Right Mind

That’ll Show Those ‘Birthers’

Right-Mind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:44:50 GMT

Lew Rockwell writes: “The Hawaiian government wants to block unruly people who write asking about Obama’s full birth certificate. But there is an unintentionally funny quote from a state official in the story.” From the Associated Press : “Sometimes we may be dealing with a cohort of people who believe lack of evidence is evidence of a conspiracy,” said Lorrin Kim, chief of the Hawaii Department of Health’s Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development. Lack...(read more)

Obama on Fox News

Right-Mind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:30:06 GMT

Obama took his healthcare reform to Fox News tonight. He must really be desperate, thinking that perhaps he can persuade Fox viewers that ObamaCare will save them. Interestingly, NBC and CBS deemed the interview “contentious,” It would be nice if those stations would contend with the president instead of rolling over for belly rubs. Do you think that Bret Baier held his own with the President, actually asking him the hard questions? http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/special-report/index.html#...(read more)

Episcopalians to consecrate second gay bishop

Right-Mind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:23:52 GMT

Today the Episcopal Church announced that it will consecrate its second non-celibate gay bishop this May. The American Anglican Council responded with a strongly-worded statement: “What this means is the majority of The Episcopal Church’s leaders – down to the diocesan level throughout America – are exercising no restraint as requested by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the primates of the Anglican Communion. Despite pleas to the contrary, they have given their consent for...(read more)

AP: Obama Misleads Voters about ObamaCare’s Effects on Premiums

Right-Mind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:14:40 GMT

You know he’s in trouble when the Associated Press says he’s lying. Buyers, beware: President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul will lower premiums by double digits, but check the fine print… The [Congressional Budget Office] concluded that premiums for people buying their own coverage would go up by an average of 10 percent to 13 percent , compared with the levels they’d reach without the legislation… “People are likely to not buy the same low-value...(read more)

Pelosi: "Once we kick through this door," more "reform" will come, & fast.

Right-Mind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:47:51 GMT

From the Washington Examiner : If you have any doubt that the Democratic leadership of the House views passing the current health care reform bill as the beginning, not the end, of the process of creating a national government health care system, just note what Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a group of bloggers on Monday. “My biggest fight has been between those who wanted to do something incremental and those who wanted to do something comprehensive,” Pelosi said, according to an account...(read more)

UK Telegraph: Two more Climategate scandals - rainforest and polar bear claims proved false

Right-Mind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:41:22 GMT

More on the religion of the AGW faithful. From the U.K. Telegraph : Oops! There go another two bricks, tumbling out of the IPCC wall of deceit on man-made global warming – there is not a lot left now; even the Berlin Wall (to which the AGW construct is ideologically allied) has survived better. Unhappily for Al, Phil, Michael, George and the rest of the scare-mongers, these two discredited components are among the most totemic in the AGW religion. Firstly, a new study, funded by Nasa (which...(read more)

Massachusetts Treasurer: "HCR would bankrupt the country like it is bankrupting Mass

Right-Mind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:36:09 GMT

From CNBC : The Massachusetts treasurer said Tuesday that Congress will "threaten to wipe out the American economy within four years" if it adopts a health care overhaul modeled after the Bay State's. Treasurer Timothy Cahill — a former Democrat running as an independent for governor — said the 2006 law has succeeded only because of huge subsidies and favorable regulatory changes from the federal government. "Who, exactly, is going to bail out the federal government...(read more)

Transparency: stats on FOIA denials by Obama vs Bush

Right-Mind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:17:47 GMT

Turns out that George W. Bush was relatively transparent compared to his successor. From Raw Story : One year later, Obama’s requests for transparency have apparently gone unheeded. In fact a provision in the Freedom of Information Act law that allows the government to hide records that detail its internal decision-making has been invoked by Obama agencies more often in the past year than during the final year of President George W. Bush. Major agencies cited that exemption to refuse records...(read more)

Democracy Denied: Changing How Washington Works

Right-Mind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:10:29 GMT

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero - 55 BC What have we learned in 2,065 years? Clearly nothing at all. HT: LCJ...(read more)

Logos School wins the Idaho State Knowledge Bowl

Right-Mind — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:35:47 GMT

Logos School won the Idaho State Knowledge Bowl tournament today.

Off to nationals for the team!

