Top 11 reasons to have a large family

11.  Easier to get rink or court time at the park or community center when your family makes up a whole team.

10.  The Bible does say "Husbands, love your wives", does it not?

9.  Food is less likely to spoil in the fridge when you have more mouths looking in hungrily.

8.  Somebody needs to wear out all those kids' clothes, no?  (infant and toddler clothes do, in fact, wear out after four of five children have worn them)

7.  If you're going to buy hundreds of dollars of books and thousands of dollars of musical instruments for homeschooling the kids, you might as well get some good use out of them.

6.  The look of astonishment on the mechanic's face when he realizes that someone actually sits in the third row of seats in the family minivan or SUV.

5.  The grass doesn't need to be mowed as often when you've got more kids stomping it down.

4.  Social Security is going bankrupt, and soon.  You might as well have some kids to mooch off when you're old.

3.  Medicare is going bankrupt, and sooner.  You might as well have some kids to take care of you when the government starts cutting off benefits.

2.  It's a good thing for kids to see that their own age group isn't the only age group in the world.

1.  Did not God tell Adam, then Noah, "Be Fruitful and Multiply"?

Who are the worst inside traders?

Given what the media has historically printed, you might guess that corporate executives or hedge fund managers might be the worst inside traders, especially given the recent conviction of one hedge fund manager for egregious insider trading.

You might be wrong.  Apparently, Democratic members of Congress have outperformed the market by about 9% a year, which is something that hedge fund managers and mutual fund managers fail to do about 95% of the time.  Worse yet, Senators out perform the House of Representatives by about 4% per year.  Unfortunately, these aspiring Warren Buffetts are not, apparently, liable to insider trading laws.  Hopefully a bill introduced by my Congressman, Tim Walz, will get some traction due to this apparent abuse of insider information by his Democratic colleagues.

It's telling as well that, despite apparent favoritism in investing, many Senators are not financially well off, and their names have appeared in scandals related to favoritism in home loans.  Yet more reason to ask whether a politician knows how to handle money before you vote for him.

How the EPA formulates gasoline....

Apparently, one of the key tests the EPA uses to formulate gasoline to reduce vehicle emissions is to run a 1985 BMW for 10,000 miles.  Because everyone knows that when they go down the highway, you can't swing a dead cat out the window without hitting a 26 year old bimmer.

Here is some information on these cars; while the engine is fuel injected, evidently the BMW engineers were scrambling even then to meet emissions requirement, and with a mighty 100 horsepower or so, suffice it to say that keeping it going at highway speeds is going to take it into the range where it's not exactly going to be burning as cleanly as it ought.

So if you wonder why gasoline costs so much, part of the problem is that the EPA is doing its gasoline tests on beater cars from the 1980s which went about 35-45 mph up I-70 to Eisenhower Tunnel in those bleak days.  Evidently they can't find, say, a ten year old Camry around DC. 

Why fixing federal student aid is going to be difficult.....

Now the main point of this article here is that President Obama rightly faces strong resistance to his plan to censure for profit colleges, especially trade schools.  He's not entirely off base here, though, as hiring rates for their graduates are low, and loan default rates are high.  Of course, about 40% of students which attend traditional colleges leave without a diploma as well, and I can't see that that helps them find useful employment or repay their student loans, either.

Which is to say that overall, there needs to be a move to make sure that the taxpayer isn't left holding the bag for students who aren't going to be able to pay back the loans.  Now in a private system, this would be no problem.  Students who want to spend $300k to get a degree in gender and ethnic studies, or who want to go to college for something where employers will train you, would be politely told that the loan will not be forthcoming--or else the loan officer will need to find a new career when the inevitable happens.

For government, of course, it's more difficult, as they can't just admit that their whole program has been all about sending people to college who never belonged there.  Put in an SAT minimum?  You've just shut down trade schools that don't require it and don't need it.  Try to put in minimum qualifications depending on the school's majors, graduation rates, and hiring rates?  Good luck getting government bureaucrats and college officials to agree on that one and not take it to court.  Continue as we're going now?  I'm told that the higher education "bubble" of loans that might not be repaid is close to a trillion dollars--nearly the size of the mortgage bubble. 

Suffice it to say that I'm pretty confident that we're running into a nasty situation caused by our unwillingness that some people simply don't belong in ivy towers, and pretending they do is going to cause the very most pain to precisely those people--and then quite a bit of pain to the rest of us.  Pray that our legislators get a dose of maturity they haven't shown much lately.

H/T Vox; more reasons to educate your kids at home

Apparently, summer vacation coincides with a statistically significant drop in the teen suicide rate, corresponding to an estimated 1000 lives lost each year to to the stresses of the government school through suicide alone.  In addition, there is an estimated 30% rise in violent crime due to the same stresses among adolescents during the school year--so it wasn't just me and Funky Winkerbean being beat up for our lunch money after all!

