Funny Protest Sign

This is your brain.

This is your brain on socialism.
(At least someone caught it. I wonder if it was someone from socialistworker.org.)

Wednesday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Rush Limbaugh.

Today's question is:
Near what city is Ellsworth Air Force Base located?

"Rights", Including A "Right" To Health Care

This article makes perfect sense to me, but I'm interested in hearing other views before I take the professors statements as fact. Excerpts:

Despite many other disagreements, the great social and political philosophers who so influenced the Founders never argued that such-and-such "should" be a right; rather, they claimed that such-and-such was, always had been, and always would be a right. The question was never about creating rights, which would have struck them as absurd, but how to perceive clearly the eternal, unchangeable rights that did exist and always had existed...

Privileging fake rights over real ones is a pillar of the Law of Unintended Consequences. "Unintended," perhaps, but entirely predictable...

If such a conflict exists, then the claimed "right" is a phony. Genuine rights never need to be "balanced" against each other. Any genuine right can coexist with all other genuine rights. For this reason, rights are naturally limited, and the creation (or "recognition") of new ones should be carefully scrutinized as a potential direct and imminent threat to liberty.

An interesting starting point for discussion.

If The President's Serious About This, He And I Have Common Ground

While I like the president's stated desire for more (relatively) cheap, clean, non-greenhouse-emission nuclear energy, I've decided to hold off on presenting laurels until I see new plants built. I'll admit that I've been suspicious, as it would be entirely too easy to state such desires, and appeal to a certain segment of the population (like me), knowing full well that the environmental lobby and others would never all them to come to fruition.

The president, however, has seemingly gone out further on the domestically-produced energy limb, and in this I can support his stated goal:

The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.

The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean. (But not off the coast of California. I wonder why?--Darren)...

The Obama administration’s plan adopts some drilling proposals floated by President George W. Bush near the end of his tenure, including opening much of the Atlantic and Arctic Coasts. Those proposals were challenged in court on environmental grounds and set aside by President Obama shortly after he took office.

The article states that he's doing this in order to bargain for support for his "climate bill", which I interpret to mean the cap-and-trade bill. I hope that part of the deal founders, but that we can finally access the resources we need that are contained within our grasp.

Update, 4/3/10: Perhaps I'm right to be suspicious:

When you’re an aspiring magician, you watch the best magicians you can find, trying to see how the trick is done. You learn not to watch what the magician wants, to look where the magician isn’t looking, to concentrate on the left hand if the trick seems to be happening in the right hand.

This skill is turning very useful watching the Obama administration. This week, for example, there was a big announcement of a change in the Obama administration’s policy toward oil drilling, dutifully announced as the administration opening up great areas offshore for oil development.

Watch the other hand.

DA's Oppose Obama Pick To 9th Circuit

A couple weeks ago a teacher at my school sent out an email announcing that President Obama had nominated one Goodwin Liu to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Liu had been a student of this teacher's his first year of teaching.

Today I read that a large majority of county district attorneys in California oppose his nomination:

Forty-two of California's 58 county district attorneys are opposing President Obama's nomination of Goodwin Liu to the federal appeals court in San Francisco, saying they believe the UC Berkeley law professor is hostile to the death penalty.

The White House has countered that the prison guards union supports Mr. Liu. Well of course they would! An opponent of the death penalty creates more "business" for the prison guards!

Universities and "Controversial" Speakers

The University of Wyoming has canceled a scheduled speech by one-time terrorist William Ayers:

In a statement released by the university, UW President Tom Buchanan supported the decision to cancel Ayers.

"The University of Wyoming is one of the few institutions remaining in today's environment that garner the confidence of the public. The visit by Professor Ayers would have adversely impacted that reputation," Buchanan said...

He (Ayers) was invited by the UW Social Justice Research Center, a privately endowed center that studies problems of oppression and inequalities among different social groups in society...

"Observers in and outside the university would be incorrect to conclude that UW simply caved in to external pressure," Buchanan said in the statement. "Rather, I commended the director of the center for a willingness to be sensitive to the outpouring of criticism, evaluate the arguments and reconsider the invitation."

Meanwhile, CSU Stanislaus is taking flak for inviting one-time governor of Alaska and current conservative voice Sarah Palin to speak at a fundraiser:

Organizers knew that inviting former vice presidential candidate and ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to California State University, Stanislaus, would generate talk.

"I didn't know it would be this big, this fast," said Matt Swanson, president of the university foundation, which invited Palin to headline a black-tie fund-raiser June 25...

Swanson said the speaking contract precludes the foundation from disclosing the payment amount. He said no previous foundation money went to pay Palin.

"This event is being 100 percent funded with fresh, private money coming into the foundation," he said.

And it's bringing in more money, between sponsorships, table reservations and tickets, which are selling fast.

You might imagine that some are opposed to her presence on campus, and you'd be correct.

Sad News To Report

Jaime Escalante has passed away. He was a rock star in math teacher circles; the movie Stand and Deliver was based on his work at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.

Tuesday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Nightmare on Elm Street.

Today's question is:
Who has written books entitled The Way Things Ought To Be and See, I Told You So?

