The NPR reporting on this kept saying they (NASA?) had calculated that there was a 1 in 3000 chance of someone getting hit. I think they meant there was a 1 in 3000 chance that a single person out of all the people on the earth would get hit, but it sounded a lot like they meant each person had a 1 in 3000 chance of being hit, which would be really high. Perhaps the presentation of the statistic is how this became a big story.
I agree with Gregg. Some immigrant workers are not brought in for low wage purposes. In my area, Microsoft has brought in lots of people from India, and I don't get the impression they are getting paid less than the going rate for software work. However, most immigrants in the U.S. do come for jobs that pay less than the going rate. This reduces the bargaining power of poor citizenry who would like to get more for their work. The commonly-repeated saying that some jobs are not wanted by locals and thus require immigrants has always seemed a myth to me. If those jobs are not wanted, why do they not pay more than minimum wage, instead of less? Having done my share of manual labor, I can confidently say the pay is the predominant factor in what makes a job wanted or not. And regarding the flow of skilled workers as a benefit to the receiving countries, this reduces the incentive for the receiving country to invest in its own population. Higher education in the U.S. always seems to be getting more and more expensive in the U.S. If skilled workers weren't available for poaching from other countries, educating locals who have grown up here would have more priority. The flow of skilled workers to wealthier counties also makes it harder for developing counties to hold onto investments they may make in educating their own populace. When people trained as doctors in a poorer country, for example, leaves for a wealthier country, it is a huge loss to the poorer country.
Any explanations for why the Egyptian army is so repressive? Stuff like shooting people for demonstrating or locking them up for "insulting the military" make me wonder. It's easy to say they're just a bunch of idiots, but I'd like to know some of the underlying reasons/motivations.
Can someone enlighten me as to what it would mean if Abbas were to resign? As I understand it, his term expired in 2009, so he doesn't actually have anything to resign from. I can see that the current talks would end, but do Abbas and his group actually legitimately represent anyone in the first place? For that matter, some background on how he was chosen (as opposed to representatives from Hamas?) for these talks would also be appreciated.
The NPR reporting on this kept saying they (NASA?) had calculated that there was a 1 in 3000 chance of someone getting hit. I think they meant there was a 1 in 3000 chance that a single person out of all the people on the earth would get hit, but it sounded a lot like they meant each person had a 1 in 3000 chance of being hit, which would be really high. Perhaps the presentation of the statistic is how this became a big story.
I agree with Gregg. Some immigrant workers are not brought in for low wage purposes. In my area, Microsoft has brought in lots of people from India, and I don't get the impression they are getting paid less than the going rate for software work. However, most immigrants in the U.S. do come for jobs that pay less than the going rate. This reduces the bargaining power of poor citizenry who would like to get more for their work. The commonly-repeated saying that some jobs are not wanted by locals and thus require immigrants has always seemed a myth to me. If those jobs are not wanted, why do they not pay more than minimum wage, instead of less? Having done my share of manual labor, I can confidently say the pay is the predominant factor in what makes a job wanted or not. And regarding the flow of skilled workers as a benefit to the receiving countries, this reduces the incentive for the receiving country to invest in its own population. Higher education in the U.S. always seems to be getting more and more expensive in the U.S. If skilled workers weren't available for poaching from other countries, educating locals who have grown up here would have more priority. The flow of skilled workers to wealthier counties also makes it harder for developing counties to hold onto investments they may make in educating their own populace. When people trained as doctors in a poorer country, for example, leaves for a wealthier country, it is a huge loss to the poorer country.
Any explanations for why the Egyptian army is so repressive? Stuff like shooting people for demonstrating or locking them up for "insulting the military" make me wonder. It's easy to say they're just a bunch of idiots, but I'd like to know some of the underlying reasons/motivations.
Can someone enlighten me as to what it would mean if Abbas were to resign? As I understand it, his term expired in 2009, so he doesn't actually have anything to resign from. I can see that the current talks would end, but do Abbas and his group actually legitimately represent anyone in the first place? For that matter, some background on how he was chosen (as opposed to representatives from Hamas?) for these talks would also be appreciated.