My Beauty Best Teacher

And Francophone Africa thinks its independent? Sanou Mbaye writes about the yoke of the CFA franc:

More appalling is the fact that France guarantees the CFA franc’s free convertibility into hard currency, originally on the condition that all 15 Franc Zone countries surrender 100% of their foreign reserves to the French Treasury. The amount was reduced to 65%, and then 50%, in 2005, but France still deducts its share directly from these countries’ export earnings.
Moreover, the mandatory 20% foreign exchange cover stipulated in the convention signed with France in 1962 now stands at 110%. And a foreign-exchange control enacted in 1993 ensures that only France benefits from this capital drain by limiting the free flow of capital to France alone. The ensuing massive capital flight has bled the region’s economies and eroded their competitiveness.

More here
via Loomnie

If anyone is looking for a good book to read, I read a really good review for The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal by Robert P. Murphy (Regnery, 2009) (272 pages) over at the Campaign for Liberty. It is a good review of an excellent book:

Government of all kind depends on elaborate mythologies to keep the people complacent in the face of constant attacks on their liberty, their property, and even their lives. Kings used to proclaim that they were divine or at least that they ruled with divine approval, so disobedience to them was actually disobedience to God or the gods. That worked to keep most of the citizenry in line for a very long time.

As religion started losing its hold over people, rulers came up with new ideas. One was that the state was like a big, sheltering family where everyone had to cooperate for the common good -- as directed by the government. Another idea was that the alternative to control by the government, anarchy, was so terrifying that it must be opposed at every turn. Government, according to this notion, is our bulwark against many calamities, including economic implosion. If it weren't for the benevolent, far-seeing actions of politicians and their hired regulators, we would have to endure repeated and prolonged depressions. So even if you aren't crazy about everything the government does, you need to accept it because the alternative is so much worse.

Economist Robert Murphy (Ph.D. from New York University, formerly on the faculty of Hillsdale College and now an independent scholar) agrees that we can learn a lot by looking back at the Great Depression and New Deal, but maintains that the lessons to be learned are the exact opposite of those that our political establishment (including its many intellectual hangers-on) want us to learn. Far from proving any defect in capitalism, the Depression actually shows that politicians should refrain from political meddling with the economy, especially federal tampering with money and credit. Also, if we hunt for the truth about the New Deal, we discover that it was just a parade of endless folly and bungling that made things worse.

That is exactly what Murphy is trying to accomplish with a book that is aimed at the everyday reader, easy to read, and free of jargon. The political scoundrels would love to keep this book out of people's hands.

As a teacher, I have been fighting for years to make sure that in the districts that I teach in, the Great Depression is taught correctly. And by correctly, I mean that they will learn both the liberal version of the story of the cause of and recovery from the Great Depression and they will learn the conservative version of the story. I fight to make sure that in my school and others, teachers and students are knowledgeable about both versions, so that after being educated they can make their own decisions, informed of the bias on both sides. The reason why I do this is because once students become informed, once they become educated, once they are exposed to both sides, they almost always agree with the conservative interpretation of events- that the cause of the Great Depression was (mostly) government, and that the depth of the GD was caused by (mostly) government, and that the recovery from the GD was caused by less government (mostly).

The Great Depression has many important lesson to teach us today, and one of the most important is to understand the nature of the myths surrounding it, and we need to work to dispel those myths. By doing that, the world will become a better place.

UPDATE: I've found out through a Friend Who Must Not Be Named that the great Zach Crossen was a contributer to this fine book. Good work spreading the truth Zach!

Via Fox News:

A leaked partial document produced by the Bureau of Land Management and obtained by Fox News suggests the Obama administration is considering a plan to lock up 13 million acres of land -- and the Department of Interior is refusing to answer questions.

First, a little background: The federal government owns about one-third of the land in the United States -- most of it in western states. For example, 84 percent of Nevada is owned by Uncle Sam. But the government leases large parcels of federal land for all sorts of things -- grazing, mining, exploration, recreation.

Those commercial activities create jobs and tax revenue for the states. Tax revenues from commercial activity on federal lands often pays for local schools. However, with the single stroke of his pen, President Obama can use the Antiquities of Act of 1906 to turn federal land into National Monuments. That would effectively lock up the land from any kind of private use or development.

