May 2006

The idea that minimum wages lead to unemployment is so ingrained in a lot of people who think they’re intelligent about economics that it’s essentially taken on faith from first principles rather than backed up with research. This article in the Knoxville News Sentinel isn’t a controlled scientific study, but it does present some data that suggest that a higher minimum wage correlates with lower unemployment and a healthier economy in general. Read the rest of this entry »

From today’s South Bend Tribune:

• The Board of Zoning Appeals has approved of a request by the South Bend Catholic Worker to have their house at 515 S. St. Joseph Street be a group residence.
• The BZA has denied a request by Opus Dei to raze a building, replace it with two smaller ones, and change the zoning. The article cites a laundry list of objections, but the one that leaps out at me is that the change would conflict with “neighborhood redevelopment plans.” Woe to anyone in South Bend who would make use of a lot in some way not envisioned by the neighborhood redevelopment plan. What would Jane Jacobs think of this foolishness?

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Mae M. Ngai had a commentary article in the L.A. Times a couple of days ago about the history of immigration laws in the U.S. Essentially, they came to be because people didn’t like Catholics, Slavs, or Chinese. But wouldn’t unskilled foreign labor cause economic havoc in the U.S.? I say let the market figure that out. If Americans are more skilled, then why are we worried about competition from Nicaragua, anyway? P&C administrator Mike, in a personal conversation, pointed out that all of this talk about free trade is really only talking about part of the equation— trade of goods. What about free trade of labor? I’m for both. And anyway, illegal immigrants are an essential part of the economy already. Legalization — the free trade of labor — is about treating people with basic human dignity rather than using them for their labor while keeping them as a permanent, illegal underclass.

Nick Nassar will be giving a talk on “Copyright & Culture” June 8, 7:30pm, at 52 Mason St, Worcester, Massachusetts.

He’ll look at the ethics of copyright, and how current trends in copyright law hurt individual freedom and society.

This talk is free and open to the public. Spirited discussion and refreshments will follow. Sponsored by the Saints Francis & Therese Catholic Worker community.

Nick is the lead developer for the free, open-source Democracy video player, a project of the non-profit Participatory Culture Foundation.
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The Right Reverend Bernard Longley, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, preached at Mansfield College chapel this Wednesday on the topic of “The exchange of gifts”. Amongst other things, he told us about the Goth church (see also this BBC report on a Goth service), which I suppose do not claim any direct succession from the Third Council of Toledo (hmm, I wonder if there are any Goth bands by that name…). Seriously, he drew his sermon heavily from the encyclical Ut Unum Sint; the title is from §28. He also expounded on Luke 9:49–56, particularly verse 50, which was helpful for me.
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Seven members of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus were arrested yesterday for civil disobedience at the Sudanese Embassy to protest the ongoing genocide in Darfur. According to Reuters, they paid $50 and were released.

As far as I know, this is the second Congressional group, and third group overall, to commit civil disobedience at the embassy this year. (Thanks to Jim Fussell for the heads-up on this one.)

Notes for Indymedia on the Beyond Broadcast conference.
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Class: May 15 I’m teaching a free class called “HTML for Activists.” This will be an hour-long introduction to HTML, focused on practical matters. If you’re interested, meet at 7pm at the statue of Freud on the main quad of Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Flickr: The new cool tag: happybirthdaymikeleslie.

Conference: As someone who doesn’t own a laptop, I’ll probably be the only person at tomorrow’s Beyond Broadcast conference doing less blogging than usual during the event.

Second Life and Darfur: The BB conference also has a presence in Second Life. Mr Paulukonis points out that there’s been some fighting in Second Life about Darfur, and that Ethan Zuckerman (who will be at BB) thinks the whole thing is irrelevant at best:

When I consider the issues I’m most interested in, collecting information – especially from people who are actually affected by these issues – is a much higher priority than presenting this data in a 3D format. Given that roughly 100,000 people log into Second Life in a given month – compared to roughly one billion using the Internet as a whole – I suspect people trying to call attention to global issues are better off making a website than a 3D space.

Nun: Nice article in Whispers about Sister Rose Thering, whose life work was “to promote greater understanding in the often-strained relationships between Christians and Jews.”

Dude: Through some Drupal site I found a microformats site, whereby I found this microformats podcast featuring Rohit. Dude, it is weird to stumble upon someone like that.

Real Solutions unveiled their new lawn signs today with a kick-off event at Newton Square.

The goal of Real Solutions is to “change the climate” of hostility towards the poor in Worcester. Among the signs they see of this climate are the city’s anti-panhandling campaign, the hatefulness of some views expressed on social program siting, and the city’s empty anti-PIP rhetoric.

The lawn signs say “Target Povery not People” and “We’re all Responsible.” (The capitalization here is a little weird, but at least it’s not as bad as the misspelled KNIT Worcester “Site Responsible” signs.)

Four people spoke at the event: Newton Square residents Barbara Kohin, John Ford, and Adria Bernardi, and Rev. Robert Batchelder of the Worcester Area Missionary Society.

Rev. Batchelder spoke of the French town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, which sheltered Jews during WWII. When the police asked if the town was sheltering Jews, the minister of the town is said to have replied, “We don’t know any Jews. We only know men.” Rev. Batchelder said that Worcester should say we don’t know any deserving poor or undeserving poor, we don’t know any taxpayers or deadbeats, we only know people.

John Ford started by saying, “This issue to me is simple. It’s about social justice and compassion.” He then quoted Pope John Paul as saying that helping the poor is for the Christian not mere charity, but an encounter with Christ in the faces of the poor.

One of the people at the press conference told me that state Rep. Bob Spillane drove by, and when he saw the signs shook his head unhappily.

If you live in Worcester and want a sign for your lawn, e-mail pieandcoffee@gmail.com.

Postscript

Lead of T&G article:

While the majority of city residents are not against social services, the debate in Worcester is dominated by the louder voices of extremists, according to Real Solutions member Michael Benedetti.

Well, I never said the majority of people in the city are not against social services. I think I said something like: the majority of people in the city are not motivated by fear and ignorance, on this issue. But whatever. Perfect example of why, when speaking to the press with the expectation of being quoted briefly, you should repeat one or two sound bites over and over.

Creationism dismissed as “a kind of paganism” by Vatican astronomer.

I wonder what the pagans have to say about that.