Happy Birthday to both John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) and Alex Kingston (Melody Pond River Song).
In Closing: let’s just get all the TSA bashing out of the way; hope nobody is surprised that Federal law still says pot businesses aren’t legal; Sir Patrick Stewart; no plan is a plan; I already said this; perspective; and it’s getting worse; and even worse; oh, that’s why; actually, people’s opinions are center-left.
Parts of the following are anonymized for what should be obvious reasons.
After class recently, I overheard a classmate loudly complaining that this particular class was “a waste of money” on material that “I’ll never use in [career].” I had other places to be, and better things to do than set this young person straight.
First, the class in question is a prerequisite to the degree program. You can’t even apply for the program until this class is completed with a decent grade — and by the way, many people fail this class. So even if the information does turn out to be “useless,” it has to be learned and learned well.
Second, the follow-on class — also a prerequisite — builds on this material and is extremely relevant to the career path in question. If you don’t understand the first class, there is no point in attempting to take the second class. I hope never to encounter someone in that career that didn’t understand the material in the follow-on class.
And finally, if my dear classmate would pay attention, it would become clear that the only irrelevant thing in the class is the attitude. At least this person does not pose serious competition for the seats in the program.
I had noticed that some of my class materials make an effort to relate classroom material to the real world. Nice, but I would have thought that some things are obvious. Clearly not. It turns out that many young people just can’t see the relationship between “what I am doing now” and “what I want to be doing a decade from now.”
This was reinforced by a pair of items I came across. Apparently there are people who think even the English language is irrelevant, despite the fact that any decent job will require reading and writing at a level far above what I am seeing in the classroom.
In Closing: inequality; weight loss; personal finance; if it isn’t safe and educational, it doesn’t belong in a school; pay attention to the bottom chart; quack; megacommute; and astronaut wisdom.
Bottom line: “Even healthy oils are not calorie free.”
“You only think you need medication for that”: 5 psychiatric disorders with probable genetic basis.
Ancient Sea Creature: “The fossilized animal, an arthropod called a fuxhianhuiid, has primitive limbs under its head, as well as the earliest example of a nervous system that extended past the head. The primitive creature may have used the limbs to push food into its mouth as it crept across the seafloor. The limbs may shed light on the evolutionary history of arthropods, which include crustaceans and insects.”
Unintended Consequences: Keep up the fight, Karl Rove!
Bonnie Franklin isn’t even buried yet and she’s spinning in her grave: “[I]f [a single mom] wants to increase her take-home pay, what does she do? She has another child out of wedlock, right?… If she wants to lose it all, she finds somebody to support her and she gets married.” Right. You just keep saying that in public, Senator.
Mostly, it’s the sugar: Salt Sugar Fat author speaks. So does Stanford.
Great Beaches: I’ve only been to #6 and #8. I think #8 is far superior.
Bad news for the economy: Personal income and savings suck.
Bad news for the future economy: The student loan bubble sucks harder.
This is not new, people: The IRS doesn’t care if you got your money illegally, you still have to pay tax on it.
And yet look for it to be in the immigration “reform” cramdown: eVerify is like a no-fly list from the depths of hell.
Image by Peter Steiner, courtesy of Wikipedia.
How to get started blogging.
Notice that my online name reflects me rather than my content.
To the right, you will see an ad. Below that is a list of websites I like, grouped by category. Many of these have links back to me. At the end of this post is a set of “keywords” that search engines can use to find content like this.
This site uses WordPress software on a Hostmonster server.
Never put anything on the internet that you wouldn’t want to read out loud to your mother, your boss, and a judge!
Fact one: Home prices are up nationwide. By how much depends on which index you like to use.
Fact two: The number of available existing homes listed is down. Not down a little bit, but down about 17% in 146 metro areas (I think that qualifies as “nationwide”) and down over 25% in a couple dozen places.
Looks like the law of supply and demand is still in play. Keep this in mind if you think this is a great time to buy.
In Closing: Harvard points out the obvious; about a quarter of Americans have more credit card debt than money in the bank — not total debt, just credit card debt; the truth about low capital gains taxes; signs of autism can be found at birth (that’s long before anybody can get vaccinated, for those keeping score); strategy; and surely I am not the only person who thinks the timing here is odd. Do you really believe that the Pope mulled his decision to resign for health reasons for quite a while before suddenly making an announcement, then realizing too late that it’s the middle of Lent and somebody has to do his job?
Today’s book review for BlogHer Book Club is A Good American by Alex George. Be sure to go check out the discussion, starting here. This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.
The little reviews on the back of the book agree on one key fact: there are funny parts and sad parts. In the case of poor Magnus Kellerman, perhaps a little of both at the same time. As other reviewers have mentioned, this is the story of one family in a small Missouri town through multiple generations, as told by the grandson of German immigrants. It’s a nice quick read; good airplane material but not enough for an entire vacation.
So what do Good Americans do? They learn English. They become citizens. They have babies. They run businesses. They sometimes keep secrets. They fight and sometimes die for their country. They have good things and bad things happen to them. They make friends. They get in fights. They make music. They fall in love. They get broken hearts. They laugh. They live.
A solid B, maybe B+. Would recommend.
In closing: too poor for WalMart; eVerify; minimum wage isn’t what it used to be; the real zombie apocalypse; work-life balance.
It’s funny. When I was a kid, Dean Martin singing in a Martin/Lewis movie was a cue to go get a snack and a drink. I guess I grew up.
Follow Up: Maker’s Mark backed down. Now I have to decide if I forgive them.
In Closing: two internets; yeah, that’s what I thought; interesting idea; Malala; a politician tells the truth??; Who would have thought? More like who wouldn’t have thought; let kids be kids; the origin of and truth about the 80/20 rule.
Hi L.A., How are you?
This is a little awkward. See, the thing is that I do like you. I don’t mind your sprawl. I love your museums. How many cities have their very own tar pit? You have a cute little Chinatown.
The thing is, I don’t think you are safe anymore. The problem isn’t you. It’s that police force of yours. I think he’s bad for you and I wish you could dump him for somebody better.
It isn’t just the thing with Chris Dorner — even though it’s obvious that LAPD never intended to bring him in alive for a trial. I mean really, they shot up two different pickup trucks, not one of which met the description of Dorner’s truck, and not one of whose occupants was even the same race as Dorner.
Unfortunately, this is just part of a trend for LAPD. I know there’s more to the story, but shooting somebody in the back as they run away from you isn’t exactly the textbook definition of “self defense.” And do you know what happens if you search Youtube for “LAPD Shoots”? Over 300 videos at the moment: shooting carjackers, shooting murder suspects, shooting those pickup trucks, shooting a deaf mute man, shooting a young Muslim man 90 times. Sure, there are films of the shooting range, and about cops being shot, commentary about people being shot, and of course some multiple-camera-angles-of-same-incident. An alarming number of these clips are recent.
I am starting to think that the real gun control needs to involve taking guns away from your officers.
Sorry Los Angeles. I’ll keep in touch, I promise. But don’t expect my tourist dollars any time soon.
In Closing: break the silence; broadband; nosy neighbors confuse maple syrup rig for meth lab; apparently, some cops think a car sticker is “probable cause”; not just at airports; glad Joe Biden cleared that up!; mainstream nutrition; Dave Johnson uses this thing called logic; have no fear, your homeowner’s policy covers meteor crashes; on Elizabeth Warren; please notice the very careful wording about 2/3 down; on consumer education; I guess she’s hoping no future employers Google her; and pot.