I recently had a conversation with my friend Erik about our meager retirement investments. While I worked for Action I had a 401K account that I contributed to for several years. I had about $X in it at one point. Then the economy took a nosedive and my 401K followed suit dropping to a little over half of what it used to be worth. Over the next couple of years it slowly climbed back to about 2/3 of what it was once worth. My account was with insurance and investment gigantus enormous Trans America, but since Action went out of business, they threw me into an E*trade account. By this time I had been in school for a while and had no desire to start researching who I wanted to invest in. So I just used a risk assessment program on E*trade and put my money into their recommendation. The value bounced around near that 2/3 mark for a year or so and I stopped even looking at it.
After talking with Erik, I checked again and it had gone up by over 20%. This is a pretty big gain in only a few months and I don't think that growth like this is sustainable but it was a pleasant surprise. I am still at a loss overall. I try to keep in mind that the market always goes up over the long run. And at least I have something, no matter how little it seems.
I want to be happy with what I have my money invested in. This morning I looked a little closer. I was disappointed to see some of the names that I saw - Holdings in corporations like Nestle, BP, Exxon Mobile, JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Total were sizable in a couple of the funds. In the past I have only looked at what I thought could make me the most money for the risk I was willing to take. My thinking has changed concerning that. I want my money invested in things I believe in and will hopefully help make the world better rather than worse. Things that I can be proud to support with MY money. I recognize that my disregard for what my money was doing made me a hypocrite. Not that there aren't plenty of other things I do that make me one, but this is one of those things that was really a no-brainer and there was no good reason to not do it. I've been thinking about doing this for a while but procrastination keeps shoving itself down my throat.
Now I know that I have to do something else. I know that there are "green" and socially responsible options out there, I just have to start looking. I pretty quickly found a place that is based here in Portland called Portfolio 21 Investments that looks very interesting to me. This is written on their home page - Portfolio 21 invests in companies designing ecologically superior products, using renewable energy, and developing efficient production methods. Portfolio 21 companies seek to prosper in the 21st Century by recognizing environmental sustainability as a fundamental human challenge and a tremendous business opportunity.
Apparently the return on their global equity mutual fund has beat the S&P 500 over the last 10 years. That's not really saying much, but it's a standard that a lot of people can relate to. Probably my biggest worry is the fees. I will have to pay 1.50% of the value of my account every year for management fees. I guess that's not outrageous. I don't necessarily like it, but it's a price I will probably be willing to pay in this case. I need to find out a little more about Portfolio 21 and want to meet with a fund manager. I hope to do this during my next school break that starts in a few weeks.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Even greener
I recently changed my registered political party. I didn't feel that any of the more prominent political parties really represented who I am and what I want for our country and the world. Sounds all pie in the sky and foo-foo, right? Why should I support the ridiculous crap that the Republicans, Democrats, Tea-Parties or Libertarians continuously spout? Some of you will certainly scoff at my choice, but the Green Party easily has better general moral values than any of the other political parties that I know of, mainstream or not. Does your political party really reflect the values that you claim to have?
Here are some links to what the Green Party is. There are several different levels that have overlapping ideals but have more regional-specific activities.
It starts at a state level with the Pacific Green Party (or the official site). Some of their concerns are more focused on local or regional levels.
The Pacific Green Party is part of the larger Green Party of the United States. They have a list of "Ten Key Values" that are the heart of what people in the Green Party stand for. They don't accept donations from corporations. How is any of this bad? Shouldn't we all aspire to these goals?
The Green Party is not perfect. It has had some radical members. It has been stereotyped. Most people have an idea of what the Green Party is that is completely false. I tried to look past all of that and to focus on what they really hope to achieve. This isn't socialism or fascism. We still want a democracy, more specifically a social democracy. Way different than socialism. This is idealism. It's about fairness, justice, equality, responsibility, and leaving a better world for coming generations. If you disagree with what the Green Party represents or have opposing views I would love to hear what you have to say about this. Why don't more people who agree with these ideas join the Green Party? Do you think I've made a mistake? What's your opinion?
Here are some links to what the Green Party is. There are several different levels that have overlapping ideals but have more regional-specific activities.
It starts at a state level with the Pacific Green Party (or the official site). Some of their concerns are more focused on local or regional levels.
The Pacific Green Party is part of the larger Green Party of the United States. They have a list of "Ten Key Values" that are the heart of what people in the Green Party stand for. They don't accept donations from corporations. How is any of this bad? Shouldn't we all aspire to these goals?
