My experience as a female Magic player in high school is, while anecdotal, not entirely supportive of this. It wasn't that I didn't feel like I belonged in the group, only that my gender was not relevant, a non-issue. It was simply ignored. Often I was the only female there, and was never treated as anything other than just another opponent in game. Which, I'll admit, was nice, because being dismissed as a girl in other activities is/was common and annoying. No one ever told me I played like a girl, for example (it probably helped that I was as good as they were). But there was a definite lack of ability to interact with the males there on any level other than player-vs-player. Maybe they would have been happier with more girls there, but they certainly didn't show it.

Basically, I found the Magic geeks to be far more egalitarian than any other group in high school.

Hah! My mother's reply was, "Do you think they can get to you before I can?"

Call me a sell-out, but I disagree. Static ads that don't move or play sound or (try to) infect my computer are acceptable, and when I've identified a site I like that polices their ads for crap like that, I will allow ads.

The way I got around that is by signing up for business class service. No cable required, and (at least here in KC) it costs the same as their consumer internet plan. You also get a static IP and no data caps, if that matters to you. You don't need a company, though they'll ask you for a company name. Just make something up.

If you like Catan but don't like setting up the board, check this out. There are still a few rules that aren't implemented yet, but the game is playable.

http://www.colonists-of-tacan.com/

If you want progress reports on the coding:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/94373105547/

Here ya go:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

Here ya go:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

That was me. They held me back academically because I couldn't relate to my peers, and I didn't fit in with the older kids either. I also spoke to adults on their level (and sometimes with a better vocabulary), which caused its own set of problems.

This is the key. Socialize your kids, even if they don't want it. They don't want to eat veggies either, but it's still good for them.

That depends on whose point of view you're looking at. From the employee's point of view, yes. From the employer's point of view, they are the one paying money for something, which makes them the consumer. Therefore, labor (or you could argue skills and time) is the product employees are selling.

And if the purchase of their labor can be arranged through a third party, is that third party not also a market force?

If indeed the union is a market force, then its price for labor is not a distortion--unless the union is the only market force on that side of the equation, i.e., a monopoly. If it is not a monopoly, it is simply another competing provider of the product. The union can charge more for their product because it has been upgraded (much like a staffing company) by a guarantee of a certain skillset.

Now take all of the above with one caveat: I'm talking about laboratory conditions. In the real world, unions get monopolies, they're corrupt, they protect the lazy and unskilled, distort the job market, yada yada yada. But employers aren't any better. Before unions, they abused and distorted the market. Child labor laws, the 40 hour work week, minimum wage, and safety standards all come from union efforts. Until unions began asserting some power in the marketplace, employers were the monopoly, and the market value of labor was low wages for long days and shitty working conditions. Even with all the progress made, to this day employers will still find a way to screw you over if it's good for the bottom line and legal, or if not legal, the penalties cheap enough.

Unions are like any other group of people in that they can easily become corrupt. However, corporations are groups of people too. I'm not saying fighting corruption with corruption is the way to go, but you can at least level the playing field, as TheGratefulNet said.

I've never understood the free market argument against unions. Unions are a *function* of the free market. They fit in the role of consumers (of employment) who want to have some control over the product they buy (the work they do). If the free market provided everything the employees need/want, no one would want to unionize.