Honored guests, citizens of Israel.
Peace has always been our people's most ardent desire. Our prophets gave the world the vision of peace, we greet one another with wishes of peace, and our prayers conclude with the word peace.
We are gathered this evening in an institution named for two pioneers of peace, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat, and we share in their vision.
Two and half months ago, I took the oath of office as the Prime Minister of Israel. I pledged to establish a national unity government - and I did. I believed and I still believe that unity was essential for us now more than ever as we face three immense challenges - the Iranian threat, the economic crisis, and the advancement of peace.
The Iranian threat looms large before us, as was further demonstrated yesterday. The greatest danger confronting Israel, the Middle East, the entire world and human race, is the nexus between radical Islam and nuclear weapons. I discussed this issue with President Obama during my recent visit to Washington, and I will raise it again in my meetings next week with European leaders. For years, I have been working tirelessly to forge an international alliance to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Confronting a global economic crisis, the government acted swiftly to stabilize Israel's economy. We passed a two year budget in the government - and the Knesset will soon approve it.
And the third challenge, so exceedingly important, is the advancement of peace. I also spoke about this with President Obama, and I fully support the idea of a regional peace that he is leading.
I share the President's desire to bring about a new era of reconciliation in our region. To this end, I met with President Mubarak in Egypt, and King Abdullah in Jordan, to elicit the support of these leaders in expanding the circle of peace in our region. I turn to all Arab leaders tonight and I say: "Let us meet. Let us speak of peace and let us make peace." I am ready to meet with you at any time. I am willing to go to Damascus, to Riyadh, to Beirut, to any place- including Jerusalem.
I call on the Arab countries to cooperate with the Palestinians and with us to advance an economic peace. An economic peace is not a substitute for a political peace, but an important element to achieving it. Together, we can undertake projects to overcome the scarcities of our region, like water desalination or to maximize its advantages, like developing solar energy, or laying gas and petroleum lines, and transportation links between Asia, Africa and Europe.
The economic success of the Gulf States has impressed us all and it has impressed me. I call on the talented entrepreneurs of the Arab world to come and invest here and to assist the Palestinians - and us - in spurring the economy. Together, we can develop industrial areas that will generate thousands of jobs and create tourist sites that will attract millions of visitors eager to walk in the footsteps of history - in Nazareth and in Bethlehem, around the walls of Jericho and the walls of Jerusalem, on the banks of the Sea of Galilee and the baptismal site of the Jordan. There is an enormous potential for archeological tourism, if we can only learn to cooperate and to develop it.
I turn to you, our Palestinian neighbors, led by the Palestinian Authority, and I say: Let's begin negotiations immediately without preconditions.
Israel is obligated by its international commitments and expects all parties to keep their commitments. We want to live with you in peace, as good neighbors. We want our children and your children to never again experience war: that parents, brothers and sisters will never again know the agony of losing loved ones in battle; that our children will be able to dream of a better future and realize that dream; and that together we will invest our energies in plowshares and pruning hooks, not swords and spears.
I know the face of war. I have experienced battle. I lost close friends, I lost a brother. I have seen the pain of bereaved families. I do not want war. No one in Israel wants war.
If we join hands and work together for peace, there is no limit to the development and prosperity we can achieve for our two peoples - in the economy, agriculture, trade, tourism and education - most importantly, in providing our youth a better world in which to live, a life full of tranquility, creativity, opportunity and hope.
If the advantages of peace are so evident, we must ask ourselves why peace remains so remote, even as our hand remains outstretched to peace? Why has this conflict continued for more than sixty years?
In order to bring an end to the conflict, we must give an honest and forthright answer to the question: What is the root of the conflict?
In his speech to the first Zionist Conference in Basel, the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodore Herzl, said about the Jewish national home "This idea is so big that we must speak of it only in the simplest terms." Today, I will speak about the immense challenge of peace in the simplest words possible.
Even as we look toward the horizon, we must be firmly connected to reality, to the truth.
And the simple truth is that the root of the conflict was, and remains, the refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own, in their historic homeland.
In 1947, when the United Nations proposed the partition plan of a Jewish state and an Arab state, the entire Arab world rejected the resolution. The Jewish community, by contrast, welcomed it by dancing and rejoicing. The Arabs rejected any Jewish state, in any borders.
Those who think that the continued enmity toward Israel is a product of our presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, is confusing cause and consequence. The attacks against us began in the 1920s, escalated into a comprehensive attack in 1948 with the declaration of Israel's independence, continued with the fedayeen attacks in the 1950s, and climaxed in 1967, on the eve of the Six-Day War, in an attempt to tighten a noose around the neck of the State of Israel. All this occurred during the fifty years before a single Israeli soldier ever set foot in Judea and Samaria.
Fortunately, Egypt and Jordan left this circle of enmity. The signing of peace treaties have brought about an end to their claims against Israel, an end to the conflict. But to our regret, this is not the case with the Palestinians. The closer we get to an agreement with them, the further they retreat and raise demands that are inconsistent with a true desire to end the conflict.
Many good people have told us that withdrawal from territories is the key to peace with the Palestinians. Well, we withdrew. But the fact is that every withdrawal was met with massive waves of terror, by suicide bombers and thousands of missiles.
We tried to withdraw with an agreement and without an agreement. We tried a partial withdrawal and a full withdrawal. In 2000 and again last year, Israel proposed an almost total withdrawal in exchange for an end to the conflict, and twice our offers were rejected. We evacuated every last inch of the Gaza strip, we uprooted tens of settlements and evicted of Israelis from their homes, and in response, we received a hail of missiles on our cities, towns and children.
The claim that territorial withdrawals will bring peace with the Palestinians, or at least advance peace, has up till now not stood the test of reality. In addition to this, Hamas in the south, like Hizbullah in the north, repeatedly proclaims their commitment to "liberate" the Israeli cities of Ashkelon, Beersheba, Acre and Haifa.
Territorial withdrawals have not lessened the hatred, and to our regret, Palestinian moderates are not yet ready to say the simple words: Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, and it will stay that way.
Achieving peace will require courage and candor from both sides, and not only from the Israeli side. The Palestinian leadership must arise and say: "Enough of this conflict. We recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own in this land, and we are prepared to live beside you in true peace."
I am yearning for that moment, for when Palestinian leaders say those words to our people and to their people, then a path will be opened to resolving all the problems between our peoples, no matter how complex they may be. Therefore, a fundamental prerequisite for ending the conflict is a public, binding and unequivocal Palestinian recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. To vest this declaration with practical meaning, there must also be a clear understanding that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside Israel's borders. For it is clear that any demand for resettling Palestinian refugees within Israel undermines Israel's continued existence as the state of the Jewish people.
The Palestinian refugee problem must be solved, and it can be solved, as we ourselves proved in a similar situation. Tiny Israel successfully absorbed tens of thousands of Jewish refugees who left their homes and belongings in Arab countries. Therefore, justice and logic demand that the Palestinian refugee problem be solved outside Israel's borders. On this point, there is a broad national consensus. I believe that with goodwill and international investment, this humanitarian problem can be permanently resolved.
So far I have spoken about the need for Palestinians to recognize our rights. In am moment, I will speak openly about our need to recognize their rights. But let me first say that the connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel has lasted for more than 3500 years. Judea and Samaria, the places where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David and Solomon, and Isaiah and Jeremiah lived, are not alien to us. This is the land of our forefathers.
The right of the Jewish people to a state in the land of Israel does not derive from the catastrophes that have plagued our people. True, for 2000 years the Jewish people suffered expulsions, pogroms, blood libels, and massacres which culminated in a Holocaust - a suffering which has no parallel in human history. There are those who say that if the Holocaust had not occurred, the state of Israel would never have been established. But I say that if the state of Israel would have been established earlier, the Holocaust would not have occured.
This tragic history of powerlessness explains why the Jewish people need a sovereign power of self-defense. But our right to build our sovereign state here, in the land of Israel, arises from one simple fact: this is the homeland of the Jewish people, this is where our identity was forged.
As Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion proclaimed in Israel's Declaration of Independence: "The Jewish people arose in the land of Israel and it was here that its spiritual, religious and political character was shaped. Here they attained their sovereignty, and here they bequeathed to the world their national and cultural treasures, and the most eternal of books."
But we must also tell the truth in its entirety: within this homeland lives a large Palestinian community. We do not want to rule over them, we do not want to govern their lives, we do not want to impose either our flag or our culture on them.
In my vision of peace, in this small land of ours, two peoples live freely, side-by-side, in amity and mutual respect. Each will have its own flag, its own national anthem, its own government. Neither will threaten the security or survival of the other. These two realities - our connection to the land of Israel, and the Palestinian population living within it - have created deep divisions in Israeli society. But the truth is that we have much more that unites us than divides us.
I have come tonight to give expression to that unity, and to the principles of peace and security on which there is broad agreement within Israeli society. These are the principles that guide our policy. This policy must take into account the international situation that has recently developed. We must recognize this reality and at the same time stand firmly on those principles essential for Israel.
I have already stressed the first principle - recognition. Palestinians must clearly and unambiguously recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people.
The second principle is: demilitarization. The territory under Palestinian control must be demilitarized with ironclad security provisions for Israel. Without these two conditions, there is a real danger that an armed Palestinian state would emerge that would become another terrorist base against the Jewish state, such as the one in Gaza. We don't want Kassam rockets on Petach Tikva, Grad rockets on Tel Aviv, or missiles on Ben-Gurion airport. We want peace.
In order to achieve peace, we must ensure that Palestinians will not be able to import missiles into their territory, to field an army, to close their airspace to us, or to make pacts with the likes of Hizbullah and Iran. On this point as well, there is wide consensus within Israel. It is impossible to expect us to agree in advance to the principle of a Palestinian state without assurances that this state will be demilitarized. On a matter so critical to the existence of Israel, we must first have our security needs addressed.
Therefore, today we ask our friends in the international community, led by the United States, for what is critical to the security of Israel: Clear commitments that in a future peace agreement, the territory controlled by the Palestinians will be demilitarized: namely, without an army, without control of its airspace, and with effective security measures to prevent weapons smuggling into the territory - real monitoring, and not what occurs in Gaza today. And obviously, the Palestinians will not be able to forge military pacts. Without this, sooner or later, these territories will become another Hamastan. And that we cannot accept.
I told President Obama when I was in Washington that if we could agree on the substance, then the terminology would not pose a problem. And here is the substance that I now state clearly:
If we receive this guarantee regarding demilitirization and Israel's security needs, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the State of the Jewish people, then we will be ready in a future peace agreement to reach a solution where a demilitarized Palestinian state exists alongside the Jewish state.
Regarding the remaining important issues that will be discussed as part of the final settlement, my positions are known: Israel needs defensible borders, and Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel with continued religious freedom for all faiths. The territorial question will be discussed as part of the final peace agreement. In the meantime, we have no intention of building new settlements or of expropriating additional land for existing settlements.
But there is a need to enable the residents to live normal lives, to allow mothers and fathers to raise their children like families elsewhere. The settlers are neither the enemies of the people nor the enemies of peace. Rather, they are an integral part of our people, a principled, pioneering and Zionist public.
Unity among us is essential and will help us achieve reconciliation with our neighbors. That reconciliation must already begin by altering existing realities. I believe that a strong Palestinian economy will strengthen peace.
If the Palestinians turn toward peace - in fighting terror, in strengthening governance and the rule of law, in educating their children for peace and in stopping incitement against Israel - we will do our part in making every effort to facilitate freedom of movement and access, and to enable them to develop their economy. All of this will help us advance a peace treaty between us.
Above all else, the Palestinians must decide between the path of peace and the path of Hamas. The Palestinian Authority will have to establish the rule of law in Gaza and overcome Hamas. Israel will not sit at the negotiating table with terrorists who seek their destruction. Hamas will not even allow the Red Cross to visit our kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, who has spent three years in captivity, cut off from his parents, his family and his people. We are committed to bringing him home, healthy and safe.
With a Palestinian leadership committed to peace, with the active participation of the Arab world, and the support of the United States and the international community, there is no reason why we cannot achieve a breakthrough to peace.
Our people have already proven that we can do the impossible. Over the past 61 years, while constantly defending our existence, we have performed wonders.Our microchips are powering the world's computers. Our medicines are treating diseases once considered incurable. Our drip irrigation is bringing arid lands back to life across the globe. And Israeli scientists are expanding the boundaries of human knowledge. If only our neighbors would respond to our call - peace too will be in our reach.
I call on the leaders of the Arab world and on the Palestinian leadership, let us continue together on the path of Menahem Begin and Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein. Let us realize the vision of the prophet Isaiah, who in Jerusalem 2700 years ago said: "nations shall not lift up sword against nation, and they shall learn war no more."
With God's help, we will know no more war. We will know peace.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
13 Maxims that I live by
1. Always have Faith in G-d
2. Make the most of an opportunity
3. Don't Panic
4. Think and Reason (no this doesn't contradict #1 - not at all)
5. Stand back from the detail if necessary
6. See yourself from above... not from below
7. Watch what you say
8. Never lose your sense of wonder
9. Rejoice in the Complexity
10. Don't compare yourself to others
11. Slow down to speed up
12. Pick your fights
13. Its ok to fall once in a while
2. Make the most of an opportunity
3. Don't Panic
4. Think and Reason (no this doesn't contradict #1 - not at all)
5. Stand back from the detail if necessary
6. See yourself from above... not from below
7. Watch what you say
8. Never lose your sense of wonder
9. Rejoice in the Complexity
10. Don't compare yourself to others
11. Slow down to speed up
12. Pick your fights
13. Its ok to fall once in a while
Sunday, June 07, 2009
In the News LVII
Obama woos Muslim World
There were several errors and rewrites of history in his speech but it could have been a lot worse. The Detroit Free Press had this to say. I personally liked David Horowitz's take.
Ralph Alter (American Thinker) nevertheless sees Obama as America's first Female President (you may want to avoid sharing this with your feminist friends).
Bad Economic Policy likely to make the situation in the US even worse.
Gerard Jackson of Brookes News has a first rate economic mind. He has the following to say about Obamanomics.
Gordon Brown sinks further into the sludge
Its really time that British electorate throw out Labour and elect a Conservative Government.
Chavez to expand oil nationalizations
Chavez is prepared to kill off all foreign investment to feed his ego - even if it means bankrupting his country. He already has substantial control of the air waves and is stifling freedom of speech.
Lebanese vote in General Election
If Hezbollah and their allies in the Free Patriotic Movement Movement come to power this could spell more trouble for the Israelis. I still can't believe that the Christian leader Michel Aoun is willing to ally himself with the Islamofascists of Hezbollah in the first place. The New York Slimes had this to say about the election.
More evidence of Al Qaeda's international outreach. (Sssh don't tell this to leftists apparently Islamist terror is an illusion). Jihad Watch reported on this article.
More on Al Qaeda in Algeria.
France gets tough on Iran.
Bravo Nicolas Sarkozy.
There were several errors and rewrites of history in his speech but it could have been a lot worse. The Detroit Free Press had this to say. I personally liked David Horowitz's take.
Ralph Alter (American Thinker) nevertheless sees Obama as America's first Female President (you may want to avoid sharing this with your feminist friends).
Bad Economic Policy likely to make the situation in the US even worse.
Gerard Jackson of Brookes News has a first rate economic mind. He has the following to say about Obamanomics.
