Compulsory Military Service in Russia

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Lex

Like many countries in the world, Russia has compulsory military service for males of 18 to 27 years of age. The required length of service was 2 years, but by the time I turned 18 it was reduced to 18 months, and eventually down to 1 year in (I believe) 2008.

Russia has the second biggest army in the world with 1.5 million personnel (behind China, and just ahead of the United States). And yet, only about 10% of eligible males report for duty. Everyone else uses any legal and illegal means to dodge the draft. There are two reasons for this:

First, the conditions in the Army are reportedly horrible (bullying, torture, rape, malnutrition, etc). Five to ten thousand conscripts die every year due to suicide, medical negligence, avoidable diseases, etc.

Second, there is no overwhelming national pride in Russia associated with this compulsory military service. I think in order for it to work, people need to believe that you are giving something to your country for the benefit of your fellow citizens.

Here’s a quick video discussion the draft dodgers:

When people argue against mandatory military or civil service, they do well by bringing up Russia as an example of a system where it has more negative than positive effects.

I have no experience with compulsory service, so I feel unjustified in defending the idea, but I do believe from my conversation with friends that served in the military that it does have potential positive effects when managed well. Here is an example of a good argument for it to be implemented in the United States.

Bridging the Gap Between Doctor and Patient

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Lex

According Marty Makary‘s book Unaccountable, over 30% of medical procedures carried out in the United States are unnecessary. There are over 200,000 deaths from medical mistakes a year. Medical mistakes and preventable infections taken together is the #3 cause of death in the United States.

The problem is a lack of transparency in healthcare. I think the debate about healthcare in this country has been missing the main problem: in order for consumers to make a decision about their health, they need to have INFORMATION about the health services they’re “shopping” for. There is a culture of secrecy among doctors, as a result most consumers choose their doctor almost randomly based on factors that do not directly relate to their essential unmet needs.

Here’s my example of a good system… First, I Google the symptoms I’m having to get some basic information about the underlying conditions that could be causing the symptoms. As an imaginary example, say I suspect that I have an abdominal hernia. I look it up online, and it says that normally this requires a hernia repair surgery that costs an average of $5,000. I would like to be able to go online and find doctors near me that perform this surgery often and have gotten good reviews. Also, I would like to sort those options by price of the surgery. This data is out there! But unfortunately it’s not easily accessible.

Instead, as a consumer, we can’t know if the doctor we went to has done zero, one, or one hundred hernia repair surgeries. We don’t know up front what all the options are and what the price of each option is. What are the benefits, what are the costs?

According to Makary, doctors are pressured to hit quotas in the number of surgeries they perform, and maintain secrecy to avoid exposing themselves to lawsuits. I think doctors should be exempt from lawsuits. The only punishment for a screw-up should be whatever the consumer decides is appropriate when that information is made public.

Makary provides a lot of practical ideas for opening the channels of honest communication. For example, he suggests that all patients be provided with the video of their operation.

Check out a C-SPAN interview with Marty Makary where he preaches the message of openness in the medical profession.

2012 Presidential Election Process: Problems and Solutions

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Lex

This upcoming Tuesday (Nov 6th, 2012) Americans get to vote on who will be the president of the United States for the next 4 years. I think many people all over the political spectrum see problems with the election process in this country. So let me throw my hat in the ring and provide some of the problems (and possible solutions) that I see. These have to do with the election of a president and not with the issues based on which we make that section…

Low Voter Turnout

Problem: In 2008, and stretching back through all of the 20th century, only about 50% of Americans who are eligible to vote actually vote. That puts us in 114th place in the world, right next to Mexico. Reasons for the low turnout include negative campaigning, distrust of government, low interest in politics, lack of belief in the efficacy of voting.

Solution: Making voting compulsory (required by law). Many countries do this, including Mexico who is next to us in 115th place, but what determines success is the degree to which this law is enforced. I believe that requiring that everyone votes will force the subject of politics into the minds of the apathetic to a degree where it will start popping up in bar conversations and “at the dinner table” much as it does in many European nations. I think that the problem is not so much that the turnout is low, but that the number of informed voters is low. If we don’t have a sense of civic duty, then perhaps we need to be forced to develop it. PS: Of course, being required to vote doesn’t mean you have to choose a candidate. It’s important that “none of the above” is an option for the people who are opposed to everyone running, and “not informed enough” is an option for the eternally undecided voter.