Expiration Date of Obama Promises

It's a long post--because in 14 months as president he's already "pivoted" on so many points.

Lefties won't believe it, either that or they'll try to justify or make excuses.

Monday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Rochester, NY.

Today's question is:
In which movie do we read in the credits, “introducing Johnny Depp”?

Furlough Days or Pink Slips?

In the zero-sum game of school district budgets, there's only so much money to go around. If a district's budget is slashed, cuts have to be made somewhere. Should there be pay cuts? Should employees work for free a few days? Should there be furlough days? Should health insurance plans be restructured, perhaps by increasing co-payments? How about layoffs?

The teachers in the Sacramento City Unified School District don't want to bargain any of these things until next summer, when their contract runs out. Correction, the Sac City union doesn't want to bargain any of these things until next summer, when their contract runs out.

Dozens of teachers expressed to (the major Sacramento newspaper) a willingness to accept furlough days and/or higher co-pays but feel their union leadership is ignoring their pleas to save jobs.

While those teachers talked passionately about this issue, nearly all shied away from having their name printed. They said they feared retribution from the union should they need representation...

Non-tenured, young teachers are typically the ones most affected by layoffs because seniority rules dictate pink slips...

With so many teachers saying they're willing to accept concessions, (pink-slipped teacher) Taylor wonders why the union isn't listening to its members.

"It feels like the union only speaks for the people who aren't going to be affected by layoffs, the people who have been teaching 25 years," Taylor said. "There seems to be a real division in the union between the teachers who have been teaching a long time and those who are new." link

He who has eyes to see, let him see. Young Mr. Taylor is getting his eyes opened early in his career.

And In Local News....

A couple years ago I was out taking pictures with a friend of mine, and we ended up on Del Paso Blvd., what had been US Highway 40 heading northeast out of Sacramento towards Roseville, Auburn, Reno, and points east. Del Paso Blvd. isn't really my neck of the woods, and I was surprised to see what appeared to be a 1940's-style ice skating rink in that neighborhood.

Not too much later, while channel-surfing on a weekend, I saw a show about this particular rink on our local PBS station. Having just seen the building, I started watching, and was enthralled at the history, the story, behind this rink that was, in fact, built in 1940. Part of that story is in the major Sacramento newspaper today:

Rob Kerth said his parents weren't the only people to find romance at the rink.

"My aunt kept a list for many years of couples who met at Iceland and later married," he said. "There were several hundred names on it."

His grandfather, William J. Kerth Sr., started the American Ice Co. on Del Paso Boulevard in 1923.

When electric home refrigerators began to freeze out the old iceboxes in the 1930s, he used the ice plant's equipment to create an ice skating rink next door. Water from the ice plant also supplied the nearby neighborhood pool.

Iceland achieved some prominence in 1961 when it held a fundraiser to pay for funeral costs for the U.S. figure skating team. On Feb. 15, 1961, the plane from New York carrying the team, along with parents, coaches and judges, crashed on a failed landing in Brussels, killing all of them. They were on their way to the world championships in what was then Czechoslovakia.

Iceland was packed for the nationally televised event, Kerth said. With bleachers placed on the ice, the building could seat up to 900 spectators, he said.

Over the years, Kerth said, the rink ceased being a money-making proposition. "The ice rink has been for a long time a labor of love," he said. "There hasn't been any rent paid or money expected for at least 20 years.

"We think of it as our contribution to the community."

Today, the rink itself is owned by a daughter and a daughter-in-law of the founder. Beverly Jeanne Kerth, Rob Kerth's mother, became owner when her husband died in 1993. Co-owner Eva Kerth Brandt is Kerth's aunt.

Sadly, in the early morning hours yesterday, Iceland burned down.

As flames jumped high into the sky at 3:30 a.m., the roof collapsed, obliterating the ice rink that opened on Del Paso Boulevard in 1940.

Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Capt. Jim Doucette said firefighters' strategy became clear early on: Protect nearby buildings in the 1400 block of Del Paso Boulevard.

"They went inside and realized that it was a lost cause," he said. "The fire was starting to roll over their heads. Stuff was dropping on them. The way the air was being sucked over their heads was a sign that the whole building was about to collapse"...

Officials estimated the blaze caused $1 million in damage; the actual ice rink and cooling system apparently survived. Founding family members said the building was too old to insure against fire loss...

In the grand scheme of things, this loss isn't so much to lament. Still, knowing the story, I can't help but regret that a small piece of local history is now lost--not to the ravages of time, or to the steady drumbeat of "progress", but to the waste of a burning car in a back alley.

Update: For as long as the link is good, here's a collection of 17 pictures of the rink.

College Students On Food Stamps

These same students who were marching in the streets a few weeks ago, chanting that they want working Americans to pay more for their education, are now encouraged to go on food stamps--at the expense of working Americans, of course.

When you think you have a "right" to something at someone else's expense, you can truly employ some twisted logic.

Don't want to read the link above? Then go to Portland State's web site and see the full page they've devoted to informing students about food stamps.

Sunday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
The Bulldogs.

Today's question is:
In what city is the Eastman-Kodak Company headquartered?

