How do you home school a kid this smart?

Evan O'Dorney has won the National Spelling Bee, a gold medal at an international math Olympiad, and the Intel Science Talent Search's $100,000 top prize. And he's no slouch in his spare time either--a black belt in tae kwon do, and studies piano performance and composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

"Evan says the person who's had the most influence on his scientific career is his mother, Jennifer, who home-schools him. His dad, Michael, is a BART operator."

Danville's Evan O'Dorney wins Intel Science Talent Search - San Jose Mercury News

HT Joanne Jacobs

Washington Post Apologizes For 'Substantial' Plagiarism In Two Stories

Borrowed? Ten out of 15 paragraphs in two articles? I wonder if Pulitzer Prize winner Sari Horwitz, who is from Arizona, has read the new White House White paper on intellectual property on increasing the prison terms? I think that came out today and it looks pretty grim and over reaching.

Washington Post Apologizes For 'Substantial' Plagiarism In Two Stories

Why are they demonizing the Koch brothers

When you see the Socialist/Communist/Progressives waving their posters at the various rallies, like Madison, or Washington in October, you always see something about the Koch brothers being behind some vast right wing conspiracy. I have no idea who they are or what they do, but progressives just turn purple at the mention of their name, kind of like Halliburton (in which so many liberals are invested) and so I noticed this item at Volokh.

David Bernstein writes "Let’s review: It seems undisputed that the Kochs total spending on political and ideological causes is somewhere around 10–15 million dollars per year. How big a role does this money play in the American political system? Let’s start with ideological/intellectual causes. The liberal Ford Foundation spends over $400 million a year. The liberal MacArthur Foundation spends about $140 million a year. Liberal billionaire George Soros spends about $150 million a year. Liberals control the vast majority of academic positions in almost every humanities and social science department in every major university in the country, with total budgets in the tens of billions.

Even in the libertarians’ tiny corner of the ideological universe, 10 million dollars would only keep the Cato Institute running from January to April this year, and leave nothing left for any other libertarian cause or organization. So the idea that the Kochs are having some huge influence on American politics through their ideological philanthropy is grossly exaggerated, at best.

Even more absurd is the notion that the Kochs’ political contributions are distorting American politics. The Obama campaign spent hundreds of million of dollars on the 2008 election. The 2010 midterm elections cost about $4 billion. The Koch’s relative spending is like pissing in an ocean. Such spending, of course, can under the right conditions win an interest group some narrow favors, but that’s a far cry from suggesting that it can buy “a great deal of influence over the political system” in general.

No, the reason that some liberals have latched on to the Kochs as their bogeymen is that this is what demagogic political propagandists due to win support from their base. They find a mysterious, ominous-sounding (billionaires! who sell oil!–what could raise greater suspicions on the Left?) villain on whom to blame their troubles, and rouse the passions of the partisans of their sides. As these things go, the Kochs are a more innocuous villain than, say, the “Likudnik” bogeymen of the mid-2000s, or Pat Robertson’s “secular humanists who support a New World Order” of the 1990s, but it’s all the same phenomenon."

The Volokh Conspiracy » Jonathan Chait Completely Misses the Point
I figured as much. The libs are upset that George Soros who supports hundreds of leftist causes and church groups gets such bad publicity from the right, so they had to find somebody on the right who contributes to politics, but they are a drop in the bucket compared to the left's deep pockets.

Questions and Answers about Potassium Iodide (KI)

For some reason, there are talking heads and reporters accusing the Surgeon General Regina Benjamin of being irresponsible in her suggestions about Potassium Iodide. Sounds like she's up on things to me. KI should be used only under instruction from local health authorities and it's really not her responsibility to know that Californians were panicking--at least in my opinion. There's enough going wrong in the Obamadmin without making things up to criticize.
Thyroid.org: Questions and Answers about Potassium Iodide (KI)

Ohio's House Bill 63--to save children

"(COLUMBUS, OH) - Ohio Right to Life's H.B. 63, the Judicial Bypass legislation, was voted out of the House of Representatives yesterday with an overwhelming 64 to 33 bipartisan vote - nearly three quarters of the members of the house. This pro-life legislation now heads to the Ohio Senate for additional hearings.

"Ohioans know that parental consent laws save lives," said Mike Gonidakis, Executive Director for Ohio Right to Life. "We are trying very hard to preserve parents' ability to help their daughters when they are confronted with the challenges of teenage pregnancy. A recent study proved that responsible parental consent laws reduce the minor abortion rate by 18.7 percent."

