Last year’s cut of 20 days from the pre-kindergarten calendar had a predictable result: the retention rate for pre-K teachers fell markedly. So this year’s pre-K students are getting 20 fewer class days, and those days are being managed by…
U.S. added 200,000 jobs in December; unemployment rate at 8.5%; U-6 falls to 15.2%
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics press release this a.m.: Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 200,000 in December, and the unemployment rate, at 8.5 percent, continued to trend down, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred…
A number of errors in NPR’s “The Race To Dig Deeper Ports For Bigger Cargo Ships”
I think there are a number of objections that one could raise to NPR’s The Race To Dig Deeper Ports For Bigger Cargo Ships, which ran this afternoon on All Things Considered. But it’s still worth a listen, I think.…
8 Georgia colleges to merge into 4
Some major reorganization of Georgia’s state universities and colleges has been in the offing for a long time. In the AJC today, Chancellor: Proposed consolidations are right approach, details the four proposed mergers: — Augusta State University and Georgia Health…
Sofia Talvik – The Sentient Bean – 01/05/12
Promising show at the Bean tonight. B.J. Barham plays later at The Jinx (scroll down my homepage for clips and info).
The Ragbirds – Live Wire Music Hall – 01/04/12
A followup on Georgia’s 2011 anti-immigration bill: Georgia farms lost $74.9 million because of labor shortages
I was a staunch opponent of HB 87, which established a number of tough new measures to combat the presence of undocumented workers in Georgia. Even though most of the law’s provisions weren’t even in effect in 2011, migrant farm…
In the Know: Are the rich falling behind the super rich?
Two interesting numbers from Iowa: Romney vote in 2012 vs. 2008, Perry’s ad spending per vote
Two numbers jumped out at me this morning as I looked at the results of the Iowa caucus. First, here’s the vote breakdown: Romney 30,015 Santorum 30,007 Paul 26,219 Gingrich 16,251 Perry 12,604 Bachmann 6,073 Huntsman 745 No Preference 135…
Museum exhibit highlights 200th birthday of Manhattan’s street grid
Could Manhattan have ended up being laid out with something other than its simple grid, which gives the New York City borough its distinctiveness? The answer is yes. Until the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 was implemented over a period of…
Don’t click on messages saying that Fidel Castro is dead — it looks like a computer virus
If you get a message with the photo below, don’t click. Twitter is afire right now with rumors of Fidel Castro’s death, but it looks like a computer virus. From Cuidad Tu Salad con Diane Perez: Es realmente un virus…
B.J. Barham of American Aquarium – The Jinx – 01/05/12
Highly recommended solo gig by the frontman for American Aquarium.
B.J. is just making a quick acoustic swing through the Southeast with some new material before heading into the studio later in the month with the full band, to record their 6th album, “Burn.Flicker.Die.” with Jason Isbell in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.