Now I'll be fair here; the study does not take a good look at whether homeschooling produces better or worse results, but it does appear that the "Lord of the Flies" atmosphere at too many of the government's schools produces a demonstrably nasty result.  Maybe it's time to revisit the idea that the way to teach kids how to behave like adults is to put them in a room full of other kids their age and turn our backs.

What's a $200 hotel room like?

Well, yes, I learned--thankfully on business, so I didn't have to pay.  If you find you need to go to Baltimore the week before the Preakness, and arrive the day after (when celebrants still need a few more days to dry out from the parties or something), here's what that $200 room looks like.  I'm assuming some of my readers may not have had this grand experience.

It is in an 83 year old hotel in an iffy part of lower downtown--if you like aggressive panhandlers, you're in luck--and it's about half the size of a regular room in the Best Western of Macomb, IL, at which I have stayed many times for about half the price.  Like the Best Western, it has a complimentary breakfast, but unlike the Best Western, you need to swipe your card at the elevator to get to your 17th floor room.  On the bright side, the "snob floors" have a "happy hour" time each day.  On the down side, it's Bug Light and SPAM sashimi (joking about the second part, mostly), so it's not that happy if you happen to actually think beer ought to have malt and hops as ingredients, or if you think that appetizers ought to be, you know, appetizing.  You'll want to leave the hotel for dinner--don't forget to watch out for vagrants!

Going into your room, you'll find a great view of....the next 80 year old building, which is all of ten feet from the one you're in.  Also, it features (remember this is on the 17th floor, folks) double hung windows that open--count this one out if you're bringing the kiddies, or anyone who is depressed!  You need to remember which of the five elevators actually go to your floor as well, and if you want to take the stairs down to get some exercise.....nope, it will trigger the fire alarm.  Don't go there. 

On the bright side, Baltimore is a fun, walkable city.....just make sure you've got your city thinking going, or it might not be so much fun.  And don't think the best part of your trip is going to be the $200 hotel room. 

Time for the IOC and cycling to take doping seriously?

Apparently, if we can trust Tyler Hamilton's confession, the IOC and international cycling federations are more or less testing only to catch the most careless dopers.  Either they need to require very routine testing of all participants--I'd suggest monthly as a great start--or perhaps it would be just as well to start ignoring world class "athletics".  I'm leaning towards the latter.

And in other news, another great reason NOT to trust your medical care to the government from the United Kingdom.  A woman has died after coming to the hospital twice with symptoms consistent with the heart trouble which killed her, and no doctor ever bothered to see her. 

Appallingly stupid, even for President Obama

Yes, I'm referring to his comments telling Israel that a starting point for negotiations with the PLO and Hamas will be a return to the 1967 borders.  Why is this appallingly stupid?

Well, start with the fact that he's basically saying that Israel needs to negotiate with people who launch rocket attacks from elementary schools and hospitals at elementary schools and hospitals.  Exactly why would we think we can negotiate with those who would risk their own children to attack another nation's innocent children?  The precondition for talks should be a concession--in Arabic, Hebrew, and English and in these groups' constitutions--that Israel has a right to exist, and that when attacked, Israel has the right to retaliate and take land from whence the attacks are launched.

Militarily, the Obama proposal is a nonstarter simply because of Israel's geography; the West Bank and Golan Heights are, more or less, thousands of feet higher than the rest of Israel.  Hence, to give up control of these areas more or less puts all of Israel within artillery range of the PLO and Hamas. 

For that matter, the PLO and Hamas ought to reject this plan; if the Israeli Army and Air Force are unable to defend the land through ordinary means, guess what happens to the West Bank and Golan Heights when the casualties mount?  If they do not reject this plan, it means that their leaders really, really, really love death.

Positively Orwellian, but hilarious

According to SayAnythingBlog, former President William Jefferson "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky" Clinton has proposed an independent "Ministry of Truth".

Apart from the hilarity of thinking that Bill Clinton actually cares about the truth, the idea is of course positively Orwellian.  Knowing the direction our country is headed, maybe I'll change my name to "Emmanuel Goldstein."  Anyone with me?

Guess the political party

Colorado state senator drifts into lane of oncoming traffic, resulting in fatalities, family is not buckled, and there are no charges filed.  Hmmm.....I wonder what her party is?  For some reason, the article doesn't say.

Oh, she's a Democrat.  How did you guess?  Interesting that the rule seems to apply even at Fox.

What kind of boss is our President?

