tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97252202024-03-07T21:34:26.217-05:00Going to the MatWrestling with Issues and Ideas in politics, the law, education, and other stuff.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.comBlogger5295125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-57621003968398957212017-05-04T07:32:00.001-04:002017-05-04T07:32:28.201-04:00No Handmaid's Tale Here<p dir="ltr">But maybe you should take a look at the latest member of the UN's Women's Rights Council- Saudi Arabia. </p>
<p dir="ltr">https://thewriterinblack.com/2017/05/04/the-handmaids-tale/</p>
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-74679217066944990732017-04-30T16:19:00.001-04:002017-04-30T16:19:30.169-04:00Liberal Fascism<p dir="ltr">It is not just a Jonah Goldberg bookntitle and warning. It is here, now. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-free-speech-kass-0430-20170428-column.html</p>
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-17667123164806418322017-04-06T09:16:00.001-04:002017-04-06T09:16:22.712-04:00Ooops.....<p dir="ltr">People in glass houses should not throw stones. I wonder how many of the other Senators have equal pay between their male and female staff? </p>
<p dir="ltr">http://freebeacon.com/politics/elizabeth-warren-goes-silent-on-equal-pay-day-after-free-beacon-report/</p>
<p dir="ltr">Not that I buy the use of median salaries as a measurement, but what is good for the gander must also be used on the goose. </p>
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<p dir="ltr">Well, maybe not on the Beltway-those drivers are crazy. https://acculturated.com/ivanka-trumps-car-seat-scandal/</p>
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<p dir="ltr">But it is not "fake news." http://freebeacon.com/issues/wapo-reports-immigrants-going-hungry-because-trump/</p>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Trump’s budget<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everywhere I turn, I am seeing cries and lamentations about
President Trump’s first budget. First of all let’s be clear about what we are
talking about. What was issued in the press is what is referred to as a “skinny
budget” meaning there are no details only large-scale bottom-line numbers. So
the devil will be in the details in the full budget released in the coming
months.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Talking about the substance of the budget is likely to get
people who are fiscally conservative into a great deal of hot water. Cries
about cutting the NDA or the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or the EPA or
any number of smaller budget items is likely to drown out any sort of logical
discussion of the size and scope of the federal government and therefore its
budget. But what is interesting is the fatal lack of understanding of the
federal budget. There are so many programs that overlap other federal programs,
state and local programs, and even private efforts that cutting most of these
budgets won’t have any effect on the folks who supposedly receive federal
funding. For example the <a href="https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/nea-fy2017-appropriations-request.pdf">NEA’s
relatively small budget</a> is used support museums, libraries, research, and
other activities. But the truth of the matter is, like any other large
organization, a large chunk of money goes to pay salary for employees. To be fair
though, only about 20% of the NEA’s budget goes to salaries and program support,
which is really good for any organization. But the NEA is an organization
dedicated to spending tax dollars on, let’s be honest here, largely left wing
and liberal meaning concerns. Politically, among Trump supporters and fiscal
conservatives, this does not sit well with probably a majority of Americans. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As for the notion that cutting meat NEA is going to close
museums across the country nothing could be further from the truth. A little
less than half of the NEA budget, about $72 million in fiscal year 2017, is
given out in direct grants. There are, according to Google, more than 35,000
museums in the United States. Even assuming every museum applies for indirect
grant from the NEA each museum would receive a paltry $2,057.14. That’s it. For
most museums that won’t even pay the electric bill for a year. Of course, not
all museums apply for NEA support, and any museum that relies solely on funding
from one source, probably does not deserve to remain open.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So let’s not kid ourselves that cutting the NEA means that even
one museum will close. Yes, I know support for the humanities is important. Yes,
I know that museums are important. But that does not mean the federal
government should be taking tax dollars in spending on supporting museums.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course the NEA is but one victim of President Trump’s
budget suggestion. I could spend several posts talking about and defending the
budget cuts why they should be done and what the marginal effect would be. But
politically, people need to understand, this is not going to be the final
budget not by any stretch of the imagination. This is a negotiating tool. That
is it. If more people took the time to read Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal”
they would have a far better understanding of how the president works. He knows
he’s not going to get all of this. He knows that things that he wants to cut
will be put back into the budget. But the document does do several things: it
shows his base, his voters, that he is doing what he said he would do.
Politically it’s refreshing. For far too long Congress and the president have
tried to tinker around the edges of budgets but never really reducing anything.
At least this president is willing to wield a mighty axe in the budget process.
It takes bold stances to affect change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Personally, I would like to see Pres. trump and Congress
tackle what is really going to break the bank from a budget standpoint and that
his entitlements. But to do that is going to take an absolute willingness to
take a beating personally and professionally in the press and before voters.
