tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post5930332772428835550..comments2023-10-30T09:23:42.803-05:00Comments on Some Assembly Required: SAR #12204Charles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-90038765382193762362012-07-26T00:50:18.378-05:002012-07-26T00:50:18.378-05:00A quick glance at your wonderful photograph and my...A quick glance at your wonderful photograph and my brain said, "fried eggs." Then it shouted, "No, it's a nuclear explosion!" Then I noticed the surroundings. Erp.<br /><br />Which of the two, I wonder, is the correct analogy?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-17675756481165774862012-07-23T20:14:11.979-05:002012-07-23T20:14:11.979-05:00Regarding the Paul Krugman graph, here some intere...Regarding the Paul Krugman graph, here some interesting facts I learned on my just-completed trip to Alaska, where I took a cruise and a land tour. While there, I met many people from other English-speaking countries (England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), as well as English-speaking Scandanavians and Europeans.<br /><br />It seems our minimum wage laws are far behind those of other English-speaking democratic market economies (OK, "English-speaking" and "democratic" and "market economy" are redundancies.)<br /><br />Australia, whose dollar is on par with ours, has a minimum wage of <a href="http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/pages/default.aspx" rel="nofollow">$15.96 per hour or $606.40 per week</a>. <br /><br />In New Zealand, <a href="http://www.employers.co.nz/minimum-wage-new-zealand.aspx" rel="nofollow">the adult minimum wage increased from $13.00 per hour to $13.50 on April 1st 2012</a>. The New Zealand dollar trades at about 85 cents to the U.S. Dollar.<br /><br />In Great Britain, it is <a href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/employment/employees/thenationalminimumwage/dg_10027201" rel="nofollow">£6.08 - the main rate for workers aged 21 and over</a>. This translates to $9.55 per hour at current exchange rates.<br /><br />Here is the list for Canada: <a href="http://canadaonline.about.com/od/labourstandards/a/minimum-wage-in-canada.htm" rel="nofollow">which range from $9.40 per hour (Alberta province) to $11.00 per hour</a>.<br /><br />Ireland is <a href="http://www.minimum-wage.org/international/en/Ireland/" rel="nofollow">€8.65 per hour</a>, which translates to $10.55 per hour.<br /><br />For vacation time, just use the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statutory_minimum_employment_leave_by_country" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia cheat sheet</a>. (Hint, the U.S. is the only western democratic market economy that does <i>not</i> guarantee vacation days. In almost all of the other democratic market economies, it is one month per year. Only Canada lags behind with ten <i>working days</i>, i.e. two weeks.<br /><br />Don't forget they all get national health care, maternity leave, retirement, sick leave and any number of other benefits not enjoyed by American workers.<br /><br />If that wasn't enough insult, they added injury to this attorney by noting attorneys there get paid far more than here -- and I was comparing government attorneys there to government attorneys here.<br /><br />One of the people I talked to several mornings at breakfast on the cruise ship was a New Zealand employer who informed me that his agents (in a trade that does not require more than a high-school education) start out making $44,000 per year. That is just the wages, not including all of the benefits that workers in New Zealand get that American workers do not, such as health care, vacation time, retirement, etc. <br /><br />In summation, American workers are shortchanged at so many levels that it is unbelievable there is not an outcry.OkieLawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835804433027036043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-83547500379591774502012-07-23T09:53:21.055-05:002012-07-23T09:53:21.055-05:00As for the mystery of this little corner of the un...As for the mystery of this little corner of the universe - I've walked this same bit of woods 5 times a week for over 10 years and find something new and interesting and surprising every day. (And worth taking a photo of...)<br /><br />ckmCharles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-50309621157766787712012-07-23T09:06:38.002-05:002012-07-23T09:06:38.002-05:00The mushroom photo to me stands as an indicator th...The mushroom photo to me stands as an indicator that the beauty and wonder of the natural world will outlive our technologically sophisticated, energy-intensive, pollutant-spewing way of life - whether or not our species continues.<br /><br />May the Creative Forces of the Universe have mercy on our souls, if any.mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-24702623372006830792012-07-23T09:04:47.352-05:002012-07-23T09:04:47.352-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.com