Current Ohio law states that parental consent is required before a minor can obtain an abortion, but a loophole exists which allows judges to bypass parental involvement and allow a minor to obtain an abortion. H.B. 63, which is sponsored by Rep. Ron Young (R-Leroy) and Rep. Lynn Slaby (R-Copley), puts an end to this "rubber-stamp" judicial approval. On behalf of all pro-life Ohioans, we would like to thank Representatives Young and Slaby, along with Speaker of the House Bill Batchelder for his support and leadership by passing pro-life legislation.

Ohio Bill to Strengthen Parental Consent on Abortion Passes | LifeNews.com

No Bureaucrat Left Behind

Or is that the Behind of Left Bureaucrats?

"NCLB [No Child Left Behind] is actually the eighth reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Passed as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty, this first federal intervention into what was originally a state responsibility included just five titles in 32 pages. The effect of the ESEA was felt quickly across the country—but not by the nation’s school children: after passage of ESEA, state education bureaucracies doubled in just five years. Now NCLB spans more the 50 programs, 10 titles, and 600 pages. The bureaucrats are winning."
Morning Bell: No Bureaucrat Left Behind | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

Billions and billions have been spent the last almost 50 years on "The War on Poverty," and yet to hear Democrats moan about food insecurity, wage gaps, education wastelands, food deserts, minorities in prison populations, Head Starts that need a kick-start, and dying cities (all controlled by Democratic administrations), the war was lost after the first decade of infusing money. It's America's 50 year war, and we're still losing because the generals and majors are designing, manufacturing, and distributing failed weapons for the boots on the ground.

In Egypt's Tahrir Square, women attacked at rally on International Women's Day - CSMonitor.com

After George W. Bush freed the women of Iraq and Afghanistan, I believe a number of women ran in democratic elections for office and won. So what's wrong in Egypt that women are being attacked on International Women's Day and told to go home and wash clothes? (Actually, the guys in the picture look like they could use a shower and change of clothes.) Maybe President Obama, who was so bold in speaking out on behalf of unions in Madison, should say something just as bold about the rights of women in Egypt? But, maybe they couldn't reach him on the golf course.

Women attacked in Egypt

The core and the crust of leadership

No one in our media bothered to check out Barack Obama's facts and story he supplied them in two books--but this German leader's thesis is bogus and he loses his job. All of Obama is bogus according to Cashill's book--Bill Ayers was the author, not just a ghost writer, of Obama's books. He even included a relationship with a young woman in the Obama book that was really Ayer's. Cashill is an editor; he says no one who is a poor writer at 21 turns into a good writer at 33 unless he's been writing regularly, and Obama didn't. All evidence (and it's very little) of his writing before his books shows someone who couldn't pass 8th grade English. So where did all this talent come from that just wowed the critics? From buddy Bill Ayers. These things are not that difficult to uncover. Never mind a birth certificate--how about a little paragraph checking and an SAT score. But the Germans?

"Two weeks ago, the charismatic German politician and heir-apparent to Chancellor Angela Merkel, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, resigned as minister of defense. It had come to light that his doctoral dissertation was adorned with more than 300 instances of plagiarism. A spectacular leadership failure to be sure, but why? A simple way to think about leadership is to divide it into two parts — a core and a crust. The distinction gives us a clearer eye. The core represents those things that are indispensable, while the crust those things that are important. What then goes in the core? And what goes in the crust?"

The core and the crust of leadership | Deseret News

Yes, what goes on at the core?

More Mortgage Mischief and ways to stall the recovery

Some days I think the Obamadmin is looking for ways to stall the recovery. Are his people against him, or are they helping him with his plan? It's too complicated to track his lies, which began even before his campaign. His treatment of the American people is like an abusive spouse. And the Democrats just keep coming back for more.

"The new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's website proclaims that no financial company "should be able to build, or feel pressure to build, a business model around unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices." How ironic, then, that the bureau itself is trying to extend its reach by extorting billions of dollars from private mortgage servicers, regulating their business by fiat, and stalling a U.S. housing market recovery."

Review & Outlook: More Mortgage Mischief - WSJ.com

Sorry Mr. Krugman, you flunk unionizing 101

Paul Krugman, left wing journalist and Nobel prize in something, has really stepped into it now. He claimed that Texas children were doing more poorly than Wisconsin's who have the benefit of all those rich, well-pensioned, unionized teachers with collective bargaining rights.

However. . .

Texas students beat Wisconsin in every category when ethnicity is taken into account. See Iowahawk, who usually writes a humor column, but in this case is very serious.