The plan may actually be more than 13 million acres. Republican members of the House have asked for the rest of the memo, but the Department of the Interior is refusing to hand it over.

It is not really a surprise that the leftists running the Obama machine want to put declare more areas of the United States ceremonial grounds, and it isn't a surprise that these plots by greenies will have the real effect of hurting every aspect of our society. It isn't even that surprising that leftists in the administration are trying to do this in secret and are refusing to answer any questions on it.

What is surprising to me is that you or your friends or your family are voting for Democrats who agree with this, who support it, and who are working to block every effort to bring this proposal to the light of day. Oh, I know Republicans are saints and that when big-government Bush and compassionate conservatives ran things in DC it wasn't perfect, but the alternative is clear- by voting Democrat, you are supporting secret proposals to unilaterally put large areas of the US off-limits for economic development all in the name of some green religion.

Bunmi Oloruntoba of Bombastic Elements asks?:

...why Africans can't speak for themselves. Well, no African I know of has that degree of media enabled celebrity to combine with advocacy in order to amass the amount of soft power it takes to leverage and access political power in ways the Bonos, Geldofs, Brajelinas, Oprahs and others can. That's why they do the talking to the donors on our behalf and what I guess we find annoying, apart from them, is the how aid to Africa, under late capitalism, works better for them rather than us.
It's time to start thinking of the poverty fighting industry like we are learning to think of Wall Street, credit default swaps and the whole industry of debt creation; like the director of "Enjoy Poverty," Renzo Martins, alludes to, Africa's poverty is now a resource and it is those who have accumulated massive amounts of soft power that can leverage this resource to, on one hand, fight the same poverty, and on the other hand do with it whatever

More here

In early May of this year, thirteen new instructional superintendent positions were posted on the DCPS website with annual salaries ranging from 120,000 to 150,000. Many were aghast after learning of the news especially in light of the 528 million dollar deficit that DC government is currently facing as well as Rhee's overspending of the central office budget. Rhee and company's rationale for doubling the number of school superintendents is to improve teacher quality and raise student achievement.

Bright Simmons writing in Ashoka Tech:

Africa has been consigned to the passive consumption of technology rather than the latter’s utilisation for transformation in view of this “charitisation” of tech transfer. Such a pattern of appropriation is inert, and, by so being, also an added drag on a continent buffeted by retrogressive currents. Technology is disseminated in the same design that other commodities are distributed, thereby entrenching patterns of underdevelopment. In the past 50 years, matters have steadily become worse.

Continuing he asserts that:

Technology is not merely a catalogue of tools. It is a culture and a mindset. It is an approach to getting ahead, taking over, making do, reaching out, and thinking through. A worldview animated by technology is a counterpoint to one decorated by mythology. No one argues that mythology can’t be beautiful. Mythology requires as much creative and persuasive power to get right as technology since it also requires social buy-in. But where we are interested in poverty-busting development, I bet you, dear readers, that in any prudent society technology must come up tops.

More here

Occasionally people email me some pretty off color jokes. This is one of them- keep in mind this is supposed to be funny for some.

*Drinking with a Kentucky Girl*

A Mexican, an Arab, and a Kentucky girl are in the same bar.

When the Mexican finishes his beer, he throws his glass in the air, pulls out his pistol, and shoots the glass to pieces. He says, 'In Mexico, our glasses are so cheap we don't need to drink with the same one twice.'

The Arab, obviously impressed by this, drinks non-alcoholic beer (cuz he's a Muslim), throws it into the air, pulls out his AK-47, and shoots the glass to pieces. He says, 'In the Arab World, we have so much sand to make glasses that we don't need to drink with the same one twice either.'

The Kentucky girl, cool as a cucumber, picks up her beer, downs it in one gulp, throws the glass into the air, whips out her 45, and shoots the Mexican and the Arab. Catching her glass, setting it on the bar, and calling for a refill, she says, 'In Kentucky, we have so many illegal aliens that we don't have to drink with the same ones twice.'

Why the emphasis on misery? And the single story... from Medecins sans frontieres

For all those who came out to Logan School yesterday, I thank you for your support. The Nathan Saunders - Candi Peterson endorsed slate of candidates for the Washington Teachers' Union Elections Committee won overwhelmingly. (See the list of candidates below under May 27, 2010 entry). Candidates for AFT delegates will be announced soon.

