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Saturday, February 9. 2013

Report from the Killer Snowstorm of the Century: Just another ordinary good winter snow dump, overhyped as usual. Around 15-18 fluffy inches here. The old Explorer can handle it easily but I am waiting for my plow guys to show up to make life shipshape. Yes, they are Hispanics. They want to work, and do not mind the cold.

A lack of competition in beer?

Our local beer dump has about 500 varieties from all over the world. Still, their biggest seller is Coors Light, second is Bud Lite, third is Corona.

... it turns out that Harvard and other Ivies have apparently been employing a strict anti-Asian quota now for a couple of decades

Duh.

California schools give up on math

Let's leave math to the Asians

The Third Sex in Massachusetts is having trouble with the shrinks

But meanwhile, Brown University’s student health plan will cover sex changes

Country has gone nuts...or nut-less

Yet Another Hidden Cost of ObamaCare

Good grief, what a joke

NY Times Notices Obama Tax Hikes Are Crushing Americans, Fails to Mention Obama

Byron York: With public focused on jobs, Washington fights other fight

While Doherty and Woods Were Fighting For Their Lives, Obama Was Sleeping Soundly

Andrew Cuomo is a dithering fool

He wants to run for president, but he can never make the simplest decisions

...new laws being proposed around the country to limit and regulate guns and ammunition represent a momentous first step.

That's the view from the moonbats

California Democrats Propose New Rules on Gun Registration and Confiscation of “Assault Weapons”

Please, people - disarm the criminals, and not the good guys and gals

Dr. Benjamin Carson Addresses National Prayer Breakfast, Criticizes Obamacare

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:31 | Comments (22) | Trackbacks (2)

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Weblog: www.thepiratescove.us
Tracked: Feb 10, 09:24

Thoughts On A Sunday
A good portion of the day yesterday was devoted to digging out after the blizzard. While I had guesstimated we'd gotten 18 inches of snow, an actual measurement after I'd removed some snow BeezleBub had moved earlier showed we...

Weblog: Weekend Pundit
Tracked: Feb 10, 23:27

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Beer: I gots no dog in this fight. I rarely drink beer anymore. Besides, there are two brew-pubs in my town, and another that brews its beer elsewhere in the state.

Our great universities, fighting "the yellow peril" to this day.

Students not ready for algebra in 8th grade--more of a reflection on the inadequacy of the schools, seems to me.

Big bills (in numbers of pages) give so much room to hide non-Easter Eggs that have serpents inside.

Jobs? No worries; Benghazi Barry has his!

Cuomo: Refusing to decide is a decision...

Guns: I've had them in my closet for 40 years, and they've never attacked me. So...it ain't the guns' fault. And we keep being told "Nobody's talking about taking away your guns."

#1 Sam L. on 2013-02-09 10:00 (Reply)

Both my sister and I did not take Algebra I until we were in 9th grade. This was due to an inadequacy at the small private school we attended through 8th grade. It did not destroy our futures.

I stuck with the program did Alg. I, Alg. II, Geometry and Trig. I took the SAT twice. Once my junior year (spring) and then again in my senior year (fall) to try for a higher score. I actually got a pretty good overall score with that 2nd test. And it was mostly because of the additional math skills.

My sister was a study freak. She voluntarily signed up for a summer trig course at a community college and took calculus her senior year. I think got an 1580 on her SATs (back when 1600 was the max).

So I don't think taking Algebra I in 9th grade is somehow killing the academic future of kids. For those who are better at math, I am sure there is a path where they are able to take a high math course in 8th grade, if they are ready for it.

#1.1 KJB on 2013-02-09 14:57 (Reply)

It makes me sick to my stomach and confirms my worst fears about the state of our country that our esteemed President apparently could and did give zero f---s about the consulate attacks and suffer no repercussions whatsoever. I'll allow the possibility that there is more to the story than meets the eye but I'm having a hard time coming up with a reasonable explanation for his lack of communication.

#2 Ruby Lennox on 2013-02-09 10:07 (Reply)

I agree with California on the algebra delay. Abstract thought is developmental. A few kids will be ready as early as 5th grade. Others are not going to get it until 11th grade (if ever). It's a balancing act, and later is better for the majority of kids. Until the 1960's no kids saw algebra before high school.

If you've got a good autodidact, turn 'em loose.

