Tuesday morning links

" I’ve seen very little from the MSM that leads me to believe that it has great affection for either this country, or the majority of the people who inhabit it."

Why STEM classes are tough on women and minorities

Examples of STEM classroom practices that contribute to a chilly climate are weed-out courses, courses that grade on a curve, a competitive environment, reliance on lecture as a teaching method, an individualistic culture, and comprehensive exams.

Useless things the government does with your money

ObamaCare may force employers to pull the plug on millions of health plans, CBO report finds

The Stupid Psychopath Problem

OBAMACARE AT SIX: A LEGACY OF DECEPTION - Virtually every promise the president made on behalf of his “reform” law has been broken

Milo on Bernie:

Milo Yiannopoulos: And be wrong about everything… Why is it that just because someone is old and left-wing that they’re nice? We don’t say that about right-wingers. Why do we automatically assume that just because he’s old and doddery, has white hair and he sounds like a crazy old lunatic that he’s a nice guy. Really? Is he a nice guy? No he wants Socialism in America. That’s poisonous, ugly, oppressive political philosophy that has made people suffer everywhere that it has ever been tried… Why is he a nice person? What has he ever done that proves he is a nice person?

Z-man:

Europe operating as a market-state without external threats and a pacified population gave the ruling class of Europe the sense that this arrangement would work long term. Then the king went crazy and flung open the doors to Muslim invaders. Initially, this was not a problem as the ruling class lives in bunkered enclaves, removed from the consequences of their polices. They have no reason to care if the train stations are carnivals and rape and assault by the dusky sons of Mohamed.

But, the people have noticed that their liberties are slowly and methodically being curtailed in the name of public safety. When you can only enjoy a traditional parade from behind barricades and armed soldiers, you’re going to start having dark thoughts about the people who caused this...

Why Britain (and Europe) depends on migrants

Sheesh. Screwed-up culture. There is no dignity in dependency.

Belgian Soldiers Deployed to Fight Terrorists Had No Bullets in Rifles

The U.S. Army Is About to Double Its Howitzer Range

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 05:22 | Comments (29) | Trackbacks (0)

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The story about Belgian Soldiers standing guard without bullets is idiotic. It links to a photo of Belgian COPS (not soldiers) with rifles that are clearly loaded. The magazines are made of transparent plastic and you can see the actual bullets.

#1 NJSoldier on 2016-03-29 08:19 (Reply)

From what I read of the article the soldiers were posted outside of synagogues to guard them, not to fight off terrorists. I realize there is the possibility of guard duty becoming combat but it is not the general case.

I've stood guard duty a fair number of times. They rarely issued us ammunition and in the rare case they did issue ammunition it had better not be loaded into one's weapon unless one were fired upon. I always thought it was ridiculous but it was consistent. But I've only guarded barracks, motor pools, and ammunition bunkers and never in wartime. I have, however, issued the challenge to a passel of wild pigs. They didn't know the password. Since I had no ammunition and they seemed determined to go where they pleased, I let them pass by climbing the nearest tree.

I have a "cousin-in-law" who served with the Marines in Vietnam. He is by nature a very humorous man and tells very funny stories about hearing or seeing various things while standing guard with his M-16 and an empty magazine.

#1.1 Knucklehead (Link) on 2016-03-29 12:50 (Reply)

I've stood guard posts with an empty weapon many time too. I was just pointing out that the article about soldiers with empty weapons linked to photos of cops with clearly loaded weapons.

#1.1.1 NJSoldier on 2016-03-29 13:27 (Reply)

The average journalist doesn't know the difference between a loaded weapon and a bag of rice.

They are also innumerate. Watched one on the news the other day talking about how they were about to yank that sunken tug up from the bottom there by the Tappanzee construction.

"The tug you see behind me is capable of lifting as much as 1000 pounds," she said. You just shake your head and know why they went into journalism.

#1.1.1.1 Knucklehead (Link) on 2016-03-29 16:07 (Reply)

Oh, yeah, and then there is the mismatch between what the headline tells us the "soldiers" (more likely police) were sent to do and what they were actually sent to do. Being put on station to "fight terrorists" is a very different assignment than being put on station to "guard this synagogue". Journalists are either willfully ignorant or just plain dumbasses.

