This week’s rant of the week is Performance related pay for teachers: a dialectic from d-squared.
Rant of the Week: 1/18/09-1/24/09
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Category Archives: Politics
Is it over for now?
Unlike in 2006, when the post-war talk all centered around Hizballah’s performance and the IDF’s poor showing, the talk this time around is about the ethics of Israel’s assault and the way in which the operation was conducted. The good news from Israel’s perspective is that even the most hardened Hamas supporter would have a very tough time declaring victory. It appears as if even the best units from Hamas were rolled up with little difficulty, and though I am not in favor of using body counts to gauge operational excellence, it has to be said that Israel inflicted a lot of pain on Hamas with very few casualties of their own.
I don’t know if this is really over yet. I wonder if Israel’s unilateral ceasefire had something to do with an upcoming change in administration in America. They may have felt like they had a deadline to meet. Now if Hamas starts firing again, they can tell Obama they would have liked to have stopped but Hamas would not let them.
Why not let children join too?
The ban on disabled people joining the army should be scrapped, according to Britain’s human rights watchdog.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has told the Ministry of Defence that the current ban is descriminatory and that all three armed forces should allow disabled people to serve.
But defence chiefs and government ministers are opposing any moves to relax the rules, saying recruiting disabled people would impact on morale, operational effectiveness and would create a two-tier military organisation.
The EHRC has written to the MoD to demand that it meet the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Person with Disabilities, which Britain has signed.
Russia's Plan To Destroy Ukraine
This came via RussiaToday, which is a propaganda arm of the Russian Government (sort of like voice of America except more effective)
The claim about the proposed American backed pipeline having no gas to ship is wrong. Certainly those countries are currently selling their gas to Russia and China, but that is because they have no other way of getting it to market. There is nothing in their contracts that would make those countries keep on selling the gas to Russia and China once they had alternatives. Moreover, if that pipeline were to be built, lots of western companies would come in and find new sources of gas.
The real issue for the proposed American backed pipeline is who has the will and capability to defend should it be built. Furthermore, it is questionable if any of the proposed pipelines can be built in the current economic climate. Who is going to fund them when everybody is worried about keeping their banking systems intact? That is Ukraine’s only prayer in this contest.
In the long term, this is all a non-issue. The real issue is the continuing implosion of all Slavic societies. Spats such as this one will only accelerate that implosion.
Obama's Plan To Save America
This is what I love about the DEC
A major sticking point for the DEC was the threshold used to determine if inflow (water coming into the system from above ground) or infiltration (groundwater) is excessive. The report uses a threshold established in Massachusetts because New York has no established standards, explained John Lagorga, a consultant with Stearns & Wheler who is overseeing the flow management evaluation.
DEC Engineer James Burke said it would take about a week to determine if the Massachusetts threshold is acceptable or if new standards were required.
Got that? Their was no standard mandated by law. So they tried to use another State’s standard. But that still might be found in noncompliance. The DEC just has not made up its mind yet. You are guilty until proven innocent.
There is no reward for virtue in this life
Mexico is one of two countries that “bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse,” according to a report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command on worldwide security threats.
The command’s “Joint Operating Environment (JOE 2008)” report, which contains projections of global threats and potential next wars, puts Pakistan on the same level as Mexico. “In terms of worse-case scenarios for the Joint Force and indeed the world, two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico.
In many ways, Mexico has it worse than Pakistan. Lots of low level types die every day in Pakistan. But most of the elites are never touched because they play a double game. When Pakistan is forced to admit that someone of high level is working with the “bad guys” they put them under house arrest and let them do what they please. In return, the militants rarely kill anyone important in Pakistan.
In contrast, a lot of high level people in Mexico have either been killed (because they did not work with the bad guys) or had to face real jail time (because the government found out that they were working for the bad guys). Both of these things are largely unheard of in Pakistan. This is largely because Mexico is trying to destroy the destabilizing elements with in the country where as Pakistan is trying to get along with its destabilizing elements.
The disgusting thing is that the US is giving far more money to Pakistan (who is not really trying) then it is to Mexico (who are making an honest effort). At least there is a chance that Mexico can be saved. No such chance exists for Pakistan.
And least you think that we can deal with any collapse of Mexico by the simple expedient of sealing our border, remember this: A lot of our oil comes from Mexico, and it will not easily be replaced.
New Yorkers want out worse that Californians
The number of people leaving California for another state outstripped the number moving in from another state during the year ending on July 1, 2008. California lost a net total of 144,000 people during that period — more than any other state, according to census estimates. That is about equal to the population of Syracuse, N.Y.
The state with the next-highest net loss through migration between states was New York, which lost just over 126,000 residents.
Since New York has a much smaller population than California, this means that New York is losing more people in percentage terms than California.
Not Widely Reported
The press corps, most of us, don’t even bother raising our hands any more to ask questions because Obama always has before him a list of correspondents who’ve been advised they will be called upon that day.
I can still remember when Bush was taking flack for trying to control the media, but Obama can get away with this with nary a peep.
But that is hardly news to anyone who has been paying attention.
They are intimidated by sheep?
A shepherd who allowed his wayward sheep to intimidate his neighbours has admitted breaching an Asbo which banned the flock from the village.
Reading the article closely, it seems that the real problem is that the shepherd had the legal right to let his sheep roam freely, but this legal right caused problems for the people of the town. So it seems that they used laws designed to limit the movement of wife beaters and such to force him to keep his sheep away from where he had the legal right to let his sheep roam.
Still, the headline of people in the U.K being intimidated by sheep seemed like such a good representation of the character of the modern inhabitants of England that I just could not pass it up.