US National Debt Clock Update

Right-Mind — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:57:00 GMT

The US National Debt Clock keeps ticking away. We’re up to $12.6 trillion as I post this. If you’ve not visited the US National Debt Clock website, I encourage you to do so....(read more)

Tom Sowell: Alice in Health Care

Right-Mind — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:49:02 GMT

Thomas Sowell has a 4–part series in the Jewish World Review detailing how ObamaCare won’t fix anything. Most discussions of health care are like something out of Alice in Wonderland. What is the biggest complaint about the current medical care situation? "It costs too much." Yet one looks in vain for anything in the pending legislation that will lower those costs. One of the biggest reasons for higher medical costs is that somebody else is paying those costs, whether an insurance...(read more)

Making the Case that Fatherless Families are the Culprits

Right-Mind — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:39:43 GMT

Over at the UK Guardian , Tony Sewell (CEO of the charity Generating Genius) argues that the absence of black fathers is the cause of the dramatic problems black boys are experiencing in school. Higher education minister David Lammy today appealed for black fathers to become more involved with their children. He is aware, as I am, of the devastating consequences of absent fatherhood within the black community: 59% of black Caribbean children live in lone-parent households, compared with 22% of white...(read more)

Academia agrees: Grad School is a racket

Right-Mind — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:27:14 GMT

From The Chronicle of Higher Education:

A year ago, I wrote a column called "Graduate School in the Humanities: Just Don't Go," advising students that grad school is a bad idea unless they have no need to earn a living for themselves or anyone else, they are rich or connected (or partnered with someone who is), or they are earning a credential for a job they already hold.

In a March 2009 follow-up essay, I removed the category of people who are fortunately partnered because, as many readers wrote in to tell me, graduate school and the "two-body problem" often breaks up many seemingly stable relationships. You can't assume any partnership will withstand the strains of entry into the academic life.

Those columns won renewed attention last month from multiple Web sites, and have since attracted a lot of mail and online commentary. The responses tended to split into two categories: One said that I was overemphasizing the pragmatic aspects of graduate school at the expense of the "life of the mind" for its own sake. The other set of responses, and by far the more numerous, were from graduate students and adjuncts asking why no one had told them that their job prospects were so poor and wondering what they should do now.

Gallup: Federal Deficits and Debt Becoming Americans' Top Concern

Right-Mind — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:20:47 GMT

Recent polls of interest from the Gallup Organization : Federal Deficits and Debt Becoming Americans' Top Concern : In addition to asking about current problems facing the country, the March 4-7 poll also asked Americans to say what they think will be the most important problem facing the United States in 25 years. The federal budget deficit is mentioned most often in this regard, by 14% of Americans, slightly more than say the economy in general (11%) and the environment (11%). It’s about...(read more)

2010 US Census Forms Arrive in the Mail

Right-Mind — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:13:36 GMT

There are some interesting things with the 2010 Census. First, question #9: “What is Person 1’s race?” Choices : White Black, African Am., or Negro American Indian or Alaska Native Negro??? American Indian? How politically incorrect. Then again, if they had said “Native American”, I could have circled that choice. After all, I was born in Florida. Can I be a native Floridian without being a native American? Perhaps the census bureau wasn’t being so dumb after all...(read more)

Crap

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:46:05 GMT

Day By Day© by Chris Muir....(read more)

Clean Sheet.

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:45:17 GMT

Day By Day© by Chris Muir....(read more)

Ringo and Brown file for Representative

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:08:20 GMT

Shirley Ringo and Judith Brown filed for State Representative for Idaho District #6. David Klingenberg filed to run against Ringo. Judith Brown filed to lose against Tom Trail again. This Friday, March 19 th is the final day for filing. http://www.sos.idaho.gov/ELECT/candidat/2010_primary_candidates.pdf...(read more)

Census tour stops by Moscow: Mailers expected this week

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:19:05 GMT

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News . StacyAnn McBain said it's no joke that April 1 is Census Day. That's about when Americans should mail in their 2010 Census questionnaires that are slated to arrive in mailboxes this week. McBain, media specialist for the census in Idaho, joined a handful of volunteers midday Monday in Moscow's Friendship Square to raise awareness about the importance of census participation. "For every missed count, Idaho misses out on $1,400 per person...(read more)

45% of Democrats in swing districts will vote against their Dem Rep. for voting for ObamaCare

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:21:20 GMT

From Redstate : Following up on Moe, some detailed survey data is out this morning from 35 swing congressional districts around the country. Things don’t look good for the Democrats. In those 35 swing districts, people really don’t want health care deform going through. The poll was of 1,200 registered voters, which means likely voters will be even more amplified. For 82% of those surveyed, the heath-care bill is either the top or one of the top three issues for deciding whom to support...(read more)

State Sovereignty Advanced with Firearms Bills in Many States

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:19:40 GMT

From FontCraft : Wyoming became the latest state to enact a Firearms Freedom act, following close on the heels of South Dakota where the governor signed a similar act last week. …These acts declare that the federal government has no jurisdiction to regulate the manufacture and sales of firearms or ammunition within a state, so long as those activities do not cross state lines, causing them to enter federal jurisdiction under the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution. The Idaho House...(read more)

