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Monday, February 8. 2016

Students Who Didn’t Get Solos in Burlesque Show Claim Victimhood Status

There are many people one might not choose to see with minimal clothes on

Here Comes the ‘Cashless Society’

Zero privacy, just like the road cameras

Abortion Rights Group Attacks Doritos Super Bowl Ad for ‘Humanizing’ Fetus

In Defense of Football

Bravo. Gladiators must sometimes get injured.

Why is it sexist when a man flirts with a female interviewer but hilarious when the roles are reversed?

Girls love to flirt and they are far better at it than guys

Drug abuse and Libertarians

Intoxicants will always be with us

How large "non-political" government agencies work: The Port Authority of NY and NJ

Bernie's Adventures on a Stalinist Kibbutz

We Thought Marco Rubio Lost The Debate, But New Hampshire Might Think Differently

Gotta think fast and adapt when under the gun of a New Jersey prosecutor with Sicilian blood

You
Go, Girls! People Magazine Gushes Over Hillary, Chelsea, and Charlotte
On the Trail - See more at:
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2016/02/07/you-go-girls-people-gushes-over-hillary-chelsea-and-charlotte-trail#sthash.6G8kehZD.3vcTUOYO.dpuf

Salon: It’s almost over for Hillary: This election is a mass insurrection against a rigged system

Hillary and the Suspension of Disbelief

You Go, Girls! People Magazine Gushes Over Hillary, Chelsea, and Charlotte On the Trail

In German Schools, 'Tolerance' Collides with Refugee Reality

Mead: It’s Past Time for a Pivot to Europe

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 07:34 | Comments (16) | Trackbacks (0)

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Salon is just now noticing how media coverage offends when you don't happen to be on board with the media darling.

#1 Texan99 on 2016-02-08 09:33 (Reply)

The problem with drugs is so much more than what it does to individuals who choose to use them. Most of our homicides are caused by drugs. Almost all of our small crime is caused by drugs. Perhaps half of our traffic accidents are caused by drugs. Drugs do more physical and social damage every year than all the other causes put together. When you look at the heart rending pictures of wounded soldiers from the various wars in the ME just understand that the media doesn't show you that there are ten times as many people injured by drugs. More Americans are killed by drugs every year than were killed in all ME wars since Bush the first. When you see those adds for poor and hungry children understand that their parents spent the money on drugs instead of food. When you look at our homeless problem understand that drugs are the problem not money or opportunity or unfair distribution of money. Our country has a serious problem with children born out of marriage; again drugs are the major cause. Almost all of our problems are the result of drugs.

#2 GoneWithTheWind on 2016-02-08 10:08 (Reply)

I agree with all that, but making drugs illegal hasn't helped the situation. If drugs were legal, they would be a lot cheaper so the criminal component would be much less. The available drugs would be of better quality so they would be safer because the potency would be known and the dosage could be better monitored.

I certainly don't relish the idea of legal drugs. Other examples of attempts at it have been met with mixed results at best (Denmark, Colorado) and I think there would likely be side effects to legalization that we don't necessarily fully appreciate. I do think that we are not really serious about combatting drug and drug dealers. As Gingrich said many years ago, if we were serious about it, we would impose the death penalty on distributors and use it. In many states, we can't even execute mass murderers so we may not be as serious about it as we think we are.

#2.1 mudbug on 2016-02-08 10:30 (Reply)

I sympathize with your argument, GW/tW, however, if you substitute "alcohol" for "drugs," pretty much everything you wrote is still true (only the numbers are even worse for alcohol than for drugs).

Legalization may well be a bad idea, but it's not clear that prohibition is an improvement.

#2.2 Thos. on 2016-02-08 11:04 (Reply)

Windy's lofty opinions intersect fact often enough for them to best resemble coin tosses.

#2.2.1 Ten on 2016-02-08 11:08 (Reply)

I think we have created an ouroborous dilemma - each alternative is worse than the other. We also seem to be unwilling to commit the resources to either fully enforce prohibition or to fully provide treatment, counseling, and supportive care for addicts and their children.

#2.2.2 Another guy named Dan on 2016-02-08 11:48 (Reply)

We already have 'legal' drugs that do the same thing as illegal drugs, but we regulate them and have them available through legitimate prescriptions. That is why I have a problem with the drug legalization thing...does that mean we should also have shops selling oxycodone like they are selling weed? Prescription drugs can be addictive, can ruin your body with overuse and have all kinds of side effects that must be tested for and explained to the user. Is this what would happen if we legalized heroin, for example?

Legalizing street drugs is not the answer to the problem. I can think of several things that would help:

1) Closing up the border with Mexico. Drugs are pouring over our borders. Make it harder to get drugs and fewer people will become addicted.