Gordon Brown sinks further into the sludge
Its really time that British electorate throw out Labour and elect a Conservative Government.
Chavez to expand oil nationalizations
Chavez is prepared to kill off all foreign investment to feed his ego - even if it means bankrupting his country. He already has substantial control of the air waves and is stifling freedom of speech.
Lebanese vote in General Election
If Hezbollah and their allies in the Free Patriotic Movement Movement come to power this could spell more trouble for the Israelis. I still can't believe that the Christian leader Michel Aoun is willing to ally himself with the Islamofascists of Hezbollah in the first place. The New York Slimes had this to say about the election.
More evidence of Al Qaeda's international outreach. (Sssh don't tell this to leftists apparently Islamist terror is an illusion). Jihad Watch reported on this article.
More on Al Qaeda in Algeria.
France gets tough on Iran.
Bravo Nicolas Sarkozy.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
In the News LVI
Obama sets deadline for Middle East breakthrough
Like his predecessors Obama appears to want to go down in history as the man who made great great process in the Arab-Israeli Conflict...by 'progress' though he means sacrificing Israel's security needs to appease the thugs in the PA and Hamas...As a supporter of Israel I am praying that Netanyahu holds firm and sticks to his convictions...Once again these are tough times for Israel ( I still can' believe that 75% of all Jews voting for BO....yes Jews excel in many areas as a group but in political choice they are often very stupid.Obama knows this as well he told a Jewish congregation that he supports an undivided Jerusalem then changed his tune the next day...the silence from the official leaders of the Jewish communities was deafening on this about face). For more read the Final Solution
North Korea rattles its sabre
The North Koreans played Carter and Clinton as patsies extracting nuclear technology for a promise (that they never kept nor intended to keep) to curtail their WMD program. They lied and got away with it now it appears they have found more sock puppets to play - the Obama Administration and the tunnel vision crew at the State Department.
Its well known that an organization such as ACORN is very much involved in election fraud on behalf of the Democrat Party but what is less well known is how Obama and co. are selectively stifling democracv in the US.
More on the Lefts favourite dictator - Chavez Seeks Tighter Grip on the Military.
Its only a matter of time before he impoverishes Venezuela.
Miami man awarded $1 billion in suit against Castro.
As if all thinking people needed more convincing evidence that Castro that homicidal maniac Che Guevara were goons.
Reformist Accuses Ahmadinejad of driving inflation
His accusation seems reasonable but then haven't Obama and his works in the Treasury Department done the same thing in the spending realm with a $2-3 trillion rope around the necks of future generations?
The bailout of GM and Chrysler and the fact that GM is virtually now a Government Motors is an insult to the very foundations of free enterprise that forms the backbone of success that is the US.
Helen Zille extends Olive branch to Zuma
Mark my words Zuma will do to South Africa what Mugabe has done to Zimbabwe. Zille is trying to save her own neck with such gestures- she seems genuine but now its Route One for Zuma towards his dictatorship.
Gordon Brown may be toppled
British Labour is a bankrupt party running a country that has been spiralling downward for some time. I am not convinced that Cameron and co. in the Tory's are much better though but it certainly looks as if Gordon Brown is playing the part of Dead Man Working.
Once again the French snub their nose at those who saved their collective behind in World War II.
Like his predecessors Obama appears to want to go down in history as the man who made great great process in the Arab-Israeli Conflict...by 'progress' though he means sacrificing Israel's security needs to appease the thugs in the PA and Hamas...As a supporter of Israel I am praying that Netanyahu holds firm and sticks to his convictions...Once again these are tough times for Israel ( I still can' believe that 75% of all Jews voting for BO....yes Jews excel in many areas as a group but in political choice they are often very stupid.Obama knows this as well he told a Jewish congregation that he supports an undivided Jerusalem then changed his tune the next day...the silence from the official leaders of the Jewish communities was deafening on this about face). For more read the Final Solution
North Korea rattles its sabre
The North Koreans played Carter and Clinton as patsies extracting nuclear technology for a promise (that they never kept nor intended to keep) to curtail their WMD program. They lied and got away with it now it appears they have found more sock puppets to play - the Obama Administration and the tunnel vision crew at the State Department.
Its well known that an organization such as ACORN is very much involved in election fraud on behalf of the Democrat Party but what is less well known is how Obama and co. are selectively stifling democracv in the US.
More on the Lefts favourite dictator - Chavez Seeks Tighter Grip on the Military.
Its only a matter of time before he impoverishes Venezuela.
Miami man awarded $1 billion in suit against Castro.
As if all thinking people needed more convincing evidence that Castro that homicidal maniac Che Guevara were goons.
Reformist Accuses Ahmadinejad of driving inflation
His accusation seems reasonable but then haven't Obama and his works in the Treasury Department done the same thing in the spending realm with a $2-3 trillion rope around the necks of future generations?
The bailout of GM and Chrysler and the fact that GM is virtually now a Government Motors is an insult to the very foundations of free enterprise that forms the backbone of success that is the US.
Helen Zille extends Olive branch to Zuma
Mark my words Zuma will do to South Africa what Mugabe has done to Zimbabwe. Zille is trying to save her own neck with such gestures- she seems genuine but now its Route One for Zuma towards his dictatorship.
Gordon Brown may be toppled
British Labour is a bankrupt party running a country that has been spiralling downward for some time. I am not convinced that Cameron and co. in the Tory's are much better though but it certainly looks as if Gordon Brown is playing the part of Dead Man Working.
Once again the French snub their nose at those who saved their collective behind in World War II.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Juan Cole - Intellectual Dummy
The left revere this guy but take a look at some of his mind numbing quotes....
"Much of the Arab world has a formal peace treaty with Israel." (Actually only Egypt and Jordan have a peace treaty with Israel)
"Chemical weapons are not weapons of mass destruction." Mmmmmmmmm....
"Saddam Hussein never gave any real support to the Palestinian cause, and he did not pay suicide bombers to blow themselves up.""Supporting orphans is, in any case, not the same as funding terrorism." (Cole is referring to subsidies to the families of suicide bombers by Saddam, the Saudis, and others. Of course there is nothing wrong with the PLO making Jewish children orphans in Old Juan Cole's eyes.)
and of course this doozy.........
“The last thing the Arab people need is a red herring like ‘free and open elections’ to distract them from the international Zionist/Neo-Con conspiracy to take their oil”
"Much of the Arab world has a formal peace treaty with Israel." (Actually only Egypt and Jordan have a peace treaty with Israel)
"Chemical weapons are not weapons of mass destruction." Mmmmmmmmm....
"Saddam Hussein never gave any real support to the Palestinian cause, and he did not pay suicide bombers to blow themselves up.""Supporting orphans is, in any case, not the same as funding terrorism." (Cole is referring to subsidies to the families of suicide bombers by Saddam, the Saudis, and others. Of course there is nothing wrong with the PLO making Jewish children orphans in Old Juan Cole's eyes.)
and of course this doozy.........
“The last thing the Arab people need is a red herring like ‘free and open elections’ to distract them from the international Zionist/Neo-Con conspiracy to take their oil”
Just taking a break
I will be back soon blogging...computer glitches and work have just occupied my time as of late.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
English Football Season
I have followed English football off and on since the 76/77 Season always cheering for my Club at Arms Liverpool...but this season for the first time in along period I am starting to wonder if its all worth it....not so much cheering for Liverpool (which I probably always will do) but following the game with the intensity that I have in the past. In short I have lost some faith in the sport, that on the club level in England, appears to be dominated by the super haves of the game. By super haves I mean Manchester United and Chelsea both of whom have monetary coffers that will ensure domination of the trophy haul by a combination of each for some time.
Granted Liverpool is no slouch in the purse strings department but when push comes to the proverbial shove the Kakas, Ronaldos, Riberys, Drogbas, Ferdinands, Tevezs and Messis of the world, who ultimately secure domestic and Champions League Titles League titles, will always gravitate to the big money...and by big money that has to be Man U and Chelsea.
Its really sad because the game has settled into a predictability that has rendered it on a level....well boring. Liverpool have chased hard this season but cannot count on the stock of reserves that moneybags United can field and at the end it is this difference that brings United closer to an 18th title, another championship video, more swooning by the red army in the press and a giant yawn from the rest of the collective league who can only shake their head at the asymmetry of it all.
Granted Liverpool is no slouch in the purse strings department but when push comes to the proverbial shove the Kakas, Ronaldos, Riberys, Drogbas, Ferdinands, Tevezs and Messis of the world, who ultimately secure domestic and Champions League Titles League titles, will always gravitate to the big money...and by big money that has to be Man U and Chelsea.
Its really sad because the game has settled into a predictability that has rendered it on a level....well boring. Liverpool have chased hard this season but cannot count on the stock of reserves that moneybags United can field and at the end it is this difference that brings United closer to an 18th title, another championship video, more swooning by the red army in the press and a giant yawn from the rest of the collective league who can only shake their head at the asymmetry of it all.
In the News LV
....I am still sticking with this Roman numerals......
Chavez wants reach extended in silencing his opponents
...and many on the left still see him as a champion of democracy...how blinkered can you get?
Churches calls for safety of Tamils in Sri Lanka
The situation of the Tamils continues to worsen...Will the world do anything about this?
I wouldn't wager on it.
Diplomats walk out on Iran's Fascist President's hateful speech
This was a sight for sore eyes. Western Diplomats showing some backbone. It would be great if they followed this up with a full boycott of the Mullah Regime. Unfortunately that won't happen
North Korea could well have the world's largest artillery force
I am not convinced but the pariah regime has really chosen guns over butter in the classical battle of priorities. I am all the more curious as to how Obama and co. will treat Kim Jong-Il...hopefuly not with appeasement.
Judge adopts Obama standards for Gitmo detention
Wasn't he supposed to shut this down within a 100 days or so?....I guess reality has dawned on the Big O aka the Promise breaker . Meanwhile the great unifier continues to build bridges by opening the gates to go after certain Bush security officials..so much for the non-partisan era that the MSM told us would be on the cards with an Obama administration.
US needs to improve banking system says Bank of Canada Governor.
Chavez wants reach extended in silencing his opponents
...and many on the left still see him as a champion of democracy...how blinkered can you get?
Churches calls for safety of Tamils in Sri Lanka
The situation of the Tamils continues to worsen...Will the world do anything about this?
I wouldn't wager on it.
Diplomats walk out on Iran's Fascist President's hateful speech
This was a sight for sore eyes. Western Diplomats showing some backbone. It would be great if they followed this up with a full boycott of the Mullah Regime. Unfortunately that won't happen
North Korea could well have the world's largest artillery force
I am not convinced but the pariah regime has really chosen guns over butter in the classical battle of priorities. I am all the more curious as to how Obama and co. will treat Kim Jong-Il...hopefuly not with appeasement.
Judge adopts Obama standards for Gitmo detention
Wasn't he supposed to shut this down within a 100 days or so?....I guess reality has dawned on the Big O aka the Promise breaker . Meanwhile the great unifier continues to build bridges by opening the gates to go after certain Bush security officials..so much for the non-partisan era that the MSM told us would be on the cards with an Obama administration.
US needs to improve banking system says Bank of Canada Governor.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Watchman
Although I didn’t care much for V for Vendetta I am an overall a fan of Alan Moore. Indeed this blog has a link to an Alan Moore site. Watchman is arguably his magnum opus and the movie version of the book did not disappoint either. What I particularly enjoyed was the comic book feel that the director created with his cinematography. This was most evident in the opening scenes when the character of the Comedian was murdered but was further emphasized in the long nose Tricky Dicky depiction of Richard Nixon.
Rorschbach was by far the most intriguing of the Watchman, the work done on his shifting mask adds moxy to a super hero that has discarded model relativism and sees the world operating within a discrete Good and Evil Dichotomy. He is a true opponent of all that is wrong and far exceeds the robotic and somewhat removed Dr. Manhattan in this arena.
In true Moore form the story abounds with sub plots – Night Owl’s personal struggle, Silk Spectre II’s coming of age, Rorschbach’s demons. Set this within the context of a Cold War spiraling down toward nuclear apocalypse and you have a movie that goes places and keeps you in suspense.
Some conservatives such as Debbie Schlussel have criticized Watchman for its violence. That it is violent is obvious, but the context of the movie set around an extremely dark universe where evil incarnates itself in the worst possible way makes much of this violence necessary. The fact that violence is fought head on and defeated by the clearly conservative super hero Rorschbach (I couldn’t help laughing at his personal rant against leftist thinking) more than atones for such depictions. A definite must see.
Ranking: 8.5/10.
Rorschbach was by far the most intriguing of the Watchman, the work done on his shifting mask adds moxy to a super hero that has discarded model relativism and sees the world operating within a discrete Good and Evil Dichotomy. He is a true opponent of all that is wrong and far exceeds the robotic and somewhat removed Dr. Manhattan in this arena.
In true Moore form the story abounds with sub plots – Night Owl’s personal struggle, Silk Spectre II’s coming of age, Rorschbach’s demons. Set this within the context of a Cold War spiraling down toward nuclear apocalypse and you have a movie that goes places and keeps you in suspense.
Some conservatives such as Debbie Schlussel have criticized Watchman for its violence. That it is violent is obvious, but the context of the movie set around an extremely dark universe where evil incarnates itself in the worst possible way makes much of this violence necessary. The fact that violence is fought head on and defeated by the clearly conservative super hero Rorschbach (I couldn’t help laughing at his personal rant against leftist thinking) more than atones for such depictions. A definite must see.
Ranking: 8.5/10.
Monday, April 13, 2009
An Intellectual Odyssey
I have always viewed my life as somewhat of an intellectual odyssey. Even as a pre-schooler I can remember being enthralled by a world of knowledge that seemed so rich and open to investigation. While my journey into the realms of learning has changed direction on many an occasion, its well heeled sense of growth has nourished my being in the best possible manner. I am better for it despite the constant struggle for individual success , and in this realization I take the utmost solace.
In the complete sense I am a very fortunate person in that I grew up in a family that both encouraged and valued education. My grandfather and father both sought enrichment in self study and encouraged me from my infancy to follow along such lines. Grandpa Hymie in particular was an all-around seeker for the truth. His library was filled with books on history, the bible, photography, electronics, far eastern culture and woodworking amongst others and his keen mind lusted to tangle the mosaic of human epistemology. He saw no limits to his pursuits and was a free thinker in the true spirit of the phrase. There was a passion that eclipsed his persona, a rare energy that I have sadly seen in only a handful of people that I have ever encountered so far. Sadly he passed away just after my 7th birthday but his enduring take on life provided the spark for my own journey.
They say that you don’t remember much from such an early age but I have recollections of my numerous visits to his apartment those times on his veranda when he told me about his experiences in World War II (he fought with the South African Allied troops in Abyssinia), his study of Ancient Civilizations and his work with tropical fish. I remember vividly a two-foot sized replica of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ that he had displayed on a shelf in a room filled with art work (most of it his own…he was an accomplished amateur painter as well).
The intensity of the Thinker figure, engaged in nothing more than the delicate art of contemplation, resonated with me as it defined the richness of what my Grandpa’s life aspired to be. On a level I was driven to imitate not necessarily in content (as I could already see that some of our interest differed) but in the greater energies of learning, self-betterment and a cultivated appreciation of personal but universal reference.
