The news of the day certainly rotates somewhere around immigration reform. The President is expected to deliver a speech in Las Vegas this afternoon outlining his goals for immigration reform legislation and calling for action. A bi-partisan group of senators announced the bare bones of a plan yesterday. Should Congress manage to pass immigration legislation this year, it would mark the first significant overhaul of the nation's migration policy since the 1980s. The president is expected to echo much of what the group of Senators laid out yesterday with a few differences. And NBC Latino points out that labor and civil rights groups and other "unusual suspects" are backing the proposed reforms already made public.
If you are a person who has any doubts about the continued role that discrimination plays in the labor market, or want to get a sense of how large it looms, take a look at this break down of Equal Opportunity Commission hiring data from private employers and what the New York Times describes as increases in equality in fits and starts. Turns out education doesn't make as big of a difference as we've been told. Then check out this story on just how heavily employers are relying on employees to refer friends and fill jobs. Maybe some of these people also have binders full of women or black and Latino potential employees.
I've long questioned the veracity of a lot of publically and readily available investment advice. An awful lot of it just happens to advise people to keep investing in the market, buy and hold and opt for investments that pay advisors and brokers larger fees. But, I also am a believer that advice needs to be available and tailored. For instance is maxing out that 401K, paying down credit card debt or building an emergency savings fund more important? It all depends on who you are, where you are in life and what family and friends may be able to do to help you. But even so-called specific advice can be problematic. Slate had a great take on this issue yesterday, pointing out the disturbing ways that investment advice often patronizes and misdirects women. Check it out. Then take a look at this study too. The women of America are not happy with their investment advice.
Fox News Latino reports this morning that a federal judge has decided that Immigration and Custom's Enforcement agents can sue President Obama over his attempts to get the agency to focus it's attention on serious criminal offenders rather than easy to find and spot undocumented immigrants who abide by most laws. "A federal judge ruled that nearly a dozen federal immigration agents can move forward with their lawsuit against their own bosses and even President Obama over change in enforcement policy that the agents argue prevent them from doing their jobs," Fox News Latino reported.
Ok folks, this is bad, bad news in black and Latino America, where obesity is common. "If you've been relying on your BMI to determine if you're overweight, it may be time to get a second opinion.
Professors at Oxford University have found the mathematical equation used to calculate body mass index (BMI ) is inaccurate, Fox News Latino reported.
Just in case you aren't' a regular PBS viewer, I wanted to draw a moment of attention to an interesting interview on Bill Moyer's new show where the pro-choice movement's decision to move away from that term gets a good airing along with the ways that race, ethnicity, class and public policy often shape women's reproductive options. Check out the VIDEO here.
Also in case you missed it, PBS's American Experience just aired something intriguing about abolitionists. Look for the repeat folks. It is worth your time, especially if you are a fan of Richard Brook, the black guy who appeared on the earliest episodes of Law and Order rocking a low-top box. His hair is different but the intensity with which he argues remains the same.
That's all for now.