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21 April 2010

Fun with Feminist Flickr (feminism on signs edition)

via Feministing by Jessica on 4/19/10

Woman holding sign reading: 'To me feminism means being me - and allowed to be me which is awesome'

It's been a while since I've dug around Flickr for random fun feminist stuff, so I was incredibly happy to come across this awesome project from Caseface123 - who asked people to write down what they thought about feminism (and pose!). (Shockingly, they're not all as bad-ass as this woman's.)

If you had to fit your feminism on a sign, what would it say?

Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

PhD in Humanities and Social Sciences | Supply – Demand disequilibrium

via Graphic Sociology by flaneuse on 4/20/10

Humanities and Social Science PhDs - completion failure and job market failure

Humanities and Social Science PhDs - completion failure and job market failure

What needs work

Actually, the graphics aren’t bad, but the story is depressing for someone nearing the final year of a PhD in sociology. The first one is quite good. I might have added a horizontal line under which the ‘failures’ ended up and above which the ’successes’ floated.

Many people who read this blog are academics and thus familiar with the concept that getting a tenure track job is tough. These graphics do an excellent job of contextualizing what might often seem like personal anxiety to present the problem as a mismatch between supply and demand. There are far more PhDs minted each year than we need and there would be even more if everyone who started down the PhD path actually finished. Who is to blame? For an answer to that question, link to the article (in references below).

Otherwise, just get depressed looking at the graphic story.

References

Cohen, P. (8 April 2010) The Long Haul Degree. In The New York Times, Education Life section.

Posted via email from jimuleda's posterous

The Most Amazing 7-Year Old Singer Ever

via Top Cultured by Oral Adams on 4/21/10

Little 7-year old, Rhema Marvanne, sings Amazing Grace better than I think I’ve ever heard it. I am constantly amazed at the talents of little kids now-a-days. If you happened to miss the best cooking show ever (and by a 3-year old) or the best rendition of Boom Boom Pow (by a 9-year old) then be sure you check them out…you won’t be disappointed. Although I must admit…they can’t all be winners.

Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

my hero!

How to buy a house

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 4/21/10

Actually, how to think about buying a house.

You don't see a lot of ads trying to sell you on spending too much money on a house. It's more subtle than that. The marketing is all around us, and has been for years. The enormous social pressure and the expectations that come with it lead to misunderstandings and confusion. Here's my advice to someone in the market:

  1. In an era where house prices rise reliably (which was 1963 to 2007), it was almost impossible to overpay for a house. It was an efficient market, and rising prices cover many mistakes. Investing in houses in the USA was a no-brainer. More leverage and more at stake just paid off more in the end. This consistent, multi-generational rise taught us more than an ad every could: buy a lot of house  with as little downpayment as you could.
  2. A house is not just an investment, it's a place to live. This is the only significant financial investment that has two functions. Things like cars and boats always go down in value, so most of the time, if you're investing, you're doing it in something that you don't have to fix, water, fuel or live in. You shouldn't fall in love with a bond or a stock or a piece of gold, because if you do, you won't be a smart investor. The problem (as people who sell and fix and build houses understand) is that you just might fall in love with a house. What a dumb reason to make the largest financial investment of your life.
  3. The psychology of down markets is irrational. Rising house prices might be efficient (many bidders for a single item lead to higher prices), but when there aren't so many bidders, irrational sellers (see #2) don't lower their prices accordingly. So, inventories get longer and it's easy for the prospective buyer to think that a certain price is the 'right' price because so many people are offering houses at that price. Just because someone offers a price, though, doesn't mean it's fair in a given market.
  4. Along the same lines, anchoring has a huge impact on housing prices. If someone offers a house for $800,000 and you think it's worth half that, you don't offer half that. No, of course not. The price is a mental and emotional anchor, and you're likely to offer far more.
  5. The social power of a house is huge. When you buy a big house or an expensive house, you are making a statement to your in-laws, your family, your neighbors and yourself. Nothing wrong with that, but the question you must ask yourself is, "how big a statement can I afford?" How much are you willing to spend on personal marketing and temporary self-esteem?
  6. Debt is an evil plot to keep you poor. If buying a bigger house (or even a house with a living room or a garage) is going to keep you in credit card debt, you've made a huge financial error, one that could cost you millions.
  7. By the time you buy a house, you probably have a family. Which means that this is a joint decision, a group decision, a decision made under stress by at least two people, probably people that don't have a lot of practice talking rationally about significant financial decisions that also have emotional and social underpinnings. Ooph. You've been warned. Perhaps you could add some artificial rigor to the conversation so that it doesn't become a referendum on your marriage or careers and is instead about the house.
  8. If you have a steady job, matching your mortgage to your income isn't dumb. But if you are a freelancer, an entrepreneur or a big thinker, a mortgage can wipe you out. That's because the pressure to make your monthly nut is so big you won't take the risks and do the important work you need to do to actually get ahead. When you have a choice between creating a sure-thing average piece of work or a riskier breakthrough, the mortgage might be just enough to persuade you to hold back.
  9. Real estate brokers, by law, work for the seller (unless otherwise noted). And yet buyers often try to please the broker. You'll never see her again, don't worry about it. [Let me be really clear about what I wrote here, just in case you'd like to misinterpret it: When a prospect sees an ad or goes to an open house, she is about to interact with a broker. That broker, in almost every case, is hired by the seller and has a fiduciary responsibility to the seller to get the very best price for the house. There are exceptions, like buyer's brokers, but those brokers, as I said, note that they are representing the buyer--how can you represent someone without telling them? Many brokers like to pretend to themselves that they are representing both sides, and while that's a nice concept, that's not the law.]
  10. You're probably not going to be able to flip your house in nine months for a big profit. Maybe not even nine years. So revisit #2 and imagine that there is no financial investment, just a house you love. And spend accordingly.
I'm optimistic about the power of a house to change your finances, to provide a foundation for a family and our communities. I'm just not sure you should buy more house than you can afford merely because houses have such good marketing.

Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

Why Talking To The Police Is Never A Good Idea

via Norm Pattis by Norm Pattis on 4/20/10

I'm a battle-hardened criminal defense lawyer, so it always surprises me how weak in the knees I get when a policeman pulls me over. The urge to confess runs rampant, even if I haven't done anything. I assume the authorities must have a reason for wanting to talk to me. What have I done?

Police prey upon our tendency to trust them. Yet confusing the sort of soul-cleansing confession one might give to a priest with the Earth-bound variety police officers ask for is playing with Hell fire. Many a man and woman sits now in a prison cell, convicted by their own words.

I pass along some general observations about cooperating with the police in the hope that it may spare you the sorrow that comes of an improvident confession to a lawman. Mind you, nothing I am writing here is meant to encourage folks to commit a crime. I am simply reminding you that however much confession may benefit the soul in some spiritual sense, the corporeal consequences of a confession could well land you in prison. And prison is not good for the soul.

So here are some common myths and misconceptions about what you must do when the police come calling.

1. The police can order me down to the station to give a statement, correct?

Wrong. The police cannot order you to come down and see them. The Fourth Amendment gives them the power to arrest if they develop probable cause to believe you have committed a crime, and they might have the authority to engage you in a brief investigatory detention. But no case stands for the proposition that you are required to come to the station for a chat. Period.

But fear undermines many folk's sense of self-interest. So does a misplaced sense of hope.

An officer may call and say he needs you to come to the station to tell your side of the story. (He may not tell you just what story that is. My favorite investigative technique? Officers show up at your door and ask: "Why do you think we want to talk to you?") The officer may say that if you don't come to the station he will seek an arrest warrant for you.

News flash: The officer is almost certainly going to seek the warrant anyhow once things have gotten to that point. What he is looking for here is a confession, to bolster the warrant and make a conviction all but a foregone conclusion.

The law does not require police officers to get your side of the story before arresting you. In rare cases only does discussing your case with the police benefit you. The only way to make an intelligent assessment of whether you should cooperate is by consulting a lawyer before you talk to the police. There are no exceptions to this rule. Don't accept the invitation for coffee and donuts at the station.

2. When the police show up at my house, I have to talk to them right?

Wrong again. The normal conventions of polite society do not apply here. The police have not come to your home to trade notes on how your respective fantasy sports teams are doing. They are investigating a crime, and you may well be a suspect. It takes perishingly little to convict of certain crimes. Minor details you give them may be used as a means of corroborating a far-fetched story told about you by others.

This is common in child sex-abuse cases. Suppose your niece or nephew now claims you abused them a decade ago. You are rattled. Shocked. The police want to ask you about the relationship. Where you saw the child. What sorts of things you did together. Why you think the child is saying these things. All of these investigative leads can be turned against you to corroborate the fact that you did, indeed, have contact with the child at certain family events. Your assessment of the child's motives will be transformed into claims that you were deceptive.

Evidence that might truly assist you, e.g., the fact that the child has made similar false or exaggerated claims, background on family conflicts that provide the child with powerful motives to lie to assure that mommy and daddy remain together, united in crisis, and other such information can be provided to the police by your lawyer.

