Thursday 29 April 2010
Heads call for 'urgent' sex education improvements
I find they pick up urgent sex on their own, without much need for education.
It is the more deliberative and consequential aspects of sex that some need help with.
'My wife doesn't seem to want to spend time with our two children.' What can I do?
Easy Sack her. Ask for the house, the car and 50% of her assets.
The law that turned Arizona into a pariah state
And so they should be
And so they should be
I mean, anyone who thinks police should actually enforce the laws of the land is just a bigot.
PS: Mexican police have the authority to ask any citizen, resident or visitor to show identification at any time. If the person is found not to have a legal right to be in Mexico, s/he is arrested and may be deported forthwith. Mexico is not a pariah because....?
PS: Mexican police have the authority to ask any citizen, resident or visitor to show identification at any time. If the person is found not to have a legal right to be in Mexico, s/he is arrested and may be deported forthwith. Mexico is not a pariah because....?
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Why did Brown make this blunder? Yep, that's normal
No criticism of someone taking a clearly off-the-record comment and gossiping it to the nation. Just belittling someone who opined that people who say "what are the Poles doing here" might be bigoted. Par for the pseudo-journalistic course.
Leading article: More a lapse than a catastrophe
It's like 15th century criminal libel)
Truth exacerbates the offense
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Not All Jobs Are Created Equal: Why Wall Street's Gain Has Been America's Loss
Middle-class US jobs are being lost because overseas folks do them better, Arianna, not just because they do them cheaper.
There is a global market in employees and jobs. America priced itself out of many low-end-jobs and is now losing middle jobs on responsiveness and quality. Higher end financial services jobs stayed here because there was a perceptions that Americans did these job better than most. Now that financial crisis has burst that bubble, these jobs may go elsewhere as well.
Incidentally, trying to stop this flow by tariffs and trade barriers is like a store that is losing market share getting the police to fine other store owners when folks shop there.
PS: Some folks seem worried that the US will become a third-world country. If it does, we might get a lot of those jobs back, provided we can give better value for money
Monday 26 April 2010
Robert Creamer: Arizona of 2010 is the Alabama of 1963
You are right, Bob. In 1940, German police could ask - and can still ask today - of any German citizen or visitor: show me your papers. So can the current French police, Italian police, Swedish police, Spanish police and most police in most countries of Europe.
This Arizona law must be struck down - otherwise people will start thinking that folks in America should obey the law and that American police should enforce the law. Where would that lead us?
This Arizona law must be struck down - otherwise people will start thinking that folks in America should obey the law and that American police should enforce the law. Where would that lead us?
David Harris: There's a Whiff of McCarthyism in the Air
You are right, David. If people are writing stuff like this to the editors of our newspapers, the editors should suppress them - to ensure that the American people do not know this is happening. Far better to keep us ignorant and happy than upset us by letting people know that some folks think differently than you do.
When Did We Become A Nation Of Victims?
When it started paying off. That is, when we started getting money or services more easily by claiming victimhood than by working to change our lives.
Sheer power and unwarranted privilege
Those with wealth and power get privilege - warranted by purchase, by intimidation or from admiration. The only other ways to warranted privilege are through good deeds (which is not actually so rewarded all that often) or from pity of the poor & disadvantaged (which warrant is not all that much fun to get - given the choice poor and disadvantaged folk would rather be comfortable and whole; then you can keep the privilege thanks very much.).
Sunday 25 April 2010
Taliban condemns poison gas attack on schoolgirls in Kunduz
The Taliban think it is okay to flog, explode or behead these girls, but gassing them is beyond the pale.
Nice to see some civilization creeping into the Taliban ranks.
Greek drama will severely test eurozone's unity of purpose
Yes, let's all unite in the purpose of paying for the Greeks, who refuse to pay for themselves.
if we do, no one else will ask us to pay for them, too, will they?
if we do, no one else will ask us to pay for them, too, will they?
Foreign Office apologises for 'vile' memoOh, that's okay then
Well, as long as we have an apology from someone who did not write or authorise the memo - and who would have stopped it going out if they had seen it beforehand - then everything is okay in the world of 20-teens.