"So how to compare educational achievement between two states with such dissimilar populations? In data analysis this is usually done by treating ethnicity as a "covariate." A very simple way to do this is by comparing educational achievement between states within the same ethnic group. In other words, do black students perform better in Wisconsin than Texas? Do Hispanic students perform better in Wisconsin or Texas? White students? If Wisconsin's kids consistently beat their Texas counterparts, after controlling for ethnicity, then there's a strong case that maybe Texas schools ought to become a union shop.

Luckily, there is data to answer this question via the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP is an annual standardized test given to 4th and 8th graders around the country to measure proficiency in math, science, and reading. Participation is fairly universal; if you've had a 4th or 8th grader in the last few years, you're probably familiar with it. Results are compiled on the NAEP website, broken down by grade, state, subject and ethnicity."

Could this be why attendance at German Mass is so low? They're Protestants?

"In anticipation of Pope Benedict XVI's forthcoming visit to his homeland, more than two hundred German theologians -- men and women who have earned doctoral degrees in theology and teach in German universities -- have issued a manifesto, "The Church in 2011: A Necessary Departure." The manifesto itself does not identify the destination for which the Church is to depart, but the terminus ad quem seems reasonably clear from a careful reading of the document: Catholicism is to transform itself into another liberal Protestant sect by conceding virtually every point at issue between classic Christianity and the ambient culture of the post-modern West.

It is, perhaps, no surprise to find German Catholic theologians publicly supporting the ordination of married men and women to the ministerial priesthood (overtly), same-sex "marriage" (slyly), and full communion within the Church for those in irregular marriages (subtly but unmistakably). These causes have been espoused for years. German theologians dissented en masse from the 1993 teaching of Veritatis Splendor on the nature of moral acts and from the 1994 teaching of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis on the Church's inability to admit women to Holy Orders. What was particularly striking about this new manifesto was its attempt to address serious problems with tried-and-failed solutions. That bespeaks a remarkable lack of intellectual creativity and historical sense." Continue reading here

Deconstructing Obama by Jack Cashill

I was in the public library the other day, which has a real struggle purchasing both politically conservative and Christian conservative titles, and was shocked to see Jack Cashill's book, "Deconstructing Obama." It was actually displayed, not just shelved with new books [I've since checked the catalog and it has one copy for 3 locations compared to about 15 of Woodward's Bush title when it was current]. I debated whether to check it out. I really didn't want to read a confirmation of why I don't like the man. I opened it, and found it extremely readable. Also, I'd just come from a lecture that "deconstructed" the history of women in art, so I thought, why not? Let's see if they can take it as well as dish it out.

Cashill's interview on C-SPAN, Feb. 17, 2011, in Kansas City.

"Jack Cashill questions whether President Obama wrote his memoir, Dreams from My Father. Mr. Cashill argues that Barack Obama was assisted in the writing of his 1995 memoir by Bill Ayers and contends that the president's life story is different than the one presented in his biography. Jack Cashill presented his argument at the Kansas City Public Library in Kansas City, Missouri."

If you don't have time for the book, here's the article.

State says damage to marble at Capitol in Madison could hit $7.5 million

When has anyone from the Tea Party damaged a public building? They are always cleaning up after themselves (see 9/12 and 8/28), whereas the lefties on the dole always want someone else to clean up their messes--like ruining companies or towns after a strike, or moving labor off shore, or setting bad examples for school children, or like talking green but leaving trash. I wonder what $7.5 million could have bought for Wisconsin's school children?

State says damage to marble at Capitol could hit $7.5 million - JSOnline

The comments are very telling. Conservatives know costs; liberals know only ridicule and hype.

HT Another Black Conservative

Standing with the people of Japan

On the golf course. And he understands their culture because he grew up in Hawaii where there were Japanese (3rd and 4th generation Japanese-Americans).

Ah, Mr. President. It's always all about you, innit?

Can't help but remember how the leftist rumor-mill went berserk when President Bush took a few minutes to gather his thoughts when he'd been told about planes being flown into the World Trade Center. I believe that resulted in "the truthers." Or the media when he flew over New Orleans rather than land. Now we have a President cool enough to golf when it looks like the middle east is being torn apart in civil war and earthquakes all over the place plus flooding in many parts of the U.S.A. And still the libs love it. Or this in April 2010

President Barack Obama has played golf 32 times since he took office, eight more than his predecessor George W. Bush - who was mocked by the Left for his fondness for the game - did in his entire presidency.

However, fortunately for the people of Japan, they do know how to handle disasters, and a caller to Rush today who just recently returned from Japan reports they are on the golf course too, and there are wonderful stories of survival ready, when the media stop with the disaster mode.