3. If the police don't read me my rights, they can't use anything I say, right?

Wrong, unless you are in custody. The so-called Miranda warnings have become part of American folklore. Unfortunately, many people get it wrong, thanks in no small measure to television. Police are only required to advise you of your right to remain silent if you are in custody. If you appear at the station voluntarily and they tell you that you are free to leave, you almost certainly are not in custody. In these cases, courts will regard your statement as voluntary, and, Mirandized or not, you will eat your own words at trial.

If you are unsure whether you are in custody or not, and believe me, figuring that out is no easy task, simply refuse to speak to the police. Once again, don't resort to normal, polite conversational gambits. "Maybe I should talk to a lawyer" is not clear enough to satisfy a court that you were serious about wanting a lawyer present. State the following: "I DO NOT WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU WITHOUT A LAWYER PRESENT." Print it out on a three-by-five card. If you really want to short the officer's circuits, ask him to sign the card, signifying that he gets it. (He won't sign.)

This may sound cynical, but it is a conclusion I've reached after many years of head-banging: the courts are increasingly reluctant to meaningfully enforce the rights of the accused. Ask any criminal lawyer about the serious crime exception to the Bill of Rights. Don't become a victim. Call a lawyer.

Police officers are trained in the art of deception. They know how to prey on fear and uncertainty. Whether you have committed a crime or not, odds are you will be putty in their hands. There are ways to get the information important to your defense into the hands of the police, but you are not equipped to do it without a lawyer.

I have said this to folks hundreds of times. Sadly, each week I get another call from someone who has given away some significant portion of their future by talking about things they would have been better served keeping to themselves.

Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

14 April 2010

Tune In Tuesday: Stacy Lattisaw

via Electronic Village by noreply@blogger.com (Villager) on 4/13/10

Stacy Lattisaw had a strong run of R&B hits in the 1980s. She stopped making records in 1989. One of her most popular hits was 'I Found Love on a Two-Way Street'.


Of course, the song that first brought her to my attention amazed me because it turned out that she was a young teenager at the time. Her voice was so strong that she was soon the opening act for Michael Jackson. Are any of you ol' school enough to remember, 'Let Me Be Your Angel'?


Feel free to use the COMMENTS section (click on 'village voices') to share your memories of Stacy Lattisaw or to suggest other artists that I should feature in future Tune In Tuesday blog posts.

Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

13 April 2010

Charge Rent to Homeless With Jobs

via Gothamist by Jaya Saxena on 4/13/10

041310homeless.jpg
Flickr user J. Yung
Homeless shelter residents with jobs will have to start paying rent later this year, thanks to a new plan to end "open-ended handouts" from the city. Though the city hopes that this will encourage residents to save money and move out, critics say the plan would keep the homeless from saving enough. According to the Daily News, residents would have to pay 30% of their gross income as rent in the first year of the program, and the highest of either 30% of the resident's income or 50% of the cost of their housing the second year.

The plan would likely start in September, earning an estimated $2-3 million a year. Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs said, "This is not a moneymaker. We're not doing this to close budget gaps. It's really the principles that are involved." The city tried to implement a plan like this before since state law actually requires New York to charge rent to shelter residents who can afford it, but the Legal Aid Society threatened to sue the city. They're doing the same this time around, saying the plan won't benefit anyone. "It makes far more sense to allow those families to save their meager funds in order to be able to get out of the shelter system sooner," said Steven Banks, chief attorney of the Legal Aid Society. The prices do seem pretty steep. Though a family of three making $10,000 a year would just pay $36 a month in rent, one making $25,000 would have to pay $946 in rent, which doesn't leave much for savings.

Albany is reportedly working on legislation that would reverse the law requiring workers in shelters to pay rent. Coalition for the Homeless senior analyst Patrick Markee said, "You don't balance budgets in the middle of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression on the backs of homeless families and children."

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Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

10 April 2010

Support for Parolees?

via Prison Talk by MizSunshine on 4/10/10

I am just curious as to the support available for Parolees once they get out. My guy violated his parole (first time) for possession of marijuana (grr!!) and is still at county awaiting court.

I am not sure if he'll get to come home, or if he'll be back to prison for the violation. I am not trying to get my hopes up.

However, I am still wondering what kind of resources there are for those on Parole that I can research for when he does get out - whether now or if years from now so he doesn't repeat his mistakes. I am obviously not going to force anything on him, but I want to be prepared.

I want him to be able to live away from that neighborhood, even though he had a good job there. I want him to find a good job again, but not be around those people who he allows to bring him down. And if that isn't realistic, some kind of support system to keep him strong and away from the influence of those family members who continue to live doing illegal things.

