* The charitable industrial complex; I find it revealing that so many people who view how charities work from the inside start to see why so much is amiss with them.
* “‘It’s a circle of hell there’s just no way out of,’ Schochet said. ‘I paid it as long as I could.’”
* Why It’s Never Mattered That America’s Schools ‘Lag’ Behind Other Countries.
* We should be suing and charging parents who don’t vaccinate their kids.
* “Open All Night: America’s Car Factories,” with the most interesting quote from a grant writer’s perspective being this, about a plant in Toledo: “Of those who applied for the work, 70% were rejected, mostly because they couldn’t pass initial assessment tests, Mr. Pino said.” “Initial assessment tests” means basic reading and writing skills. Any nonprofit in Toledo that wants to run adult education or after school programs should use this quote.
* “Affordable Excellence. . . This book is a clear first choice on the Singapore health system and everyone interested in health care economics, or Singapore, should read it. It is short, clear, and to the point.” I am struck by how many people have strong opinions about healthcare without really understanding the system. Sloganeering is rampant and understanding scant. This is useful in conjunction with “The two most important numbers in American health care,” which points out that five percent of patients accounts for fifty percent of costs.
* “The U.S. patent system inhibits cancer vaccine development.”
* “Spy Kids,” and the fate of spy apparatuses that depend on cultural concepts long dead in most of American and Western life.
* “The Gender Wage Gap Lie: You know that “women make 77 cents to every man’s dollar” line you’ve heard a hundred times? It’s not true.” More conventional wisdom debunked. Is anyone surprised?
* “If it were cheaper to build apartments the rent would be lower.” This is obvious but bears repeating.
* “Guesses and Hype Give Way to Data in Study of Education.”
* The Turpentine Effect, a brilliant post with an unfortunate title that makes it less likely you’ll read.
* “An Aspiring Scientist’s Frustration with Modern-Day Academia: A Resignation.”
* “The Patriarchy Is Dead Feminists, accept it.”
* “How Anthony Weiner Exposed the Insecurities of the 1960s Generation: A half-century after the sexual revolution, the make-your-own-rules folks are no longer quite so sold on free love.” This has Camille Paglia-esque overtones.
* We are in denial about catastrophic risks.
* NASA’s Plutonium Problem Could End Deep-Space Exploration.
* A geek’s tour of Sigma’s Aizu lens factory: Precision production from the inside out.