I Thought Liberals Liked Undercover Operations

Almost everybody likes watching someone get a well-deserved come-uppance.  60 Minutes, which has been on TV since I was a toddler, is an example of a tv show well known for ambushing people with questions they'd rather not answer.  Do something wrong, pay a penalty.  In the past, liberals seemed to believe in this view (they especially like leaks from the Trump White House).

But not with Project Veritas.  James O'Keefe and his crew expose things about liberal organizations that they'd rather no one else know, and liberals try every trick in the book to stop him.  This time they succeeded, but only temporarily:

A federal judge in Detroit on Wednesday lifted the temporary restraining order a major teachers union won against the conservative group Project Veritas and denied a request for a preliminary injunction.

A Wayne County circuit judge in September blocked Project Veritas, a group run by provocateur James O’Keefe, from disclosing videos of other information it obtained in an undercover operation carried out against the American Federation of Teachers chapter in Detroit.

AFT Michigan alleged that Project Veritas operative Marisa Jorge used the name Marissa Perez and posed as a University of Michigan student to gain access to the chapter as an intern. The group claimed Jorge “unlawfully accessed and transmitted proprietary and confidential information and engaged in unlawful and unauthorized surveillance of” employees.

AFT Michigan had sought an injunction citing a strong likelihood of success with respect to violations of the Michigan Uniform Trade Secrets Act, the Michigan Eavesdropping Act and Jorge’s breach of fiduciary duty, all of which failed to hold up in court.

U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker ruled that the AFT failed to meet the proper criteria for issuance of a preliminary injunction.

WHAT?  She used a fake name?  The horror!

The court did concede that AFT Michigan had a likelihood to succeed on the merits of its breach of duty of loyalty claim, though. But it also found that a preliminary injunction would raise First Amendment concerns, cautioning that the course of action would “most certainly … infringe upon Defendants’ First Amendment right.”

Much like in every other human endeavor, if you're doing something you want to keep secret because you think it will make you look bad if people found out about it, Option 1 might be to stop doing it.  While that advice doesn't work 100% of the time, it works often enough to be considered.

Weingarten and Hecker slammed what they called O’Keefe’s war on teachers, students and families, as well as his reliance on “secret infiltration and lies, heavily edited videos and spurious claims” to advance a political agenda.

Randi, Randi, Randi.  You know what?  That one's too fun to comment on; I'll just let it sit here in the sun so everyone can relish the rampant hypocrisy.

Sacramento Yesterday

2nd Chance In A Lifetime

After Justice Scalia died and the Friedrichs case was decided by a 4-4 vote of the remaining Supreme Court justices, I lamented that "Friedrichs is probably the last time in my life I'll get a chance to be free of forced unionism as a teacher, and now that chance has suffered a body blow."  I was quite invested in Friedrichs, being a signatory to not one but two amicus briefs in that case.

I'm glad to have been mistaken; in February the Supreme Court will hear another case, Janus, that many believe will end forced unionism in this country.  And, as with Friedrichs, I'm a signatory to an amicus brief.

Social studies lesson:  there are many ways you can influence our government, students.  You can vote.  You can write letters to the editor of the paper, you can write your congressman and senator.  You can start an organization or a non-profit.  You can also try to influence the Supreme Court.  All that stuff you learn in civics/government class?  It's real.

Larry Sand, president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network, wrote:

Two months from today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the Janus v AFSCME case, with a decision scheduled to be announced in June. If successful, it would free public employees in 22 states from having to pay any money to a union as a condition of employment.

Many union leaders are beside themselves with the thought that their days of collecting forced dues payments may well be numbered. And in an attempt to convince anyone who will listen to them, the lies and whines are flowing like raw sewage. Perhaps Numero Uno on the BS meter is Mr. Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Association. In the current issue of California Educator, the union’s magazine, Heins spews some whoppers that would make Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton blush.

Larry isn't one to pull any punches, go read the whole thing if you're so inclined.

And in what can only be described as a major turnaround for the US government, the US Justice Department now opposes forced unionism and its associated agency fee payments to unions:

The Department of Justice is recommending that the Supreme Court rule that public sector employees cannot be forced to contribute dues to unions, even when they're not members.

The decision to submit an amicus brief supporting the employee in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 reverses the Justice Department's previous position under President Barack Obama.

Second time in my life.  Two months from today.  This is for all the marbles.

Liberals: Lying About Racial Attacks Doesn't Help Your Cause

Daisy Lundy's story goes way back, so here are some 2017 examples of racial hoaxes:

Over the last year, it seems as if more campus hate crimes turned out to be hoaxes than legitimate acts of hate. Schools tended to be fertile ground for overzealous students looking to prove there is hate where none exists. These 17 examples show 2017 continued to be a year in which hate-crime hoaxes are an epidemic with no end in sight.

