 | "There's Justice In The Universe" |
| Posted 3/15/2007 5:25 PM CDT Making Pork Healthier?: Scientists replaced the fat gene in 10 cloned pigs with a gene spliced from a round worm. Instead of saturated fat, the pork contains omega-3 fatty acids (which Americans don’t get enough of because of the price / mercury risk of eating fish). The Week 109th Congress: Of the 383 bills it passed, more than 1/4th dealt with naming federal buildings. The Week Marijuana: “More than 22 million pounds of marijuana are grown in the U.S. annually. Worth an estimated $35.8 billion, the pot crop exceeds the value of the combined U.s. grown corn, hay, and soybeans.” Los Angeles Times Vietnam: During the Vietnam War, 20 million gallons of Agent Orange (herbicide that defoliated forests and left behind a residue of dioxin) was sprayed there to remove cover the Viet Cong used. A variety of significant health problems are still being caused there because of this. TIME Vietnam: Intel is building a $1 billion chipmaking plant near Ho Chi Minh City (not exactly listed as a desirable destination point when I was issued my Selective Service Number in 1967). TIME Worst Science Job: Anal Wart Researcher --- the same STD that causes cervical cancer can also cause anal cancer in both genders, so the efforts of these people who “scrutinize” derrieres are appreciated. [Note that each of us has about a 10% lifetime risk of contracting anal warts.] Popular Science China: China uses 1/3 of the world’s coal production. 20,000+ Chinese coal miners die annually in mine accidents / while tens of thousands die each year of lung afflictions…. because the central government is unable to enforce its safety regulations. [Note: Their local governments ignore Bejing on everything from controlling public spending and cracking down on corruption to protecting the environment (e.g., one chemical spill every 3 days occurs nationally because of local negligences).] TIME Wit & Wisdom: “The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.” Tom Waits Wit & Wisdom: “Comedy is when ‘you’ slip on a banana peel; tragedy is when ‘I’ slip on a banana peel.” Groucho Marx |
| Posted 3/14/2007 12:24 PM CDT The USA’s national budget deficit, trade deficit, and phenomenal ‘population growth’ aka ‘immigration influx’ will continue to build up until (and beyond) a crisis is reached. The tipping point will be when the price of oil exceeds our country’s ability to pay for it (and the other items that comprise our trade deficit). Our nation is “overextending” itself on credit for our excessive expenditures (just as our individual consumers are borrowing to finance their overconsumption ). Other nations with a positive trade balance are currently more than happy to invest their profits back into our country..…just look at all of their offers to buy/lease our roads, airports, etcetera. [ I overheard 2 Dutch businessmen discussing the possibility of buying USA farmland. I don’t blame them.] Expecting our government to appropriately deal with these issues is “unrealistic”---- listening to our politicians is akin to listening to the alcoholic in rehab say, “You can treat my alcoholism all you want to, but you leave my drinking alone” [a real life quote]. After all, our government is a reflection of our society / a society that consumes more than it produces, refuses to implement conservation measures, and where the average annual savings rate is a negative number. We’ve become a selfindulgent people with our post WWII successes. Our economy is based on the illusion cheap oil and labor. [NOTE: Oil is an example of a finite resource that will become more & more expensive…..whereas population is a selfreplenishing resource dependent largely upon finite resources. The Law of Supply and Demand dictates that when you have too much of something, it’s value decreases. Too many people à life becomes cheapened…just look at overcrowded nations & their attitudes]. We were given a “wakeup call” aka “opportunity” in the 70s with the OPEC related energy crisis in the 70s. Increasing worldwide competition for oil and other resources is now presenting us with a “challenge”. The “crisis” that will occur before mid-century is the confluence of natural consequences for failing to meet the above both nationally and worldwide. The only people who won’t be dramatically impacted will be the wealthy and the very poor (who won’t notice that big of a change in their life styles). It’s best that most people come to own their own homes (no matter how modest), are not in ‘over their heads’ with non-mortgage debts , have good health, and “know how to stretch a dime” “until the cows come home”. Note: With almost 20% of new home loans being adjustable rate mortgages to higher risk borrowers, the current downturn is only a hint of what is yet to come (longterm). Before WWII, homes were only a fraction of the size of what’s ‘normal’ now and people were scared of debt…both lessons that we will eventually become reacquainted with. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjustable_rate_mortgage |