- Grassroots democracy
- Social justice and equal opportunity
- Ecological wisdom
- Nonviolence
- Decentralization
- Community-based economics
- Feminism and gender equality
- Respect for diversity
- Personal and global responsibility
- Future focus and sustainability
The Green Party is not perfect. It has had some radical members. It has been stereotyped. Most people have an idea of what the Green Party is that is completely false. I tried to look past all of that and to focus on what they really hope to achieve. This isn't socialism or fascism. We still want a democracy, more specifically a social democracy. Way different than socialism. This is idealism. It's about fairness, justice, equality, responsibility, and leaving a better world for coming generations. If you disagree with what the Green Party represents or have opposing views I would love to hear what you have to say about this. Why don't more people who agree with these ideas join the Green Party? Do you think I've made a mistake? What's your opinion?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Books I've read in the last six months
It's been way too long since I posted what I've been reading. Good thing I haven't been reading all that much in the last few months. Most of my extracurricular reading is done with library books. It's easy to keep track of what I have read with the reading history in my online library account. I keep saying how much I love the Multnomah County Library. That's because its AWESOME! This may take awhile. I really should be doing other things.
Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies : the straight scoop on Freemasons, the Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, the New World Order, and many, many more - Arthur Goldwag.
What a mouthful! I'm not a conspiracy theory guy. But I do like to keep informed about what they are talking about. I sometimes visit conspiracy theory, climate change denier, white supremacist, and other fringe or extremist websites just to see what kind of nonsense they are spouting. That's pretty much why I picked up this book. I should have spent more time deciding if I wanted to check it out. I tried reading it. What total garbage. It was barely readable. And not just because of the content. I don't think I read even 10 pages of this book before I returned it. Don't waste your time with this one.
Unquenchable : America's water crisis and what to do about it - Robert Glennon.
A well-written, thought-provoking and sobering book from 2009 about America's water supplies, consumption, where we may be headed and what we can do about it. Another subject that more people should be aware of.
$20 per Gallon : How the inevitable rise in the price of gasoline will change our lives for the better - Christopher Steiner.
Most books that I have read about how the climate is changing, or about our numerous consumption patterns, or our dependence on oil, etc. are generally kind of worrisome and alarming to read. Maybe even a bit depressing. This book is not like that. I found the author's point of view very refreshing and he put rising gasoline prices under a different light. I wish more people could look at the positive aspects of issues like this. I've been saying for years that gas should cost more. That makes a lot of people angry. People who are scared of change. Some think I just want to punish those who use gas. Stupid. Attack the messenger!
Cradle of Gold : the story of Hiram Bingham, a real-life Indiana Jones, and the search for Machu Picchu - Christopher Heaney.
This was a fun book to read. History, archaeology, Incas, treasure hunters, famous explorers, controversy. It's got it all. The author did a HUGE amount of research and did a great job with this book.
The Complete Do-it-yourself Bike Book : Everything you need to know to fix, maintain, and get the most out of your bike - Mel Allwood.
I learned a bunch about my bicycle from this book.
Return to Treasure Island and the search for Captain Kidd - Barry Clifford with Paul Perry.
Another fun to read book about treasure hunters, the real life Captain Kidd, shipwrecks, and more controversy.
Tony Wheeler's Bad Lands - Tony Wheeler
This book intrigued me. It wasn't as good as I was hoping, but it gave me a view of places like Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia from a different perspective than what you might hear in the news. It was interesting, but since it was written as a tourist guide it left me a little flat. Maybe it was his writing. I'm not sure. I give it a C+.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
During the last school term, because of the literature class I was taking, I was interested in dystopian books and movies and heard about this one. It is very well written and hard to put down. If you are interested in this type of novel I highly recommend this one.
What environmentalists need to know about economics - Jason Scorse.
There was really nothing new here for me but it helped me think more about my potential career path. This book would be ideal for someone who wanted to see what the connections are between economics and the environment. Non-technical and easy to read.
Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
I am kind of embarrassed to admit that I had never read this book before. It has a dystopian theme, but is nothing like Brave New World, another classic that I had never read before recently. I should be ashamed of myself.
The Worldly Philosophers : The lives, times, and ideas of the great economic thinkers - Robert L. Heilbroner.
This is the book that inspired me to order all those econ books recently. It was a good introduction to famous economists and their theories - past and present. I haven't read many of those "classic" books. Yet. This is a good general audience book that doesn't go to deep, but still gives a good idea of who these old guys were and a general idea of their economic ideology. Another non-technical easy to read book.
Water Wars : Privatization, pollution and profit - by Vandana Shiva.
I have huge respect for this woman. This book is fairly short and to the point. It's basically a history of how the Indian (that place next to Pakistan) people and country has been devastated by the privatization and centralization of control of water. This book and the movie Flow are on the same thing. Both are excellent. You should read this book and learn something new if you have the chance. I'm actually still reading this but should be done with it soon.
The Economics Anti-textbook : A critical thinker's guide to microeconomics - Rod Hill and Tony Myatt.