Despite this gift of knowing my Grandpa there was much that haunted me. I was a sickly child in that I suffered from asthma a condition that first struck me severely at the age of three. My experience in Pretoria’s Andrew McColm Hospital where I was isolated from my parents and placed in an oxygen tent was gut wrenching and even now they provide some glaring early images from my early childhood that I would sooner forget. However my illness, twisted as it was, allowed me to retreat into a life of scholastic pleasure. I missed much formal schooling in the earlier grades but was reborn into a world that extended beyond the curriculum into that of the aether of history where the larger than life figures of Napoleon, Caesar and Churchill and others loomed from above. It was a world of the outwardly improbable bought into existence by my own desire to seek and grow. A world that I could tame with my very own pace as I read, absorbed, re-read, investigated but above all else.... imagined.
In the complete sense I am a very fortunate person in that I grew up in a family that both encouraged and valued education. My grandfather and father both sought enrichment in self study and encouraged me from my infancy to follow along such lines. Grandpa Hymie in particular was an all-around seeker for the truth. His library was filled with books on history, the bible, photography, electronics, far eastern culture and woodworking amongst others and his keen mind lusted to tangle the mosaic of human epistemology. He saw no limits to his pursuits and was a free thinker in the true spirit of the phrase. There was a passion that eclipsed his persona, a rare energy that I have sadly seen in only a handful of people that I have ever encountered so far. Sadly he passed away just after my 7th birthday but his enduring take on life provided the spark for my own journey.
They say that you don’t remember much from such an early age but I have recollections of my numerous visits to his apartment those times on his veranda when he told me about his experiences in World War II (he fought with the South African Allied troops in Abyssinia), his study of Ancient Civilizations and his work with tropical fish. I remember vividly a two-foot sized replica of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ that he had displayed on a shelf in a room filled with art work (most of it his own…he was an accomplished amateur painter as well).
The intensity of the Thinker figure, engaged in nothing more than the delicate art of contemplation, resonated with me as it defined the richness of what my Grandpa’s life aspired to be. On a level I was driven to imitate not necessarily in content (as I could already see that some of our interest differed) but in the greater energies of learning, self-betterment and a cultivated appreciation of personal but universal reference.
Despite this gift of knowing my Grandpa there was much that haunted me. I was a sickly child in that I suffered from asthma a condition that first struck me severely at the age of three. My experience in Pretoria’s Andrew McColm Hospital where I was isolated from my parents and placed in an oxygen tent was gut wrenching and even now they provide some glaring early images from my early childhood that I would sooner forget. However my illness, twisted as it was, allowed me to retreat into a life of scholastic pleasure. I missed much formal schooling in the earlier grades but was reborn into a world that extended beyond the curriculum into that of the aether of history where the larger than life figures of Napoleon, Caesar and Churchill and others loomed from above. It was a world of the outwardly improbable bought into existence by my own desire to seek and grow. A world that I could tame with my very own pace as I read, absorbed, re-read, investigated but above all else.... imagined.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Winston Churchill on Socialism
In true Churchillian brilliance
........socialist policy is abhorrent to the British ideas of freedom. Socialism is inseparably interwoven with totalitarianism and the object worship of the state. It will prescribe for every one where they are to work, what they are to work at, where they may go and what they may say. Socialism is an attack on the right to breathe freely. No socialist system can be established without a political police. They would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo, no doubt very humanely directed in the first instance
........socialist policy is abhorrent to the British ideas of freedom. Socialism is inseparably interwoven with totalitarianism and the object worship of the state. It will prescribe for every one where they are to work, what they are to work at, where they may go and what they may say. Socialism is an attack on the right to breathe freely. No socialist system can be established without a political police. They would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo, no doubt very humanely directed in the first instance
Saturday, April 11, 2009
10 videos worth watching
1. Dennis Prager at UC Berkley
2. Chris Hitchens, Dennis Prager and Dinesh D'Souza debate G-d (one of 10 parts).
3.Sam Harris on Belief in G-d - his final reasoning is flawed but he makes some good points.
4. Roger Scruton on Liberty - An Oldie but a Goldie...I differ from Scruton on several issues but he is a keen mind in the truest sense.
5. Hitchens v Hitchens - The brothers debate G-d, Iraq and a few other sticking points.
6. Indoctrinate U - a must for all who oppose indoctrination at University to see and witness.
7. Physics in Trouble: Why the Public Should Care - Lee Smolin - Smolin takes on the groupthink around String Theory.
8. Lisa Randall on String Theory - Randall is of course a leading light in the subject especially in the field of 'Branes'.
9. Conservations on History with Victor Davis Hanson - Hanson is one of the greatest historical minds alive today (and a vigilant champion of Western Civilization). This is well worth watching.
10. Resurgence of Anti-Semitism in the 21st century - Very disturbing.
2. Chris Hitchens, Dennis Prager and Dinesh D'Souza debate G-d (one of 10 parts).
3.Sam Harris on Belief in G-d - his final reasoning is flawed but he makes some good points.
4. Roger Scruton on Liberty - An Oldie but a Goldie...I differ from Scruton on several issues but he is a keen mind in the truest sense.
5. Hitchens v Hitchens - The brothers debate G-d, Iraq and a few other sticking points.
6. Indoctrinate U - a must for all who oppose indoctrination at University to see and witness.
7. Physics in Trouble: Why the Public Should Care - Lee Smolin - Smolin takes on the groupthink around String Theory.
8. Lisa Randall on String Theory - Randall is of course a leading light in the subject especially in the field of 'Branes'.
9. Conservations on History with Victor Davis Hanson - Hanson is one of the greatest historical minds alive today (and a vigilant champion of Western Civilization). This is well worth watching.
10. Resurgence of Anti-Semitism in the 21st century - Very disturbing.
Mislabelling in Israeli politics
The following is a reprint of an excellent article.
Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25310897-7583,00.html
OVER the next year or two, probably for as long as it stays in office, there will be a sustained effort to demonise the Israeli Government of Benjamin Netanyahu. The speech last week by Netanyahu's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in which he explicitly supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute but was reported as if he had said the opposite, is a case in point.
But even the way Netanyahu and Lieberman are typically described is entirely misleading. Netanyahu, not least in the Australian media, is almost always called "hardline right-wing". This would be the equivalent of calling the government of John Howard or Malcolm Fraser hardline right-wing, or calling the recently defeated government of Helen Clark in New Zealand hardline left-wing.
Netanyahu leads the Likud Party, which has been Israel's main centre-right party for decades. Under Menachem Begin in the 1970s, a Likud government gave up the whole of the Sinai desert in a land-for-peace deal with Egypt. Netanyahu, who has held many portoflios in previous governments, has as part of his coalition the left-of-centre Israeli Labour Party.
It would be much more honest to label Netanyahu's Government centre-right. This question of language is of the first order of importance. The ancient Chinese sage Confucius, when asked what would be the main political reform he would carry out if he achieved state power, replied: "It would certainly be to rectify the names." Israel's enemies, heirs to ancient anti-Semitism, are on a relentless quest to delegitimise and demonise it at every point. Mislabelling a democratic government of mainstream, democratic politicians as hardline right-wing is an important part of that quest.
What about Lieberman's speech? Lieberman is the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party. Lieberman too has previously been a cabinet minister. His party is mainly supported by Russian immigrants. It is fair to say he is to the right of Netanyahu but not fair to say he is an extremist. His policies mix a hard line on national security with social liberalism.
Russian Israelis often have a somewhat attenuated connection to Orthodox Judaism and can therefore be disadvantaged in rulings concerning conversion, marriage and other family matters, where religious parties have considerable influence. There is nothing sinister about this. It is the sort of debate Ireland had in recent years about allowing divorce. Lieberman wants to secularise these matters.
On security issues his sharp language marks him out as a polarising figure. But there is no doubt he is a democrat and, by broader Middle East standards, an extremely mild politician. He is most famous for wanting all Israelis to take a loyalty oath. This is seen as insulting to Israel's Arab citizens. I think it is an unhelpful and unnecessarily polarising proposal, but it is not the black hand of fascism.
Similarly, Lieberman wants all Israelis to be forced to undertake military or other national service. This is also seen as hitting at Israeli Arabs, as they may not want to serve in the Israeli Defence Forces. But Lieberman also wants this provision enforced on Orthodox Jews, who do not do military service either.
Further, in Lieberman's vision of a two-state solution he is keen to transfer Israeli Arab towns into a Palestinian state. Some territorial swap is inevitable if a two-state solution is to work, but presumably no Israeli citizen would be forced to give up their citizenship, whatever happened to the land underneath them. So Lieberman's proposal cannot remotely be classed as ethnic cleansing or anything like it.
I think Lieberman's rhetoric is often unhelpful to Israel and exacerbates problems, but it is certainly not unreasonable for Lieberman to want to debate the civic identity of Israel's Arab citizens.
In his initial speech as Foreign Minister on March 30, Lieberman said the Annapolis peace process, which has been running for the past couple of years, is dead. But Lieberman fully committed himself to the road map negotiated and endorsed in 2002 by the US, the European Union, the UN and Russia, which also involves commitment to a two-state solution.
There is only one difference between the road map and Annapolis. Annapolis was based on the idea that the Israelis and Palestinians negotiate a final status agreement now on who would have what territory, and then one day the Palestinians will be able to form a government that can rule its own territories and provide proper security.
The road map, on the other hand, provided for reciprocity: that both the Palestinians and the Israelis had to undertake certain obligations along the way. Israel had to dismantle illegal Jewish settlements (that is, illegal under Israeli law) and prevent any territorial expansion in the existing settlements. (Lieberman is at times even critical of the previous government for not doing this.) The Palestinians had to form a functioning government and suppress terrorism.
When the Israelis withdrew unilaterally from Gaza, this was a kind of road test for Annapolis. But all they got, after a temporary ceasefire, was a constant barrage of rocket attacks. The Netanyahu Government is now inclined to stress reciprocity.
Indeed, in responding to Lieberman's remarks US spokesmen did all stress reciprocity.
Netanyahu, when in office previously, made a number of agreements that involved Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian land and all of which had as their object a two-state solution. Like Lieberman, Netanyahu is committed to the road map, which has as its goal an independent Palestinian state. But this is dependent on the Palestinians forming an effective and sensible government and meaningfully renouncing terrorism.
This is completely out of the question at the moment because half the potential Palestinian state, Gaza, is ruled by the terrorist death cult Hamas. Despite the protestations of Hamas sympathisers in Australia, the Hamas leadership, the charter which it still upholds and all Hamas spokesmen say Hamas will never recognise Israel's right to exist or to occupy a single inch of territory. This is not the occupied territories we're talking about but Israel proper. Hamas has also said it will never give up terrorism. Hamas may one day change its mind on all this, but at the moment it is inconceivable that the Palestinians could meet their obligations under the road map. That rules out a Palestinian state for the moment.
It remains an ambition of the vast majority of Israelis that they can live in peace beside a peaceful neighbour, both behind agreed borders. In saying this is not available at the moment, neither Netanyahu nor Lieberman rules it out forever in the future. The international press might at least get this basic fact right.
Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25310897-7583,00.html
OVER the next year or two, probably for as long as it stays in office, there will be a sustained effort to demonise the Israeli Government of Benjamin Netanyahu. The speech last week by Netanyahu's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in which he explicitly supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute but was reported as if he had said the opposite, is a case in point.
But even the way Netanyahu and Lieberman are typically described is entirely misleading. Netanyahu, not least in the Australian media, is almost always called "hardline right-wing". This would be the equivalent of calling the government of John Howard or Malcolm Fraser hardline right-wing, or calling the recently defeated government of Helen Clark in New Zealand hardline left-wing.
Netanyahu leads the Likud Party, which has been Israel's main centre-right party for decades. Under Menachem Begin in the 1970s, a Likud government gave up the whole of the Sinai desert in a land-for-peace deal with Egypt. Netanyahu, who has held many portoflios in previous governments, has as part of his coalition the left-of-centre Israeli Labour Party.
It would be much more honest to label Netanyahu's Government centre-right. This question of language is of the first order of importance. The ancient Chinese sage Confucius, when asked what would be the main political reform he would carry out if he achieved state power, replied: "It would certainly be to rectify the names." Israel's enemies, heirs to ancient anti-Semitism, are on a relentless quest to delegitimise and demonise it at every point. Mislabelling a democratic government of mainstream, democratic politicians as hardline right-wing is an important part of that quest.
What about Lieberman's speech? Lieberman is the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party. Lieberman too has previously been a cabinet minister. His party is mainly supported by Russian immigrants. It is fair to say he is to the right of Netanyahu but not fair to say he is an extremist. His policies mix a hard line on national security with social liberalism.
Russian Israelis often have a somewhat attenuated connection to Orthodox Judaism and can therefore be disadvantaged in rulings concerning conversion, marriage and other family matters, where religious parties have considerable influence. There is nothing sinister about this. It is the sort of debate Ireland had in recent years about allowing divorce. Lieberman wants to secularise these matters.
On security issues his sharp language marks him out as a polarising figure. But there is no doubt he is a democrat and, by broader Middle East standards, an extremely mild politician. He is most famous for wanting all Israelis to take a loyalty oath. This is seen as insulting to Israel's Arab citizens. I think it is an unhelpful and unnecessarily polarising proposal, but it is not the black hand of fascism.
Similarly, Lieberman wants all Israelis to be forced to undertake military or other national service. This is also seen as hitting at Israeli Arabs, as they may not want to serve in the Israeli Defence Forces. But Lieberman also wants this provision enforced on Orthodox Jews, who do not do military service either.
Further, in Lieberman's vision of a two-state solution he is keen to transfer Israeli Arab towns into a Palestinian state. Some territorial swap is inevitable if a two-state solution is to work, but presumably no Israeli citizen would be forced to give up their citizenship, whatever happened to the land underneath them. So Lieberman's proposal cannot remotely be classed as ethnic cleansing or anything like it.
I think Lieberman's rhetoric is often unhelpful to Israel and exacerbates problems, but it is certainly not unreasonable for Lieberman to want to debate the civic identity of Israel's Arab citizens.
In his initial speech as Foreign Minister on March 30, Lieberman said the Annapolis peace process, which has been running for the past couple of years, is dead. But Lieberman fully committed himself to the road map negotiated and endorsed in 2002 by the US, the European Union, the UN and Russia, which also involves commitment to a two-state solution.
There is only one difference between the road map and Annapolis. Annapolis was based on the idea that the Israelis and Palestinians negotiate a final status agreement now on who would have what territory, and then one day the Palestinians will be able to form a government that can rule its own territories and provide proper security.
The road map, on the other hand, provided for reciprocity: that both the Palestinians and the Israelis had to undertake certain obligations along the way. Israel had to dismantle illegal Jewish settlements (that is, illegal under Israeli law) and prevent any territorial expansion in the existing settlements. (Lieberman is at times even critical of the previous government for not doing this.) The Palestinians had to form a functioning government and suppress terrorism.
When the Israelis withdrew unilaterally from Gaza, this was a kind of road test for Annapolis. But all they got, after a temporary ceasefire, was a constant barrage of rocket attacks. The Netanyahu Government is now inclined to stress reciprocity.
Indeed, in responding to Lieberman's remarks US spokesmen did all stress reciprocity.
Netanyahu, when in office previously, made a number of agreements that involved Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian land and all of which had as their object a two-state solution. Like Lieberman, Netanyahu is committed to the road map, which has as its goal an independent Palestinian state. But this is dependent on the Palestinians forming an effective and sensible government and meaningfully renouncing terrorism.