Again, nothing I will ever force on him. I just wonder that if he had a better support system if he wouldn't have been in the situation that got him arrested in the first place.

He is a highly intelligent educated man, who was almost finished with a degree, and I am so afraid that the fact that he quite possibly screwed that up will weigh on him if and when he gets out and will discourage him.

Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

3 April 2010

choose both?

Tumblr

"Friends With Benefits" Might Also Equal "Friends With Risks" [No Sh*t Studies]

via Jezebel by Hortense on 4/3/10

According to a University of Iowa study, couples involved in "friends with benefits" situations are more likely to contract STDs, as they're more likely to have multiple partners: More »


Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

453 – A Map of the World Anti-Spanking League

via Strange Maps by strangemaps on 4/3/10

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Is spanking an acceptable way of disciplining children?
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Opinions differ (1). Some consider it barbaric and a definite no-no, others think it merely old-fashioned but quite handy in case of a parenting emergency. A hard core of disgusted disciplinarians protest that the practice’s decline is why today’s youth lacks any respect for authority – and ultimately is one of the main causes for the Decline of Everything.
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The ambiguity extends to the legal sphere. Many countries have outlawed corporal punishment in the classroom (2), while only a handful have done the same for parental correction of the physical kind. This map shows those countries on a world map, and amplifies their relatively small number by submerging all other countries (3).
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I count 23 countries on this map. So, which are the members of the World Anti-Spanking League?
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  • On the American continent, only Costa Rica, Venezuela, Chile and Uruguay are visible.
  • The entire continents of Africa and Asia have disappeared beneath the waves – the latter with the notable exception of Israel.
  • Europe is the main no-spanking continent, with the practice outlawed both in schools and by parents in Spain and Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, the Scandinavian quintet (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland), Ukraine, and a remarkably large Balkan delegation: Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Bonus: Cyprus (it’s unclear whether this is only the internationally recognised Greek half of the island, or includes the Turkish north).
  • Adrift in the South Pacific, beyond a sunken Australia, New Zealand looks even more forlorn than usual.
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Many thanks to Anna Chlebinska for sending in this map, found here on Infographics News. It was produced by Jonas Dagson, described on the site as a ‘legend of Swedish infographics’. The legend reads ‘Childrens’ Map of the World’ in Swedish.
————

(1) among adults; children are almost universally against. Two presidential opinions weighing in on the matter: “Don’t hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft!” (Theodore Roosevelt);  ”You do not lead by hitting people over the head-that’s assault, not leadership.” (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

(2) corporal punishment in schools is illegal in almost all European countries (and almost never practised in the few remaining others). In the US and Australia, it is illegal in some states, but remains legal (if generally rather rare) in others. It is also illegal in Canada, Japan, New Zealand, but also in less ‘liberal’ regimes such as North Korea and China.  It remains legal in large parts of Africa and Asia.

(3) submersion as a method of dramatising cartographic information is a popular, if controversial method. Previous examples posted in this blog include Wallonie-sur-Mer (#176) and Palestine’s Island Paradise (#270).


Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

One in a million

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 4/3/10

The chances of a high school student eventually becoming first violin for the Boston Philharmonic: one in a million.

The chances of a high school student eventually playing basketball in the NBA? About the same.

In fact, the chances of someone growing up and getting a job precisely like yours, whatever it is, are similarly slim. (Head of development at an ad agency, director of admissions for a great college... you get the idea). Every good gig is a long shot, but in the end, a lot of talented people get good gigs. The odds of being happy and productive and well compensated aren't one in a million at all, because there are many good gigs down the road. The odds are only slim if you pick precisely one job.

Here's the lesson: the ardent or insane pursuit of a particular goal is a good idea if the steps you take along the way also prep you for other outcomes, each almost as good (or better). If pushing through the Dip and bending the market to your will and shipping on time and doing important and scary work are all things you need to develop along the way, then it doesn't really matter so much if you don't make the goal you set out to reach.

On the other hand, if you live a life of privation and spend serious time and money on a dead end path with only one outcome, you've described a path likely to leave you broken and bitter. Does spending your teenage years (and your twenties) in a room practicing the violin teach you anything about being a violin teacher or a concert promoter or some other job associated with music? If your happiness depends on your draft pick or a single audition, that's giving way too much power to someone else.

Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

1 April 2010

on the road again!

Shelter closure sends 200 homeless back to the streets

Future options weighed as winter shelter closes

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 9:47 p.m.

Johnny Villar headed back out as the city of San Diego's winter shelter for the homeless closed Wednesday. Since it opened Nov. 25, more than 800 people were given shelter for various lengths of time, according to Bob McElroy of the Alpha Project for the homeless.