That may take more courage than anyone in the elective office currently has. But
we certainly need someone to do that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Never fear, this skinny budget is just one step in the
process, a process that is ultimately and finally controlled by Congress. The
question will be, does the President have the guts to veto spending bills that
completely disregards his priorities? That will be an interesting test.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<p dir="ltr">Well, simple...Donald Trump was elect3d President and so many liberals, including many of my close friends an family have gone absolutely bonkers with fear, anger, depression and sonforth, that in orderbtonsave my sanity for a while, I have to have a space where I can work put my thoughts on issues with out causing a fight or a divorce. </p>
<p dir="ltr">So some of this contwnt will not be fully formed or even coherent. But you are free to l look around. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Not sure if I will go back to soccer blogging, bit I might. </p>
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</div>
When you talk to traditional marriage advocates, there is always the procreation question. That is, allowing gays or lesbians to get married cannot lead to naturally conceived children. If the only purpose of marriage in this scenario is to procreate, then under that rhubric, only heterosexual couples who can reproduce should be allowed to marry. So if a couple can't have kids should be forced to get divorced? <br />
<br />
<a href="http://althouse.blogspot.com/2013/03/what-precisely-is-way-in-which-allowing.html">As Ann Althouse</a> pointed out, Justice Breyer went after this concept?<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">In this view, marriage is about children and not adult desire because it is a device to </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">rein in male desire</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">, to keep men from fathering children they aren't going to raise. It's not that marriage can keep that bad thing from happening. It just makes it </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">less likely</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">, because the </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">marriage norm</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;"> is fidelity.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">Obviously, fornication and adultery go on despite this marriage norm, and it's hard to see why letting gay people marry would mess up the norm. I'm trying to picture this man at the heart of Cooper's vision of society: He's true to his wife, because he's gotten the message that's the norm, but if some gay people can marry, then he's going to start cheating, knocking up some other woman, and it's because of </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">this guy </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">that gay people can be excluded from marriage?</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">What a nutty set of things we're asked to believe! Who the hell is this stereotypical married man, constrained by what </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">other people </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">are forbidden to do? And why should his ridiculous, tenuous connection to norms carry the day? And how can obsessing over what makes him tick work to keep marriage focused on </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">the raising of children</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;"> and not on the emotional needs and desires of adults? It seems to be </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">all about</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;"> the needs and desires of adults — really ridiculous heterosexual male adults.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">Who </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;">are</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.453125px;"> these people?!</span></blockquote>
<br />
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-39736409957133130232013-03-27T09:50:00.003-04:002013-03-27T09:50:38.019-04:00"America’s problem isn’t gay marriage; it’s marriage."<div>
</div>
<br />
<a href="http://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2013/03/26/on-marriage-again/?singlepage=true">Roger Simon argues</a> that those among the gay/lesbian community who seek to get married are just as <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">bourgeois as those middle class heterosexuals who want to get married. These are people who are committed to what Simon rightfully calls a struggle to remain committed. But when so many heterosexuals are calling it quits on marriage (and there are lots of them), conservatives should embrace those gays who want to keep the institution alive. After all, with some many problems with the institution of marriage in this country, allowing a minority who WANTS the institution in their lives would seem a much wiser course, after all, allowing two gays/lesbians to get married has not impacted at all the ability of two heterosexuals to get married at all. As Simon notes:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"And guess what — nothing has happened to the institution of marriage, except, sadly, from those heterosexuals deserting it. And that is clearly not the homosexuals’ fault.....</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">I would remind them to concentrate on the real problem. Marriage is in serious jeopardy. Pay more attention to that, not to a tiny minority who seek what you already have."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Important thoughts.</span></span><br />
<br />
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-82173939519147792462013-03-26T14:15:00.001-04:002013-03-26T14:15:20.687-04:00More on Gay Marriage<div>
</div>
I have posted a few pieces on <a href="http://mattjohnston.blogspot.com/search/label/Gay%20Marriage">gay marriage</a> on this site and including one before the election on the parade of horribles that a fair number of social conservatives raise when it comes to the issue. If you are looking for one guy's thoughts on the matter, check that out there. <a href="http://mattjohnston.blogspot.com/2012/11/on-gay-marriage-and-where-arguments.html">My thoughts on the legal and moral underpinnings of the "gay marriage debate" have not changed</a>, indeed they have probably become firmer if anything. <br />
<br />
But today and tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on two cases regarding the gay marriage debate. Today's case deals with Proposition 8 in California. Tomorrow's case deals with the Defense of Marriage Act, that rather poorly thought out piece of legislation (the norm for most legislation in the past 20 years out of Congress). the Prop 8 case is not going to satisfy very many people, other than us geeky Supreme Court watchers because its resolution is likely to turn on procedural matters, such as whether the petitioners have the right to actually bring the case. Check out this summary from noted <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/03/the-proposition-8-oral-argument/">Supreme Court practitioner and watcher Tom Goldstein</a>.<br />
<br />
The DOMA case maybe different, but even there, I could see the Supreme Court looking for an easy way out, some procedural quirk or some substantive matter that would allow them to dispose of the case without reaching the merits or a ruling on whether gay marriage is constitutionally protected or not.<br />
<br />
The fact of the matter is, I don't think that many gays in this country are going to be particularly happy with the rulings on these cases when the opinions come out in June (most likely June). The fundamental truth is that we are still having a debate in this country. While my opinions are pretty clear, let me restate them,<br />
<br />
I do not believe that the government of any level should have a role in defining marriage other than certain proscriptions--i.e. you have to be at least 18 and matters of consanguinity. Outside of that, government should get out of the business of saying who can be married and who can't. <br />
<br />
But do I expect the Supreme Court to say that this year? Nope. <br />
<br />
And to my dear friends who are hoping for such a ruling, I say this, it must be nice to live in that rosy place.<br />
<br />
We should be honest, while I believe the gay/lesbian community is making great strides in making a solid moral and legal case for themselves, I do not believe that these two cases are going to provide any sort of "home run" ruling. But what must be made clear is my admonition from many years ago. Whining like a six year old who is denied their favorite ice cream is not going to win any friends. Take the opinions and then continue your work, because it is not over.<br />
<br />
For opponents of gay marriage out there, you too have much to examine. You too cannot whine about the "decay" of our society if you think two people getting married is worse than two people living together. If you have a moral and legal foundation, you need to explain it in those terms, do NOT talk about homosexuality as some sort of abomination before God since that comes across as hyocritical--perhaps not to the extent of Christians who kill abortion doctors, but in the same ballpark. <br />
<br />
The fact is, I just don't see any sort of "victory" for either side. In the end, the Supreme Court is a poor arena for this fight. It needs to be fought in the legislatures, in the neighborhoods and in our own minds and hearts. <br />