The Electoral College

Problem: First, a quick video on how the damn thing works:

48 of 50 states are winner-take-all, meaning that a candidate gets 100% of the votes from that state if they get the plurality (more than any other candidate). The result is that no candidate goes to California, New York, Texas or any other state that is solidly in the Democratic or Republican corners. In fact, there are only 9 swing states, or really just one: Ohio. That means the election process is not about fighting for the vote of every American but more focused on the vote of someone who lives in Ohio or Florida. The main problem is not that the majority of states are left out from the attention of the candidates, but that the absurdity of this fact causes many people to grow cynical and give up on politics all-together.

Solution: Abolish the electoral college. Of course, this solution is very difficult to make a reality, because the smaller states will never vote “yes” on it. The only hope is that Obama wins the election via the electoral college and loses the popular vote, much like George W Bush did in 2000. I think we can count on the Republicans to be far more outraged at such a result than the Democrats were (for better or for worse) in 2000. Perhaps that outrage can lead to actual reform, over the opposition of the smaller states.

Financing of Campaigns

Problem: I think can present the problem most clearly by giving a simple example. In 2012, two men (the Koch brothers) are projected to spend $300 million on Super PAC organizations running ads in support of Romney or in opposition of Obama. That’s more than the WHOLE budget ($260 million) of the McCain campaign in 2008. We are talking about the 1% of the 1% of the population having the majority of the financial power behind defining the issues that drive the campaign. Obama got the short end of the stick this cycle, being outspent in Super PACS ($330 million to $110 million so far), but it could go the other way next time around.

Solution: While this is an absurdly unjust element of the 2012 electoral process, I’m comforted by the fact that everyone hates this reality, including Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Socialists, Communists, Anarchists, and yes, both Clint Eastwood and Big Bird. So, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will eventually overturn the Citizens United ruling that allowed this kind of unlimited spending in the first place. The broader problem of campaign financing in general has to be addressed as well. Lawrence Lessig, for example, proposes a public financing system where every tax-paying citizen gets a $50 refund that has to be spent in support of a candidate of the person’s choosing. If there is one thing worth paying for, it’s democracy.

Software Piracy and the Adobe CS6 Model

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Lex

Online piracy is widespread in the United States and even more so in the rest of the world. 70% of people find piracy acceptable. It’s digital theft, but something about it makes people overlook the theft aspect of it.

I grew up in Russia where now 73% of installed software is stolen. United States on the other hand is at 20%. To me, these numbers always seemed insane. Lets look at the reality of the situation. Adobe Photoshop costs $700. Can a 15 year old recreational web/graphic designer afford that? In fact, can any recreational designer afford that? What should the price be such that they would?

I’m pondering this question as I’m enjoying my 30 day trial of the software, and for the first time, I see a reasonable answer from Adobe. They are now selling a $50 monthly subscription that gives access to all their products on a month-to-month basis. I think that will draw a lot of pirates out of the dark caves and actually pay for the awesome products they use.

Of course, I would love it if piracy was made much more difficult and then the price could go down to $20 a month or less. But if we learned anything from the Internet, the thing that makes it powerful is also the thing that makes it very difficult to police.

I don’t like writing about piracy, but I wanted to write a quick note complimenting Adobe for thinking outside the box, literally and figuratively.

By the way, the suite of products in Adobe CS6 Master Collection is awesome. There are a lot of improvement in the interface, workflow, and feature set.

The Kilogram Diet: Lose An Average of 15 Pounds With The Power of Your Mind

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Lex

I have been a lifelong student of nutrition, dieting, and trying to be healthy. And if I learned anything, it’s the cynical fact that the diet that works is:

Pick any diet that makes sense to you.
Deceive yourself into thinking it’s the right way to go.
Follow the diet with strict discipline.