This is completely out of the question at the moment because half the potential Palestinian state, Gaza, is ruled by the terrorist death cult Hamas. Despite the protestations of Hamas sympathisers in Australia, the Hamas leadership, the charter which it still upholds and all Hamas spokesmen say Hamas will never recognise Israel's right to exist or to occupy a single inch of territory. This is not the occupied territories we're talking about but Israel proper. Hamas has also said it will never give up terrorism. Hamas may one day change its mind on all this, but at the moment it is inconceivable that the Palestinians could meet their obligations under the road map. That rules out a Palestinian state for the moment.
It remains an ambition of the vast majority of Israelis that they can live in peace beside a peaceful neighbour, both behind agreed borders. In saying this is not available at the moment, neither Netanyahu nor Lieberman rules it out forever in the future. The international press might at least get this basic fact right.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Teaching Evolution
I have evolved considerably as a teacher since my first school year back in 2002/2003. While I still champion (and always will) high standards and the cultivation of a solid work ethic in my students, my philosophical approach with respect to concept building and consolidation have changed remarkably. In physics for one I have introduced a light self-discovery approach that encourages the student to learn, via free inquiry and critical thought, the mainstays of the big idea. This is not to say that I have adopted a hands off approach - to the contrary I am very much an involved teacher - but I believe that it is important for the teacher to step back and guide rather than actively transmit. In other words the involvement from the educator should be more passive than active.
Judaic Struggle from within
I have struggled for most of my life to qualify my religious belief. I was born and remain proud of my Jewish identity, celebrate many aspects of the culture and relish in the study of its history. Indeed I continue as always to be a strong and passionate supporter of Israel and Jewish Nationalism. While at times I have flirted with benign forms of atheism and deism such indulgence has never held me for too long as the reasonable arguments of theism have been too persuasive. Although I place much credence in science I reject the view espoused by Dawkins, Harris, Russell, Hitchens et al that belief in religion and logic is ultimately inconsistent with faith in a higher power. In fact I have had no problem entertaining both frameworks in my personal psyche.
My struggle though is at a deeper level and involves the step of consolidating my theistic belief with that of Judaism as a revealed religion. My attempts so far have not yielded the progress that I would have liked. Ultimately it seems I cannot accept the idea of revealed religion having any grounding at all. I am not convinced that many of the events described in the Torah (including the critical revelation at Sinai) even occurred and as a person of science I cannot give credence to miracles passed on from ancient times that seem to defy the established well documented Laws of Nature. I realize that there have been numerous arguments made through the ages to substantiate these miracles including a deference to a bygone ‘Age of Miracles’ but such reasoning seems to carry a ‘magic quality suffused with superstition ’ that is more akin to a primitive tribalism than to post-enlightenment reasoning. It is this hurdle that ultimately caused me to reject Orthodox Judaism and its emphasis on the 613 Commandments despite the fact that I have great respect for such organizations as Aish Hatorah and the various Lubavitch groups.
In short I don’t believe that their overall worldview, with its strict emphasis on both the written and Oral Torah as direct instruments from God, can be bought into the mix of the science-soft theism maxim that makes sense to me. A part of me wishes that it would as this seems to simplify life but I cannot lie to myself and believe what at the very end I cannot justify.
My struggle though is at a deeper level and involves the step of consolidating my theistic belief with that of Judaism as a revealed religion. My attempts so far have not yielded the progress that I would have liked. Ultimately it seems I cannot accept the idea of revealed religion having any grounding at all. I am not convinced that many of the events described in the Torah (including the critical revelation at Sinai) even occurred and as a person of science I cannot give credence to miracles passed on from ancient times that seem to defy the established well documented Laws of Nature. I realize that there have been numerous arguments made through the ages to substantiate these miracles including a deference to a bygone ‘Age of Miracles’ but such reasoning seems to carry a ‘magic quality suffused with superstition ’ that is more akin to a primitive tribalism than to post-enlightenment reasoning. It is this hurdle that ultimately caused me to reject Orthodox Judaism and its emphasis on the 613 Commandments despite the fact that I have great respect for such organizations as Aish Hatorah and the various Lubavitch groups.
In short I don’t believe that their overall worldview, with its strict emphasis on both the written and Oral Torah as direct instruments from God, can be bought into the mix of the science-soft theism maxim that makes sense to me. A part of me wishes that it would as this seems to simplify life but I cannot lie to myself and believe what at the very end I cannot justify.
Friday, March 20, 2009
In the News LIV
Israel negotiating release if Gilad Shalit
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/19/1003848/hamas-suspends-shalit-negotiations
Like most 'compromises' with the thugs at Hamas it will come at a high price for Israel...
George W Bush backs Obama's economic plans
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEr78MYVfCdk&refer=home
This shows great character by the former President...I doubt whether his opponents would have been so forthcoming if the situation were reversed.
Barack Obama gets down to some serious business...........Not
http://watching-tv.ew.com/2009/03/jay-leno-barack.html?iid=top25-Jay+Leno+lets+Barack+Obama+get+all+the+laughs+on+'The+Tonight+Show'+(it+wasn't+that+difficult)
What did they say about Nero fiddling while Rome burnt?
Chavez continues on his march toward dictatorship
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/959126.html
Surprise...surprise...he can't deal with the opposition
Meanwhile the Venezuelan ego met with another American useful idiot
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/20/news/LT-Venezuela-US.php
AIG bonuses to be recouped by taxes
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0320/breaking5.htm
One stupidity for another........
Could AIG be Obama's Katrina?
http://townhall.com/blog/g/e4f3a82e-ac32-47cf-83b3-e536d956567b?comments=true&commentsSortDirection=Descending
Something real to fear
Russia's military buildup.
Meanwhile it seems as though Putin might have met Reagan as a KGB agent...
Pakistan faces more problems from the Taliban.
More proof of the growing threat of Islamofascism.
Security lapse blamed for attack on Sri Lanka Cricket team
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/20/content_11041947.htm
Supporters of LTTE launch worldwide PR campaign again Sri Lankan government
Safe to say that the government is not amused...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5941602.ece
White farmers in Zimbabwe take last stand
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090320.ZIMBABWE20/TPStory/International
Why Whites continue to live in this ethnic cleansing environment is still anybody's bet?
Zuma charges may be dropped
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20090320061221881C924610
Another thug and South Africa's next dictator will most likely walk free....
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/19/1003848/hamas-suspends-shalit-negotiations
Like most 'compromises' with the thugs at Hamas it will come at a high price for Israel...
George W Bush backs Obama's economic plans
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEr78MYVfCdk&refer=home
This shows great character by the former President...I doubt whether his opponents would have been so forthcoming if the situation were reversed.
Barack Obama gets down to some serious business...........Not
http://watching-tv.ew.com/2009/03/jay-leno-barack.html?iid=top25-Jay+Leno+lets+Barack+Obama+get+all+the+laughs+on+'The+Tonight+Show'+(it+wasn't+that+difficult)
What did they say about Nero fiddling while Rome burnt?
Chavez continues on his march toward dictatorship
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/959126.html
Surprise...surprise...he can't deal with the opposition
Meanwhile the Venezuelan ego met with another American useful idiot
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/20/news/LT-Venezuela-US.php
AIG bonuses to be recouped by taxes
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0320/breaking5.htm
One stupidity for another........
Could AIG be Obama's Katrina?
http://townhall.com/blog/g/e4f3a82e-ac32-47cf-83b3-e536d956567b?comments=true&commentsSortDirection=Descending
Something real to fear
Russia's military buildup.
Meanwhile it seems as though Putin might have met Reagan as a KGB agent...
Pakistan faces more problems from the Taliban.
More proof of the growing threat of Islamofascism.
Security lapse blamed for attack on Sri Lanka Cricket team
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/20/content_11041947.htm
Supporters of LTTE launch worldwide PR campaign again Sri Lankan government
Safe to say that the government is not amused...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5941602.ece
White farmers in Zimbabwe take last stand
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090320.ZIMBABWE20/TPStory/International
Why Whites continue to live in this ethnic cleansing environment is still anybody's bet?
Zuma charges may be dropped
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20090320061221881C924610
Another thug and South Africa's next dictator will most likely walk free....
Thursday, March 19, 2009
50 Physics Ideas you really need to know
Joanne Baker's 50 Physics Ideas you really need to know is an excellent read and I urge all fans of Physics to get hold of a copy.
What are the fifty ideas? I have listed them below (not in order of importance)
Mach's principle
Newton's laws of motion
Kepler's laws
Newton's laws of gravitation
Conservation of energy
Simple harmonic motion
Hooke's law
Ideal gas law
Second law of thermodynamics
Absolute zero
Brownian motion
Chaos theory
Bernoulli equation
Newton's theory of colour
Huygen's principle
Snell's law
Bragg's law
Fraunhofer diffraction
Doppler effect
Ohm's Law
Fleming's right hand rule
Maxwell's equations
Planck's Law
Photoelectric effect
Schrodinger's wave equation
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
Copenhagen interpretation
Schrodingers cat
The EPR paradox
Pauli's exclusion principle
Superconductivity
Rutherford's atom
Antimatter
Nuclear fission
Nuclear fusion
Standard model
Feynman diagrams
The God particle
String theory
Special relativity
General relativity
Black holes
Olber's paradox
Hubble's law
The big bang
Cosmic inflation
Dark matter
Cosmological constant
Fermi paradox
Anthropic principle
Pretty neat......Now how can I make use of all these ideas for a science literacy program?.........I wonder....
What are the fifty ideas? I have listed them below (not in order of importance)
Mach's principle
Newton's laws of motion
Kepler's laws
Newton's laws of gravitation
Conservation of energy
Simple harmonic motion
Hooke's law
Ideal gas law
Second law of thermodynamics
Absolute zero
Brownian motion
Chaos theory
Bernoulli equation
Newton's theory of colour
Huygen's principle
Snell's law
Bragg's law
Fraunhofer diffraction
Doppler effect
Ohm's Law
Fleming's right hand rule
Maxwell's equations
Planck's Law
Photoelectric effect
Schrodinger's wave equation
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
Copenhagen interpretation
Schrodingers cat
The EPR paradox
Pauli's exclusion principle
Superconductivity
Rutherford's atom
Antimatter
Nuclear fission
Nuclear fusion
Standard model
Feynman diagrams
The God particle
String theory
Special relativity
General relativity
Black holes
Olber's paradox
Hubble's law
The big bang
Cosmic inflation
Dark matter
Cosmological constant
Fermi paradox
Anthropic principle
Pretty neat......Now how can I make use of all these ideas for a science literacy program?.........I wonder....
Sunday, March 08, 2009
The Left's Love Affair with Violence
The following is a list of organizations, endorsed by many on the left, that that have been responsible for mass genocide.
Chinese Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Khmer Rouge
Vietnamese Communist Party
Baath Party of Syria
Baath Party of Iraq
The National Socialist Party of Germany (Nazis)
Workers Party of Ethiopia
French Jacobins
Castro Regime
Worker’s Party of Korea
The following is a list of organizations, endorsed by many on the left, that that have been responsible for terror campaigns specifically directed at civilians.
PLO – Fatah
Hamas
Japanese Red Army
Italian Red Brigade
Black Panthers/Black Liberation Army
FARC/ELN
Baader Meinhof Gang
IRA
Action Directe
Basque ETA
DFLP
PFLP/PFLP-GC
Sandanistas
Mau Mau
Red Army Faction (RAF)
Weathermen
ANC – Military Wing
Anarchists of the 19th and 20th centuries
Symbionese Liberation Army
17 November Group
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
ZANU
Shining Path
Hezbollah
Chinese Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Khmer Rouge
Vietnamese Communist Party
Baath Party of Syria
Baath Party of Iraq
The National Socialist Party of Germany (Nazis)
Workers Party of Ethiopia
French Jacobins
Castro Regime
Worker’s Party of Korea
The following is a list of organizations, endorsed by many on the left, that that have been responsible for terror campaigns specifically directed at civilians.
PLO – Fatah
Hamas
Japanese Red Army
Italian Red Brigade
Black Panthers/Black Liberation Army
FARC/ELN
Baader Meinhof Gang
IRA
Action Directe
Basque ETA
DFLP
PFLP/PFLP-GC
Sandanistas
Mau Mau
Red Army Faction (RAF)
Weathermen
ANC – Military Wing
Anarchists of the 19th and 20th centuries
Symbionese Liberation Army
17 November Group
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
ZANU
Shining Path
Hezbollah
Saturday, March 07, 2009
In the News LIII
Dow has dropped 1500 points since Obama's inauguration
Many in business are seeing the President's actions as a war against Capitalism...for me its just silly economics...Keynesian style.
Jihad on facebook
Islamofacist outreach continues...what is worse is that the facebook administrators have done such a poor job in stopping it...
Gorbachev sets the record straight on Putin: Worst version of Communists
His actions in support of Iran and his clamping down of criticism in Russia add further weight to this assertion. For more om Putin's 'war' with the Ukraine read: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,505135,00.html
Rush Limbaugh is in the News once again: Rahm Emanuel may have indirectly given him a publicity boost
I am not a fan of Limbaugh (he is but he certainly has a way of giving it to his opponents......
Chavez - destroying the Venezuelan economy one-step at a time (while cheerleaders in American and Canadian left look on with approval).
Many in business are seeing the President's actions as a war against Capitalism...for me its just silly economics...Keynesian style.
Jihad on facebook
Islamofacist outreach continues...what is worse is that the facebook administrators have done such a poor job in stopping it...
Gorbachev sets the record straight on Putin: Worst version of Communists
His actions in support of Iran and his clamping down of criticism in Russia add further weight to this assertion. For more om Putin's 'war' with the Ukraine read: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,505135,00.html
Rush Limbaugh is in the News once again: Rahm Emanuel may have indirectly given him a publicity boost
I am not a fan of Limbaugh (he is but he certainly has a way of giving it to his opponents......
Chavez - destroying the Venezuelan economy one-step at a time (while cheerleaders in American and Canadian left look on with approval).
Monday, March 02, 2009
40 Greatest Chemists of All-Time
Just my Opinion....
1.Dmitri Mendeleyev - Russian - Devised the Periodic table of elements. Predicted that several more elements would be discovered.
2.Antoine Lavoisier - French - Showed that air is a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. Disproved the old Theory of phlogiston and determined the nature of combustion. Lavoisier wrote the first modern book on chemistry and explained the law of conservation of matter.
3.Henry Cavendish - English - Showed that water could be produced from two gases. Discovered hydrogen.
4. Amedeo Avogadro - Italian - First to distinguish molecules from atoms. Developed Avogadro's Constant (The number of particles of a substance in a mole). Studied the effect of combining volumes.
5. Jons Jakob Berzelius - Swedish - Developed the symbols for many of the chemicals. Calculated the atomic weights accurately of many of them and discovered Selenium, Silicon and Thorium.
6. John Dalton - English - Developed an atomic theory of matter and explained the laws of partial pressure.
7. Robert Boyle - Irish - Studied gases and showed how Pressure and volume at constant mass were indirectly proportional to one another.
8. Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac and Jacques Charles - Both French - Studied gases. Showed that gas volume at constant pressure increases with Temperature.
9. Friederich Wöhler - German - Father of Organic Chemistry. He was the first chemist to synthesize an organic compound, Urea.
10. Carl Scheele - Swedish - Co-discover of oxygen with Joseph Priestley. Also discovered chlorine, manganese and molybdenum.
