Star Trek: Majel Barrett Edition

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Wednesday April 25, 2012 · 11:42 AM PDT

2012/04/25 · 11:42

The people have spoken! The official results of our Who's Your Captain poll have been brought out of their hermetically sealed envelope, your humble pollster has been suitable chastened for daring to jestingly apply snarky nicknames to Our Fearless Leaders (well, actually not so much, but it sounds good to say!) and all is well with the world...and so on to the numbers!

I give you, to no one's great surprise, the winner and still champeen, in first place:

Picard (a.k.a. Captain Hunk'a Smoldering Emotion) with 142 votes!

And putting up a firm battle, our runner up:

Kirk (a.k.a. Captain Courageous and Noble) with 81 votes!

-----------

Ah, but that's as may be. Last week's news, n'est-ce pas? We are forward looking people, we Trekkies.

And let's face it: Captains come and go, but one person in the franchise - though now sadly departed - has been eternal and indispensible. I am speaking, of course, of the inimitable, marvelous and dare I say ubiquitous Majel Barrett Roddenberry.

And thus, a poll:

Poll

261 votes Show Results

Majel Barrett rocks! But she rocks MOST in which role?

261 votes Vote Now!

Majel Barrett rocks! But she rocks MOST in which role?

Number One

40 votes

Nurse Chapel / Doctor Chapel

26 votes

Lwaxana Troi

112 votes

Voice of the Enterprise(s) Computer(s)

64 votes

Lady Morella in Babylon 5

16 votes

other

3 votes

Students from "poor" BC schools do better in university science

NinetyNineNorth

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Monday April 23, 2012 · 4:24 PM PDT

2012/04/23 · 16:24

Public education in British Columbia has long been under attack by the ultra-Libertarian Fraser Institute and their friends in big business and right-wing politics. Among other things, the number-crunching Randites publish yearly "school report cards" based on their analysis of standardized provincial examinations. This report consistently claims that exclusive private schools - especially those that charge tens of thousands of dollars a year tuition in addition to receiving partial public funding, and therefore are able to have tiny student/teacher ratios compared with public schools - are doing a better job of teaching students and preparing them for university education and employment.

However, a recent study published in the International Journal of Science Education found a very different result. The researchers examined how well students from different secondary schools actually do in first year physics classes at the University of British Columbia. As reported in the Vancouver Sun:

The researchers, who included George Bluman of the University of B.C. department of mathematics and Thomas Tiedje of the University of Victoria’s electrical and computer engineering department, looked at 4,569 students from 110 B.C. high schools with at least 10 students enrolled in UBC physics courses over the five-year period 2002-06.
They examined the correlation between school rankings in first-year physics and calculus at UBC and compared them with the Fraser Institute ranking over the same period.

They found the independent schools that did the best in the Fraser Institute ranking were significantly below average in the UBC physics rankings, with an average mark of 74 per cent for public-school students versus 71.99 per cent for independent school students. Students from east Vancouver fared the best (75.32), followed by west Vancouver (74.95), suburban schools (73.59) and schools outside Metro Vancouver (71.18).

The east side of the city of Vancouver is often presented - especially by the Fraser Institute - as having "less desirable" public schools than the more wealthy west side, and more so of course the massively expensive, west-side private schools.

One interesting potential contributing factor to this discrepancy arose from the issue of "accuracy" in the student assessment at the various schools:

In addition, students who did the best in first-year university physics received the lowest marks in Physics 12, with students from east Vancouver faring the worst and students from outside Metro faring the best. This suggests that a tough-love approach in high school leads to better university results, the authors said.
“Our findings suggest that more accurate student assessment in ... mathematics [and] physics leads to better performance in related university courses.”

Thus a question: Not, "Are our children learning?" but, "Can our private schools (and standardized tests) measure correctly?" The answer, it appears, is a solid, "No."

Star Trek: Who's Your Captain?

NinetyNineNorth

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Thursday April 19, 2012 · 11:43 AM PDT

2012/04/19 · 11:43

Coming This October to a Theatre Near You (at least if you happen to live in the UK, which it seems I don't): all five Star Trek captains together on one stage!

To quote from the Guardian:

...nerdvana...

And so, onward to the poll! I'll tell you right upfront, I'm voting for Sisko.

Poll

347 votes Show Results

Who's The Best of All?

347 votes Vote Now!

Who's The Best of All?

Kirk (a.k.a. Captain Sleaze)

85 votes

Picard (Captain Cold)

166 votes

Sisko (Captain Attitude)

58 votes

Janeway (Captain Unctuous)

24 votes

Archer (Captain Who?)