This is another refreshing alternative view to the current economic paradigm. Specifically about how micro-economic textbooks present theory as cut-and-dried when they really are not. This isn't really a fun book to read and is giving me a refresher of sorts on the class I took nearly two years ago. But with a twist of considering the human side of things and how nothing is really as straightforward as is taught. I do understand that there is only so much that can be covered in a one term class, but I don't think it would be very difficult to work in a little about the variability and randomness of economics. Most people probably wouldn't want to read this book, but anyone who takes or has taken a microeconomics course would be well-served by having this book handy.
Progress and Poverty - Henry George
It took me a while to get into this book the first time. I finally finished it about 6-8 months ago and was intrigued. I reread it a few months ago to try to understand it a little better and was still intrigued. Its disappointing that Henry George's ideas didn't retain their popularity for a while longer. We would all be better off and probably happier if they had. There are some places that did, including several cities in the US, and they have been a big success. It's unlikely that there will ever be a wide scale adoption of them, but one can hope.
The Drunkard's Walk: How randomness rules our lives - Leonard Mlodinow
I almost forgot to list this one. I just finished this one a couple of days ago. A nice explanation of probability and randomness. My philosophy instructor mentioned this book a couple of weeks ago and I thought it sounded interesting. It's amazing how badly we can mispredict the probability of so many things in our everyday lives. Did you know the study of statistics began with gambling? The author did a good job on a potentially very dry topic. His examples were informative and entertaining. Highly recommended.
Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies : the straight scoop on Freemasons, the Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, the New World Order, and many, many more - Arthur Goldwag.
What a mouthful! I'm not a conspiracy theory guy. But I do like to keep informed about what they are talking about. I sometimes visit conspiracy theory, climate change denier, white supremacist, and other fringe or extremist websites just to see what kind of nonsense they are spouting. That's pretty much why I picked up this book. I should have spent more time deciding if I wanted to check it out. I tried reading it. What total garbage. It was barely readable. And not just because of the content. I don't think I read even 10 pages of this book before I returned it. Don't waste your time with this one.
Unquenchable : America's water crisis and what to do about it - Robert Glennon.
A well-written, thought-provoking and sobering book from 2009 about America's water supplies, consumption, where we may be headed and what we can do about it. Another subject that more people should be aware of.
$20 per Gallon : How the inevitable rise in the price of gasoline will change our lives for the better - Christopher Steiner.
Most books that I have read about how the climate is changing, or about our numerous consumption patterns, or our dependence on oil, etc. are generally kind of worrisome and alarming to read. Maybe even a bit depressing. This book is not like that. I found the author's point of view very refreshing and he put rising gasoline prices under a different light. I wish more people could look at the positive aspects of issues like this. I've been saying for years that gas should cost more. That makes a lot of people angry. People who are scared of change. Some think I just want to punish those who use gas. Stupid. Attack the messenger!
Cradle of Gold : the story of Hiram Bingham, a real-life Indiana Jones, and the search for Machu Picchu - Christopher Heaney.
This was a fun book to read. History, archaeology, Incas, treasure hunters, famous explorers, controversy. It's got it all. The author did a HUGE amount of research and did a great job with this book.
The Complete Do-it-yourself Bike Book : Everything you need to know to fix, maintain, and get the most out of your bike - Mel Allwood.
I learned a bunch about my bicycle from this book.
Return to Treasure Island and the search for Captain Kidd - Barry Clifford with Paul Perry.
Another fun to read book about treasure hunters, the real life Captain Kidd, shipwrecks, and more controversy.
Tony Wheeler's Bad Lands - Tony Wheeler
This book intrigued me. It wasn't as good as I was hoping, but it gave me a view of places like Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia from a different perspective than what you might hear in the news. It was interesting, but since it was written as a tourist guide it left me a little flat. Maybe it was his writing. I'm not sure. I give it a C+.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
During the last school term, because of the literature class I was taking, I was interested in dystopian books and movies and heard about this one. It is very well written and hard to put down. If you are interested in this type of novel I highly recommend this one.
What environmentalists need to know about economics - Jason Scorse.
There was really nothing new here for me but it helped me think more about my potential career path. This book would be ideal for someone who wanted to see what the connections are between economics and the environment. Non-technical and easy to read.
Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
I am kind of embarrassed to admit that I had never read this book before. It has a dystopian theme, but is nothing like Brave New World, another classic that I had never read before recently. I should be ashamed of myself.
The Worldly Philosophers : The lives, times, and ideas of the great economic thinkers - Robert L. Heilbroner.
This is the book that inspired me to order all those econ books recently. It was a good introduction to famous economists and their theories - past and present. I haven't read many of those "classic" books. Yet. This is a good general audience book that doesn't go to deep, but still gives a good idea of who these old guys were and a general idea of their economic ideology. Another non-technical easy to read book.
Water Wars : Privatization, pollution and profit - by Vandana Shiva.
