Wednesday, November 11, 2009
More disappointing news for the Hasan denialists
More on the kinder, gentler treatment given radical jihadists in the military from that bastion of right wingnutism, NPR:
Starting in the spring of 2008, key officials from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences held a series of meetings and conversations, in part about Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man accused of killing 13 people and wounding dozens of others last week during a shooting spree at Fort Hood. One of the questions they pondered: Was Hasan psychotic?
"Put it this way," says one official familiar with the conversations that took place. "Everybody felt that if you were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, you would not want Nidal Hasan in your foxhole" ...
Read the rest here.
Are We There Yet? How long have we been reforming schools now?
How long have we been talking about "education reform" in this country? If you don't know the answer, just go and read Diane Ravitch's The Troubled Crusade. It's been going on for over a hundred years.
The result? We're still talking about it.
Our prediction: as long as there are public schools, there will be constant talk of education reform and no appreciable change. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't all designed that way. They make changes--whether they involve changing the school calendar, or being in new "education technology," or trendy education techniques--only so it will looks like they are actually doing something and serious about making progress, when, in reality, nothing beneficial is actually happening.
We are now officially opposed to any further educational reform. It's a money pit. Stop wasting money on it. The only ideas even worth trying are things like school choice and (to a lesser extent) charter schools--things that wrest control of education from public education bureaucrats.
The result? We're still talking about it.
Our prediction: as long as there are public schools, there will be constant talk of education reform and no appreciable change. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't all designed that way. They make changes--whether they involve changing the school calendar, or being in new "education technology," or trendy education techniques--only so it will looks like they are actually doing something and serious about making progress, when, in reality, nothing beneficial is actually happening.
We are now officially opposed to any further educational reform. It's a money pit. Stop wasting money on it. The only ideas even worth trying are things like school choice and (to a lesser extent) charter schools--things that wrest control of education from public education bureaucrats.
Labels: education
While federal officials are still asking, "Gee, what happened" with Nidal Hasan ...
More on Nidal Hasan from journalists outside the military who, with out any trouble, are diagnosing the problem that military investigators still seem unaware of:
Hasan's classmates at the Uniformed Services University, the military college where mass killer Nidal Malik Hasan recently took graduate courses, claimed to have repeatedly complained to their superiors about his persistent anti-American tirades.According to the New York Post, one said he cautioned those in charge that the ranting Hasan was a "ticking time bomb" after he gave a presentation defending Islamic suicide bombers. Another classmate stated he voiced his complaints to two civilian faculty members and five officers.
Read the rest here.
Labels: terrorism
Rooting for the Russian: Mixed Martial Arts and its detractors
Fedor Emelienenko beat the larger by thirty pounds Brett Rogers with a smashing overhand right in the middle of the second round of a mixed martial arts fight on CBS Saturday night. The nationally televised fight was another indication of the rise in popularity of MMA.
It was a good fight for the public to have seen. Rogers was a little whiney, but, after all, he did lose. The Russian Fedor, who is for all practical purposes undefeated after almost thirty fights, graciously complimented his opponent, and then, having putting a wooden Eastern Orthodox cross around his neck, thanked his fans here in the U. S. But he saved most of his appreciation for "the Orthodox Russian people" back home. "His people."
I have received lectures from people of the feminine persuasion on why MMA should be outlawed. In fact, a lot of people have a problem with the primal nature of MMA. But these are contests of strength and skill involving two athletes who will wail on each other for three rounds and then, once the final horn has sounded, hug each other and shake hands out of respect. If these people have a problem with destructive behavior, they would do better monitoring the playgrounds of our schools where schoolgirls can be found humiliating each other and then refusing to speak. In the final scheme of things, that's a far worse problem.
The biggest problem MMA suffers is the tiresome bombast and bad sportsmanship of a few fighters. Fighters like B. J. Penn routinely taunt their opponents after winning. If MMA's critics were really concerned about destructive behavior, let them talk about that. I'm with 'em.
But what was striking about Saturday's fight was the support Fedor got from the Chicago crowd. Here you had a popular and well-liked American fighter, Brett Rogers (a man whose good reputation is well-deserved), fighting a Russian who doesn't even speak English. Who do they root for? The Russian. When did you think you would ever see that happen?