However, if you lack discipline, but need to lose weight fast, I have a revolutionary new diet for Americans:

Change the setting on you bathroom scale from pounds to kilograms.
Convince yourself that there are approximately 2 lbs in 1 kilogram.
Boom! You just shredded 9% of your body weight! That’s 16 lbs lost if you weigh 180 lbs, and it’s 36 lbs lost if you weight 400 lbs.

The idea of this diet came from a talk I heard from the Nutrition Studies Research Center at Stanford, where the speaker converted from kilograms to pounds by multiplying by two. It wasn’t important to be accurate in the point he was making, so he just did what I find a lot of people do: round off the 0.2 in the interest of time.

So that’s where this new diet comes in. We first switch to the metric system and then rely on our general inability to multiply numbers by 2.2 and instead multiplying by 2.

While this “diet” is tongue-in-cheek, I think two things are true… First, so much of our relationship with food and weight loss is a sink for emotional issues from other aspects of our life. Second, Americans are getting fatter. While we’ve grown by 1 inch in the last 40 years, we’ve gained 25 lbs. But don’t worry that’s only 10 kilograms.

U.S. Prison Population

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Lex

Main point: U.S. Prison populations are growing, and there is no smoking gun or a clearly-identified simple solution.

Each Friday, C-SPAN’s “America By the Numbers” segment features information from the federal statistical system. This week they did a program on the U.S. Prison Population.

Mostly, they confirmed what I already knew…

The American prison system is growing rapidly due to the fact that there is money to be made in it on many levels. The plot on the right shows the % of US population jailed at 0.22% in 1980 and at 0.76% in 2007. In other words, it more than tripled.

Many libertarians will tell you that the war on drugs is at the core of the problem. It seems that it is part of the problem but not at the core of it. Only 20% of prison inmates are there for drug offenses. However, there is a more powerful but indirect effect of the war on drugs seen in longer sentences for more violent or property crimes if the criminal has a prior record (often due to a minor drug offense).

Of course, the C-SPAN program also highlighted the well-known race imbalance. Black males are imprisoned at 6.5 times the rate of white males. One new interesting statistic I learned is that there is a bit more racial equality among women in that black women are imprisoned at 3 times the rate of white women.

By the way, for people that are unclear about the distinction between jails and prisons… A jail is for short sentences or just for holding people that are awaiting trial. A prison is the long-term cage that most of these financial discussions are center around.

Divorce Rates by Profession

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Lex

Surprisingly, not much good data is available connecting divorce rates and occupation. A 2010 study is the only one I found that does a relatively thorough job of it. The huge table below (listing divorce rates by profession) is the data provided by that study.

The reason I became curious about this is that I read in American Sniper that Navy SEAL’s divorce rate is 90-95%. Whether that’s true or not, it made me wonder what the rate is for other occupations. It seems intuitive to me that a person’s job may be one of the best predictors of a marriage’s success or failure. The balance between work and family seems to be a common day-to-day struggle of the middle class average Joe.

There are a lot of factors wrapped up in what occupation a person has. The job defines the amount of hours you work, the mental toll it takes, and also the personality you develop from succeeding or failing at that job. And conversely, the job you choose is certainly a reflection of your personality.

The table below identifies that the highest divorce rates are for dancers, bartenders, and massage therapists, all around 40%. Perhaps the extroverted nature of these job reflects a personality that is unwilling to commit or quickly gets tired of the same old thing. The occupations with the lowest divorce rates (of less than 10%) mostly seem to be engineers. I was very surprised to read this, because of the intellectual and mental toll that a lot of these jobs take. The engineers I know become extremely passionate about their work, which I assumed can take away from the marriage. But perhaps it doesn’t. There’s hope for us nerds after all.

