33 Amazingly Useful Websites You Never Knew Existed April 28, 2014
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Nashville Public Radio | Did Nashville Do The Right Thing When It Found 800 Year Old Artifacts? – Nashville Public Radio April 25, 2014
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To Smith, there doesn’t appear to be a good option between a very large scale project and the relatively small one that took place:
“The ethics are relatively simple — archaeology destroys its subject matter. Unlike trees that can be replanted, archaeological sites are not renewable resources — when an archaeologist walks away from a dig, the detailed notes, photographs, and other records are all that will ever remain of that particular site. Hence, unless we have the time and resources to conduct the best archaeology possible — we prefer to preserve things until the time that we do have the time and resources to do the job right.”
Troops of the Uniform Unite! The Military Is a Socialist Paradise! – The Daily Beast April 22, 2014
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It probably comes as a surprise to many, but the army may have more in common with Norway than Sparta.
The U.S. military is a socialist paradise. Imagine a testing ground where every signature liberal program of the past century has been applied, from racial integration to single-payer health care—then add personal honor, strict hierarchy, and more guns. Like all socialist paradises, the military has been responsible for its share of bloodshed, but it has developed one of the only working models of collective living and social welfare that this country has ever known.
via Troops of the Uniform Unite! The Military Is a Socialist Paradise! – The Daily Beast.
Dooley lauds board appointee as Harvard grad, but she wasn’t : News April 22, 2014
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Whitaker said her degree, an associate’s degree, actually was earned from what was then called the Tobé-Coburn School for Fashion Careers, in New York City. It was the nation’s first school to specialize in fashion merchandising and promotion, according to school literature.
via Dooley lauds board appointee as Harvard grad, but she wasn’t : News.
Zoo Museum Board member’s company wins Science Center contract : News April 22, 2014
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Zoo Museum Board member’s company wins Science Center contract : News.
Map: Is There a Risky Chemical Plant Near You? | Mother Jones April 20, 2014
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The interactive map below, based on data from the EPA’s Risk Management Program, shows at least 9,000 facilities where a “catastrophic chemical release” or what the EPA calls a “worst-case scenario” could harm nearby residents. Hover over any site to see its exact location, the chemicals it stores, and how many accidents it documented in its most recent 5-year reporting period.
via Map: Is There a Risky Chemical Plant Near You? | Mother Jones.
B612 Foundation | B612 Foundation April 20, 2014
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NOVA’s Asteroids: Doomsday or Payday? B612 Foundation’s Ed Lu and Rusty Schweickart, and Sentinel Program Manager John Troeltzsch give in-depth insights into the asteroid challenge and how we can solve it with Sentinel.
War on the West: Why More Bundy Standoffs Are Coming April 19, 2014
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War on the West: Why More Bundy Standoffs Are Coming
Written by William F. Jasper
The new study about oligarchy that’s blowing up the Internet, explained – Vox April 19, 2014
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What are some criticisms of the study?
Gilens uses survey responses to represent voters’ preferences on issues, and he was criticized for this when his last book came out, in 2012. “Is it meaningful when public opinion is split between budget proposals no one understands?” wrote Harvard professor Nancy Rosenblum. UCLA professor Barbara Sinclair added, “Cutting the deficit is broadly supported, but there are few government programs — other than foreign aid — that a majority of Americans favor cutting. Sometimes it is literally impossible to follow public opinion.”
It’s also not clear that a democracy should necessarily be doing the bidding of the average voter on most issues. “The purpose of a political system is to resolve political questions in a satisfactory way … the watchword of democracy should not be responsiveness but rather accountability,” Matt Yglesias wrote.
Economist Tyler Cowen of George Mason University made a similar point: “Many lower- or middle-income voters decide to vote retrospectively over outcomes … That suggests we should judge the responsiveness of the system in terms of how well it aims toward those outputs, not whether it gives lower-income voters their preferred policy inputs.” So for instance, average people might vote on whether politicians have produced economic prosperity, not necessarily on what specific policies they chose to get there. A system that was listening to average voters, in this model, would be a system that produced prosperity, not that followed public whims on individual issues.
via The new study about oligarchy that’s blowing up the Internet, explained – Vox.
The new study about oligarchy that’s blowing up the Internet, explained – Vox April 19, 2014
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So, which groups actually impact policy change?
When the authors look only at the preferences of average citizens, it appears that they do have a pretty big effect on policy change. But when they add the preferences of economic elites and interest groups to the analysis, the impact of average citizens vanishes entirely. Basically, average citizens only get what they want if economic elites or interest groups also want it.
via The new study about oligarchy that’s blowing up the Internet, explained – Vox.
Culture Foam: Bubbling Up 