This is an extremely stupid tempest in a teapot. Someone wrote a silly note, quite funny in spots, which was then released by the press in a deliberate attempt to cause friction, embarrassment and increased anomie. Any sensible person would have said "oh ha ha" and thrown it in the bin. Ah well, the idiot who published it had fun with the opportunity to demean society and make people like each other less.
This is an extremely stupid tempest in a teapot. Someone wrote a silly note, quite funny in spots, which was then released by the press in a deliberate attempt to cause friction, embarrassment and increased anomie. Any sensible person would have said "oh ha ha" and thrown it in the bin. Ah well, the idiot who published it had fun with the opportunity to demean society and make people like each other less.
Boosting Brain Power
Astonishing that Katie did not make the connection to performance-enhancing drugs in other areas, such as steroids in baseball, track and cycling. She failed to ask "Do you think tis is okay in college and professional sports?" If not, then why is it okay for tests? Seems a freshman journalist mistake.
Friday 23 April 2010
Empty skies proved that airports cause pollution Doh!
A traffic hub for cars and trucks that pours jet-engine smoke over it's "smoke-free environment" terminal buildings with each take-off and landing actually exudes pollution? Whooda thunk it?
PS: the airport does not cause the pollution, the cause is the individuals using it (your neighbors and mine).
PS: the airport does not cause the pollution, the cause is the individuals using it (your neighbors and mine).
Tycoon in £400m divorce battle declared bankrupt
200 million for 21 years
I realise that as soon as she was on her back, the meter was running, but 1087 pounds an hour, 24/7, plus expenses - seems excessive for the services rendered. PS: I put no credence in those who say: "if you knew him, you'd realise she was underpaid."
Democrats happy to keep Goldman contributions
Not just the Dumbocrats and the Retroblicans. No party has any intention of giving their ill-gotten GS millions back nor, in this time of populist hatred of bankers, of staying bought by the money they took from any bank.
Michael Lewis: 'The credit crisis was foreseeable' 20-20 hindsight
Of course it was forseeable, which is why Mr Lewis, tens of thousands of brokers and thousands of pension funds and insurance companies are now fantastically wealthy because of their bets that it would happen.
Victory for tribe, defeat for science and a defeat for humanity
They tried to cure type II diabetes, which afflicts the tribe along with the rest of humanity, without even asking? Outrageous! We should require all of humanity to give their informed consent before any further research is done on this disease.
"Nick Clegg seems to have been transformed by the British press, in the space of just one week,"
And they did it merely by giving the LibDem coverage equal to that of the other two parties, contrary to a decades-old policy. Imagine what would happen if any national news organisation actually supported LibDems, as they do the other parties?
And they did it merely by giving the LibDem coverage equal to that of the other two parties, contrary to a decades-old policy. Imagine what would happen if any national news organisation actually supported LibDems, as they do the other parties?
Thursday 22 April 2010
The foreign in tonight's debate
They cannot say that the Trident "deterrent" is a myth and its only possible use would be to blow up a mass of civilians in a fit of pique after getting whupped.
They cannot say that the EU is here to stay, and Britain is better in it than out of it, but that it will inevitably continue to erode UK sovereignty, since that is the purpose and function of a union.
They cannot say that the people want to abandon Afghans - to cut and run - but the people are short-sighted and mis-informed.
They cannot say that the UK is powerless to do anything of value on the world stage (e.g. in Africa or Asia) beyond humanitarian aid, much of which is siphoned off for personal and political benefit in the recipient countries.
The best they can do is call the other guy weak, lily-livered, vacillating and anti-British if they even hint at the truth.
Monday 19 April 2010
Court Splits Sharply On Campus Christian Argument
It's an interesting dilemma.
Can a religion say that black people have to dress differently from white people (cover their head, say)?
Can a religion say that black people have to pray separately from white people (behind a screen. say)?
Can a religion say that all black people should be educated separately from whites?
Can a religion say that all female people....etc
So, if Hastings allows Islamic student organizati
PS: This is not really all that new. For years, Black organizations have been required to admit whites and women's organizations (women in the media, etc) to admit men, in order to qualify as non-discriminatory. Most have done so and found they were not over run by whites or men.
The problem with the CLA is that they are putting a restriction that not all of their co-religionists support. If there are Christians that think that homosexuality is NOT an "immoral lifestyle" and who "advocate" that the lifestyle not be considered as such, they would be barred by the "statement of faith". That is, upholding the CLA position would legitimise the usurpation of the name "Christian" by a sub-group of Christians and allow them to exclude any Christians who disagree with them.