Some anecdotes are fallout from post-election antics spawned in late November 2016 in the wake of the Donald Trump presidency. The rest originated in apparent desperate attempts to push a progressive narrative.

If you have to make stories up in order to "bring awareness" to an issue, perhaps it's your perception of this issue that is at odds with reality, and you need to take stock of your own beliefs and biases.

How sad that a web site like this even needs to exist.

And I see where that last sentence is headed: some liberal is going to point to the Megan's Law web site or any crime database and say it's sad that those exist, too, as if we live in a world of unicorns and rainbows.  And while I agree that it's sad that people commit crimes and harm others, it's somehow worse in my mind not to be a victim while lying to get others in trouble while you wear the mantle of victim.  It's the lying.

Christmas Is Over For Me

My son just left, he's got to get back to Washington and start his outprocessing so he can report to his new duty station on Oahu.

Another Christmas Present

Rasmussen Poll shows Trump at 46% APPROVE this morning, with 53% DISAPPROVE...

What about Obama at same exact date first year in presidency?? 46% APPROVE, 53% DISAPPROVE! pic.twitter.com/tKaruSdrpv

— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) December 28, 2017

It Must Be Miserable To Hate This Much

I don't see how a person, especially an educated person, can think this way.  I just can't:

A professor recently encouraged students to break the law in order to “destroy” the system of “white democracy,” saying the American flag doesn’t even represent about half of them.

Video footage obtained by The Red Elephants purports to show Diablo Valley College professor Albert Ponce lecturing on “white supremacy in the USA,” at one point suggesting that not all students should get up for the Pledge of Allegiance...

Ponce argued that Americans “exist in a white supremacist, patriarchal, heteronormative, capitalist system,” and that citizens should be violating laws that they believe perpetuate those conditions.

I wonder how Ponce would feel about those who want to violate laws that allow haters like him to spout their venom without fear of physical retribution from normal people.  You've gotta think stuff like this through, Ponce.

A Champion, Not A Genius

When I saw "If you can get 12/12 on this you're a vocabulary GENIUS", I had to give it a try.

The result?

Not horrible, I guess.

Whatever Happened To...

...all that 2009 porkulus package money, about $800 billion worth, that was spent on "shovel-ready" projects?  Am I supposed to forget that it was all squandered, but trust government to have mended its ways by now and to have an excellent plan for not wasting taxpayer money today?

The Trump administration is expected to unveil an infrastructure package in the new year, after putting the issue on the sidelines amid other GOP priorities in 2017.

The White House is working to release a roughly 70-page infrastructure proposal sometime in January for members of Congress to use as a cornerstone for drafting the legislation in 2018...

Although the administration is working to address the nation’s infrastructure, several major question marks hang over the plan, such as funding.

“The cost is going to be an issue, that’s going to be a large topic of debate,” a senior committee aide told the Washington Examiner.

This spring, the administration called for using $200 billion in direct federal spending over the next 10 years. This was intended to spur $800 billion in spending by states, localities and private investors.

“I think the biggest sticking point will be funding, paying for the plan,” said Michael Sargent, transportation and infrastructure policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. “Where does this $200 billion come from?”

Where, indeed.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you're enjoying your day as much as I'm enjoying mine.

What A Great Season For Army Football

Two weeks ago Army football pulled out a win in a nailbiter against Navy, 14-13.  I think Navy was favored by 3, and they wouldn't have covered the spread even if they had made that last second field goal.

Today Army played San Diego State in the Armed Forces Bowl.  SDSU was favored by 6 1/2 and came in with a record of 10-2, Army came in with a record of 9-3 but I saw only one prediction that Army might win.  Both teams are running teams--in fact, Army's offense, SDSU's special teams (which returned a kickoff for a touchdown), and halftime kept SDSU's offense off the field for over 45 minutes of real time.  Army received the kickoff to open the 3rd quarter and kept the ball for over 11 minutes, coming away with no points.  SDSU had a player ejected in the first quarter for unsportsmanlike conduct, a call that was made against them at least 2 more times in the game.  Combined, there were only 14 passes attempted, and no punts or field goals.  Both teams were stingy with turnovers--until the last seconds of the game.

Until the last seconds, Army had only led once in the game, going up 21-14 with :18 left in the half.  However, with :05 left, SDSU tied it up with a kickoff return for touchdown.  Late in the 4th, Army was down 35-28, but with less than 2 dozen seconds left in regulation, scored.  35-34.  Will the nation's top rushing team tie it up, or go for 2?  With seconds left in the game, Army led 36-35.