11. Marie Curie - Polish - Isolated radioactive elements radium and polonium.
12. Josiah Gibbs - American - Founder of Chemical Thermodynamics.
13. Jacobus van't Hoff - Dutch - Thermodynamicist. He was one of the earlier chemists to speak about the 3-D nature of molecules.
14. Frederick Sanger - English - Biochemist. Revealed the Amino sequence for insulin. Worked out methods for determining the molecular structure of nucleic acids. Two time Nobel Prize winner.
15. Humphry Davy - English - Showed the connection between electrochemistry and the elements. Discovered the elements Potassium, Sodium, Barium, Calcium and Magnesium amongst others.
16. Joseph Priestley - English - Oxygen co-discoverer. See Scheele.
17. Henri Le Chatelier - French - Developed principle that every change in a stable chemical equilibrium will result in a shift in the direction of the equilibrium to reduce the effects of the change.
18. Frederick Soddy - English - Introduced the isotope theory of elements.
19. Svante Arrhenius - Sweden - Established modern electrochemistry.
20. Germain Hess - Swiss/Russian - Introduced Hess's Law for determining the heat of reactions.
21.Wilhelm Ostwald - Latvian - Discovered Dilution law. Invented process to make nitric acid by oxidizing ammonia. He also developed a theory of colour.
22. Daniel Rutherford - Scottish - Discoverer of Nitrogen.
23. Friederich Kekulé - German - Organic Chemist. Described the ring structure of benzene.
24. Stanislao Cannizzaro - Italian - Established the use of Atomic weights in Chemical formulas and calculations.
25. Linus Pauling - American - Applied Quantum Theory to determine Chemical Structure (especially of proteins). Showed how electrons effect the formation of molecules.
26. Johannes Brønsted - Danish and Thomas Lowry - English - Independently introduced the Brønsted - Lowry definition of an acid as something that donates a proton and a base as something that accepts a proton.
27. Leo Baekland - Belgian/American - Father of the Plastics Industry.
28. William Ramsay - Scottish - Co-discovered Argon with Lord Rayleigh. Was first to identify, helium, neon, krypton and xenon.
29. Henri Moissan - French - Isolated fluorine. Invented the electric furnace. Discovered carborundum and produced artificial diamonds in a laboratory.
30. Theodore Richards - American - Performed extensive work on atomic weights to reveal the existence of isotopes.
31. Dorothy Hodgkin - English - Crystallographer. Used x-ray crystallography to reveal the structure of such molecules as penicillin and insulin.
32. Thomas Graham - Scottish - Developed Graham's Law of Diffusion. Founder of Colloidal Chemistry.
33. Fritz Haber - German - Invented the process to make ammonia from nitrogen in the air. Known as the Haber process. Invention allowed Germany to continue making explosives after World War I ban in spite of the blockade on the importation of nitrates.
34. Irving Langmuir - American. High Temperature chemist. Work lead to the development of the tungsten lamp. Also studied gases. Research in this field would have practical implications with respect to the use of atomic hydrogen in welding torches.
35. Peter Debye - Dutch - Worked as well on molecular structure. Pioneered x-ray powder photography.
36. Harold Urey - American - Isolated Heavy water and discovered deuterium.
37. Paul Flory - American - Leading figure in the field of Polymerization. Studied properties of plastics, ribbers and fibers.
38. William Perkin - English - Chemist noted for his work on dyes. Invented mauve.
39. George Washington Carver - American - Agricultural chemist. Research involved the synthesis of products from peanuts, sweet potatoes and soybeans.
40. François Raoult - French - Developed law which relates vapor pressure of a solution to the number of molecules of solute dissolved in it.
1.Dmitri Mendeleyev - Russian - Devised the Periodic table of elements. Predicted that several more elements would be discovered.
2.Antoine Lavoisier - French - Showed that air is a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. Disproved the old Theory of phlogiston and determined the nature of combustion. Lavoisier wrote the first modern book on chemistry and explained the law of conservation of matter.
3.Henry Cavendish - English - Showed that water could be produced from two gases. Discovered hydrogen.
4. Amedeo Avogadro - Italian - First to distinguish molecules from atoms. Developed Avogadro's Constant (The number of particles of a substance in a mole). Studied the effect of combining volumes.
5. Jons Jakob Berzelius - Swedish - Developed the symbols for many of the chemicals. Calculated the atomic weights accurately of many of them and discovered Selenium, Silicon and Thorium.
6. John Dalton - English - Developed an atomic theory of matter and explained the laws of partial pressure.
7. Robert Boyle - Irish - Studied gases and showed how Pressure and volume at constant mass were indirectly proportional to one another.
8. Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac and Jacques Charles - Both French - Studied gases. Showed that gas volume at constant pressure increases with Temperature.
9. Friederich Wöhler - German - Father of Organic Chemistry. He was the first chemist to synthesize an organic compound, Urea.
10. Carl Scheele - Swedish - Co-discover of oxygen with Joseph Priestley. Also discovered chlorine, manganese and molybdenum.
11. Marie Curie - Polish - Isolated radioactive elements radium and polonium.
12. Josiah Gibbs - American - Founder of Chemical Thermodynamics.
13. Jacobus van't Hoff - Dutch - Thermodynamicist. He was one of the earlier chemists to speak about the 3-D nature of molecules.
14. Frederick Sanger - English - Biochemist. Revealed the Amino sequence for insulin. Worked out methods for determining the molecular structure of nucleic acids. Two time Nobel Prize winner.
15. Humphry Davy - English - Showed the connection between electrochemistry and the elements. Discovered the elements Potassium, Sodium, Barium, Calcium and Magnesium amongst others.
16. Joseph Priestley - English - Oxygen co-discoverer. See Scheele.
17. Henri Le Chatelier - French - Developed principle that every change in a stable chemical equilibrium will result in a shift in the direction of the equilibrium to reduce the effects of the change.
18. Frederick Soddy - English - Introduced the isotope theory of elements.
19. Svante Arrhenius - Sweden - Established modern electrochemistry.
20. Germain Hess - Swiss/Russian - Introduced Hess's Law for determining the heat of reactions.
21.Wilhelm Ostwald - Latvian - Discovered Dilution law. Invented process to make nitric acid by oxidizing ammonia. He also developed a theory of colour.
22. Daniel Rutherford - Scottish - Discoverer of Nitrogen.
23. Friederich Kekulé - German - Organic Chemist. Described the ring structure of benzene.
24. Stanislao Cannizzaro - Italian - Established the use of Atomic weights in Chemical formulas and calculations.
25. Linus Pauling - American - Applied Quantum Theory to determine Chemical Structure (especially of proteins). Showed how electrons effect the formation of molecules.
26. Johannes Brønsted - Danish and Thomas Lowry - English - Independently introduced the Brønsted - Lowry definition of an acid as something that donates a proton and a base as something that accepts a proton.
27. Leo Baekland - Belgian/American - Father of the Plastics Industry.
28. William Ramsay - Scottish - Co-discovered Argon with Lord Rayleigh. Was first to identify, helium, neon, krypton and xenon.
29. Henri Moissan - French - Isolated fluorine. Invented the electric furnace. Discovered carborundum and produced artificial diamonds in a laboratory.
30. Theodore Richards - American - Performed extensive work on atomic weights to reveal the existence of isotopes.
31. Dorothy Hodgkin - English - Crystallographer. Used x-ray crystallography to reveal the structure of such molecules as penicillin and insulin.
32. Thomas Graham - Scottish - Developed Graham's Law of Diffusion. Founder of Colloidal Chemistry.
33. Fritz Haber - German - Invented the process to make ammonia from nitrogen in the air. Known as the Haber process. Invention allowed Germany to continue making explosives after World War I ban in spite of the blockade on the importation of nitrates.
34. Irving Langmuir - American. High Temperature chemist. Work lead to the development of the tungsten lamp. Also studied gases. Research in this field would have practical implications with respect to the use of atomic hydrogen in welding torches.
35. Peter Debye - Dutch - Worked as well on molecular structure. Pioneered x-ray powder photography.
36. Harold Urey - American - Isolated Heavy water and discovered deuterium.
37. Paul Flory - American - Leading figure in the field of Polymerization. Studied properties of plastics, ribbers and fibers.
38. William Perkin - English - Chemist noted for his work on dyes. Invented mauve.
39. George Washington Carver - American - Agricultural chemist. Research involved the synthesis of products from peanuts, sweet potatoes and soybeans.
40. François Raoult - French - Developed law which relates vapor pressure of a solution to the number of molecules of solute dissolved in it.
Top Ten Dicken's Novels of All-Time
Just my Opinion...........
1. David Copperfield
2. Oliver Twist
3. A Tale of Two Cities
4. Great Expectations
5. Pickwick Papers
6. Nicholas Nickelby
7. The Mystery of Edwin Drood
8. A Christmas Carol
9. The Old Curiosity Shop
10. Bleak House
1. David Copperfield
2. Oliver Twist
3. A Tale of Two Cities
4. Great Expectations
5. Pickwick Papers
6. Nicholas Nickelby
7. The Mystery of Edwin Drood
8. A Christmas Carol
9. The Old Curiosity Shop
10. Bleak House
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
California in Decline
The worse part of all of this is that the leftists who control the state's politics still believe that high taxes is the solution...welcome to serfdom.
For the full article go to WSJ.
You thought Washington's stimulus debate was depressing, take a look at the long-running budget spectacle in California. The Golden State's deficit has reached $42 billion, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to furlough 20,000 state workers (go ahead, make our day), and as we went to press yesterday Democrats who control the legislature had blocked lawmakers from leaving until they finally get a deal.
It's sad to watch. The Golden State -- which a decade ago was the booming technology capital of the world -- has been done in by two decades of chronic overspending, overregulating and a hyperprogressive tax code that exaggerates the impact on state revenues of economic boom and bust. Total state expenditures have grown to $145 billion in 2008 from $104 billion in 2003 and California now has the worst credit rating in the nation -- worse even than Louisiana's. It also has the nation's fourth highest unemployment rate of 9.3% (after Michigan, Rhode Island and South Carolina) and the second highest home foreclosure rate (after Nevada).
Roughly 1.4 million more nonimmigrant Americans have left California than entered over the last decade, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council. California is suffering more than most states from the housing bust, but its politicians also showed less spending restraint during the boom.
To close the current deficit, the pols in Sacramento are nearing a deal that cuts spending by $15 billion and raises $14.2 billion in higher taxes on income, sales, gasoline and cars. Six years ago Mr. Schwarzenegger helped depose Governor Gray Davis by calling him "Car-taxula." Now he's agreed to double the same tax.
Mr. Schwarzenegger has won at least some concessions from Democrats, who run the most liberal legislature this side of Trenton. The budget deal contains a handful of useful tax breaks for job creation and the first public union workplace reforms in a decade; it also creates a new rainy day fund. These taxpayer victories wouldn't have been possible if Republicans in the legislature hadn't held out for them.
But the plan is still far short of the radical tax and spending surgery the state needs. It's loaded with short-term gimmicks -- such as $5 billion of borrowing from future lottery receipts and nearly $10 billion in one-time federal stimulus cash. Even proponents concede the plan doesn't balance spending and revenues 18 months from now.
For the full article go to WSJ.
You thought Washington's stimulus debate was depressing, take a look at the long-running budget spectacle in California. The Golden State's deficit has reached $42 billion, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to furlough 20,000 state workers (go ahead, make our day), and as we went to press yesterday Democrats who control the legislature had blocked lawmakers from leaving until they finally get a deal.
It's sad to watch. The Golden State -- which a decade ago was the booming technology capital of the world -- has been done in by two decades of chronic overspending, overregulating and a hyperprogressive tax code that exaggerates the impact on state revenues of economic boom and bust. Total state expenditures have grown to $145 billion in 2008 from $104 billion in 2003 and California now has the worst credit rating in the nation -- worse even than Louisiana's. It also has the nation's fourth highest unemployment rate of 9.3% (after Michigan, Rhode Island and South Carolina) and the second highest home foreclosure rate (after Nevada).
Roughly 1.4 million more nonimmigrant Americans have left California than entered over the last decade, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council. California is suffering more than most states from the housing bust, but its politicians also showed less spending restraint during the boom.
To close the current deficit, the pols in Sacramento are nearing a deal that cuts spending by $15 billion and raises $14.2 billion in higher taxes on income, sales, gasoline and cars. Six years ago Mr. Schwarzenegger helped depose Governor Gray Davis by calling him "Car-taxula." Now he's agreed to double the same tax.
Mr. Schwarzenegger has won at least some concessions from Democrats, who run the most liberal legislature this side of Trenton. The budget deal contains a handful of useful tax breaks for job creation and the first public union workplace reforms in a decade; it also creates a new rainy day fund. These taxpayer victories wouldn't have been possible if Republicans in the legislature hadn't held out for them.
But the plan is still far short of the radical tax and spending surgery the state needs. It's loaded with short-term gimmicks -- such as $5 billion of borrowing from future lottery receipts and nearly $10 billion in one-time federal stimulus cash. Even proponents concede the plan doesn't balance spending and revenues 18 months from now.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Definitions...What they should be....
Communism - An Equality of zeroes.
Capitalism - An Inequality of zeroes.
Democracy - Government by the elected mediocrity.
Fear - The nothing that terrifies us.
Film critic - A nobody's nobody.
Life - A state of confusion between birth and death.
Luck - Proof that randomness does not exist.
Project Manager - Person hired to create a false sense of organization.
Sleep - The last amateur sport.
Time - That ingredient that makes all things impossible.
War - The less hypocritical version of peace.
Mother - The woman who is always giving birth to you.
United Nations - Incompetence in numbers.
Politics - The sand box for those who don't play well with others.
Diamond - A man's worst friend.
Money - An entity with a pocket holding time measured in nanoseconds.
Food - The unifying property that makes us the nectar of the gods.
Sex drive - That aspect of our personality that fails to separate us from the animals.
Work - The price we feel we must pay.
Guilt - The ditch on the road to contentment.
Civilization - The end product of many centuries of disorganization.
Thought - The unfamiliar which we so fear.
Consultant - A Rolling stone gathering other people's moss.
Business Policy - An early proof of the march to chaos.
Committee decision - The broth spoilt by too many cooks.
Maverick - One who has chosen to think
Accountant - The matador sent out to destroy the creative bull.
Corporate lawyer - Individual who complicates the already complex.
Sales - To perjure for profit.
Executive - Those in charge of milking the cow.
New World Order - Same as the Old War order. Just different people in charge.
Bonus - The light that makes many hands work.
Gambling - Art of parting money from a fool.
Affirmative Action - Unnatural selection
Capitalism - An Inequality of zeroes.
Democracy - Government by the elected mediocrity.
Fear - The nothing that terrifies us.
Film critic - A nobody's nobody.
Life - A state of confusion between birth and death.
Luck - Proof that randomness does not exist.
Project Manager - Person hired to create a false sense of organization.
Sleep - The last amateur sport.
Time - That ingredient that makes all things impossible.
War - The less hypocritical version of peace.
Mother - The woman who is always giving birth to you.
United Nations - Incompetence in numbers.
Politics - The sand box for those who don't play well with others.
Diamond - A man's worst friend.
Money - An entity with a pocket holding time measured in nanoseconds.
Food - The unifying property that makes us the nectar of the gods.
Sex drive - That aspect of our personality that fails to separate us from the animals.