Doing things the right way matters. They posted a video over at powerlineblog of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie conducting a town hall meeting in Bergen County. In the video the Governor responds to a teacher who thinks she is underpaid, and to another who is outraged that state funding for the local library is slated to be cut. His responses are sensible, honest, and understandable, and reflect conservative values. But what I was struck with the most by these town hall meetings is that they were open to anyone and they were filled with opponents of his policies, not hand-picked supporters.

This is in stark contrast to the town hall meeting that my Congressman, Democrat Gary Peters, held last year. At Peter's one and only townhall meeting, union groups and Democrats from out of district bussed in supporters who began to line up for the townhall early in the day. Arriving 4 hours before the townhall was scheduled to begin, I found myself at the end of a long line, and didn't get in to talk to Peters- along with hundreds of other constituents of his who have day jobs. It didn't matter anyways- unlike conservative Republican Governor Christie, who took questions from constituents and talked to them, liberal Democrat Congressman Peters filtered all the questions through his aides, responding to the modified and moderated questions with prepared talking points and lecturing.

And unlike Christie, who held many townhalls, Peters has been in virtual hiding his district and has held only one open townhall, and the one that he went to he snuck into the meeting and snuck out of the meeting, never speaking to or even saying hello to the hundreds of constituents who came to the townhall but couldn't get in because it was packed by bussed in SEIU supporters. Attempts by constituents to meet with Peters at his office have been met by thugs who don't allow you to park anywhere near his building, and several times he has baited and switched meetings with constituents, scheduling 'open office hours' and then when people showed up having his aides tell people to go away because he isn't around.

Watch for yourself the video of what happens when you put conservative Republicans in office and compare that to what I wrote about liberal Democrats (Report from Peters Townhall Sept 09). The difference between the two is clear.

From the Global Voices Technology for Transparency project:

Technology for transparency projects stand to benefit more Africans. However for this to be realised, it is necessary that the project leaders do more promotion of their projects, and aggressively and collectively lobby their governments to provide a safe working environment. The project leaders also need to be more creative in reaching out to illiterate people in rural areas. For funders, they should consider more funding towards personnel, operating costs, and technical training.

More here

Although the The National Education Association (NEA) recommends to teachers only three books (one of which is Saul Alinsky's book Rules for Radicals- see my explosive post NEA Recommends Saul Alinsky's Rules For Radicals for the details on that story), there are a lot of books out there that first year teachers and veteran teachers may find helpful to read. Good teachers should always be professional developing themselves (and I don't mean by that sitting in the mandatory PD meetings that are utterly useless), and one way to do that is to read some good books.

Online University Reviews has pulled together 50 Incredible Books Every Educator Should Read, and it is indeed a very good list. There are books by teachers for teachers to get a jump on that next school year, books written with inspiring educators in mind, books on how to become an educator, books focused on helping educators improve their craft, and a list of some darned good fiction books that every educator should read before getting into teaching. It's a good list- go check it out!

50 Incredible Books Every Educator Should Read

Sanou Mbaye on reasons for renewed growth in the continent:

Many factors have contributed to this upturn. Emerging-market demand has pushed up commodity prices. Urbanisation has given rise to a dynamic informal sector. Improved governance, higher food production, increased inter-regional trade, debt cancellation, better use of official development assistance (ODA), and thriving telecommunications and housing markets have helped as well.
But transfers from the African diaspora stand out as the most significant contributing factor. A study commissioned by the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development indicates that more than 30 million individuals living outside their countries of origin contribute more than $40bn annually in remittances to their families and communities back home. For sub-Saharan African countries, remittances increased from $3.1bn in 1995 to $18.5bn in 2007, according to the World Bank, representing between 9% and 24% of GDP and 80-750% of ODA...[continue reading]

From the Washington Examiner, by Byron York, comes this story "As economic worries worsen, White House puts on the glitz":

At a time when the unemployment rate stands at 9.9 percent, when jobs are still being lost, when worries about the global economy are causing breathtaking volatility on Wall Street, when millions of Americans who still have jobs are worrying more than ever about the safety of their retirement savings — at a time when all that is going on, the Obama White House has turned itself into a showcase of glitzy extravagance.

