COMensarations
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
CNN X Files
Ignorance and arrogance. Living together. In sin....
I don’t know where to begin in this matter. I guess I’ve become ‘insensitive’ to the fact that all too many people look at targeting the President of the United States for ‘assassination’. We’ve had so many examples of it with sniper sight-reticles superimposed on the president. Wishful-thinking, help-wanted ads on the internet for snipers, posing as Wanted Dead posters from the old West. Now we have THIS....
The Coming Water Wars — 051123
There are storm clouds on the horizon.
An interesting report in today’s Pueblo Chieftain.
It seems that the bigger city to our immediate north is getting upset about our county’s efforts to comply with existing state 1041 statutes.....
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
War Plans, Explained (Part II)
Why not.
Contrary to my earlier thought, it looks like Chris Muir has a handle on it after all.
PA 101: The Teaching-Student Connection
CSU-P, in fact, most colleges and universities in the country, are experiencing low “retention rates.” Here’s a primer on how to fix it.
Colleges and universities across the country, includng CSU-P, are experiencing low graduation rates. In other words, a lot of students drop out without completing their degrees. There are probably many reasons for this. CSU-P reports that a large percentage of it’s incoming freshmen are not prepared academically to do college level work, so they get frustrated and quit.
Pop quiz question: In order to ensure high graduation rates, institutions of higher education should:
a) not admit students who probably won’t succeed
b) insist that secondary schools do a better job of preparing students for college
c) design curricula and employ teaching methods to bring students up to speed
d) provide an environment with an emphasis on learning e) all of the above.
The correct answer is e) all of the above and the best answer is c) design curricula and employ teaching methods that start where the student is. A) is the least satisfactory answer. It’s not that tough to make a silk purse out of a silk dress. It’s a lot harder to make one out of a sow’s ear. But excellent teachers can do it.
So, method a) is cheating. Method b) is a chicken and egg thing: the colleges and universities have to turn out primary and secondary teachers and administrators who are capable of getting their students ready to do college level work. However, colleges and universities need to make it clear what will be expected of students in college.
Method c) requires that colleges and universities actually teach. It has always puzzled me that extensive coursework in teaching and a certificate is required of lower level teachers, but colleges only require that their faculties have masters’ or doctorates. If you can’t certify a high school graduate to teach high school, then you can’t certify a college graduate to teach college just because they managed to endure. So, the first step in implementing c) is to hire faculty who have demonstrated ability in teaching, not research or publishing. And demonstrated ability means that they can take C level students and get them to do A level work. It will mean rewarding faculty members who can do this.
Then you’ve got to design the curricula so that it starts where the students are. This means pre-testing and post-testing to judge progress and effectiveness of the curricula. It will mean more frequent tests during the term to make sure students are keeping up. It means that every freshman may have to take a class on learning, study habits and managing stress. Some of them may have to go through non-credit pre-requisite classes before starting on their major coursework. (On-line instruction may be good for this.) And the students need to be able to see that the coursework is relevant to what they will do when they graduate.
It will also mean that faculty will be asked to increase their student contact office hours so they can help those who are having trouble. It will mean making more advanced students available as tutors.
It will mean reducing class size, especially in the lower levels. When I was in college, admittedly 30 years ago, it was not unusual for the freshman level classes to consist of a hundred or so students in a lecture hall. Basic composition classes had 30 or 35. For these critical beginning classes you have to reduce class size so that the student can get individual attention.
As far d) environment goes, provide plenty of study areas around the campus that are sancrosanct: no partying. Make sure the atmosphere on campus is focused on learning, not sports, partying, political activism, or whatever. (It amazes me how many people think that college students, most of whom have to work part-time, have all kinds of free time to volunteer for this, that, or the other cause, and make them feel guilty if they don’t.) Provide counseling and other services to make sure that students aren’t doing poorly because they’re trying to hold down three jobs, can’t find child care or are distracted by personal or family problems.
Yes, this will cost money. But if the results are there, people won’t mind.
Stopping Kelo v. New London In Colorado
This will be interesting to watch.
The Pueblo Chieftain reports that there is a movement inside the state legislature to prevent what happened in New London from happening in Colorado.
For those not aware of the Kelo v. New London case, a city seized private property and converted it to commercial with the sole justification that it would improve the city’s tax revenues to have the land used for commercial purposes instead of residential. This ruling on the part of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) put EVERYONE’S home in jeapordy. This is the epitome of judicial activism at its worst. Why? Because the Constitution of the United States reads that such actions, under the auspices of “eminent domain” can be done for “public use”. It says nothing about commercial use. And here, the SCOTUS overstepped it’s authority, vis-a-vis the Constitution.
