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Comment Re:Circumcised at age 18? (Score 1) 221

Choice is a good thing, but using the choice argument is less strong for anti-vaxxers. Circumcision is an incredibly invasive intervention, which may prevent some things where less invasive interventions may be as effective or significantly more effective (i.e., regular condom use). Vaccination is quite literally the best defense we have against some of the most infectious awful diseases that the world has ever seen, rarely have serious side effects, and aside from a needle being a bit scary, is pretty non-invasive.

Science has made the case for universal vaccination (some exceptions apply), but I don't think an honest case (at this point) could be made for universal circumcision.

Comment Re:What it means: (Score 2) 254

Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination

We perform a field experiment to measure racial discrimination in the labor market. We respond with fictitious resumes to help-wanted ads in Boston and Chicago newspapers. To manipulate perception of race, each resume is assigned either a very African American sounding name or a very White sounding name. The results show significant discrimination against African-American names: White names receive 50 percent more callbacks for interviews. We also find that race affects the benefits of a better resume. For White names, a higher quality resume elicits 30 percent more callbacks whereas for African Americans, it elicits a far smaller increase. Applicants living in better neighborhoods receive more callbacks but, interestingly, this effect does not differ by race. The amount of discrimination is uniform across occupations and industries. Federal contractors and employers who list Equal Opportunity Employer' in their ad discriminate as much as other employers. We find little evidence that our results are driven by employers inferring something other than race, such as social class, from the names. These results suggest that racial discrimination is still a prominent feature of the labor market.

Comment Re:Yes. (Score 1) 545

Because thats when most of the (professional American) football games are on?

But seriously, it makes sense in a secular way. Most people in non-customer service type jobs work Monday through Friday, normally. Those days are out, leaving us with Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is acceptable, but I think a stronger argument could be made for Sunday. Since most people would start their work week on Monday, at an absolute bare minimum, they should have the one day off before to rest up before starting the new week.

That said, I think there is a strong case for seriously disincentivizing employers requiring their employees to work 7 days a week, but that might not be practical for businesses that are open 7 days a week. In those cases, I think the day of week could be arbitrary chosen for/by each employee.

Comment Re:Random observation, on Google vs. Apple payment (Score 1) 265

I had Google Wallet on my last phone (Evo 4G LTE) and used it a couple times when I got my phone. I stopped using it because it wasn't any more convenient than grabbing a credit card out of my wallet. I had to unlock my phone, find the Wallet app, type in a PIN code, and then tap my phone to the reader. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't, sometimes it'd crash.

I've heard rumors that the experience has gotten better, but I no longer have a phone that I can try it out with.

Comment Re:Let's shit all over the customers (Score 2) 130

It depends on how you use your iPad 2. I probably wouldn't recommend it. It's pretty sluggish and non-responsive. I mostly use it as a second screen for fantasy football, so... I guess it's not that bad. But if you're using it to browse the net or play games, you will be disappointed. I'll add the disclaimer that I only upgraded to 8.1 today (from 8.0), so things may have improved.

Comment Re:Lesson from a poor student (Score 1) 95

This. Entirely.

Another few ideas from when I was in school:

  • Make friends. Split the cost of the book between two (or more) people. Or borrow it from someone who already took the class. Buy them a beer.
  • Amazon, eBay, or other online sellers are ALWAYS much cheaper than the bookstore. With the small caveat that if you're required to buy some online access code, you're fucked.
  • International editions are often much cheaper, and the covers in a foreign language are a good conversation starter.
  • Don't buy the book right away because sometimes the Prof doesn't even mention it in the class. It helps if you know someone who has already taken the class.
  • Sometimes there are better (free) resources available online (and this depends on how closely the prof follows the book).

Obviously, not all those apply if you want to keep the book. But, for the love of the FSM, don't shop at the campus bookstore unless you have no other option.

Comment Re:The Re-Hate Campaign (Score 1) 1116

People who don't like his discriminatory views are discriminating against him, depriving him of his rights. Ironic.

Which of his rights have been violated? He is, and always was, free to donate to any anti-gay cause he wanted, or any other cause for that matter.

Or are you saying that he has a right to our business and the continued contributions of volunteers? Is the fact that I don't use Firefox a violation of his rights?

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