Friday, October 24. 2014
I know a guy who got an A+ in Physical Chemistry at an elite university, and never went to class. He needed the spare time to practice with his grunge band. He told me he spent 24 hours non-stop going through the textbook with the help of some borrowed Adderal.
I suspect he missed a lot of interesting stuff, but he got the competency.
There are plenty of reasons for "seat time" in many areas of study, but certainly not in all. For example, there really are no valid criteria (in my view) for competency in Art History, or in history for that matter.
Here's the idea: Hacking Higher Ed With Competency-Based Education
Related, competency exams may be racially-biased via disparate impact. Here's that whole story, from Bill McMorris: How the Supreme Court Created the Student Loan Bubble - It all starts with Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
Thursday, October 23. 2014
At Ace.
Aren't they our employees?
Wednesday, October 22. 2014
 Pic is this 1959 Porsche-Diesel Junior Tractor
There's More to Life Than Being Happy - Meaning comes from the pursuit of more complex things than happiness
It's about Viktor Frankl
When Aristotle Invented Science
The surprising comeback of train travel
The Externalization of Responsibility: Monica Lewinsky’s Personal Shame
Election season: Dems Backing Sen. Kay Hagan Leave Fliers Warning Of Lynchings If GOP Wins…
Election season: Dildos and Lynchings: Wendy Davis, Kay Hagan Campaigns Go Insane
Election season: CAUGHT ON TAPE: Dem Operative Stuffs Ballot Box in Arizona
Election season: Obama Admin: We May Need 'Surge' Of Millions Of Immigrant Ids 'For Any Number Of Reasons'
Green cards on the table -President Obama lets slip his scheme for a permanent majority
Sweden:
A new law will come into effect in Sweden after Christmas 2014, that will allow people to be prosecuted for criticizing immigration or politician’s unwillingness to tackle the issue.
Future election season: Hillary Clinton Raises Record $2.1M At Jeffrey Katzenberg Co-Hosted Hollywood Fundraiser
Klavan: Knucklehead Row:
Whatever its pretensions, whatever its claims, statism — progressivism, leftism, socialism — is based on the idea that a small elite intelligentsia can run your life better than you can. They know how to spend your money. They know how to educate your children. They know how to run your health care. They know how to protect you from yourself.
You do not have to talk to a statist very long before he will profess an intense dislike, distrust and even fear of ordinary people. Ordinary people spend money on what they want (TV’s restaurants and cars) rather than what the elite know they ought to want (aluminum foil climate change reversers). Ordinary people teach their children that God created the world rather than a random pattern of mathematic realities that came into being through another random pattern that came… well, the elite know: it’s random patterns all the way down! Ordinary people will give jobs and business to those who earn them rather than those the elite, in their greater understanding, know are historically deserving because of past oppression. And so on.
Now, of course, with the very elite of the elite running the country, we find that — what do you know? — this statism dodge doesn’t really work all that well. And there are two reasons for this. The first is that the statist premise is wrong. In fact, ordinary people left at liberty to do as they will are actually better at running their lives and businesses and country than the geniuses in Washington. Central planning works great in the imaginations of the elite, but in the real world… not so much.
And the second problem is that the elite are stupid. No, really. They’re educated and sophisticated and they dress well and speak well. They may even have high IQs. But in the immortal words of Forrest Gump’s mother: “Stupid is as stupid does.” And the elite are stupid.
Tuesday, October 21. 2014
This is a 4 year old story discussing why reconciliation is "good", in particular as it applied to the ACA.
Now go to MoveOn.org and take a look at their scare tactics. MoveOn is trying to frighten Democrats and fence sitting voters into a misguided belief the Republicans will misuse reconciliation because reconciliation is "bad".
It is a certainty, as Lord Acton once said, that power corrupts. In many cases of political activity, that corruption isn't just apparent in bribes, graft or other rackets that take place. It's visibly evident in the hypocrisy of power. In reality, reconciliation is probably bad every time it is used. I say this because it was mainly designed to overcome filibusters. Filibusters exist in order to extend debate on contentious issues on which neither side can claim a clear and overwhelming majority agreement (read as "bipartisan" - a term I despise since I view it as a means to push a slow growing Progressive agenda, but which many people think is a "good").
