Fewer Educated Women Having Kids

According to the Rutgers University Marriage Project, the higher a woman's education level, the less likely it is that she will have children:

Women with four-year college degrees or better are more likely to be childless than women with lower levels of educational attainment. In 2006, for example, slightly more than twenty-four percent of women, 40 to 44 years of age, with a bachelor’s degree, and 27.4 percent of women, 40 to 44 years of age, with graduate or professional degrees were childless compared to only 14.9 percent of those without a high school degree.

Sources: Tim B. Heaton, Cardell K. Jacobson, Kimberlee Holland, “Persistence and Change in the Decision to Remain Childless,” Journal of Marriage and the Family 61 (1999), 531-39. 7; and Jane Lawler Dye, Fertility of American Women: 2006, Current Population Report P20- 558, Washington, D.C: US Census Bureau (2008): Table 2, 5.

Where's Susan Faludi when you need her?

Can't Make Noises the Government Doesn't Like

Check out Penal Code 415:

Any of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, a fine of not more than four hundred dollars ($400), or both such imprisonment and fine:

(1) Any person who unlawfully fights in a public place or challenges another person in a public place to fight.

(2) Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise.

(3) Any person who uses offensive words in a public place which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.

Is it just me, or do (2) and (3) sound unconstitutionally vague?

September 11 and Terrorism

Here is my previous post on terrorism and the likely future suspects. In my humble opinion, American Muslims do not generally represent a serious threat to any state's security. Every group, however, has radicals, and we ought to focus on the methods governments should use to monitor perceived radicals. In short, balancing civil liberties with security is the real debate.

May God bless all the victims of 9/11, including their surviving families, and post-9/11 hate crime victims.

Joe Wilson, Republican from South Carolina

First, Governor Sanford, now Joe Wilson. South Carolina can't seem to elect decent representatives. During President Obama's recent speech, Republican Joe Wilson yelled, "You lie!" Below is my letter to Mr. Wilson's office, asking him to resign. Feel free to copy and send to joe.wilson@mail.house.gov

Mr. Wilson:

Your conduct at President Obama's recent speech was unacceptable. You are dealing with the President of the United States of America, not a pitcher at a baseball game. Your heckling was boorish and showed disrespect to our Commander in Chief. Your apology is insufficient.

Please resign immediately. The great state of South Carolina has already suffered so much. It deserves new faces and credible reputations to represent its residents.

Law and Justice as Two Separate Concepts

Do you believe the law and justice go hand in hand? If so, get your drink of choice, sit down, and prepared to be shell-shocked. Unquestionably the most stunning piece I have read in recent memory:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann?currentPage=all

("Trial by Fire," by David Grann)

I am completely numb after reading it. My friend Samantha S. says, "the law is not about 'justice'--it is about application of rules. It isn't perfect, but it is all we have."

Follow-up here. From the New Yorker's comments section: "The most telling irony... what the State of Texas listed as the cause of death for Cameron Todd Willingham: homicide. One fact they absolutely got right."

More here on public defenders, Gideon, and access to justice.

Bonus: how much does it cost to execute someone? Answer is here.

Extra-judicial Bonds

Once in a while, I come across an interesting comment on internet message boards. The following comment, from seamusmcdermott, is about our justice system:

This case highlights a problem in the justice system. Judges, prosecutors and police fraternize with one another and form extrajudicial bonds. These bonds reach into the courtroom with undue frequency, resulting in a system that leans unfairly towards the prosecution's case.

Judges need to be beyond such influences, but they aren't. Go to any courthouse (Hall of Justice?) in the Bay Area and visit the cafeteria. You'll see what I'm talking about. This isn't discussed much because people are largely unaware of it, or don't care, or WANT people convicted, even if they didn't commit the crime for which they are charged.

Stuff like this was behind the case recently where DNA evidence exculpated 55 death row inmates in Illinois. And the prosecutors STILL wanted to execute them, even though the DNA evidence clearly showed them to be innocent. Crazy, huh? And prosecutors are protected from civil action in these cases.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/09/BAVK19K6QV.DTL#ixzz0Qd0IcgW3

Mark Cuban and Unpaid Internships

I'm a huge fan of Mark Cuban. If reincarnation exists, I'd like to be reincarnated as him. Mr. Cuban recently blogged about unpaid internships and the maze of regulations involved in creating a legal unpaid intern position. See here. My response is below:

Mark’s HR representative is mostly correct. I handle labor and employment cases in California, and I tell my clients never to hire an [unpaid] intern unless they go through an authorized college program. Overall, as a business owner as well as a plaintiffs' employment lawyer, I see both the pro-business and pro-employee sides of employment issues.

Mr. Cuban and the minimum wage supporters are both correct. Mr. Cuban is correct in stating that potential employees have lost an opportunity because of the law’s expansive liability. The min-wage group is also correct when it contends that unpaid internships favor affluent and middle-class children who can afford to work without pay for some time. One can hold both positions without any contradiction.

Mr. Cuban, however, weakens his argument by refusing to acknowledge that internships favor more affluent kids. It is true that a poor kid from the ghetto could work two or three jobs–something Mr. Cuban did–and use public transportation to get valuable experience, but the overwhelming majority of the participants would not fall into the aforementioned category.

Mr. Cuban contends that it is not impossible for poor kids to participate and benefit from unpaid internships. Again, true, but when the overwhelming majority of unpaid interns are not poor kids or are supported by parents, it should be clear that unpaid internships tend to discriminate against poorer students, adults, and teenagers.

What is the solution? We need to revamp our entire educational system. Most education in America is no better than government-subsidized babysitting. When you compare American high school graduates with high school graduates from India, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, Norway, etc., the differences are stunning. Many international students specialize in a particular area and are familiar with a particular field when they graduate high school or college. American schools, in contrast, refuse to track students, equating “tracking” with stigmatizing. Other countries have no such qualms, which results in a less egalitarian, but more workforce-ready society.

America’s biggest problem (and positive) is its idealism and the idea that all students must be educated through college. Other countries actively weed out under-performers from colleges and even high schools. A more selective educational system will not go over very well in egalitarian-minded America until we realize we are failing our children in an increasingly globalized economy. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is doing some wonderful things with charter schools, but it’s not enough. Teachers’ unions–which represent teachers, i.e., government workers, not children–are very powerful and will resist any educational overhaul.

Ultimately, if you want to blame someone for our unfair economic system, which favors rich kids and penalizes poorer kids, blame the American educational system and the teachers’ unions. An American high school diploma and college degree mean nothing these days. Think about why our degrees and diplomas have become worthless in proving workforce readiness. (Hint: it isn’t because of Mark Cuban.) Think about why employers want to see people work on the job before hiring them as employees. Think about whether an unpaid internship is useful in determining whether an employee and employer may find each other mutually beneficial. Ask yourself, “Does a person’s willingness to work for free indicate dedication and long-term interest?” Also, remember that no one is saying that the intern’s unpaid status should be permanent or long-term–I think Mr. Cuban is saying that an unpaid internship is a short-term “trial” period to determine whether a particular project or worker is capable of generating revenue for both the employee and the employer. In any case, don’t blame Mr. Cuban for trying to find hard workers. He’s just a realist, not a blood-sucking capitalist.

[This post has been slightly modified since its original publication.]