Cities are often thought of as the antithesis of wildlife. Yet, they occasionally mix like here at Pier 39 in San Francisco where sea lions where have been around for 20 years.
(My wife and I traveled to California for nine days in early July – this is part of a series of pictures from our trip.)
Yahoo reports on a controversy in India over an ad for Vaseline from Unilever. The campaign was based around having men lighten their Facebook profile pictures.
The ad campaign has drawn attention from around the world as people have both attacked and defended it. The issue is a long-running one in India as it is tied to the caste system and lighter skin people sitting at the top. Skin color has social consequences:
A 2009 poll by an online dating company of 12,000 participants living in Northern India found that they rate skin tone the most important factor in choosing a romantic partner. “Fair skin is generally associated with beauty, greater affluence and increased employability,” writes Riddhi Shah at Salon, who copped to using the creams herself even while criticizing the country’s racist ideas about beauty in her work.
It is interesting that this campaign is targeted toward men as the article suggests this is a recent development in the skin-whitening market in India.
Prior to traveling to California, my wife and I kept hearing good things about In-N-Out Burger, a California based fast-food chain.
After having two meals there (once outside Sacramento, once in Burbank), we both agree that the good reviews are justified. The hamburgers are excellent – juicy and fresh-tasting with crispy lettuce and fresh tomatoes and onion. The vanilla milkshakes are quite thick and the french fries are good but slightly different than the crispy fries one typically finds at fast-food places.
Several downsides: a limited menu (no chicken, fish, special burgers), a longer wait for your food as it is prepared fresh, and the restaurants are only limited to four Western states.
Overall: very good and fresh fast-food.
The Chicago Tribune reports on Illinois’ plan to cut down on state writing tests for 2010-2011 to save $3.5 million. From the article:
[L]ate last month, the Illinois State Board of Education decided to eliminate the writing exam given to students in grades three, five, six and eight for the 2010-11 school year.
The 11th grade writing test still will be given because some universities require a writing exam of applicants, said state board spokesman Matt Vanover.
I wonder if this is a cut intended to draw outrage from citizens…who might then be willing to pay more toward education.
Additionally, federal statutes focus on reading and math and do not require a writing test. The article also notes that Illinois’ writing scores are typically poor.
One of my uncles once said he likes baseball because it is so unpredictable. On any day the worst team can beat the best, the best hitters fail about 70% of the time, and the best teams rarely win more than 60% of their games.
This was exemplified today in one play in the Cubs-Phillies game. In the top of the 9th inning, the Phillies trailed 1-0 with a runner on second with two outs. On a ball hit to left field, the rookie right-fielder threw home as the runner tried to tie the game. The throw bounced to the catcher, who had just enough time to catch it and tag the runner. Except the catcher dropped the ball, the run scored, and the Phillies tacked on three more runs to win it. (Watch the replay here from MLB.com.)
This is one big reason to watch sports: it can be hard to predict how a single play might alter the course of the game.
And on a related note, not completing a play like this seems like one that happens to teams that are not very good. A better team would make the out to end the game. In baseball, it is very interesting how good teams always seem to get the breaks – most of which they probably make for themselves.
I’ve seen this guy, Jay Shafer, in the news before with his 89-square foot home. Here is a video of his small space from Yahoo.
I have always liked small spaces like this, particularly for their coziness. Every time I go to Ikea, I’m attracted to the 280-square foot home they usually have set up.
Stories like these occasionally pop up, often with some sermonizing regarding American consumption. With the average American home around 2,400 square feet, very small houses are rare. Smaller spaces may be common in places like Manhattan (where we occasionally hear about studio apartments created out of closets) but probably don’t appeal to many.
The Golden Gate Bridge is impressive from a distance – the color, the length, its position at the front of the bay. It is more impressive from close-up (it really is large) and from several vista points in Marin County.
(My wife and I traveled to California for nine days in early July – this is part of a series of pictures from our trip.)
The New York Times holds a discussion about the epidemic of cheating that includes two teachers (one college, one high school) and a recent college graduate. Interesting perspectives.
More from the college professor in the discussion at The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Businessweek writes about efforts to get employees of Generation Y to contribute to 401(k) and other retirement programs. Apparently, this is difficult as student loans average around $20,000 and average salaries for this age group have dropped 19 percent over the last three decades after adjusting for inflation.
If you are in Generation Y, be prepared to see more efforts (through social media, for example) to get you to contribute to retirement savings.
h/t Instapundit
Sociologist Daniel Rigney tackles the “Matthew Effect” in a book published earlier in 2010. The “Matthew effect” refers to a situation where those with more get even more and those with less continue to get less so that there is a growing gap. The effect is captured in the phrase “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.”
The “Matthew effect” was coined by famous sociologist Robert Merton and refers to a Biblical saying of Jesus (Matthew 13:12): “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
My quick thoughts:
1. The book is a quick overview of the “Matthew effect” within different fields like science, technology, and politics. The book is not very deep and the examples are not fully explored. The primary goal seems to be to argue that Matthew effects are found throughout human activity.
2. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell tackles the same subject. Gladwell’s book is mentioned by Rigney and I wish Rigney added more sociological insights as Gladwell already provided a good overview.
3. The implications section (Chapter 6) raises some interesting questions but does not provide a sufficient discussion. An intriguing question: is the Matthew effect a law or a social construction?
4. Overall: I found some good examples of how social inequality develops to use with future classes. Beyond that, the book is simplistic and would benefit from deeper discussions regarding specific Matthew effects and their implications.
Legally Sociable 