14 votes

How Federal Mandates Saved My Family...

NinetyNineNorth

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Thursday April 05, 2012 · 10:52 AM PDT

2012/04/05 · 10:52

...and how even more of them would have been better.

I've been thinking quite a bit this last week or so about governmental mandates for things like health insurance, particularly in light of one of the major events in my father's childhood and my family's history. Anyway, I wanted to share it with everyone, for what it's worth.

My paternal grandfather was a southern Democrat, a hard worker, a small-businessman, a father both loving and strict, and a virulent anti-union man. He was deeply angry about being forced by the government to pay into Social Security. Social Security, of course, is a federal mandate and that is what I am writing about today.

In 1953, my grandfather was out logging on property he owned when his tractor turned over on a slope and crushed him to death. He died with all the money he had in his pocket, because again that was the kind of guy he was. By the time his body arrived at whatever official location it was taken to, all that money was gone. Presumably someone stole it off his corpse.

The result of this was that my grandmother, who had moved as a very young woman directly from her family's home to my grandfather's, was left with three children between the ages of 7 and 15, a house and some land, relatives in another state, and not a penny on hand or coming in. She had never worked outside the home before. She did work and worked hard after that, moving the family repeatedly to take various jobs and opportunities (at least once being cheated of money by supposedly respectable, small-town business-people), and doing whatever she had to to support and raise her children well. My grandmother was a tough person, and I miss her deeply to this day.

But what, second to my grandmother's strength, was the single largest reason that my family survived, my father and his younger sibling were eventually able to go on to university, and all three of the children became healthy, capable, stable and economically strong adults? It was Social Security survivor benefits, which would not have existed for them if my grandfather had had a choice of whether to pay in ahead of time. Every month after his death my grandmother received a small amount to take care of the children, because the government had forced my grandfather to pay into social security.

Thank God and the voters for the government, and for federal mandates!

You know what would have been even better? If there had been the kind of safety and health rules in 1953 that exist now, forcing my grandfather to also have a decent canopy on his damn tractor. (A couple years ago, my father was on a long distance trip with some other guys when one of them started going off about how the evil government was causing him business problems by forcing him to put particular canopies on his tractors. Dad looked at him blandly and calmly mentioned that his own father had been killed due to lack of just such a canopy. The other guy didn't say much after that.)

It has been pointed out before, but if a health insurance mandate is not allowed, then what basis is there for the social security mandate that saved my father's future, or any other? How many children will suffer, and how much economic damage will be done to their families, communities and the nation as a whole because they or their parents are unable to afford the healthcare necessary to keep them alive and healthy?

NinetyNineNorth

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Wednesday February 01, 2012 · 10:09 PM PST

2012/02/01 · 22:09

That's the distillation of this 3:39 of official statement by Ms. Brinker in which she carefully never mentions the words "Planned Parenthood" except, curiously enough, in the tags.

Oh, and no comments or replies welcome to her not-so-straight talk. She was not able to eliminate thumbs up/thumbs down though, and perhaps unsurprisingly the viewers so far - only about 300 - are not buying her weasel words, by a ratio of roughly 3 to 1.

I will say, at least she spoke this bunkum herself, rather than making some poor flack mouth it for her!

Murder of 24 Iraqi Civilians Nets No Punishment

NinetyNineNorth

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Wednesday January 25, 2012 · 1:33 AM PST

2012/01/25 · 01:33

For background, please see Horace Boothroyd III's post from yesterday.

Per reporting in the Guardian, because of a plea bargain and the judge's consideration for him, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich will be spared even a three month sentence and reduction in pay for ordering his troops to storm through a series of houses and "shoot first ask questions later," thus killing 24 unarmed Iraqi men, women and children. Wuterich will be reduced in rank to private but serve no prison time after pleading guilty to a single count of negligent dereliction of duty. The military judge, Lieutenant Colonel David Jones, also decided that Wuterich will not take an expected 2/3 cut in pay, out of consideration for Wuterich's need to support his three daughters.

Charges against all the others involved in the killings and their commanders were dropped, except that one soldier was tried and found not guilty of all wrongdoing.

All those involved in the killings have stated they see themselves as having acted properly, although Wuterich did claim at his trial to have sympathy for the families of those killed.

Brian Rooney, an attorney who represented a former defendant, said cases like Haditha are difficult to prosecute because a military jury is unlikely to question decisions made in combat unless wrongdoing is clear-cut and egregious, like rape.
"If it's a gray area, fog-of-war, you can't put yourself in a Marine's situation where he's legitimately trying to do the best he can," said Rooney, who represented Lietenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking Marine charged in the case.

