The Virtues of Presbyterianism

Via a tweet from Noah Smith, a blog post noting two studies on the (positive) impact of missionaries in India (health) and Africa (literacy).  Presbyterians weren't the only denomination sponsoring missionaries, but they did a lot.  That's one benefit of believing one knows the truth and has the duty to spread those truths to the world.  (There's downsides to such beliefs, but that's not the subject of this post.) 

I think the denomination has lost that certitude; certainly it seems to be dwindling as its older adherents die.

Barney Frank's Lessons for BLM etc.

Barney Frank in his memoir Frank talks about effective politics, using the National Rifle Association as an example.  He wrote the book before the Black Lives Matter organization/movement came into being, but I'd apply his lessons, as I recall them, to BLM. Important things:

• having supporters in many congressional districts.
• having specific "asks"--something the representative can do.
• keeping rhetoric and congruent--don't take positions or make threats you can't back up.
• build a reputation.
• pick your spots to demonstrate your power.

Ode to American Beauty

Just to show that one of those lefty historians can enjoy American beauty, we present Taking the Long Way Round.

Just a taste:

New York was an absolute revelation. Is there any place more lovely in the summer than the Finger Lakes region? I have never seen the like.

But read the whole thing.

Good Sentence from a Conservative

"Ignorance is the natural state of human affairs, and all of us, from addlepated reality-television enthusiasts to theoretical physicists, are almost entirely ignorant of almost everything."

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/423065/finance-economic-ignorance-journalism

Firing Employees

Government Executive has a piece on firing federal employees.  It's all very nice, but it misses an issue which can be as important: the economists call it "opportunity costs".

A manager has many demands on her time, demands mostly over which she has no control.  It's the in-basket, which keeps filling up. In an office with several or many employees, there's also an urge to devote time to your employees, and to be fair to them.  (Not that I achieved that, but I could be made to feel guilty about failing.) And if you'd like to think of yourself as an effective manager, you probably have dreams of your own you want to implement. (I had too many.)

Now if you have an employee who's marginal, what the rules say is you need to devote time to him: counseling, training,  documenting actions, etc. etc. The rules are all very well, certainly they fit the golden rule, they're what I'd want applied to me.  But spending the time is the killer; it takes away from the in-basket, it takes away from paying attention to other employees, and it kills your dreams.

Red Shirt Boys

". I do think that if we essentially red-shirted boys and had them begin kindergarten a year later than girls, it would go a long way toward closing this gap."

A quote from a book on women/men ratios and college (boys mature later, hence the quote above).

Four women graduate from college for every three men.

Salad and Wasting Food

Tamar Haspel has a story dissing salad--lettuce and other salad constituents aren't very nutritious, at least by weight.  As she say:

Lettuce is a vehicle to transport refrigerated water from farm to table.

She points out that salad is a big component of food waste, at least when you measure by weight.

She's an interesting writer.

Farm Kids Learn to Work Young

I couldn't resist stealing this photo from Northview Dairy.






One of the things we lose with our modern economy is the ability for kids to imitate the work of their parents. That's one way to learn, and a good one.

I'll stop now before I get all sentimental about days gone by.  Just a reminder, that little girl doesn't have to fear polio as she grows. 

Was Katrina Racist?

New Yorker has a piece by Malcolm Gladwell on New Orleans after Katrina, more specifically some of the research on those who left the Big Easy for good.


A paragraph:

"By a combination of geography, history, and meteorology, Katrina disproportionately hit black New Orleans. These were the people whose homes were flooded, who camped out in the Superdome, who were evacuated to Baton Rouge or Lafayette or Houston—many of whom have never returned. The Lower Ninth had twenty thousand people before Katrina. Five years afterward, there were six thousand. In Mid-City, there are still abandoned houses and empty lots. Many of these people may have wanted to come back right after the storm. But the public schools were shut down, the city’s main public hospital was a wreck, and the city’s public-housing projects were shuttered."

 There's much in the article and the events it describes, and I may blog on other aspects. But in answer to my question in the title: no, I don't think Katrina was racist, even though its adverse impact on blacks was disproportionate.  It makes an interesting case study: IMHO calling Katrina "racist" is nonsensical--it was the history of New Orleans and the society which was racist, not the storm. 

Apparel from Wood

Proof that American innovation is unceasing--the Foreign Agricultural Service is seeking OMB approval to collect information on this subject.

Foreign Agricultural Service

Title: Agriculture Wood Apparel Manufacturers Trust Fund.
OMB Control Number: 0551-0045.
Summary of Collection: Section 12315 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79) authorizes distribution out of the Agriculture Wood Apparel Manufacturers Trust Fund (“Agriculture Wool Trust Fund”) in each of calendar years 2014 through 2019, payable to qualifying claimants. Eligible claimants are directed to submit a notarized affidavit, following the statutory procedures specified Section 12314 (c) or (d) of the Act.
Need and Use of the Information: The Foreign Agricultural Service will use the information provided in the affidavits to certify the claimants' eligibility and to authorize payment from the Agriculture Wood Trust Fund [Underlining added]

I can understand one typo, I could even understand consistent typos, but why one word correct and 3 incorrect?

I need to vent in a future post about the absurdity of these approvals.