Many States Can't Afford This Health Care "Reform"

How can they not, you ask? People will be required to have insurance!

Well, there's more to that than meets the eye, as there so often is with our current ruling class, and the New York Times tells us that some states are going to be mired even more in deep debt:

In California, policymakers estimate they will have to come up with an additional $500 million a year to make necessary increases in payments to Medicaid providers.

Across the country, state officials are wading through the minutiae of the health care overhaul to understand just how their governments will be affected. Even with much still to be digested, it is clear the law may be as much of a burden to some state budgets as it is a boon to uninsured consumers.

States with the largest uninsured populations, like Texas and California, might be considered by its backers the biggest winners to emerge from the law, because so many additional residents will have access to health insurance. But because those states are being required to significantly expand their Medicaid programs, they are precisely the ones that will face the biggest financial strains, in many cases magnified by existing budget shortfalls.

Let's remember that the NYT isn't known for publishing Republican talking points.

"Don't Blame Teachers Unions For Failing Schools"

That was the debate topic a couple weeks ago, with Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, et. al., on one side, and Dr. Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education, on the other--working side by side with Larry Sand, President of the California Teachers Empowerment Network.

PRE-DEBATE VOTE:
FOR: 24%
AGAINST: 43%
UNDECIDED: 33%

POST-DEBATE VOTE:
FOR: 25%
AGAINST:68%
UNDECIDED: 7%

While Paige, Sand, and Moe were clear to point out that teachers unions were not the only problem in public education, it's just as clear that they were able to sway a large percentage of the undecided vote that the teachers unions bear some of the responsibility.

You can watch the debate here.

Saturday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
That depends on which sport you refer to. According to Wikipedia:
Prior to the year 2000, the University of Hawaiʻi's men's teams were all referred to as the Rainbow Warriors, complemented by an athletics logo featuring a rainbow. However, in a controversial marketing strategy over which many at the University and throughout Hawaii have misgivings, the school changed its athletics logo to a stylized "H" and allowed each team to pick its own team name. This has led to the current situation, where three teams have retained the team name of "Rainbow Warriors," (basketball,swimming & diving and tennis) one team adopted the name "Rainbows'', (baseball) and three teams have adopted the name "Warriors", (football, golf and volleyball).

Today's question, the last in College Sports Team Names Week, is:
What is the name given to teams from Fresno State University?

Are Academics Like This Everywhere?

Are they leftists everywhere, even in Canada?

Project Hero provides scholarships to those who have had a parent killed in action while serving in the Canadian Armed Forces...

This week, 16 professors at the university (of Regina) wrote an open letter to the administration asking the university to cease participation in Project Hero. The 16 didn’t like the fact that soldiers who died in combat in Afghanistan were portrayed as “heroes”. One of the professor’s, Jeffrey Webber, was quoted as saying, “We think this program is a glorification of Canadian imperialism in Afghanistan.” Webber went on to describe the war in Afghanistan as the “occupation of a sovereign country”.

Fortunately, there are some people with clear heads.

The administration at the University of Regina has no plans to cancel Project Hero. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall expressed his disappointment with the letter and one Regina area MP is calling on the professors to apologize to the Canadian troops, something not likely to happen.

The Gang of 88 hasn't apologized for the Duke drumhead, either. Being an academic means never having to say you're sorry.

MIT Physics Students, and Copying Homework

This paper was interesting to read, in part because of the obvious insights it contained:

At MIT, as elsewhere, students and faculty agree that doing homework is essential to learning to solve problems like those on the tests. Why then do our students engage in the acknowledged self-destructive behavior of homework copying?

The differences in temporal patterns between repetitive copiers and other students suggest the proximate causes: they put very little effort into their homework until the last day before the deadline and are several times more likely not to finish by the deadline. In addition, homework copying increases over the term, increasing very significantly after midterms. These observations are consistent with the explanation that students copy homework in response to time pressures that build over the term and are exacerbated by delaying the start of serious work on the weekly assignment until the day it is due. However, the strong correlation of task orientation and copying suggests that those who are primarily oriented toward obtaining grades vs learning predominate among those who choose not to invest sufficient timely effort in their assignments.

It shouldn't take MIT professors to tell us that, but it's good to know that they'll confirm what most high school teachers already know. But let's read more:

In summary, by far the strongest correlate of copying is delaying the start of effort on the homework until close to the due time. Lack of skill is a weak correlate of copying.

OK then.

So, who's the most likely person to cheat in physics class?

Predominately male students who are more interested in business than science or engineering, in getting an MIT degree than learning their major subject, in obtaining a passing grade than learning in introductory physics, and who do not consider copying homework as morally wrong as other students are far more likely not to allocate (perhaps by choice) enough time before the due day to make much progress on their homework and copied it in order to receive the credit.

Business majors.

I wonder if the "numbers" people are more likely to plagiarize in composition class. Probably not--everyone knows that math, science, and engineering-type majors are people of the highest intellectual and moral fiber.

Friday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
The Orange (previously the Orangemen/women and the Saltine Warriors).

Today's question is:
What is the name given to teams from the University of Hawaii?