Of course, such considerations do not apply to any human being other than US soldiers and police.

Certainly, Omar Khadr, who was arrested at age 15 in Afghanistan where his father had taken him from Canada, then abused for years at the Guantanamo Gulag, and finally convicted in a kangaroo military tribunal after being offered the choice of either "confessing" or simply rotting forever without any trial at all, continues to sit in Guantanamo for allegedly "murdering" a professional US soldier during a drawn-out firefight during which US troops were also trying to kill him, and in fact wounded him seriously.

Limbaugh speaks, Gingrich grovels

NinetyNineNorth

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Wednesday January 11, 2012 · 9:59 AM PST

2012/01/11 · 09:59

Katharine Hayhoe is a PhD, a climate scientist, a professor at Texas Tech University, a believer in global warming, and an evangelical Christian. Until December 28, 2011 she was also writing an introduction for a book by Newt Gingrich, by request. On December 7 her chapter's inclusion as written was confirmed to her in an e-mail from Gingrich's co-editor Terry Maple.

Everything changed suddenly, however, when a woman approached Gingrich at a campaign stop and mentioned that "Rush" had picked up the story. Gingrich, as caught on film by The National Journal, immediately told the woman that the book introduction had already been cancelled. Oddly, however, he then told an aid to remind him later about the issue and "Rush." Also, up until that point, no one from Gingrich's organization had told Dr. Kayhoe, who tweeted, "Nice to hear that Gingrich is tossing my #climate chapter in the trash. 100+ unpaid hrs I [could have] spent playing w my baby," after she found out what had happened from a news reporter.

What is worth noting here is that the mere mention of Limbaugh's name apparently causes Newt to panic and make off-the-cuff policy changes.

Sadly, Dr. Kayhoe has also been subjected to an ongoing barrage of virulent and disgusting hate-mail, because she has attempted to bring factual information about climate change to audiences that climate change deniers view as their own property. For her part, Dr. Kayhoe has declined to further criticize Gingrich and decried the polarization and politicization of climate change science.

The Two Mitts' Assault on Mt. Kilimanjaro

NinetyNineNorth

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Monday December 19, 2011 · 4:58 PM PST

2011/12/19 · 16:58

The cast:

Announcer - Voice of God
Willard Mitt Romney - Himself
Arthur - George Orwell Petronius Voter
Jimmy - R. S. Tablishment

--------------------

Announcer: And now for something completely different. The office of Willard Mitt Romney....

(We see a large study with maps and photographs on the wall and a large desk, at which sits Willard Mitt Romney.)

Mitt: Next please!

(Arthur walks into the room and up to the desk.)

Mitt: (Looks up.) One at a time please.

Arthur: There is only me, sir.

Mitt: (Puts a hand over one eye.) So there is. Take a... (Pauses, confused.)

Arthur: Seat?

Mitt: Seat! Take a seat. So! (Looks over to Arthur's right.) You want to join my campaign do you? (Keeps looking off to right.)

Arthur: (Seems rather uncertain.) Me, sir?

Mitt: Yes.

Arthur: Yes, I'd very much like to, sir.

Mitt: Jolly good, jolly good. (Checks a box on a form and then looks straight at Arthur.) And how about you?

Arthur: There is only me, sir.

Mitt: (Puts hand over eye and looking both at Arthur and to Arthur's right.) Well bang goes his application then. (Tears up form.) Now let me fill you in. I'm the candidate, and we're going to be elected as both Presidents of the United States.

Arthur: I thought there was only one President, sir.

Mitt: (Puts one hand over eye again, opens a copy of the Constitution and peers at the text from an inch away.) Well, that'll save a bit of effort. Well done! Now the object of this campaign is to find and if necessary destroy all traces of our 2008 campaign.

Arthur: Your 2008 campaign?

Mitt: Yes, my identical twin brother was leading that. He was going to pass a Constitutional amendment combining the two Presidencies. (Looks at Constitution closely, with one hand over eye.) My idea I'm afraid. Now, I ought to tell you that I have practically everyone I need for this campaign... So what special qualifications do you have?

Arthur: Well, sir...

Mitt: Yes, you first.

Arthur: There is only me, sir.

Mitt: (Turning to Arthur's right.) I wasn't talking to you. (Turns to Arthur.) Carry on.

Arthur: Well I'm a fully qualified political scientist, with a second doctorate in economics.

Mitt: Political Scientist? Political scientist. (Looks it up in the dictionary.) Where the devil are they, policy, politic...political...a political scientist: 'two men specializing in the study of government.' Jolly good! Well you're in. Congratulations, both of you. Well, er, what are your names?

