What’s interesting in the news today?
There’s quite a collection to choose from today.
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Well’ start with the “29ers”, from TheWallStJournal
“Here’s a trend you’ll be reading more about: part-time “job sharing,” not only within firms but across different businesses.
It’s already happening across the country at fast-food restaurants, as employers try to avoid being punished by the Affordable Care Act. In some cases we’ve heard about, a local McDonalds has hired employees to operate the cash register or flip burgers for 20 hours a week and then the workers head to the nearby Burger King or Wendy’s to log another 20 hours. Other employees take the opposite shifts.”
“Welcome to the strange new world of small-business hiring under ObamaCare.”
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And also related to ObamaCare ….
From the SunSentinel
“Brace yourself for longer lines at the doctor’s office.
Whether you’re employed and insured, elderly and on Medicare, or poor and covered by Medicaid, the Florida Medical Association says there’s a growing shortage of doctors — especially specialists — available to provide you with medical care.
And if the Florida Legislature goes along with Gov. Rick Scott’s recommendation to offer Medicaid coverage to an additional 1 million Floridians — part of the Affordable Care Act that takes effect next January — the FMA says that shortage will only get worse.”
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It’s the Clinton Administration all over again.
From FoxNews
“A four-year FBI investigation into the transfer of classified weapons technology to China and other countries from NASA’s Ames Research Center is being stonewalled by government officials, sources tell FoxNews.com.
Documents obtained by FoxNews.com, which summarize these and other allegations and were given to congressional sources last week by a whistle-blower, described how a “secret grand jury” was to be convened in February 2011 to hear testimony from informants in the case, including a senior NASA engineer. But federal prosecutor Gary Fry was removed from the case, which was then transferred from one office in the Northern District of California to another where, according to the documents, “this case now appears to be stalled.”
“The information is staggering,” the whistle-blower told FoxNews.com.”
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This next one, I agree with, to a point. While I agree that homeschoolers are shunned by the public school systems, I don’t think the point of the piece is how you win the overall argument. I don’t see it as relevant, but that’s just MHO.
First the link to Breitbart
But at the same time, I take issue with the public school officials and their lame excuses, like this one.
“These “professionals” love to lecture about the notions of “fairness,” of “equal access,” and of “a commitment to united excellence” in education, yet circle the wagons year after year to deny 14 and 15 year old homeschoolers the opportunity to tryout for the high school basketball or debate team. What exactly are these “professionals” dedicated to? Do they seek to promote a safe and healthy environment to educate and develop every child, or only those students who attend “their” public schools?
In view of current exemptions, people’s overwhelming support, and legislative provisions, arguments against the “Tebow Bill” appear small and punitive. For example, in a 2010 article, Tilley said “By playing by a different set of rules it’s inequitable and unfair to public school students.” He added “the parents of homeschooled students have voluntarily chosen not to participate in the free public school system in order to educate their children at home. That’s fine, but in making that choice they have also chosen to forgo the privileges incidental to public education. One of which is the opportunity to play athletics.””
To him, my reply is this. Fine, I forego the so-called privileges. Now return my public school taxes, since you’re not educating my kid. A voucher would be fine thanks. But no, we can’t let the dollars follow the students. If we did, you guys would have a lot less students, and a lot less money to waste on things that have little to do with educating a child.
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I saved this for last. Some people might find some of these 20 debatable. Some are wounds that still fester to this day, and I can certainly understand that. Opinions will vary. I’ll give you the first 3.
From TownHall
“20 Of The Most Embarrassing Moments In The History Of The Democrat Party”
“1) The Trail of Tears (1838): The first Democrat President, Andrew Jackson and his successor Martin Van Buren, herded Indians into camps, tormented them, burned and pillaged their homes and forced them to relocate with minimal supplies. Thousands died along the way.
2) Democrats Cause The Civil War (1860): The pro-slavery faction of the Democrat Party responded to Abraham Lincoln’s election by seceding, which led to the Civil War.
3) Formation of the KKK (1865): Along with 5 other Confederate veterans, Democrat Nathan Bedford Forrest created the KKK.”