Hans Steinmetz said goodbye to Alpha Project staff member Melisha Fisher yesterday morning before leaving the city’s temporary winter shelter in downtown San Diego’s East Village. Steinmetz plans to return to Germany.

More than 200 homeless people reverted to the streets Wednesday night after the city closed its temporary winter shelter earlier in the day. MORE

Posted via email from jimuleda's posterous

Second Chance Rally- Harrisburg

Get on the 'Glory Train' Saturday, April 3rd, 11:30am

30 March 2010

Homeless People Sleep?

via PGH is a City by illyrias on 3/29/10

This weekend I participated in the "Reclaim and Revitalize South Side Park" event. Lots of trash was collected and many trees were saved from the grasp of strangling vines. In addition to neighborhood members, we were lucky enough to have about 100 volunteers from Carnegie Mellon University helping out in the park crusade.

At the wrap-up, the students volunteered what they learned from the experience of getting out into the city park. One young woman popped up this doozie: "From cleaning up blankets and mattresses, I learned where homeless people actually sleep."

I personally view it as a failure of her upbringing that this was the first time she was exposed to some of America's underbelly, our unfortunate members of society who are too often swept under the rug and ignored.

However, maybe I had a harsh upbringing. Do you know where the homeless people sleep in your neighborhood? If you open your eyes, you see signs of homelessness throughout Pittsburgh (and most cities in the country) from the beggars in the streets to the blankets and newspapers hidden in various cubbyholes and parks. That knowledge is just as valuable as any class you can take at Carnegie Mellon.

If you want a first-hand experience of how homeless people sleep, check out the annual "Sleep-in For the Homeless" where dozens of people camp out on the steps of the City-County Building downtown with nothing but a sleeping bag to raise awareness of and funds for Allegheny County's homeless population. As of January 2009, Allegheny County counted 1,418 homeless "residents." 17% of them had been in the military service. 14% were victims of domestic violence. 18% of them reported serious mental illnesses. 23% of them were children.

Raising awareness and funds is the only way these numbers will decrease.

Posted via email from jimuleda's posterous

17-Year-Olds Go to Adult Prison

via Change.org's Criminal Justice Blog by Matt Kelley on 3/30/10

It may seem like a tiny shift, but it’s enough to change thousands of lives. Wisconsin lawmakers are seeking to reverse a 1996 law that dropped the age of criminal responsibility by one year, from 18 to 17.

Since that law passed in 1996, 17-year-olds in the state have been tried and sentenced in adult court, and sent to adult prisons. Wisconsin is one of 13 states that automatically tosses 17-year-olds into the adult system. Looking back, one legislator says “it was a huge mistake, and I think everybody realizes that."

Not everybody, though. One paper, the Northwestern, points out that the bill may not move in this session, and says that might be a good thing.

According to the paper, supporters of the bill "rely on an emotional argument rather than presenting any quantifiable data on the long-term detriment to 17-year-olds who go through adult court." Nor, it says, do they "acknowledge how treating 17-year-olds as adults can be a deterrent to crime."

But the paper may have missed this report from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and this one from the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families. It shows that 17-year-olds are usually charged with minor crimes, and their recidivism rate in 2002 was an order of magnitude higher than both younger teenagers and adults. Something clearly isn't working here.

Since adolescents develop at their own pace, it’s difficult to draw a line at the 17th or 18th birthday and say folks older than that are more responsible for their actions. Even under the change, however, 17-year-olds would be eligible for adult court, it just wouldn't be automatic. Age limits are like mandatory minimums -- it’s important that we don’t set a policy that locks judges and juries into handing down outsized punishments.

Most 17-year-olds sent to adult prison in Wisconsin are there for possession of marijuana, or a high school fight, or having sex with a partner one or two years younger -- and judges, policy advocates and juvenile justice reforms say reversing the law could have a big impact. The bill is a smart policy change that would show that the state is willing to admit mistakes in its criminal justice system -- a move toward individual handling of cases is almost always the right way to go.

And while any change probably wouldn’t be retroactive, there’s a chance that a prisoner convicted at 17 could lean on a new law on appeal or in requesting parole.

Juvenile courts and detention facilities, when run properly, can actually make a big difference in kids' lives -- offering much-needed education and services and helping young people put mistakes behind them as they begin build their adult lives. Wisconsin lawmakers are on the right track with this proposal, and we'll keep an eye on it as it moves forward.

Photo Credit: Horia Varlan

Posted via email from the Un-Official Southwestern PA Re-Entry Coalition Blog

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