I have huge respect for this woman. This book is fairly short and to the point. It's basically a history of how the Indian (that place next to Pakistan) people and country has been devastated by the privatization and centralization of control of water. This book and the movie Flow are on the same thing. Both are excellent. You should read this book and learn something new if you have the chance. I'm actually still reading this but should be done with it soon.
The Economics Anti-textbook : A critical thinker's guide to microeconomics - Rod Hill and Tony Myatt.
This is another refreshing alternative view to the current economic paradigm. Specifically about how micro-economic textbooks present theory as cut-and-dried when they really are not. This isn't really a fun book to read and is giving me a refresher of sorts on the class I took nearly two years ago. But with a twist of considering the human side of things and how nothing is really as straightforward as is taught. I do understand that there is only so much that can be covered in a one term class, but I don't think it would be very difficult to work in a little about the variability and randomness of economics. Most people probably wouldn't want to read this book, but anyone who takes or has taken a microeconomics course would be well-served by having this book handy.
Progress and Poverty - Henry George
It took me a while to get into this book the first time. I finally finished it about 6-8 months ago and was intrigued. I reread it a few months ago to try to understand it a little better and was still intrigued. Its disappointing that Henry George's ideas didn't retain their popularity for a while longer. We would all be better off and probably happier if they had. There are some places that did, including several cities in the US, and they have been a big success. It's unlikely that there will ever be a wide scale adoption of them, but one can hope.
The Drunkard's Walk: How randomness rules our lives - Leonard Mlodinow
I almost forgot to list this one. I just finished this one a couple of days ago. A nice explanation of probability and randomness. My philosophy instructor mentioned this book a couple of weeks ago and I thought it sounded interesting. It's amazing how badly we can mispredict the probability of so many things in our everyday lives. Did you know the study of statistics began with gambling? The author did a good job on a potentially very dry topic. His examples were informative and entertaining. Highly recommended.
Broken heater again
Last year I was having some issues with the blower motor in my Civic. I thought it was a bad connection, but I've been having nearly continuous issues with it since then. It started making noise and kept getting louder. I frequently had to smack the bottom of the motor to get it going. Eventually it started turning slower and slower. A few of weeks ago it quit working completely. The weather was relatively warm and dry so I wasn't all that affected by not having a heater/defroster/vent. I just had to keep my window partially open. Then it got cold again. That was kind of horrible. And it is starting to rain again. I need to do something.
Last year I tried to take the blower motor / fan cage assembly out to inspect it because I knew then that it might become a problem. Unfortunately, my car originally came with AC and the evaporator needs to be removed to get the blower motor out. It's a stupid design. So I never finished the job then. I need to tear the dash apart again to see if I can just loosen the whole thing to allow enough access to get the blower motor out. I wish I knew if there was any freon left in the system. Stupid AC.
Last year I tried to take the blower motor / fan cage assembly out to inspect it because I knew then that it might become a problem. Unfortunately, my car originally came with AC and the evaporator needs to be removed to get the blower motor out. It's a stupid design. So I never finished the job then. I need to tear the dash apart again to see if I can just loosen the whole thing to allow enough access to get the blower motor out. I wish I knew if there was any freon left in the system. Stupid AC.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
What? More stupid school stuff?
I really do very little besides school. Here are the three essay questions I answered for my political science class for your reading pleasure or displeasure.
- A2) Showing how much you know about the evolution of the world political system from 1618 to the present time, including defferent styles of colonialsims, types of nation-states, and shifts in polarity that developed over time, would you agree thae system that is operating today promotes both great stability and freedom (why and/or why not)?
- B1) Compare and contrast "realist and idealist theories" as discussed both in class and in our textbook, including the "prisoner's dilemma" and different characteristics associated with the concept of power, would you say that idealism is a much better approach to an accurate understanding of global politics than is realism (why and/or why not)?
- C2) Showing how well you understand terrorism as this is discussed in our textbook, including how issues and policies relating to WMDs may relate to it, would you agree that U.S. policymaking with regards to the Arab-Israeli Conflict and the War on Terror are both very interrelated and have not been wisely undertaken (why and/or why not)?
Shorter version of another post that was quicky getting out of hand
I just want to say a little about economics as a whole. The more I learn, the more I realize it isn't as straightforward as other sciences. Even just trying to explain what it is can be tricky. Because it depends on the actions of people, along with all of their irrationality and self-interests, economics is considered a social science. Economists are stuck between the way things are using collected data, and the way things should be which depends wholly on economic ideology. It's hard to balance subjective (personal perspective, particular feelings, beliefs, desires, or personal experience) against objective (fact-based only) and have the results display any degree of accuracy. Other things like subsidies, taxes, externalities, and the role of corporations and lobbyists all have a big effect on any economic policy. It's a complicated place with endless shades of gray. Despite what some people claim, very little is black and white in economics.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Passed the poly-sci mid-term
I did about as well as I thought I would/did (what?). I'm pretty sure I can do better on the final. Dr. Sonnleitner gave us a pretty detailed break-down of class scores. Each question was presented separately. As if you cared, here it is.
