Here I recommend three podcasts I've been listening to recently. They are:
The Unexplained with Howard Hughes.
The Higherside Chats.
Occult Science Radio.
The two books I've read and recommend highly, particularly the King memoir:
On Writing, by Stephen King.
The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Ebola - Another 'Serious Crisis' That We Should Not Let Go To Waste
When you see the Mainstream Media flogging a crisis like the latest - Ebola - you should soon start to see patterns and inconsistencies. The Government Media Complex works very hard at Herd Redirection, something that before the internet must have been much easier. The Ebola 'crisis' is confusing. Does the government 'care' about making people better, curing the sick? Then why do over a million people die from Malaria each year? Why do more Americans die of the flu each year than have died from Ebola during its entire history? Where is the crisis mode attack and howling in the MSM over these things? Now that I think about it, around 100,000 people die each year from prescription drug use - that number only includes those using the drugs correctly under a doctor's supervision. Where is the high pitched high volume media panic?
Politically, here are the W Bush-esque moves that the latest "different" administration had done. These will be explained away and justified only by True Believers. Think "The Church of Salvation Through Legislation - first pew".
Politically, here are the W Bush-esque moves that the latest "different" administration had done. These will be explained away and justified only by True Believers. Think "The Church of Salvation Through Legislation - first pew".
- An Ebola Czar appointed with zero experience in the field - echoes perfectly with "heckuva job Brownie".
- Troops committed to the area - to do what? Shoot at a virus? - echoes perfectly with the W Bush reaction to every crisis.
- Executive order that allows detaining Americans against their will - echoes perfectly with W Bush's executive order because it simply amended it!
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Early 90's Dave Matthews Band and the 10,000 Hour Rule
In one of the more unpredictable posts, I match the early 1990's music I'm listening to from the Dave Matthews Band (courtesy of DMBlive) and the 10,000 hour rule talked about by Malcolm Gladwell. I'm a big fan of DMB, and getting recordings from 1992 and 1993 from this wonderful group of musicians is fantastic. The music is great, the original lineup works wonders (Peter Griesar, the original keyboard player who quit in March 1993 is included) and one can see how good these guys were early when they were unknown and playing small gigs locally.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
No Man Knows My History - Book Review
No Man Knows My History - the life of Joseph Smith, provides a detailed, interesting and yes, entertaining picture of the life of the founder of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith. I don't fully understand why I am fascinated by the story of the origins of the Mormon Church. Perhaps it is my love of conspiracies, esoteric knowledge and independent thinking. Reading John Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven got me started. Like most Americans, I had heard of the the Mormon church, I knew about the polygamy of the old days of the church, and knew it was vaguely connected with Christianity. I did not know initially about the tight connection to Freemasonry. Like everything we learn in our adult years, the truth is much more complicated and interesting. Fawn Brodie provides a wondrous explanation of what happened at the very beginning. No Man… also sends the reader back to these days as if one were in a time warp.
The details of Smith's early life in the Burnt Over District in New York State sets up both a base for who Smith became and a detailed portrait of that era. The difficult life presented explains clearly how it was easy to be hungry, tired, cold and impoverished. Smith's insatiable desire to avoid hard work, to get wealthy by sticking rods into the ground to locate buried treasure via a peep-stone, fortune telling, and mooching off of others is well documented. Brodie took a lot of criticism from the Mormon church (she was excommunicated) for her depiction of Smith as what he document-ably was. A feather in her cap and one of the reasons I felt compelled to buy the book.
Part of me, throughout my reading, kept asking 'why did people believe this guy?' There are instances that are beyond credulity once Joseph Smith became the leader of somewhat sizable organization. The discovery of the 'golden plates' and the following creation of The Book of Mormon seem impossibly ridiculous today. (Don't go looking for the plates, the same angel that showed them to Smith spirited them back to Heaven). Much of the book explains what Smith said and how it was received by his flock and his detractors. Smith routinely had 'revelations', dictates from God that told him what to do and how others should behave. Brodie explains: "In January 1841 he presented to the church a revelation from God ordering the Saints to build a hotel. The extraordinarily mundane details of of this commandment seem not to have troubled his people" "…and they shall not receive less than fifty dollars for a share of stock in that house, and they shall be permitted to receive fifteen thousand dollars from any one man for for stock in that house. But they shall not be permitted to receive over fifteen thousand dollars from any one man…" No Man… is filled with this kind of thing. That God would lay out the financial details of building a church is strange, if not blasphemous. Was God worried about inflation - did He take into account the Jacksonian attacks on the Central Bank? The subtly adjusted Gold Standard? Throughout much of the book I started to see a common thread: people, even intelligent free thinking people who have gone through real struggle, will believe anything.