What is it about Fedor that people like? Here is the greatest heavyweight fighter in the world reacting humbly and appreciatively, and holding a cross--not like the pop stars who blurt out thanks to the Almighty after accepting an award for some piece of cultural trash they helped perpetrate on the public (Have we talked yet about things that are destructive yet?), but because he is grounded in the culture of his homeland and lives a genuinely devout Christian life there. Oh, and he's really good at what he does.
I, too, am rooting for the Russian.
It was a good fight for the public to have seen. Rogers was a little whiney, but, after all, he did lose. The Russian Fedor, who is for all practical purposes undefeated after almost thirty fights, graciously complimented his opponent, and then, having putting a wooden Eastern Orthodox cross around his neck, thanked his fans here in the U. S. But he saved most of his appreciation for "the Orthodox Russian people" back home. "His people."
I have received lectures from people of the feminine persuasion on why MMA should be outlawed. In fact, a lot of people have a problem with the primal nature of MMA. But these are contests of strength and skill involving two athletes who will wail on each other for three rounds and then, once the final horn has sounded, hug each other and shake hands out of respect. If these people have a problem with destructive behavior, they would do better monitoring the playgrounds of our schools where schoolgirls can be found humiliating each other and then refusing to speak. In the final scheme of things, that's a far worse problem.
The biggest problem MMA suffers is the tiresome bombast and bad sportsmanship of a few fighters. Fighters like B. J. Penn routinely taunt their opponents after winning. If MMA's critics were really concerned about destructive behavior, let them talk about that. I'm with 'em.
But what was striking about Saturday's fight was the support Fedor got from the Chicago crowd. Here you had a popular and well-liked American fighter, Brett Rogers (a man whose good reputation is well-deserved), fighting a Russian who doesn't even speak English. Who do they root for? The Russian. When did you think you would ever see that happen?
What is it about Fedor that people like? Here is the greatest heavyweight fighter in the world reacting humbly and appreciatively, and holding a cross--not like the pop stars who blurt out thanks to the Almighty after accepting an award for some piece of cultural trash they helped perpetrate on the public (Have we talked yet about things that are destructive yet?), but because he is grounded in the culture of his homeland and lives a genuinely devout Christian life there. Oh, and he's really good at what he does.
I, too, am rooting for the Russian.
Labels: athletics
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
What the Health Care bill says
Here is a great summary in the Wall Street Journal of the provisions of the health care bill passed by the House last Saturday.
HT: Maverick Philosopher
HT: Maverick Philosopher
Labels: health care
Federal officials investigating Fort Hood shooter: Okay, so they're not Sherlock Holmes
Thomas Joscelyn at the Worldwide Standard, wondering why federal officials investigating Fort Hood shooter are scratching their heads:
The FBI and other federal authorities are reportedly still trying to figure out Maj. Nidal M. Hasan’s motive for opening fire at Fort Hood.Let’s take a look at Hasan’s June 2007 50-slide presentation to senior Army doctors to see if we can unravel this mystery. According to the Washington Post, Hasan was “supposed to discuss a medical topic during” the presentation, but instead “he lectured on Islam, suicide bombers and threats the military could encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting wars in Muslim countries.”
Hasan’s presentation was titled, “The Koranic World View As It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military.” It is fairly obvious that Hasan endorsed the jihadist view of the world in which believers are rewarded, while the infidels are punished. And only those believers who truly follow Allah’s commandments will be rewarded in the afterlife. Allah’s demands, according to Hasan, included participation in an offensive jihad against Islam’s enemies...
Read the rest here.
Labels: terrorism
Monday, November 09, 2009
Keith Burgess-Jackson on the Cult of Diversity
Philosopher Keith Burgess-Jackson saying things that might get him shouted down by the tolerance crowd:
The United States Army cares more about diversity than it does security. I suppose this doesn't surprise me. Colleges and universities care more about diversity than they do truth. Many business firms care more about diversity than they do profit. Our government cares more about diversity than it does justice. Diversity: that before which all else must kneel. Diversity: that than which nothing greater can be conceived. Diversity: the summum bonum. Diversity: the end that justifies the means.
The United States Army cares more about diversity than it does security. I suppose this doesn't surprise me. Colleges and universities care more about diversity than they do truth. Many business firms care more about diversity than they do profit. Our government cares more about diversity than it does justice. Diversity: that before which all else must kneel. Diversity: that than which nothing greater can be conceived. Diversity: the summum bonum. Diversity: the end that justifies the means.