Basically, both parties have plans and don't want the other side getting in the way. Each party has an agenda which is "the other party is bad and will only use these tools that I use to hurt you."
Fact remains, both parties use these tools to hurt us. While MoveOn's hypocrisy is on full display, the Republicans have hidden theirs slyly. Few remember their fight with Harry Reid, slightly over a year ago. Ancient history, to most folks.
If a system's success depends on having the 'right people' in place, there's probably something wrong with the system. As our republic is aging, it seems there is a distinct and overwhelming stench coming from Washington because both parties are putting people in place who are perceived to be the 'right people'. Yet things just keep getting worse.
 25 Is the New 21 - For some parents, the deadline for a kid's financial independence has gotten an extension.
The History of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, 50 Years After Its Construction - Built in 1964, the span still stands as Americas’ largest suspension bridge
Re AirBNB: Interesting, isn’t it, that most of our growth comes from the parts of
the economy that politicians haven’t gotten their sticky fingers on yet.
An Interview With the Repo Man
College Grads Flock to New Cities
New York Dominates 2014 List of America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes
Near the top - SoHo's industrial loft area
'I bought a house for $1,000'
Why I love old people, but I will not accept Medicare
10 reasons why I love Medicare as a physician
Why doctors give Obamacare a failing grade
Secret Slack Shadows Job Market as Fed Weighs When to Lift Rates
I would suggest three years ago
SOURCE OF CURRENT EBOLA EPIDEMIC IDENTIFIED: Bat-Eating Family in Guinea Village
Election season: Wendy Davis Campaign Launches Its Most Absurd Attack on Greg Abbott Yet
The guy is married to a Latina
Election season: Mary Landrieu: My Multimillion-Dollar Home Is Not a Mansion
For me, a 7000 sq' townhouse is just a humble pied a terre. BTW, how do politicians get so rich?
Government to Ordained Ministers: Celebrate Same-Sex Wedding or Go to Jail
Will that apply to Muslims too?
Sultan: The Progressive Pajama Boy Era is Over
The progressive resurgence was powered by leftist billionaires and non-profits chasing power. They have the money and the organization, but they don’t have the candidates. Six years of Obama produced compelling conservative figures like Ted Cruz, Trey Gowdy and Mike Lee. There’s no equivalent to them on the left. It’s why liberal billionaire election spending is characterized more by the candidates that they are against rather than the ones that they are for. They have spent so much time and money battling the Tea Party that they have failed to build a post-Obama political future for their movement.
A New Start for Afghanistan: 3 Massive Challenges That Will Decide Its Future
Monday, October 20. 2014
A view of the priorities of Americans as seen through the ER.
A fun and interesting blog from the author.
Saturday, October 18. 2014
 Image: Sorry again - forgot where I stole that one
Students: Transgender Woman Can’t Be Diversity Officer Because She’s a White Man Now.
Biology is too confusing.
Rambunctious boys: The economic value of misbehavior
The Upside of Marrying an Underachieving Man
'Sex over Food the Clear Choice for Some Males,' Says Study
Whoda thunkit? Can eat later. Thank God for studies.
Why Germany Is So Much Better at Training Its Workers - America rarely uses an apprenticeship model to teach young people a trade. Could such a system help the unemployed?
A book people are discussing: How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness
"I fully admit to having a mild resentment toward rich people."
I envy wealth, but not enough to do anything about it. I know envy is a sin.
CDC Curbs Secondhand Smoke More Than Ebola
We've all heard of Government Cheese - but Government Beer?
A terrible bus ride in Baltimore
“Climate Change” To Cause More Severe Frosts
Of course, just as predicted
Surveillance-Proof - Technology companies take heat for making phones the government can’t tap.
Barrons: Investing in Do-Good Stocks Is Sustainable - More dollars should flow to socially responsible firms as Millennials and women gain influence in markets.
How's that for an insult to the intelligence of the youth and women?
Voting Out Incumbents Could Worsen Partisanship
So? Partisanship is good.
