Archive for 2011

BRANDING FAIL: Olive Garden: Presence of the American flag disrupts the dining experience. Does it really?

UPDATE: Olive Garden has apologized on their home page. “We’ve had some questions about whether or not guests can bring the American flag into our restaurants. We are very sorry for any misunderstanding about this issue. We do not have a policy at Olive Garden concerning bringing the American flag into our restaurants. Some members of our team were misinformed about company policy by our corporate office. As a company we take responsibility for that and we regret it. We take pride in how we communicate to our restaurants and we are correcting this so it doesn’t happen again. Like all Americans we have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for the American flag and everything it symbolizes, and we welcome anyone who wishes to bring the flag into our restaurants. In fact, we periodically provide American flag collar pins to our employees to wear while serving guests.”

ROBERT FARAGO: Gunwalker Is Only The Tip Of A Scandal Iceberg. “For one thing, the ATF didn’t ‘lose’ some 2,000 firearms to Mexican gun smugglers. The bureau intentionally allowed firearms to ‘walk’ from U.S. gun stores to members of the Sinaloa drug cartel. For another, Fast and Furious is only one spoke in an entire wheel of extralegal intrigue.”

EGYPT: The Copts Will Fight, But They Won’t Win.

Sunday night’s bloodshed is further evidence that, even if the army was the agent of violence, anti-Copt sentiment is widespread. The Sunday march was preceded by a smaller demonstration last week when Copts protested an attack on a church in Edfu, almost 500 miles south of the Egyptian capital, and demanded that the Muslim gangs responsible for the destruction of the church be brought to justice. The army and security forces beat Copt protesters when they marched last week, too, as this video shows. Perhaps what’s most noteworthy in this clip is that after the first few blows the officer in charge, in a red beret, seems to be trying to stop his troops from striking further. At one point the officer even hits one of the soldiers. This suggests that while Egypt’s ruling body, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, is intent on keeping the streets quiet and free of Copt activists, it is unlikely they ordered the army to kill civilians. Rather, it seems that individual soldiers acted on their own.

“There’s this idea that Egypt’s army is a professional force,” says Samuel Tadros, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, and a senior partner at the Cairo-based Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth. “This is a mistake.”

The Copts’ future is grim — but so is the rest of Egypt’s.

ACADEMIC FREEDOM IN TODAY’S CALIFORNIA: Professor who offended power elite resigns post. “I was told city officials were upset with my involvement in the examination of city compensation, and other things I’ve written regarding city consolidation, which they apparently found threatening.”

RAND SIMBERG: It’s Not About Space “Exploration,” It’s About Space Settlement. “As the New World was, space will be settled. The only issue is by what nation or nations, and when. Absent an enlightened change in policy, it won’t be the U.S., or if it is, it will take much longer than it need be, and all of humanity’s eggs will remain in a single fragile basket until then.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Mother Jones doesn’t like Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal to cut back on support for liberal arts education in favor of more practical subjects. But I think this trend is inevitable anyway, given economic realities. Just look at all those unemployed and heavily-indebted #Occupy protesters. I didn’t notice any Petroleum Engineering graduates among them. Here’s what Scott said:

You know, we don’t need a lot more anthropologists in the state. It’s a great degree if people want to get it, but we don’t need them here. I want to spend our dollars giving people science, technology, engineering, math degrees. That’s what our kids need to focus all their time and attention on. Those type of degrees. So when they get out of school, they can get a job.

Even at Mother Jones we hear: “Scott’s reasoning could attract a lot of Floridians.” Ya think? But there’s this, too: “Is a degree’s intrinsic value really reducible to its marketability?”

After decades of selling college as an “investment” — and pricing it accordingly — it’s going to be hard for the higher education establishment to pivot to a college-as-personal-fulfillment argument. If it’s the latter, it’s a consumption good, priced on a par with a Porsche or Ferrari. Those shouldn’t be financed by debt, or bought by 18-year-olds. If college liberal-arts degrees, on the other hand, are to be sold as a public good, benefiting society so much that society should pay the freight, then (1) Society should have a much bigger say in what’s being taught; and (2) It might be nice to see some actual, you know, evidence of that. Also, students should be warned up front that they’ll be spending 4 years (or 5, or 6) of their lifespan doing something that’s good for society. The trust-funders may be okay with that, but that’s not a lot.

Regardless of what governors do, though, the market is likely to re-allocate resources on its own. The sight of those impoverished, indebted OWS folks sends a signal of its own to potential buyers and borrowers. . . .

UPDATE: Reader Bill Richmond writes: “The guy that makes my coffee just got his degree in Cultural Anthropology. And somehow, he’s still making coffee.” In college, I took a lot of anthropology courses. Fascinating stuff, and I’ve found it useful on occasion. But there weren’t many jobs then, and things have only gotten worse.

Meanwhile, reader Mary Wyss writes: “I understand the desire to cut back on liberal arts education. There has been a proliferation of degrees that are not useful in finding employment. I just don’t understand why more students don’t have 2 majors. History is my first major, but I did not wish to teach. It was easy to add a second major – business with lots of accounting classes. I used that second degree to support myself while working in the countries studied in my history classes.”

And reader Chris Fox writes: “I gave a nice loud ‘Heh’ when Mother Jones triumphantly proclaimed that majors don’t have much influence on job choices anyway. Well, YEAH, when you have a major in poli sci, you’re damn right it doesn’t matter much. Mother Jones isn’t exactly advancing its point here. On the other hand, I think the kids that graduate in engineering with honors will be a LOT more influenced by their majors.”

That’s likely. Meanwhile, somebody wrote a while back — I can’t find the email now — to note that liberal-artsy types who can’t find jobs in the States can often find gainful employment teaching English abroad. His daughter is teaching in China, earning okay money, and learning a lot herself. Not bad as a post-college interlude, and certainly better than camping out on Wall Street, or in your parent’s basement.

A HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE infographic.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Do Law Schools Defraud Students? “These lawsuits and the fraudulent behavior they target are both symptomatic of greater structural problems with legal education. Tuition has far outpaced inflation, and it’s not clear whether law schools can figure out how to function if they must reduce the cost of obtaining a law degree.”

ON THE UPSIDE, THIS WILL MAKE MY RX-8 A TRUE COLLECTIBLE: Mazda to drop production of vehicles with trademark rotary engines. “Mazda will stop making cars with its signature rotary engines after a 45-year production run that included powering the first and only Japanese car to win the 24-hour Le Mans endurance race.”

AARON TAYLOR: Why Law School Is Still Worth It. “According to U.S. Department of Labor data, the unemployment rate for lawyers was 1.5 percent in 2010 — more than six times lower than the overall rate of 9.6 percent. Since 2009, while the overall unemployment rate has remained above 9 percent, the rate for lawyers has exceeded 2 percent only once.” Hmm. Should I trust these numbers?

BEWARE OF “TEXT NECK:” “According to chiropractors, there’s a new ailment afflicting avid texters. Thousands are being treated for the condition known as ‘text neck’ which is caused by the neck being flexed for too long while staring down at a smart phone — obviously an unnatural position for your neck muscles. The condition, which can result in headaches, shoulder, arm and wrist pain, most often afflicts tall, young women with slender necks.” I think I’m safe.

JERRY BROWN CREATES a California long-gun registry. “After signing a bill outlawing open carry, California Governor Jerry Brown has put his John Hancock on AB 809. The bill creates a long gun registry; the Golden State will now maintain a permanent record of all new long guns purchased within its borders.”