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May 18th, 2013
thesmithian
Zoom Like Tyler Perry’s oeuvre (with which it shares a histrionic streak), Scandal’s place in black popular culture is way outsized because of the paucity of other black faces in their ecosystem. The work of Perry and [Shonda] Rhimes becomes shorthand for Where Black America Is Today. But where Perry’s work is deeply polarizing, in part, because of his apparent distrust of career-oriented women, Scandal’s popularity is fueled by the many professional black women who, like Olivia, are less likely to be Firsts (but may be still Onlys). They are ambitious and careerist and hypercompetent and well-compensated and unapologetic about all of it. more.

Like Tyler Perry’s oeuvre (with which it shares a histrionic streak), Scandal’s place in black popular culture is way outsized because of the paucity of other black faces in their ecosystem. The work of Perry and [Shonda] Rhimes becomes shorthand for Where Black America Is Today. But where Perry’s work is deeply polarizing, in part, because of his apparent distrust of career-oriented women, Scandal’s popularity is fueled by the many professional black women who, like Olivia, are less likely to be Firsts (but may be still Onlys). They are ambitious and careerist and hypercompetent and well-compensated and unapologetic about all of it.

more.

34 notes
scandal television tv race tyler perry shonda rhimes work jobs women careers culture
May 16th, 2013
thesmithian
Zoom Amazon employees in Germany have staged their first ever strikes, in a dispute over pay and benefits…Employees at two huge distribution warehouses…launched the one-day strike…Germany is a vital territory for Amazon. It is the retailer’s biggest market in Europe, with sales last year reaching more than €6.5bn. more.

Amazon employees in Germany have staged their first ever strikes, in a dispute over pay and benefits…Employees at two huge distribution warehouses…launched the one-day strike…Germany is a vital territory for Amazon. It is the retailer’s biggest market in Europe, with sales last year reaching more than €6.5bn.

more.

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germany europe work labor unions jobs wages amazon
May 15th, 2013
thesmithian
Zoom …delivery workers are among the most vulnerable to wage theft. They often use their own cars, bikes or cellphones, but are sometimes not adequately reimbursed. They are also vulnerable to being robbed or injured at work and to being paid less than the minimum wage. more.

…delivery workers are among the most vulnerable to wage theft. They often use their own cars, bikes or cellphones, but are sometimes not adequately reimbursed. They are also vulnerable to being robbed or injured at work and to being paid less than the minimum wage.

more.

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work jobs labor delivery cars bicycles mobile wages
May 10th, 2013
thesmithian
Zoom MidAmerican Energy, a utility serving 714,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota, said the project [will] create 460 construction jobs over two years and 48 permanent jobs… this due to a: …$1.9 billion investment in wind energy in Iowa [that] will help hold down customers’ electric bills, make the state more attractive to companies looking for greener energy… cool.

MidAmerican Energy, a utility serving 714,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota, said the project [will] create 460 construction jobs over two years and 48 permanent jobs…

this due to a:

…$1.9 billion investment in wind energy in Iowa [that] will help hold down customers’ electric bills, make the state more attractive to companies looking for greener energy…

cool.

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midamerican energy energy iowa illinois nebraska south dakota jobs construction wind energy electricity green energy
May 9th, 2013
thesmithian
'...there’s no poster in the pantry, and probably not where you work either, informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. That’s the law that gives workers the right to join together to seek better pay and working conditions, with or without a union. Under the N.L.R.A., it is illegal for an employer to punish organizers for trying to form a union. It is also illegal for unions to coerce employees to support a union. In unionized workplaces, the law requires employers and unions to bargain in good faith. So, why no poster? As it turns out, employees have rights under the N.L.R.A., but no right to be informed of those rights.'
14 notes
work labor jobs n.l.r.a. national labor relations act unions organized labor
May 8th, 2013
thesmithian
When it comes to economic gaps between whites and communities of color in the United States, income inequality tells part of the story. But let’s not forget about wealth. Wealth isn’t just money in the bank; its insurance against tough times, tuition to get a better education and a better job, savings to retire on and a springboard into the middle class. In short, wealth translates into opportunity…
Less than Equal: Racial Disparities in Wealth Accumulation, from the Urban Institute’s Opportunity and Ownership project
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economics race United States income equality wealth banks education jobs retirement class middle class
May 7th, 2013
thesmithian

‘…think what America would look like without its mostly Southern states…’

…Universal health care. No guns. Strong unions. A humane minimum wage. A humane immigration policy. High revenues from a fair tax structure. A massive public-works program. Legal gay marriage. A ban on carbon emissions. Electric cars. Stronger workplace protections. Extended family leave from work in case of pregnancy or illness. Longer unemployment benefits. In short, a society on a par with most of the rest of the industrialized world—a place whose politics have finally caught up with its social and economic realities.

