid taking commercial disputes to court. All non-urban and some urban land is ultimately state-owned but can be leased to private entities. Regulations to implement the 2004 land-tenure law have not been issued. Property registration is lengthy and expensive. Angola ranked 114th out of 115 countries in the 2009 International Property Rights Index."
"Labor regulations: Restrictive labor regulations hinder employment and productivity growth... dismissing a redundant employee is relatively costly."
Does not sound like free market capitalism to me, but an overly statist & socialist government.
"I don't like the fact that our version of it makes it so only the lucky and rich can get rich if you know what I mean."
I like the fact that even our "poor" people are rich by global standards. About half the people in the world live on under $2.50 per day, which makes the US poverty line of $63/day look pretty good.
Ethiopia has banned GMO crops.
South Africa's corn is mainly GMO.
In which country are more people starving?
Worry about stabilizing the regional governments first and then worry about upgrading them to first world farming techniques.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister has been in office since 1995. What's not stable about that?