Now, legislatures across the nation are moving to block local governments from doing the same in their own area. This is a good first move. I would think that a good second move would be to impeach the justices of the SCOTUS who voted in favor of New London. But I’ve yet to see Congress do anything so couragous as to do their duty and remove a federal judge that has ruled against the Constitution.
I’m curious where OUR Congressional delegation stands on Kelo v. New London. I’ll probably report on THAT later....
Monday, November 21, 2005
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy of High School Debate
How I listened to two high school debaters and nearly lost my mind.
There are some aspects of high school debate, as it exists these days, that can drive you crazy; if you listen too long. I warned you about this a while back. Now, after the second iteration of Cross-X, it’s time for you to hear, as Paul Harvey would put it, the rest of the story....
War Plans, Explained
Not!
Of late, everyone seems to want to know EXACTLY what President Bush is going to do in Iraq. It’s as if they’re looking to get to the end of the action adventure novel. But they can’t. Why? Well, because the author has not released all the segments. They’re coming in weekly installments.
This seems to upset some people. Even fellow M, Chris Muir is catching the bug. At least that’s how it seems from today’s [051121] installment of Day by Day. [Note: Can’t find the permalink so if you don’t see what I’m talking about, go to the 21 Nov 05 installment of the superb cartoon series.]
Sorry, but that’s the way life is, folks. You don’t really know what’s going to happen next. And this is especially true when it comes to fighting a war. There is a method to the madness. A wise commander does not tell the enemy what his plans are. The Duke of Wellington, before the battle of Waterloo, was asked what his plans were. And when he refused to divulge them and was pressed as to why, he replied, “If the hair on my head knew my plans, I would shave it off and wear a wig.”
And, whereas Babe Ruth was famous for pointing to where he was going to send his next hit, I’ll remind people that war is NOT a spectator sport. It’s a murderous one. And the less the enemy knows of our plans the better for US and the worse for them.
In the military we refer to this as maintaining OPSEC; Operational Security. It saves lives on the battlefield and it shortens the length of the war. More on that later....
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Hail to the Chief
Kitty Kennedy gets a second chance.
According to reports, Kitty Kennedy has been re-elected to be president of the District 60 School Board. The vote was unanimous, with Kitty abstaining from voting for herself.
Her previous tour has been, as some people would say, ‘interesting’. Between scandals regarding people holding positions on the board that probably should not have been, due to rampant ‘truancy’ issues, hints of shenannigans regarding the spending of bond monies delegated to the improvement of the schools in the district, apparent inappropriate influence being exerted by members of the school board over the administrators of the schools, she had quite a learning experience in the previous two-year term. I certainly hope she learned well from those experiences.
As one general officer who addressed the assembled classes at Benning School for Boys put it, “Good judgement is based on experience. Experience is based on poor judgement.”
And on that note, let us look to the future....
The Great Non-Debate — 051116
Use of the Hitchhicker’s Guide to the Galaxy as a form of debate on terrorism.
The other day, the Pueblo Chieftain did one of its weekly He Said/She Said things. Albeit along the lines of Pro vs. Con. The resolution under discussion was:
Are Muslim leaders derelict in not denouncing terrorism?
The pro side of the discussion was pretty much what was to be expected; the observation that there are darned fewer reports of Muslims protesting against the terrorists than there are dead bodies caused by said Islamic terrorists.
The con side is what caught my attention....
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
On the Other Hand….
....this is interesting.
Just got off the phone from talking with Congressman Salazar’s office ‘help’.
They were of no help whatsoever.
I was alerted by an item from Glenn ‘the Blogfather’ Reynolds that the House of Representatives was to vote on turning over control of the interent to the UN TONIGHT.
Almost, but not completely, stunned by this report, I called Congressman Salazar’s offices in Pueblo to (1) ask of them his position on this matter and (2) give him my opinion of this [not ‘no’, but ‘h--- no!’].
Unfortunately, none of the multitude of sweet-young-feminine-things I wound up talking to, either local or long-distance had ANY CLUE as to what our John was thinking on this matter. Not to mention how he would vote. Indeed, one individual, who was indirectly presented as John’s Chief of Staff in his DC offices, tender years that she bore, thought the vote was not tonight. This contrary to a realiable source of information.
So, I gave the sweet-young-thing my opinon of turning over control of the internet to a bunch of rapcious, nefarious, bribe-taking, brothel running bureaucrats. I tried to be ‘polite’. I think I succeeded as the distaff did not beat me about the head and shoulders, afterwards. Indeed, she added her support to the position. To the sweet-young-thing, too.
The first question I have of MY Congressman is, “Are you a sexist? Are there any ‘men’ on your staff?”
The next question is, “Why doesn’t anyone other than YOU know what’s going on?”
