The Second Law of Thermodynamics states simply that systems have a universal tendency to gravitate towards disorder

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Aerotropolis?


The China Hub credits stirring debate.

A study finished last week by the Regional Chamber and Growth Association predicts that if all the tax credits were used, they would generate 27.6 million square feet of cargo, factory and warehouse space. The companies that fill that space would probably employ about 6,600 people, and the spinoff effects could generate an additional 7,200 jobs.

Would undoubtedly have huge short and long term impacts on the St. Louis region. Good summary of the debate and a look at the possible new global face of St. Louis.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Wire


I've referenced this series a couple of times in class and I thought I might direct you to the homepage. Excellent series from HBO, and if you look around on the web I'm sure you can find it for free (or just go to your local Blockbuster store while there still around). I believe there are five seasons, each focusing on a different "urban institution" and it's ultimate decay: gangs/cops, unions, politicians, schools, and newspapers. Great series and highly entertaining in terms of character development and issues addressed. Some universities have used The Wire as an elective course of study to address urban issues.

From it's Wikipedia entry:
The website Metacritic, which gathers reviews from published news sources and translates them into a percentage score, has assigned to The Wire's fourth season a weighted average score of 98%, the highest for any television show since Metacritic began tracking them in 2005.[3]

Mayor Slay Attacks The Performance Of The St. Louis Public Schools


Mayor Slay Announces Three New Charter Schools

Mayor Francis Slay once again repeated his criticism that the city schools are mostly responsible for the city losing 29,000 people between 2000 and 2010. "There's no mistake about it," said an emotional Slay in his City Hall office shortly after announcing three new charter schools will begin operation in the city this fall. "Everybody knows that we're losing population because there's not enough free quality public education, and if anybody's in denial they're just fooling themselves."

interesting link here, and more to come--to help you with one of the essay questions on the final.

Mayor Slay has been a big proponent for charter schools. Last year he was honored by the National Alliance for Charter Schools as an exemplary advocate for its immersion into the public sector.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Missouri Comparative Stats


UMSL's Public Policy Research Center released comparative state statistics on Missouri which gives us a relative barometer on a number of policy areas. In short, we don't pay a lot of taxes in this state, and it may not be as attractive to new business or as productive to our citizens as we may have initially projected. This piece may be particularly useful for some of you in your S.W.O.T. analysis--depending on the scope of your area. Also, I had a request for the Slate piece on income inequality which can be found here or here for the pdf.

State of Recidivism: The Revolving Door of America’s Prisons


http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Pew_State_of_Recidivism.pdf

If states could reduce their recidivism rates by just 10%, they could save more than $635 million combined in one year in averted prison costs. It's my understanding that much of the cost is tied up in parole violations. Missouri is one of the states highlighted in the report.

3 big poker sites charged with fraud, illegal gambling


More of our previous discussions making headlines; specifically, online gambling world.
The owners of Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars, were charged with violating U.S. anti-Internet gambling laws (prosecutor's press release).

The criminal charges outlined a scheme by the company owners and some of their employees to direct the gambling profits to online shell companies that would appear legitimate to banks processing payments.

Which begs the question... what took them so long? All three of these internet venues have been advertising for years on TV--including NBC late at night which is where this press release is from.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Super Rich tax drops


From our classroom discussion to the printing press this was released from the AP over the weekend:

The Internal Revenue Service tracks the tax returns with the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes each year. The average income on those returns in 2007, the latest year for IRS data, was nearly $345 million. Their average federal income tax rate was 17 percent, down from 26 percent in 1992.

Still a bit selective in what data entry points they selected, the drop is nonetheless quite large and will undoubtably play a big role in the elections and the next budget.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Wash U Jobless Forum


Interesting forum and a pragmatic rebuttal from the Post Dispatch from the largely "progressive" jobless forum held at Wash U on Tuesday. Arguments to be made on both sides of this debate, but the current political climate will most likely have the ultimate say in present policy construction (or lack thereof).

Urban Farming in St. Louis


Urban farming sponsored from the International Institute of St. Louis. This is a great organization that does a lot of good for immigrants and refugees here in St. Louis.

In St. Louis, 11 refugees from five countries are going through the three-year program, which starts with English language classes specific to farming terms.

The plot of land is at the Botanical Heights, once a 10 city lot.

Gender disparities in India


From NPR this evening--a continuation from our discussion on Wed. Look no further than the comments section to see how this is a highly charged issue.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Monday, April 11, 2011

April 13th reading

100 million missing women... two relatively short articles from The Economist on gender demographics to be discussed in greater detail for next class. And if you are interested in reading the work that predated the accounts above go here to see Amartya Sen's work (it's relatively short as well).

Saturday, April 9, 2011

For Monday

This is a short article that came out in February from the Post. It is specifically discussing pay gaps between male and female physicians. The wage gap is a controversial topic and one which we will examine from multiple sides on Monday.

Monday, April 4, 2011

April 6th reading

2 relatively recent and short articles that can complement our discussion on class and inequality. The first is a progressive take on inequality by Kevin Drum that looks at US data and can be found here. The second selection by Rana Foroohar looks at the global middle class and postulates on its makeup and how it differs from the US's initial projections and can be found here. Read em', have an opinion, and come ready to discuss.


Friday, April 1, 2011