I had heard of the connection between Mormonism and Masonry via my readings within the Conspiracy Community. I was curious if Brodie would comment on the topic. Perhaps when she wrote this book mentioning Masonry didn't get you branded a conspiracy theorist! and therefore a fringe kook, because Brodie goes into great detail the Smith's close connection to the Freemasons (he was one) and the Mormon practices and initiations that mirror the Mason's. The Mormons believe that with enough prayer, practice and patience they can become like God (hence the Latter Day Saints), and the Book of Mormon has close parallels to the stories within Freemasonry. Joseph Smith, out of bullets and about to jump out of the Carthage jail window and be killed, reportedly flashed a Masonic symbol and pleaded for help from his 'brothers' in the crowd.
It is easy to bash the Mormon Church, and I feel I have to be careful that this review not become a polemic against the LDS Church. Firstly, America is supposed to be a place where people can worship whatever and whomever they choose. Shamefully, many of Smith's peers seemed to have forgotten that part and persecuted him and his followers because of their nonstandard beliefs. Secondly, Smith, in an entrepreneurial fashion stuck with what worked and discarded what didn't in his creation and evolution of the Church. He moved to different areas of the country and overcame seriously violent opposition. (He was killed while he was the prisoner of a rogue prosecutor). Lastly, Smith's life was fascinating. His story reads like the incredible thing it was, and Brodie combines exhaustive research, multiple appendices and a free flowing writing style in order to depict it appropriately. Despite my incredulity and disbelief, I highly recommend this book.
The details of Smith's early life in the Burnt Over District in New York State sets up both a base for who Smith became and a detailed portrait of that era. The difficult life presented explains clearly how it was easy to be hungry, tired, cold and impoverished. Smith's insatiable desire to avoid hard work, to get wealthy by sticking rods into the ground to locate buried treasure via a peep-stone, fortune telling, and mooching off of others is well documented. Brodie took a lot of criticism from the Mormon church (she was excommunicated) for her depiction of Smith as what he document-ably was. A feather in her cap and one of the reasons I felt compelled to buy the book.
Part of me, throughout my reading, kept asking 'why did people believe this guy?' There are instances that are beyond credulity once Joseph Smith became the leader of somewhat sizable organization. The discovery of the 'golden plates' and the following creation of The Book of Mormon seem impossibly ridiculous today. (Don't go looking for the plates, the same angel that showed them to Smith spirited them back to Heaven). Much of the book explains what Smith said and how it was received by his flock and his detractors. Smith routinely had 'revelations', dictates from God that told him what to do and how others should behave. Brodie explains: "In January 1841 he presented to the church a revelation from God ordering the Saints to build a hotel. The extraordinarily mundane details of of this commandment seem not to have troubled his people" "…and they shall not receive less than fifty dollars for a share of stock in that house, and they shall be permitted to receive fifteen thousand dollars from any one man for for stock in that house. But they shall not be permitted to receive over fifteen thousand dollars from any one man…" No Man… is filled with this kind of thing. That God would lay out the financial details of building a church is strange, if not blasphemous. Was God worried about inflation - did He take into account the Jacksonian attacks on the Central Bank? The subtly adjusted Gold Standard? Throughout much of the book I started to see a common thread: people, even intelligent free thinking people who have gone through real struggle, will believe anything.
I had heard of the connection between Mormonism and Masonry via my readings within the Conspiracy Community. I was curious if Brodie would comment on the topic. Perhaps when she wrote this book mentioning Masonry didn't get you branded a conspiracy theorist! and therefore a fringe kook, because Brodie goes into great detail the Smith's close connection to the Freemasons (he was one) and the Mormon practices and initiations that mirror the Mason's. The Mormons believe that with enough prayer, practice and patience they can become like God (hence the Latter Day Saints), and the Book of Mormon has close parallels to the stories within Freemasonry. Joseph Smith, out of bullets and about to jump out of the Carthage jail window and be killed, reportedly flashed a Masonic symbol and pleaded for help from his 'brothers' in the crowd.
It is easy to bash the Mormon Church, and I feel I have to be careful that this review not become a polemic against the LDS Church. Firstly, America is supposed to be a place where people can worship whatever and whomever they choose. Shamefully, many of Smith's peers seemed to have forgotten that part and persecuted him and his followers because of their nonstandard beliefs. Secondly, Smith, in an entrepreneurial fashion stuck with what worked and discarded what didn't in his creation and evolution of the Church. He moved to different areas of the country and overcame seriously violent opposition. (He was killed while he was the prisoner of a rogue prosecutor). Lastly, Smith's life was fascinating. His story reads like the incredible thing it was, and Brodie combines exhaustive research, multiple appendices and a free flowing writing style in order to depict it appropriately. Despite my incredulity and disbelief, I highly recommend this book.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
They're People, Not Numbers
The continued practice of "data driven instruction"and "testing" and relentless taking for granted of students in school goes off the rails. I explain how in this 10 minute podcast.
Friday, September 19, 2014
The 2014 - 2015 Schule Year Begins!
Here are the latest events, good and bad, in the schule at which I work. Caution: possible eye glazing boredom ahead.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Schule About to Start - The Scam Continues
Why do I use the word 'scam' so often in these posts on education? Because there are a few issues going on lately that, if they were about sports, or engineering, or airline pilots, would be seen as corrupt scams against the public health and safety.