Essay A (40 points poss.)
Essay A (40 points poss.)
- 36-40 points = A. There were 10 people who got a score in this range. 4 of them (including me!) got a 40 on this question.
- 32-35 points = B. 7 people
- 28-31 points = C. 4 people
- 24-27 points = D. 2 people
- 23 or less = F. 1 person
- 36-40 points = A. 2 people got in this range. No one got a perfect score on this question.
- 32-35 points = B. 6 people
- 28-31 points = C. 13 people. I got a 31 on this question. I nearly had a B on this one. I said John Locke was a Realist (he was more of a Liberal) and lost a point for it.
- 24-27 points = D. 3 people
- 23 or less = F. No one.
- 36-40 points = A. 3 people. There were 2 perfect scores.
- 32-35 points = B. 3 people.
- 28-31 points = C. 10 people.
- 24-27 points = D. 7 people. Here I am with a 27. My first D in college. Immediately after finishing the test and going outside I started remembering other things I should have wrote down for this question. I, and many others, ran out of steam by the end of the exam. We had as much time as we needed and I took about 1-1/2 hour. My brain didn't want to give up any more of that precious information after a while. I still need to learn to relax more during exams. I'm glad there were two other questions to bring my score up.
- 23 or less = F. 1 person.
- 108-120 points = A. 3 people ended up with here. There were no perfect scores.
- 96-107 points = B. 6 people, including me, got a score in this range. I got a total of 98 points. A low B. I can live with that but I can do better.
- 84-95 points = C. 12 people
- 72-83 points = D. 3 people
- 71 or less = F. No one.
New classes posted already
Class schedules for next term were posted this afternoon. Like always, I'm already obsessing over them. It's always a trade off. It's impossible to always get my first choices. First I make a list of the classes I have to take, which this term is only MTH244 (Statistics II). Then I list classes that I have an interest in. I came up with 9 other possibilities. It's like a puzzle when you have to fit classes in without them happening at the same time or taking up too many early hours and cutting into work time. There always seems to be two or three classes that I really want to take that are scheduled for the exact same time. I'll probably consider another 5 or 6 others before registration day, which is in three weeks.
You also never know when some classes will be offered. They also occasionally offer classes that aren't listed in the regular catalog. They try out new stuff a lot or only offer some things once a year. I found one of those today. Sustainability in Business (BA199A) is the name of it. It's being taught by a guy who usually teaches business law. It looks very interesting and applicable to what I want to do. It's at the Sylvania campus and I could take stats and this class back-to-back on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 3pm. These are the two front runners right now. I still need another 4 credit class.
I'm looking closely at the last (of three) environmental science class I've been wanting to take (chemical perspective). It's on Wed. from 3-6 and most Fridays from 9-12 (field trips). This class would be fun and I'm sure I would learn some stuff, but I'm kind of seeing it as fluff now. And it takes up another morning of potential work time. It will be a tough one to give up. Native American History (HST218) sounds fascinating and the teacher was recommended to me. I've been wanting to take this class for a while. Apparently another hard class with a good instructor that is worth the extra effort. This class is at the Cascade campus on Thursday nights from 6 to 10pm. I would love to take another philosophy/critical thinking class (PHL191 - Analysis and Evaluation of Argument), but if I take BA199A I can't fit it in my schedule. It would mean commuting another 2 days/week to Sylvania to take both classes. I don't want to do that. It's BA199A or this. Beginning Access is on the list but I can't get myself very excited about it. It is offered online though and I think this would be a good candidate for an online class. That's definitely a selling point. Taking classes in person can be more rewarding but for a class like this I can do without it. For now, the others include ESR199, PS203, PS225, and ART102, but aren't that likely.
So that's where I'm at for now. It will be my last term at PCC. Do I go for it since I'm taking the summer off from school? Or do I take an easier route because I can. Probably the first, but that's three weeks away. Things could change. Sometimes having so many choices is difficult. This is my future I'm working on. But is one class really going to make much of a difference? I don't know the answer. I need a time machine.
You also never know when some classes will be offered. They also occasionally offer classes that aren't listed in the regular catalog. They try out new stuff a lot or only offer some things once a year. I found one of those today. Sustainability in Business (BA199A) is the name of it. It's being taught by a guy who usually teaches business law. It looks very interesting and applicable to what I want to do. It's at the Sylvania campus and I could take stats and this class back-to-back on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 3pm. These are the two front runners right now. I still need another 4 credit class.
