government schools' accomplishment

Before we get too happy with local government schools, a snippet from Ann Coulter's most recent column to remind us of the larger picture of government run education:

In fourth grade, the earliest grade for which international comparisons are available, American students outperform most other countries in reading, math and science. Fourth-graders score in the 92nd percentile in science, the 58th percentile in math and the 70th percentile in reading, where they beat 26 of 35 countries, including Germany, France and Italy.

But by the eighth grade, American students are only midrange in international comparisons. (On the plus side, by the eighth grade they're noticeably fatter.)

By the 12th grade -- after receiving the full benefits of an American education -- Americans are near the bottom.

With an additional eight years of a public school education under their belts, Americans fall from the 92nd percentile in science to the 29th percentile. While American fourth-graders are bested only by South Korea and Japan in science, by 12th grade, the only countries the American students can beat are Lithuania, Cyprus and South Africa.

Which suggests that if public education were extended all the way through college, by the time a student gets to graduate school he might very well be qualified to be ... speaker of the house!

February 2009 indictments

During the month of February I have been scanning the PJStar police reports for the words indict, indicted and indictment. Then I put each instance on a Google Map. I find the result interesting. Take a look and share your thoughts or observations.


View Larger Map

distressing phone call

I got a call yesterday from a guy who had been my boss at my previous employer. He was calling to "network". "Networking" is what you do when you are looking for a job. Looking for a job is what you do if you have been "involuntarily separated". (Unless you are a societal parasite content to suckle at the public teat).

It was distressing to hear that B had been fired because I like B and thought he was good at his job and I would have fired several other people before him. Also distressing is that I have nothing hopeful or useful to tell him.

I wish things were this way

I did my part

I have now officially done more to stimulate the economy than Obama and all the Dems in Congress combined. I bought a new car and a new bike today. You are all welcome.

church week 4

The last sermon in the Victorious Secret series was this morning: "Waiting While You're Dating". I've been married for 13.5 years and my oldest child is 9 so this topic wasn't very relevant to me. It was a guest pastor and I don't think he did a very good job. The sermon was discombobulated and meandering. There wasn't much to it beyond: sex outside of marriage is not God's way. Some real discussion of the pitfalls of sex before marriage would have been more effective and relevant.

Secret encounter

After foregoing a secret rendezvous with BTG Friday evening, I had an encounter with Secret Server at the club. And yes, I told the wife about this after I got home. Based on her profile and picture I expected SS to be older. Turns out SS is only a year older than J and me. SS was working so we didn't get to chat too much, but I found her very engaging and quite the hottie. She even let me in on a secret feature of the club. Meeting SS at the club was a very positive case of "world's colliding".

euphemisms

I imagine that every parent has gotten a little knock on their bedroom door while they were knockin' boots inside.

"Mom, can I come in?", as he turns the locked door knob
"No, honey, we're busy, go back to your room"
"What are you guys doing in there? I heard noises"
"We're rearranging the furniture, now go back to bed and I'll be out in a minute"

Other answers we've given are "cleaning" and to copy J's friend JQ: "folding laundry". So, here's a chance for all the mommy bloggers (and others) to share their responses to this kind of situation.

I planted a hedge

During the second sermon at church this month, the metaphor of planting hedges was used when discussing how to "affair proof" your marriage. Friday afternoon I had the opportunity to set up a "date" with BTG. J was taking the kids to a movie Friday night and I was on my own for evening entertainment. BTG was going to have a couple hours free Friday evening and asked if I wanted to hang out with her. In the spirit of turning over a new leaf, I told her that while I would indeed like to hang out with her, it would be inappropriate. I couldn't really say to J, "while you are at the movie with the kids I am going to be at the bar with BTG" and the alternative would have been to lie to J about my evening whereabouts. This probably doesn't count as hedge yet, maybe a shrub.