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</div>
So says <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/03/18/gay-marriage-marriage-equality-column/1994405/">Glenn Reynolds in USA Today</a>. <br />
<br />
It probably matters far more than whether gays can marry or not. After all, there are also rich gay people and poor gay people. <br />
<br />
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-23435986207839477522013-03-18T17:21:00.000-04:002013-03-18T17:21:03.173-04:00"[A] democracy should not be dependent for its major decisions on what nine unelected people -- from a fairly narrow background, a legal background -- have to say."<div>
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<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/07/focus-shifts-to-supreme-court-expanding-role-in-determining-laws/">Said Justice Anthony Kennedy,</a> a man who sits on the fulcrum of a relatively ideologically divided Supreme Court. <br />
<br />
<br />
I have an idea. Maybe the Supreme Court should start kicking cases on the ground of a "textual committment to a co-equal branch" of government as the political question doctrine stated in <i>Baker v. Carr</i> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">369 </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Reports" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px; text-decoration: none;" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;"> </span>186 (1964).<br />
<br />
Seems like the Supreme Court, which has the power to control its docket, could start pushing back on Congress and the Executive Branch to start doing their job instead of punting to the Court. These are smart people on the Court, surely they could find a reason to return these political cases back to the elected branches and say, "you guys have to figure this out." <br />
<br />
<br />
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<p><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/07/3-bystanders-reportedly-accidentally-shot-by-police-searching-for-murder/">3 bystanders reportedly shot by police during hunt for murder suspect | Fox News</a></p>
<p>Two of the bystanders were Women!!!! Women delivering newspapers. Like Horner would driving a paper route on his escape from the cops.</p>
<p>Pictures of Horner show a pretty hefty MAN. Not women delivering newspapers.</p>
<p>Are the cops just shooting on sight of a pickup matching the one Horner supposedly happens to.drive? </p>
<p>You could not pay me enough to do the LAPD's PR. I could not stand up in front of the media and not say "Why did those officers shoot those two WOMEN instead of the MAN we are looking for? Because they are FRAKING IDIOTS!!" </p>
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</div>
<a href="http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2013/2/6/embry_riddle_space_d.html">Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University plans</a> to offer a Bachelor's Degree is Commercial Spaceflight beginning in the fall of 2013, pending approval by the Board of Trustees. <br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has announced plans to launch the nation's first ever bachelor's degree in Commercial Space Operations. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The announcement was made Wednesday at the 16th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The new degree program would be offered at Embry-Riddle's campus in Volusia County [Daytona Beach]. The school said the program will supply the commercial spaceflight industry with skilled graduates in the areas of space policy, operations, regulation and certification, as well as space flight safety, and space program training, management and planning.</blockquote>
<br />
When I was a kid, I wanted to attend <a href="http://www.erau.edu/">Embry-Riddle</a>--but two things stopped me---money (it is expensive) and the fact that Calculus II and I simply did not get along so well.<br />
<br />
Still, in a period of time in which commercial spaceflight is growing by leaps and bounds, the offering of a commercial spaceflight degree is probably a good step for the small school. I suspect that many other leading technical universities will soon follow. <br />
<br />
I wonder if and when they will offer a graduate degree in commercial spaceflight? Hmmmmmmmm.......<br />
<br />
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A couple of weeks ago, Prof. Glenn Reynolds (a.k.a. the Instapundit) posted a short paper on SSRN called <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2203713">Ham Sandwich Nation: Due Process When Everything is a Crime</a> in which he discusses the problem of prosecutorial discretion. Reynolds notes that our criminal justice system is not really one in which the accused is realistically afforded a trial by a jury of his peers, rather "What we really have is a plea bargain system with a thin froth of showy trials floating on top." While the plea bargain system is clearly an issue in the judicial system, complaints about the system mask a larger problem--the elimination of the average citizen from yet another governmental function.<br />
<br />
Although Reynolds is not the first to note that our criminal justice system is largely one based on plea bargains, his paper and the death of Reddit creator Aaron Swartz by suicide days after he rejected a plea bargain on a series of charges that could have (but most likely would not have) sent him to prison for 35 years, have created something of a dialogue. <br />
<br />
As <a href="http://bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/02/03/can-juries-tame-prosecutors-gone-wild-can-juries-tame-prosecutors-gone-wild/yAvVOZPmpm408lskfiMe3M/story.html">this Boston Globe story by Leon Neyfakh attempts to discuss</a>, increasing the role of the citizen might be one way in which to limit the overcharging that happens with prosecutors. Noting first that we have a criminal justice system and a political system that rewards tough on crime behavior by our law enforcement branches, Neyfakh also notes that<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
While the police who investigate and arrest us are bound by strict limits on what they can do, and courts must abide by procedures designed to treat defendants fairly, there are hardly any guidelines in place to protect us during the charging phase. The result—as any “Law & Order” fan knows—is a system where the prosecutor loads up as many charges as possible to force a guilty plea, and moves on to the next case.</blockquote>
Thus, at one key phase of the criminal prosecution phase, there is almost no limit, practical or legal, that can be a check on the power of the government. Why? A plea bargain system of justice is the most efficient way to appear "tough on crime" and to address the thousands of laws that create criminals out of all of us. <i>See</i>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/1594032556/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360001208&sr=8-1&keywords=three+felonies+a+day">Harvey Silvergate's <i>Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target The Innocent</i></a>. Neyfakh discusses a number of ideas to change the jury system, to increase the role of the grand jury or to change the manner in which the grand juries operate. Today, in those states with a grand jury process, it is said that a good prosecutor can get a ham sandwich indicted if he so wanted. Changes in the grand jury system, so that average citizens have more of a say in who gets charged and what they get charged with, might be one means to reaffirming the role of the citizen in the judicial system as well as serving as a check on the prosecutor gone wild.<br />
<br />
While there is nothing inherently wrong with a plea bargain, particularly for those who are truly guilty, there is an incentive created in a system in which plea bargains are the primary means of obtaining a conviction. For a prosecutor with political ambitions and/or prejudices, her discretion allows for her to make decisions which can all but guarantee a plea from an alleged criminal without the trouble and expense of a trial for the state. The prosecutor simply loads up the charges, listing lesser offenses along with some offenses which, if the matter actually went to trial would get tossed pretty easily, all in an effort to say to a defendant, "if I convict you on all these charges you will get 50 years in prison. But here is a deal where you can plead guilty to this charge and get little or not jail time." Of course, in such a situation, particularly for those people (most people) who cannot afford a costly legal defense, taking the deal is preferable. As little more that state-sanctioned blackmail (the term for this should not be plea bargain but rather it should be "prison-mail").<br />
<br />
