Tuesday, November 22, 2011


Black/white marriage still unwise

The O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson episode certainly suggested that even rich and good-looking black men do not make good husbands for white women -- but one swallow does not make a summer. What does the overall data show? In plain language, the academic article below found that black/white marriages lead to less satisaftion with the relationship and more depression, with the depression apparently being caused by the dissatisfaction -- JR
Consequences of black exceptionalism? Interracial unions with blacks, depressive symptoms, and relationship satisfaction.

By Kroeger RA, Williams K.

Abstract

Using data from Wave 4 (2008) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 7,466), we examine potential consequences of black exceptionalism in the context of interracial relationships among nonblack respondents. While increasing racial diversity and climbing rates of interracial unions have fostered the notion that racial boundaries within the United States are fading, our results add to the accumulating evidence that racial/ethnic boundaries persist in U.S. society. Results suggest that among non-Black respondents there is more stigma and disapproval attached to relationships with Blacks than there are to relationships with members of other racial/ethnic groups. Specifically, our results indicate that nonblack individuals with black partners have significantly more depressive symptoms and less relationship satisfaction than their counterparts with nonblack partners, regardless of respondent race and whether the nonblack partner is the same versus a different race from the respondent. Further, the relationship between partner race and depressive symptoms is partially and significantly mediated by relationship satisfaction.

Sociological Quarterly, Volume 52, Issue 3, pages 400–420






Bosses need to be bribed to employ British youth??

A bandaid solution if ever there was one. Fix the schools and the welfare state instead

Firms should be paid to take on poorly-qualified British teenagers instead of older or migrant workers, a business leader said yesterday. John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said the Government should consider offering firms £1,500 subsidies for each young Briton they employ to limit the effects of youth unemployment.

He was speaking days after figures showed that around 500 foreigners landed a job in Britain every day over the past year while the number of UK-born workers plunged. Youth unemployment rocketed to its highest level since records began 20 years ago. It is now more than a million, and one in five of those aged 16 to 24 is out of work.

Bosses say many young Britons are too lazy and unpunctual to be worth hiring, while the British Chambers of Commerce says a lot of graduates have ‘useless’ degrees and are unemployable.

But Mr Cridland said the only way to tackle the problem would be to get British youngsters ‘up the beauty parade’ and into jobs by giving bosses an incentive to take them on. He said: ‘We need a skilled workforce. We don’t want people scarred by unemployment in the early years of their lives. This is as much a moral and social question as an economic one.

‘It has really impressed me that at a time when business has got its back to the wall, at a time it could be forgiven for thinking just about paying the wages of those already in work, it is really worried about teenage unemployment.

‘Think back to the riots in the summer, think back to what happened in the Eighties, and business is saying, “Youth unemployment is something we must not let get out of hand”.

‘If we gave employers £1,500 as a cash subsidy to take on a 16-year-old, they might take on a 16-year-old with lack of work experience and sometimes poor qualifications rather than a migrant worker or a mature worker who has got those skills. ‘So let’s get that young person up the beauty parade, let’s give them a chance to get a job today, not in five years.’

Mr Cridland said he believed the Government should stick to reducing the deficit but it was possible to stimulate growth without spending large sums of public money.

Last week, a report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said bosses preferred foreign workers because they had a more positive attitude.

Dr Adam Marshall, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, blamed poor education standards and the profusion of ‘Mickey Mouse degrees’. ‘There may be a course in underwater basket weaving, but that does not mean anybody will actually want to employ you at the end of it,’ he said.

Meanwhile, a survey by the CBI found that more than a third of businesses were looking to cut staff as confidence plummeted in the wake of the eurozone crisis. Seventy per cent of business leaders said the country’s economic prospects had grown worse since August.

Last week the Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of British-born workers had fallen by 311,000 in a year, equal to more than 850 a day. In the same period, the number of foreign employees jumped by 181,000, or 495 a day.

Bosses said foreign workers tended to have a better work ethic. Charlie Mullins, founder of Pimlico Plumbers, said Britons would ‘rather be footballers than do an honest day’s work’. He added: ‘We’re increasingly employing foreign workers. ‘They have the right attitude and are prepared to work harder.

‘The younger British generation who come in for interviews are often sent by the benefit people and have no desire for work. ‘They feel as if the country owes them a living.’

