Archive for 2012
December 22, 2012
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NUANCE: Hagel apologizes for calling diplomatic nominee ‘aggressively gay’ in 1998. Like gun owners, those people should know their place and act ashamed.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: More On North Carolina’s No-Show Classes.
Athletics-related motivations are not to blame for the breakdowns within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Department of African and Afro-American Studies, in which hundreds of students — half of whom were athletes — received credit for no-show classes and benefited from unauthorized grade changes.
That was what one might call the positive takeaway from the latest investigation into the scandal, this one comprising two new reviews by former North Carolina Gov. James Martin and the management consulting firm Baker Tilly (both tapped by UNC). In laying all the blame on the department’s former chair and his then-assistant, the reports also cleared faculty in the department of any wrongdoing, and found that the bogus classes and grades do not appear to have extended to other departments.
But the news was far from all good for the university: evidence of erroneous classes and grades extends all the way back to 1997 — a decade earlier than UNC had previously documented — and it indicates that the number of courses that were not managed or graded properly is quadruple what UNC had previously reported. . . .
The entire inquiry into African and Afro-American Studies was prompted after a former tutor allegedly helped a football player plagiarize a paper for the class. Scrutiny of the role of athletics in the scandal exploded this year, following reports of star athletes with suspect transcripts, and of those courses sometimes being packed with athletes. Of the 54 suspect classes identified in an earlier review into the department (a fraction of the 216 identified in the new report), nearly two-thirds of the enrolled students were athletes, the News & Observer of Raleigh reported.
But Martin and his team found no evidence that administrators, coaches or tutors knew what was happening in the department or directed athletes to those classes in particular. They emphasized Thursday that athletes did not receive any added benefits beyond what other students in the classes got.
Word gets around. But remember this when people criticize online schools and other alternatives . . . .
CALL IT THE “HUNGER GAMES” BUBBLE: What The Hell Is Happening In The DC Housing Market? “People seem to be buying $650,000 houses on the assumption that they will someday turn into $1,000,000 houses—that central Washington will turn into Manhattan.”
It’s all explained here.
December 21, 2012
JIM TREACHER: Congratulations To Our Next Secretary Of State.
MIKE BLOOMBERG: There Is Not ‘Anybody That’s Defended the Second Amendment as Much as I Have.’
What’s interesting isn’t that this is a skull-poppingly enormous lie. What’s interesting is that he thinks he has to say it.
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JAZZERCISE IS BACK. The story seems kind of mocking. Hey, I had a girlfriend in college who was a Jazzercise instructor and, well, that Jazzercise stuff worked.
BRIDGET JOHNSON: ‘Travesty of Justice’: Limits on President’s Detention Powers Stripped from Final Defense Bill. “The amendment from Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) to block the president’s broad power to hold American citizens without trial was stripped from the final defense authorization bill in conference, prompting a ‘no’ vote on the entire bill from Lee and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). . . . In a speech on the Senate floor, Paul called the exclusion of the provision ‘so fundamentally wrong and goes against everything we stand for as a country that it can’t go unnoticed and should be pointed out.'”
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE: “All that anger, turmoil and hopelessness you’re experiencing comes from a feeling of helplessness. But that’s all it is—a feeling. You’re not helpless at all. You only think you are.” Yes, if you find yourself feeling hopeless, helpless, and demoralized, then the media’s plan is working. Don’t cooperate.
READER RICK REMINGTON WRITES:
If you would, please bump Larry Correia’s piece a couple times this weekend.
It is the best explanation of what’s going on there is.
PS Larry Correia for NRA Exec. VP!
Ask, and ye shall receive.
THINGS THAT DON’T SUCK: The Orgreenic Frying Pan. To be honest, I bought this mostly for the Insta-Wife’s reaction to the AS SEEN ON TV label. But it really works, the non-stickness is really impressive, and the cleanup was much easier than my Cuisinart or All-Clad nonstick pans. (Bumped).
BOB OWENS: For ‘A Well-Regulated Militia,’ What Firearms, Gear, and Skills Should You Own?
If this interests you, you might want to read It Takes a Militia: A Communitarian Case for Compulsory Arms Bearing, which Brannon Denning and I wrote for the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal a while back.
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A WHITE HOUSE PETITION TO ESTABLISH FRANK HERBERT’S Bureau Of Sabotage. Er, isn’t that called the Administration?
CIVIL RIGHTS: Holding your mayors accountable. “Remember, most of the mayors don’t know that Bloomberg is signing their names to letters to Washington & in newspaper advertisements. It doesn’t matter that they didn’t expressly approve it, their signature appears on the letter. Hold them accountable.” (Via Bill Quick.)
BYRON YORK: Obama Uses Clinton’s Playbook To Exploit Shooting.
In his news conference Wednesday, President Obama argued that because a deranged young man murdered 20 children and six adults in a Connecticut schoolhouse last week, Congress should immediately raise taxes on the nation’s highest earners.
No, it didn’t make much sense. But Obama is following the example of predecessor Bill Clinton, who in 1995 used the Oklahoma City bombing not only to press security-related measures but also to enhance his political clout in a desperate battle with Republicans. It worked for Clinton; the next few weeks will tell whether it will do the same for Obama. . . . In all, Obama listed eight goals that Newtown should inspire lawmakers to accomplish. Gun control was No. 6.
Cynical, disgusting — and utterly predictable.
THE THREE BIGGEST CHALLENGES in a marriage.