#3 Assistant VIllage Idiot (Link) on 2013-02-09 10:09 (Reply)

I had algebra in 8th or 9th grade--it was in Jr. High.

#3.1 Sam L. on 2013-02-09 12:57 (Reply)

Fear of snow is a new pathology and news media fueled. We used to take snow in stride when we had fathers who not only fought in snow in the European theater but lived outside in it then. I love snow and cannot get enough of it. My father built our house around a huge 3 sided fireplace where he would cook wonderful things and feed the helpless neighboring executives and their families during blizzards.

#4 MissyW on 2013-02-09 11:23 (Reply)

Re: Dr. Benjamin Carson

I just listened to the Hannity segment with him and he is fantastic (thought I already knew it from the other snippets I had heard previously) (link: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/conservative-doctor-tells-hannity-why-he-spoke-out-against-president-obamas-policies-to-obamas-face/). Hannity asks him if he'd run for president and he only said that wasn't his purpose but if God told him to, he would. He should be drafted as a candidate for 2016! I would vote for him in a second. I just pray he does run.

#5 mudbug on 2013-02-09 11:50 (Reply)

Ok, so I'm not the first on the bandwagon for Ben Carson for President.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323452204578292302358207828.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

#5.1 mudbug on 2013-02-09 12:01 (Reply)

I posted the link on Dr. Carson yesterday as I was afraid the MSM would ignore his speech and it would be buried by news on the storms. Thankfully, it's gone viral and I've heard from dozens of friends that they look forward to his future participation in the multiple issues he's addressed.

Obama looked like a fool.

#5.1.1 jma on 2013-02-09 15:30 (Reply)

What perfect luck, or manifestation of a hidden hand, that what would introduce Carson with such impact would be his proximity to the Nemesis everyone is defensively riveted upon.

#5.1.1.1 buddy larsen on 2013-02-10 12:05 (Reply)

With regard to the many varieties of sexual confusion that is out there today: I am so glad to hear that some psychiatrists have finally found the courage to speak truth to the political machine that has been funded by the elite of Hollywood and Broadway for years and years. Using bad science for political gains is a very, very bad thing to do, but the liberals don't know right from wrong so what could we expect? I remember when the psychiatrists at Mayo Clinic took the position that homosexuality is not physical, but rather psychological: they were threatened, bullied, and research monies for other projects at Mayo were withdrawn. That was 40 years ago, so now finally personal courage finally rises up again to speak true to power. BY the way for what it's worth. It was when the son of one of Ted Koppel's friends in Beverly Hills was arrested for something to do with being homosexual in public (don't remember the exact charge) it was at this time that Koppel interviewed her on tv and they both made the statement that this young man had been this way from birth and SURELY being homosexual was in his genes--that was the first time that thought was put out there and the media jumped on it as SCIENCE. The gay community finally got a small school in Sweden to say it was possible that they might have isolated the gene for this particular situation--the school got a nice amount of research money for this little study! Understanding this does not make me homophobic, it does mean that I demand my science to be exact--not something that is created by what used to be the journalism community !

#6 faculty wife on 2013-02-09 12:14 (Reply)

On the snow front, virtually unnoticed and entirely unlamented is Mass. Governor Deval Patrick's imposition of a 1-year jail sentence penalty for driving on any MA road yesterday. The Weather Channel repeatedly described this as the government "asking" drivers to stay off the roads, and they continue to make happy noises telling everybody to just stay home, as if no one had commitments to jobs or sick relatives. Reminds me of 0bama "asking" 1 per centers to pay more. Ask at the point of a gun!

#7 DennisC on 2013-02-09 12:19 (Reply)

From where I'm sitting this storm was worse than '78. I shoveled twice last night and still woke this morning to 24" of snow with 4' drifts in the driveway.

It took an hour of shoveling to dig a path from the garage to the street. If I take breaks and keep my calories up I figure I'll be done with the shoveling by noon tomorrow, though that's an optimistic assessment; I didn't figure in the need for sleep.

#8 Jephnol (Link) on 2013-02-09 12:24 (Reply)

"Shovel?" Really?
When we moved here in '82 I bought a snowthrower. Today even with that it took 3 hours.
Three hundred feet of dirt driveway, sixty foot turnaround, then my neighbor's walk and parking spaces. After that, I can't go for a soak until I remove two inches of ice from the top of the Jacuzzi.

Isn't this when Doc interjects the current Florida temperature.