But is the deal being offered truly fair? We are not always talking about some drug dealer who may have killed a rival, so the prosecutor, in the face of little or no evidence of the murder charge, offers a felony drug conviction. In that case, everyone knows the dealer is guilty of a least the drug crimes. But what about the case of Aaron Swartz?* Could Swartz have committed a crime? Probably--at least trespassing by breaking into a switching room to which he was not allowed. He was also probably guilty of illegal downloading and/or hacking. But 35 years on 13 charges seems excessive. Given that Swartz was embarking on a plan to regularly hack networks to publicly reveal data, a mindset that <a href="http://www.volokh.com/2013/01/16/the-criminal-charges-against-aaron-swartz-part-2-prosecutorial-discretion/">Orin Kerr discusses</a> at length, some sort of punishment was certainly warranted. Kerr also warns of turning Swartz into a <i>cause celebre</i> or thinking his case is an outlier. Swartz had set out on a plan to challenge, among other laws, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Swartz was almost certainly guilty of one or more crimes under that act (which Kerr does argue is in need of some serious reworking).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But the broader point is that if we think agressive prosecution tactics such as this are improper, we shouldn’t be focused just on the Aaron Swartz case. Rather, we should be shining a light on the federal criminal system in its entirety. These sorts of tactics have been going on for years, without many people paying attention. If we don’t want a world in which prosecutors have these powers, we shouldn’t just object when the defendant in the crosshairs is a genius who went to Stanford, hangs out with Larry Lessig, and is represented by the extremely expensive lawyers at Keker & Van Nest. We should object just as much — or even more — when the defendant is poor, unknown, and unconnected to the powerful. To do otherwise sends an extremely troubling message to prosecutors that they need to be extra sensitive when considering charges against defendants with connections. We have too much of a two-tiered justice system already, I think. So blame the system and aim to reform the system; don’t think that this was just two or three prosecutors that were doing something unusual. It wasn’t.</blockquote>
Kerr's solution is pretty simple--eliminate duplicative charges. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[m]ultiple overlapping crimes gives prosecutors an unfair advantage at trial that in turn pressures defendants unfairly to take a guilty plea. That’s the case because the jury is easily misled. When the jury sees a multi-count indictment involving many different crimes, the jurors have two natural reactions. First, they think they can “split the difference” and convict on some but not all. This is just wrong, as it turns out; at sentencing, a conviction as to only one crime is treated just as severely as a conviction as to all crimes. But the jury doesn’t know that, giving the prosecution an advantage. And relatedly, the jury likely thinks that the defendant’s conduct is extra serious if it is charged under lots of criminal offenses instead of one. The existence of multiple overlapping crimes therefore gives the prosecutors an unfair advantage; the answer is to narrow that advantage by eliminating entirely duplicative crimes.</blockquote>
Reynold suggested two things that are simple and quite easy to implement: <br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Juries could be informed of plea bargains that were rejected so that they might ask the question of why a prosecutor is seeking 20 years at trail but was willing to accept five in a plea bargain. </li>
<li>Implement a type of loser pays systems so that if a prosecutor is unable to get a guilty verdict at trial, the state would be obligated to pay some or all of the legal fees of the defendant.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
But as <a href="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2013/01/ham-sandwich-nation-prosecution-in.html">this post from Grits for Breakfast dealing with Texas criminal justice system</a> points out, the fix probably won't come from the courts, but has to come from the legislature. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Which felons go to prison, which ones get probation and who is even charged are all local decisions.... The Legislature can't control elected DAs and judges, but it does have both direct and indirect means to set the parameters of local decisions. </blockquote>
<br />
Sure, there are budgetary decision, but what is necessary is systemic change. Thus the legislature needs to be pressured to make these changes.<br />
<br />
<b>The Larger Issue</b><br />
While depending on who you ask, you might get different answers about how to address the problem be it legislative or populist, legal or libertarian, the fact is that the plea bargain system does produce incentives that eliminate the role of the citizen. <br />
<br />
However, while these questions of incentives and checks on the power of the prosecutor are important, they point to a deeper problem we have in this country. The effort by so called experts, elites and/or self-important government "servants" to take the reins of power out of the hands of the citizen and keep if for themselves. <br />
<br />
The jury system in the United States is not just about having a "jury of your peers" to prevent overreach by the government. The jury is <u>the</u> democratic aspect of judicial system. If you look at our three branches of government, the legislative, the executive and the judicial, there is and must be a role for the citizen in all three, be it by direct election, indirect election or direct participation in the process, the Constitution enshrines in each branch a role for the citizen. The jury system is how the average citizen can ensure that the law is fairly and justly applied since the jury has a pretty strong tendency (and incentive) to be fair and just, far more than a prosecutor (who has different motives) or even a judge (who may be prone to his/her own biases and just plain human error) <br />
<br />
Everywhere you look in our government, we see the distancing of the core government functions away from the citizen. The expansion of the regulatory state (in addition to the problems highlighted by Reynolds, Silvergate in the justice system and many, many others in all arenas means that the average citizen has no way of knowing the law as well as removing from the purview of the common man the ability to act as a check on the power of government, in what ever form that the "government" takes--legislator, bureaucrat or prosecutor. When the legislature delegates lawmaking power to un-elected, faceless bureaucrats, there is no method by which a voter can hold his representatives accountable or easily know the law under which he lives. Similarly, when there is no check on judicial and prosecutorial discretion the plea bargain system eliminates the common man from the judicial process. <br />
<br />
More and more, we have a government by the elites--the lawmakers, the rule makers, and the law enforcers. Where is the citizen? Is the jury system complicated and slow? Probably, but that is hardly a justification to circumvent democratic institutions. While complaints about the plea bargain system are well-founded, the real complaint should be more about how the average citizen is being eliminated more and more from the public role he/she was granted by the Constitution.<br />
<br />
<br />
* There is no hard evidence of Swartz's suicide being the consequence of the charges against him. Reportedly Swartz had a history of depression. It is possible that his criminal case may have exacerbated his despressive symptoms or it maybe completely unrelated. <br />
<br />
<br />
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-86789053454526602013-02-04T16:08:00.000-05:002013-02-04T16:08:52.316-05:00Boys Being Graded Less for Behavioral Matters?<div>
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Do you have boys? You may want to read this little story and start challenging the basis for their grades. According to an <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/the-boys-at-the-back/">upcoming study highlight by Christina Hoff Sommers</a>: <br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Boys score as well as or better than girls on most standardized tests, yet they are far less likely to get good grades, take advanced classes or attend college. Why? A study coming out this week in The Journal of Human Resources gives an important answer. Teachers of classes as early as kindergarten factor good behavior into grades — and girls, as a rule, comport themselves far better than boys. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The study’s authors analyzed data from more than 5,800 students from kindergarten through fifth grade and found that boys across all racial groups and in all major subject areas received lower grades than their test scores would have predicted. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The scholars attributed this “misalignment” to differences in “noncognitive skills”: attentiveness, persistence, eagerness to learn, the ability to sit still and work independently. As most parents know, girls tend to develop these skills earlier and more naturally than boys. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
No previous study, to my knowledge, has demonstrated that the well-known gender gap in school grades begins so early and is almost entirely attributable to differences in behavior. The researchers found that teachers rated boys as less proficient even when the boys did just as well as the girls on tests of reading, math and science. (The teachers did not know the test scores in advance.) If the teachers had not accounted for classroom behavior, the boys’ grades, like the girls’, would have matched their test scores.</blockquote>
<br />