Wednesday night’s White House state dinner for Mexican President Felipe Calderon was, as far as the dinner itself was concerned, a fairly routine, if sumptuous, affair. The East Room was a grand setting, and First Lady Michelle Obama brought in a favored Chicago chef to put together a complex and expensive menu. “The main course of Oregon wagyu beef came with a Oaxacan black mole sauce with more than 20 ingredients that takes days to come together,” reported the Associated Press.

Of course state dinners are supposed to be special. But where the Obama/Calderon affair really hit the heights was in the festivities after the dinner, which took place in a huge tent — the word “tent” doesn’t quite do it justice — set up on the South lawn. As the AP reported:

R&B diva Beyonce topped the entertainment bill for the dinner, taking place in the East Room of the White House, with the action later moving to a luxury marquee on the South Lawn of the presidential mansion. The marquee, the size of two-thirds of a football field, decked out in elaborate black decor and nightclub-style lighting, featured a stage and baskets of flowers and models of Monarch butterflies dangling from the ceiling.

It was a scene the most ostentatious party-giver would have envied: the White House turned into a luxurious, high-dollar nightclub.

Read this whole story over at the Washington Examiner and check out the pictures- while America suffers, our Celebrity-in-Chief cries out "let them eat wagyu steak!".

A while ago George Soros answered the question "How does one Become a Philanthropist?"with the answer, "Get Rich First".Rising Asia is proving him right the FT reports "As Asia emerges, so do philanthropists":

Asia’s emerging wealthy elite don’t have a wide reputation for giving to charity, but new data shows they have not been getting the credit they deserve.India this week become the first BRIC country to be ranked a major donor by Save the Children, reflecting widening philanthropy in the world’s fastest growing economy after China. It is now on a par with donors like Italy, Germany, Romania and South Korea.International non-governmental organisations are registering the highest growth of donors anywhere in the world among growing Asian economies.

More here

Elections have consequences. Eight years ago, Michigan voters choose to elect a Democrat as its Governor, and four years ago, they returned that Democrat to office and gave her a majority in the Michigan House. And these Michigan Democrats have since made the wrong choices for Michigan residents.

One such choice was Democrat Jennifer Granholm's decision to abolish the Department of History, Arts and Libraries, which was created less than a dozen years ago by Republican John Engler to better protect Michigan's history. This Department cost very little but performed an important function of protecting Michigan's history and heritage. Many feared that when it was abolished and its programs were re-organized, this would lead to the cancelling of many of those programs. They were right.

Granholm, and the Democrats in Michigan's Congress, recently abolished a $50,000 subsidy for the Michigan Historical Marker Program. This program places green metal markers statewide, commemorating everything from the Roseland Park Mausoleum in Berkley to the Michigan Central Railroad Depot in Grass Lake (1,630 markers total). It is a very visible and important program, requires one staff member for administration at the state level who verifies the history and writes the summary that is engraved on each marker, and operates at the cost of only $50,000 per year. And Granholm and the Democrats in Michigan's Congress cut it.

Democrats cut the Michigan Historical Marker Program ($50K/year) instead of cutting the Commission on Spanish Speaking Affairs Program ($250K/year), which assists Michigan’s Spanish-speaking population with education and employment- things which the Michigan Department of Civil Rights already deals with.

Democrats cut the Michigan Historical Marker Program ($50K/year) instead of cutting the Consumer Involvement Program ($200K/year), which supposed to help consumers participate in forums and self-help groups, and fund a consumer hotline. Few know of or even use this program.

Democrats cut the Michigan Historical Marker Program ($50K/year) instead of cutting the Community Mental Health Service Program (CMHSP), which dispenses $3.5 million dollars a year from the general fund to favored ethnic groups. Mental health services should not be withheld or dispensed on the basis of ethnicity.

Democrats cut the Michigan Historical Marker Program ($50K/year) instead of cutting Senior Volunteer Services Program, which gives away $5.6 million of this money from the general fund to people who choose to volunteer to help out others.

Democrats cut the Michigan Historical Marker Program ($50K/year) instead of cutting the Cooperative Extension Services program, which provides $27 million dollars a year from taxpayers to support educational programs for handicapped horseback riding, sewing, pottery, etc.

Elections have consequences. When you or your family members or your friends vote Democrat, they are choosing to support individuals who would spend thousands to millions of dollars more each year of your hard-earned money on the wrong things rather than not taking your money with lower taxes or funding small worthy projects like the Michigan Historical Marker Program. Keep this in mind when you vote for Michigan Governor and Michigan House and Michigan Senate in this coming election this November.