It is tantmount to a Law Student Association saying that all law students may join, if they sign a statement of faith that "ambulance chasing" is an immoral lifestyle and "unrepentant participation in or advocacy of" advertising for legal clients is grounds for exclusion.
It's an interesting dilemma.
Can a religion say that black people have to dress differently from white people (cover their head, say)?
Can a religion say that black people have to pray separately from white people (behind a screen. say)?
Can a religion say that all black people should be educated separately from whites?
Can a religion say that all female people....etc
So, if Hastings allows Islamic student organizati
PS: This is not really all that new. For years, Black organizations have been required to admit whites and women's organizations (women in the media, etc) to admit men, in order to qualify as non-discriminatory. Most have done so and found they were not over run by whites or men.
The problem with the CLA is that they are putting a restriction that not all of their co-religionists support. If there are Christians that think that homosexuality is NOT an "immoral lifestyle" and who "advocate" that the lifestyle not be considered as such, they would be barred by the "statement of faith". That is, upholding the CLA position would legitimise the usurpation of the name "Christian" by a sub-group of Christians and allow them to exclude any Christians who disagree with them.
It is tantmount to a Law Student Association saying that all law students may join, if they sign a statement of faith that "ambulance chasing" is an immoral lifestyle and "unrepentant participation in or advocacy of" advertising for legal clients is grounds for exclusion.
Unions boycott national curriculum testsWell of course they did
They wouldn't want any objective measure of whether kids progress.
Nor are they honest enough to just teach the curriculum and let the tests take care of themselves. If they are forced to have them, they just teach to the 'boring' tests and ignore the kids' education.
Nor are they honest enough to just teach the curriculum and let the tests take care of themselves. If they are forced to have them, they just teach to the 'boring' tests and ignore the kids' education.
Best not to have the test, so teachers can go on ignoring the kids' progress without boring them
Goldman Sachs: Too Big to Obey the Law
Deja vu
See "America in Midpassage" 1939 by Charles and Mary Beard (Mamillan)
Esp. chapter IV: Detonation pp 156-191
Esp. chapter IV: Detonation pp 156-191
Bruce Anderson: Don't be taken in by Clegg's 'niceness'
Plus ça change
"They will say almost anything to win votes."
Gosh, Bruce, isn't depressing when the "nice" libdems act just like New Labour or New Tories?
Gosh, Bruce, isn't depressing when the "nice" libdems act just like New Labour or New Tories?
UK's 'virtual water' reliance worsens global shortages
No more imports!
That will leave each country dependent only on its own water footprint, and everyone, everywhere out of work. This will result in the deaths of millions, thereby reducing man-made environmental impact and stopping global warming it its tracks. Not to mention all that water returning to the environment from all the dessicating corpses.Everyone in the marginal constituencies needs to get busy.
Those of you in the really safely gerymandered seats, go back to sleep. Your vote hasn't counted for decades and there is nothing you can do about it.
Those of you in the really safely gerymandered seats, go back to sleep. Your vote hasn't counted for decades and there is nothing you can do about it.
Friday 16 April 2010
Ban trans fats and thousands of lives will be saved
Ban sugar and tens of thousands of lives will be saved.
Ban sugar and tens of thousands of lives will be saved.
Tax at 45% of GDP
In other words, we all work for the government From January 1 to June 15th.
I have a feeling, especially with the improved services for the poor, that a lot of folks would say "why bother".
I have a feeling, especially with the improved services for the poor, that a lot of folks would say "why bother".
The Estonian state has virtually no debt at all
Private debt has to be repaid by the debtor, public debt is repaid by subsequent generations.
Private debt has to be repaid by the debtor, public debt is repaid by subsequent generations.
Perhaps the Estonians merely like their children more than we do.
Respected medical journal attacks drug ban
Qui Bono?
The drug dealers didn't like the way mephedrone was cutting into their illegal trade in more dangerous drugs. They will start to corner the mephedrone market for the very high profits it can now supply. They are very happy puppies.
The alcohol lobby are also happy about the reduced competition.
Finally, the punishment brigade are happy because there is now a new substance they can use to ruin the lives of young people and ship them off to criminality college - oops, I mean prison.