2) Be honest about our over-prescribing of hard cord pain meds. I'm sorry, but I have experienced this myself...ortho doc giving out oxycodone or valium for simple surgeries that don't cause much pain. It's ridiculous. That stuff is STRONG and addictive. After only a few days on some of this stuff, I have suffered from withdrawals. Even though docs and pharmacy told me that was not possible. It IS possible. Imagine people who take a pain med for real reasons for only a couple of days (at the prescribed or even half-dose) who then get addicted? More honesty needs to be happening in the medical realm about this. These strong pain meds are seriously over-prescribed!!!

3) More money and effort put toward counseling and rehab, rather than jail for minor drug offenses. I want to get people OFF drugs and back to a normal life...not punished in jail with hard core criminals.

#2.2.3 MissT on 2016-02-08 11:56 (Reply)

China learned the answer many years ago in dealing with the overwhelming addiction problem caused by British and American interests flooding China with opium.

Execute the dealers.

This is still the gold standard in Asia.

Unless America is willing to follow this approach, it will continue to be destroyed by drugs.

#2.3 Jim on 2016-02-08 14:08 (Reply)

I did include alcohol as a drug when I listed the negative statistics. The two often go hand in hand, many addicts are addicted to alcohol and many drug addicts became drug addicts while drunk. Often after completing drug rehab an addict will make the decision to use drugs again after drinking alcohol.

There is a misconception that we send simple drug users to prison. It isn't true. A lot of people sentenced for drug use bargained down more serious charges like selling drugs, committing assault robbery, breaking and entering, etc. The DA simply makes an offer based on what the criminal can tell them about other crimes AND in an effort to get the criminal rehabilitation they choose to sentence them as a user/addict.

I would be in favor of drug rehabilitation but in general is does not work until the addict really wants it to work. Simply forcing someone to take the rehab is pretty much a waste of money.

I do believe the only solution is something along the lines of Singapore's laws. Bring drugs into the country or sell drugs and you get the death penalty. Harsh! That is until your 13 year old daughter becomes addicted and tells you what she does to get the drugs then it seems just right.

We don't take drug crimes seriously and until we do it will get worse. tens of thousands of people will die and be killed every year because of illegal drug use and we will continue our ineffective enforcement of the laws. The police know every gang member by name and reputation. If we wanted to end gangs we could do it overnight. It would cost some money (far less than the crimes they commit costs us) to build jails. It would offend people to put these thugs away for life or 50 years or so but until we do it the death toll will just keep increasing. And the toll on those who do not die is in many ways worse. Or we can continue our wishy washy 'war on drugs' and accomplish little to nothing.

#2.4 GoneWithTheWind on 2016-02-08 20:30 (Reply)

Re: Marco at the debate

I watched the debate after the hubub about Rubio repeating himself was being talked about so I watched for it. Maybe I'm slow but it didn't seem that bad to me. Instead of repeating himself, he could have explained what he meant, "Obama isn't a bad president because he became president after less than one term in the Senate or a lack of experience, he's a bad president because he has bad ideas and bad intent."

The other thing that got me are why is Bush and Christie haranguing him about "cutting and running" on the gang of eight immigration bill? Would they prefer that he continued to support it?

Having said that, Rubio is not my favorite. I'm more concerned that he is susceptible to manipulation from people like Schumer who has shown he'd make a great Three Card Monte dealer.

Jeb Bush said that Hillary would "scrape the bark off Rubio." First Hillary has to win the nomination and that looks less likely by the day. (Here's a thought: if Bush doesn't see how weak Hillary is, what does that say about him?) Second, I think any of the pubbie candidates (with the possible exception of Carson who is too nice) would chew Hillary or Bernie up.

Having said that, he's not my favorite as he's lost me on

I have to say that the moderators were the worst of any of the debates and that's saying a lot. After the disastrous introductions (can't they see who has come out on the stage?), I don't think the called on Carson more than a handful of times the entire debate.

#3 mudbug on 2016-02-08 10:09 (Reply)

German Schools -

It is clear that the German government failed to take into consideration all the factors this number of immigrants (refugees) would impact on German society. It was a knee-jerk response to a bad situation which did not include a long term plan for housing, healthcare, education and training that would be necessary for these people who were openly invited by Frau Merkel.

There is a time limit for legitimate Syrian refugees at which point they will have to return to their country. However that time is defined as "the end of the Syrian civil war". Unfortunately no one has any idea when that will happen.

With regards to the lowering of scholastic standards, this actually makes sense from the perspective that no one would expect a non-native German speaker to arrive "off the boat" and be capable of speaking, let alone reading and comprehending at even a rudimentary level. Especially when we already know 80% of these people are illiterate in their native language.

So what will happen is these new students will be kept in elementary schools (grundschule) up to 4th grade until they can read, write and do basic math at the 4th grade level. This means foreign kids, and German children, are required to repeat the grade until they can master these skills.

