The American "education" machine is broken!





Latest Analysis, Commentary and Opinion*
(The title of each article is linked to the complete article)

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Teenage Bridge Builders
   Society piece by Thomas D. Segel (4/2/11)

Harlingen, Texas, April 2, 2011:  Most of the media accounts about young people and the annual Spring Break dwell on bikini clad girls and beer guzzling boys going wild at various beaches around the country.  Almost lost among such reports are the stories of responsible teens that give of themselves, their time and their talents in an effort to assist those who might be less fortunate.  These young students come from faith-based organizations, youth groups and schools and give of themselves so others can have an enhanced quality of life.

Power for the people
   Energy piece by Guest: Paul Driessen (4/2/11)

You cannot champion the poor, but support anti-energy policies that perpetuate poverty - In a scene reminiscent of Colonial Williamsburg(1), for 16 years Thabo Molubi and his partner had made furniture in South Africa’s outback, known locally as the “veld,“ using nothing but hand and foot power. When an electrical line finally reached the area, they installed lights, power saws and drills. Their productivity increased fourfold, and they hired local workers to make, sell and ship far more tables and chairs of much higher quality, thereby also commanding higher prices.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

‘What really threatens our future?‘
   Climate Change piece by Guest: Soon,Mitra (3/31/11)

Beware of anti-energy policies claiming to prevent climate change - Energy sustainability is not about resource availability and pollution. Capitalism and human ingenuity have already addressed “sustainability” in these regards, if the statistics are to be believed.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Safe Hamburger—At Last
   Food piece by Dennis T. Avery (3/29/11)

CHURCHVILLE, VA - In the old days, we cooked hamburgers rare, juicy and flavorful. In recent years, because of E. coli 0157:H7, we’ve had to content ourselves with hamburgers that were gray and dry or run the risk of serious illness.  0157:H7 is the relatively new and vicious “Jack-in-the-Box” bacteria that killed four kids in Seattle in 1993. It was seen first by researchers in the 1980s. Since then, it has killed hundreds and sickened thousands more with bloody diarrhea, severe abdominal cramps, and even liver failure.

My 2011 MLB Predictions
   Sports piece by Aaron Goldstein (3/29/11)

One of my favorite things about baseball is predicting what will happen in the season to come. I spend a great deal of my time in the off-season thinking about next year. In 2010, my predictions were a mixed bag. (1) I thought the Seattle Mariners would win their first World Series. Alas, the Mariners lost 101 games and finished last season with the worst record in the American League. However, I was spot on in picking Mariners ace Felix Hernandez to win his first AL Cy Young Award. Of course, I didn’t expect he would do it with a 13-12 won loss record.

Four Middle Eastern Upheavals
   Middle East piece by Daniel Pipes (3/29/11)

After decades of stasis, the Middle East is in uproar. With too much going on to focus on a single place, here’s a review of developments in four key countries.

Japan Disaster Help That May Not Have Made The News
   Disaster piece by Thomas D. Segel (3/29/11)

Harlingen, Texas, March 28, 2011:  My knowledge of life in Japan is now many years old, but I regularly communicate with my retired Army friend Jim White.  He and his family have made Japan their home.  Jim has kept us updated on the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster facing that country.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Human Motivation
   Progressivism piece by Thomas E. Brewton (3/27/11)

Can human behavior be programed by social engineers and economic planners?

Against All Energy Anywhere
   GreeenIsm piece by Alan Caruba (3/27/11)

One of the great afflictions of the environmentalists - Greens - everywhere is a profound lack of understanding of the role that energy plays in whether a nation prospers or just limps along, barely keeping the lights on.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Yes, Violence Can be the Answer
   Crime piece by Selwyn Duke (3/24/11)

It was the body slam heard around the world.  When some Australian schoolboys decided to videotape themselves(1) bullying 15-year old Casey Heynes, one of them got more than he bargained for.  Casey, who had been pushed around and humiliated for years, responded to a punch in his face and other attempted blows by hoisting his tormentor WWE style and introducing him to the pavement.  The result was a video that went viral in a way the bullies had never imagined and for a reason they certainly had never hoped: Casey has become a hero worldwide.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

“No New Nukes”—Wind won’t Keep Us Warm
   Energy piece by Dennis T. Avery (3/20/11)

CHURCHVILLE, VA - The air over northeastern Japan is slightly radioactive - not at dangerous levels for people, but an indicator that higher levels might come. The newspapers in Japan and here are talking earnestly about failures in pressure vessels and falsified safety reporting, as they should.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Like The Weekend?  Praise Henry Ford, Not The Unions.
   Unions piece by J.J. Jackson (3/19/11)

Every day I receive at least one email from someone telling me how without unions there would be no weekend.  Yes, it is true, people are indeed stupid enough to believe anything they are told.