I'm looking closely at the last (of three) environmental science class I've been wanting to take (chemical perspective). It's on Wed. from 3-6 and most Fridays from 9-12 (field trips). This class would be fun and I'm sure I would learn some stuff, but I'm kind of seeing it as fluff now. And it takes up another morning of potential work time. It will be a tough one to give up. Native American History (HST218) sounds fascinating and the teacher was recommended to me. I've been wanting to take this class for a while. Apparently another hard class with a good instructor that is worth the extra effort. This class is at the Cascade campus on Thursday nights from 6 to 10pm. I would love to take another philosophy/critical thinking class (PHL191 - Analysis and Evaluation of Argument), but if I take BA199A I can't fit it in my schedule. It would mean commuting another 2 days/week to Sylvania to take both classes. I don't want to do that. It's BA199A or this. Beginning Access is on the list but I can't get myself very excited about it. It is offered online though and I think this would be a good candidate for an online class. That's definitely a selling point. Taking classes in person can be more rewarding but for a class like this I can do without it. For now, the others include ESR199, PS203, PS225, and ART102, but aren't that likely.
So that's where I'm at for now. It will be my last term at PCC. Do I go for it since I'm taking the summer off from school? Or do I take an easier route because I can. Probably the first, but that's three weeks away. Things could change. Sometimes having so many choices is difficult. This is my future I'm working on. But is one class really going to make much of a difference? I don't know the answer. I need a time machine.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Stuff I intend to read
My sister gave me an Amazon.com gift card again for X-mas. The perfect gift for me. But, I'm not so good at getting back to people. I should probably try to get into the holiday spirit more than I do. Thanks Steph. It is greatly appreciated. Better late than never? Anyway, the kind of books I like to buy are usually kind of deep and not necessarily easy to read. It can take a while to get through some of them. I don't have a huge amount of time to read stuff that doesn't pertain to classes that I'm currently enrolled in. But I still try. The library is great, but sometimes someone else has the book on reserve and I can't always finish books before I have to return them. I also tend to check out more books than I can read at one time. There are just so many books that catch my interest.
I finally got around to deciding what to get and placing my order. I'm embarrassed to admit how much time I spent deciding which books to get and how much of my own money I was willing to spend on stuff I don't actually need. I think it will be time well spent. At least that's the story I tell myself. This time I decided to buy some recommended assorted economics-related books. I went ahead and spent a little bit of my own money to get a few extra books. I think I did really well by buying mostly used books (all but one). I bought one new book instead of used because it was cheaper than any of the used copies (??!!!). They were still all relatively cheap, especially when I compare them to the textbooks I've been buying. I had an initial list of 16 books and narrowed it down to half of that. I paid $16, $12, $12, $10, $9, $8, $5, and $5 for them. All but one had free shipping. And most of these aren't available from the Mult. Co. Library so I feel OK about that.
I'm really tempted by an e-reader like the Kindle. I'll bet they will be even better and cheaper in a couple of years. I've been seeing a lot of the books I'm interested in for free or $.99. Newer and currently popular stuff is a lot more. I think more and more stuff is avail. from the library for e-books too, but I think they expire and you don't get to keep them forever. The Kindle has an insane 3500 book capacity. Have I even read that many books ever? I really like the tactile part of reading books though.
Oh yeah. I really need to get some reading glasses. Soon. It just keeps slowly getting worse. I'm not pleased about this.
So here is the list of books that will probably take me at least a year to read. Most likely much longer than that. Each book is linked to Amazon if you want to find out what they are (economics - history, theory). The editorial reviews are pretty general and the reader reviews are usually more specific, but should be taken with a grain of salt. For what it's worth, most of these books have high overall reviewer ratings. The first book arrived today. Thanks again, sis. You're helping to feed my brain.
The books I cut from the list were The Unbound Prometheus, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, The Origins of Scientific Economics (this was quickly out of the running when I saw that the cheapest I could get it for was $46), The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism ($30 - another expensive book), Capital: A Critique of Political Economy - Vol. 1, Imperialism , The Portable Veblen, and More Heat than Light (second most expensive - $40). I do hope to eventually be able to read some of these. There are a lot of economics-related books out there that sound interesting to me.
It's all pretty exciting stuff, right?
I finally got around to deciding what to get and placing my order. I'm embarrassed to admit how much time I spent deciding which books to get and how much of my own money I was willing to spend on stuff I don't actually need. I think it will be time well spent. At least that's the story I tell myself. This time I decided to buy some recommended assorted economics-related books. I went ahead and spent a little bit of my own money to get a few extra books. I think I did really well by buying mostly used books (all but one). I bought one new book instead of used because it was cheaper than any of the used copies (??!!!). They were still all relatively cheap, especially when I compare them to the textbooks I've been buying. I had an initial list of 16 books and narrowed it down to half of that. I paid $16, $12, $12, $10, $9, $8, $5, and $5 for them. All but one had free shipping. And most of these aren't available from the Mult. Co. Library so I feel OK about that.