The alcohol lobby are also happy about the reduced competition.
Finally, the punishment brigade are happy because there is now a new substance they can use to ruin the lives of young people and ship them off to criminality college - oops, I mean prison.
What stunned me was how blasé the media were about their past anti-Libdem bias. In the lead-up to the debates, BBC and ITV1 announcers said, over and over, "the Liberal-Democrats have never had such exposure." Of course they are correct, but it is nice to see them finally admit to under-covering the third party
Tax Dollars Must Go to Jobs, Not Wars
Interesting: the study cited shows that switching investments from the military does produce more jobs and that these jobs, on average, pay about 25% less. So the switch would exacerbate the trend to McJobs: more people working for less money.
Interesting: the study cited shows that switching investments from the military does produce more jobs and that these jobs, on average, pay about 25% less. So the switch would exacerbate the trend to McJobs: more people working for less money.
Thursday 15 April 2010
Leading article: No reason to fear the prospect of a hung parliament
popskihaynes wrote: Thursday, 15 April 2010 at 08:58 am (UTC)
"The LibDems having failed to sell themselves as a potential Government to the electorate, instead of taking a hard look at themselves and changing what they are doing, want the Electoral System changed to suit them. A sort of Government 'subsidy' for their inefficiency. Does that make sense to anyone ?"
popskihaynes wrote: Thursday, 15 April 2010 at 08:58 am (UTC)
"The LibDems having failed to sell themselves as a potential Government to the electorate, instead of taking a hard look at themselves and changing what they are doing, want the Electoral System changed to suit them. A sort of Government 'subsidy' for their inefficiency. Does that make sense to anyone ?"
Of course it does! It makes perfect sense to any small-l liberal.
Anyone who cannot make it on their own should be subsidised and discriminated in favour of: from gender to ethnicity, from socio-economic class to sexual orientation. Why not political parties?
Anyone who cannot make it on their own should be subsidised and discriminated in favour of: from gender to ethnicity, from socio-economic class to sexual orientation. Why not political parties?
Tuesday 13 April 2010
Joseph Reyes Can Take Jewish Daughter To Catholic Church, Judge Rules In Dad's Favor
How dare they?
If the mother thinks that boiled eggs should only be opened from the narrow end, the father should not be allowed to have her learn that eggs should be opened from the fat end.
How dare they?
If the mother thinks that boiled eggs should only be opened from the narrow end, the father should not be allowed to have her learn that eggs should be opened from the fat end.
Why Do We Exist? Experiments Hold the Answer
What utter drivel.
Why" is the one question that the scientific method can never answer and was not designed to answer.
"Why" is a philosophical question.
Experiments can only answer "under what circumstances?"
What utter drivel.
Why" is the one question that the scientific method can never answer and was not designed to answer.
"Why" is a philosophical question.
Experiments can only answer "under what circumstances?"
West Virginia Mining Disaster & Financial Crisis Have Same Root Cause
What an outrageous suggestion!
They DO have the same root cause: the managers did not know what they were doing, did not manage, cut corners and let their employees cut corners. But to suggest that these philosophical, managerial and moral wrongs were caused by not enough government red tape and watchers is truly outrageous. It puts morality not on the actors, but on the spies.
What an outrageous suggestion!
They DO have the same root cause: the managers did not know what they were doing, did not manage, cut corners and let their employees cut corners. But to suggest that these philosophical, managerial and moral wrongs were caused by not enough government red tape and watchers is truly outrageous. It puts morality not on the actors, but on the spies.
Sunday 11 April 2010
"no child's education should be decided by the roll of a dice"
So children should not be chosen at random and they should not be selected.
The third choice is.....?
PS: "18 grammar schools have fewer than 50 per cent white British entrants" ?
So children should not be chosen at random and they should not be selected.
The third choice is.....?
PS: "18 grammar schools have fewer than 50 per cent white British entrants" ?
What is the % of whites in the general population? If it is 50% or more, then clearly there must be some kind of racial discrimination going on here.
French bid to extradite Briton for Irish death
How far can this go?
How far can this go?
Can a UK judge ask to extradite the French guys who blew up the Greenpeace boat in NZ?
Enough is enough
Please write your representative to ask for a bill that limits the rise of all civil servant pay to the Average Weekly Earnings Index for the previous year.