In Sahara Reporters Okey Ndibe writes:

A nation that jails or amputates the limbs of petty thieves, but encourages its big thieves to run for the presidency – such a nation is bound to sail from one disaster to another. There are many Iboris in the space called Nigeria. It’s our individual and collective challenge to ensure that there’s neither rest nor hiding place for these plunderers – neither in Abuja nor in Dubai

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali discusses tolerance and Islam during an interview about her new book Nomad:

If you compare the way Muslims take offence at perceived insults that are not insults, but are just a critical way of looking at their religion, then I start to ask myself, why are Muslims so hypersensitive to criticism and why don't they do anything with it except to respond by denying it or playing the victim? And I've come to the conclusion it's because of the gradual indoctrination – from parents, teachers – that everything in the Qur'an is true; Muhammad is infallible, you have to follow his example and defend Islam at all times, at all costs.

More here

You judge a Congress mainly on how well it does on domestic affairs (and to see some of my judgements on the recent activity of Congress in domestic affairs see my recent posts Congressional Democrats Continue Mockery of Global Warming Debate or Democrats in Congress= High Unemployment). You judge a President mainly on how well he/she does on foreign affairs. And for that, you need to read a recent article by Charles Krauthammer called The Fruits of Weakness:

The real news is that already notorious photo: the president of Brazil, our largest ally in Latin America, and the prime minister of Turkey, for more than half a century the Muslim anchor of NATO, raising hands together with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the most virulently anti-American leader in the world.

That picture -- a defiant, triumphant take-that-Uncle-Sam -- is a crushing verdict on the Obama foreign policy. It demonstrates how rising powers, traditional American allies, having watched this administration in action, have decided that there's no cost in lining up with America's enemies and no profit in lining up with a U.S. president given to apologies and appeasement.

They've watched President Obama's humiliating attempts to appease Iran, as every rejected overture is met with abjectly renewed U.S. negotiating offers. American acquiescence reached such a point that the president was late, hesitant and flaccid in expressing even rhetorical support for democracy demonstrators who were being brutally suppressed and whose call for regime change offered the potential for the most significant U.S. strategic advance in the region in 30 years.

They've watched America acquiesce to Russia's re-exerting sway over Eastern Europe, over Ukraine (pressured by Russia last month into extending for 25 years its lease of the Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol) and over Georgia (Russia's de facto annexation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is no longer an issue under the Obama "reset" policy).

They've watched our appeasement of Syria, Iran's agent in the Arab Levant -- sending our ambassador back to Syria even as it tightens its grip on Lebanon, supplies Hezbollah with Scuds, and intensifies its role as the pivot of the Iran-Hezbollah-Hamas alliance. The price for this ostentatious flouting of the U.S. and its interests? Ever more eager U.S. "engagement."

They've observed the administration's gratuitous slap at Britain over the Falklands, its contemptuous treatment of Israel, its undercutting of the Czech Republic and Poland, and its indifference to Lebanon and Georgia. And in Latin America, they see not just U.S. passivity as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez organizes his anti-American "Bolivarian" coalition while deepening military and commercial ties with Iran and Russia. They saw active U.S. support in Honduras for a pro-Chavez would-be dictator seeking unconstitutional powers in defiance of the democratic institutions of that country.

This is not just an America in decline. This is an America in retreat -- accepting, ratifying and declaring its decline, and inviting rising powers to fill the vacuum. Nor is this retreat by inadvertence. This is retreat by design and, indeed, on principle.

It's the perfect fulfillment of Obama's adopted Third World narrative of American misdeeds, disrespect and domination from which he has come to redeem us and the world. Hence his foundational declaration at the U.N. General Assembly last September that "No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation" (guess who's been the dominant nation for the last two decades?) and his dismissal of any "world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another." (NATO? The West?)

Given Obama's policies and principles, Turkey and Brazil are acting rationally. Why not give cover to Ahmadinejad and his nuclear ambitions? As the U.S. retreats in the face of Iran, China, Russia and Venezuela, why not hedge your bets? There's nothing to fear from Obama, and everything to gain by ingratiating yourself with America's rising adversaries. After all, they actually believe in helping one's friends and punishing one's enemies.

