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Mom Outraged by Son's Arrest Reportedly Knew of His Web Stardom for Phone Threats - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com: "Annette Lundeby admitted to Wired News that she knew Ashton had been making "really funny" prank calls, and that he'd made bomb threats, and that he'd received money for some of the calls — but she said it was all just a joke."
It's not just a joke but is the level of federal response warranted?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
NASA Approves Partial Privatization of the Space Program - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com
NASA Approves Partial Privatization of the Space Program - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com: "The two leading contractors are building their launch vehicles from scratch. Their designs emphasize very efficient business models and low manufacturing costs. And they operate with at most a few dozen employees at their launch sites, as opposed to the space shuttle program's standing army of almost 15,000 workers."
Monday, May 11, 2009
"In Education, 100 Days of Rhetoric and Not a Minute of Real Reform" by Neal McCluskey (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"In Education, 100 Days of Rhetoric and Not a Minute of Real Reform" by Neal McCluskey (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Instead of giving tax dollars to public schools, let parents control the cash. Enable parents to choose schools, and force school employees to respond to them. It's real reform that's been shown to work
Unfortunately, in his first one-hundred days Obama failed to fight for just such meaningful reform. The president did nothing to defend Washington DC's school voucher program, which provides real school choice for 1,700 education-starved kids. Indeed, what his administration did was worse than nothing: it buried a report showing vouchers' success just as Congress was debating the program's fate, and barred 200 children who had won vouchers from using them in the coming school year.
'It didn't make sense to me to put more students in the program,' explained Secretary Duncan.
But here's what really doesn't make sense: spending unprecedented billions to save a hopeless system while letting real reform die."
Unfortunately, in his first one-hundred days Obama failed to fight for just such meaningful reform. The president did nothing to defend Washington DC's school voucher program, which provides real school choice for 1,700 education-starved kids. Indeed, what his administration did was worse than nothing: it buried a report showing vouchers' success just as Congress was debating the program's fate, and barred 200 children who had won vouchers from using them in the coming school year.
'It didn't make sense to me to put more students in the program,' explained Secretary Duncan.
But here's what really doesn't make sense: spending unprecedented billions to save a hopeless system while letting real reform die."
What Is “Hate” Crime?
Officer.com Police Blogs & Podcasts � What Is “Hate” Crime?:
Group A disagrees with the outlook of Group B, and since Group A is comprised of people from a previously identified minority, they claim that the mere existence of Group B comprises a hate crime or promotes hate speech. I take HUGE issue with this.
Why is it illegal or hateful for the members of one historical culture to celebrate their history but not illegal for another? What makes the history and culture of one group of people any more important that the history and culture of EVERY group of people?
Reality, and this is just MY opinion, is probably that ALL crime is hateful. Murdering someone is pretty hateful. Raping someone is pretty hateful. It doesn’t matter what race, religion, nationality, gender, age, etc of the intended victim is: crime is hateful. If we must label these crimes as different from “regular” crimes because they target a minority, then how about if we call them “minority crimes”? Or does that make too many people think that a member of a minority committed the crime? It has always bothered me that one crime is considered more serious than another crime simply because of the protected status of the victim. Robbery is robbery no matter what protected group (or not) the victim is a part of. Murder is murder the same way.
If you put tomfoolery into a computer
Quote Details: Pierre Gallois: If you put tomfoolery... - The Quotations Page: "If you put tomfoolery into a computer, nothing comes out of it but tomfoolery. But this tomfoolery, having passed through a very expensive machine, is somehow ennobled and no-one dares criticize it.
Pierre Gallois"
Pierre Gallois"
Thursday, May 07, 2009
"Cannot Be Saved by World's Rich" by Marian L. Tupy (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Cannot Be Saved by World's Rich" by Marian L. Tupy (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Sub-Saharan Africa lags behind the rest of the world in most indicators of human well-being. It scored a mere 0.472 on the United Nations' 2006 Human Development Index, which is measured on a scale from 0 to 1, with higher values denoting higher standards of living. The United States, in contrast, scored 0.948.
For decades, many development experts have advocated more aid and debt relief as solutions to African poverty."
"But aid has failed to stimulate growth in Africa. Between 1975 and 2005, for example, per capita aid to Africa averaged $24.60 per year. By contrast, in China, it averaged $1.50 and in India $2. Over the same period, Chinese and Indian incomes, adjusted for inflation and purchasing-power parity, rose by 888 percent and 174 percent respectively. In Africa, incomes fell by 5 percent.
Moreover, aid has encouraged waste and corruption. Inadvertently, it also has financed "around 40 percent of Africa's military spending," according to Paul Collier of Oxford University."
"Africa remains the poorest and least economically free region on Earth. The G-20 should do all it can to help Africa integrate with the rest of the world. It should eliminate remaining restrictions on African exports and end its farm subsidies. Africans, however, will have to make most of the changes needed to tackle African poverty."