At this point children go to one of three schools based language and math skills; Hauptschule up to 9th grade (after which they learn a simple trade; baker, cook, waiter, etc.) or Realschule up to the 10th grade (after which they learn a more advanced trade; car mechanic, medical technician, electronic technician, etc.) or to Gymnasium up to the 13th grade which leads to Abiture (and if passed) entry into University.

At this point, German schools will have to adapt to a non-German student population which is just as new to us as it was to Americans 100-years ago.

"Immigrant education programs [in the USA] sponsored by the government prevailed only from 1915 to 1917. After that, immigrants were left to fend for themselves. From 1900 to 1950, Administrative Progressives “shaped the agenda and implementation of school reform more powerfully than any other group has done before or since”.

“Even today such an ideal for the education of the three quarters of a million children in New York City’s schools seems a little absurd. Why bother wasting time to train Jews and Negroes the same way; after all, one cannot expect different races to have the same capabilities. Almost no one in the mass could, even with the most advantageous training, discover new truth. How fruitless and ridiculous it would be to pass along what one knows to just anyone who happens to be seated in a chair." - Edward Thorndike, 1914. (1)

Thank goodness this "conservative" idea was disregarded in favor of progressive educational reform!

Keep in mind that Germany is about the size of Montana, so dispersing 1-million people in less than a year is quite a challenge. Consider dispersing that same number across all of the US and you begin to see that scale of this problem.

(1) http://www.historyliteracy.org/download/Sears2.pdf

#4 Karl Horst (Germany) on 2016-02-08 11:19 (Reply)

Thank you Karl Horst for your insight. However, I must point out to you that the standards for all children in American public schools has dropped substantially in the past 35 years. When the teacher's union joined the teamster's union there has been no open and critical qualitative review.

Second thought: Student's should be moved at an energetic pace. One which provides accountable levels of accomplishment. Without that we teach them from the youngest age to lie and cheat and become con artists. Those who develop more slowly for whatever reason should always be able to go to another school at a later date and pick up what they didn't get the first time. That "other school" must not be university.
Perhaps, it may only be a space in town where older students go to work online with something like the Khan Academy and then take physical tests to prove that this time --they got it ! They should then be able to apply for university if they wish. This idea of withholding advanced levels of instruction because some won't be able to "get it yet" is absurd.

#5 faculty wife on 2016-02-08 11:33 (Reply)

Here is a bumper sticker for this year.
"Dirty gals=Dirty Government"

#6 Apple Pie on 2016-02-08 11:36 (Reply)

@ faculty wife -

I have heard (and read) many things about the American education system, none of which are very good. The general belief of Germans towards American education is that German education remains superior when you compare high school (Gymnasium) students. While I can't speak about the French and British systems, I would assume they are equally difficult given the high standards for university entrance.

The German Abiture is the final exam before you leave Gymnasium. This exam takes two to three weeks with a 5-hour written exam (including an oral exam for languages) for each one of following subjects: advanced math, the German language, two foreign languages (one of which must be written and spoken fluency in English), one science (physics, biology or chemistry) and one social science.

Unlike your SAT or ACT college entrance exams, there are no true/false, no multiple choice, and no fill-in-the blank questions.

If students fail to pass, they can take it two more times. If they fail after the third exam, the Abiture is simply not awarded and those students usually pursue an apprenticeship program or go to a lower college.

.

#7 Karl Horst (Germany) on 2016-02-08 12:22 (Reply)

Schools matter far less than anyone, liberal or conservative, generally acknowledges. Schools are usually only terrible if they are unsafe for students to attend. Beyond that, the good K-12 schools do not much outperform the bad ones, once we compare apples to apples. If we measure test scores when they come in at age 5 compared to exit at age 18 and note the difference, we have an apples-to-apples.

I know people just hate it when I keep pointing that out, because everyone has a favorite theory about what's gone wrong (or right), and they don't like data to invalidate their opinion. Education was not better in the Good Olde Days. The student is the main variable, not the parent, the curriculum, the teacher, or the building.

Karl, I don't know how education statistics are reported in Germany. They are obscuring the racial and ethnic data in Sweden, but observers can figure out for themselves why the Swedes in Malmo aren't scoring as well as the Swedes in Linkoping. Extrapolate from there to US, Canada, Italy, etc.

I recommend for your enjoyment looking up the Hajnal Line. It explains a lot about violence, test scores, and the status of women in a country.

#7.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2016-02-08 15:25 (Reply)

re Here Comes the ‘Cashless Society’

I think Konrad is spot on in his critique.

Two things might slow the transition.

1) The voters may not approve. (Of course our ruling masters may do it "for our own good" anyway)

2) Perhaps our ruling masters won't want it if push comes to shove. Might make graft and bribery a little tougher if there is an electronic footprint.

#8 feeblemind on 2016-02-08 12:38 (Reply)

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Monday, February 8. 2016

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