…a sundering of the union would make the other half of America equally fulfilled. The red-state republic could…establish a theocracy in which the fundamentalist Christian church would legislate all the important aspects of civic life…It could, taking the lead from the pioneering Kansas legislature, abolish the income tax, raising revenue from, for example, a “pay to work” program. It could ban abortion in all instances, including rape and incest, and use the growing population of orphans to establish an impressive standing army.

more.

60 notes
long reads the south united states health care unions work labor taxes lgbtq marriage families jobs economics religion fundamentalist christianity kansas abortion rape politics
May 7th, 2013
thesmithian
Zoom Kaiser shipyards, Richmond, California. Miss Eastine Cowner, a former waitress, is helping in her job as a scaler to construct the Liberty Ship SS George Washington Carver launched on May 7, 1943. From the series: Negro Activities in Industry, Government, and the Armed Forces from the Records of the Office of War Information. [look of the hour]

Kaiser shipyards, Richmond, California. Miss Eastine Cowner, a former waitress, is helping in her job as a scaler to construct the Liberty Ship SS George Washington Carver launched on May 7, 1943.

From the series: Negro Activities in Industry, Government, and the Armed Forces from the Records of the Office of War Information.

[look of the hour]

Reblogged from Today's Document
161 notes
look of the hour richmond california jobs labor george washington carver race history military Armed Forces eastine cowner
May 4th, 2013
thesmithian
Central and northern Nigeria exemplify what happens when a country abandons certain regions so completely, failing to provide adequate education, social services, development, employment, and transparent political culture: extreme results rise up. In Plateau, I have spent time with a Christian who makes and sells guns, a reflective twenty-two-year old man with melancholic eyes who once thought he would go to college and start his own business, until his hometown became an undeclared war zone.
Alexis Okeowo, in the New Yorker
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the new yorker nigeria africa education jobs politics war alexis okeowo terrorism christianity islam religion
May 4th, 2013
thesmithian
'...the reporters hardly match the new multicultural reality that is Orange County.'
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May 4th, 2013
thesmithian
Zoom Should Google compensate us for our searches? Should Amazon pay us for the books we buy? They should, because they are using us to expand their databases and hone their algorithms—and, eventually, steal our jobs. This is the startling argument advanced by Jaron Lanier… more.

Should Google compensate us for our searches? Should Amazon pay us for the books we buy? They should, because they are using us to expand their databases and hone their algorithms—and, eventually, steal our jobs. This is the startling argument advanced by Jaron Lanier…

more.

39 notes
jaron lanier books authors culture nonfiction lit google amazon data jobs
May 1st, 2013
thesmithian
…you seem to suggest that somehow, these folks over there have no responsibilities and that my job is to somehow get them to behave. That’s their job. They are elected, members of Congress are elected in order to do what’s right for their constituencies and for the American people.

President Obama, in answer to the question

… do you still have the juice to get the rest of your agenda through this Congress?

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April 30th, 2013
thesmithian
Zoom A former AOL vice president is poised to become one of the Central Intelligence Agency’s top science and technology officers…she’s also been a NASA Jet Propulsion Lab engineer, a top spy, and a champion of open source software, too. Dawn Meyerriecks.

A former AOL vice president is poised to become one of the Central Intelligence Agency’s top science and technology officers…she’s also been a NASA Jet Propulsion Lab engineer, a top spy, and a champion of open source software, too.

Dawn Meyerriecks.

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April 27th, 2013
thesmithian
Beyoncé is a force of nature, she sang ‘Independent Women’ and ‘Survivor’ and ‘Irreplaceable,’ her band is all women, she’s pro-gender equality and anti-gender wage gap, she supports women through charity work, she does things that people so often identify as feminist-y—and so we load her down with our own expectations and identify her as a feminist icon and then hold to her to arbitrary standards as if she signed up for them herself. And even when she comes out and says she’s a feminist, she gets shit because she said it ‘ambivalently.’ The nerve! How dare she not perform as enthusiastically as we demand at the moment we demand it? At the risk of being one of those ‘don’t we have more important things to talk about’ feminists… don’t we? Not that anyone is beyond reproach, but God knows Beyoncé’s been picking up reproach for every damn thing she does lately.
Caperton Gillett, at the Guardian
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caperton gillett the guardian Beyoncé music pop music women gender jobs feminism
April 25th, 2013
thesmithian
…my position is that we eventually shouldn’t ‘pirate’ files, but it’s premature to condemn people who do it today. It would be unfair to demand that people cease sharing/pirating files when those same people are not paid for their participation in very lucrative network schemes. Ordinary people are relentlessly spied on, and not compensated for information taken from them. While I would like to see everyone eventually pay for music and the like, I would not ask for it until there’s reciprocity. What matters most is whether we are contributing to a system that will be good for us all in the long term. If you never knew the music business as it was, the loss of what used to be a significant middle-class job pool might not seem important. I will demonstrate, however, that we should perceive an early warning for the rest of us.
Jaron Lanier, at Wired
14 notes
jaron lanier music business economics middle class jobs internets tech
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