Tag: housing

The Missing Piece of Amazon’s New York Debacle: It Kept a Burn Book

When Amazon scrubbed plans to build a second headquarters in New York City earlier this year, the reason appeared rooted in a debate about unions, tax subsidies and housing costs. Then there was the burn book. [Editor’s note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source.] The Wall Street Journal reports: In a private dossier kept at the time, whose existence has…

Study Suggests Link Between Air Pollution and Psychiatric Disorders

pgmrdlm shares a report from StudyFinds: Could the very air we breathe have an impact on our mental health? That’s the suggestion coming out of a new international study conducted in the United States and Denmark. After analyzing long-term data sets from both countries, researchers from the University of Chicago say they have identified a possible link between exposure to environmental…

College Board Drops Plans For SAT Student ‘Adversity Scores’

The College Board is abandoning its plan to assign an adversity score to every student who takes the SAT college admissions test, after facing criticism from educators and parents. Instead, it will try to capture a student’s social and economic background in a broad array of data points (Warning: source paywalled, alternative source). The new tactic is called Landscape and doesn’t…

Seattle Has Figured Out How To End the War On Drugs

Nicholas Kristof writes in an opinion piece for The New York Times about Seattle’s “bold approach to narcotics that should be a model for America.” Instead of being prosecuted for being caught with small amounts of drugs, that person is steered toward social services to get help. “In effect, Seattle is decriminalizing the use of hard drugs,” writes Kristof. “It is…

Does Tech-Industry Job Growth Actually Lower Wages For Some Workers?

“A new study finds clear evidence that low-skilled workers fail to benefit from high-tech growth and development,” writes a senior editor at The Atlantic (and co-founder of CityLab). The UK-based study was co-authored by two researchers, one from the London School of Economics and the other from the Resolution Foundation in London. CityLab summarizes its results: High-tech growth leads to better…

Google Pixel 4 Will Have 90Hz ‘Smooth Display and DSLR Camera Attachment

According to 9to5Google, Google’s upcoming Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL smartphones will feature 90Hz refresh rates, 6GB of RAM, and a DSLR attachment, among other features not reported until now. From the report: First, the basics: There will be a Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, and they will both more or less have the same features. They are phones….