| Posted 3/12/2007 2:09 PM CDT In the time since Nixon implemented the current round of Daylight Saving Time, I’ve only ever met just one person who professes to like Daylight Saving Time (and even they would prefer just leaving the clock one way or the other). DST was first proposed (in jest) by Benjamin Franklin while living in France. Later, the English upper class who had time for outdoors recreational activities took it seriously and tried it out for a while…and later, during world wars with rationing, it was attempted again. It wasn’t until after the OPEC nightmare in the ‘70s that our politicians imposed it upon us with the idea that they were “really doing something” to conserve energy. In calculating energy savings, those who base their calculations based only on lighting usage in homes in latitudes further to the north claim up to almost a 3% savings. Those who live in the South and also consider air conditioning costs see no savings (probably even a deficit). All totaled, an overall average of less than 1% is really saved in the USA on oil. However, when one factors in the other economic costs along with health and social woes of changing time, one sees that DST really is a losing proposition. I don’t expect it to change anytime soon, but every six months I Google “abolish end Daylight Saving Time” and find petitions to sign--- this year I decided to even sign a petition to offers a compromise to our paternalistic leaders: http://www.standardtime.com/ http://www.standardtime.com/petition.html http://www.standardtime.com/proposal.html Note: The only ones dealing with DST worse than us is the Iranians: “A decision by the Iranian government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not to move the clocks ahead at the beginning of spring this year has caused immense problems and irritation for Iranians. For the first time in 15 years, the government unexpectedly announced that it was not changing to daylight saving time. The reason was that the cabinet had concluded that making the change had not led to energy savings in past years. But to hedge its bets, the government decided that schools and government offices would start their day at 7 a.m. instead of the usual 8 a.m……The decision has also caused widespread inconvenience and anger.” The New York Times |
| Posted 3/10/2007 7:28 PM CST News Source: “The Week” http://www.theweekmagazine.com/links/Links.aspx Iraq Outsourcing: Nearly 800 civilians working in Iraq under contract to the Pentagon have been killed ( and 3,300 wounded). There are now nearly as many contractors (120,000) as there are troops (135,000) in the war zone. Different Outsourcing: After a Chinese man advertised for a woman to serve as a stand-in for his mistress, so his angry wife could beat her up….he offered $400 for ten minutes of being pummeled. Ten women have applied. Serbs Let Off: The International Court of Justice ruled that Serbia was not guilty of genocide in Bosnia during the Yugoslav wars ….but did rule that genocide had occurred and held Serbia responsible for “failing to prevent” the killing, rape, and ethnic cleansing spree of the Bosnian Serbs it funded and armed. During the 1992-95 Bosnian civil war, Bosnian Serbs backed by Serbia killed at least 75,000+ Bosnian Muslims and Croats and drove tens of thousands from their homes. Killer Kites: At an annual kite-flying festival in eastern Pakistan, at least 11 people died who either had their throats cut by metal/glass coated strings (used by competitors to cut rivals kites’ strings) or were either hit by celebratory gunfire or electrocuted while untangling kites from power lines. The festival springs from an ancient Hindu rite. Muslim Creationists Plague Europe: America isn’t the only place where pseudoscientific nonsense is waging war on “evolution”. They have been blitzed by tens of thousands 800-page free Islamic textbooks called “The Truth of Creation” being sent to their schools. The book has beautiful binding and hundreds of seductive color plates. The author holds that Darwin’s theory “is responsible for all the evil in the world, including international terrorism”. [ My Comment: Which Islamic organizations are paying for this?] Venezuela Arms Purchases: Venezuela has spent more than $4 billion on fighter jets, rifles, and other arms in the last two years. Its spending on the international arms market is now greater than Pakistan’s and Iran’s. NetFlix: It delivered its billionth DVD this week….7 ½ years after it began. Beer Prices To Increase: As farmers shift production to corn, soybeans, and other crops suitable for biofuels, the price of barley is 12% higher…so beer will become more expensive. |
