A mixed bag

Mail 724 Thursday, May 17, 2012

Victor Davis Hanson

I have a few things to say about Mr Hanson’s article

1) Slap a user tax on the some $10–15 billion that is estimated to leave the state in remittances to foreign countries, or at least through executive action make foreigncash <http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/299975/can-california-be-fixed-victor-davis-hanson#> remittances grounds for disqualification from state public assistance <http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/299975/can-california-be-fixed-victor-davis-hanson#> .

So, what prevents anyone from opening up a bank account in Nevada, transferring money there, and then to a foreign country? What prevents someone from taking cash money, deposit it in a foreign bank account?

What prevents someone from making out a 7-11 money order and mailing it to a foreign address?

4) Cap the amount one can receive from a California public pension, or multiple pensions at $100,000.

So, all of a sudden, pensioners are going to have their contracts abrogated?

If it is legal to do that, then can you do the same to Social Security?

The State enters into a legal agreement, even if an absurdly ridiculous one, then decides that even though we agreed to pay you this pension, and you agreed to work for us to earn it, we now decided it was a bad decision on our part and we are cutting back? Maybe he means no future pensions may be paid this way, but it is not clear.

9) Deport the 20,000 plus illegal-alien felons now in California state prisons to their countries of origin.

And President Obama will not sue the State of California over the matter?

The practicalities often get in the way, of course. Good points.

It’s not just California where the teachers are dumber than the students.

Tonight on Fox business they had a story where Florida is dumbing down their tests they give to 4th graders because the 4th graders failed a statewide test. The example they gave was one where students were asked what it is like to ride a camel and were asked to describe it. And they couldn’t.

The problem with teachers in this state and in other states is that they’re unionized and for the most part can’t be fired nor is there any accountability nor any apparent way to determine which teachers are doing a good job and which are doing a bad job.

When I worked in retail, I had to review all of the applications we received and it was incredible. The people who applied for cashier jobs could barely write, could not describe their last jobs, could not pass a basic math test ( addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc. ) had spotty work records or none at all ) and in some cases when we hired people they could not grasp how to use a cash register to ring up a sale.

This is not to blame all teachers nor to call all of them incompetent. There are stupid graduates out there.

But I don’t see this kind of thing happening when I talk to children who go to private schools. They know history, math, etc and are intelligent as hell.

The liberal states would NEVER do it, but what we really need to do is scrap the entire lower education system and give the money to the parents with the codicil that they must send their kids to private schools.

I went to private schools and Catholic schools ( and got a dispensation because I was Jewish ) and I LEARNED the fundamentals of English, passed Algebra with an A after failing it twice in public schools and didn’t have gangs of students attacking me which I saw and had done to me in the schools of San Francisco.

Public teachers are in a guild which is even more exclusive than those of the middle ages. Those in their unions who are not liberals are forced to donate to political candidates they don’t approve of yet have NO power to say no.

As for California, the legislature continually passes new laws that spend more and more without cutting spending except for the poor who have no co-ordinated voice to object.

There is a ballot initiative to turn the legislature into a part time legislature which is what it used to be prior to 1966, but one Democratic legislator told me in his public forum that we need to keep it full time while he complained that he gets no pension.

As long as liberals keep voting for anti business politicians who also pass new and increasingly onerous regulations yet also pass laws that allow illegals to attend our colleges for free, its going to get worse.

I expect that when there’s rioting in the streets people might wake up, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

The only way to avoid this is to leave California but where does one go where liberalism doesn’t run rampant ?

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As for the sun, we’ve had a quiet period and will probably see increased activity with increased solar flares. There’s a huge sunspot on the sun that has sent out a couple all ready. Even the psychics are saying that the sun is going to give us problems.

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I don’t know from where you get your information on Afghanistan. Are we going to continue to prop up a corrupt government that the people in the countryside do not support.

I did find something curious in last months Leatherneck magazine ( a great magazine if you want to know what our Marines are really doing over there ). There’s a project in 5 cities to build air conditioned solar powered produce facilities so that Afghans can bring their produce to market and sell it without it wilting in 130 degree heat. The article showed a Marine SOLAR engineer ( Imagine that, I thought engineers just built bridges ) supervising the finishing of the installation of solar panels at the first solar powered facility built.

So we’re spending millions on solar powered a/c facilities over there, while wasting billions to prop up failed solar companies over here. Look at the prices of stocks of coal and solar companies today, the solar companies that Obama is pushing have dropped big time and he’s wasted $ 3 billion on subsidies to them.

How many homes and businesses could have gotten off the grid for that kind of money thus reducing pollution and our dependence on using coal ?

I read the alternative magazines and people are building their own solar panels for workshops on their properties, they aren’t waiting for government aid to do it.

Glad you’re feeling better from whatever the hell kind of crud you had.