Friday, March 18, 2011

‘Fukushima - Reason to Abandon Nuclear Power?‘
   Energy piece by Doug Edelman (3/18/11)

Before entering into any political discussion relative to the events following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, I must first express my sympathies with and support for the people of Japan!  What a horrific series of events they have endured and continue to face!  “Tragedy” doesn’t begin to approach the magnitude of the impact on the nation of Japan and its people.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Mexico: Your Spring Break Death-stination
   Mexico piece by Guest: Paul A. Ibbetson (3/15/11)

As eager colleges students from around the country prepare to leave school for spring break, many ask the question, where is the best place to go to have the most fun? For parents, the questions that are pondered and even discussed with their children as they prepare to leave are usually somewhat different. Many parents attempt and often stumble through those awkward conversations about the potential dangers of traveling abroad. Common parental concerns for their children on holiday cover the spectrum but often include discussions about avoiding the following: being arrested, impregnating or becoming impregnated by a new intoxicated friend whose name tends to escape recall, all the way down to the embarrassing impromptu left or right-cheeked tattoo. I think you know which cheeks I am talking about. Some of America’s spring breaking youngsters will fail to heed their parents’ well-intentioned advice and the ramifications will range from laughable spring break stories to parents getting late-night phone calls for the need of the family lawyer and a bail deposit. Even in these more unfortunate spring break scenarios, parents of American children expect their kids to return home, straighten-up, and get back to work or school.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

...And Charlie Brown Will Never Kick That Football!
   Politicians piece by Thomas D. Segel (3/13/11)

Harlingen, Texas, March 14, 2011:  For 50 years America and most of the world watched the antics of the “Peanuts” gang in newspapers, books and on television.  We are still watching these cartoons in daily reruns across the country.  The longest running joke in the series concerns Lucy holding a football and Charlie Brown attempting to kick it.  At the last minute Lucy grabs the ball away and Charlie delivers a failed kick into the air.  Over the years Lucy has made repeated promises not to pull the ball away when Charlie attempts to kick it.  She “promises” that this time she will really hold the ball in place.  Charlie always believes her promise, she always pulls the ball away and he still never gets to kick that football.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Japan, The Morning After
   Disaster piece by Thomas D. Segel (3/12/11)

We all live in a world where disasters can disrupt our lives.  It matters not if they are fires, floods, hurricanes or volcanoes erupting, if it impacts our lives we are devastated.  The people of Japan are well aware they spend their daily lives facing serious threats from all of these dangers. But, the one natural event they used to treat, as routine was the ongoing certainty of earthquakes.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Our Manifestly Unserious Republican House Leader
   Republicrats piece by Guest: Edward L. Daley (3/9/11)

House Speaker John Boehner is not a serious adult when it comes to addressing the out-of-control federal spending of the Democrat party. That is evident in his proposal to cut a largely inconsequential $61 Billion from the final seven months of this year’s budget.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Toxins Move Up On The Worry List
   Health piece by Dennis T. Avery (3/8/11)

Churchville, VA - Forty thousand researchers and clinicians have just written to the journal Science - through their professional societies - asking for broader and quicker testing of “new chemicals in our environment.“ Eight societies, including the geneticists, endocrinologists, developmental biologists and others say that 12,000 new substances are being registered with the America Chemical Society every day. They admit that not many of these “new substances” will ever make it into the environment. 

Monday, March 7, 2011

Facing Harsh Realities
   The Republic piece by Guest: Robert Rohlfing (3/7/11)

On March 23rd, 1775 speaking to the Second Continental Congress , Patrick Henry gave his now famous speech , “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death!“  In the speech he wanted to emphasize to all those who were in attendance the importance of breaking away from Great Britain, and how it came down to living in slavery or fighting for the chance to live in freedom.