An interesting read to say the least. If greade differentials begin at such an early age and in no relation to actual academic work, what does it mean. Well for some nothing. As Sommers writes further:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There are some who say, well, too bad for the boys. If they are inattentive, obstreperous and distracting to their teachers and peers, that’s their problem. After all, the ability to regulate one’s impulses, delay gratification, sit still and pay close attention are the cornerstones of success in school and in the work force. It’s long past time for women to claim their rightful share of the economic rewards that redound to those who do well in school. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As one critic told me recently, the classroom is no more rigged against boys than workplaces are rigged against lazy and unfocused workers. But unproductive workers are adults — not 5-year-olds. If boys are restless and unfocused, why not look for ways to help them do better? As a nation, can we afford not to? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A few decades ago, when we realized that girls languished behind boys in math and science, we mounted a concerted effort to give them more support, with significant success. Shouldn’t we do the same for boys? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When I made this argument in my book “The War Against Boys,” almost no one was talking about boys’ academic, social and vocational problems. Now, 12 years later, the press, books and academic journals are teeming with such accounts. Witness the crop of books in recent years: Leonard Sax’s “Boys Adrift,” Liza Mundy’s “The Richer Sex,” Hanna Rosin’s “The End of Men.”</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
In a world in which there are now far more women graduating from college than men (and women valuing that degree both for themselves and their future spouses) can we afford to tolerate an assessment scheme in kindergarten and elementary school that burdens young men because they have not developed the necessary self-control yet? Or when that development of self-control has nothing to do with an individual boy as it is to simply being a boy? <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
There have been numerous studies and theories abound about what will happen to society in general if we keep demeaning boys and men, or denying their maleness.<br />
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-71758917987751090402013-02-04T15:12:00.000-05:002013-02-04T15:13:44.429-05:00Prince George's Maryland Wants to Assert A Copyright on Student and Staff work<div>
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Yeah, pretty sure this is a dumb idea and I would line up to represent someone on <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/prince-georges-considers-copyright-policy-that-takes-ownership-of-students-work/2013/02/02/dc592dea-6b08-11e2-ada3-d86a4806d5ee_story.html?tid=pm_local_pop">this stupid proposal</a>.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A proposal by the Prince George’s County Board of Education to copyright work created by staff and students for school could mean that a picture drawn by a first-grader, a lesson plan developed by a teacher or an app created by a teen would belong to the school system, not the individual. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The measure has some worried that by the system claiming ownership to the work of others, creativity could be stifled and there would be little incentive to come up with innovative ways to educate students. Some have questioned the legality of the proposal as it relates to students.</blockquote>
snip<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It’s not unusual for a company to hold the rights to an employee’s work, copyright policy experts said. But the Prince George’s policy goes a step further by saying that work created for the school by employees during their own time and using their own materials is the school system’s property. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Kevin Welner, a professor and director of the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder, said the proposal appears to be revenue-driven. There is a growing secondary online market for teacher lesson plans, he said. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I think it’s just the district saying, ‘If there is some brilliant idea that one of our teachers comes up with, we want be in on that. Not only be in on that, but to have it all,’ ” he said.</blockquote>
<br />
So it seems we have the real incentive there, don't we. <br />
<br />
Here is the policy:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Works created by employees and/or students specifically for use by the Prince George’s County Public Schools or a specific school or department within PGCPS, are properties of the Board of Education even if created on the employee’s or student’s time and with the use of their materials,” the policy reads. “Further, works created during school/work hours, with the use of school system materials, and within the scope of an employee’s position or student’s classroom work assignment(s) are the properties of the Board of Education.”</blockquote>
Now, as noted above, often when an employee produced copyright-able material in the course of their employment it is usually the property of the employer (unless it is contracted otherwise). So as far as staff creations, that is one issue. But the broad sweep of the policy applies to student work as well. That is a problem. First of all, most students don't have a choice but to be in school (it is the law for students under 16 to be in school). Second, the policy creates a kind of exclusive use for the school even though it is totally of the student's own creation--regardless of the materials provided. Third, most students are minors thus they are not in a position to effectively bargain on this matter and it does not appear on the surface to be rationally related to the schools' mission of providing education and securing the safety of students.<br />
<br />
This one goes too far I believe. If the Board of Education wants to limit it to teacher/staff creations--I am probably okay with that (with some limitations). But extending it to student work? Complete over reach.<br />
<br />
What do you think? I would love to hear from you.<br />
<br />
<br />
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</div>
Today we pay honor to 17 astronauts. <br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>On January 27, 1967, Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chafee died in the Apollo 1 spacecraft fire. </li>
<li>On January 28, 1986, Astronauts Michael J. Smith, Richard Scobee, Ronald McNair, Christine McAuliffe, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis and Judith Resnick died in the Space Shuttle Challenger.</li>
<li>On February 1, 2003, Astronauts Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Roman died in the Space Shuttle Columbia.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
These men and women were pushing the envelope of human capability. Space flight, they knew, was and is risky. NASA and the nation will honor these men and women, the risk takers, with various ceremonies today. It is only natural to wonder, how do we honor their legacy?<br />
<br />
It sounds dumb, it sounds cheesy, but make sure their effort is not the end of manned spaceflight. We have to continue to push the boundaries. Pushing the boundaries of any human endeavor is risky, it may involve death. But human progress does not occur without human pain.<br />
<br />
As Rand Simburg points out, NASA's mission is not safety, it is space exploration and scientific discovery in space: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It has been a century since the Panama Canal was completed. It was the greatest transportation project of its time, made possible only by new technologies such as dynamite. After Americans took over its construction, more than 5,000 died building the canal. That's more fatalities than we had in the Iraq War. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Why was the project deemed worthy of expending so many lives? It is not because we didn't value them. Casualties under American leadership of the project were a fraction of the deaths in previous efforts. It is because monumental achievements are at the edge of our human abilities and our best technologies. Nevertheless, such efforts are worth the cost. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In Panama, the sacrifice paid off, as travel distance (and time) for freight between the East and West Coasts fell from 14,000 to 6,000 miles. It also slashed the cost of shipping to Europe and Asia, resulting in rising economic growth and helping usher in a new age of globalization. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It's just one example of the benefits of opening up new frontiers and trade routes; thousands died exploring and settling the New World half a millennium ago. Even at the time of the Panama Canal's completion, crossing the Atlantic from Europe to America wasn't yet "safe." Fifteen hundred people died on the Titanic just the year before the Pacific and Atlantic oceans mingled in Panama in 1913. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
At times, we seem to have forgotten. In the 21st century, do we still see exploring and opening up new territory as worth the expenditure of, or even the risk to, human life?</blockquote>
<br />
for me the answer has to be yes. We have to push the envelope, we have to reach for new discovery. While not everyone has the knowledge, skill, training and yes courage, to be an astronaut, it does not mean that we should stop reaching for the stars. I suspect that there will never be a shortage of people willing to take the risks of going to space, of doing new things and we, as a nation, we as a human race, should be embracing that spirit of adventure. <br />
<div>
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-70148167044315694322013-02-01T11:25:00.000-05:002013-02-01T11:25:10.665-05:00$20,000 for a Minimal Health Plan Under ObamaCare<div>
</div>