Me, I just had 2 teeth pulled and my sinusitis is lessening. The idiot dentist told me you can’t get sinusitis from an infected tooth or abcessed gum. He couldn’t be more wrong.

best wishes,

george

george senda

I said when the Taliban fell that we should now get out, leaving behind the message that we’d be back if any part of Afghanistan was used to plot malice against the United States. Afghanistan makes nothing that we want, and while it has some minerals we could use, the Chinese are closer. WWe made our point when Kabul fell to the Northern Alliance and a few hundred SEALS and Rangers.

Prison costs in Louisiana vs. California

An article happened to mention that the private prisons in Louisiana cost $24.39 a day for each inmate. I looked up the number for California and it was $129.04 a day.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/louisiana_is_the_worlds_prison.html

http://www.ehow.com/about_5409377_average-cost-house-inmates-prison.html

California has about 170,000 inmates, so they could save 6.5 billion dollars a year by sending their prisoners to Louisiana.

Joel Upchurch

Is comment needed?

A whiff of humility.

Dr Pournelle

A whiff of humility. (As you have said, we seldom need educating, but we often need reminding.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtAuEYHaI1w7m2s

Live long and prosper

h lynn keith

Just lower the standards

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/05/ap-army-leaders-mull-sending-women-ranger-school-051612/

"WASHINGTON — Army leaders have begun to study the prospect of sending

female soldiers to the service’s prestigious Ranger school — another

step in the effort to broaden opportunities for women in the military.

Gen. Raymond Odierno, Army chief of staff, said Wednesday that he’s

asked senior commanders to provide him with recommendations and a plan

this summer. And while he stressed that no decisions have been made,

he suggested that Ranger school may be a logical next step for women

as they move into more jobs closer to the combat lines.

“If we determine that we’re going to allow women to go in the infantry

and be successful, they are probably at some time going to have to go

through Ranger school,” Odierno told reporters. “If we decide to do

this, we want the women to be successful.”

Among the joys of diversity, women firefighters are now exempt from the requirement that they be able to carry a disabled comrade or fire victim down a flight of stairs. That’s in the LAFD which is still a pretty good outfit. There are regulations preventing men from playing in the women’s NBA, but I think they have none forbidding women to compete in the NBA.

‘Once a patient goes brain dead, and relatives sign his organ donation consent form, he will get the best medical care of his life.’

<http://discovermagazine.com/2012/may/10-the-beating-heart-donors/article_print>

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Roland Dobbins

Lamar’s better idea?

> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304371504577405782138051376.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

>

"When I [Lamar Alexander] was governor of Tennessee in the early 1980s, I traveled to meet with President Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office and offer that Grand Swap: Medicaid for K-12 education. The federal government would take over 100% of Medicaid, the federal health-care program mainly for low-income Americans, and states would assume all responsibility for the nation’s 100,000 public schools. Reagan liked the idea, but it went nowhere."

> I do like this idea much better than his Internet sales tax scheme. Now maybe he and others can write and co-sponsor a bill to accomplish this. Said bill should eliminate the federal Department if Education as well. We will see…

Charles Brumbelow

Exploding Liquid Nitrogen: Where Does the Energy Come From? 

Jerry

LN2 + H2O = explosions, videorecorded:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/05/exploding-liquid-nitrogen-where-does-the-energy-come-from/

Ain’t science grand?

Ed

I found the video fascinating, and I confess I am having trouble understanding how you get the explosions, But it sure rained ducks…

Subj: Our tax dollars at work: stimulus-funded routers for West Virginia

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/16/speaking_in_tech_episode_8/

"At one library, the router cost more than the structure of the library itself."

We are _so_ Doomed!

Rod Montgomery==monty@starfief.com

Ha, want to hear a joke that isn’t really a joke but it is because we don’t live there?

<.>

The Board of Education decided in an emergency meeting Tuesday to lower the passing grade on the writing portion of Florida’s standardized test after preliminary results showed a drastic drop in student passing scores.

</>

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Passing-score-lowered-for-FCAT-Writing-exam/-/1637132/13396234/-/k1ckc2z/-/index.html

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Most Respectfully,

Joshua Jordan, KSC

Percussa Resurgo

‘The Board of Education decided in an emergency meeting Tuesday to lower the passing grade on the writing portion of Florida’s standardized test after preliminary results showed a drastic drop in student passing scores.’

<http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Passing-score-lowered-for-FCAT-Writing-exam/-/1637132/13396234/-/k1ckc2z/-/index.html>

They obviously should vote themselves a new student body.

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Roland Dobbins

Subj: Harvard and MIT announce edX online learning initiative

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/05/mit-and-harvard-announce-edx/

>>EdX will release its learning platform as open-source software so it can be used by other universities and organizations that wish to host the platform themselves. Because the learning technology will be available as open-source software, other universities and individuals will be able to help edX improve and add features to the technology.<<

Rod Montgomery==monty@starfief.com

It is quite possible to get a good education at low cost; but you will have to pay for credentials.