Labels: Diversity
Health Care bill includes gay benefits
As it turns out, a vote for Obama's nationalization of health care was also a vote for domestic partner benefits. "House members overwhelmingly approved a health care reform bill Saturday that recognizes gay unions and makes health care more affordable for gay families," said one report.
This from the "Human Rights Campaign":
This from the "Human Rights Campaign":
Unequal Taxation of Domestic Partner Benefits – the bill ends the unfair taxation of employer-provided domestic partner health benefits, incorporating the language of the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act. Without this tax penalty, more people will be able to afford employer-provided coverage for their families, and more companies will be able to offer these important benefits.This national imposition of domestic partner benefits basically makes the debate going on in the different states moot. This is thanks to a little behind the scenes move by Jim McDermott (D-Washington).
Labels: domestic partner benefits, gay adoption, health care
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Let schools decide on the evolution of the state Christmas tree
Christmastreeaphobics still angry over Beshear reversal: Over at Barefoot and Progressive, they are under the impression that I have "worked myself up into a phony lather" about Gov. Grinch's replacement of the state Christmas tree with a "Holiday tree." I must have done a pretty good job of hiding my amusement. Why would it make me mad to see Beshear politically shoot himself in the foot? All I did was to quote Dr. Seuss to reporters who wanted my comment. No sense in getting mad when politicians you would rather see out of office do things that help ensure they won't be around very long.
Former proponents of letting the people decide on expanded gambling but who changed their mind for political convenience can't spell: Must be too much to drink at the casino. Blue Bluegrass can't seem to spell State Sen. Thayer's name right. Its "Damon," folks, not "Damien." But go ahead and read about why we should not let the people decide on the gambling issue from the people who elected a man who said exactly the opposite.
Rich horse tracks find another excuse to expand gambling: Ohio is allowing expanded gambling, therefore we should have it too. Let's hope they don't legalize drugs and prostitution.
State universities want more of your money: The Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education will consider larger tuition increases than it said it was going to allow. Some state universities, already swimming in taxpayer cash because they won't control their spending, may be asking for more. Oh, and anyone notice that higher education has already implemented many of the ideas Congress wants to try on health care and that costs are even more out of control there than in the health care industry?
State universities wanting even more money. Not only tuition, but state money. They're insatiable.
State K-12 Schools having to actually get serious about school accountability: For years, state school officials have been telling everyone how serious they are about holding school accountable. Then, when they get pressure to implement charter schools from the federal government--which would result in real accountability--they oppose it. But the loss in federal money Kentucky could incur because of their intransigence may be too much for them.
Evolutionists reasoning badly: Kenneth Miller, a professor of genetics at Brown University spoke at the University of Kentucky on Oct. 21, making an impressive case for the compatibility between the belief in evolution and religion, but makes a big logical error unbefitting an upstanding member of the human species we will discuss next week.
Former proponents of letting the people decide on expanded gambling but who changed their mind for political convenience can't spell: Must be too much to drink at the casino. Blue Bluegrass can't seem to spell State Sen. Thayer's name right. Its "Damon," folks, not "Damien." But go ahead and read about why we should not let the people decide on the gambling issue from the people who elected a man who said exactly the opposite.
Rich horse tracks find another excuse to expand gambling: Ohio is allowing expanded gambling, therefore we should have it too. Let's hope they don't legalize drugs and prostitution.
State universities want more of your money: The Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education will consider larger tuition increases than it said it was going to allow. Some state universities, already swimming in taxpayer cash because they won't control their spending, may be asking for more. Oh, and anyone notice that higher education has already implemented many of the ideas Congress wants to try on health care and that costs are even more out of control there than in the health care industry?
State universities wanting even more money. Not only tuition, but state money. They're insatiable.
State K-12 Schools having to actually get serious about school accountability: For years, state school officials have been telling everyone how serious they are about holding school accountable. Then, when they get pressure to implement charter schools from the federal government--which would result in real accountability--they oppose it. But the loss in federal money Kentucky could incur because of their intransigence may be too much for them.
Evolutionists reasoning badly: Kenneth Miller, a professor of genetics at Brown University spoke at the University of Kentucky on Oct. 21, making an impressive case for the compatibility between the belief in evolution and religion, but makes a big logical error unbefitting an upstanding member of the human species we will discuss next week.
Labels: KY Week
Friday, November 06, 2009
Our new name
Okay, so we're finally bowing to pressure from friends who say I should have a blog name that people can actually pronounce. And it wouldn't hurt, they further advise, if it was actually in English.
Sheeez.