I'm really tempted by an e-reader like the Kindle. I'll bet they will be even better and cheaper in a couple of years. I've been seeing a lot of the books I'm interested in for free or $.99. Newer and currently popular stuff is a lot more. I think more and more stuff is avail. from the library for e-books too, but I think they expire and you don't get to keep them forever. The Kindle has an insane 3500 book capacity. Have I even read that many books ever? I really like the tactile part of reading books though.
Oh yeah. I really need to get some reading glasses. Soon. It just keeps slowly getting worse. I'm not pleased about this.
So here is the list of books that will probably take me at least a year to read. Most likely much longer than that. Each book is linked to Amazon if you want to find out what they are (economics - history, theory). The editorial reviews are pretty general and the reader reviews are usually more specific, but should be taken with a grain of salt. For what it's worth, most of these books have high overall reviewer ratings. The first book arrived today. Thanks again, sis. You're helping to feed my brain.
- The Making of Economic Society - I got the 1968 edition for $5 instead of the 2007 edition for $50 or the used 2007 ed. hardcover for $285!!!
- The Fable of the Bees: And Other Writings - Apparently the only one that hasn't shipped yet.
- Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy - This is the one I got today and is the only new book I ordered.
The books I cut from the list were The Unbound Prometheus, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, The Origins of Scientific Economics (this was quickly out of the running when I saw that the cheapest I could get it for was $46), The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism ($30 - another expensive book), Capital: A Critique of Political Economy - Vol. 1, Imperialism , The Portable Veblen, and More Heat than Light (second most expensive - $40). I do hope to eventually be able to read some of these. There are a lot of economics-related books out there that sound interesting to me.
It's all pretty exciting stuff, right?
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
January school update
(I started this post about three days ago. I will try to actually finish it now.)
I just finished my fourth week of school. I've learned that I need to leave 10 or 15 minutes earlier in the morning than I think I should when I'm going to Sylvania. The difference in traffic getting off the freeway onto Capital Highway and then to the campus can be huge. Anyway, here's what I've been doing in school.
Math 243 - Statistics I
After calculus this class seems fairly easy. You probably don't really care about this stuff. I find it interesting. I'm looking forward to the rest of the term. Tough but fair instructor. I don't really want to but I may commute to Sylvania again next term to take her for Statistics II. You can use a page of notes for tests if you want to. I think I did pretty well and there was an extra credit question that I felt pretty good about. I'll know Tuesday morning (I ended up with 89/100). As always, I spend time doing the non-graded homework. At this point it doesn't take nearly as long as trig or calculus homework. Six more weeks of this with one more midterm exam and then the final exam. Here is what I have learned so far.
I'll probably never know for sure, but I think I'm glad I ended up with the different instructor. She seems very neutral and able to identify and biases. I think there should be more emphasis on critical thinking, starting in high school maybe. The online posting thing is going better than I was expecting it to. The homework is relevant and not too taxing. The reading is the same. I'm enjoying this class a lot. There is a plenty of debate and interaction between and from the students. It's interesting to see how all three of my classes this term are tied together through concepts that I'm learning. That just kind of happened. Oh, and no midterms, only a final exam.
I've learned a lot about international politics, but there is so much to cover and the class interest level is so high that we are not spending as much time on any one subject as most would like. And the events of the past week in the greater middle east is certainly grabbing our attention and class time. The instructor is quite a character.I like him and respect his vast knowledge and commitment to his ideals, but I would have actually preferred a less biased instructor. Not that I don't agree with pretty much everything he says, but it almost feels like the idealist (and intelligent) version of Bill O'Reilly. Although that is hyperbole. He is inspiring though and has introduced a lot of interesting people and events to us. I'm looking forward to seeing Vandana Shiva in person next month.The two talks by Dr. Nasser Abufarha were super interesting and inspiring. I have a lot of respect for him, his ongoing accomplishments with fair trade and his positions on the Palestine/Israel problem. I've been confused about that political hot potato for quite some time. In the last few weeks I've managed to learn a great deal about it, in class and plenty of research on my own time. I'm embarrassed at the role the US has played in much of this. We do an awful lot of bad stuff. We aren't the worst by any means, but we are no longer the best at much of anything.
I did a short interview with a man who came to the US about 3 years ago from Latvia (one of the first countries to break away from the former Soviet Union) for my first paper. It was enlightening and interesting to hear his first hand accounts of what is like in eastern Europe. I came up with some followup questions and need to try to talk to him a little bit more. I started doing a little bit of wiki research and have already learned a lot about the area and it's history of the last 30 years.