| Posted 3/6/2007 1:46 PM CST Lesson #1- Weakness: One of the mitigating factors leading to North Korea’s attack on South Korea was our foolishly (if inadvertently) suggesting early in 1950 that we might NOT take action to protect South Korea, thus inviting aggression from North Korea. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1590465-2,00.html Lesson #2-Strength: Our occasional bumbling on the world stage today is reminiscent of our difficulties in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Strength is good / but only if you have clear goals and can “wage war” as a war & not as a police action/holding pattern. [ I believe that what may have finally brought about a truce in the Korean Conflict was Eisenhower’s ‘secretly’ deploying a nuclear weapon(s) to Okinawa that N. Korea was discretely informed of via the Indian ambassador. Both sides were so tired of the conflict and its international ramifications that, even though a peace treaty was never signed, a truce was finally agreed upon. Perhaps, because N. Korea did not have a nuclear weapon of their own to counter what we indirectly threatened them with, they have desired a chance “to save face” with one ever since.] NOTE: A couple of months before we launched the attack on Iraq, I believed that if it were to occur, then we should do so in October (2003). First, because we needed to allow the other nations of the world to finish ‘wimping out’ ( little did I realize that our intelligence was weak and biased )… and second, since they had weapons of mass destruction (supposedly) and our troops would have to wear their biohazard gear, it’d be cooler weather and less fearsome for them to wear such while fighting in the insane heat of Iraq during summer months. After I realized the WMDs were a farce, I hoped that maybe we were doing the right thing, albeit for some very wrong reasons. I did not harbor any illusions about Iraqis ‘coming together’ to create a democracy / there’d been lots of printed information about Sunni/Shiite/Kurd Arab/Persian family/tribal ethnic rivalry and such in all of the premiere US magazines countering any such ‘rosy notions’ prior to our invasion. And even though we’ve made considerable effort to encourage such, I’ve always thought that announced phased troop reductions was best (if made contingent on continued reductions of insurgent violence)….previously, Iraqi militias had quietly supported this notion. Strength implies intelligent courage and adaptable action based on truth/reality. Preemptive actions based on faulty intelligence/hidden agendas and rigidly adhering to such as a matter of pride defines weakness. The world needs a USA that is strong, intelligent and wise….. and able to admit mistakes when and where they’re made. Perhaps with judicious strength, we can begin to extricate us from this particular morass. Just maybe. |
| Posted 3/4/2007 7:37 PM CST “Professionals are leaving Venezuela in droves, fed up with President Hugo Chavez’s socialist policies and the country’s 20% inflation rate. Nearly 11,000 Venezuelans obtained permanent legal residence in the U.S. in 2005--- twice as many as in 2000. Many of those leaving are managers, engineers, and other professionals working in Venezuela’s oil industry.” The Wall Street Journal “China holds $1.07 trillion in foreign currency and securities. It adds reserves at a rate of about $20 billion a month, mostly from exports of Chinese made goods.” The Wall Street Journal “Iran, one of the world’s largest oil producers, had to import more than $7 billion of gasoline over the past year, and may soon begin rationing gas. The country’s ailing refineries cannot keep up with the demands of its booming consumer refinery” The Wall Street Journal “Installing cameras that catch motorists who speed through intersections as the light is turning red can reduce such violations by 96%, a new study found. Ever year, 850 people are killed and 170,000+ are injured by motorists running red lights.” USA Today “The first month of 2007 was the hottest January on Earth since planetary temperature records were first kept, in 1880.” CNN.com NOTE: I obtained these clips from the weekly publication called THE WEEK that gives a balanced reporting of the news (left, right, and center). They also have free online access. Their links are useful: www.theweekmagazine.com/links/Links.aspx |
| Posted 3/3/2007 6:54 PM CST As a retired teacher with a M.Ed. in School Supervision (PreK-12), I’m rather bemused by those who feel we should do away with TAKS. Let me point out that TAKS is a valid test used to measure students’ individual levels of of specific knowledge / what used to be called an achievement test…and we’ll always need annual measures of student progress that compare them to other students. For those with average IQs and ordinary abilities, TAKS is a very easy test to pass. It IS an excellent indicator of both students’ individual achievement levels and of groups’ educational characterisitics. It is NOT an especially good indicator of whether a particular teacher, school or district is doing their job well ---- although it does show whether or not there’s overall improvement. The “demographics” of different classrooms and schools are