It is easier to climb the social ladder and earn more than one’s parents in the Nordic countries, Australia and Canada than in France, Italy, Britain and the United States, according to a new OECD study. But weak social mobility can signal a lack of equal opportunities, constrain productivity and curb economic growth, says a report on the study. “A Family Affair: Intergenerational social mobility across OECD countries” says climbing the social ladder depends on a range of factors such as individual ability, family and social environments, networks and attitudes. But public action... 

While there is no doubt that women have come a long way from the discrimination and struggles they faced in the previous century when it came to getting an education and finding a job, the sad reality is that when you look at the hard facts, there is still a fair amount of inequality when it comes to women’s role in the working world. Whether you’re a working woman yourself or just want to help support the rights of women, these facts are a surefire wake-up call that women still don’t always get a fair shake when it comes to getting paid, attaining promotions, or entering certain... 

A number of the President’s critics have opined that he didn’t say anything new in the State of the Union Address and mainly tried to rally Democrats to support him. To the contrary, I think three important aspects of the address are pretty clear. The first is what he actually proposed. Politico has an excellent article discussing the President’s proposals from the SOTU and the possibilities that they might happen. Two examples: Despite the fact that health care reform was the centerpiece of his first-year agenda, it’s on life support at best. He didn’t talk much about... 

Only 3.7% of all students enrolled in American higher education institutions are foreigners, yet they contribute nearly $18 billion to the US economy, according to the US Department of Commerce. Most of this income is generated by tuition and other fees. Data compiled by the non-profit College Board reveal that annual tuition fees increased by 5.9% from 2008 to 2009 in all sectors of higher education. In the context of the worst recession since the 1930s, it is noteworthy that these figures are only just up from the average 5% annual rate of increase over the past decade. Disaggregation of the... 

My list of the dumbest things I’ve heard of has gotten quite long over the years, and I’ve just made a new entry. As I was making my daily scan of the Drudge Report, I came across a headline that I couldn’t pass up. The Drudge link leads to an ABC News report, U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret ‘Jesus’ Bible Codes. Seems that Trijicon, Inc. makes a specialized sight for military assault rifles. The problem is that on each sight they inscribe a notation for a Bible verse. It’s added to the end of the model number on the sight. The notation on one sight... 

Apparently there’s no end to the political dust being kicked up by Game Change, the new book on the 2008 presidential campaigns by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. Politicians left and right are being wounded by their own words and the assessments of their own staffs. As anyone who’s turned on a TV or opened an internet browser in the past few days, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is this latest victim skewered in the book. The authors report Reid said to them in an interview that Obama could win the White House because he was a “light-skinned” African-American “with no Negro... 

The Obama Administration’s decision to try some terrorists in federal court as common criminals is controversial. This policy has been applied to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian citizen apprehended in the United States, as well as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others, non-U.S. citizens captured in foreign countries. Other terrorists have also been tried, successfully, in federal courts during previous administrations. These include Richard Reid, a British citizen apprehended in the U.S.; John Walker Lindh, an American citizen captured in Afghanistan; Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian citizen... 

The first refuge of weak leaders is blaming mistakes on subordinates. It’s unacceptable in the military, in corporate hierarchies, and in other settings where the responsibilities and authorities of leadership are understood and practiced. Harry Truman enshrined the concept with the famous maxim, “The buck stops here.” The principle is that a leader is responsible for everything his or her organization does or fails to do. When a U.S. Navy ship runs aground, the captain of the ship isn’t going to point to a junior officer who was serving as OOD (officer of the deck) and... 

It’s been almost 2 months since the first Android 2.0 device hit the market, the Motorola Droid on Verizon Wireless.  Since launch in November, I made the switch to Verizon because the release of the Motorola Droid has finally brought a device to Verizon which has a chance at competing with the Apple iPhone currently available exclusively with AT&T Wireless.  This a comparison of my experiences on both mobile platforms. I switched back to Verizon mainly because of the solid network Verizon has established across North America.  I spend a good amount of time up north in Canada and AT&T... 

The internet has made all kinds of people famous, whether because of their viral online antics (which helped make YouTube the powerhouse website that it is), or because they became overnight millionaires due to genius entrepreneurship, or simply because, in the case of Elly Tran Ha (a.k.a. Elly Kim Hong), they are super hot Asian girls who gathered tons of friends on social media networks before broadcasting gorgeous photos of themselves all over the web. The recent buzz over this young Vietnamese girl from Ho Chi Minh City brings back memories of Tila Tequila’s rise to fame (who eventually... 

Pretty much anyone can buy an ATM machine. Apparently I raised a hackle or two. Seems my little stunt got the attention of industry insiders, and not all of them believe that I bought a used ATM on Craigslist, which turned out to contain thousands of credit card numbers. Well, it did actually happen, and despite what many say, that the ATM couldn’t have contained 16-digit credit and debit card numbers on it, it did. The most intense resistance to my experiment came from one Boston cop who watched me plant this thing in Downtown Crossing. He crossed his arms, glared at me, and when I walked... 

According to a report by WBBM, the Chicago CBS affiliate, a kerfuffle over religion erupted a few days ago in the Illinois state capitol building in Springfield. Seems there were a variety of religion-related displays in the capitol. They included a nativity scene, a Christmas tree, a Soldiers’ Angels wreath, a tabletop display from the ACLU defending freedom of religion, a Hanukkah menorah, and an aluminum Festivus pole representing the semi-fictional holiday from the TV series Seinfeld. There was also a sign put there with the appropriate permit by the Freedom From Religion Foundation,...