Friday, March 4, 2011

How to Fight Back Against Sustainable Development
   Sustainability piece by Offsite (3/4/11)

For the past fifteen years my efforts against Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development have been single-minded – get the message out to tell people about what it is and why it is dangerous to our way of life. All of our materials, special reports, hand outs, speeches, radio and television interviews and DVDs have been created for that purpose.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Fearing EPA’s Carbon Tax
   GreeenIsm piece by Dennis T. Avery (3/3/11)

Churchville, VA - Farmers, along with the rest of us, could get hit with a triple jolt of regulatory shock if the Environment Protection Agency goes forward with its announced controls on carbon emissions. Consumers are already paying heavily for the federal mandate that puts a huge chunk of our corn crop, as ethanol, into our gas tanks instead of into our meat, milk, and eggs. While food costs soar, along with fuel costs, it is a waste of good corn as it contributes almost zero to our energy independence.

The Libyan Nightmare That Almost Was
   Foreign Policy piece by Christopher Adamo (3/3/11)

Among the defining endeavors of Ronald Reagan’s Presidency was his push for the development of a space-based nuclear shield, known as Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Derisively caricatured as “Star Wars” by its peacenik detractors, Reagan envisioned a multi-layered array of various high-tech protections, safeguarding the Western world from nuclear aggression, which was primarily expected to originate from the Soviet Union.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

AFL-CIO Union Chief: We Need to Raise Taxes to Pay Union Members More
   Progressivism piece by Warner Todd Huston (3/1/11)

You know the old saying, “stupid is as stupid does”? Enter the AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka, one of the most violence prone union presidents in America, who has come up with a brilliant strategy to solve America’s troubles. He says we need to raise taxes to pay his union members even higher salaries and we need ‘another’ giant stimulus package to chase after the other failed stimulus packages to “create” jobs.

The New Arab Revolt
   Middle East piece by Daniel Pipes (3/1/11)

Unprecedented convulsions across the Middle East, from Morocco to Iran, prompt three reflections:

The UN and Human Rights Don’t Mix
   United Nations piece by Aaron Goldstein (3/1/11)

With Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffi’s band of mercenaries wantonly killing people in the streets of Tripoli it would stand to reason that his regime would not be praised for its human rights record. Yet if the UN Human Rights Council has its way that is precisely what will happen when it is due to vote to praise Libya’s human rights record on March 18th. (1)(2) This despite the fact the Council late last week took Libya to task for its recent actions and is considering suspending its membership from the Council. (3)

Monday, February 28, 2011

Wind power: questionable benefits, concealed impacts
   Energy piece by Guest: Paul Driessen (2/28/11)

EPA trumpets dubious shale gas risks – but ignores environmental impacts of wind turbines - America is running out of natural gas. Prices will soar, making imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) and T Boone Pickens’ wind farm plan practical, affordable and inevitable. That was then.

Wrestling with Morality: Boys vs. Girls on the Mat
   Progressivism piece by Selwyn Duke (2/28/11)

Imagine that you’re a young adolescent boy.  Like many your age, you’re shy around girls, perhaps to the point at which even talking to one might make your heart race.  You also like sports, so you go out for your school’s wrestling team.  Then, lo and behold, you’re at a meet, and something hits you like a load of bricks.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Fiat Money Wotsit
   Economics piece by Guest: Chris Clancy (2/27/11)

Commodity prices, especially food prices, have risen by 28% (1) over the last six months. They are the root cause of the demonstrations, riots and uprisings taking part right now in various parts of the world.

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Case Against Public Employee Unions
   Unions piece by Guest: Ben Cerruti (2/21/11)

In Wisconsin the government has reacted to the adverse effect on the finances of government by flagrant public employee benefits derived from one-sided collective bargaining. Private sector unions have two adversarial parties at the bargaining table to negotiate a bipartisan agreement. Public sector unions are essentially bargaining with their own ilk. The parties on the other side of the table are derivatives of the political system. The taxpayer is left out of the process.

More Biofuels, More Greenhouse Gases
   GreeenIsm piece by Dennis T. Avery (2/21/11)

CHURCHVLLE, VA - A new study from the University of Illinois estimates that the world has more than 702 million hectares of marginal land suitable for growing biofuels. The researchers assessed land around the world based on its soil quality, slope, and regional climate. They added degraded or low-quality cropland but ruled out any good cropland, pasture, or forests; they also assumed no irrigation. They came up with the surprising total 2.7 million sq. miles of marginal land that could be available for switchgrass or other biofuel crops.