SOURCE





Licence to swear: Profanity is so common that it can't be offensive, British judge rules

Yobs should not be punished for hurling obscenities in public – because swear words are now so common that they no longer cause distress, a High Court judge has ruled. In a landmark judgment, Mr Justice Bean upheld the appeal of a foul-mouthed thug who was convicted for repeatedly using the f-word while being searched by police.

The ruling paves the way for scores of other louts to challenge their convictions for public order offences – and could force police to pay them compensation for wrongful arrest.

The decision, which provoked outrage among police, comes just weeks after the London Mayor Boris Johnson and Britain’s most senior policeman called for a zero-tolerance crackdown on those who abuse officers.

The case was brought by Denzel Harvey, who was fined £50 at Thames Youth Court for repeatedly swearing at officers while he was being searched for cannabis in 2009. The High Court heard that the 20-year-old launched into a tirade of abuse when he was stopped by two police officers in the street in Hackney, east London, telling them: ‘***k this, man. I ain’t been smoking nothing.’

When no drugs were found following a search, he continued: ‘Told you you wouldn’t find ***k all.’ After being asked whether he had a middle name, the surly yob replied: ‘No – I’ve already ****ing told you so.’

Mr Harvey was arrested for the outburst, and magistrates found him guilty of a public order offence after hearing that the expletives were uttered in a public area while a group of teenage bystanders gathered round.

But the conviction was quashed at the High Court, with Mr Justice Bean saying the ‘rather commonplace’ expletive is heard ‘all too frequently’. He claimed it was ‘quite impossible to infer that the group of young people who were in the vicinity were likely to have experienced alarm or distress at hearing these rather commonplace swear words used’.

Simon Reed, vice chairman of the Police Federation, said yesterday: ‘It’s astounding that you can use every swear word to abuse a police officer and they have got to accept it just because it is common. ‘This gives the green light for everyone to swear and use disorderly behaviour with police.’

The ruling is likely to reignite the row between Mr Johnson and the Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke, over swearing at police.

Mr Harvey was charged under section five of the Public Order Act 1986, which makes it an offence to ‘use threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby’.

But in June it emerged that officers had been advised not to arrest those who verbally abuse police, with guidance stating that courts ‘do not accept’ that swearing at officers results in ‘harassment, alarm or distress’.

Last month Mr Johnson said he agreed with the new Metropolitan Police commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, that that guidance should be scrapped. ‘Public servants are not there to be abused,’ Mr Johnson said. ‘They are there to serve society and society must respect them. ‘How can a copper cope with the job if the public are allowed to insult them with impunity?’

Mr Johnson wants a new offence of ‘swearing at or abusing a police officer acting in the execution of his or her duty’. He told the Conservative Party conference: ‘If people swear at the police, they must expect to be arrested. ‘Not just because it’s wrong to expect officers to endure profanities, but also because of the experience of the culprits. ‘If people feel there are no boundaries and no retribution, then I’m afraid they will go on to commit worse crimes.’

SOURCE





PETA Takes Aim at Turkey, Texas: Wants Town Renamed ‘Tofurkey’

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has approached the residents of Turkey, Texas with a request: rename your town “Tofurkey” in honor of Thanksgiving.

Even if the name change to the mock meat vegan alternative is just for one day, PETA said it will draw attention to the treatment that turkeys in the U.S. suffer virtually every day of their lives.

In return, PETA said it will treat the entire town — population 421, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — to a “delicious, healthy vegan holiday feast.”

“Changing the town’s name to Tofurky will remind people around the country that we each can have a delicious, protein-packed, and satisfying Thanksgiving meal without supporting animal abuse,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a letter Monday to the town’s mayor.

But local ABC affiliate KVII-TV spoke to a few locals who bristled at the idea of renaming their town.

“What do I think of changing the name of Turkey to tofu? I think it‘s about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Tommy Sims said.

“We are insulted,” resident Carol Redd added. “We like Turkey. We are proud to be Turkey.”

City officials reportedly have no plans to change the town’s name.

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of other countries. The only real difference, however, is how much power they have. In America, their power is limited by democracy. To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges. They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did: None. So look to the colleges to see what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way. It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN (Note that EYE ON BRITAIN has regular posts on the reality of socialized medicine). My Home Pages are here or here or here or Email me (John Ray) here. For readers in China or for times when blogger.com is playing up, there is a mirror of this site here.

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