Philadelphia Phollies
Let's go to Philadelphia first: "It’s a repeat of every year for the Phila school district. As the school year approaches they are shocked to report a massive deficit and beg the State of PA for more funding. The $12,000 per child simply isn’t enough, even though Parochial schools provide ten times the education for $9,000 per child. The district has a slight $80 million deficit this year. Last year they had a $100 million deficit and the mayor proposed a soda tax to fill the gap. It was defeated, so they raised property taxes instead. Mayor Nutter’s name is fitting. He is just another in a long line of Democratic mayors who have ruled Philadelphia since the 1950′s and whose policies of welfare handouts for their voting base paid for by taxing the producers, has resulted in a population decline from 2.1 million in 1950 to 1.5 million today.
$12,000 per year, per child is not enough. To use a favorite word of progressives (that's the current term, isn't it?) this is simply unsustainable. But no matter, abject failure is OK as long as you say "I'm for the children", "it's for the children", "union" and other tired sayings that have worked since the late 1960's. Empirical evidence and statistics don't matter. This is a crime and the children, as always, lose. The employees of the district don't: "For the average teacher earning $68,700 annually, benefit costs pile on an additional $44,100, meaning the average cost of employing a teacher in the system is $112,700."
If this were any other field, there would be real anger at the collapsing bridges, crashing airplanes, bad sports play - but with children in public schools - nothing. Not in the mainstream media or political arena.
Let's Create a Problem Where There is None - NYC
There is a trendy man made 'problem' when it comes to the specialized high schools in NYC. These schools are spectacularly successful, and they churn out literally thousands of literate, capable graduates per year. Our Elite Government Class Overlords think that the admissions process (a merit based exam that has math, reading comprehension and logic) that has worked for decades needs to be changed. Why? The racial makeup of the schools doesn't fit that THEY think it should be. This is an interesting case because the schools over the past 15 years have become predominantly Asian.
This is a problem made our of whole cloth. There are many things wrong with the NYC public school system - these schools are not part of any problem. It is interesting to notice how failing schools in bad neighborhoods garner little discussion, but the merit based schools are have a target on them by the Elites. It is almost as if there is a war against merit.
I am actually having a debate on Facebook about this with people who went to Tech, as I did. It is odd how cavalier they are about changing the requirements now that they've gone through the system. remember, this isn't a problem. Tech, Stuyvesant and Bx Science are success stories. Yet, because a politician feels that the racial makeup "doesn't look like NYC", it should be changed. This is purely illogical and self defeating.
Philadelphia Phollies
Let's go to Philadelphia first: "It’s a repeat of every year for the Phila school district. As the school year approaches they are shocked to report a massive deficit and beg the State of PA for more funding. The $12,000 per child simply isn’t enough, even though Parochial schools provide ten times the education for $9,000 per child. The district has a slight $80 million deficit this year. Last year they had a $100 million deficit and the mayor proposed a soda tax to fill the gap. It was defeated, so they raised property taxes instead. Mayor Nutter’s name is fitting. He is just another in a long line of Democratic mayors who have ruled Philadelphia since the 1950′s and whose policies of welfare handouts for their voting base paid for by taxing the producers, has resulted in a population decline from 2.1 million in 1950 to 1.5 million today.
$12,000 per year, per child is not enough. To use a favorite word of progressives (that's the current term, isn't it?) this is simply unsustainable. But no matter, abject failure is OK as long as you say "I'm for the children", "it's for the children", "union" and other tired sayings that have worked since the late 1960's. Empirical evidence and statistics don't matter. This is a crime and the children, as always, lose. The employees of the district don't: "For the average teacher earning $68,700 annually, benefit costs pile on an additional $44,100, meaning the average cost of employing a teacher in the system is $112,700."
If this were any other field, there would be real anger at the collapsing bridges, crashing airplanes, bad sports play - but with children in public schools - nothing. Not in the mainstream media or political arena.
Let's Create a Problem Where There is None - NYC
There is a trendy man made 'problem' when it comes to the specialized high schools in NYC. These schools are spectacularly successful, and they churn out literally thousands of literate, capable graduates per year. Our Elite Government Class Overlords think that the admissions process (a merit based exam that has math, reading comprehension and logic) that has worked for decades needs to be changed. Why? The racial makeup of the schools doesn't fit that THEY think it should be. This is an interesting case because the schools over the past 15 years have become predominantly Asian.
This is a problem made our of whole cloth. There are many things wrong with the NYC public school system - these schools are not part of any problem. It is interesting to notice how failing schools in bad neighborhoods garner little discussion, but the merit based schools are have a target on them by the Elites. It is almost as if there is a war against merit.
I am actually having a debate on Facebook about this with people who went to Tech, as I did. It is odd how cavalier they are about changing the requirements now that they've gone through the system. remember, this isn't a problem. Tech, Stuyvesant and Bx Science are success stories. Yet, because a politician feels that the racial makeup "doesn't look like NYC", it should be changed. This is purely illogical and self defeating.
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