Figures. Obama Appoints Far Left Hack With Expertise in Revolutionary Politics as Ebola Czar
Election politics: Bloomberg fuels pro-Michelle Nunn Super PAC with $350,000 donation
“Georgia voters deserve to know the same anti-freedom Michael Bloomberg who tells us what to drink, what to eat and how to protect ourselves is spending millions of dollars to elect candidates across the country that will enact the Obama Bloomberg extreme gun control agenda and Michelle Nunn is one of them,” the NRA’s Jennifer Baker said at the time.
Thomas Friedman: Those non-Islamist ISIS folks just need better schools
Go, Tom. Go and teach.
More evidence that Obama brought Enterovirus D-68 to US the with his illegal alien imports
BRITISH OFFICIALS UNCOVER HUNDREDS OF NEW CASES OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION IN THE UK
Friday, October 17. 2014
I took my mother-in-law to the wife market
Why Kids Sext - An inquiry into one recent scandal reveals how kids think
about sexting—and what parents and police should do about it.
The Rise of All-Purpose Antidepressants - Doctors are increasingly prescribing SSRIs to treat more than just depression
When 'Niceness' Becomes Tyranny
Run FOUR miles to burn off just one bottle of coke: Scientists call for exercise data to be printed on packaging instead of calories
Who’s afraid of hedge funds? The folks with a vested interest in failed schools
Could the state of America get any worse?
Yes
CDC Blew Record Budget on Playground Injuries and ‘Social Norming’
15 Ways The NIH And CDC Wasted Taxpayer Money
During the October 3 airing of Real Time With Bill Maher, guest Ben Affleck joined Maher in talking about owning guns in order to protect their homes and their families.
Stockton’s Unlearned Lessons - The troubled California city could straighten out its finances, but its leaders don’t seem to want to.
The effects of cheap oil
Sultan is no fan of Islam
AP: Nearly 1 Million Americans Have Cast Ballots Already For Midterm Elections
Politics today: Udall is a rubber stamp
Politics today: Scott Brown can win
Politics today: The nation’s most effective welfare reformer may be the Republican governor of Maine, Paul LePage, and he’s under assault for it.
From Wiliamson's The Thirty Years’ War - What this country needs is a war of attrition against the welfare state and entrenched incompetency:
I like Senators Paul, Cruz, and Rubio; each has his own virtues and admirable characteristics. But none of them has done one single thing of interest in office other than campaign for president since about five minutes after being sworn into the Senate.
Hamburg has become the scene of street fighting between Islamic supporters of ISIS and expatriate Kurds
Thursday, October 16. 2014
The investment markets? It's about time, past time, for a good correction towards reality.
Ebola hysteria? I guess it sells soap. News is infotainment. See The #Ebola Media Epidemic
Presbyterian workers wore no hazmat suits for two days while treating Ebola patient
I don't blame government for that - I blame the Infectious Disease team at the hospital
A COMPACT FUSION REACTOR THAT COULD CHANGE THE WORLD FOREVER: Lockheed Martin Claims Breakthrough
We'll see...
Why Angie’s List Is In Trouble
We have had good luck with people via Angie's - a good resource, thus far
The Adultery Arms Race - Technology has made cheating on your spouse, or catching a cheater, easier than ever. How digital tools are aiding the unfaithful and the untrusting—and may be mending some broken marriages.
Why is Denmark so happy?
No limit, no pay credit card. Nice
The end of the era of personal responsibility
A moving reminiscence
Cornell: Basically, if you were a deer on campus, you got so much free birth
control it would make Sandra Fluke jealous; if you were a deer off
campus, you got served for dinner.
The World Is Full of Grain - Agricultural production is at record levels—and that could make the planet less stable.
A gluten apocalypse
City of Houston demands pastors turn over sermons
Tell the city to go to hell
All-Female Colleges Adopt New Policies To Enroll Male ‘Transgender’ Students
After Central Bank Financial Bubbles, Comes Liquidation And Industrial Deflation
Stockman: This Time Is Different—–For The First Time In 25-Years The Wall Street Gamblers Are Home Alone
Obamacare Is a Job-Slashing, Deficit-Deepening Disaster
Equating Conservatism With Hate Speech on Campus
The kids can't handle new ideas
Jon Stewart Skewers Dem Wealth Hypocrisy
Fair enough, but I do not get the appeal of this smarmy guy
Politics today:Elizabeth Warren: The Rich White Man’s Candidate
Politics today: Train Wreck: Alison Lundergan Grimes Refuses To Say If She Would Vote For Harry Reid To Lead Senate Dems…
Politics today: Arkansas Debate: Cotton excels; Pryor confirms he’s out-of-touch
Politics today: Our Lame Cult of the Presidency
Remember The Fresh Promise Of Barack Obama? What Happened To That Guy?
