Are Too Many Students Going to College?

That’s the question asked by the Chronicle of Higher Education to a panel of experts. And also, what to do about it.

Filed under: America, Current Events, Education, Philosophy, Politics

Hope and Change!!

To all of my generation who voted for the hopeandchange: get ready to pay for more taxes!!

How much does this small change mean for the government? So sayeth the WSJ:

This is a sneaky way for politicians to pry more money out of workers every year without having to legislate tax increases. The negative effects of failing to index compound over time, yielding a revenue windfall for government as the years go on. The House tax surcharge is estimated to raise $460.5 billion over 10 years, but only $30.9 billion in 2011, rising to $68.4 billion in 2019, according to the Joint Tax Committee.

Yes! Woohoo! Let’s pay for those baby-boomers and their free health care! Awesome!!

(h/t)

Filed under: Amazing, America, Current Events, Election 2008, Elections 2010, End of the World, Health Care, Hippies, Politics

Wise Words

The Anchoress provides us with some words of wisdom about what a teacher should be:

Amma Theodora lists these qualities for a teacher:
– Have no desire to dominate
– Have no interest in vanity or pride
– Never be distracted by flattery or gifts
– Be in control of the stomach
– Be slow to become angry
– Be as patient, gentle and humble as possible
– Be properly examined and without political ties
– Be a lover of souls

God, forgive me, for I am none of these things. I hate most of my students, I hate the subjects that I teach, and I love those moments when I can show how wise and worldly I am to them, my students. I teach them my truth. Please, through the intercession of your Blessed Mother, the Seat of All Wisdom, may I become the teacher you want and need me to be, so that I might lead my students to the Truth which is Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who with You and the Holy Spirit, are the Triune God, Three in One, into eternity. Amen.

Filed under: Catholic, Current Events, Education, Personal, Philosophy, Religion

About that Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis

Some facts about the sexual abuse crisis in the Church versus in the rest of the world.

Summary: though still horrible, the Church has less instances of sexual abuse of minors than Protestant churches, Jewish groups, and public schools.

But priests abuse kids because they can’t get married.

Filed under: Catholic, Current Events, Education, Religion, Rome

Interesting Class Discussion

We were discussing Ralph Waldo Emerson in class today. I can’t remember exactly how I got on the topic, but I asked my students if they still believed that America was a land of opportunity, where anyone could come and be moderately successful if they were willing to work hard.

This class is made up of all international students: one student from Greece, one from Korea, and about fifteen from China. But they all agreed on the answer to my question.

Yes, America is still a land of opportunity.

I was a little shocked. Had my cynicism about the American Dream somehow blinded me to a truth my students saw? Is it really still the case that anyone with a few bucks and a strong work ethic can do well-enough in America? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I believe that anymore; me, a patriotic, conservative American!

But my students, all from the outside of this country, think I am wrong not to believe in the American Dream.

Interesting.

Filed under: Amazing, America, Education, Personal, Philosophy, Politics

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Iranian students to Pres. Obama: “Obama, Obama, Are you with the regime or with us?“

Well, it’s a legitimate question! But I think we already know the answer. Just more victims for Obama to throw under the bus. Hope and change!

(h/t)

Filed under: America, Axis of Evil, Current Events, Democracy, Hippies, Politics, Terrorism

Election Headline of the Day

Heh: “Maine Voters Agree with Obama on Gay ‘Marriage’”.

(via Glenn)

Filed under: America, Current Events, Funny, Hippies, Politics

2009 Elections

So, what do the current election results mean?

Well, the victory for marriage in Maine shows, once again, the mainstream of America are against what has become one of the central planks of the Democrat’s platform. If the Dems ever want a permanent majority, all they need to do is drop their support for abortion and gay “marriage.” No charge for the advice!

Hoffman’s lose in NY-23 is bad news, but I can’t help but think he would have won if he didn’t have to deal with Scozzafava. The GOP made a huge (and unforced!) mistake in nominating her. I don’t think it was her social liberal leanings that made people upset; I think people are finally starting to revolt against those politicians whose sole purpose in government is spending money. That’s what the tea parties were about, that’s what NY-23 is about. Owens won because the party couldn’t unite, and the party couldn’t untie because the party elite were out of touch with the party faithful.