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Wandering Views 
More firearm companies are standing up against the tyrannical maniacal attempt to take firearms from Law Abiding Citizens;
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/24/update-the-latest-complete-list-of-gun-makers-sellers-saying-no-to-law-enforcement-in-anti-2nd-amendment-states/
🙂
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So has the lot of the majority of blacks improved since 1960? It certainly has for some, like the Obama’s. However, in 1960 black illegitimacy was under 20%. Today, it is 72% Are the public schools which black students attend today better than the segregated schools many attended in 1960? Are black neighborhoods as safe today as they were in 1960? Are the blacks who work in affirmative action jobs as satisfied at work as those who earned everything they got in 1960? I am not advocating a complete return to 1960, but these are questions we probably should consider.
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RW: I sent a note to you at the end of the 2-23 Prayer Requests.
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What else can be done to force equality? Besides affirmitive action and discrimination laws that violate the freedom of others, minorities have control of some of the largest cities in the country. Isn’t it time for them to take some responsibility?
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KBells,
Shhhhhhh…..
They’re Dems, so it’s racist to point out the obvious. Whenever the plight of minorities is discussed, they fact that Dems control these cities is ignored. It’s the modern day plantations, Dem orchestrated and controlled of course.
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Thanks for the note, Tychicus. I have now responded. The reason for my provocative question is that I believe LBJ needs more mentions in the Democrats’ worst 20 acts. His actions were generally well motivated, but often hurt the very people they were designed to help.
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AJ — you pay taxes so everyone’s kids get educated not just yours. Thus how one educates their own kids has nothing to do with taxes paid, the taxes must and should be paid even if one has no children in the system. I also don’t think tax dollars are a relevant issue when consider if homeshoolers can use the public system like a buffet. Its a simple issue –with a simple answer why not? And at the elementary level I can’t see a reason against homeschoolers coming to school — actually I think we should encourage it
Several times in my career, we’ve had students enroll for the sole purpose of taking french classes. They came in four or five times a week, went to french class and then went home. Some of my colleagues grumbled about it but I didn’t see an argument against it. Several of these students began to stay longer and take music, art and other subjects parents felt less qualified at. Eventually they became full time students.
I can, however, understand the reservations of high school teachers. Athletics is often used as a carrot to keep kids in school, behave, do their homework etc and when a homeschooler shows up for sports only its hard for administration to use sport teams as a discipline tool. (ie lose team privileges if GPA is too low or caught using drugs, etc) . Plus sports is used to instill school spirit and make students proud and enthusiastic over their own school. Finally, using homeschoolers can be a cover for more competitive schools to employ “ringers” or imported athletes.
The other issue you raise in regards to taxes is vouchers. You state that the money could follow the student but since everyone pays taxes for the school system, there is no specific amount to follow each student. And some students are more expensive than others. As for vouchers, the results I read in both right and left wing sources suggest a mixed bag of success. The leading indicator of voucher success is parent involvement. That of course is a “duh” statement since parent involvement is the leading indicator of success no matter what program, tax system, school system, etc.
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re top 20 list: Ive seen similar lists listing Republican moments. Each party has their skeletons. And to be fair, both parties have changed over time and thus its hard to link the modern Democrat party to the trail of tears and segregation.
ricky — there have been two expansions of the black middle class in US history. The great migration which saw millions of black sharecroppers move north and acquire soon-to-be union factory jobs. Second, the children and grandchildren of these factory workers who receive the benefits of low tuition and initial affirmative action hiring. By the 1980s, well paid union jobs were dying, tuition rates were rising, and arguably affirmative action was doing nothing more than reinforcing the new black middle class. Note, the first two of these problems (union decay, tuition) belong to the entire working class and contribute to the decline of income and social mobility in the US. Moral conservatives like to point as you do at illegitimacy and other social ills but I think the lack of economic mobility is the problem. BTW — Scandinavian countries who have a higher illegitimacy rate have a better record of income and social mobility. They point to free education and union jobs as the reason behind their success.
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HRW, In the US there is an amazing correlation between single parent homes and poverty. 7% of black children in two parent homes are poor. Over half of black kids in one parent homes are poor. Most of the difference between black and white crime rates can be explained by the difference in two parent homes. In Scandanavia I think you have more two parent homes where the parents live together with the kids, but aren’t married. In black America, the fathers are often just not around. It wasn’t always that way. The AFDC program discriminated against two parent homes. LBJ wasn’t really evil. However, he was very foolish and his laws generated many unintended consequences.