Occupation	Divorce Rate
Dancers and choreographers	43.05
Bartenders	38.43
Massage therapists	38.22
Gaming cage workers	34.66
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers	32.74
Gaming services workers	31.34
Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders	29.78
Telephone operators	29.3
Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders	29.02
Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides	28.95
Personal and home care aides	28.76
Entertainers and performers, sports and related workers, all other	28.49
Baggage porters, bellhops, and concierges	28.43
Telemarketers	28.1
Residential advisors	27.78
Communications equipment operators, all other	27.73
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	27.27
First-line supervisors/managers of gaming workers	27.21
Waiters and waitresses	27.12
Roofers	26.85
Maids and housekeeping cleaners	26.38
Brokerage clerks	26.37
Parking enforcement workers	26.25
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks	25.94
Sailors and marine oilers	25.88
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	25.58
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators	25.38
Helpersextraction workers	25.34
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	25.32
Food preparation and serving related workers, all other	25.24
Paralegals and legal assistants	25.16
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	24.99
Cementing and gluing machine operators and tenders	24.96
Other transportation workers	24.83
Riggers	24.63
Helpers, construction trades	24.43
Financial examiners	24.39
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	24.36
Hunters and trappers	24.3
Transportation attendants	24.29
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	24.24
Therapists, all other	24.2
Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers	24.02
Switchboard operators, including answering service	23.92
Dispatchers	23.91
Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators	23.72
Security guards and gaming surveillance officers	23.67
Announcers	23.64
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	23.63
Fish and game wardens	23.53
Sociologists	23.53
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	23.53
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	23.49
Office machine operators, except computer	23.44
Nonfarm animal caretakers	23.36
Opticians, dispensing	23.32
Food cooking machine operators and tenders	23.3
Eligibility interviewers, government programs	23.2
Bookbinders and bindery workers	23.18
Social workers	23.16
Dishwashers	23.14
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	23.07
Commercial divers	22.98
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	22.98
Interviewers, except eligibility and loan	22.93
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	22.91
Milling and planning machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	22.9
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	22.88
Conveyor operators and tenders	22.77
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	22.75
Forest and conservation workers	22.69
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators	22.69
Machine feeders and offbearers	22.68
Advertising sales agents	22.6
Motion picture projectionists	22.58
Pile-driver operators	22.57
Counter and rental clerks	22.52
Animal trainers	22.5
Cashiers	22.5
Counselors	22.49
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	22.42
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	22.41
Bill and account collectors	22.36
Painters, construction and maintenance	22.32
Data entry keyers	22.32
Painting workers	22.31
Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes	22.3
Meeting and convention planners	22.24
Electrical, electronics, and electromechanical assemblers	22.23
Molders and molding machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	22.19
Property, real estate, and community association managers	22.12
Miscellaneous community and social service specialists	22.12
Cutting workers	22.11
Actors	22.08
Lay-out workers, metal and plastic	22.07
Health diagnosing and treating practitioners, all other	22.04
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	22.03
Miscellaneous health technologists and technicians	22
Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians	21.96
Agricultural inspectors	21.94
First-line supervisors/managers of personal service workers	21.93
Industrial truck and tractor operators	21.92
Loan interviewers and clerks	21.81
Unemployed, with no work experience since 1995	21.81
First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers	21.8
Miscellaneous legal support workers	21.71
Fishers and related fishing workers	21.66
Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service	21.66
Packers and packagers, hand	21.65
Proofreaders and copy markers	21.61
Bailiffs, correctional officers, and jailers	21.54
Stock clerks and order fillers	21.53
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	21.51
Correspondence clerks	21.49
Miscellaneous construction and related workers	21.46
Customer service representatives	21.44
Structural iron and steel workers	21.43
Food servers, nonrestaurant	21.38
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs	21.3
Metal furnace and kiln operators and tenders	21.28
Metalworkers and plastic workers, all other	21.28
Supervisors, protective service workers, all other	21.25