#1.1.1.1.1 Knucklehead (Link) on 2016-03-29 16:09 (Reply)

Good article by Megan McArdle
Yes, people are more than just the sum total of their material well being. It's about time that someone acknowledges that all the Happy Talk and abstract theories and statistics don't mean much to the working people stuck in the "vibrant service economy". It really reflects a failure of imagination and an inability to walk in the shoes of folks who have gone from one dead end service job to another. These people have been reinventing themselves for decades to no avail and probably,for the foreseeable future, during what I think of as the great leveling of working people. I expect this phenomenon to climb the food chain. Is your job an endangered species? Remind me again who is going to be the tax payer, who is going to commit to a mortgage or an education, or a long term purchase/investment, without a reasonable expectation that they will have a future income stream?

#2 Exasperated on 2016-03-29 08:23 (Reply)

‘No kill’ animal shelters have unleashed an epidemic of suffering. Is a life of misery any better than a quick death?

I'll take tossed-off appeals like that seriously when they factors billions of raised animals whose only end is misery and slaughter. It's the same culture; the same rules apply for them to be rules.

Kindly don't appeal to conservationism or mercy if you've willfully lost nearly all traditional connection with the land and the sanctity of life.

#3 Ten on 2016-03-29 10:02 (Reply)

Hey, great reasoning: you already mistreat food animals according to my minority opinion, therefore there can be no complaints about any mistreatment of pet animals. You evil conservatives just don't have the right to say anything. Plus, you offend against cliches about life and land by not accepting my definitions.

I think you will find experientially that argument by sneer tends to be more effective on liberals.

#3.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2016-03-29 11:43 (Reply)

Hey, great reasoning: You presume a classically liberal target is motivated by partisan progressive politics - the false blanket projection "liberal" buys cover and credence, you think - so since you already categorically mistreat food animals according to particular cultural normalization, arbitrary labeling, and lifestyle signalling, no so-called "minority opinion" may therefore complain about it. The arbitrary class of pet animals per such an exclusive and subjective categorization is inherently distinct and therefore simply irrelevant.

How Alinskyite of you to cartoon both in an evident attempt to polarize the former target at the expense of the latter cultural category.

Conclusion? Apparently yes, yes "evil" conservatives, as you put it, probably don't have much justification to say anything further, at least by those measures on this topic, which was my premise.

But, being the gentleman I am, I re-invite you to defend your presumably un-thought assumptions about life and land - on conservationalism, humane treatment, sustainable systems, valid collective economics, special interest, free markets, and the like all included - this time hopefully by accepting established definitions.

In other words, I call bullshit, Idiot.

#3.1.1 Ten on 2016-03-29 12:44 (Reply)

I question your grounds to identify yourself as a gentleman. Your tone here is practically never gentlemanly. I really wish you'd alter it.

#3.1.1.1 Texan99 on 2016-03-29 20:53 (Reply)

Maybe if we fell in line with biases and expectations, or if we helped distribute misinformation, then we'd be acceptable, in other words. Is that what we'd prefer?

It was tongue in cheek, but since you took it literally, let me know your preferences.

#3.1.1.1.1 Ten on 2016-03-30 03:54 (Reply)

I did not speculate on your personal politics. As you either don't know what "tongue in cheek" means or have no insight into your own motives, I'm not sure what grounds we could discuss things on. (I'm also not sure that "classically liberal" is quite the right descriptor, based on what I've seen here at the farm.) You seem to know some things, but your writing is often incoherent. As here.

#3.1.1.1.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2016-03-30 09:54 (Reply)

What unbridled crap. The sheer arrogance of putting words in my mouth in order to valiantly wrestle your strawmen supercedes any latent ability you might have had to actually defend your bullshit on points. And so you haven't. WIN!

#3.1.1.1.1.1.1 Ten on 2016-03-30 17:14 (Reply)

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#3.1.2 click now (Link) on 2016-03-30 14:39 (Reply)

Why STEM classes are tough on women and minorities. In the early '50s (my undergrad days) even the psych, english and sociology profs used those classroom practices. Classroom practices were pretty the same in every department I encountered.

#4 BillH on 2016-03-29 10:07 (Reply)

I had a similar experience with a shelter cat. Most cats that spend any time homeless are infected for life- with a disease that even if you clear up the symptoms, are a carrier. But I took it back after it crapped all over most the walls in my house.

The other experiences I've had and this includes with trying to get a rescue or retired racehorse-- with facist handlers who expect references and home visits for up to three years and signing a contract not to sell the animal for so many years. It's probably easier to adopt a child.
Screw that, I'll go buy one.