But the game wasn't over yet!  Having to go the length of the field with 5 seconds left, SDSU tried some razzle-dazzle, 1982 Cal-Stanford style.  The  running and lateral-ing continued until the clock ran out, but the ball was still in play.  In a last gasp to avoid being tackled, an SDSU player threw the ball across the field--where it was intercepted by an Army player, who ran it in for a touchdown!  Army wins 42-35!  I don't know how long ESPN will keep the video up, but to see that last play, click here, and scroll across to the video labeled Army Spoils SDSU's Last-gasp Play With Insane TD.  That play is going to make the post-season highlight reel for sure, maybe the entire NCAA football 2017 season highlight reel.  (And if you want to see another defensive play that will make the season highlight reels, scroll to :35 in the video labeled Army Beats San Diego State In Wild Ending.)  Both teams ended the season 10-3.

You know what I really liked about this game?  Seeing the players from both teams help each other up at the end of a play.  That's class, and it was shown by both sides.  I like that.

It was a great season.  I'm glad to see Army play well again, 20 years is too long!

I'm Happy The Fish Are Enjoying Themselves

Good thing we have all these scientists studying the important things on our planet:

A species of Mexican fish amasses in reproductive orgies so loud they can deafen other sea animals, awed scientists have said, calling for preservation of the “spectacle” threatened by overfishing.

An individual spawning Gulf corvina, say the researchers, utters a mating call resembling “a really loud machine gun” with multiple rapid sound pulses.

And when hundreds of thousands of fish get together to spawn once a year “the collective chorus sounds like a crowd cheering at a stadium or perhaps a really loud beehive”, said study co-author Timothy Rowell from the University of San Diego.

“The sound levels generated by chorusing is loud enough to cause at least temporary if not permanent hearing loss in marine mammals that were observed preying on the fish.

People Don't Want To Work At The EPA Anymore?

They report this like it's a bad thing:

More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration.

Of the employees who have quit, retired or taken a buyout package since the beginning of the year, more than 200 are scientists. An additional 96 are environmental protection specialists, a broad category that includes scientists as well as others experienced in investigating and analyzing pollution levels. Nine department directors have departed the agency as well as dozens of attorneys and program managers. Most of the employees who have left are not being replaced.

The departures reflect poor morale and a sense of grievance at the agency, which has been criticized by President Trump and top Republicans in Congress as bloated and guilty of regulatory overreach. That unease is likely to deepen following revelations that Republican campaign operatives were using the Freedom of Information Act to request copies of emails from E.P.A. officials suspected of opposing Mr. Trump and his agenda.

That last paragraph says it all.  If you want to act like the opposition, be prepared to be treated like the opposition.  Duh.

“To me it’s not necessarily a sign of catastrophe,” said David M. Kreutzer, a senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation who advised Mr. Trump on the E.P.A. during the transition. He said the agency under President Obama was engaged in “phenomenal overreach” and that the Trump administration’s efforts were aimed at correcting that.

Something like that, yes.

(EPA Administrator) Mr. Pruitt’s office has described the current buyout process as a continuation of Obama administration efforts to ensure that payroll expenses do not overtake funding for environmental programs. 

If President Obama did it, it must be good.  So doing more of what Obama did is bad?  Hm...  Consistency has never been a strong suit of lefties.

This Is Almost The Right Way To Handle This

Students staged a 2-month sit-in in the administrative offices of Reed College in Portland, Oregon (where else).  They didn't get what they wanted:

Student protesters at Reed College spent weeks occupying its administrative building, demanding the school cut its tie with Wells Fargo. Their activism wasn’t enough.

The college’s Investment Committee announced Tuesday it would reject the request from Reedies Against Racism to divest from the financial services giant...

In a flyer hung up on campus and posted on Facebook, protesters allege Reed College President John Kroger told two of the activists that they should transfer out of the college if they find it “so morally reprehensible.”

I hope he did. In fact, he should go further and kick them out of school.

All of them.

College students of today need to learn the right and the wrong ways to protest.  They should also learn that there are consequences to acting inappropriately.

“As long as their demonstrations do not interrupt college business, including classes and lectures, or run afoul of college policies it will be allowed. Dissent is a form of free speech and we are believers in academic freedom and free speech,” he said.

That is entirely the right way to handle things.  What's important is to follow through on the requirement about "run(ning) afoul of college policies".

College is a place to learn?  Learn the right way and the wrong way to challenge authority.  If you're going to do it the wrong way, you'd better win--or else face the penalties associated with misbehavior.

Another Math App

First there was Wolfram Alpha, now there's this app:

Based on the promo clip, PhotoMath, dubbed a “smart camera calculator,” appears to use smartphone cameras to scan a photo of a math equation in a textbook and display the answer instantly — similar to apps that scan barcodes and takes users to a link in a web browser. It looks like the app can also show step-by-step instructions for solving the problem.