*5/26/10- Update on Principal Firings

In the Globe and Mail Tristan Coloma reports on the African immigrant/trader community network in China:

This place is not really China, nor is it Africa; it lies in the midst of major highways in Guangzhou, southern China (formerly known as Canton). Officially, 20,000 Africans – probably more like 100,000 – live in or pass through the 10 square kilometres of “Africa Town,” where Igbo, Wolof and Lingala mingle with Mandarin and Cantonese. Some Chinese call it “Chocolate Town.”...In this roaring city of 18 million inhabitants and tens of thousands of micro-factories, the commercial activity is very different from the oil deals and huge public-works contracts the Chinese have secured in Africa.“We’re not here for fun,” said Ibrahim Kader Traore, an entrepreneur from Ivory Coast. “We work hard and do well. In Abidjan, people still swear by France, where you might be able to save $13,000 over 25 years; in China, you can have $130,000 in just five years.”...[continue reading]

On the question of who Chinese should be dealing with:

A new transnational African business class may be emerging, which could flood sub-Saharan Africa with low-cost products from China. “China is trying to keep things at government level,” said Mr. Barry, “but the Chinese people will soon realize that it’s better for business to deal directly with ordinary Africans.” China would prefer Africans to do business with China without living here, yet 90 per cent of Guangzhou’s Africans act as intermediaries between the African continent and Chinese factories.

Image courtesy of the Globe & Mail

Pop quiz for you. Who said the following statement- US President Barack Obama or Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao?

The complete formulation of our economic policy is to give full play to the basic role of market forces in allocating resources under the macroeconomic guidance and regulation of the government.

Who said this statement- the leader of a a Chinese authoritarian state that operates under principles of unlimited government and no constitutional checks or the President of the US government controlled and run by the Democrats? The idea is that capitalism and market forces are good, but need to be controlled and guided and regulated by government.

Time is up- it was the Chinese Premier! But that was a tough question, right? How about another?

Did this happen in Russia or America recently?

Imagine you're a senior executive at a large business. Hard at work in your office, you're informed that, for reasons unknown, your leader wants to talk to you. He tells you that you are charging too much for your product. You assure him that prices are determined by the market. Unimpressed, the leader demands you lower your prices. Days later, government agencies announce an investigation into the business practices in your industry.

Come on now... it's tough... but did this happen recently in Russia or America? In a former communist nation now run by a dictator who operates in an increasingly tyrannical manner, or did this happen in the good-old-USA? Which country has a leader who thinks it is the proper role of government to set how much businesses can charge for products and is willing to use the power of the state to attack industries that he doesn't like?

Time is up- it was Russia! Nothing like that would ever happen in our nation, would it? State-run capitalism? Nah!

In the BBC, more of the same from France and Francophone Africa:

Image via Wikipedia

...since he took office, President Sarkozy has perpetuated France's time-honoured tradition of parallel diplomacy in Africa.One set of advisers presides in public over the official business with Africa, while high-ranking Elysee staff, in tandem with unofficial middlemen, is in charge of the lucrative and highly personalised politics that Mr Sarkozy denounced during his presidential campaign...[continue reading]

Hope to see you on Friday,

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes in the Globe & Mail:

Fifteen years ago, what little Nigerian pop music existed was niche. Today, it is mainstream cool. The young musicians are legitimate stars; some are very talented, others leave me puzzled about why anybody would listen to them, but what is never in doubt is how central they are in the newly energized self-image that young Nigerians have of themselves. The music is cross-cultural, polyglot, derivative, but is also, at its core, very nationalist. It is music whose centre is its Nigerian-ness.

More here

After the recent global warming scandals whereby government workers faked and falsified research in order to get more money, the 'consensus' on global warming is now being called into question. So what does Congress do? Hold a phony sham of a Congressional committee hearing and invite four out of five 'believers' to testify in front of Congress how people are harassing them now that their cover has been blown and people realize what hacks they are.

Democrats are not holding a hearing to investigate the truth behind the matter. They are not having witnesses come forward to testify about anything that could to increases in my life, liberty, and property. Democrats are not trying to uphold the rule of law, achieve more transparency in climate change research, or contributing new information to the debate. They are simply engaging in typical sham fraud and giving a forum for fraudulent scientists to get on record with their opinions about the myth of man made global warming. As long as Democrats run Congress, you can expect thousands of conferences like this every day in Washington DC, all paid for by your tax money.