Work - The price we feel we must pay.
Guilt - The ditch on the road to contentment.
Civilization - The end product of many centuries of disorganization.
Thought - The unfamiliar which we so fear.
Consultant - A Rolling stone gathering other people's moss.
Business Policy - An early proof of the march to chaos.
Committee decision - The broth spoilt by too many cooks.
Maverick - One who has chosen to think
Accountant - The matador sent out to destroy the creative bull.
Corporate lawyer - Individual who complicates the already complex.
Sales - To perjure for profit.
Executive - Those in charge of milking the cow.
New World Order - Same as the Old War order. Just different people in charge.
Bonus - The light that makes many hands work.
Gambling - Art of parting money from a fool.
Affirmative Action - Unnatural selection
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Scientific Concepts
Most Challenging Scientific Concepts for High School Students
(based on my experience as a teacher).
1. Newton’s Second Law of Motion (F=ma or F=mdv/dt)
2. The concept of the mole in chemistry.
3. Redox Reactions and its applications in electrochemistry.
4. Genetic Recombination.
5. Circular motion.
6. Lenz’s Law in Electromagnetism.
7. Acid-Base Buffering.
8. The working of the Electron Transport Chain.
9. Gibbs Free Energy
10. Angular Momentum.
(based on my experience as a teacher).
1. Newton’s Second Law of Motion (F=ma or F=mdv/dt)
2. The concept of the mole in chemistry.
3. Redox Reactions and its applications in electrochemistry.
4. Genetic Recombination.
5. Circular motion.
6. Lenz’s Law in Electromagnetism.
7. Acid-Base Buffering.
8. The working of the Electron Transport Chain.
9. Gibbs Free Energy
10. Angular Momentum.
On Abortion
I support a women’s right to choose but believe that access to abortion should be restricted to a three month period following conception. As a consequence I am opposed to later stage Partial Birth abortion unless the circumstances are so severe that reasonable alternatives are virtually non-existent (mother’s life in danger for example). Abortion is a classic tradeoff issue where necessary pragmatism butts heads with a vital moral predicament. While this issue, perhaps more than any other, appears on the surface to be greatly polarized a more detailed understanding shows that this is not the case. Indeed there is room for a middle ground where I believe my position resides. Despite my support for the pro-choice position I do so with somewhat of a heavy heart in realizing that I have done so on largely utilitarian grounds.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
More on Whiteness Theory
About a week ago I posted a critique of whiteness theory. on the York University bulletin board (as well as this blog). One of the frequent readers raised some objections.
Here is my response in Red. His words are in black.
I think this is a very interesting comparison, Gavin, but I also believe that the same comparison can be made with just about any powerful group that sees inequities in existing social systems. Whiteness theory is more than just a grouping…. it is an overriding ideology …. As for groups your argument would have to be looked at on a case by case basis .My experience though is that there are a significant number of groups which oppose inequities in society that are at the same time not driven by Race-Based Fascism eg. The Canadian Civil Liberties Union, SPLC, ADL, Christian Children’s Fund, Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army etc. From what I have read of Martin Luther King ( a great man by any standard) he would not have approved of Whiteness Theory either. King preached solidarity…Whiteness Theory is all about reverse discrimination as a mechanism toward a greater good.
There are certainly some I think you might be able to substitute, say, feminism in these same lines and come up with a scenario that fits in with the liberation movement of the late 1960s and 1970s. Radical Feminism is a type of fascism…a topic for another time (which is why the term Feminazi carries with it a certain truism)…Mainstream feminism is not however…. Some but not all Liberation movements were/are fascist as well…In South Africa the PAC (but not the bulk of the ANC) falls into this category. Fascist ideologies are particularly prevalent in the Muslim World these days. Wahhabism and Salafism are at their core fascist.
I still think that there is value in having the discourse. I am not saying that it should be censored but it certainly needs to be taught alongside other strategies that would give it balance and place it in perspective. I am not convinced that Professors who champion Whiteness Theory are doing this (certainly it wasn’t what I witnessed at York). So in a sense they are brainwashing their students who are forced to listen to their ideological bias as if it were gospel. This is not education….
Isn't one of the most important things that all people have equal opportunities in a society and that barriers to success be investigated, where necessary, dismantled and then rebridged to improve everyone's ability to engage in a discussion about what a society should look like? I agree that is why I champion across-the board fairness, equal treatment for all and a focus on individual as opposed to group rights.
Following this line, isn't the university the best place to have this discussion? Of course…but I don’t believe that it is happening…..at least not to the extent that it should be. Yes, perhaps York (and maybe other education faculties) have swung too far to one side, but the questions still need to be raised, investigated, discussed and, by graduating new teachers who have at least tried to wrangle with these questions, there is an opportunity to look for clear inequities within the educational systems into which they are hired. I don't think this is wrong, as long as those who are in the system use their critical skills to evaluate the questions that are being asked of them. However if students aren’t given access to the full scope of the argument (from all sides) in class time how can we expect them to think critically?
Here is my response in Red. His words are in black.
I think this is a very interesting comparison, Gavin, but I also believe that the same comparison can be made with just about any powerful group that sees inequities in existing social systems. Whiteness theory is more than just a grouping…. it is an overriding ideology …. As for groups your argument would have to be looked at on a case by case basis .My experience though is that there are a significant number of groups which oppose inequities in society that are at the same time not driven by Race-Based Fascism eg. The Canadian Civil Liberties Union, SPLC, ADL, Christian Children’s Fund, Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army etc. From what I have read of Martin Luther King ( a great man by any standard) he would not have approved of Whiteness Theory either. King preached solidarity…Whiteness Theory is all about reverse discrimination as a mechanism toward a greater good.
There are certainly some I think you might be able to substitute, say, feminism in these same lines and come up with a scenario that fits in with the liberation movement of the late 1960s and 1970s. Radical Feminism is a type of fascism…a topic for another time (which is why the term Feminazi carries with it a certain truism)…Mainstream feminism is not however…. Some but not all Liberation movements were/are fascist as well…In South Africa the PAC (but not the bulk of the ANC) falls into this category. Fascist ideologies are particularly prevalent in the Muslim World these days. Wahhabism and Salafism are at their core fascist.
I still think that there is value in having the discourse. I am not saying that it should be censored but it certainly needs to be taught alongside other strategies that would give it balance and place it in perspective. I am not convinced that Professors who champion Whiteness Theory are doing this (certainly it wasn’t what I witnessed at York). So in a sense they are brainwashing their students who are forced to listen to their ideological bias as if it were gospel. This is not education….
Isn't one of the most important things that all people have equal opportunities in a society and that barriers to success be investigated, where necessary, dismantled and then rebridged to improve everyone's ability to engage in a discussion about what a society should look like? I agree that is why I champion across-the board fairness, equal treatment for all and a focus on individual as opposed to group rights.
Following this line, isn't the university the best place to have this discussion? Of course…but I don’t believe that it is happening…..at least not to the extent that it should be. Yes, perhaps York (and maybe other education faculties) have swung too far to one side, but the questions still need to be raised, investigated, discussed and, by graduating new teachers who have at least tried to wrangle with these questions, there is an opportunity to look for clear inequities within the educational systems into which they are hired. I don't think this is wrong, as long as those who are in the system use their critical skills to evaluate the questions that are being asked of them. However if students aren’t given access to the full scope of the argument (from all sides) in class time how can we expect them to think critically?
Political Labeling
It is important to make a distinction between labeling and classification. Almost every knowledge based system makes uses of a classification paradigm to discern overall trends of thoughts and philosophies. This is useful in politics as it allows us to better understand the movements that drive history (politics is essentially history in the present). I agree that applying right/left labeling to such specific issues as abortion/stem cells/death penalty is silly but the use of such terms as Leftism and Rightism to describe political attitudes with respect to such broader themes as free markets, group/individual rights, private property ownership is not.
Ron Paul
Ron Paul is certainly one of the more intriguing characters in the US Congress. He is a true Libertartian (actually he ran for President once on a Libertarian Party ticket) who wears the free market thinking of the Austrian School of Economics on his sleeve. He speaks well and has marketed himself effectively on the internet. I tend to agree with him on many economic issues (although I am not a liberatarian) however I find his foreign policy arguments to be shortsighted and dangerous especially in a world where the necessity of a strong US as a counterwight to Islamofascism and other anti-democracy ideologies is vital. In a sense his position is a throwback to Republican Isolationism of the 1920s-1930s (although he may not be as extreme as Pat Buchanan on this issue). As someone who aligns himself to some extent with the policies of FDR and Truman (especially Truman) I cannot endorse Paul. I also disagree with his Pro-Life stance. He does however make sense in his opposition to affirmative action.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Israel nears an election
It looks as though Netantahu's lead is slipping but he still has the edge over Kadima and Labour. The Big mover though is Avigdor Leberman's right wing Israel our Home. I personally still see Netanyahu as the best bet though.
Source: Front Page
My embedded comments in Red
Israel at the Polls
By P. David Hornik
As Israelis go to the polls today in the country’s 18th parliamentary election, the main story over the last couple of weeks has been the rapidly declining lead of former prime minister Bibi Netanyahu’s Likud Party over Tzipi Livni’s Kadima Party. The implications of that story for the future course of Israeli politics are indeed far-reaching (when is an Israeli election not like that? they are always critical...).
Netanyahu’s decline is attributed mainly to the rise of a third party, Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Beiteinu (Israel Our Home). Right-wing like Likud, Israel Our Home has appealed to many Jewish Israelis exasperated with the provocations of Israeli Arabs. That exasperation peaked during the recent Gaza war, when Israeli Jews looked on as Israeli Arabs held pro-Hamas demonstrations. (This certainly was a low part in relations between the two communities)Against this background, Lieberman’s campaign promise to make Israeli citizenship conditional on loyalty to the country has gained popularity. (I like this idea...the last thing Israel needs is more fifth columnists).
Netanyahu’s depressed poll numbers also may be attributed to right-wing voters’ disgruntlement over his avowals to form a national-unity government with centrist Kadima and/or the center-Left Labor Party of current Defense Minister Ehud Barak (who almost gave away the farm several years ago) . In addition, Netanyahu has ruffled right-wing feathers with his known preference for keeping Barak on as defense minister. Keenly aware of the threat posed by Iran, Netanyahu is believed to view Barak’s good chemistry with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates as an important asset. (Bibi has a point here but I would keep Barak on a short leash).
Even with these recent dents to his popularity, Netanyahu remains the frontrunner. An aggregate of the latest polls shows Likud still leading with 26 Knesset seats (out of 120) to Kadima’s 23, Israel Our Home next at 18 and Labor trailing at 16. The two right-wing parties’ clear edge is further enhanced when the various smaller parties are added to the mix, with the center-Right bloc of Likud, Israel Our Home, and right-wing/religious satellite parties totaling 65-70 mandates to 50-55 for the center-Left bloc led by Kadima and Labor. (its still pretty close...Isn't proprtional representation annoying?)
And even that understates the center-Right’s strength. The 50-55 total for the rival bloc includes about 10 seats for Arab parties that are avowedly anti-Zionist and would not be included in any governing coalition. (Thank G-d) Add to that the fact that about a third of the Kadima MKs can be described as right-leaning, and it’s clear that the Israeli electorate now tends strongly to the Right of the spectrum (I prefer to see it as a giant wake-up call) , averse or at least skeptical of the once-dominant “land-for-peace” paradigm in dealing with hostile neighbors like the Palestinians and Syria. (The big issue though is Obama...How will he pressure Israel?)
Nonetheless, Netanyahu’s public appeals up to Election Day have shown him to be nervous and worried, and he has good reasons to be so. There is still the small possibility that Livni/Kadima will defeat him by a seat or two. Were that to occur, Livni would still find it difficult to form a coalition. Netanyahu rules out joining a Livni-led coalition; some Labor members rule out joining a coalition that includes Lieberman; that leaves a mess of small parties with crisscrossing animosities. Still, even if Livni fails and Netanyahu gets a chance to lead, a loss to Livni/Kadima would be a blow to Netanyahu/Likud’s prestige and political potency.
The larger possibility is that, thanks to Lieberman and Israel Our Home, Likud will win by only a small plurality and will have to form a coalition government—Israel’s 32nd in 60 years . But such a broad “unity” coalition will be wobbly, subject to extortionate pressures from all sides, and doomed yet again to a short shelf life (yet the Canadian left seems to like them ...go figure)
It’s against these possibilities that Netanyahu has been warning right-wing voters, urging them to forgo Israel Our Home and the smaller parties and to stay with the Likud. I understand his concern but Bibi has to show Israeli voters that he is the Bibi of 2008 not 1998....Though he makes a sound case, the best he can hope for at this point—unless the polls are way off—is, indeed, for Likud to edge out Livni/Kadima by a few seats and to become the leading, but by no means dominant, coalition-forming party (the end of BLO ....Barak, Livni and Olmert... was PLO before Barak replaced Peretz...)
Thus, the implications of this election for Israeli politics are already plain to see. The mishap of this election campaign is the rise of Lieberman/Israel Our Home. Though an intense patriot and a Russian immigrant with some fresh perspectives, Lieberman can hardly vie with Netanyahu’s intelligence, diplomatic sophistication, and proven ability in both the defense and economic spheres (although he has the advantage of not being tainted by internationalism). Lieberman’s party includes some attractive candidates but, again, cannot compare with Likud’s current impressive lineup that includes former chief of staff Moshe Yaalon, former science minister Benny Begin (still not a patch on his dad) , security expert Yuval Steinitz, and other figures of acumen and integrity. Lieberman’s successful stoking of popular fear and resentment toward Israeli Arabs—attitudes that have some basis but which also require nuance and balance—comes at the expense, for some voters, of a more sober assessment of the challenges Israel faces and which politician is best suited to meet them.
That power will be distributed among other parties is no consolation. Particularly after the current Kadima and Labor-led government’s latest mishap – a war against Hamas that has left the terrorist organization with the capacity to fire rockets and to smuggle in arms (What an awful shame....)– Netanyahu’s call to include these parties in the next government causes understandable frustration. His strongest defense is that the country needs maximal unity to face the Iranian threat (fair enough) His claims about the need to defeat Hamas, or to retain the Golan Heights and a united Jerusalem, are harder to reconcile with keeping these parties—which favor phony ceasefires and capitulations—at the helm of the nation (I see it as a recipe for more strife and bickering...)
Given a parliamentary system with an inherent centrifugal tendency, it has never been easy to achieve governmental stability in Israel. But it has never been more necessary, especially given the Iranian and other threats; the worldwide economic downturn; and a new U.S. administration whose policy toward Israel and the Middle East is still uncertain (the George Mitchell factor is a concern....). It would be heartening to think that this time stability will trump fractiousness in the Israeli parliament. Unfortunately, this latest election campaign has instilled no such confidence. (Maybe Israel should go it alone for a while...I am not so keen on theb idea but it may have some merit...)
Source: Front Page
My embedded comments in Red
Israel at the Polls
By P. David Hornik
As Israelis go to the polls today in the country’s 18th parliamentary election, the main story over the last couple of weeks has been the rapidly declining lead of former prime minister Bibi Netanyahu’s Likud Party over Tzipi Livni’s Kadima Party. The implications of that story for the future course of Israeli politics are indeed far-reaching (when is an Israeli election not like that? they are always critical...).