I have mixed feelings about this step in a new direction. On the one hand, it is probably the "right" thing to do. On the other, I have feelings of regret for having closed a door of potential opportunity, the kind of opportunity to which I seem instinctually attuned.

car salespeople are like strippers

Why do car salespeople get to choose us instead of us choosing them? In most other business relationships we choose with whom to work. With car sales, we are often at the mercy of whichever salesperson first latches onto us when we hit the car lot. I like to support people who take the initiative, but just because he was the first salesman to jump out at us, does it mean we are stuck with him? I always get the sense that it would be rude or otherwise uncouth to try to talk to another salesman after being greeted and ensnared by the first one. It is just like at a strip club. You can get stuck with the first one that sits down and starts talking to you. If she stays for very long, there becomes an unspoken obligation to buy a lap dance with her. If you don't, and then she sees you getting a dance with another stripper (that you chose for yourself) the one you didn't go with will act jilted and put out, just like car salespeople.

It is easier to judge a stripper's qualifications by appearance than a car salesman's since much/most of a stripper's qualification is appearance so it is not exactly the same. Maybe car dealers should have a little bar in the showroom where their salespeople hang out. Customers would go in, look around, chat a bit with one or more of the salespeople and then pick whichever one they "clicked with" to pursue further interaction.

I think this comparison between car sales and strip clubs merits more exploration than I have given it here.

generic spam

I found this little nugget in my spam folder:

Dear Sir,

I am a chief consultant to some business interest in my country who are interested in international business investment. We need your business knowledge and connections to invest in your country, can we rely on you?

I wait your response to provide you with more information.

Yours faithfully,

Samuel Kwame.

Wow, sign me up! "Some business interest" is just what I have been hoping for! Of all the possible pursuits in life, "some business interest" has always been at the top of my list. The next thing you know, someone will try to seduce Americans with vague promises of "hope and change"....

church week 3

This past Sunday's sermon was entitled "Keeping Marital Intimacy Alive". The gist of it was that fostering emotional and spiritual intimacy will lead to sexual intimacy. The differences between men and women were mentioned several times (i.e. men can enjoy physical intimacy without a bunch of emotional intimacy build up and women don't). Many of the suggestions are things that J and I already do. Some were not (e.g. praying together). This sermon was less thought provoking than the previous two: Overcoming Fatal Attractions and Affair-Proofing Your Marriage.

On a lighter note, Northwoods appears to have a fairly young congregation that includes a pleasing proportion of hotties.

another firestorm in the Peoria blogosphere

I am surprised by the ration of shit that Peoria Pundit got for his recent post. I can see people letting him know that they think his interpretation of the pictures on a MySpace page was incorrect. Point made, update and apology posted.

What I don't understand is the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the fact that he linked to the MySpace page at all. You see it in the comments on the original post and elsewhere. Every person's MySpace page is exactly what he chooses for it to be (including that it be publicly accessible). What is the harm in linking to it? Does the page look any different because somebody linked to it? Is it any less the page creator's chosen expression?

Again, I understand the complaint about how it was interpreted, but not the fuss over linking to it.

church week 2

Today was my second visit to J's church. Today's sermon was about "affair proofing" your marriage. It basically boiled down to walling your heart off from everyone of the opposite sex except your spouse and staying away from any situation where you would be alone with a member of the opposite sex and otherwise avoiding all temptation. I am sure those things do reduce the likelihood of having an affair. Cutting off my feet would greatly reduce the likelihood of getting a fungal infection between my toes too.

Update: There was also a strong admonition against any level of flirting.

inappropriate?

What's the ruling on bringing your toddler in his pajamas to Friar Tuck? I observed this behavior as I was leaving Friar Tuck about 30 minutes ago.

yet another units problem

I came across yet another units problem yesterday:



Fluid ounces and milliliters are not units of weight. I like that the quantities are "round" in the metric units and screwy in the US customary units.

the Axe effect

Looks like some double meaning was intended when the Axe people decided which keywords to use in the instructions for an Axe hair product. They know their customer!

trying something different

I went to church with J this morning. There is a special series of sermons going on this month called Victorious Secret. There was no lingerie modeling :( The basic story today was about avoiding sexual addiction so as to keep focus on the sexuality in your marriage. Sexual addiction, according to today's sermon, is a result of some pain in one's life and filling the void it left with sexual misadventure. Very different from the handful of Catholic services I have attended in the past. Those had little, if any, connection to my life. This Victorious Secret series of sermons might have more relevance that I am prepared for.