Manufactured building and mobile home installers	21.22
Miscellaneous vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers	21.2
Agricultural and food science technicians	21.18
Service station attendants	21.09
Statistical assistants	21.09
Miscellaneous entertainment attendants and related workers	21.04
Construction laborers	20.98
Respiratory therapists	20.97
Food preparation workers	20.93
Court, municipal, and license clerks	20.92
File Clerks	20.91
Helpersproduction workers	20.86
Cooks	20.86
Carpenters	20.85
Cargo and freight agents	20.82
Carpet, floor, and tile installers and finishers	20.81
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	20.8
Job printers	20.74
Furniture finishers	20.73
Billing and posting clerks and machine operators	20.71
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	20.63
Drywall installers, ceiling tile installers, and tapers	20.63
Technical writers	20.59
Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists	20.58
Procurement clerks	20.56
Postal service clerks	20.56
Medical assistants and other healthcare support occupations	20.56
Hazardous materials removal workers	20.52
Order clerks	20.5
Janitors and building cleaners	20.49
Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop	20.49
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	20.47
Model makers and patternmakers, wood	20.45
Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks	20.45
Receptionists and information clerks	20.45
Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks	20.44
Computer operators	20.42
Word processors and typists	20.41
Production workers, all other	20.39
Social and community service managers	20.36
Credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks	20.35
Cement masons, concrete finishers, and terrazzo workers	20.34
Medical, dental, and ophthalmic laboratory technicians	20.31
Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping	20.29
Payroll and timekeeping clerks	20.19
Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop	20.19
Other business operations specialists	20.18
Bridge and lock tenders	20.13
Chefs and head cooks	20.1
Medical records and health information technicians	20.06
Sheet metal workers	19.99
Brickmasons, blockmasons, and stonemasons	19.91
Telecommunications line installers and repairers	19.85
Office and administrative support workers, all other	19.85
Earth drillers, except oil and gas	19.78
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	19.77
Transportation inspectors	19.76
Security and fire alarm systems installers	19.76
Miscellaneous personal appearance workers	19.67
Miscellaneous social scientists and related workers	19.65
Meter readers, utilities	19.64
Surveying and mapping technicians	19.62
Crushing, grinding, polishing, mixing, and blending workers	19.62
First-line supervisors/managers of correctional officers	19.58
First-line supervisors/managers of housekeeping and janitorial workers	19.58
Welding, soldering, and brazing workers	19.57
Fence erectors	19.57
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	19.49
Motor vehicle operators, all other	19.36
Psychologists	19.3
Printing machine operators	19.26
Grounds maintenance workers	19.24
Weighers, measurers, checkers, and samplers, recordkeeping	19.23
Personal care and service workers, all other	19.22
Electronic home entertainment equipment installers and repairers	19.2
Tax examiners, collectors, and revenue agents	19.19
Insurance claims and policy processing clerks	19.18
Maintenance and repair workers, general	19.17
Mathematicians	19.15
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	19.14
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal	19.13
Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists	19.1
Medical and health services managers	19.06
Butchers and other meat, poultry, and fish processing workers	19.04
Animal control workers	19.02
Secretaries and administrative assistants	18.99
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	18.97
Semiconductor processors	18.96
Computer support specialists	18.93
First-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers	18.93
Archivists, curators, and museum technicians	18.92
Upholsterers	18.92
Office clerks, general	18.9
Crane and tower operators	18.89
Diagnostic related technologists and technicians	18.87
Etchers and engravers	18.85
Production, planning, and expediting clerks	18.85
Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators	18.85
Barbers	18.83
Parts salespersons	18.77
Reinforcing iron and rebar workers	18.74
Shoe machine operators and tenders	18.73
Health diagnosing and treating practitioner support technicians	18.71
Military enlisted tactical operations and air/weapons specialists and crew members	18.68
Prepress technicians and workers	18.66
Automotive body and related repairers	18.64
Electrical and electronics repairers, industrial and utility	18.62
Budget analysts	18.59
Small engine mechanics	18.55
Food service managers	18.51
Insurance underwriters	18.5
Sewing machine operators	18.5
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	18.48
Bus drivers	18.44
Radiation therapists	18.41
Bakers	18.37
New accounts clerks	18.33
Locksmiths and safe repairers	18.29
Electric motor, power tool, and related repairers	18.29
Broadcast and sound engineering technicians and radio operators	18.27
Photographers	18.23
Woodworkers, all other	18.21
Plasterers and stucco masons	18.21