Obama Akbar! Unconstitutional Procedure Being Used to Pass Unconstitutional ObamaCare

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:08:40 GMT

Our Constitution was shredded years and years ago. It’s just now obvious to all. From Brian Darling over at Big Government : House leaders are preparing to ram through ObamaCare this week without a vote. Not only is the legislation unconstitutional , but the process being used to pass it is unconstitutional. The House is preparing a rule that would consider the Senate-passed version of ObamaCare passed in the House even though members would never directly vote on it. That would violate Article...(read more)

Beware the Ides of March

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:03:29 GMT

5 March 2010....(read more)

Climate Scientists Wrong About The Rainforests

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:43:39 GMT

I’ve lost track of how many times the “Climate Scientists” have been wrong over the last three months. It seems like every week, we get a new story of how they are wrong. Perhaps it would be easier to ask what they are right about? From the U.K. Telegraph : A new study, funded by Nasa, has found that the most serious drought in the Amazon for more than a century had little impact on the rainforest's vegetation. The findings appear to disprove claims by the Intergovernmental...(read more)

Lawmakers: Amend the U.S. Constitution

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:32:14 GMT

Details from Spokesman Review Betsy Russell's blog An Eye on Boise . The House State Affairs Committee has voted largely along party lines to both introduce and send to the full House a new version of HCR 60, a resolution backed by Gov. Butch Otter and the Idaho Republican Party that urges amendments to the U.S. Constitution to narrow the scope of the Commerce Clause and broad the 10th Amendment on states' rights. Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, called the measure "a significant step towards...(read more)

Gallup Poll of Interest: Obama Weekly Job Approval Average at 48%, Tied for Lowest

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:28:55 GMT

Recent polls of interest from the Gallup Organization : Obama Weekly Job Approval Average at 48%, Tied for Lowest : At 48%, President Barack Obama's weekly job approval rating for March 8-14 ties the lowest weekly average of his administration so far....(read more)

The Toxic Culture Theory: a coarsened culture has stripped young men of inspiration.

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:27:15 GMT

Temple University Professor Steven Zelnick lays out the theory that a coarsened culture has stripped young men of inspiration. Zelnick is a humanist who teaches literature and labors as a core curriculum and Great Books advocate at Temple University.

Boys do poorly in reading in the early grades, they fail in great numbers to graduate from high school, they go on to higher education at lower percentages than young women, and they fail to complete higher education programs at a noticeably higher rate than their female counterparts.

So many theories have been proposed for these failings that it is difficult to keep up with them. Boys’ brains don’t work right for what school does; boys’ energies are not suited to sitting still (more Ritalin, please); boys are biologically best suited to manual labor; boys lack male role models in school settings; boys see cooperative behavior as submission; boys resist cupboard-keeping neatness; and so on. Undoubtedly, these are all true, and always have been.

I would like to propose a wider perspective by looking for causes in the broad cultural environment. As a humanist who teaches literature and labors as a core curriculum and Great Books advocate, I premise my thoughts on old notions of human nature, social values, and cultural continuity.

Thus, I would add something I am not hearing in this discussion. Boys, and young men in particular, respond very well to noble purpose but haven’t had much to go on in the past fifty years of our bedraggled history. So many of the young men I see in my classes have mentally and emotionally quit, given up. They are not supported by inspiring ideals that help organize and focus their energies.

They seem prematurely weary, defeated by obstacles they haven’t met yet, bored and restless and merely going through the motions. Some have adopted the cool pose of indifference, and, indeed, they really don’t care. When I ask them where they are going with their educations, they look perplexed, as if I had awakened them from a deep sleep. Instead of a direction, they tell me a long wandering tale of possibilities, a tale told with an embarrassed smile and no conviction.

Who can argue that popular culture has not become coarsened and hurtful to boys?

Axelrod: Americans Are Too Stupid To Care About Congressional Procedures

Right-Mind — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:59:38 GMT

It makes me wonder if the dumbing down of government school kids concerning “civics” (as we used to call the government class) has not been premeditated. What would be the results of raising two generations of kids who do not understand the policy, procedures, and practices of civil government and our constitution? From News Real Blog : The audacity and arrogance of the Obama administration was once again on full display this week when Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod appeared...(read more)

Census 2010 in Moscow

Right-Mind — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:45:28 GMT

The 2010 Census is in town doing an awareness day. The following photos are courtesy of roaming photojournalist, Daniel F. I’ll post the brochures later. Pix via Daniel F....(read more)