Also, many congratulations to Christie and McDonnell for winning their respective gubernatorial races. Are these some kind of referendum against Pres. Obama? Maybe, but it’s just as likely that the deciding factor was local politics. I don’t know enough about either of the politics in VA or NJ to be able to tell you what the answer is, but I also have some free advice from the GOP, courtesy of Han Solo: “Great shootin’, kid, just don’t get cocky!”

The GOP can win big in 2010, we just need to find the “right” people to do it, not the same old party-hacks interested in their own aggrandizement and personal coffers. We need people like Hoffman and Christie and McDonnell, not like Scozzafava. That’s how Newt* and his GOP won back in 1994, and that’s the only way the GOP can win in 2010.

I’m so upbeat and pumped about the coming midterms that I might have to dust off my Republican buttons and start wearing them again. Well, maybe not THAT excited.

*As a side note, I thought it was absolutely hilarious that Newt has gone from the GOP rebel to a party-hack supporting whatever nominee the party presents. He has gone way down in my estimation after this election cycle.

Filed under: America, Current Events, Election 2008, Elections 2010, Politics

Judas Maccabeus vs. Gaudium et Spes

Br. Charles: “It’s the classic question of how people of faith who value religion are supposed to relate to the unbelieving, persecuting, or lax world around them. Do we separate ourselves so as to protect the purity of our life, or do we assimilate to the world a little so as to include more souls in what really matters? What is our duty to the lapsed or unobservant among us? Do we come at them honey or vinegar, with cooperation or separation, with ‘relevant,’ ‘updated’ activities or a bomb?”

It’s a question I ponder as well. How is it possible to “be in but not of” the world?

Filed under: Catholic, Current Events, Personal, Religion

Pondering Net Neutrality

So, I read this WSJ article this morning on the fight between AT&T and Google over the coming FCC regulation commonly referred to as “net neutrality.” Go and read it; I’ll wait.

I’ll admit I’m conflicted about net neutrality, for several reasons:

1) First and foremost, I am loath to give the government any more power of regulation than it already has. So, I would prefer that the FCC shut the hell up and go away and leave the Internet alone.

2) At first blush, I want to say that I am for net neutrality. After all, I am paying for a specific service from a provider (in my case, Comcast) to access the Internet. How I use the Internet seems to be my business alone; the ISP exists only to P my I.

3) But, I am also against net neutrality. If I am willing to sign a contract that limits my ability to do certain things on the Internet, isn’t that an issue between me and my ISP? If I don’t like the conditions, I can go and get another ISP. In my area, I have three to chose from. That might not be true in all areas, but with the increase of wireless broadband, that should allow consumers to vote with their dollars and chose the providers that best fit what they (the consumers) want. In other words, if I am willing to let Comcast (or whoever) limit my Internet access, no one should have a problem with that; certainly the government would not need to intervene.

As another example for #3, Google has started a new service known as Google Voice. It’s basically a VoIP service. This is a direct competitor to AT&T, which runs a traditional phone service along with its various Internet stuff. Under net neutrality rules, I think, AT&T would have to help its competitor Google. That doesn’t seem fair to me.

So, I really don’t know what to think about net neutrality. If forced to choose, I probably would say OK to net neutrality, but I am not convinced that that is the right choice. It’s seems like there are good, sound arguments on both sides.

What do you think?

Filed under: America, Current Events, Democracy, Philosophy, Politics, Tech

Screw You, Hulu!

Hulu.com will start charging people to watch TV shows, according to EW, around 2010.

Funny; that’ll be the time I stop watching Hulu. Glad I didn’t sell my old desktop computer with TV tuner card!

Filed under: Amazing, Current Events, Entertainment, Movies, TV, Tech

It’s Only Life or Death!