Computer control programmers and operators	18.17
Crossing guards	18.17
Logging workers	18.15
Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	18.05
Chemical technicians	18.05
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	18.04
Sales and related workers, all other	18
Material moving workers, all other	17.99
Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products	17.98
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	17.94
Loan counselors and officers	17.93
Editors	17.92
Information and record clerks, all other	17.89
Animal breeders	17.88
Registered nurses	17.83
Dental assistants	17.83
Coin, vending, and amusement machine servicers and repairers	17.75
Postal service mail carriers	17.71
Models, demonstrators, and product promoters	17.71
Couriers and messengers	17.69
Producers and directors	17.68
Supervisors, transportation and material moving workers	17.67
Railroad conductors and yardmasters	17.66
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	17.66
Sales representatives, services, all other	17.65
Operations research analysts	17.6
News analysts, reporters and correspondents	17.54
Urban and regional planners	17.51
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks	17.48
Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists	17.47
Miscellaneous media and communication workers	17.47
Automotive service technicians and mechanics	17.42
Radio and telecommunications equipment installers and repairers	17.41
Private detectives and investigators	17.41
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	17.4
Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation	17.38
Model makers and patternmakers, metal and plastic	17.37
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	17.35
Ushers, lobby attendants, and ticket takers	17.3
Biological technicians	17.28
Glaziers	17.28
Pest control workers	17.23
Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers	17.22
Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders	17.22
Financial specialists, all other	17.21
Other life, physical, and social science technicians	17.19
Real estate brokers and sales agents	17.17
Water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operators	17.15
Highway maintenance workers	17.14
Artists and related workers	17.13
Musicians, singers, and related workers	17.11
Helpersinstallation, maintenance, and repair workers	17.08
Gaming managers	17.06
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	16.99
Retail salespersons	16.99
Engineering technicians, except drafters	16.97
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators	16.95
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers	16.94
Librarians	16.9
Roustabouts, oil and gas	16.9
Dietitians and nutritionists	16.89
Paperhangers	16.84
Child care workers	16.83
Other installation, maintenance, and repair workers	16.8
Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians and mechanics	16.75
Designers	16.74
Logisticians	16.73
Human resources managers	16.69
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	16.68
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	16.67
Tire builders	16.61
Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products	16.58
Tailors, dressmakers, and sewers	16.58
Recreation and fitness workers	16.57
Special education teachers	16.55
First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers	16.52
Lodging managers	16.48
Machinists	16.48
Electricians	16.48
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	16.46
Physician assistants	16.45
Occupational therapist assistants and aides	16.43
Food batchmakers	16.43
Aircraft mechanics and service technicians	16.37
Average US Divorce Percentage	16.35
Administrative services managers	16.31
Derrick, rotary drill, and service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining	16.17
Tour and travel guides	16.13
Travel agents	16.09
Industrial and refractory machinery mechanics	16.04
Library assistants, clerical	16.03
Parking lot attendants	16.02
Physical therapist assistants and aides	15.97
Writers and authors	15.92
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers	15.9
Mining machine operators	15.89
Boilermakers	15.89
Precision instrument and equipment repairers	15.86
Tax prepares	15.81
Locomotive engineers and operators	15.77
Public relations specialists	15.68
Miscellaneous plant and system operators	15.67
Computer scientists and systems analysts	15.64
Other education, training, and library workers	15.6
Occupational therapists	15.59
Ship and boat captains and operators	15.55
Desktop publishers	15.53
Economists	15.52
Tool and die makers	15.52
Other teachers and instructors	15.49
Network and computer systems administrators	15.34
First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers	15.31
Miscellaneous mathematical science occupations	15.3
Railroad brake, signal, and switch operators	15.29
Public relations managers	15.28
Purchasing managers	15.27
Lifeguards and other protective service workers	15.27
Cost estimators	15.23
Electronic equipment installers and repairers, motor vehicles	15.23
Door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors, and related workers	15.17
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers	15.15
Construction and building inspectors	15.13
Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents	15.11
Computer, automated teller, and office machine repairers	15.1
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	15.1
