Citylab.com has published a very interesting article detailing the compelling benefits of hiring ex-offenders. My first thought was, would you do this? Well, employers that have done so have reaped considerable benefit from the practice. Employees with criminal records are less likely to quit, reducing turnover costs. They have fewer disciplinary problems, reducing disciplinary costs….
Category: infrastructure
deep uncertainty for complex engineered systems: blind leading the blind?
this post is about measuring ignorance. yes, that sounds weird, but in systems engineering it’s a very big deal now. as our complex engineered systems progress in their reliability, we are trying as hard as possible to make sure that we can anticipate all the ways they can possibly fail. essentially, we are everyday trying…
What does it take to deploy green infrastructure? ASLA and U.S. EPA take a shot at making suggestions…
It has been widely argued that “green” infrastructure projects can provide more cost-effective control of stormwater runoff through the use of natural design features that reduce the required design capacity of the “gray” infrastructures. George Washington University has been a first-mover in this regard, developing an underutilized space called “Square 80” into a low-impact development…
#70: worship, authority ranking and appeal, suburban sprawl’s Ponzi scheme, and other Sunday thoughts…
“Fly like eagles in worship…” At church this morning [Grace International Church, Baltimore, MD], Pastor Ken and the worship team improvised a lyric saying “Eagles take their prey to a higher altitude to suffocate them. Worship is moving to a higher altitude where problems and doubts can’t breathe.” Such an awesome exhortation! Worship takes our…
the “energy of innovation”
GWU’s Frank Sesno hosts Planet Forward’s special episode on “The Energy of Innovation.” I found this especially encouraging, and even had the Lakers game on mute while I was listening. I was even able to convince another resident that we should not increase the volume on the game in our apartment building’s club room, while…
optimism vs. ‘predictive precautionary pessimism’
I’ve been excited and nervous about the debate on nuclear power safety both at the same time. It’s made me think about the nature of infrastructure failures. In short, our lifeline systems are becoming so safe that all failures will be catastrophic. Today on one of the morning radio shows I listen to, an interviewee…
thoughts of earthquake inspiration and intercession
i’m not sure what to call this one, because the earthquake near sendai, japan, has been so shocking. i think the main reason this quake hasn’t occupied my every waking moment like the haitian earthquake did is because i am married to a haitian woman, while i do not know many japanese or anyone visiting…
#18
This is what I was talking about in one of my previous posts. An expert engineering panel with the American Society of Civil Engineers has released a report “detailing several recommendations for overcoming the deficiencies in the city’s hurricane protection system and instituting real change in its governance, management and engineering.” Their conclusions are apparently…
bungling boondoggling bumbling bureaucrats! (wait… i want to be one one day, right?)
On this anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I’d like to join Grist magazine and others in pointing out one of the true criminals in this whole deal who have been spared their reasonable share of the blame in this catastrophe: The Army Corps of Engineers. Let’s begin with a short excerpt from the Grist headline article:…
Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life
“Jigga What??!? Jigga Who?!?” This is what some of the UN administrators must have been saying when UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan informed them that they would be working with Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter in the global fight to provide clean drinking water to the almost two billion people who lack consistent access to it. Carter, Def…