I await your reply to my questions. And, I’m looking forward to see how you voted on this, issue. As well as on others.
Monday, November 14, 2005
A COMensan Reminder — 051114
Just So You Know....
If you are an active member of Mensa and reside in Colorado, YOU are welcome to become a co-author on this blog.
It has been established so that every such person can have a place to express themselves and engage in cogent discussion of issues of the day or in your life.
All you need to do is register and identify yourself as a member of Mensa by giving your name, as known to America Mensa Limited and membership number. These will be used for verification purposes only.
You can choose a nom des blogs for yourself, if you wish to keep your true identity as mystifying as you like. You can even change that name.
All we ask is that you hurl nothing heavier than a wadded up cocktail napkin. Otherwise, you might damage your monitor..... 
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Rebuttal to Mario’s Accusations
A fisking....
On 11.13.5 Mario posted on the Denver Announce listserve the following message disguised as the minutes of the ExComm meeting the night before. Due to the extreme length, slanderous nature and the fact that my rebuttal as well as his editorializing if inappropriate for that forum. In addition, ! have received one request to be taken off the list by a member who felt it was inappropriate to whom ! have publicly apologized . As such ! request permission to post a rebuttal to your forum.
Here it is…
Saturday, November 12, 2005
This Is NOT a Good Indicator
Bird flu has jumped to pigs.
According to THIS report, it looks like we’ll all become vegans. Either that or start eating sushi, if the report is accurate. But good sushi is hard to come by here along the Front Range.
As I had commented earlier, between this bird flu and the mad cow, the price of meat is going to go through the roof. Now pork is at risk.
Better start stocking in beans as a source of protein. Fortunately pinto beans are really cheap....for the moment.
The good news is that this event occured in 2004. But we have not heard of massive die-offs of pigs. The indicator, however, is that this virus can jump from one large group, in this case from class avis (birds) to class mammalia (including pigs). Guess what....we Homo sapiens are of the class ‘mammalia’ too. So there is something of a ‘risk’ here.
I suspect that the reason we have not heard of more pigs dying is because the herd that died, was not interacting with other herds of pigs, as migratory birds interact with other birds.
The point remains, that, if the report is accurate, this virus IS subject to mutations that can allow it to jump from the bird population to the mammalian.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Pat the Prescient — 051111
Looks like we have another opportunity to evaluate Pat Robertson’s ability to predict the future.
Pat recently made a pronouncement about Dover, PA, where the school board had kicked out any discussion of Intelligent Design theory as an alternative to evolutionary theory in their school system.
According to sources, Pat’s comment was as follows:
I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God. You just rejected him from your city.
This is hardly what any rational person would describe as calling down hellfire and brimstone to consume the ungodly. But you couldn’t tell that from the hellfire and brimstone that people are heaping upon him for making such a statement.
I think it rather odd....
And the Beat[ing] Goes On — 051111
No armistice in Paris on Armistice Day.
Today is a big day for celebrating in France, historically speaking. Today, what we call Veteran’s Day, the French celebrate as Armistice Day, the day the slaughter of the Western Front in World War I ended.
I usually enjoy the day by hanging the flag out and watching the DVD by A&E Network titled The Lost Battalion. It is a superb rendition of the assault by an American division that convinced the Kaiser’s General Staff that things were only going to get MUCH worse for their side when the rest of the American’s showed up, if they could not crush a single tenacious battalion of infantry that had managed to get behind their lines.
The flag is hung. And I’ve still got plenty of time to watch the movie.
However, in Paris, things are not quite as peaceful as you might imagine. Especially if your only source of news is the So-Called Major-Media (SCMM). The reports of riots in that city, and across the rest of the country, of the last fortnight seem to have become part of the ‘disappeared’. However, if you rely more on good sources of information on the web than you do on the news-feed[ing ‘tube’], you’ll observe that things are not so peaceful after all.
The riots continue. The parameter that the French are using to report their steady decline is the number of burned cars that they have to haul out of the streets; down last night to 463 from 482, the night before. That is an ‘improvement’. However, I have to wonder about the value of that measurement. After all, if the ‘youths’ are burning cars and they’ve burned a lot of them since this whole thing began, could it be that they are finding fewer and fewer cars to burn, having burned most of this years crop already? Will the French people have figured it out that if their cars are in the proverbial ‘kill zone’, that if they don’t move them or slap on a sticker indicting their religion of choice is the “Religion of Peace”, they’ll have to buy a new car in the very near future? So, they should probably move them out of harms way. Therefore, there are fewer cars to burn. And thus fewer cars reported as burned.
The point is that the rioting is still going on. We just are not hearing much about it, thanks to the SCMM.