Please write your representative to ask for a bill that limits the rise of all civil servant pay to the Average Weekly Earnings Index for the previous year.
Saturday 10 April 2010
Alan Grayson Confronts GOP For Spying On Democratic Gathering
Gosh! Spying!
On a political action group open to the public: Independent, Dumbocrat and Retroblican alike!
A. I did not know that Organizing for America did anything that was secret.
B. I did not know it was even possible to "spy" on this kind of organization....folks just go along to their meetings. If they find an idea that resonates, they participate; get involved. If they find an idea they want to use to organize some other group on some other issue, they take it home with them.
B. I did not know it was even possible to "spy" on this kind of organization....folks just go along to their meetings. If they find an idea that resonates, they participate; get involved. If they find an idea they want to use to organize some other group on some other issue, they take it home with them.
'Confederate History Month' Declared By Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
Hey, history months are always racist.
There is a month for Black history, Hispanic history, Native American history, Caribbean history.
There is no month for White history, Germanic history, Native European history or Scandanavian history.
If Confederates want a history month, let them have it - or do we only want to study "nice" history?
Hey, history months are always racist.
There is a month for Black history, Hispanic history, Native American history, Caribbean history.
There is no month for White history, Germanic history, Native European history or Scandanavian history.
If Confederates want a history month, let them have it - or do we only want to study "nice" history?
Blowback: The Lessons of the Moscow Bombings for America
Yes, Douggy, the main purpose of terrorism is political: "you do what we want and we will stop killing you."
This was as true of Dresden, Coventry and Hiroshima as it was of 9/11 or 7/7, as true of IRA and Shining Path as of Irgun, Haganah and Hamas.
Only rarely is the the goal actual genocide, as in the case of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. In these cases, the political end is to rid the body politic entirely of a class or ethnic group.
Yes, Douggy, the main purpose of terrorism is political: "you do what we want and we will stop killing you."
This was as true of Dresden, Coventry and Hiroshima as it was of 9/11 or 7/7, as true of IRA and Shining Path as of Irgun, Haganah and Hamas.
Only rarely is the the goal actual genocide, as in the case of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. In these cases, the political end is to rid the body politic entirely of a class or ethnic group.
Bart Stupak RETIRING: Tea Party Targeted Him Over Health Care Vote
Well, thats a good thing, then.
Well, thats a good thing, then.
His replacement, whether Dumbocrat or Retroblican, is likely to be less anti-choice than he.
MSNBC President Phil Griffin Rips David Shuster: 'Not Moral, Ethical, Or Professional'
Wow! I didn't know anyone at MSNBC even knew what those words meant.
Monday 5 April 2010
Forces in Afghanistan are committing atrocities, lying, and getting away with it
Isn't this the very nature of military operations/organizations?
Does the other side (the Taliban) act any differently?
Oh, if you write an article about one of their atrocities then try to hang out with them, they just shoot you? Got it. Sorry
Isn't this the very nature of military operations/organizations?
Does the other side (the Taliban) act any differently?
Oh, if you write an article about one of their atrocities then try to hang out with them, they just shoot you? Got it. Sorry
Leading article: A timely warning on our attitudes to war
How would we like it?
If some splinter group had come into power in the UK by force of arms and was dictating how men should wear their hair and how women should dress, under pain of public flogging, making alien religious practices mandatory, denying education to an entire class and frequently executing anyone who openly disagreed with them, we might like an invasion by an outside military force quite a lot quite a lot.
I seem to recall we quite liked the Americans doing it to us when Hitler was threatening to do a Taliban across Europe,
What did they die for? Never send to ask for whom.... They die for thee
I seem to recall we quite liked the Americans doing it to us when Hitler was threatening to do a Taliban across Europe,
What did they die for? Never send to ask for whom.... They die for thee
Afghanistan's women defy militants to learn to read
How dare they?
Women, who want to be able to read? Who want to achieve their potential and have a role in society? Nonsense! Why should they benefit from 100+ years of campaigning by their western sisters?
Let's pull out of Afghanistan and leave these courageous women to their own devices.
It seems clear that Muslim men wont help them, so let them eat cake.
Let's pull out of Afghanistan and leave these courageous women to their own devices.
It seems clear that Muslim men wont help them, so let them eat cake.
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