Leon Panetta wants more kids to go into "public service"
The Illiberal Ezra Klein
The Progressive always reveals his inner totalitarian
Heather: Neo-Victorianism on Campus - Is this the end of the collegiate bacchanal?
Leaked DHS Document: 167,000 Convicted Criminal Aliens At Large In US
Kerry: ISIS ‘Dead Wrong’ in Its Religious Justification for Slavery
Well, he knows Islam better than they do
Is Kobani Erdogan’s Warsaw?
Apprentice Jihadists Practice in French Park – Tell Cops They’ll “Burn in Hell”
Wednesday, October 15. 2014
Via Captain Capitalism:
I don't see debt service on his more detailed chart. Is it too low to bother with?
Related, Feds’ 2014 tax-take hits all-time high
 Photo: Twisted Aspens from a friend's hike in Colorado. Why twisted?
Airbnb Regulated Into Legality
Yet another significant paper finds low climate sensitivity to CO2, suggesting there is no global warming crisis at hand
The Military vs. Marlboro - Our soldiers and sailors deserve the right to decide whether to buy tobacco on base.
"the right"?
The Bigger the Rock, the Shorter the Marriage
But - correlation is not causation
Yuck: 83% of nation's schools report more lunches dumped by kids
Can Christians Still Go to Harvard? America’s colleges are increasingly hostile to religion, but a Veritas, a Christian organization, has found a way to thrive.
“I spent 10 years doing New York all wrong”: Adelle Waldman on
youth, loneliness and finally finding Brooklyn
Urban Studies: The Redevelopment Racket
An Eerie Look at Ireland's Suburban Ghost Towns
A new book argues that the left needs to stop the “awfulization” of abortion and embrace it as a social good.
How the Free Speech Movement Died
Growing crisis of female gun violence
There's a possible Adam Lanza inside every little kid, so watch out for them
Changing public attitudes toward federalism
The Facts About Ebola Funding
Did you Know that USA Has an ‘Ebola Czar?’ We Do. So Why Is She Hiding?
The Centers for Everything But Disease Control
Germany Acknowledges Hard Energy Reality
Historical confusion: Hispanics against Hispanic adventurism in the New World
Dalrymple on bizarre dictators
Hillary Clinton touts affordable higher education in $225G Las Vegas speech
Greed for money and power all the way down
A Border That Is No Barrier Is Still A National Crisis
China Military Buildup Shifts Balance of Power in Asia in Beijing’s Favor
How the Donors Saved Hamas
Rise of IS elicits soul searching in Arab Gulf, a source of funds and fighters
Tuesday, October 14. 2014
 Not sure about anyone else, but gas prices around me have dropped significantly. As recently as 3 months ago, I was paying $3.45 per gallon.
Yesterday, I paid $2.92. Not surprisingly, prices vary from place to place. I'm in New Jersey and we tend to have lower prices. On my way home from Syracuse on Sunday, I paid $3.47 only 5 miles north of the Pennsylvania border. Had I taken the risk to go 10 miles further (my indicator said I had 30 miles left, and that is not very accurate), I could have paid $3.25 simply by crossing the state border.
Recently, there was an article about falling prices in the morning news links here on Maggie's. The suggestion was that US drilling was the driver. I wasn't sure this was accurate, because the numbers didn't add up. Here is a short article on what the other factors may be.
For conspiracy theorists, there's always the political manipulation angle: "Oil has fallen to $60 a barrel. Experts predict it will continue to fall until exactly one minute after the polls close on November 7th." --Jay Leno (election is the 4th this year....but it's all in the delivery).
With a slight shift in visitation points, the current map of the walk seems to add up to 9 miles or 3 1/2 hours of walking time. With stops, a beer or sandwich here and there, we should hit the 5 hour mark, but 9 miles is significantly less than the original 11. Funny how many steps you can save just by altering the path you choose.
