Jonathan Zimmerman, get your head out of the clouds! Well heeled Ivy League professor wants Ivy League students to forget high paying "sellout jobs", go into social justice fields, and then whine on TikTok about how underpaid they are

We have previously noted University of Pennsylvania professor of education and history and Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Jonathan Zimmerman on several occasions. Dr Zimmerman has been very supportive of the freedom of speech, but he’s just managed to miss the point in his latest writing.

The biggest problem at Penn is matching what we say about student careers with what we do

Half of our undergraduates enter the fields of consulting or finance. Penn talks the talk of public service, then teaches young people to line their pockets.

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Baristas unionize, coffee shop owner closes the doors

In the heyday of unionization, unions were representing workers who actually had some skills, workers who could not easily be replaced, because their skills were needed to do their jobs, and it took a long time to develop those skills. Perhaps, just perhaps, pulling a cup of coffee isn’t that difficult a skill to learn?

Well, perhaps being polite is harder to learn than pulling a cup of coffee!

All OCF Coffee House locations close permanently, a week after workers moved to unionize

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I know how to save The Washington Post! Find a new billionaire owner who doesn't care if the paper is losing money!

I know how to save The Washington Post! Just have Jeff Bezos, net worth $196 billion as of June 4, 2024, owner of the newspaper, give it to MacKenzie Scott, net worth $33.3 billion as of June 4, 2024, Mr Bezos’ ex-wife and a noted philanthropist who has no problem in giving away her money. Just a straight-up reassignment! Mr Bezos stops losing $77 to $100 million a year on the Post, and Miss Scott, with five times as much money as Patrick Soon-Shiong, net worth $6.3 billion as of June 4, 2024, and who is finding the Los Angeles Times’ losses too much to bear, can easily handle losing money, because she doesn’t seem to care if she makes money or not. Continue reading

Lies, damned lies, and statistics Who are you going to believe, Joe Biden, or your lying eyes?

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” — George Orwell, 1984

The official inflation rate has come down from its highs earlier in the Biden Administration, and the Democrats are arguing that inflation has been whipped, that wages are rising just as fast as prices, and even a little bit faster. But Erin McCarthy of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote something that just doesn’t go along with the Democrats’ meme. Continue reading

Another five bite the dust! More layoffs at The Philadelphia Inquirer

Last Tuesday, I attended a meet-and-greet presentation held by the Lexington Herald-Leader, listening to Executive Editor Richard Green and Managing Editor Lauren Gorla. It was a decent meeting, and Miss Gorla said one thing which stuck with me. While newspapers used to depend primarily on advertising, she stated that currently what my best friend used to call the Herald-Liberal is primarily funded via subscriptions, and occasional donations from philanthropic organizations.

Available was a complete list of newspaper staffers, 32 to them, of which only 17 were listed as reporters, and only 13 of which were not listed as sports reporters.

I was thinking about that when I read a series of tweets from the News Guild of Greater Philadelphia.

We are disgusted and enraged to report that The Inquirer has laid off 5 of our members today.

This is the bulletin we sent to our members a short time ago:

Less than a week after The Inquirer announced a desire to have employees increase their days working in the office in the spirit of “collaboration, inclusion, and sense of urgency about our work” today the company informed five Guild members who have been extraordinary contributors to our mission that they are being laid off. So much for collaboration and inclusion. Continue reading

But, but, but, it’s just so unfair! Caitlin Clark's new endorsement deals are all about the Benjamins

Caitlin Clark was the top NCAA women’s basketball player this past season, and was the number one draft pick by the Indiana Fever. She was the major reason that the Iowa Hawkeyes’ women’s team got more coverage this year, and that the women’s tournament drew a lot more viewers than the norm. And, as her rookie season begins, the advance television schedule shows that the Indiana Fever will get a lot more national television coverage. Continue reading

It’s all about the Benjamins

Tadej Pogačar, from his UAE Team Emirates bio.

Our family, especially our younger daughter, are fans of professional cycling. Our daughter knows all of the major players, and if my interest is more for the scenery on the European road races, I still know something about the sport.

How fanatic are our family? While watching the Tour of Scotland on television in 2022, my wife and daughter decided, upon seeing a quaint looking hotel in Ballater, Scotland, that they had to go there, which they did in October of that year. I didn’t get to go, but it worked out for me because, when our older daughter called from Kuwait, and said she got four days leave and was going to Jerusalem, I had a perfect excuse to join her there, and no one could object that it cost too much money!

The two best cyclists in the world are Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark and Tadej Pogačar from Slovenia. Mr Vingegaard rides for Team Visma/Lease-a-Bike, while Mr Pogačar is the number one rider for UAE Team Emirates. Mr Pogačar won the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, while Mr Vingegaard won in 2022 and 2023. Alas! Mr Vingegaard was injured in a serious crash on Stage 4 of the Tour of Basque Country on April 4th, and while it’s not impossible, it is unlikely he’ll be in shape to ride in the Tour this year.

One of the primary goals of the corporate, and in the case of UAE, government, sponsors is publicity, as bike racing is especially popular in Europe, and there’s nothing that the sponsors like more than seeing their emblems featured prominently on television. And with Mr Pogačar, the UAE Team Emirates logo will be very prominently featured on television!