As for the whole villifying the puppy "mill' thing... The dog police have gone around to ensure that anyone who breeds a dog for "profit" isolates that dog in a kennel with a dog house and the dog is no longer allowed to roam the farm or be a pet and have socialization.
That's their solution to the non-problem. The Amish are big on breeding dogs and while I don't agree with all their breeding practices, at least they let their dogs be dogs, until the regulators stepped in.

#5 fjord on 2016-03-29 10:22 (Reply)

"Examples of STEM classroom practices that contribute to a chilly climate are weed-out courses, courses that grade on a curve, a competitive environment, reliance on lecture as a teaching method, an individualistic culture, and comprehensive exams."

That sounds like every course I took in college, not just the STEM ones. But despite being a wee little slip of a helpless girl, I did fine. In fact, I woke up mentally for the first time. It's a shame to deny the experience to so many people.

#6 Texan99 on 2016-03-29 10:38 (Reply)

Freshman year in 1966 at Michigan Tech. The professor's opening statement in Calculus--25% of you will fail this class; and in Chemistry 30% of you will fail this class. Weed out, you think? And comprehensive doesn't begin to describe the exams.

#6.1 rocdoctom on 2016-03-29 12:15 (Reply)

My Dad went to Berkeley in the late Forties, after serving in the Navy in WWII. At their first-day orientation they were told, "look to the person to the right of you and look to the person to the left of you. One of you will not be here after the end of the semester." My Dad said they used to put extra railroad cars on the trains after the first set of exams to carry away the students who had flunked out.

The point of Berkeley ("Cal" to those who are loyal to it) was that for many years they let any graduate of a California high school go to Berkeley. But staying there was a different matter. If you didn't like the competition and had money you went to Stanford.

#6.1.1 Jim on 2016-03-29 14:30 (Reply)

Survey an incoming class how many are "pre-med" before, then after, freshman organic chemistry. Gotta get the mutes a clearer picture of reality somehow.

#6.1.1.1 Knucklehead (Link) on 2016-03-29 16:15 (Reply)

"Yutes" not "mutes"

#6.1.1.2 Knucklehead (Link) on 2016-03-29 16:16 (Reply)

QUOTE:

Who voted for that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2012

#7 Zachriel on 2016-03-29 11:15 (Reply)

Hey, thanks for admitting that Obama actually didn't bring that sort of thing up while campaigning or trying to persuade others. Because if you had that, you would have mentioned it instead of resorting to the general election.

Unless your new position is that citizens have to accept everything a president does once elected.

#7.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2016-03-29 11:49 (Reply)

This is the 3/29 menu For Sidwell.

March 29, 2016

MS/US
Southwest Black Bean Soup
Watermelon, Feta and
Olive Salad
Classic Vintner's Salad
All Natural Cheese Tortellini
Pesto Cream Sauce
Garden Fresh Marinara Sauce
Roasted Zucchini
Garlic Bread Sticks

Sliced Pineapple

I wonder what the White House is eating.

#8 oolioo on 2016-03-29 12:23 (Reply)

Marxh 30 is also pretty good.

March 30, 2016

LS
Snack: Goldfish

Classic Potato Salad
BBQ Baby Back Ribs
Tofu Q
Corn on the Cob
Tree Top Casserole

Melon

#8.1 oolioo on 2016-03-29 12:26 (Reply)

For what the parents are paying for Sidwell, they should expect tasty food for their children.

Poorly prepared food would constitute an "unsafe space" at Sidwell. Good school though. It molded my once-lazy brother into a good student.

Then there were the school lunches of my public school childhood, where a good lunch was merely one that was edible. Unfortunately, S.O.S. was all to common. Except that it was usually with a dollop of mashed potato instead of toast.

#8.2 Gringo on 2016-03-30 01:13 (Reply)

Don't let a crisis go to waste. Don't have a crisis? Manufacture one to enact your laws to carry you nearer to your elitist goals…such as the Global Warming crisis.

http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/another-climate-alarmist-admits-real-motive-behind-warming-scare/

Dismantle the U.N.

#9 jma on 2016-03-29 19:29 (Reply)

You sounded that way to me, too.

#10 Sam L. on 2016-03-29 20:44 (Reply)

Embrace the power of AND.

#11 Sam L. on 2016-03-29 20:46 (Reply)

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Tuesday, March 29. 2016

Tuesday morning links