Netanyahu’s decline is attributed mainly to the rise of a third party, Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Beiteinu (Israel Our Home). Right-wing like Likud, Israel Our Home has appealed to many Jewish Israelis exasperated with the provocations of Israeli Arabs. That exasperation peaked during the recent Gaza war, when Israeli Jews looked on as Israeli Arabs held pro-Hamas demonstrations. (This certainly was a low part in relations between the two communities)Against this background, Lieberman’s campaign promise to make Israeli citizenship conditional on loyalty to the country has gained popularity. (I like this idea...the last thing Israel needs is more fifth columnists).
Netanyahu’s depressed poll numbers also may be attributed to right-wing voters’ disgruntlement over his avowals to form a national-unity government with centrist Kadima and/or the center-Left Labor Party of current Defense Minister Ehud Barak (who almost gave away the farm several years ago) . In addition, Netanyahu has ruffled right-wing feathers with his known preference for keeping Barak on as defense minister. Keenly aware of the threat posed by Iran, Netanyahu is believed to view Barak’s good chemistry with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates as an important asset. (Bibi has a point here but I would keep Barak on a short leash).
Even with these recent dents to his popularity, Netanyahu remains the frontrunner. An aggregate of the latest polls shows Likud still leading with 26 Knesset seats (out of 120) to Kadima’s 23, Israel Our Home next at 18 and Labor trailing at 16. The two right-wing parties’ clear edge is further enhanced when the various smaller parties are added to the mix, with the center-Right bloc of Likud, Israel Our Home, and right-wing/religious satellite parties totaling 65-70 mandates to 50-55 for the center-Left bloc led by Kadima and Labor. (its still pretty close...Isn't proprtional representation annoying?)
And even that understates the center-Right’s strength. The 50-55 total for the rival bloc includes about 10 seats for Arab parties that are avowedly anti-Zionist and would not be included in any governing coalition. (Thank G-d) Add to that the fact that about a third of the Kadima MKs can be described as right-leaning, and it’s clear that the Israeli electorate now tends strongly to the Right of the spectrum (I prefer to see it as a giant wake-up call) , averse or at least skeptical of the once-dominant “land-for-peace” paradigm in dealing with hostile neighbors like the Palestinians and Syria. (The big issue though is Obama...How will he pressure Israel?)
Nonetheless, Netanyahu’s public appeals up to Election Day have shown him to be nervous and worried, and he has good reasons to be so. There is still the small possibility that Livni/Kadima will defeat him by a seat or two. Were that to occur, Livni would still find it difficult to form a coalition. Netanyahu rules out joining a Livni-led coalition; some Labor members rule out joining a coalition that includes Lieberman; that leaves a mess of small parties with crisscrossing animosities. Still, even if Livni fails and Netanyahu gets a chance to lead, a loss to Livni/Kadima would be a blow to Netanyahu/Likud’s prestige and political potency.
The larger possibility is that, thanks to Lieberman and Israel Our Home, Likud will win by only a small plurality and will have to form a coalition government—Israel’s 32nd in 60 years . But such a broad “unity” coalition will be wobbly, subject to extortionate pressures from all sides, and doomed yet again to a short shelf life (yet the Canadian left seems to like them ...go figure)
It’s against these possibilities that Netanyahu has been warning right-wing voters, urging them to forgo Israel Our Home and the smaller parties and to stay with the Likud. I understand his concern but Bibi has to show Israeli voters that he is the Bibi of 2008 not 1998....Though he makes a sound case, the best he can hope for at this point—unless the polls are way off—is, indeed, for Likud to edge out Livni/Kadima by a few seats and to become the leading, but by no means dominant, coalition-forming party (the end of BLO ....Barak, Livni and Olmert... was PLO before Barak replaced Peretz...)
Thus, the implications of this election for Israeli politics are already plain to see. The mishap of this election campaign is the rise of Lieberman/Israel Our Home. Though an intense patriot and a Russian immigrant with some fresh perspectives, Lieberman can hardly vie with Netanyahu’s intelligence, diplomatic sophistication, and proven ability in both the defense and economic spheres (although he has the advantage of not being tainted by internationalism). Lieberman’s party includes some attractive candidates but, again, cannot compare with Likud’s current impressive lineup that includes former chief of staff Moshe Yaalon, former science minister Benny Begin (still not a patch on his dad) , security expert Yuval Steinitz, and other figures of acumen and integrity. Lieberman’s successful stoking of popular fear and resentment toward Israeli Arabs—attitudes that have some basis but which also require nuance and balance—comes at the expense, for some voters, of a more sober assessment of the challenges Israel faces and which politician is best suited to meet them.
That power will be distributed among other parties is no consolation. Particularly after the current Kadima and Labor-led government’s latest mishap – a war against Hamas that has left the terrorist organization with the capacity to fire rockets and to smuggle in arms (What an awful shame....)– Netanyahu’s call to include these parties in the next government causes understandable frustration. His strongest defense is that the country needs maximal unity to face the Iranian threat (fair enough) His claims about the need to defeat Hamas, or to retain the Golan Heights and a united Jerusalem, are harder to reconcile with keeping these parties—which favor phony ceasefires and capitulations—at the helm of the nation (I see it as a recipe for more strife and bickering...)
Given a parliamentary system with an inherent centrifugal tendency, it has never been easy to achieve governmental stability in Israel. But it has never been more necessary, especially given the Iranian and other threats; the worldwide economic downturn; and a new U.S. administration whose policy toward Israel and the Middle East is still uncertain (the George Mitchell factor is a concern....). It would be heartening to think that this time stability will trump fractiousness in the Israeli parliament. Unfortunately, this latest election campaign has instilled no such confidence. (Maybe Israel should go it alone for a while...I am not so keen on theb idea but it may have some merit...)
The York University Saga II
This is a response I wrote to critics of my York University assessment post - from last week.
To All
I will not reply specifically to the silly name calling and nonsensical grunts that define some of the last few barbs directed at me and others. Instead I wish to focus on the overall assertion that I am anti-York. This is not true.
York University has its problems as does every institution of higher learning. However its through these challenges that systems evolve…often for the better. My critique of the strike situation was not intended to rub salt in already festering wounds but rather to highlight a bigger picture that extends beyond this particular context. It was directed at the wider system. Overall York University is a force of good in the universe (as are the vast majority of higher education institutions…. even Berkley) but this does not mean that it has many fissures and chasms that need to be addressed. This was the focus of my reply.
I have mentioned before that I attended York’s MST program. My net experience was certainly positive. Yes there were several courses that appeared to be a waste of time (including a Foundations program that was driven by a single ideology - with no opposing views to the contrary) but this was ultimately outweighed by the constructivist and Vygotzkian methodologies, as well as other types of student centered learning, that I was on hand to receive from such dedicated professionals as Maurice Di Giuseppe and Wai Yin Mok (indeed I was very fortunate). Both are a credit to the profession. In fact I have taken the insights that I internalized as a student in this program back to the classroom and I know that it has helped make me a better teacher especially when working with applied and college level students.
On a different but somewhat related issue I make no apologies for my political stance. I am a classical liberal/conservative who believes strongly in the Judeo-Christian principles that define and have been central to the development of western civilization. This does not mean that I oppose the influence of other cultural inputs. To the contrary I welcomesuch enrichment provided that these do not run contrary to the ideals of free speech, democracy, responsible government and the rights if the individual. In fact I believe that Western Civilization has a strong history of accommodation to reasonable diversity.
In retrospect I have been a student of the human condition for as long as I can remember. Perhaps it’s a product of an inquiring mind, but I prefer to think of it as a cultivated sensitivity towards the betterment of our species. Its largely this passion that made me leave engineering to become a teacher. I have not regretted my decision for a single day. As a teacher I have worked in both the private and public boards. At present I teach physics and general science at an urban school here in metro. I have a critical maxim that I live by and that is to treat all my students fairly as human beings regardless of skin colour, ethnicity, income status, sexual orientation etc. I have yet to encounter a problem with such a philosophy. My students seem to appreciate this even handed approach as well.
I believe that education is the bedrock of our civilization. Without it the gains of science, law, art and culture would flounder ….as would the linchpins of democracy and free speech (I repeat these ideals to emphasize their importance). In short education is the rudder steering our shared wisdom into the future. However it is also our one safeguard against the lurking barbarisms that challenge the cumulative gain.
I am critical of social engineering whether it manifests itself in the seemingly more benign forms of white privilege, the race empowerment model, Freire’s critical pedagogy (which I do not believe to be critical at all) or the more malignant legacies of National Socialism, Marxist-Leninism , Maoism, Stalinism, International Socialism, Trotskyism and other so-called ‘progressive’ fascisms. I believe that the turmoil of history caused by these destructive philosophies (particularly in the last century) vindicates my position here.
Sadly I see a commonality that permeates each of these constructs that is echoed in the thinking of several teacher/teacher candidates on this board (and its offspring Talking Politics) - That is an inability to accept the notion of dissent. This is not so much disturbing as it is frightening especially when the monoculture of political belief is suggested as a litmus test to narrow the broad spectrum of candidates entering the profession. Anyone who has faith in liberal education values (as I do) must at the very least shudder when they hear such sentiment being expressed.
Best Wishes till later
Gavin
To All
I will not reply specifically to the silly name calling and nonsensical grunts that define some of the last few barbs directed at me and others. Instead I wish to focus on the overall assertion that I am anti-York. This is not true.
York University has its problems as does every institution of higher learning. However its through these challenges that systems evolve…often for the better. My critique of the strike situation was not intended to rub salt in already festering wounds but rather to highlight a bigger picture that extends beyond this particular context. It was directed at the wider system. Overall York University is a force of good in the universe (as are the vast majority of higher education institutions…. even Berkley) but this does not mean that it has many fissures and chasms that need to be addressed. This was the focus of my reply.
I have mentioned before that I attended York’s MST program. My net experience was certainly positive. Yes there were several courses that appeared to be a waste of time (including a Foundations program that was driven by a single ideology - with no opposing views to the contrary) but this was ultimately outweighed by the constructivist and Vygotzkian methodologies, as well as other types of student centered learning, that I was on hand to receive from such dedicated professionals as Maurice Di Giuseppe and Wai Yin Mok (indeed I was very fortunate). Both are a credit to the profession. In fact I have taken the insights that I internalized as a student in this program back to the classroom and I know that it has helped make me a better teacher especially when working with applied and college level students.
On a different but somewhat related issue I make no apologies for my political stance. I am a classical liberal/conservative who believes strongly in the Judeo-Christian principles that define and have been central to the development of western civilization. This does not mean that I oppose the influence of other cultural inputs. To the contrary I welcomesuch enrichment provided that these do not run contrary to the ideals of free speech, democracy, responsible government and the rights if the individual. In fact I believe that Western Civilization has a strong history of accommodation to reasonable diversity.
In retrospect I have been a student of the human condition for as long as I can remember. Perhaps it’s a product of an inquiring mind, but I prefer to think of it as a cultivated sensitivity towards the betterment of our species. Its largely this passion that made me leave engineering to become a teacher. I have not regretted my decision for a single day. As a teacher I have worked in both the private and public boards. At present I teach physics and general science at an urban school here in metro. I have a critical maxim that I live by and that is to treat all my students fairly as human beings regardless of skin colour, ethnicity, income status, sexual orientation etc. I have yet to encounter a problem with such a philosophy. My students seem to appreciate this even handed approach as well.
I believe that education is the bedrock of our civilization. Without it the gains of science, law, art and culture would flounder ….as would the linchpins of democracy and free speech (I repeat these ideals to emphasize their importance). In short education is the rudder steering our shared wisdom into the future. However it is also our one safeguard against the lurking barbarisms that challenge the cumulative gain.
I am critical of social engineering whether it manifests itself in the seemingly more benign forms of white privilege, the race empowerment model, Freire’s critical pedagogy (which I do not believe to be critical at all) or the more malignant legacies of National Socialism, Marxist-Leninism , Maoism, Stalinism, International Socialism, Trotskyism and other so-called ‘progressive’ fascisms. I believe that the turmoil of history caused by these destructive philosophies (particularly in the last century) vindicates my position here.
Sadly I see a commonality that permeates each of these constructs that is echoed in the thinking of several teacher/teacher candidates on this board (and its offspring Talking Politics) - That is an inability to accept the notion of dissent. This is not so much disturbing as it is frightening especially when the monoculture of political belief is suggested as a litmus test to narrow the broad spectrum of candidates entering the profession. Anyone who has faith in liberal education values (as I do) must at the very least shudder when they hear such sentiment being expressed.
Best Wishes till later
Gavin
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Whiteness Theory - Race Based Fascism
As most of you know I am not at all supportive of the idea of race based education. In particular I am very critical of whiteness theory. I see it as a fundamentally flawed construct that if taken to heart has the potential for much abuse and harm. Unfortunately its popularity in education has grown…. largely due to an ever expanding cadre of zealots who have worked resolutely to spread such dogma into education programs across North American campuses. Whiteness Theory is a dangerous idea for many reasons. In fact I would go so far as to say that it at its heart it is nothing more than another example of race-based fascism.
The most common example of race-based fascism (which was not the Fascism of Mussolini, Franco, Peron and Salazar) is National Socialism. The ideology most associated with the Third Reich. Now I can see some eyes rolling at my suggestion (comparisons with Nazism are unfortunately a dime-a-dozen these days) but I urge you, to hear me out. If you follow my points you will see that the similarity is more than just uncanny.
Lets look at this (there is a redundancy in some of the language but this is intentional)
1.National Socialism sees the world in terms of race.
Whiteness Theorists see the world in terms of race.
2. For National Socialists unjust power is held by the Jew
For Whiteness Theorists unjust power is held by white heterosexual males.
3. National Socialists believe that Jews must be stripped of their power.
Whiteness Theorists believe that white heterosexual males must be stripped of their power.
4. National Socialists believe in biasing the educational curriculum to advance their ideology.
Whiteness Theorists believe in biasing the educational curriculum to advance their ideology.
Both believe in preaching to a captive audience.
5.National Socialists sought alliances with others when it suited them (Japanese and Italian Fascists, Non-Nazi German nationalists etc).
Whiteness Theorists seek alliances with others when it suits them (multi-culturists, Marxists, unionists, gay advocacy groups, feminists etc).
6. National Socialism had clout in the university system (yes even the esteemed philosopher Martin Heidegger was synpathetic to it it).
Whiteness theorists have clout in the current university system (especially departments of Education and the Humanities since the Gramscian Revolution)
7. National Socialists weren’t afraid to used violence to rattle the liberal establishment (Munich Putsch)
Whiteness advocates have used violence to rattle the liberal establishment (the Cornell cafeteria takeover comes to mind).
8. National Socialists champion group rights over individual rights.
Whiteness Theorists champion group rights over individual rights.
9. National Socialists are utopic in their ultimate vision.
Whiteness theorists are utopic in their ultimate vision
10. National Socialists often se emotion as a weapon against reason.
Whiteness theorists often use emotion as a weapon against reason.
11. National Socialism is willing to ignore the genetic evidence against race.
Whiteness Theory is willing to ignore the genetic evidence against race.
Both are of course wedded to pseudo-scientific idealism.
12. National Socialists disdain Western traditions and Judeo-Christian values.
Whiteness theorists disdain Western traditions and Judeo-Christian values.
13. National Socialism have fringe cultural myths lurking at their periphery (eg. Teutonic Pagan legends).
Whiteness theorists have fringe cultural myths lutking at their periphery (eg. Afrocentrism).