#8.1 John (Link) on 2013-02-09 14:44 (Reply)

Yeah, I got screwed this storm. I was turned around waiting to go out with a buddy plowing. He never came around, and I fell asleep leaving the job half done early on, which makes the last of it easier of course. This morning the snow was just too deep to get the machine out. After cutting my way through with the shovel I was able to get the machine fired and get some of the middle to the edges. I'm still not done, but with judicious beer drinking, below the 450 calories I believe I'm burning per hour, I might just finish this with a smile on my face. Well, maybe not tonight, but by tomorrow in the late morning. Doing this business is burning it out hard, man. I'm too old for this shit. And, hey, I love my buddy, but he can go spit next time he wants help plowing during a '78 style snow-job. I should have been working this business all night with a blower.

#8.1.1 Jephnol (Link) on 2013-02-09 17:06 (Reply)

Holy Crap! Did that even make any sense? What I meant was I didn't get enough done last night and the snow was too deep for the snow blower. I have a little 2-stroke Toro. I had to section the driveway with a shovel to make it do-able with the machine. I guess once I started shoveling I had it in mind to finish it with a shovel. Yeah, good intentions and all of that...I started the machine once I had moved enough snow by hand. That's what I meant....

#8.1.1.1 Jephnol (Link) on 2013-02-09 18:25 (Reply)

hahahhaha --for coherent writing, adrenaline makes a good shovel

#8.1.1.1.1 buddy larsen on 2013-02-09 21:58 (Reply)

I dig it.

#8.1.1.1.1.1 Jephnol (Link) on 2013-02-10 00:52 (Reply)

Cuomo is all of what you suggest and less. I can't imagine what political office he might be qualified for, but then there's most of the House and Senate.

#9 Thalpy on 2013-02-09 13:58 (Reply)

Here's something to save, for folks you know who are familiar with Wikipedia and do not savvy the actual issue of the 2nd Amendment fight. This is the opening para of the wiki on the John R Lott book (3rd edition) More Guns, Less Crime:

QUOTE:

More Guns, Less Crime is a book by John Lott that says violent crime rates go down when states pass "shall issue" concealed carry laws. He presents the results of his statistical analysis of crime data for every county in the United States during 29 years from 1977 to 2005. The book examines city, county and state level data from the entire United States and measures the impact of 11 different types of gun control laws on crime rates. The book expands on an earlier study published in 1997 by Lott and his co-author David Mustard in The Journal of Legal Studies.[1] Lott also examines the effects of gun control laws, including the Brady Law.

#10 buddy larsen on 2013-02-09 14:04 (Reply)

Both my sister and I did not take Algebra I until we were in 9th grade. This was due to an inadequacy at the small private school we attended through 8th grade. It did not destroy our futures.

I stuck with the program did Alg. I, Alg. II, Geometry and Trig. I took the SAT twice. Once my junior year (spring) and then again in my senior year (fall) to try for a higher score. I actually got a pretty good overall score with that 2nd test. And it was mostly because of the additional math skills.

My sister was a study freak. She voluntarily signed up for a summer trig course at a community college and took calculus her senior year. I think she got an 1580 on her SATs (back when 1600 was the max).

So I don't think taking Algebra I in 9th grade is somehow killing the academic future of kids. For those who are better at math, I am sure there is a path where they are able to take a high math course in 8th grade, if they are ready for it.

#11 KJB on 2013-02-09 14:58 (Reply)

MIT's student body is about 27% Asians (from the actual countries) or American kids of Asian heritage, mostly the latter. The way they deal with race in admissions is to draw a distinction between minorities - anyone who is non-Caucasian - and underrepresented minorities. The latter are all minorities whose proportion of MIT students is less than their proportion in the U.S. population as a whole. That pretty much eliminates Asians.

Applicants who are underrepresented minorities and whose academic record and test scores show that they have a reasonable expectation to graduate from MIT are admitted. Automatically. The rest go through the usual winnowing process. Underrepresented minorities do tend to graduate at a lower rate than the others, but the difference is not nearly as great as at other schools. The school does not lower the test score and academic standards that are expected of other applicants for members of underrepresented minorities.

As far as I know, no group that was once an underrepresented minority is now not an underrepresented minority.

#12 RonF on 2013-02-11 13:03 (Reply)

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Saturday, February 9. 2013

Saturday morning links