Education administrators	15.06
Control and valve installers and repairers	15.02
Police and sheriff s patrol officers	15.01
Millwrights	14.99
Dredge, excavating, and loading machine operators	14.97
Accountants and auditors	14.87
Engine and other machine assemblers	14.85
Insurance sales agents	14.83
Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders	14.83
Network systems and data communications analysts	14.81
Financial managers	14.77
Electrical power-line installers and repairers	14.76
Funeral service workers	14.76
Other extraction workers	14.73
Recreational therapists	14.71
Database administrators	14.7
First-line supervisors/managers of landscaping, and groundskeeping workers	14.69
Avionics technicians	14.64
Marine engineers and naval architects	14.62
General and operations managers	14.6
Managers, all other	14.56
Elevator installers and repairers	14.46
Power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers	14.43
Marketing and sales managers	14.38
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing	14.35
Computer programmers	14.35
Graders and sorters, agricultural products	14.32
Management analysts	14.29
Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders	14.29
Hoist and winch operators	14.21
Market and survey researchers	14.13
Geological and petroleum technicians	14.12
Fire fighters	14.08
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	14.07
Athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers	14.05
Air traffic controllers and airfield operations specialists	14.04
Home appliance repairers	14.01
Dental hygienists	14.01
Postsecondary teachers	13.98
Pumping station operators	13.98
First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers	13.92
Miscellaneous agricultural workers	13.92
Chiropractors	13.88
First-line supervisors/managers of non-retail sales workers	13.88
Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment	13.85
Automotive glass installers and repairers	13.82
Drafters	13.74
Television, video, and motion picture camera operators and editors	13.69
Library technicians	13.61
Computer and information systems managers	13.36
Other healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	13.34
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters	13.19
Postmasters and mail superintendents	13.14
Surveyors, cartographers, and photogrammetrists	13.1
Insulation workers	13.06
Construction managers	13.05
Environmental scientists and geoscientists	13.05
Advertising and promotions managers	13.05
Preschool and kindergarten teachers	13.02
Elementary and middle school teachers	12.93
Fire inspectors	12.91
Personal financial advisors	12.89
Tellers	12.85
First-line supervisors/managers of farming, fishing, and forestry workers	12.84
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	12.82
Statisticians	12.81
Military, rank not specified	12.78
First-line supervisors/managers of police and detectives	12.75
Secondary school teachers	12.62
Materials engineers	12.58
Detectives and criminal investigators	12.53
Judges, magistrates, and other judicial workers	12.48
Industrial engineers, including health and sanitation	12.42
Appraisers and assessors of real estate	12.38
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	12.32
Credit analysts	12.26
Biological scientists	12.24
Agricultural and food scientists	12.23
Shoe and leather workers and repairers	12.14
Industrial production managers	12.13
Chemists and materials scientists	12.01
Nuclear technicians	11.99
Natural sciences managers	11.97
Ship engineers	11.95
Teacher assistants	11.91
Lawyers	11.63
Engineers, all other	11.59
Physical therapists	11.51
Speech-language pathologists	11.4
Purchasing agents and buyers, farm products	11.39
Maintenance workers, machinery	11.32
Computer software engineers	11.26
Subway, streetcar, and other rail transportation workers	11.2
Aerospace engineers	11.11
Mining and geological engineers	11.08
Veterinarians	11.04
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	10.96
Architects, except naval	10.95
Military officer special and tactical operations leaders/managers	10.92
Fabric and apparel patternmakers	10.82
Funeral directors	10.75
Astronomers and physicists	10.71
Atmospheric and space scientists	10.71
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders	10.67
Roof bolters, mining	10.28
Electrical and electronic engineers	10.05
Petroleum engineers	9.98
Financial analysts	9.95
Computer hardware engineers	9.94
Farm, ranch, and other agricultural managers	9.91
Chief executives	9.81
Pharmacists	9.79
Environmental engineers	9.62
First-line enlisted military supervisors/managers	9.57
Signal and track switch repairers	9.41
Civil engineers	9.35
Religious workers, all other	9.35
Physicians and surgeons	9.23
Mechanical engineers	9.22
Medical scientists	9.11
Physical scientists, all other	8.79
Biomedical engineers	8.74
Legislators	8.74
First-line supervisors/managers of fire fighting and prevention workers	8.68
Engineering managers	8.52
Shuttle car operators	8.34
Audiologists	7.77
Dentists	7.75
Farmers and ranchers	7.63
Actuaries	7.61
Chemical engineers	7.48
Conservation scientists and foresters	7.4
Nuclear engineers	7.29
Podiatrists	6.81
Sales engineers	6.61
Directors, religious activities and education	5.88
Clergy	5.61
Transit and railroad police	5.26
Optometrists	4.01
Agricultural engineers	1.78
Media and communication equipment workers, all other	0