So, for the time being, this is the current path chosen. We welcome additions, suggestions and ideas from attendees and online spectators alike. Perhaps we'll do a 5 hour webcast chronicling the adventures. Not sure my iPhone would last that long, though.
 Photo: Gwynnie took that in the Adirondacks this weekend
Phobias may be memories passed down in genes from ancestors
About to Give Birth and Already Sick of the “Pay More Attention to Your Baby!” Guilt
The Battered Humanities–Are They Worth Saving?
Want an Economic Boost? Let’s Kill the Death Tax
The Centers for Disease Control Loses Its Grip
Ad Blames GOP Budget Cuts For Ebola Outbreak
Re the above, Sometimes … most of the time … you just have to raise the “BS” flag
Moving Right Along - The massive and still accelerating
cross-border movement of people across the globe might be the most
portentous development of our times.
Best piece on immigration that I have seen
The Man Who Killed Marxism
Why liberals hate the disabled
US Slips to 12th in Economic Freedom
From #2 to #12 during Obama
Obamacare is in hiding until after the election
What The United States Can Learn From Israel About Cybersecurity
The U.S. Intelligence Community's Creativity Challenge
Islamic State says it is buying and selling Yazidi women, using them as concubines
The religion is down with that
Taliban adopts Islamic State terror tactics as U.S. troops exit Afghanistan
... why does the State Department blame Israel for using excessive force, even though the IDF appears to make even more effort than the U.S. Army or Air Force to avoid civilian casualties?
Monday, October 13. 2014
If you want honor American Indians, then honor an American Indian.
Seems like we'll be a small, intrepid group. Here's our tentative route, as of now, via Bulldog:
Meet at South Ferry – Battery Park 10 am, Sat. Oct. 18
Fraunces Tavern 54 Pearl Street
North to NYSE, Trinity Place, WTC
Turn east to South Street Seaport
North and West To City Hall and Brooklyn Bridge
North to Five Points
Chinatown (At this point, just walking, we’ve covered 3.7 and it’s taken 1 hour 16 minutes without stops. I figure about 2 ½ hours with stops. So it would be about noon, good time for a snack if we start at 10am)
West to Soho
Cooper Union
McSorley’s (assuming we’ve made some stops, pictures, chatted, noodles in Chinatown it would be about 1pm)
Washington Square Park, West Village (Stonewall Inn?? Shelagh thought that would be a funny stop to make given the overall political bend of Maggie’s)
White Horse Tavern
Union Square
Gramercy Park
Flatiron (By now, we’ve covered 8.7 miles and it would be about 3 or 3:30 if we stop at McSorley’s)
Empire State Building
NY Public Library
Times Square
Carnegie Hall
Columbus Circle (assuming stops, it would be 4:30-5pm now and we’ve covered 11 miles)
 When Columbus came back to Spain with news of the West Indies, it was no big deal and of little interest in Europe. They found no spices.
Bruegel’s Hunting Dogs
Red Bull Settles False Advertising Lawsuit for $13 Million Because It Actually Doesn’t Give You Wings
The Trouble with Physics – Another branch of science captured by groupthink
They must have thought the guy was insane
The goal for some liberals, like medieval ascetics, is to live off only
cabbages that have been certified to have died a natural death.
The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence
The Value of a College Degree is Falling
Biden prays for gun violence
"Why Do New York Restaurants Suck?" - The Surprising Answer
NYC has wonderful restaurants. It's the customers who suck
The Manhattan apartment with the furthest distance from the subway
Spinning out of control: Why voter doubt of big government is on the rise
From Mid-Atlantic to Midwest, Voters Express Frustration and Fatigue
They have been trained to expect too much from government
The
Manhattan apartment with the furthest distance from the subway - See
more at:
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/10/the-manhattan-apartment-with-the-furthest-distance-from-the-subway.html#sthash.sGmGyeJN.dpuf
Men Have Depended on the Government for Centuries—So Why Shouldn't Women Do the Same?
California Law Requires Doctors To Undergo LGBT Re-education
Will: Rent Seeking: America’s National Pastime - A North Carolina case before the Supreme Court could strike a blow against the practice.