Well, it appears that his budget office is so well run, they're wanting to join a union for better working conditions.  Spokesmen put a brave face on it, but the fact of the matter is that you don't give up 1-2% of your income because you've got a great boss and he's doing a great job.

An appropriate summary of the argument over modes of baptism

Comes from Doug Wilson, with whom I disagree heartily on the mode of baptism--he favors sprinkling/affusion of infants, I am Baptistic (oops, Immersistic--can't rely on just a transliteration!).  :^)

In short, Baptists Immersists like myself tend to say "well, this is how the word 'immerse' is used, that's our best guess about how and when it is to be performed," while Presbyterians and others who favor infant sprinkling note parallels between circumcision, Old Testament sacrifices, and more.

To which I respond, "that's all very interesting, but that's not the parallel that the Scripture follows."  And so we disagree, as I take solace in the fact that it's "not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God." 

Memo to self; avoid fires in Chicago

OK, yes, I want to avoid burning buildings everywhere, but especially in Chicago.  Why so?

Apparently courts have just informed the city that they must pay out $30 million to aspiring black firefighters who scored above 65 on the qualification test, but below the cutoff for hiring at 89.  (H/T "The Thinking Housewife")

Now there are all kinds of interesting things here.  First of all, the Supreme Court evidently ruled 9-0 that, despite the fact the tests were administered in 1995, the aspiring firefighters did not wait too long to file.  In other words, there is effectively no statute of limitations in employment discrimination lawsuits.  If you thought "that ought to put a chill in HR departments nationwide," go to the head of the class.  If you also thought that--just as the Americans with Disabilities Act actually led to lower hiring of disabled people--this might backfire spectacularly against racial and ethnic minorities, go to the head of the class.

(somehow companies responded to the ADA by "miraculously" finding no minority disabled [oops] applicants....I'm going to guess this one will, sad to say, generate similar actions to avoid the EEOC.....and it's going to be brutal on minorities, not to mention the rest of us)

Next, we have the interesting case where a 65% score ranks as "qualified."  Yes, it'll get you your D on the test in high school, but....OK, let's face facts, when push comes to shove, do you want the D student wrestling with a balky piece of equipment, or do you want the guy who really knows his stuff?  There are places in life for the marginally qualified, but I would hope that when it comes down to life or death situations, we'd insist on a little bit more.

Finally, there is the appalling reality that the civil rights activists who started this suit have the unmitigated gall to suggest that a 24% break on the incoming test somehow qualifies as a step towards a level playing field. 

A real step towards a level playing field, of course, would be a school system whose graduates read at better than the 6th grade level, but of course it's totally unrealistic to insist that Chicago kids actually be taught their phonics, I guess.

Just beat them up and steal their lunch money, already!

Apparently, a Quebec judge has ruled that not only must three children be put into the public government schools for the sake of socialization, but also that their three year old sibling must be put into day care for the same reason.

For crying out loud, if you're concerned about children getting socialized, just tell the parents to teach their children some obscenities and beat their kids up for their lunch money, OK?  H/T WND, HSLDA,  and Mallard Fillmore.

Seriously, what person concerned about a child's behavior--or for that matter that of an adult--ought to seriously think that putting that person into a room of three year olds is going to help the situation?  Adult behavior is learned from adults, or at the very least from those who have interacted well with adults.

How to make sure peace officers aren't trusted....

First of all, you get a narcotics warrant and perform a no-knock raid on a man with no criminal record, apparently without adequately announcing yourself--and of course without any recording devices to show what actually happened.  We can afford millions for SWAT training, but not $400 for a simple video camera, of course. 

When the victim, thinking he is the victim of a home invasion, is holding a gun, make sure your SWAT team has their guns on full auto--nothing says "respect for citizens" like spray and pray in their own home, endangering not only the guy with a gun, but also anyone else in the house.  (full auto inferred from 71 rounds in 7 seconds...and the fact that the guy lived for about an hour after the attack without medical attention....obviously the bullets came fast, and they weren't hitting well, either)

Then, despite the fact that you've secured the house in the first 30 seconds of the operation, prevent paramedics from administering aid for over an hour, resulting in the victim's death, and then proceed to lie on the official report, claiming that he managed to fire his weapon when he didn't.  Bonus points if you, as did the Pima County SWAT team, claim nonexistent damage to your shields from the shots he didn't fire. 

(of course, lying on an affidavit like this is called "perjury" for the rest of us)

Finally, make sure that you don't find any evidence of the alleged crime being committed, but proceed to say you found evidence of a "conspiracy" to commit an unnamed crime.

For this, the Pima County SWAT team wins "Jackbooted Thugs of the Week," I think, and hopefully some of them will get to pursue new career opportunities in the graybar hotel making license plates.  Pray for the consolation of his widow and child.