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HRW,
Correct. It’s for all kids.
“You state that the money could follow the student but since everyone pays taxes for the school system, there is no specific amount to follow each student.”
The spending per student in our school district is $10,228. I’m saving the school district, as is every other homeschooler in the district. I could give her a better education at numerous private schools for half the price, or at home for even less.
Now explain to me why the money shouldn’t follow the student.
And I could care less if sports is used as a carrot. It wastes money, resources, and time better spent on necessary learning. Don’t care about their “school spirit” either.
And I wouldn’t expect you to agree with any of this, given your background. That’s not a shot, just stating the obvious. 🙂
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ricky — correlation can indicate causation either way ie one parent families cause poverty or poverty causes one parent families. I would think they reinforce each other.
Social conservatives use the term illegitimacy but the stats collected are on single parent families — the “legitimacy” of the kids is not in question. The US, Norway and Finland have the same percentage of single parent families — 9% (Canada is #1 at 11%). In Sweden only 3% of the families are single parent — this alone should cause you to question the welfare — single parent correlation often raised by North American social conservatives. The world’s most developed social democratic welfare state has an extremely low rate of single parent families. Perhaps the answer is more welfare not less.
For Americans the real elephant in the room is race. 67% of African American children live in single parent homes compared to 25% non-Hispanic whites, 53 % natives and 42% Hispanic. Note this compares the percentage of children in a single parent home not the percentage of single parent homes, thus its difficult to compare the above stats since its entirely possible for African Americans to have the same percentage of single parent homes but just have more children in single parent homes (in fact anecdotally I would say it is essentially true — middle class two parent families will have two kids while single parent families will probably have more) .
I am curious to why these stats are so different for African Americans but I’m not convince its AFDC. Welfare polices should have the same effect regardless of race. It maybe that the economic disadvantages which lead to single parent families and to the use of AFDC are more predominant in African American homes and thus initial poverty not welfare is to blame.
And I would also remind people that accessible higher education and high union enrollment have an amazing correlation to lower poverty levels in the US and worldwide.
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AJ — I don’t doubt that many children can be educated for less than the mean. Some children simply cost more.
As for the money following the child — some children simply won’t be educated because the mean isn’t enough or they have a uninterested parent(s) or community. In terms of efficiency, waste is a much larger problem than voucher advocates are willing to admit. Its a new layer of bureaucracy. I’m just not convinced any type of voucher system is both an efficiency gain nor an academic gain. The best education systems in the world (Finland, South Korea, and yes Canada) don’t employ a money follows the child system. Strangely enough the three top systems are entirely different from each other and thus there is more than one way to the top but so far voucher systems isn’t one of them.
As for high school sports, the argument I presented wasn’t mine rather high school educators. Personally, I think high school and especially college sports are a waste of money and a distraction. However, high school educators and public seem to think differently. When high school teachers withdraw sports as a “strike” measure, the howls of protest indicate how valued the public believes the programmes to be. Personally, I think community sports should be run as a user pay system.
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HRW, Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s famous study from the late 60s explains how AFDC could lead to much different rates of single parent homes in different cultures. His conclusion is disturbing: Different cultures reach “a tipping point” at different times at which it becomes socially acceptable to become an unwed mother. Once you reach the tipping point in a culture, illegitimacy explodes. We have certainly reached the tipping point for blacks, Hispanics and poor whites. Charles Murray gave us the reason white illegitimacy is still as low as it is. There are two white cultures in the US. Upper class whites are much more likely to work, go to church, obey the law and have legitimate children than are poor whites.
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Or as my Hispanic wife puts it: “The quality of our white trash has sure gone down.” and “I am ashamed of how my people are acting.”
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HRW,
Even with the as you call it, new layer of bureaucracy, the cost is still half of what the public system spends. And that’s in a school with better scores, and an advanced study program. There’s plenty of waste, but it’s not in the private schools, it’s in the public ones. And there’s way more bureaucracy in public schools as well. Layer upon layer of administration waste is not found in private schools. And they don’t have teachers unions driving up costs either.
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Hwesseli, College sports brings in more money than it cost.
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And tell me how sports is any more of a waste of time and money than music or drama or art.
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