NBA puts logo of anti-gay government’s airline on its referees, including two who are gay and trans

Bill Kennedy and Che Flores are gay and trans NBA referees. The NBA has put Emirates patches on them despite anti-gay laws.

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#Woke TikToker chooses not to Dress for Success, and whines when she doesn’t get the job

It is no great secret that better looking people are more successful in life. This isn’t just anecdotal: several studies have researched the question and found that that attractive people are more likely to find professional success and are often offered more jobs, higher salaries, and promotions.

So, it was with some amusement that I read this; hat tip to William Teach!

“Pretty Privilege Is A Real Thing”: This Woman Was Seemingly Denied A Job After Showing Up To Her Interview Makeup-Free, And Women Are Sharing Similar Stories

Eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024 | 12:15 PM EDT

The job market today might be bleak, but job seekers everywhere still adhere to “professionalism standards” when interviewing for new roles. Continue reading

When a reporter has more of an agenda than an understanding of economics and business.

We have twice reported on the decisions of Wawa to close down some stores in foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy Philadelphia. The late Josh Kruger complained bitterly about such.

This crime is not new, and The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Headhouse Square Wawa “will become the sixth Center City Wawa to shutter since 2020.”

So, you would think that an article in the newspaper on food ‘deserts’ in some Philly neighborhoods would at least mention crime. But, if you did think that, you would be wrong.

About 40 million people in the United States don’t have access to a full-service grocery store

The 2023 update of the Limited Supermarket Access Study examines the lack convenient access to health food options across the nation — and in Philadelphia.

by Lynette Hazleton | Thursday, March 21, 2024 | 5:00 AM EST

What food is available has everything to do with the food stores that are available.

When the food store is a full-service supermarket, like the ShopRite in Parkside, it usually means you will have the access to a wider variety, higher-quality and lower-cost food, explained Michelle Schmitt, a senior policy analyst at The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) as she walked around the bustling 15-year-old supermarket.

As you can see, the article wasn’t produced by the regular Inquirer staff, but the Leftist Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the non-profit which owns the newspaper. I have previously noted that, as a subscriber, I sometimes receive begging for donations letters from the Leftist Lenfest Institute.

When you don’t have the same access to high quality food as you do to chips, fast food and soda, it can contribute to an unhealthy eating pattern that can ultimately lead to chronic disease.

How is it that Lynette Hazelton, the Philly native who reported this story, couldn’t bring herself to note that the densely-populated rowhouse neighborhoods which make up a significant part of the city’s neighborhoods don’t really have room for a huge Giant Food Mart? Yes, there are corner bodegas in most of the neighborhoods, where you can get those chips, fast foods, soda, beer, lottery tickets, and the occasional bullet in your chest. But the kinds of supermarkets that Miss Hazelton envisions take up around ten acres when parking lots are included.

Schmitt is the main author of the 2023 update to the Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) study which determines who is and is not well served by their grocery store. The official definition for limited supermarket access is 500 people in a low income tract where urban members are more than a mile and rural shoppers are more than 10 miles to a full service store. It is the fourth update since 2010 and the first to include Alaska and Hawaii.

The big take away: about 40 million Americans live without easy access to healthy food options.

Take Parkside, Belmont and Mantua neighborhoods of West Philadelphia. Together they are home to roughly 48,755 residents. Virtually all the blocks are very densely populated, 66% Black and almost half the people had an annual income of $25,000 in 2021, the latest data available.

This was some sloppy writing. Did Miss Hazeltom mean that $25,000 was the median income?

While this is the neighborhood many traditional stores would overlook, it is the type of neighborhood that the LSA study showed was in desperate need of a supermarket.

OK, why would “many traditional stores” overlook those neighborhoods? The author noted that “Virtually all the blocks are very densely populated,” which means less available area to put in a ten-acre supermarket. The neighborhoods are mostly poor, and grocery stores “operate on razor-thin profit margins. The industry average is between one and three percent, far below other retail sectors. With such lean margins, grocery stores rely on high sales volume and inventory turnover to thrive.” Then you throw in Philly’s crime rate, and the obvious question is easy to determine: how could a supermarket make a profit there?

Supermarkets were once associated with suburbs, and by the 1970s seven out of every ten food dollars were spent there. But also supermarkets did not place their businesses in low-income communities which lead to real consequences.

This paragraph alone tells you just how poor Miss Hazelton’s article was. The source she hyperlinked told her that grocery stores in Philly were mostly the ‘corner grocery store’ type, operating in the rowhouse neighborhoods, yet somehow, she couldn’t figure out that those neighborhood structures dictated the kinds of grocery stores that were there. In more rural areas, we had “general stores” before supermarkets were developed, and many lament that so few of those old general stores exist. Alas! The old general store that was near where I now live went out of business, became someone’s auto repair shop for a while, and is now a small volunteer fire station. Kroger and Giant and Aldi forced those old country general stores out of business, but in the suburbs and rural areas, there was the physical room for supermarkets.

Perhaps it’s as simple as the reporter having more of an agenda than an understanding of economics and business.