U.S. military faces new kind of threat with Ebola:
Captain Alex Willard, who was undergoing the training, said the West Africa mission was far different than the kinds of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan than many in the 101st "probably are more comfortable with."
Susan Collins says it’s too late to repeal Obamacare; Mark Levin responds
Conservatives' rhetorical disadvantage
Antarctic Sea Ice Sees Record Growth, Cause Climate Change
SHHH, NO ONE TELL THE ANTI-KEYSTONE PIPELINE NUTS: Canadian Oil Exports to U.S Hit Record High
Plotting an American-Style Fracking Revolution in Britain
War against Isis: US air strategy in tatters as militants march on
Saturday, October 11. 2014
I am not sure that they do, but here's the article: Liberals increasingly want to enforce a comprehensive, uniformly secular vision of the human good. And they see alternative visions of the good as increasingly intolerable.
He wants to crush Amazon
On the other hand, What in the World Is Amazon? It's not a monopoly. It's a behemoth fighting for its life in a world of giants.
Gwyneth Paltrow: It Would Be Wonderful If We Could Give Obama All The Power That He Needs
Are Cell Phones the New Cigarettes? Do you have an addiction and not even realize it?
Everyone should email like a boss
Fruit juice is bad for you
The sharing economy, Schumpeterian gales of creative destruction, and my top 10 interesting facts about Airbnb
When Vanderleun left NYC
The Turner Prize is an example not of the art world’s daring but its rancid exhaustion.
Feminist Hysteria: Infantilizing or Empowering?
People often tell me that feminist dogma often backfires and makes women look ineffective. But looking ineffective is not a problem for many women. They see it as an asset and it is a form of power.
Ross Douthat Loves Lena Dunham for All the Wrong Reasons
Unlike Machiavelli’s The Prince, Antoine Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince isn’t usually on reading lists for
policymakers and international relations scholars. But it should be.
Sultan: The Progressive Missionaries of Unhappiness
In a stunning reversal, the Australian Labor Party bails out on the ‘carbon tax’
Jesse Jackson: Racism Played Role in Ebola Patient's Death
The Muslim Plan for Australia and Then the World
Global Alert From Chongqing: Foxconn Strike Is An Epochal Inflection Point
French say au revoir to France - Opposition convinced people are leaving because of 'the impression that it’s impossible to succeed'
100,000 Libyans flee fighting near Tripoli, UNHCR says
When Bombs Aren’t Enough
Friday, October 10. 2014
The Next Assault on Civil Rights - The Roberts court has been hostile toward voting rights and affirmative action. Its next target is the Fair Housing Act.
Things That Make You Go Hmmm... Like The Perfect 'Kondratieff Winter' Storm Ahead
Stop Hating on Divas
This 29-Year-Old Woman Has Chosen to Die.
New at the pot shop: Milder marijuana for novices
How Are the Boy Scouts Doing in American Cities?
When Your Rabbi Comes Out as Gay
Philly School Reformers to Teacher Union: The War Is On
Raisins: Uncle Sam’s Vestigial Feudalism
Vestigial?
Seattle Liberals Will Look Through Your Trash and Fine You if You Throw Away Food
Polio-like illness claims fifth life in U.S
PPACA to prompt decline in employer-provided health coverage
Fernandez on paradigm shift:
...Obama’s not without ideas. He’s full of ideas, all of them out of date. All of them from the last century’s paradigms. He wanted to become like European social democracy at the very moment when it finally collapsed into the dust-bin of history. He hankered after the ideals of ‘progressivism’ when it had already become reactionary. He is like a man who has saved all his life to buy a pair of bell-bottomed pants only to reach the required sum just when they were 40 years out of style. He’s at the store looking to buy them and can’t find them on the rack.
Krugman on Obama's successes
The Liberal Case for Effective Immigration Law Enforcement
France Crushes Socialist Welfare Dream, Admits "Living Beyond Its Means" For 40 Years
As World Deals With Ebola And ISIS, John Kerry To Focus On More Important Stuff
Western Fear of Angering Turkey Leaves Besieged Kurdish Town at Mercy of Islamic State
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