Coffee is a Way of Life

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Lex

Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day or 146 billion cups per year. In terms of per capita consumption, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, and Brazil has us beat.

The most popular reason that women provide for drinking coffee is “it’s a good way to relax”. On the other hand, men go with the vague but aggressive “it helps get the job done”. That it does.

My own experience with coffee has evolved over the years. Something about the process of drinking coffee, almost just the habit of it, focuses my mind on what I’m doing. It has become part of my comfort zone, a key element of a productive environment. When I smell coffee, my brain goes into the mode of “okay, time to get s*** done”. But “focus” doesn’t just mean focusing on work. I enjoy reading over a hot coffee, thinking about life, and how insanely absurd everything is. It puts my own little problems into perspective and helps me consider the things that really matter in my life.

Of course, the taste of coffee ain’t bad either. I look forward to waking up, making a fresh cup of coffee, and sitting down to eat steel-cut oatmeal while thinking about something I’ve read the night before.

Pedestrians, Bikes, Cars, Cabs, and Buses

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Lex

I have seen the world from all 5 perspectives in the title, and perhaps not surprisingly, every time it’s everyone else except me who is a damn irresponsible insensitive a**hole from that perspective. And that seems to be the common trend. Bicyclists complain about cars, bus drivers complain about pedestrians, and everyone complains about cabs.

So I wanted to gather up some random facts, stats, and whatever else I have in my notes on the subject.

Bicycles

50% of bicyclists wear a helmet for at least some trips. 91% of bicyclists killed last year weren’t wearing a helmet. So don’t be like me and wear a damn helmet (and also criticize me for not wearing one).
Most bicyclist deaths occur on a major road between intersections
Cyclists have the same rights as cars, but are supposed to ride as close to the ride curb as possible.
Riding a bike drunk is the same as driving a car drunk in most states (meaning it’ll get you a DUI). The same goes for riding a lawn mower while intoxicated, in case you were wondering.

PS: If you ever have a bicycling question, check out this awesome Q&A site.

Cabs

In a study of NYC cabs last year, 538 pedestrians and 282 cyclists were injured.
In my personal study of Philly cabs, 97% of cab drivers either don’t know how to drive or just don’t care.

Pedestrians

The number of male pedestrians killed by cars are twice that of women. I suspect that a large percentage of those men are Russian and have a general affinity for vodka (the drink of the people).
If you’re hit by a car at 40 mph you have an 85% of dying.
If you’re hit by a car at 30 mph you have an 45% of dying.
If you’re hit by a car at 20 mph you have an 5% of dying.
Unless you’re a judo player (especially a Russian one who has consumed a lot of vodka), then your likelihood of death goes down as the speed of the car goes up.

I guess the lesson here is to have respect for those you share the road with.

To my fellow cyclists that don’t get off the bike in the winter, stay safe and good luck.

I would be amiss not to include this promotional video for a Russian log bike delivery service:

Do Ask and Do Tell: Gays in the Military

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Lex

By some estimates, 2% of the U.S. military personnel are gay.

Today was the first day after the end of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, which means the law no longer discriminates based on sexual preference against the soldiers that put their lives on the line to defend our country.

However, I remember reading about the rampant racism that came to the forefront when slavery was abolished. It seems that it often takes decades (even centuries) for the view of the majority to catch up with the moral standard of the law.

Frankly, if I was gay and serving in the military, I would still not come out. That view is perhaps naïve and poorly thought out, since I know nothing of how difficult it is to hide such a fundamental truth from your fellow soldiers.

In either case, this is a good day, as a weight has been lifted off the shoulders of many brave men and women, who already have to carry a heavy burden.

Lex's Socratic Dia-Blog

Some thoughts on politics, history, philosophy, and science. All hopefully with an open empathetic mind.

Category Archives: Statistics