14. National Socialism is Hegelian in that it believes in the march of history toward a specific end.
Whiteness theorists believe that they too are in line with the overall march of history to a specific end.
15. National Socialists were willing to exploit an apparent weakness of liberalism to take power (the Nazis made use of the German electoral system).
Whiteness theorists are willing to exploit an apparent weakness of liberalism for empowerment (that weakness is our sense of fairness and equality…even though I believe that this is not an ideal that we should ever surrender).
16. National Socialism is obsessed with power (a belief derived from its intellectual supremo Friederich Nietzche – although Nietzche himself would probably have disdained Nazism )
Whiteness Theory is obsessed with power (a belief derived from its intellectual supremo Michel Foucalt).
17. National Socialists justified their actions as a reaction against oppression (eg. breaking the shackles of Versailles )
Whiteness theorists consistently justify their action as a reaction against oppression (destroying white domination)
18. National Socialists guilted the Western liberal establishment into acquiescing to their demands (Policy of Appeasement).
Whiteness theorists play the guilt card as well especially in dealing with university administrations who have allowed these advocates to take over higher education courses and turn them into indoctrination workshops.
19. National Socialism has a central Sorelian myth at its core: ie. The stifling of the Will of the German People by the Jews and their allies.
Whiteness Theory has a central Sorelian myth at its core: ie. The Social Construct of Race by Whites.
20. National Socialists were intolerant to criticism of the ideology (the Brown shirts were notorious for breaking up opposition Party rallies)
Whiteness Theorists are no slouches either with respect to silencing opposition to their ideology (bring a conservative speaker to campus such as David Horowitz or Shelby Steele and you will see what I mean….).
There are probably more than these twenty....I'll let you think about it.
The most common example of race-based fascism (which was not the Fascism of Mussolini, Franco, Peron and Salazar) is National Socialism. The ideology most associated with the Third Reich. Now I can see some eyes rolling at my suggestion (comparisons with Nazism are unfortunately a dime-a-dozen these days) but I urge you, to hear me out. If you follow my points you will see that the similarity is more than just uncanny.
Lets look at this (there is a redundancy in some of the language but this is intentional)
1.National Socialism sees the world in terms of race.
Whiteness Theorists see the world in terms of race.
2. For National Socialists unjust power is held by the Jew
For Whiteness Theorists unjust power is held by white heterosexual males.
3. National Socialists believe that Jews must be stripped of their power.
Whiteness Theorists believe that white heterosexual males must be stripped of their power.
4. National Socialists believe in biasing the educational curriculum to advance their ideology.
Whiteness Theorists believe in biasing the educational curriculum to advance their ideology.
Both believe in preaching to a captive audience.
5.National Socialists sought alliances with others when it suited them (Japanese and Italian Fascists, Non-Nazi German nationalists etc).
Whiteness Theorists seek alliances with others when it suits them (multi-culturists, Marxists, unionists, gay advocacy groups, feminists etc).
6. National Socialism had clout in the university system (yes even the esteemed philosopher Martin Heidegger was synpathetic to it it).
Whiteness theorists have clout in the current university system (especially departments of Education and the Humanities since the Gramscian Revolution)
7. National Socialists weren’t afraid to used violence to rattle the liberal establishment (Munich Putsch)
Whiteness advocates have used violence to rattle the liberal establishment (the Cornell cafeteria takeover comes to mind).
8. National Socialists champion group rights over individual rights.
Whiteness Theorists champion group rights over individual rights.
9. National Socialists are utopic in their ultimate vision.
Whiteness theorists are utopic in their ultimate vision
10. National Socialists often se emotion as a weapon against reason.
Whiteness theorists often use emotion as a weapon against reason.
11. National Socialism is willing to ignore the genetic evidence against race.
Whiteness Theory is willing to ignore the genetic evidence against race.
Both are of course wedded to pseudo-scientific idealism.
12. National Socialists disdain Western traditions and Judeo-Christian values.
Whiteness theorists disdain Western traditions and Judeo-Christian values.
13. National Socialism have fringe cultural myths lurking at their periphery (eg. Teutonic Pagan legends).
Whiteness theorists have fringe cultural myths lutking at their periphery (eg. Afrocentrism).
14. National Socialism is Hegelian in that it believes in the march of history toward a specific end.
Whiteness theorists believe that they too are in line with the overall march of history to a specific end.
15. National Socialists were willing to exploit an apparent weakness of liberalism to take power (the Nazis made use of the German electoral system).
Whiteness theorists are willing to exploit an apparent weakness of liberalism for empowerment (that weakness is our sense of fairness and equality…even though I believe that this is not an ideal that we should ever surrender).
16. National Socialism is obsessed with power (a belief derived from its intellectual supremo Friederich Nietzche – although Nietzche himself would probably have disdained Nazism )
Whiteness Theory is obsessed with power (a belief derived from its intellectual supremo Michel Foucalt).
17. National Socialists justified their actions as a reaction against oppression (eg. breaking the shackles of Versailles )
Whiteness theorists consistently justify their action as a reaction against oppression (destroying white domination)
18. National Socialists guilted the Western liberal establishment into acquiescing to their demands (Policy of Appeasement).
Whiteness theorists play the guilt card as well especially in dealing with university administrations who have allowed these advocates to take over higher education courses and turn them into indoctrination workshops.
19. National Socialism has a central Sorelian myth at its core: ie. The stifling of the Will of the German People by the Jews and their allies.
Whiteness Theory has a central Sorelian myth at its core: ie. The Social Construct of Race by Whites.
20. National Socialists were intolerant to criticism of the ideology (the Brown shirts were notorious for breaking up opposition Party rallies)
Whiteness Theorists are no slouches either with respect to silencing opposition to their ideology (bring a conservative speaker to campus such as David Horowitz or Shelby Steele and you will see what I mean….).
There are probably more than these twenty....I'll let you think about it.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
The York University Strike
I posted this on the York University Education bulletin board here in Toronto. The responses were surprisngly positive (despite the leftist bias that exists)...I believe it can apply to many a North American university in one form or another....
York University is the epitome of a bloated institution. It has grown rapidly into Canada’s third largest university by admitting students who would ordinarily never even be considered for admission by Canada’s more prestigious bastions of higher learning: U of T, Waterloo, McMaster etc. The chief reason behind such an admission policy was/is to increase revenue while at the same time elevating the university as a power bloc within Canada’s world of higher education. However this has come at a price. With only a limited amount of tenured spots and other regular full-time positions the university has become more reliant on contract workers and teaching assistants whose numbers have reached a critical mass.
Place this in the context of an environment that fosters entitlement (especially such out dated notions as job security…) and labour dispute are an obvious outcome. This of course puts the university into a bind.
It can downsize, eliminate courses and throttle back admissions….. but it won’t…it loves the student revenue for one. Also if it had to cut back on courses - and contract workers as a consequence - this would most likely manifest itself in the humanities and social science fields where the university is particularly well stocked.
However no university official would dare touch the myriad of cultural study courses and ideologically derived re-education workshops that dominate the Humanities/Social Science (where much of the ‘bloat’ resides) for fear of being labeled with the stigma of racism, sexism, homophobia etc…….. the all too powerful smear tool of the political left that seems to dominate campus politics at York.
Restricting admission to the science, business and professional (SBP) study spheres are a no-go as well. The university has to its credit made considerable effort to grow these areas (for one the new President himself is eager to establish a Medical School at York) and their success is most directly linked to the status of the university as an academic institution. Besides private sector donations (which are critical for research funding) are largely associated with the SBP programs. These would likely dry up if it appeared that the university was backtracking on such initiatives.
However the system is not sustainable. Something has to give.
I personally believe that the university should downsize, cut the fat and go with a policy of less is more…
Who then is to blame for this particular strike? Answer both sides. The university for failing to exercise the tough love that would alleviate the deleterious consequences of its ongoing policies and the union for only thinking about its own personal consequences….Who then are the victims? Answer: The thousands of students who lost 11 weeks of education.
York University is the epitome of a bloated institution. It has grown rapidly into Canada’s third largest university by admitting students who would ordinarily never even be considered for admission by Canada’s more prestigious bastions of higher learning: U of T, Waterloo, McMaster etc. The chief reason behind such an admission policy was/is to increase revenue while at the same time elevating the university as a power bloc within Canada’s world of higher education. However this has come at a price. With only a limited amount of tenured spots and other regular full-time positions the university has become more reliant on contract workers and teaching assistants whose numbers have reached a critical mass.
Place this in the context of an environment that fosters entitlement (especially such out dated notions as job security…) and labour dispute are an obvious outcome. This of course puts the university into a bind.
It can downsize, eliminate courses and throttle back admissions….. but it won’t…it loves the student revenue for one. Also if it had to cut back on courses - and contract workers as a consequence - this would most likely manifest itself in the humanities and social science fields where the university is particularly well stocked.
However no university official would dare touch the myriad of cultural study courses and ideologically derived re-education workshops that dominate the Humanities/Social Science (where much of the ‘bloat’ resides) for fear of being labeled with the stigma of racism, sexism, homophobia etc…….. the all too powerful smear tool of the political left that seems to dominate campus politics at York.
Restricting admission to the science, business and professional (SBP) study spheres are a no-go as well. The university has to its credit made considerable effort to grow these areas (for one the new President himself is eager to establish a Medical School at York) and their success is most directly linked to the status of the university as an academic institution. Besides private sector donations (which are critical for research funding) are largely associated with the SBP programs. These would likely dry up if it appeared that the university was backtracking on such initiatives.
However the system is not sustainable. Something has to give.
I personally believe that the university should downsize, cut the fat and go with a policy of less is more…
Who then is to blame for this particular strike? Answer both sides. The university for failing to exercise the tough love that would alleviate the deleterious consequences of its ongoing policies and the union for only thinking about its own personal consequences….Who then are the victims? Answer: The thousands of students who lost 11 weeks of education.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Well done...ye Reds
I have always been a big English Football supporter although this year my enthusiasm for the game has waned a bit. I am not sure why this is the case but I suspect its a combination of the poor quality of football on hand (too much defensive play by the likes of Everton, Fulham, Wigan, Stoke etc), the nauseating sight of Manchester United winning more matches or perhaps its just that I have finally grown up and changed my priorities (no it can't be...can it?).
Nevertheless I have to take some consolation with respect to Liverpool's (the team I have supported since boyhood) 2-0 win over Chelsea. The Reds badly needed a result after a string of draws and have now moved into second place ahead of the Blues but behind the Devils. Fernando Torres struck late with two goals to do the damage and it was great not to have another game where Liverpool squandered the points in the twilight of the match. Although my heart wants Liverpool to win the EPL I suspect that its going to be a tall order to dethrone United whose back line seem unbeatable. Neveretheless the season is far from over with 14 or so games left to play. I will take each game in stride, curse when we lose or draw and do cartwheels when we win...but above all maintain my overall composure.....
Nevertheless I have to take some consolation with respect to Liverpool's (the team I have supported since boyhood) 2-0 win over Chelsea. The Reds badly needed a result after a string of draws and have now moved into second place ahead of the Blues but behind the Devils. Fernando Torres struck late with two goals to do the damage and it was great not to have another game where Liverpool squandered the points in the twilight of the match. Although my heart wants Liverpool to win the EPL I suspect that its going to be a tall order to dethrone United whose back line seem unbeatable. Neveretheless the season is far from over with 14 or so games left to play. I will take each game in stride, curse when we lose or draw and do cartwheels when we win...but above all maintain my overall composure.....
Thursday, January 29, 2009
History of the future is now online
A version of my book A History of the Future (2025-2525) is now online. You can read it at
historyofthefutureorg
Enjoy!!
historyofthefutureorg
Enjoy!!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Education Commentaries and Resources
The following is a list of some useful commentaries and resources with respect to education
http://www.flora.org/homeschool-ca/ - Canadian home schooling resource. Although I myself would not home school my own children (even though I am more than capable of doing so) I fully understand why many parents, who have become disillusioned with our ‘lowest common denominator’ system would.
http://www.schoolchoices.org/roo/vouchers.htm - School vouchers are an excellent method to provide parents with more school choice…it’s a shame that the defenders of the status quo have gone out of there way to combat this much needed reform…especially when many of them (including the Obamas) send their children to private schools.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/stossel/story?id=1500338 – John Stossel on Education. The ABC man is a Libertarian (which I am not) so one has to judge his argument from that perspective. Nevertheless he does make some useful points. For Stossel’s documentary Stupid in America go to http://video.google.ca/videosearch?q=Supid+in+America&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-failure-of-american-public-education/
Public Education has been in free fall for some time now.
http://www.sntp.net/education/gatto.htm - The ever present Dumbing Down continues
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article5587156.ece - As expected Dumbing Down has moved to the other side of the Pond.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/4324497/A-levels-destroyed-by-Government-interference.html - Added silly government intervention in education – translation – expect the system to worsen.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1123133/Parents-want-men-school-teachers-survey-shows.html - Men needed in teaching. That the field is top heavy with female educators is no great revelation but men continue to shy away from this vital occupation…
http://townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2008/10/21/bill_ayers_scary_plans_for_public_schools?page=full&comments=true – The Bill Ayers phenomenon
http://www.city-journal.org/2008/eon0423ss.html - More on Ayers and the influence of critical pedagogy and its pernicious presence in education.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/951475/posts - Conservative under attack by ‘tolerant’ leftists. Shock horror….Isn’t the left all about toleration?
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/mccluskey200407120836.asp - A libertarian view of No Child Left Behind
http://www.hoover.org/research/focusonissues/focus/11282221.html - More on NCLB.
http://www.flora.org/homeschool-ca/ - Canadian home schooling resource. Although I myself would not home school my own children (even though I am more than capable of doing so) I fully understand why many parents, who have become disillusioned with our ‘lowest common denominator’ system would.
http://www.schoolchoices.org/roo/vouchers.htm - School vouchers are an excellent method to provide parents with more school choice…it’s a shame that the defenders of the status quo have gone out of there way to combat this much needed reform…especially when many of them (including the Obamas) send their children to private schools.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/stossel/story?id=1500338 – John Stossel on Education. The ABC man is a Libertarian (which I am not) so one has to judge his argument from that perspective. Nevertheless he does make some useful points. For Stossel’s documentary Stupid in America go to http://video.google.ca/videosearch?q=Supid+in+America&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-failure-of-american-public-education/
Public Education has been in free fall for some time now.
http://www.sntp.net/education/gatto.htm - The ever present Dumbing Down continues
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article5587156.ece - As expected Dumbing Down has moved to the other side of the Pond.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/4324497/A-levels-destroyed-by-Government-interference.html - Added silly government intervention in education – translation – expect the system to worsen.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1123133/Parents-want-men-school-teachers-survey-shows.html - Men needed in teaching. That the field is top heavy with female educators is no great revelation but men continue to shy away from this vital occupation…
http://townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2008/10/21/bill_ayers_scary_plans_for_public_schools?page=full&comments=true – The Bill Ayers phenomenon
http://www.city-journal.org/2008/eon0423ss.html - More on Ayers and the influence of critical pedagogy and its pernicious presence in education.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/951475/posts - Conservative under attack by ‘tolerant’ leftists. Shock horror….Isn’t the left all about toleration?
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/mccluskey200407120836.asp - A libertarian view of No Child Left Behind
http://www.hoover.org/research/focusonissues/focus/11282221.html - More on NCLB.
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