John Unger: “The best thing that ever happened to me was the night an angry, messed up cab driver pulled me into the back room of a 24 hour diner and held a huge handgun to my head for over ten minutes, all the while describing in intricately fetishistic detail exactly what would happen when he pulled the trigger.” Seriously?!

(h/t)

Filed under: Amazing, Education, Entertainment, Manliness, Personal

Guide for the Perplexed

The Opinion page of the WSJ has collected all their writings on Obamacare onto one page. Lots of good stuff.

Filed under: America, Current Events, Education, Election 2008, End of the World, Health Care, Hippies, Politics , Healthcare, Hippies, Obama, Politics

Not a Joke

Pres. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

No, this is not a joke.

The Peace Prize itself has become something of a joke in recent years (Jimmy Carter? Algore?) But, seriously folks: besides plunging this country into massive debt, what has this man done?

Nothing. He hasn’t done anything.

Honestly, I’m a bit sick reading about this.

Filed under: Amazing, America, Current Events, End of the World, Hippies, Politics

Klingons for Christ

Ka’plah!

Filed under: Amazing, Catholic, Entertainment, Funny, Prayer, Religion, Star Trek

Confessions of a Home-Schooler

Salon.com features the start of a feature about the experiences of its home-schooling editor.

Filed under: Current Events, Education, Funny, Politics, Religion

Punk’s not Dead

Awesome:

(h/t)

[Sorry for the short posts lately, getting ready to move into a new apartment in Beantown and still have to do that work thing. Hopefully, things will calm down soon. -ed.]

Filed under: Amazing, Entertainment, Music

You’re Welcome

Got 4 minutes? How about a review of the major memes of Youtube?

Filed under: Amazing, Current Events, Entertainment, Funny, Movies

Obama Appoints IP Czar

And puts him in the wrong department.

(*IP = intellectual property)

Filed under: America, Current Events, Politics

Sarkozy Lectures Obama

The preisdent of France lectures the president of the United States after the latter’s deplorable and intellectually bankrupt speech at the United Nations.

Is this what our foreign policy has become? So dovish that even the French are more bellicose and hawkish? I understand not wanting to be unilateral, but c’mon!

(h/t)

Filed under: Current Events , America, Current Events, Hippies, Politics

Iran Revisited

Here’s a great article on the current situation in Iran.

Filed under: Current Events , Current Events, Green Revolution, Iran, Politics

The Emmy’s Go Wrong

DR. HORRIBLY WRONG, that is:

Awesome.

(h/t)

Filed under: Amazing, Current Events, Entertainment, Funny, TV

What Causes the Longevity Gap?

The longevity gap is the gap that exists between the average lifespan of the average American (78 years) and the rest of the civilized world (varies: UK = 80, Canada and France = 81, Japan = 83). Many of those countries have socialized health care systems, so hippies advocates of such a system in America argue that socialized medicine increases the average lifespan. QED.

Err, not so fast.

Apparently, Americans used to smoke more than the rest of the world. Could this have causes the gap? If so, because the number of Americans who smoke is declining, will the gap eventually disappear?

Interesting; it’s almost as if we need to have people take responsibility for themselves instead of having the government do it for them!

(h/t)

Filed under: America, Current Events, Health Care, Hippies, Politics

The “Tenther” Smear

Radley Balko:

It’s such a transparent attempt at marginalizing the other side (mostly with respect to the health care issue) it seems almost a waste of time addressing. But one might start by pointing out that unlike any convincing evidence that Obama isn’t a U.S. citizen, or proof that the Bush administration orchestrated the September 11 attacks, the Tenth Amendment actually exists. You can actually go to the National Archives and read it. There’s also a historical record of its drafting and ratification. Really.

I don’t know, I kinda like being called a “tenther.” Sort of.

Filed under: America, Current Events, Democracy, Health Care, Politics

A Political Gadfly

The NYTimes profiles James E. O’Keefe III, Eagle Scout, student of G.K. Chesterton, and my personal hero for the moment.

Filed under: Amazing, America, Current Events, Education, Elections 2010, Entertainment, First Amendment, Hippies, Politics, Scouting