too variable to allow TAKS to be used as a sole and absolute measure of educational effectiveness in comparing groups “across the board”. [ This ‘real world’ variability also foils teacher merit pay schemes. Only “if and when” students across the designated grouping could be assigned totally at random could you begin to have a valid measure for comparison/competition.] I especially caution against overvaluing the practice of labeling schools as acceptable (or not) when the performance levels of subcategories of different groups students within a school impact the overall rating. For example, if your schools ‘economically disadvantaged’ group in a school doesn’t perform well ( no matter how small the group), then the whole school receives a black eye. It is in regards to this subject of overgeneralizing between schools that “the rubber is finally meeting the road” in the state of Texas. [ The pending TEA action regarding Webb Middle School is a case in point. But don’t blame TEA….they’re caught “between a rock and a hard place”…..anytime you expect them to make an “exception to the rule”, it’s going to require real scrutiny ( just as passing a kid to the next grade when they’ve failed TAKS requires genuine justifications/ not excuses)…. plus, their hands are pretty much tied by state laws.] NOTE: Another thing to consider is the fact that State Assessment difficulty levels (in all states) are all set low enough to ensure that you have passing rates that “sound good”….because if you used the test used by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card”, a test that’s more appropriate for college bound students. If you did, you’d be competing with European standards…. where only their upper echelon students receive the kind of education that we try to force ALL of our kiddos through. MY OPINION: We need to swing the educational pendulum towards increased vocational and functional academic skills (e.g., real life economics vs. AlgebraII). Not everybody should have to pass physics in order to get a high school diploma. Another reason that many of our students can’t compete with illegal aliens is because our kiddos can’t work with their hands because they waste so much time in secondary classes immersed in the wrong curriculum. http://www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070225/5standards_print.htm http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/spring2005/images/p12rev.gif |
| Posted 3/2/2007 5:39 PM CST As I drive the highways and byways of Austin, I notice that there are still plenty of shiny new “power wagons” showing up…..accessory laden behemoths that will likely never haul a load of fence posts (or anything else) nor ever be driven on a dirt road. Then, when I observe the drivers disembarking from these ‘high rise Cadillacs’, I usually see soft, well groomed, professional type males….. or sometimes their ‘soccer mom’ wives who require the use of side mounted steps in order to clamber up-and-into their ‘faux Conestogas’. The economic price that they pay for such vanity is so high that I rather imagine they’re subsidized by a trust fund and/or a job that relies on corporate welfare. I know, because I used to teach their kids. Kids who, remarkably & very often, see the foibles of the world and quite often chart a more sensible course for themselves in life. Sometimes “Ugly Americans” can be valuable role models by showing us what NOT to do. |
| Posted 3/1/2007 5:50 PM CST Once again we have “out-of-towners” deigning to push the interests of developers and such inside of our municipality. And today, as I sit in my favorite coffee shop and read today’s headline about a state lawmaker’s challenging Austin’s ordinance outlawing new homes that loom over older ones in central neighborhoods, a male office worker and his 2 buddies sit nearby loudly discussing how they’re not crazy about living in Austin. One misses Los Angeles while another waxes nostalgic about Cleveland. They proceed to brag about their condos close to Zilker and about ‘hooking up’. In the process they specifically state that they don’t care about the environment--- that the only thing that really matters is money. One of them evidently delights in riding his bike downtown and seeing how many people he can get to flip him off. [ Judging from their use of vocabulary and syntax they were quite intelligent / as far as IQ goes.] As I sat listening, I was reminded of a conversation I overheard just last year between two other individuals (a developer and a city employee) who were older versions of these 3 young bucks. Although these 2 men were more sedate, their soulless quality was just as evident. To them the only thing that mattered, also, was money…. evidently, one can really never have enough. It seems that one of the lessons of “The Ugly American” (book and movie) will remain a Universal Truth = Who needs enemies, when you are already your own worst one? |
Posted 2/28/2007 1:59 PM CST
http://erocrising.statesmanblogs.com/