The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming is an utter joke- this is the actual government official meeting notice.

Next Hearing 5/20: Climate Science in the Political Arena
Select Committee hearing to examine attacks against climate scientists:
The scientists involved in the stolen climate emails from the University of East Anglia were exonerated by the British House of Commons and an international panel of climate experts, led by Lord Oxburgh. Even after these investigations found that nothing in the emails undercut the scientific evidence of climate change, attacks against scientists continue. Reports of harassment, death threats and legal challenges have created a hostile environment, making it challenging for actual data and scientific analyses to reach the public and policymakers.

On Thursday, May 20th, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will hold a hearing to examine the intersection between climate science and the political process. This hearing, entitled “Climate Science in the Political Arena,” will feature prominent climate scientists, some of whom have been the target of these attacks. This hearing will explore scientists’ ability to present data and information that can guide global warming solutions in a sometimes fierce political landscape.
WHAT: Climate Science in the Political Arena
WHEN: Thursday May 20, 2010, 9:00 AM
WHERE: 1334 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC and online
WITNESS LIST:Dr. Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences and Chair of the National Research CouncilDr. Mario Molina, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Professor, University of California at San Diego Dr. Stephen Schneider, Professor, Stanford University Dr. Ben Santer, Research Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Dr. William Happer, Professor, Princeton University

According to the Huffington Post, the first four people are all true believers (who feel that there can be no arguing or even suggesting that global warming is happening, that it is man made, that it is bad, and that only massive government control over every aspect of our lives can save us) and only William Happer is a non-believer ("the sole GOP witness arguing against the global warming consensus"). Yeah, that's fair and balanced- a four to one ratio to testify about this issue.

Every Democrat in Congress needs to be thrown out of office sooner rather than later if this is representative of how they spend their days. Every single one of them.

Viktor Yanukovych was not my choice for President of Ukraine (I favored hottie Yulia Tymoshenko), and so I really got a laugh out of this video of a wreath attacking him at a recent ceremony. One of two things happen- either the wind blows the wreath into him, or the Russian's skill at attacking Ukrainian Presidents is getting worse.

Reason Wafawarova on Eurocentrism:

European history, Western values, as well as Western democracy are all mythological concepts -- they are pretty much a well-packaged set of propaganda designed to create in us a personality other than our own, a culture divorced from our own reality, and beliefs that have nothing or very little to do with our own setting.

More here

It is important that when you call your Congressman or Senator a 'liberal' or a 'conservative' or a 'moderate' that you be accurate. National Journal has put together a pretty neat interactive tool that rates lawmakers, on a conservative-to-liberal scale, based upon their Congressional voting record throughout 2009. Lawmakers are assigned scores for each of their roll-call votes on leading economic, social and foreign-policy issues.

As a side note, Coffee Milk Conservative drew my attention to the fact that the magazine also determined that “long-standing ideological divides have persisted – and even deepened – in President Obama’s Washington”- in other words, the election of Obama made American more partisan, more divided, and more bitter than even under George Bush!

It is a neat tool, but keep in mind, it does not rate the importance of various votes- foe example, my Congressman, Democrat Gary Peters, had a composite liberal score of 57.3, placing him very close to Congressman Bart Stupak on the spectrum, which seems to imply that Peters and Stupak are moderates. But on the 10 most important issues facing our nation today, including healthcare, stimulus, cap and tax, etc, Peters and Stupak voted party-line liberal 90-100% of the time (see my post Gary Peters Scores a 90% On the Pelsoi Index- A Vote by Vote Analysis of Peters Liberal Record in Congress). I guess one way to look at it is that if you look at all the meaningless votes, Peters is simply a liberal, but on the important issues of the day, Peters is a super-liberal.

