FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

Riptide · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

GeorgeFHayek said:

Sorry MC ... I haven't been indoctrinated. I just hate watching news on the TV. If I can't read it from somewhere reputable (e.g., Drudge or Rushlimbaugh.com), I live in ignorance of it.
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Rush Limbaugh is about as reputable as a crack whore. Not much different, really.

But thanks for the laugh.

GeorgeFHayek · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Captain Obvious said:

You'd think she would have found a tenure-track position somewhere in the course of 18-19 years.
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Tenure-track positions in the humanities are as rare as hen's teeth. I think I would have factored that in before I signed on for $140K in loans.

Captain Obvious · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

GeorgeFHayek said:

Captain Obvious said:

You'd think she would have found a tenure-track position somewhere in the course of 18-19 years.
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Tenure-track positions in the humanities are as rare as hen's teeth. I think I would have factored that in before I signed on for $140K in loans.
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I guess funding isn't common for a philosophy Ph.D.?

GeorgeFHayek · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Captain Obvious said:

GeorgeFHayek said:

Captain Obvious said:

You'd think she would have found a tenure-track position somewhere in the course of 18-19 years.
Click to expand...

Tenure-track positions in the humanities are as rare as hen's teeth. I think I would have factored that in before I signed on for $140K in loans.
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I guess funding isn't common for a philosophy Ph.D.?
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Oh, I am sure it's common, but not everyone accepted gets funding (and, quite frankly, it typically doesn't cover much). If you're hell-bent on going, you can always borrow your way to the degree. Further, an assistantship probably won't cover everything. I borrowed some for my PhD, but my expected gain in annual salary was more than what I wound up borrowing (and jobs are/were reasonably plentiful in my discipline). Further, the only reason I borrowed the money was so that my family wouldn't get dragged too far down while I was pursuing the degree. Had I been single (or had my wife and I not had children), there would have been no loans and I/we would have done the starving student bit.

In this instance, we've got someone who borrowed a shit-pile of money pursuing a degree that would: A) be highly unlikely to ever lead to a tenure-track job that would; B) pay only marginally better than a good school-teacher's gig. If somebody's hell-bent to teach philosophy at the college/university level, more power to 'em, but he/she should be doing it on his/her dime.

old_tony · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Azrael said:

dog eat dog world said:

Azrael said:

dog eat dog world said:

Azrael said:

dog eat dog world said:

A once-great nation of a robust economy who was central to international stability, we ain't.
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We ain't?
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Not with this pacifist. North Korea and Iran will have everything they need on their terms. Same with the Muslim Brotherhood.
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We have the largest economy and the largest defense apparatus in the history of the world.

In what way do we no longer have a "robust economy?" In what way are we "no longer central to international stability?"

money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/

www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2013/01/28/130128crat_atlarge_lepore
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Ask the nearly 20 percent unemployed or underemployed. Of course, you'll look for links on that and won't find them because the Obamanation Administration chooses to see such factors as non-existent.
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So the actions of a single US presidential administration are responsible?
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Go back five years and I bet your answer to that question was "yes." Funny how that's changed now.

Azrael · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

old_tony said:

Azrael said:

So the actions of a single US presidential administration are responsible?
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Go back five years and your answer to that question was "yes." Funny how that's changed now.
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Please show me that quote.

Thanks.

old_tony · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Azrael said:

old_tony said:

Azrael said:

So the actions of a single US presidential administration are responsible?
Click to expand...

Go back five years and your answer to that question was "yes." Funny how that's changed now.
Click to expand...

Please show me that quote.

Thanks.
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Sure, once you tell me what your previous handle was.

Azrael · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

3_Octave_Fart said:

You seem to be getting sensitive to this stuff.
You have offered some resistance to criticism of this president at every turn.
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Sorry, but I'm tired of being misquoted.

Really not that hard to correctly quote the whole exchange is it?

Azrael said:

dog eat dog world said:

Ask the nearly 20 percent unemployed or underemployed. Of course, you'll look for links on that and won't find them because the Obamanation Administration chooses to see such factors as non-existent.
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So the actions of a single US presidential administration are responsible? Not the Global Crash of '08? Not Wall Street? Not the rise of China? Not automation? Not outsourcing? Not excessive profit-taking?

Even with all that: we're still the biggest economy on earth. And still the most well-defended.
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See? Not hard at all. Unless you're deliberately trying to misrepresent something.

YankeeFan · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

GeorgeFHayek said:

I feel really bad for this person. She borrowed $140,000 to pursue advanced degrees in philosophy -- and we all know how remunerative a career in philosophy can be -- and they're not making it easy for her to get those loans forgiven.
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So, teaching on-line courses in ethics qualifies as working for public-service organizations?

Yeah, she's really putting herself out there for the greater good. She doesn't have to leave her house for this job, but she's doing public service.

And, it really points out the problems with so many of our government programs -- if she does too well, she loses her benefits. And, her whole goal is not to do well, but to remain illegible for debt forgiveness. The incentives are all backwards.

The years of paperwork necessary to make the claim is incredible as well. All of this work to avoid loan repayment.

And, yes, it's just going to get harder for college adjuncts. Lot's of stories about colleges cutting hours to get under the 30 hour a week standard:

As employers prepare to implement the Affordable Care Act, it’s not just low-wage fast food workers who are feeling the heat. Adjunct faculty from at least four universities will also see their hours cut as colleges try to reduce the number of full-time employees whose health care they need to cover.

The four schools are Florida’s Palm Beach State College, Pennsylvania’s Community College of Allegheny County, Ohio’s Youngstown State University, and New Jersey’s Kean University. All four of those schools are state-owned.

Gwen Bradley, a senior program officer for the American Association of University Professors, said the AAUP’s National Committee on contingent faculty was “deeply concerned” by the emerging trend.

“Adjuncts are very precarious anyway,” said Bradley. “They usually have very low wages, and are often already below the thresholds for health care. But for those people who have it, being cut down to lose it is very devastating.”

Only contingent faculty—as opposed to full-time, tenure-track faculty—would be affected by the change in policy. Since the Affordable Care Act requires that employers provide health care to any employee who works 30 hours per week or more, universities like Palm Beach State College have opted to cap the time that contingent faculty are allowed to work at just below the 30-hour benchmark.

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/14/colleges-roll-back-faculty-hours-in-response-to-obamacare/
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When a fast food restaurant, where profit margins are slim, cuts hours, the owner is a bad guy, and people want to organize a boycott.

I haven't heard much of an outcry against Big Education.

Tarheel316 · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

YankeeFan said:

GeorgeFHayek said:

I feel really bad for this person. She borrowed $140,000 to pursue advanced degrees in philosophy -- and we all know how remunerative a career in philosophy can be -- and they're not making it easy for her to get those loans forgiven.
Click to expand...

So, teaching on-line courses in ethics qualifies as working for public-service organizations?

Yeah, she's really putting herself out there for the greater good. She doesn't have to leave her house for this job, but she's doing public service.

And, it really points out the problems with so many of our government programs -- if she does too well, she loses her benefits. And, her whole goal is not to do well, but to remain illegible for debt forgiveness. The incentives are all backwards.

The years of paperwork necessary to make the claim is incredible as well. All of this work to avoid loan repayment.

And, yes, it's just going to get harder for college adjuncts. Lot's of stories about colleges cutting hours to get under the 30 hour a week standard:

As employers prepare to implement the Affordable Care Act, it’s not just low-wage fast food workers who are feeling the heat. Adjunct faculty from at least four universities will also see their hours cut as colleges try to reduce the number of full-time employees whose health care they need to cover.

The four schools are Florida’s Palm Beach State College, Pennsylvania’s Community College of Allegheny County, Ohio’s Youngstown State University, and New Jersey’s Kean University. All four of those schools are state-owned.

Gwen Bradley, a senior program officer for the American Association of University Professors, said the AAUP’s National Committee on contingent faculty was “deeply concerned” by the emerging trend.

“Adjuncts are very precarious anyway,” said Bradley. “They usually have very low wages, and are often already below the thresholds for health care. But for those people who have it, being cut down to lose it is very devastating.”

Only contingent faculty—as opposed to full-time, tenure-track faculty—would be affected by the change in policy. Since the Affordable Care Act requires that employers provide health care to any employee who works 30 hours per week or more, universities like Palm Beach State College have opted to cap the time that contingent faculty are allowed to work at just below the 30-hour benchmark.

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/14/colleges-roll-back-faculty-hours-in-response-to-obamacare/
Click to expand...

When a fast food restaurant, where profit margins are slim, cuts hours, the owner is a bad guy, and people want to organize a boycott.

I haven't heard much of an outcry against Big Education.
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Very good point YF.

dog eat dog world · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Riptide said:

GeorgeFHayek said:

Sorry MC ... I haven't been indoctrinated. I just hate watching news on the TV. If I can't read it from somewhere reputable (e.g., Drudge or Rushlimbaugh.com), I live in ignorance of it.
Click to expand...

Rush Limbaugh is about as reputable as a crack whore. Not much different, really.

But thanks for the laugh.
Click to expand...

Not any less so than your typical left-wing late night talk show host....who it seems ignorant 20-something liberals lean on for news of the day.

Azrael · Jan 25, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

YankeeFan said:

When a fast food restaurant, where profit margins are slim, cuts hours, the owner is a bad guy, and people want to organize a boycott.

I haven't heard much of an outcry against Big Education.
Click to expand...

How many adjunct faculty jobs are there in America? Versus how many in fast food or other service businesses?

The difference might account in part for the relative lack of uproar.

And as the story points out, "adjunct faculty" jobs have always paid poorly and offered few benefits. You endure one while hoping to catch on full time.

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FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

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