We have already covered a lot of information. There is a lot of reading and it is kind of boring, not well written, and biased. It was written for a US audience, more or less claiming that the only important conflict is between realism and liberalism, and is very uncritical of free trade. The instructor hates the text, but it was chosen while he was still in India so he had no choice about it.
We've covered a lot so it's hard to list everything, but here is a brief overview.
I just finished my fourth week of school. I've learned that I need to leave 10 or 15 minutes earlier in the morning than I think I should when I'm going to Sylvania. The difference in traffic getting off the freeway onto Capital Highway and then to the campus can be huge. Anyway, here's what I've been doing in school.
Math 243 - Statistics I
After calculus this class seems fairly easy. You probably don't really care about this stuff. I find it interesting. I'm looking forward to the rest of the term. Tough but fair instructor. I don't really want to but I may commute to Sylvania again next term to take her for Statistics II. You can use a page of notes for tests if you want to. I think I did pretty well and there was an extra credit question that I felt pretty good about. I'll know Tuesday morning (I ended up with 89/100). As always, I spend time doing the non-graded homework. At this point it doesn't take nearly as long as trig or calculus homework. Six more weeks of this with one more midterm exam and then the final exam. Here is what I have learned so far.
- Constructing frequency distributions, histograms, bar charts, boxplots, stemplots, dotplots, scatterplots
- Identifying and measures of shape, center, and spread
- Interpreting boxplots
- Properties of density curves, normal distributions, and standard normal distributions
- Proportion notation
- Finding the area under a normal distribution (Normal CDF)
- Finding the cutoff value (Inverse Normal) when given an area
- 68-95-99.7 rule
- Scatterplots - explanatory and response variables
- Scatterplots - direction and strength of associations, outliers
- Coorelations - identify, find, and interpret value of r
I'll probably never know for sure, but I think I'm glad I ended up with the different instructor. She seems very neutral and able to identify and biases. I think there should be more emphasis on critical thinking, starting in high school maybe. The online posting thing is going better than I was expecting it to. The homework is relevant and not too taxing. The reading is the same. I'm enjoying this class a lot. There is a plenty of debate and interaction between and from the students. It's interesting to see how all three of my classes this term are tied together through concepts that I'm learning. That just kind of happened. Oh, and no midterms, only a final exam.
- What is science?
- Scientific method
- Making accurate observations
- Anomalies
- The burden of proof
- Explanation, theory, and hypothesis
- Causation and coorelation
- Cause and effect, causal mechanisms, underlying processes, laws/principles, functions
- Rival explanations and Occam's Razor
I've learned a lot about international politics, but there is so much to cover and the class interest level is so high that we are not spending as much time on any one subject as most would like. And the events of the past week in the greater middle east is certainly grabbing our attention and class time. The instructor is quite a character.I like him and respect his vast knowledge and commitment to his ideals, but I would have actually preferred a less biased instructor. Not that I don't agree with pretty much everything he says, but it almost feels like the idealist (and intelligent) version of Bill O'Reilly. Although that is hyperbole. He is inspiring though and has introduced a lot of interesting people and events to us. I'm looking forward to seeing Vandana Shiva in person next month.The two talks by Dr. Nasser Abufarha were super interesting and inspiring. I have a lot of respect for him, his ongoing accomplishments with fair trade and his positions on the Palestine/Israel problem. I've been confused about that political hot potato for quite some time. In the last few weeks I've managed to learn a great deal about it, in class and plenty of research on my own time. I'm embarrassed at the role the US has played in much of this. We do an awful lot of bad stuff. We aren't the worst by any means, but we are no longer the best at much of anything.
I did a short interview with a man who came to the US about 3 years ago from Latvia (one of the first countries to break away from the former Soviet Union) for my first paper. It was enlightening and interesting to hear his first hand accounts of what is like in eastern Europe. I came up with some followup questions and need to try to talk to him a little bit more. I started doing a little bit of wiki research and have already learned a lot about the area and it's history of the last 30 years.
We have already covered a lot of information. There is a lot of reading and it is kind of boring, not well written, and biased. It was written for a US audience, more or less claiming that the only important conflict is between realism and liberalism, and is very uncritical of free trade. The instructor hates the text, but it was chosen while he was still in India so he had no choice about it.
We've covered a lot so it's hard to list everything, but here is a brief overview.
- Global geography and statistics
- Evolution of the Political System
- State and non-state actors
- States, nations, power, nationalism
- Collective security, group think
- Emmanuel Kant, Yukio Hatoyama
- Assorted various -isms (Constructivism, Marxism, Post Modernism, Liberal Feminism, etc.)
- The "Iron Triangle" of the military industrial complex
- War, terrorism, WMDs, the "War on Terror"
Things Chuck said
Singing along to an old Hank Williams song - "Satan is boring...he lives in a mineshaft and collects stamps."
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