Update: it solved a 3x3 system of equations in less than 2 seconds. That's faster than I can do it :-)  I clicked on "Steps" and learned that it solved the system using Cramer's Rule.  It also solved trigonometric equations.

Feel-Good Story of the Day

The one question I have that wasn't answered in the video:  what happened to his sister?

A high school football coach invited a homeless player to live with him and his family. CNN's Dianne Gallagher reports.

1st Day of Break

I didn't stay up too late last night; sure, I was up later than I would have been if I had had to work today, but not unreasonably late.  And I woke up at my usual time, but got to stay in bed and enjoy the quiet and relaxation for a couple hours. 

Haven't graded any of the final exams I brought home from my last class, but I have plenty of time to grade them.  I can spend several minutes a day over the course of several days grading them--do all the first pages one day, do all the second pages another day, and before long I'll have them all graded and it won't feel like I spent any time at all on them.

My Christmas shopping has been complete for quite some time, but I think I'm still going to go out today, just because.  I don't think I'm going to hit the day after Christmas sales, as I can't think of anything that I just have to have.  If I learn of something, though....

It's nice to be able to relax and unwind.  Two weeks off at Christmastime is absolutely one of the perks of being a teacher.

It's A Christmas Miracle!

Today was the last day of final exams--I don't have to go back to school until after New Year's!  And I go back that Monday, my students get an extra day off while I enter grades, make copies, and do the million other things that occupy a teacher's time when we're not actually teaching.

I gave finals in each of my two classes scheduled for today, and got little Christmas miracles in each one.

In the first class, one of my students has already received a scholarship to college.  He's put money down on housing, he's ready to go.  All he has to do is maintain his GPA during his senior year.  Can you see where this story is going?  Of course you can!  He let his grade drop to a C going into the final, and he needs a B in the course to maintain his GPA.  Also, he calculated that he needed 94% on the final exam to get his grade back into the B range.  As a little encouragement, I told him I'd award him a B- if he earned 90% or more on the final.  I'm not giving away much; after all, what's the probability that he'd score 90-93%?  Actually, since the final was worth 50 points and I don't award half-points, he'd get the B- if he scored a 90% or a 92%, and he'd earn a B- outright if he scored 94% or above.

45, 46, or 47+ points.

He studied, I know he did.  He asked clarifying questions during the final exam today.  I'm told he spent over $100 on tutors in the last week or so.

I grade tests a class at a time, a page at a time.  So once I've graded everyone's Page 1, I turn the paper over and grade everyone's Page 2.  This has some powerful advantages, including significant consistency in the awarding of partial credit as well as my not knowing whose paper I'm grading (after the first page).  After everyone had turned in his/her test, I started correcting.

I correct papers very quickly, I have a system.  With over two hours in which to give the final exam, I had plenty of time to grade the papers after the last had been turned in.

After I'd graded everybody's Page 4, it was time to add up the scores.  I start from the back page and work my way forward, adding up missed points along the way, until I get to the front page, the one with the name on it, and that's when I write the score.

47 points.  94%.  He earned the grade on his own.  Perhaps he now understands the sentiment behind the motivational statement I've had written on the board all week:

In my next class, one of my students gave me a gag gift.  Attached to it was a note:

I've learned more in this 1 semester than in my prior 2 years of math.  Thanks for the knowledge.

I think the note was the real gift.

Third Time's A Charm

My son is home on leave and came to see me at school a couple days ago.  He couldn't remember which room was mine, felt a bit conspicuous at school, and didn't want to go to the office to ask!

Yesterday, armed with the location of my classroom, he tried again.  On the way there his tire died (actually, cracked rim caused the tire to deflate almost immediately).  He didn't make it.

Today he made it.  We had a staff potluck after finals today, so he came in and ate with us while proud dad got to show him off a little.  One of our teachers had him as a student back in 7th grade--he's a bit taller now, and the teacher didn't even recognize him.  Then again, it's been, what, 8 1/2 years or so?

Nice way for me to spend some time with him.

My massage chair here at home finally got repaired today.  He's in it right now, enjoying life.  I'm enjoying having him here.

How Much Am I Willing To Pay For A Life Change?

Holy crap.

I just went to the CalSTRS retirement calendar and ran two different calculations; the first involved my monthly retirement check if I "retire" in 2020 and go teach in an international school, and the second was my monthly retirement check if I actually wait until 2028 to retire (and forego the international school route).  In the first place my monthly retirement pay would be about $2000/month, in the second place it was $5000/month.

Granted, in theory I could put that entire $2000/month into an IRA and not draw on it until I actually retire in 2028 or so, but dang, I'm gambling with 60% of my retirement.

What to do?