Wait, What???? How the <a href="http://cnsnews.com/news/article/irs-cheapest-obamacare-plan-will-be-20000-family">frak is that gonna wor</a>k?<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In a final regulation issued Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Under Obamacare, Americans will be required to buy health insurance or pay a penalty to the IRS. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The IRS's assumption that the cheapest plan for a family will cost $20,000 per year is found in examples the IRS gives to help people understand how to calculate the penalty they will need to pay the government if they do not buy a mandated health plan.</blockquote>
<br />
Lest anyone thing that the IRS's numbers are totally without merit, take a look at <a href="http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2012/Dec/State-Trends-in-Premiums-and-Deductibles.aspx">this report by the Commonwealth Fund</a> shows that average health insurance premiums for a family of four rose from $9,249 in 2003 to $15,022 in 2011. That is an increase of $5,773 or 62% in just 8 years. (Ironically, the Commonwealth Fund believes that Obamacare will "moderate" costs--apparently they are not reading their own research).<br />
<br />
Bear in mind that announcements are already rolling in of double digit premium increases for this year alone. Do you really think that Obamacare is actually going to lower costs with all those extra mandates? Think about that.<br />
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Check out my soccer blog at <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com/">Nutmegs and Stepovers</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><div>______________________________
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-69658045185308765912013-02-01T10:51:00.004-05:002013-02-01T10:51:50.131-05:00Three to Read: Space Mining Edition<div>
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The past couple of weeks have seen two private companies (<a href="http://deepspaceindustries.com/">Deep Space Industries</a> and <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/">Planetary Resources</a>) announce that they will be launching exploratory vehicles to explore mining possibilities on near earth asteroids. While it may sound like the stuff of science fiction, these two companies are looking to launch in the next three (3) years. <br />
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True, the concept sounds far fetched, but it is not when you think about our capabilities. <br />
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<a href="http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/13916768-nasa-tests-space-mining-robot">NASA is testing mining robots</a> (a fact which doesn't seem that unusual-after all it is NASA). But NASA's effort is far more focused on scientific research rather than the commercial applications (and profit derived therefrom) of asteroid mining. <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Researchers at NASA recently tested out a worker robot deemed RASSOR, for Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (and pronounced “razor”). </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
RASSOR is very different from most other robots NASA has churned out. The agency is calling it a “blue collar robot.” Unlike the lab equipment-laden Curiosity, RASSOR leaves the delicate instruments at home. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Like WALL-E, its purpose is utilitarian, not scientific. It isn’t meant to explore, it’s meant to dig. </blockquote>
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While RASSOR is far from space ready, the initial tests are promising. Built like a miniature tank, the prototype certainly looks hardworking. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We were surprised at what we could do with it," said engineer Rachel Cox of the Kennedy Space Center. </blockquote>
Of course, NASA's effort is much more focused on the scientific discovery--but that scientific discovery (and the drive for discovery) can be commercialized. Just as all NASA programs, even from the early days of Mercury, were intended to be in part science based, the resulting technology and knowledge is open to use for commercial purposes.<br />
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But these two companies have definitive plans to make the leap from fiction to fact and to make money off their leaps.. <a href="http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2227/1">The concept is surprisingly simple</a> (although the details clearly not):<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
DSI’s approach is similar to Planetary Resources, making use of small satellites to prospect NEOs. An initial class of spacecraft, 25-kilogram vehicles called Fireflies, would launch starting as soon as 2015 to fly past asteroids, collecting data on the structure and composition of these bodies. Following these short-duration (two to six months) missions, DSI would fly Dragonfly spacecraft to targeted asteroids. These slightly larger spacecraft, weighing a little over 30 kilograms, would rendezvous with asteroids and collect samples for return to Earth on round-trip missions lasting two to four years. Later Harvester missions would bring back a few hundred tons of asteroid material for commercial utilization.</blockquote>
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Both companies appear to be planning to have a cluster launch of their craft. Each launch vehicle would carry 5-7 of the smaller craft into space, the number being calculated to account for potential failure among the craft. <br />
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Of course, there are skeptics, there always are, in an well titled post, <a href="http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Why-EROEI-Means-Mining-in-Space-will-Never-Work.html">Professor Chris Rhodes makes the case for why space mining will not work</a>. <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is very much a case of playing the longer game, and it might be decades before investors get their money back, if they ever do, e.g. platinum now costs around $1,600 an ounce, and in comparison, a planned mission by NASA to bring back 60 g of material from an asteroid to Earth is expected to cost about $1bn http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17827347. Since this represents the price of 18 tonnes of pure platinum, the Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROEI) is very far into the red, given the likely quantity of asteroid material to be recovered. Hence, the case for a viable industry on this basis is not compelling. </blockquote>
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Energy Returned on Energy Invested--sounds pretty scientific or at least financial. Based on the example Rhodes provides, the effort does sound cost prohibitive. But one thing Rhodes fails to understand is that both DSI and Planetary Resources are in this for the long haul. Unlike Earth based investments, which might pay off in a couple of years of R&D, asteroid mining has to be a minimum of a seven or either year investment just to get early mining returns. To start collecting large hauls, the companies are no doubt looking to a 15-20 year event horizon. <br />
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The length of time to realization of space mining requires two things--patience and faith. But we are not a very patient people and that is what has made efforts like space mining or broader manned exploration of space so difficult--we as a society have limited capacity to understand the long term. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced an audacious goal of sending a man to the moon and returning him safely to earth--to be done within eight and one half years (by 1970). The United States did it in just over 8 years. True, the full effort of more than 300,000 people were invovled and now Planetary Resources and DSI have far fewer people working toward the goal, but technology and capability have increased 1000 fold since 1961. There is no reason to believe that technological advances in the next few years won't drastically alter the EROEI that seems so unfavorable now. <br />
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We must have patience to see the endeavor through and we have to have faith that the genius of humanity will find a solution to current day obstacles. After all, in 1940, no one really thought a man would stand on the Moon. Heck, in 1968 people wondered if a man would stand on the Moon. By August 1969, we no longer had that question. All it took was Patience, Faith and a whole lot of work.<br />
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Check out my soccer blog at <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com/">Nutmegs and Stepovers</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><div>______________________________
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-3319177714414087492013-01-31T13:36:00.003-05:002013-01-31T13:36:37.344-05:00Chicago: A War Zone?<div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">42 people in 30 days. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Seriously, that is how many people have died in Chicago of gun violence. <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/01/30/Gun-Control-Isn-t-Working-42-Homicides-In-Chicago-Already?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BigGovernment+%28Big+Government%29">42 People in the incomplete month of January.</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The most recent of the 42 homicides was the Tuesday murder of a 15-year old girl who took part in Obama's second inauguration. The girl, Hadiya Pendleton, was standing with a group of friends in Vivian Gordon Harsh Park when a gunman ran up, opened fire, then fled the scene. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A gunman ran into the park, opened fire and ran out. Why? Because he knew for certain that, in the absence of visible police, he was the only person armed in the entire place. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Chicago is the gun-control capital of America, yet NBC News accurately describes it as "bullet-scarred." </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">If NBC said it, it must be bad, right?</span></blockquote>
