Thomas Sowell Interview

http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/24/thomas-sowell-speaks-to-thedc-about-the-financial-crisis-health-care-and-his-ideological-transformation-from-marxism-to-conservatism/

Love Thomas Sowell.

Interesting Video on Charity

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4478336/charitable-giving-democrats-vs-republicans?playlist_id=87185

When I post this, I don't mean to brag or boast, or turn charitable giving into a contest. What I want to do is combat false assumptions that so many people believe to be true. Again and again, I hear that Conservatives are wealthy and greedy, while Liberals are generous. You can hear that sentiment in the opening of the video posted above. But study after study shows that the opposite is true. I don't mean to say that democrats don't care--I think they do--but they are more comfortable with turning "charity" over to the government. But that is problematic in at least two ways. First, charity isn't charity when it's forced. And secondly, half of the money intended to "help" ends up in the pockets of government workers, who generally earn more money than the average worker. (There are studies about that, too.)

Some links about recent studies:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703766704576009361375685394.html?KEYWORDS=Charitable+giving

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704774604576036010174911064.html?KEYWORDS=Charitable+giving

http://anncoulter.com/cgi-local/article.cgi?article=402

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18218

http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/23/surprise-conservatives-are-more-generous-than-liberals/

Good quote

Too many people debate as if the point is to show who is smarter, rather than which conclusion is correct.

Thomas Sowell

Food Safety Modernization Act (SB 510)

The Daily Caller featured this article. I'm not seeing much said about SB 510 anywhere else, except for a youtube video that talked about some of the possible scenarios we could end up with in the event of a national crisis.

Like most bills that ever go through Congress, this one has a nice name that really doesn't mean anything. We all believe in food safety. Most of us like modernization, although in the context of growing and preparing food, I'm not sure I do like the sound of it that much.

SB 510 advocates say that this bill will help protect us, by ensuring that farms and food manufacturers follow safety procedures that will prevent future scares like the recent egg recall. Opponents say this is just more government overreach that will hurt small farms and local farmers markets.

I've read that Monsanto is a huge lobbyist behind this bill. Just the first paragraph in the link is enough to convince me that I do not want Monsanto behind anything regarding food safety. They're all about pesticides and growth hormones and genetic engineering.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not an environmentalist by any means. I'm a free-market girl, and I believe that we should have the choice to support Monsanto, or to support our local farmers' market. Living in Boise, there are a lot of ways to buy fresh, local, organic food. This bill will make it harder for those local farmers to produce food, and could possibly make it more difficult to buy heirloom seeds for our own gardens. It will likely end the sale of raw milk (there's a place that sells it a half mile from my house), and I think that I should be able to buy raw milk if I want to.

TSA

I'd post a link, but there are too many already--you'll see if you haven't already, about the new security measures being forced upon ordinary travelers. I don't know which airports around the country have installed these measures, but they include an x-ray machine that allows an agent to see your naked body. If you don't like that, you can "opt out," and receive an invasive and uncomfortable pat-down--the kind you see police officers give criminals on TV.

This cannot be the best way to promote security and safety. If you think that invading my privacy or molesting my body increases your security, then you must think that I'm a terrorist. And I'm not. (DUH!)

With all of the ways the government keeps tabs on us (ever try to get out of paying taxes?), don't they have a way of identifying those who might pose a risk--say, those with criminal backgrounds, previous arrests, anyone who has spent a significant amount if time in a nation that sponsors terrorists? How about, when you buy a ticket and show up at the airport, they check to see if your identity matches the one you supplied when you bought the ticket. How about--if someone buys a ticket with my husband's credit card, and doesn't look like my husband--they stop that person from boarding! (A couple of years ago, someone took a trip to Jordan and Egypt on Dave's credit card. I'm appalled that neither the credit card company nor the TSA noticed anything amiss.)

Instead, you and I, our grandparents, parents and children are violated in the name of security. It's madness.

Pass it on!

http://fee.org/articles/great-myths-of-the-great-depression/

Long, but excellent and informative article about the Great Depression. Though I say it's long, it is shorter than the many important books written on the subject, so don't be intimidated!

Glenn Beck has been saying this for a while, and I agree with him, and that is that we need to be truly educated in order to make wise and prudent decisions in our daily and civic lives. After reading the above article, one will want to ask, "But why do we keep electing officials who do so much harm?" And I believe the answer lies in the fact that most of us simply don't know our history, or we've learned it from biased sources, such as textbooks written by those very people who benefit from our not knowing the whole story.

So, if you read this article and like it, pass it on!

