* There is a real federal program called “eSports and Game Development Skills Training and Capacity Building,” run through the Department of State’s (DoS) U.S. Mission to Saudi Arabia, and the program “requests proposals for projects aimed at increasing the knowledge, skills, abilities, and networks of Saudi youth in game development and STEAM fields.” There is only $45,000 available, however. I also spotted an RFP for “Strengthening Worker Engagement, Empowerment, and Trust in the Dominican Sugar Sector.” Who knew that the Dominican sugar sector is a priority for the DO?
* “The Case for Abolishing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).” Like the “Patriot Act,” which is not patriotic, NEPA actually harms the environment, rather than helping it. Notice: “If you think a two year, million dollar, 1,000+ page environmental report simply to build new bike lanes in an already developed city seems absurd, you’re not alone.” And, also: “America is absolutely drowning in process, forms, and reviews.” We need less participation and more action.
* “Factory Jobs Are Booming Like It’s the 1970s.” Perhaps relatedly: “Milwaukee Tool Raises the Bar with New USA Factory.”
* “Inside the Massive Effort to Change the Way Kids Are Taught to Read,” using phonics and direct instruction. In other words, the simple, decades-old ways work better in this field.
* The Framework modular laptop appears to be good. Modularity should increase longevity and thus reduce waste, although I doubt consumer electronics like laptops account for a high percentage of waste products.
* The NYT finally figures it out: “Why It’s So Hard to Find an Affordable Apartment in New York: There simply aren’t enough places to live, a crisis decades in the making and one that poses a threat to the city’s continuing recovery.” They should’ve learned about supply and demand a few decades ago, but “late” is better than “never.” Oh, and The national housing shortage is likely in the four to twenty million range: which is one reason why we need zoning reform.
* “The U.S. made a breakthrough battery discovery — then gave the technology to China.” Maybe we shouldn’t do that? Seliger + Associates has worked on numerous clean energy projects, and we’d prefer the benefits accrue here.
* “The US basically stopped building large-scale water infrastructure in the 1980s.” That seems bad, and we should start again. “Big” shouldn’t be synonymous with “bad,” even though it has been in the discourse of the last forty years.
* A Canceled Cancellation at the University of Michigan: “The University of Michigan Medical School just took a bold stand for academic freedom.” That’s an improvement over the status quo, but, simultaneously, I wonder how many institutions include “misuse of the bureaucratic apparatus and process” as a punishable offense.
* Colleges engage in extensive price discrimination, though they rarely call what they do “price discrimination.”
* Arguments in favor of intellectual freedom at the University of Austin.
* The paradox of Fermi’s Paradox: maybe we’ve been seeing aliens for a century and yet not admitting that’s what we’ve been seeing.
* “Failing Introductory Economics: A Davidson professor bemoans the state of his classroom.” Note the comments about performance across time. Maybe you’ve also seen that SAT and ACT scores are at their lowest level in 30 years. Complaining about the kids these days is an ancient hobby, but it may be useful to ask the kids these days how they spend their time.
* “Ten years of YIMBYism have accomplished a lot.” Good.
* “The Masks We’ll Wear in the Next Pandemic: N95s are good. Some scientists want to do much better.” Good, too, and there’s no guarantee the next pandemic won’t be far worse than this one.