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Check out my soccer blog at <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com/">Nutmegs and Stepovers</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><div>______________________________
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-86201733131877009162013-01-22T14:16:00.000-05:002013-01-23T14:17:02.155-05:00Three to Read: Self-Improvement Edition<div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, the New Year is well underway and right now, most of the world has taken a New Year's Resolution or two and without any sort of scientific measure, my guess is that a fair number of people are approaching the two-three week mark and that commitment that was felt at the start of the month is beginning to wane.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, don't feel bad. Part of the problem with New Year's resolutions, whether they are a matter of losing weight, or working out, or cleaning you house, budget or what ever, is that doing anything new over the long term takes a while to build the habit. So here are some tips for helping you do that:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">First, Make your Commitment Public</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">First <a href="http://getitdone.quickanddirtytips.com/keeping-a-new-years-commitment.aspx">from Stever Robbins</a>, the Get It Done Guy on Quick and Dirty Tips. The first thing to do is don't call them resolutions, call them commitments. Next, this tip I love:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;">Now it's your turn. Once you've found your driving passions, find someone you trust and respect. Make them a promise about the steps you'll take to reach your passions more directly than you're doing now. You needn’t make a total life change, just promise to take the first few steps with limits in place to keep you safe. Then put your promise in writing and sign it. You'll feel your entire being start to gear up to make it happen.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 17px;">It is the publicness of the commitment that may be the key to making the "resolution" stick. You are free to put down below to put one of your New Year's Commitment, but it doesn't have to be put on the interwebs, maybe making the commitment to your significant other or a good friend. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 17px;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Make Steady Consistent Progress to Achieve Your Goal</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 17px;">Most of the resolutions people make have no mechanism of measurement, i.e. lose weight, or work out more, don't cut it. so I am going to assume that you are smart enough to know that you have to be able to measure your progress at the end. So what is next? Well, Brett and Kate McKay of the <a href="http://artofmanliness.com/">Art of Manliness</a> (if you are a man or know a man, this is a fraking BRILLIANT website that you should check out), have a question: <a href="http://artofmanliness.com/2013/01/06/whats-your-20-mile-march/">What is your 20 Mile March?</a> In other words, what is your daily task that you will do to achieve your goal, no matter what is happening, whether you are having a good day or a bad day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 17px;">The McKays talk about a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Great-Choice-Uncertainty-Luck--Why-Despite/dp/0062120999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358966754&sr=8-1&keywords=Great+by+Choice">Great by Choice</a> by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen (I have not read the book myself, but I have read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Companies-Leap-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1358966754&sr=8-3&keywords=Great+by+Choice">Good to Great </a>by Collins and thought it a brilliant read, so Great by Choice is high on my "to read" list). Collins and Hansen and the McKays discuss the race between Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen to be the first to reach the South Pole. Amundsen succeeded where Scott did not because Amundsen developed a plan and methodically stuck to the plan, no matter what the conditions were. This is not to say that Scott didn't haave a plan, only that Amundsen's success was, according to Collins and Hansen, the product of methodical adherence to the plan, even with the days were good. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Collins and Hansen took the phrase 20 Mile March from a man who methodically walked 20 miles a day in an effort to walk across the United States. The man walked 20 miles no matter what the weather conditions, rather than walking 40-50 miles a day in good weather and only a few miles or no miles when the weather was bad. Similarly, Amundsen's team went 15 miles a day, no more on the good days, and no less on bad days. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The lesson from the cross-country walker and Roald Amundsen is clear, stead progress will achieve the goal faster than spurts of huge success followed by no progress. So develop a plan, with clear interim goals and every day make progress toward that goal. For help, here is a list of seven attributes of a good plan that you should consider:</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Clear performance markers</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Self-imposed constraints</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Appropriate to the individual</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Largely within your control</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A proper time frame -- long enough to manage, yet short enough to have teeth</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Designed and self-imposed by the individual</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Achieved with high consistency</span></span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Of course none of these attributes is "magical" but a plan built around these principles will yield success far more often than failure, consideration of all seven attributes is key to success.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Resolutions Crash on the Shores of Failed Habit Formation</span></b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The most fundamental reason why resolutions fail has little to do with the actual resolution (in most cases--a resolution to build a rocket to the moon in the next year is not practical). Rather most New Year's Resolutions fail because we do not allow enough time or make enough of an effort to build the new habit. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If you Google how long it takes to form a new habit, you will get an answer of anywhere between 21 days and 28 days. Well, that may be possible, if the habit is something simple, but in reality, our New Year's resolutions are rarely simple and the require the creation of new neural pathways so that the effort to achieve a resolution becomes a habit (a good habit obviously). J<a href="http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/09/how-long-to-form-a-habit.php">eremy Dean, author of Making Habits, Breaking Habits, in 2009 briefly highlighted a study out of England which suggested that habits can take as few as 18 days to form and as many as 254 days.</a> However, the key finding is that it takes on average 66 days for a new habit to become ingrained in our neural pathways and become automatic behavior. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So now that we are at about the three week stage (21 days), on average you will need another 45 days (or over six weeks) to keep building that habit until it become a truly automatic habit. The study found that early repetition is key to forming the habit.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So whether your habit to lose weight (the most common among New Year's Resolution) takes the form of eating healthier foods, eating less or working out (second most common resolution), the fact is it could take almost 8 months to form that habit. Which is why the development of a plan, and a consistent, measurable effort every day is key to making your Resolutions Come true.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't mean to be a downer, truly I don't. So for all of you out there who made a resolution, feel free to share it below. I would love to hear about it. Tell me your goal and your deadline. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Check out my soccer blog at <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com/">Nutmegs and Stepovers</a></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><div>______________________________
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-65132347594574142222013-01-09T13:57:00.000-05:002013-01-09T13:57:40.626-05:00Three to Read--Lower Education Edition<div>
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Well, yesterday I did the Higher Education Edition of what I am trying to make a daily feature here. Today, I thought lower, i.e. K-12, education would be a good topic.<br />