For decades, many development experts have advocated more aid and debt relief as solutions to African poverty."
"But aid has failed to stimulate growth in Africa. Between 1975 and 2005, for example, per capita aid to Africa averaged $24.60 per year. By contrast, in China, it averaged $1.50 and in India $2. Over the same period, Chinese and Indian incomes, adjusted for inflation and purchasing-power parity, rose by 888 percent and 174 percent respectively. In Africa, incomes fell by 5 percent.
Moreover, aid has encouraged waste and corruption. Inadvertently, it also has financed "around 40 percent of Africa's military spending," according to Paul Collier of Oxford University."
"Africa remains the poorest and least economically free region on Earth. The G-20 should do all it can to help Africa integrate with the rest of the world. It should eliminate remaining restrictions on African exports and end its farm subsidies. Africans, however, will have to make most of the changes needed to tackle African poverty."
Wild Wisconsin: Supreme Court Nomoniee
Wild Wisconsin: Supreme Court Nomoniee: "One standard: Do you support the constitution and have the qualifications for the job?
Avoid: Litmus tests. Be it issue, race, creed, or party. Please can we move past nominating people for the color of their skin or gender?"
Well said!
Avoid: Litmus tests. Be it issue, race, creed, or party. Please can we move past nominating people for the color of their skin or gender?"
Well said!
"The Immigration Fallacy" by Will Wilkinson (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"The Immigration Fallacy" by Will Wilkinson (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Nearly half the denizens of Canada's most populous metropolis (Toronto) were born outside the nation's borders—47 percent according to the 2006 census, and the number is rising. This makes Toronto, the fifth biggest city in North America, also the most diverse city in North America. Neither Miami, Los Angeles, nor New York City can compete with Toronto's cosmopolitan credentials.
Here is what Toronto is: the fifth most livable city in the world. So said The Economist Intelligence Unit in a report last year drawing on indicators of stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure. (The Economist's world champion of livability, Vancouver, harbors a treacherous 40 percent foreign-born population.) Toronto is wealthy, healthy, well-educated, and much safer than any sizable American city. In 2006, its murder rate was 2.6 per 100,000 residents, which makes it less than half as deadly as Des Moines, Iowa. The most culturally mixed city on the continent truly is one of Earth's closest approximations of urban paradise."
"The United States, this fabled land of immigrants, has fallen dismally far behind countries like Australia and Canada in openness to immigration. The Statue of Liberty may as well be moved to Vancouver's English Bay where the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" are now rather more welcome than in New York harbor."
Here is what Toronto is: the fifth most livable city in the world. So said The Economist Intelligence Unit in a report last year drawing on indicators of stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure. (The Economist's world champion of livability, Vancouver, harbors a treacherous 40 percent foreign-born population.) Toronto is wealthy, healthy, well-educated, and much safer than any sizable American city. In 2006, its murder rate was 2.6 per 100,000 residents, which makes it less than half as deadly as Des Moines, Iowa. The most culturally mixed city on the continent truly is one of Earth's closest approximations of urban paradise."
"The United States, this fabled land of immigrants, has fallen dismally far behind countries like Australia and Canada in openness to immigration. The Statue of Liberty may as well be moved to Vancouver's English Bay where the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" are now rather more welcome than in New York harbor."
"The US Should Cut Military Spending in Half" by Benjamin H. Friedman (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"The US Should Cut Military Spending in Half" by Benjamin H. Friedman (Cato Institute: Commentary): "[C]onsider how much we spend on defense relative to both our purported rivals and our past. Our defense budget is almost half the world's, even leaving out nuclear weapons, the wars, veterans, and homeland security. It is also more than we spent at any point during the cold war."
"There are no enemies to justify such spending. Invasion and civil war are unthinkable here. North Korea, Syria, and Iran trouble their citizens and neighbors, but with small economies, shoddy militaries, and a desire to survive, they pose little threat to us. Their combined military spending is one-sixtieth of ours.
Russia and China are incapable of territorial expansion that should pose any worry, unless we put our troops on their borders. China's defense spending is less than one-fifth of ours. We spend more researching and developing new weapons than Russia spends on its military. And with an economy larger than ours, the European Union can protect itself. Our biggest security problem, terrorism, is chiefly an intelligence problem arising from a Muslim civil war. Our military has little to do with it."
"There are no enemies to justify such spending. Invasion and civil war are unthinkable here. North Korea, Syria, and Iran trouble their citizens and neighbors, but with small economies, shoddy militaries, and a desire to survive, they pose little threat to us. Their combined military spending is one-sixtieth of ours.
Russia and China are incapable of territorial expansion that should pose any worry, unless we put our troops on their borders. China's defense spending is less than one-fifth of ours. We spend more researching and developing new weapons than Russia spends on its military. And with an economy larger than ours, the European Union can protect itself. Our biggest security problem, terrorism, is chiefly an intelligence problem arising from a Muslim civil war. Our military has little to do with it."
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