Another Black Conservative

is blogging and worth reading. Noticed Clifton on "next blog" this morning. He provides some insight in his bio:

"I am a black conservative from a black conservative family. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and finally settled in New Jersey. Throughout my life I knew I did not share many of the common beliefs of other American blacks. For starters, I never took to the term African-American. I have met too many real Africans who are now Americans, to ever with a straight face say we share something in common other than skin tones. Their history and culture is truly unique and is a completely different experience from my own. My culture is distinctly American, from the way I speak, think, dress and act and you know what else? I love it! So for me, I will always be an American who just happens to be black. I put myself and my beliefs out here in cyberspace, to show my fellow blacks that there is something more. That one need not accept the false promise of the next social program, the belief in government as savior or the next Democratic candidate will right all wrongs. That true Hope and Change comes from belief in yourself, in a nation that allows dynamic movement if you are bold enough, smart enough and brave enough to make it happen."

Love it!

Maybe you've got more friends

You must have a lot more friends than I do if you can afford to toss them aside because of their politics. My life has a lot of diversity and includes people I don't agree with on politics, religion, fashion, culture, sports teams, abortion, euthanasia, pets, etc. Politics has replaced religion as the big divide. I support your decision to campaign, to be a poll watcher/attendant, to write letters to the editor, to fund raise, to go on marches carrying signs I disagree with. But, if you're so narrowly focused in your relationships that no one is allowed near you who isn't a Democrat or a Socialist, what's the point? Are you afraid of a new idea? Do you think you'll change minds with tantrums? You've never watched Glenn Beck or Fox News, you wouldn't dream of reading the opinion columns of the Wall Street Journal, or trying to understand a market economy, but you certainly have opinions about them. Conservatives can't avoid an alternative viewpoint--it's everywhere. But you guys live in a bubble residing inside a cloud, and you seem to sense that it's a very fragile universe in there so no light, air or heat is allowed.

PJ Crowley Resigns from State After Manning Remark

Sleeping naked? That's torture? Or is the problem calling DoD stupid? I don't understand this flap.

PJ Crowley Resigns from State After Manning Remark

Fox News reporting on Japan has been outstanding

The Fox News coverage of the 8.9 earthquake and tsunami has been thorough, extensive, and respectful. The poorest segment was when someone from Reuters with an American accent was interviewed live. Either he'd just gotten out of bed, or he hadn't left Tokyo yet, or the script writers were busy elsewhere. More stammering and equivocating than Obama's teleprompter. Whatever his problem, that interview was a waste of air time. But other than that, all the reports have been superior.

Fact Checking Michele Bachmann's 'bombshell'

Get out your urban dictionaries, your slang dictionaries, and your porn words suitable for print dictionaries; the left is insisting that Michele's $105 billion isn't a 1) slush fund, 2) secret, 3) scam, or 4) insane. Of course, the fact checkers were from Washington Post, Polifact and Factcheck, all left wing shills in bed with the obamadmin. Republicans and Libertarians and even a math challenged librarian from Columbus can see the problem.

Fact Checker - Michele Bachmann's 'bombshell' on a 'hidden' $105 billion

Hot Air opines: "Few, however, were prepared for the extent of the deception embodied in the bill, which Democrats brokered behind closed doors and to the exclusion of members of the opposing party. That became apparent on Sunday, when Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-MN, dropped a bombshell on NBC’s Meet the Press, revealing that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains over $105 billion in health care appropriations."

Don't defund it; dump it.
--------------

A whole blog about word and phrases twisting in the wind of the left.

The Myth of Green Energy Jobs: The European Experience

We have very clever capitalists in this country. They know where the money is and right now the green is in the green. The myth of green energy. Coupled with the same old government playas (using our tax money), we're off to the green races. Don't believe the climate scare stories or save dear Mother earth stuff--that's just window dressing. This is about who controls the next money scam. Every architectural/engineering publication that comes to our house is loaded with a tsunami of green advertising and government handouts against which the building trades are helpless--they can't get any other kind of work.

With $2.3 billion in Recovery Act tax credits allocated for green manufacturers, President Barack Obama and other Democratic politicians have high hopes for green technology. But their expectations clash with both economic theory and practical experience in Europe. Green programs in Spain destroyed 2.2 jobs for every green job created, while the capital needed for one green job in Italy could create almost five jobs in the general economy. Wind and solar power have raised household energy prices by 7.5 percent in Germany, and Denmark has the highest electricity prices in the European Union. Central planners in the United States trying to promote green industry will fare no better at creating jobs or stimulating the economy.

AEI - The Myth of Green Energy Jobs: The European Experience