I don't need to blog when there are writers like Thomas Sowell. While I have never read an article I didn't like, and wouldn't recommend, his last set, "Dismantling America" are worth special mention.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
I wouldn't be surprised if Part 4 comes out tomorrow, so keep checking his site. Even if there isn't a next part, whatever he will have written is sure to be brilliant.

Education stimulus

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421613093659730.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

This new stimulus is worse than I understood--it's not only going to increase the debt and reward unions, it is going to force states to spend money they don't have in their budget, and leave them even more beholden to the federal government. I hope Idaho rejects this money and all the strings attached, like it did "Race to the Top" money.

Idaho ranks #2, not #49!

Some big study ranked Idaho 49th of 50 in money spent per student in public education, for it's spending of $7000 per student. Utah ranked 50th. New York ranked No. 1, with the state spending a whopping $17,000 per student!

Most of Idaho's news media outlets are reporting this as an embarrassment for us, when in reality, shouldn't New York be embarrassed for wasting so much taxpayer dollars on it's failing education program? This is a case in which there is an inverse relationship between spending and results, but news reports fail to make note of it.

Honestly, I can't tell you how Idaho ranks compared to New York in actual results. But I know that I would rather send my kids to school here. There's a reason that thousands of parents are vying for limited spots in charter schools in New York, as depicted in "The Lottery." But for spending the 2nd lowest amount of my involuntary tax donation, I applaud my state!

And another idea...

about how to solve the education problem in America without demanding even more Federal (read: Taxpayer) dollars.

I read about the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in the WSJ, but the article is locked for subscribers only, so I won't link it (I did link to the high school's web site).  

What it is, is a private school attended largely by students from low-income families who want out of the public school system. The way they pay for it is interesting. From what I understand, kids go to school four days a week, and then work a full day once a week, alternating with other students, so companies who buy into this program will get the equivalent of a full-time worker for the entire week. The school also receives money from donations from philanthropists. Remind you of anything...say, the PEF? It's not exactly the same, but it's a religious organization helping to provide a quality education for kids who contribute to their own education with the help of volunteers.

The Lottery

WSJ previews a documentary opening soon, "The Lottery".

Teacher Lore

One of my education classes at the College of Idaho included one in which we studied teacher lore. Studying teacher lore can be a valuable learning experience, even though it's not quantifiable and measurable--it doesn't have studies and statistics to prove whether or not it's true. Since studies and statistics can be altered and adjusted to fit the goals of those asking for the study, who can say what is true? I've posted arguments for and against charter schools and school choice. Here's an article that is entirely anecdotal, but convincing in its portrayal of charter vs. public schools.

My fun morning

I got an urgent phone call late last night--a ticket to see Sarah Palin had become available. With thoughts of the impossibility of finding a babysitter for an event less than 12 hours away, I almost dismissed the call. I can see Sarah any day on the news if I want to, right? But just in case...I sent an email to a friend who thinks she owes me babysitting (and she doesn't--she's way too nice about watching my kids), and to my utter surprise, she emailed me back, saying she was available!

So this morning, to my surprise, I found myself attending a Vaughn Ward rally, in which Palin was to be the guest speaker. (My husband likes Ward, I've been a supporter of his opponent, Raul Labrador, in case you're wondering.)

Here is a photo of the group I went with:

Dave and Tara Nielson, Suszette Rockwood, and Greg Ogden

Suszette and I have been Palin groupies since McCain picked her to be his VP. Suszette grew up in Wasilla, and has a particular affinity for Alaska and it's former Governor. Greg Ogden there on the right is the one that scored the tickets for us.


At first, this was as close a shot as I could get of Palin:


oops, that's Vaughn Ward! Just kidding--sadly for Ward, I think people were there to see SP more so than support his candidacy. He seems like a good guy, though.

OK, here's Sarah:


But after the rally--look at how much closer I was able to get!


The person holding the other camera you can see in this picture is Suszette, who, with my help (I have to steal credit wherever I can), was able to talk to Sarah, get an autograph, a hug, AND a photo with Sarah! You'll have to hear her side of the story--it's so fun! (She actually asked Todd Palin to take the photo before the security guard grabbed the camera and took it for her!) I knew that other people were there who wanted to see Sarah as much as I did, so I got out of the way after I took some close up photos. But before I left, I wanted to tell Sarah and Todd how grateful I am that they put up with so much garbage to do what they do. I barely squeaked out "Thank you!" before I turned to go, and I doubt they even heard. But my girl Suszette got to hang with her "Sista from Wasilla" so it was a good day!