Breaking News

An inside source reports that DCPS principals were advised recently in a principals meeting that the Rhee administration plans to hire 600 new teachers for school year 2010-2011. On May 14, 2010, Chancellor Rhee appeared on the Kojo Nnamdi radio show with hosts Tom Sherwood and Mike Debonis . At that time Rhee indicated that up to as many as 400 teachers would be hired in the fall. So it seems this number has risen if we look at what was reported in a meeting with DC principals. It is not coincidental that George Parker, WTU president indicated back in March 2010 before WTU Representative Assembly members in a meeting that Rhee planned to fire 15% of WTU members through the IMPACT evaluation process in July 2010 . Roughly 15% of WTU membership equals 600 teachers/school personnel. That would mean that 600 teachers could be expected to be fired this summer. The million dollar question is how did Rhee know in March that she planned to fire 15% of our teachers through the IMPACT evaluation given that the process has yet to be completed ? Will the 600 teachers fired through IMPACT be replaced by the 600 new hires? These are questions we should all consider.

On another interesting note, many of our schools will face cuts to teaching staff by the end of June 2010. So far Cardozo SHS and McKinley SHS have been advised to expect teacher cuts in every department for the upcoming school year as well as cuts to other DCPS employees. This could represent as many as 15 teachers to be cut from both of these high schools. Other cuts which have been reported to date include 5 teachers to be cut from Luke C. Moore Academy. Please check with your Local School Restructuring Teams (LSRT's) to determine how many cuts to expect from your schools. Feel free to send me reductions to staff c/o saveourcounselors@gmail.com

Should teachers ratify the WTU Tentative Agreement, many of the teachers who will be excessed from their schools may be terminated within two months if they are probationary status. If not, they would be forced to consider some unpleasant options: buy-out if monies are available, forced into early retirement if eligible and monies are available and or have the option of a 1 year extension to continue to work as a tutor or long term substitute assuming they have a satisfactory performance rating or better. As most of you know Rhee's five year education plan seeks to rid our schools of a significant share of our teacher workforce through buy-outs, terminations, forced retirements and lay offs. Worst possible scenario, DCPS employees could face another reduction in force for the upcoming school year 2010-2011.

Inquiring minds want to know how Rhee is allowed to continue spending willy nilly without regard to the 528 million dollar budget that DC government currently faces. To date, Rhee has not been required to place a freeze on hiring and spending practices. While CFO Gandhi and Chancellor Rhee have proposed to rob Peter to pay Paul in our DCPS budget in order to fund the WTU Tentative Agreement, it seems that one thing we can be assured of more teacher and staff cuts are on the horizon.

Posted by The Washington Teacher

Common Cents blog points out that when the Democrats took over control of Congress in January 2007 the US unemployment rate was 4.4% (after 55 consecutive months of job growth) and now the unemployment rate is hovering around 10%. Blame Bush and blame Obama, but the truth of the matter is that it was when the current group of Democrats won office in 2008 that everything started to go south in our nation. If you were suck and you were trying to figure out with the sickness was and you found out that it started right after you started eating a certain food, you would logically assume it was the eating of the food that caused the sickness. Well, America's economy is sick, and it all started right after the Democrats took control of Congress in 2008.

I've already picked up on this- in my post Employment-Population Ratio Drops to 58.5% I analyzed the employment-population ratio over the past 20 years and concluded that the biggest gains in employment vs population (a better measure of economic health than the unemployment numbers) came when Republicans ran Congress instead of the Democrats. This research backs up what we now know to be true- that the Democrats need to be thrown out of office at every level of government.

You can't afford to sleep through this election or stay home- it important that you and every friend you have goes and votes against Democrats this election cycle.

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani on Nigerian reactions to Welcome to Lagos:

...hardly have I come across passionate expressions of "Oh my goodness! There are people in our country living like this? What shall we do about them? How fast can we act?"
The Nigerian obsession with image often approaches neurotic proportions. What people think of us appears to take manic precedence over who we really are. You might imagine that the rational response to some of the infamies we are accused of across the globe would be: "Are we really like this? If we are, then let's do something about it – quick." Instead, we perpetually harangue and speechify to "correct" the world's impressions of us. If it isn't moaning about the depiction of Nigerians as criminals in the movie District 9, it is berating Hillary Clinton for daring to describe the situation in our country as heartbreaking and our leadership as a failure, or boycotting Oprah for warning against Nigerian 419 scams on her show.

More here

What is in the water down in Alabama? They are rolling out the best campaign ads that I have ever seen (and I have seen some other good campaign ads before)- it must be that in Alabama they speak English and not some sort of liberal gobly-gook. This one is from a guy running for Agriculture Commissioner, via The Other McCain: