Reason 1,254,992

Sunday 17 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

Principals violating the 1st Amendment rights of students because she was embarrassed by the student newspaper. The First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.

Student journalists at a Central Valley high school are getting a lesson in the First Amendment after administrators confiscated their newspaper over concerns about a campus safety article quoting school administrators as saying that recent lockdown drills and two reports of weapons on campus revealed poor communication.

The principal of Stockton’s Bear Creek High School, Shirley McNichols, stopped distribution of 1,700 copies of the monthly Bruin Voice newspaper last week, saying a front-page article about allegedly outdated safety policies could panic students.

Editor-in-Chief Justine Chang and adviser Kathi Duffel told The Record of Stockton that the principal was embarrassed about what the article exposed.

“I think (administrators) were embarrassed by how they are portrayed in the article,” said Chang.

McNichols denied that. She also said that the district has a policy that allows administrators to monitor the newspaper’s content and withhold it if it causes a safety issue, and administrators quoted in the story were disgruntled employees.

Do a better job and perhaps you won’t have to worry about being exposed as incompetent.

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This is Why

Friday 15 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

This is why the internet is so awesome

How did the Galactic Empire ever cement its hold on the Star Wars Universe? The war machine built by Emperor Palpatine and run by Darth Vader is a spectacularly bad fighting force, as evidenced by all of the pieces of Death Star littering space. But of all the Empire’s failures, none is a more spectacular military fiasco than the Battle of Hoth at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back.

From a military perspective, Hoth should have been a total debacle for the Rebel Alliance. Overconfident that they can evade Imperial surveillance, they hole up on unforgiving frigid terrain at the far end of the cosmos. Huddled into the lone Echo Base are all their major players: politically crucial Princess Leia; ace pilot Han Solo; and their game-changer, Luke Skywalker, who isn’t even a Jedi yet.

The defenses the Alliance constructed on Hoth could not be more favorable to Vader if the villain constructed them himself. The single Rebel base (!) is defended by a few artillery pieces on its north slope, protecting its main power generator. An ion cannon is its main anti-aircraft/spacecraft defense. Its outermost perimeter defense is an energy shield that can deflect Imperial laser bombardment. But the shield has two huge flaws: It can’t stop an Imperial landing force from entering the atmosphere, and it can only open in a discrete place for a limited time so the Rebels’ Ion Cannon can protect an evacuation. In essence, the Rebels built a shield that can’t keep an invader out and complicates their own escape.

When Vader enters the Hoth System with the Imperial Fleet, he’s holding a winning hand. What follows next is a reminder of two military truths that apply in our own time and in our own galaxy: Don’t place unaccountable religious fanatics in wartime command, and never underestimate a hegemonic power’s ability to miscalculate against an insurgency.

Reading this is a big win.

Comments Off on This is Why  ::  Share or discuss  ::  2013-02-15  ::  madlibertarianguy

Meanwhile

Friday 15 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

So while, over a period of 7 or 8 hours, we had thousands of protestors attacking our embassy in Benghazi and killing ambassadors and their scant Marine guards, our fearless president made absolutely no attempt to do anything at all.

The White House admitted today that President Obama made no phone calls–none, zero–on the evening of September 11, 2012, during the seven or eight hours when Americans were being murdered in Benghazi. He didn’t talk to Leon Panetta, or any military personnel, or Hillary Clinton. What was he doing that night? We may never know; perhaps writing the speech that he gave at a campaign event the next day in Las Vegas.

It wouldn’t surprise me if our Campaigner in Chief was actually more concerned with a campaign speech than with an attack on an American embassy. It’s all he knows.

Comments Off on Meanwhile  ::  Share or discuss  ::  2013-02-15  ::  madlibertarianguy

When at First . . .

Friday 15 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

When at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein will hold a hearing on the assault weapons ban on Feb. 27, she said Wednesday.

The California Democrat has said she was unhappy with the witnesses called for the first full Judiciary Committee hearing last month.

She simply doesn’t like the result of this “national conversation” about gun control that she insisted we have after Newtown, which is to say that it seems America has decided that gun control measures do dick to curb gun violence, and that most people don’t care for the measures she’s put forth, such as assault weapon bans, so she wants to have another chance at finding someone who will say what she wants them to say in order to convince Congress that we must Do Something™.

And the next time a progressive tries to convince you that the 2A being a means to subvert tyranny at home is some kind of fringe idea held only by savage, right wing , militia member gun nuts, call their bullshit.

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Wishes

Friday 15 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

I’m sure many a people wish that airlines would have had this news from Denmark whilst sitting near me on a plane.

The article, Flatulence on airplanes: Just let it go, was written by Danish researchers who recommend airlines introduce odour absorbing layers in seats to combat the passing of wind aloft.

The researchers said cramped conditions, pressure changes and air recycling on board planes all conspire to make farting more of a problem in the air than at ground level.

I’ve definitely stunk my fair share of people out on a plane.

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Reason 1,254,991

Tuesday 12 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

Schools systems trying to confiscate the work of students for their own use and profit.

That tri-color macaroni necklace you made with gobs of glue stuck to the side could soon belong to the state of Maryland.
A proposal recently floated by the Prince George’s County Board of Education would give them the copyright to anything created by teachers, students and employees before, during and after school hours.

A child’s project, but also an online app or lesson plan a teacher creates, could be fair game.

According to a draft of the proposal obtained by FoxNews.com, “Works created by employees and/or students specifically for use by the Prince George’s County Public School or a specific school or department within PGCPS, are properties of the Board of Education even if created on the employee’s or student’s time and with use of their materials.”

The draft policy prompted a backlash from teachers and education activists — causing the board to put the policy on hold pending a more thorough legal review.

As written, though, the policy could include anything published on the school’s website, curriculum documents, instructional materials, platforms and software developed for use by the school system, as well as a broad-reaching “other works created for classroom use and instruction” category.

So a app that my kid develops as a result of a class assignment belongs to the school system? Fuck off.

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Selfless Heroes

Friday 8 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

Those brave, selfless teachers would never steal from poor children so that they can keep money rolling to them, would they? Daily News Los Angeles:

Squeezed by historic funding shortfalls, school districts across the state in recent years have been illegally dipping into cafeteria funds meant to provide meals to poor students to pay other school expenses, according to a report released Wednesday by a state department.

The strongly worded report by the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes identified the Los Angeles Unified School District as the biggest offender. LAUSD was among eight school districts across the state ordered to repay a total of $170 million to student meal programs.

“Perhaps more troubling, department officials candidly acknowledge they have no idea how big the problem may be and fear they may have uncovered only a hint of the ongoing abuse,” the report states.

About $158 million of the $170 million debt belongs to LAUSD, which allegedly shifted money from the cafeteria fund to pay for expenses such as lawn sprinklers and the salaries of employees at the district’s television station.

If you steal from a fund designed to help feed poor children so that you can ensure that your paycheck keeps rolling in, you’re fucked up. You aren’t selfless, you aren’t brave, and you aren’t of any use to anyone. You’re fucking despicable.

Comments Off on Selfless Heroes  ::  Share or discuss  ::  2013-02-08  ::  madlibertarianguy

A Guessing Game

Friday 8 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

The New York Times notes that tax hikes are having a very negative effect on real live people, yet leaves it up to us to guess how these tax hikes came about. (Hint: His name starts with “B” and ends with “arack Obama”).

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Uh, What?

Wednesday 6 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

Have a lunatic gunman loose at your place of employment blowing away people indiscriminately? Don’t worry, use scissors, says the Department of Homeland Security. The Daily Mail:

The U.S Government has issued a controversial video telling office workers what to do should a crazed gunman storms their building.

Issued by Homeland Security, the video, called Active Shooter Situation: Options for Consideration, tells workers to flee if it is safe or find a hiding place if trapped should a gunman storm the building.

The video even advises using scissors as a weapon to defend yourself if your are caught in the open.

Why, out of all of the useless recommendations, is there not a recommendation that, if you are concerned about the nearly zero possibility that a gunman may come to your place of work, one go and get a concealed weapons permit and, you know, shoot back?

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Reason 1,254,990

Wednesday 6 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

Suspending 7 year old children for throwing a make believe grenade in to a make believe box that contained make believe evil powers during a make believe game in which he is saving the world. Fox 31 Denver:

A 2nd grader has been suspended from school in Loveland for a make believe game he was playing.

The 7-year-old says he was trying to save the world. But school administrators say he broke a key rule during his pretend play.
“I was trying to save people and I just can’t believe I got dispended,” says Alex Evans, who doesn’t understand his suspension any better than he can pronounce it.

“It’s called ‘rescue the world,’” he says.

He was playing a game during recess at Loveland’s Mary Blair Elementary School and threw an imaginary grenade into a box with pretend evil forces inside.

“I pretended the box, there’s something shaking in it, and I go ‘pshhh.’”

The boy didn’t throw anything real or make any threats against anyone. He explains he was pretending to be the hero. “So nothing can get out and destroy the world.”

But his imaginary play broke the school’s real rules. The school lists “absolutes” designed to keep a safe environment. The list includes absolutely no fighting, real or imaginary; no weapons, real or imaginary. Click here to see the Mary Blair “Absolutes”[.]

One should never go full retard. And the government school system is using Sandy Hook as an excuse to go full retard.

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