Things that make you go f#%k!

Well, I'm back after a combination of apathy- & medical-induced absences. The topic that could motivate me back to blogging? this article via the Prof.

So let me pose a question here: Since laws that blatantly favor one race or ethnic group are by definition racist and unjust (see Jim Crow, apartheid, etc.), how is it that so-called "liberal" western countries (England, I'm looking at you) can tolerate serious discussion of Sharia? Anyone care to tell me the difference? Bueller? Bueller?

Revealing

The money graf, from this article:

“Every day, people around the country recognize that this is a failed administration,” said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader. “If Republicans want to spend the whole month on nothing that is relevant to the American people, we are happy to do that.”

So, Harry Reid is perfectly content to ignore a problem, as long as he can make the Republicans look bad for doing the same.

Another of my brilliant schemes...

So, Osama bin Loser has a crush on Whitney Houston, eh? Lets hook them up! After Whitney gets Osama hooked on the crack pipe, he'll be selling Al Qaeda's weapons to feed his habit so fast they'll still be warm...

News flash: Government teacher's union favors big-government, pro-union candidate!

Color me unsurprised. When will people realize that public schools a) were designed to acheve mediocrity and b) are financially rewarded based on how poorly they actually educate?

Don't believe me? John Taylor Gatto makes the argument for a), and b) should be obvious - how many time have you heard "we'd improve education if only we had more money FOR THE CHILDREN!"? Sadly, public schools, like all other government entities, measure their successes by the sizes of their budgets. I think charter schools could probably do a better job, and they might be able to if they didn't have to expend resources fighting the teachers' unions for their very existence.

I like Blackwell's approach far better - let's change the system rather than continue to throw money at it. Throwing money at the problem hasn't worked in 36 years, why would it start now?

Should I panic yet?

I have a hard time NOT connecting these two stories:
In the first we have 11 individuals from a country known to produce Muslim extemists who commence shady behavior the instant their feet hit US soil, and in the second, we have 2 Arab-American students arrested for "aiding terrorism".

What's the connection? The two in the second story had in their posession $11,000 in cash and 12 cell phones - 11 goes into $11,000 how many times? And one cell phone left over for the "coordinator", perhaps?

I'd say that something doesn't add up, but in this case, TOO MUCH adds up.

Good news in the NYT?

If this actually represents a trend and not just political posing, the government is finally doing something right about illegal immigration. Follow up by REALLY securing the border, and we're well on our way to eliminating the exploitation of illegal immigrants.

This IS justice!

In Ohio, local politicians frequently (ab)use eminent domain to evict residents from older but hardly blighted properties and then give the land to campaign contributors developers for "economic redevelopment", i.e. putting in a strip mall. So I hardly expected this lightning bolt of good news. Big victory for property rights in Ohio.

This is justice?

I can understand the Strongsville, OH school board trying to cover its ass after one of its teachers gets caught doinking an underage student, but to get the Cuyahoga Co. prosecutor's office to INDICT THE PARENTS is the most heinous abuse of the justice system I've ever seen. The assistant weasel prosecutor says that the parents didn't mention sex when they told the school about the "inappropriate relationship"? WTF? It sure sounds (from the parents' interviews on the broadcast) like they made it clear enough. If the school now wants to pretend that they are as ignorant as some of us expect public "educators" to be, I don't see how that a) absolve the school of culpability for the actions of its employee, or b) transfers that culpability to the parents.

One more reason my kid's private school tuition is the best money I could ever spend.