So I am changing the name (but not the web address--this is my way of sticking to my guns on this issue when I'm really not) to "Vital Remnants," which was a close runner up in the original blog name competition.
There is, of course, a book by this name, which has nothing to do with this blog, although we are a big fan of the book and think it's a really cool title (with the extra added advantage that no other blog has taking it yet like they have with every other cool name).
So we're going to keep it unless someone sues us or asks us nicely to use something else.
Sheeez.
So I am changing the name (but not the web address--this is my way of sticking to my guns on this issue when I'm really not) to "Vital Remnants," which was a close runner up in the original blog name competition.
There is, of course, a book by this name, which has nothing to do with this blog, although we are a big fan of the book and think it's a really cool title (with the extra added advantage that no other blog has taking it yet like they have with every other cool name).
So we're going to keep it unless someone sues us or asks us nicely to use something else.
Labels: So there
The two sides of Jake
Okay, I'm going to make a big admission here. We actually enjoy Jake over at Page One Kentucky. We read his blog regularly. It has that National Enquirer appeal that we just can't resist. In fact, we think he is terribly funny, and we often find ourselves so amused by his posts that we larf and larf. Seriously.
He has also done many good deeds, including giving University of Louisville President James Ramsey regular booby prizes for his numbskull exploits to embarrass the university (and, by association, the state).
We've even considered giving him some kind of award for all of this, like maybe three or four free personal insults without a follow-up response from us. We might just have to make that his Christmas present.
The only problem is that Jake has this Jeckyl and Hyde thing going on. One moment he will attack the bad guys and then, after imbibing some potion unique to Page One (Well, maybe not entirely unique: they seem to drink the same stuff over at LEO), he shakes and shudders, grows hair all over his body, starts to howl at the moon, and attacks us--the good guys.
It's at these times that we must secure our doors and hide the family.
In a recent such fit, Jake, having boiled and mixed the right chemicals and chugged them down, accused us of not really caring about education and supporting mountain-top removal. These are obviously the charges of a man suffering under chemical induced delusions.
Do I really not care about education? In fact, I teach for a living. I am also a director for an online program which this semester boasts over 600 enrollments.
Do I really support mountain-top removal? In fact, I oppose it 200 percent. I think it should be outlawed. Period.
Someone, please, when he stops foaming at the mouth and the twitching subsides, tell Jake these things. Shake him, slap him a few times (give him a couple for me), and tell him where we really stand.
And for Heaven's sake, get him some help.
He has also done many good deeds, including giving University of Louisville President James Ramsey regular booby prizes for his numbskull exploits to embarrass the university (and, by association, the state).
We've even considered giving him some kind of award for all of this, like maybe three or four free personal insults without a follow-up response from us. We might just have to make that his Christmas present.
The only problem is that Jake has this Jeckyl and Hyde thing going on. One moment he will attack the bad guys and then, after imbibing some potion unique to Page One (Well, maybe not entirely unique: they seem to drink the same stuff over at LEO), he shakes and shudders, grows hair all over his body, starts to howl at the moon, and attacks us--the good guys.
It's at these times that we must secure our doors and hide the family.
In a recent such fit, Jake, having boiled and mixed the right chemicals and chugged them down, accused us of not really caring about education and supporting mountain-top removal. These are obviously the charges of a man suffering under chemical induced delusions.
Do I really not care about education? In fact, I teach for a living. I am also a director for an online program which this semester boasts over 600 enrollments.
Do I really support mountain-top removal? In fact, I oppose it 200 percent. I think it should be outlawed. Period.
Someone, please, when he stops foaming at the mouth and the twitching subsides, tell Jake these things. Shake him, slap him a few times (give him a couple for me), and tell him where we really stand.
And for Heaven's sake, get him some help.
Labels: jake
Thursday, November 05, 2009
The Obamidas Touch
Ann Coulter, on Obama's bad hair day on Tuesday:
Just two days before the election, Obama was at a rally in New Jersey assuring voters that Corzine was "one of the best partners I have in the White House. We work together. ... Jon Corzine helped get this done."Read the rest here.
Except the problem is that voting for Obama a year ago was a fashion statement, much like it was once a fad to buy Beanie Babies, pet rocks and Cabbage Patch Kids. But instead of ending up with a ridiculous dust-collector at the bottom of your closet, the Obama fad leaves you with higher taxes, a reduced retirement fund, no job and a one-year wait for an MRI.
Labels: politics