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<b>It's Those Darn Kids....</b><br />
The engagement level of students drops precipitously as <a href="http://www.danpink.com/2013/01/does-the-school-cliff-matter-more-than-the-fiscal-cliff?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">Daniel Pink notes</a> in what is called the School Cliff, <a href="http://thegallupblog.gallup.com/2013/01/the-school-cliff-student-engagement.html">according to Gallup</a>: <br />
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“[Our] research strongly suggests that the longer students stay in school, the less engaged they become.” Primary school kids begin their educations deeply engaged — but by the time they get to high school, more than half are checked out. And the problem is even worse for our most entrepreneurial students.<br />
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Brandon Busteed, Executive Director of Gallup Education, points to several factors for the decline. An “overzealous focus on standardized testing.” Not enough project-based or experiential learning. Too few pathways for students who won’t, or don’t want to, attend college.<br />
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Teenagers who aren't engaged? I am shocked, shocked I tell you!!! Seriously, it is hard to stay motivated as a teenager to begin with, but with "modern" education, it is well nigh on impossible. Teenagers have a pretty sharp B.S. detector and well, as a group they detect a lot of B.S. in schools.<br />
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<b>What to Do, What to Do? How about More Than One Option?</b><br />
Back when I was a middle schooler--oh so many years ago, i.e. more than 25 years--most students went through a school year long cycle of four vocational/trade classes, including shop class, home economics, automotive and I can't remember the other (it has been a long time since middle school). In those classes students learned practicalities of running a household (cooking, budgeting, etc), basics of fixing a car (changing a flat, the oil, basic maintenance) and simple repairs on the house. These were not only valuable personal skills but exposed students to other options other than college. My high schools (I moved after my sophomore year) had year long vocational programs where students who liked to work with their hands had a chance to learn not only valuable skills, but MARKETABLE skills that would lead to an often lucrative career or at least a solidly middle class one. <br />
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You mean pathways, like vocational or trade education? Remember yesterday's Three to Read, which noted that 92% of high school students say they are going to college but only 68% actually enroll? What to do with those other 32%? Well, <a href="http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/97fc1424-5928-11e2-a698-0019bb2963f4.html">as this story from Wisconsin notes</a>, there are not a lot of options because of politics. <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Some observers say the nation and schools have overemphasized college as a postsecondary option. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“There are no young people going into the trades,” Hall said. “The push for college prep is so prevalent in the high schools that the talented young people who are good working with their hands are being told, ‘You have to go to college to get good jobs,’ and that’s just not the case anymore.” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The shortage of technically prepared employees “goes back to (President Ronald) Reagan,” said Richard Meeusen, chairman, president and CEO of Racine Federated’s parent company, Badger Meter. “We have presidents and leaders who say every child should have the opportunity to go to college.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Unfortunately, it sends the message to parents that if they don’t send their kids to college, they’re failing.” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Now we’re saying, ‘Where are our electricians, auto mechanics, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) workers and CNC (computer numeric control) operators?’” Meeusen said. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He added, “We’ve ripped out all the shop classes and replace them with calculus.”</blockquote>
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So you say it is a budgetary thing, well try a little creative thinking, like this person: <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
State Rep. Thomas Weatherston, R-Caledonia, said he’s working with other legislators to address the shortages in technical careers.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Our high schools, they don’t have good technical education programs mainly because of the price,” said Weatherston, an adjunct professor in motorcycle safety at Gateway Technical College. “But technical colleges do have that equipment. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“So I would like to see us find a path that would allow high school students to spend part of the day at a technical school, so they can learn a skill while still in high school.”</blockquote>
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Such arrangments are not new. As a youth (again many years ago) my school district had a dual enrollment program where some seniors would take some courses at the high school and some at the local community college where they would earn college credit. Usually these were the top kids in the class academically. But, given that community colleges excell at providing technical and vocational training, there is no reason why such a program can't also be used for those students looking to learn a trade. <br />
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<b>And the Others?</b><br />
One of my biggest complaints about the local school that my daughters attend ( and most public schools for that matter) is that because of legal mandates, the schools do a good job with the kids on the lower level of the academic achievement and intelligence spectrum and a decent job for those kids in the middle. But any kid on the upper end of the curve in any subject, most elementary and middle schools do not offer anything to enrich their education at all. For example, my oldest daughter (the Peanut) excels in history and loves history, but the school does almost nothing to help foster that interest or provide her with a means of exploring more on her own. While we can supplement at home, she probably needs more than we can provide.<br />
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The consequence of this feeling that public education is "notoriously inadequate" has lots of people and not just "scary religious people" considering homeschooling. <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/01/08/homeschool-education-schools/1812183/">Glenn Reynolds in USA Today</a> writes: <br />
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New York's public school system is indeed notoriously inadequate. And, like most public school systems (or public systems of any kind), it's run more for the convenience of the staff and bureaucrats than for the benefit of parents or kids. Some kids do fine anyway, of course, and some parents aren't in a position to pursue alternatives. But for many parents, traditional schooling is no longer the automatic default choice. </blockquote>
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That makes sense. Traditional public schools haven't changed much for decades (and to the extent they have, they've mostly gotten worse). But the rest of the world has changed a lot. The public who eagerly purchased Henry Ford's Model T (available in any color you want, so long as it's black!) now lives in a world where almost everything is infinitely customized and customizable. That makes one-size-fits-all education, run on a Fordist model itself, look like a bad deal.</blockquote>
Reynolds argues that with so many choices in so many other areas of life, there is no reason why parents can't customize the education of their children. And when needs are being met, parents with choices vote with their feet. Reynolds then describes the death spiral that is likely to follow: <br />
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As kids (often the best students) leave because schools are "notoriously inadequate," the schools become even more notoriously inadequate, and funding -- which is computed on a per-pupil basis -- dries up. This, of course, encourages more parents to move their kids elsewhere, in a vicious cycle.</blockquote>
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Does this mean the end of public education? No. But it does mean that the old model -- which dates to the 19th Century, when schools were explicitly compared to factories -- is at risk. Smarter educators will start thinking about how to update a 19th Century product to suit 21st Century realities. Less-smart educators will hunker down and fight change tooth and nail. </blockquote>
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Who will win out in the end? Well, how many 19th Century business models do you see flourishing, here in the 21st?</blockquote>
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Yep, change is coming and like most changes, the old guard never likes it and at least as far as education is concerned, it is truly the kids that suffer when adult beneficiaries of an inefficient and ineffective system hold on to that antiquated system.<br />
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Check out my soccer blog <a href="http://nutmegsstepovers.blogspot.com">Nutmegs & Stepovers</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.com1