Arthur: Arthur Wilson.

Mitt: Arthur Wilson, right well look, I'll call you (to Arthur) Arthur Wilson one, and you (to Arthur's right) Arthur Wilson two, just to avoid confusion.

Arthur: Are you actually the candidate, sir?

Mitt: Yes, we are the candidate for the Presidency.

Arthur: And what policies will you both be running on?

Mitt: Good questions. (Speaks to himself.) Shall I? (Speaks to Arthur.) Well we'll be announcing on June 2, and staking out the following positions. (Opens large book, clearly labeled Wuthering Heights.) To start off, we'll be for and against individual healthcare mandates, in favor of and opposed to homosexuals serving openly in the military, and accepting and rejecting the right to choose or not choose abortions. From there we'll be supporting and denying amnesties for both undocumented immigrants and illegal aliens, fighting for and against stem cell researches, and strongly trying to both raise and not raise the minimum wage. With these firm positions, we expect to win both in Iowas and New Hampshires, then continue on to make a strong showing on both Super Tuesdays...and from there ask for advice on attracting "minority" voters.

Arthur: Does anyone speak Spanish, sir?

Mitt: Oh, yes I think many of them do out there.

Arthur: Does anyone in the Republican party speak Spanish sir?

Mitt: Oh well, Anns' have a smattering.

Arthur: Apart from the two Anns...

Mitt: Good God, I'd forgotten about her!

Arthur: Apart from them, who else is working on the campaign, sir?

Mitt: Well we've got the Nikki Haley twins, two publicists called Fox, the Christine O'Donnell sisters...

Arthur: Two of them?

Mitt: No four of them, a pair of identical twins...and a couple of the Dan Quayle quads - the other two pulled out. And of course you two.

Arthur: And none of these are political scientists or economists?

Mitt: Well you two are, and we've got a brace of strategists called Jimmy Blenkinsop... because running for the Presidency is pretty tricky you know. It's a hard slog up until you're actually elected, though there's nothing particular to do after that. But the Jimmies' put their heads together and worked out a way to win. (Opens door.) Jimmy? (Jimmy walks in wearing a 1920s era suit and bowler hat, and puffing a cigar.) I don't believe you've met. Jimmy Blenkinsop - Arthur Wilson; Arthur Wilson - Jimmy Blenkinsop... Arthur Wilson two - James Blenkinsop one; James Blenkinsop one - Arthur Wilson two. Carry on Jimmies.

Jimmy: (Speaks to Arthur reassuringly.) Don't worry about the, er... (Puts hand over eye.) We'll get him votes somehow.

(Jimmy proceeds to walk round the room clambering over every single piece of available furniture. He doesn't stop talking. Causing a complete wreckage, he clambers over the desk, onto a bookcase and round the room knocking furniture over. Mitt puts one hand over eye and peers around the room in apparent confusion. Meanwhile, Jimmie is saying...)

Now the campaign for the Presidency is quite simply through the debates, and then we go on after that to...ohh...to gather endorsements, somewhere in or near the early primary states...then...

(Jimmy staggers out headlong through the door. There are loud crashing noises.)

Mitt: He'll be our chief strategist.

Arthur: Well I'm afraid I won't be taking part in your campaign, sir, as I've absolutely no confidence in anyone involved in it!

(Arthur gets up and walks out, slamming the door.)

Mitt: Oh dear. (Pauses. Looks over at another Arthur.) Well how about you?

Arthur: (Sitting in chair at other angle of desk.) Well I'm game, sir!

(Cut back to two Mitts, double image, split screen.)

Mitts: So are we!

-------------

With gratitude and apologies to Monty Pythons (twelve of them, and two Carol Clevelands), and special thanks to:

Wikipedias (http://en.wikipedia.org/...)

MittRomneyFlipFlopses (http://mittromneyflipflops.com/)

The Danes and/or non-Danes at (http://www.ibras.dk/...)

and, of course, Our Friends at both Mitt Romney Centrals (http://mittromneycentral.com/... and http://mittromneycentral.com/...)

Request for Proposals - Who Would YOU Sell?

NinetyNineNorth

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday November 16, 2011 · 11:52 AM PST

2011/11/16 · 11:52

As noted and discussed previously by arodb, Paul V. Kane has proposed in the NY Times that the US drop its support for Taiwan in return for $1.14 trillion in debt cancellation by the PRC.

Now, Joshua Keating at Foreign Policy, in a supportive spirit, has suggested also selling "a Dakota or two" to Canada for the bargain price of $90 billion.

Personally, it seems to me that culturally and geographically, Maine and Vermont might be a better fit. But I will put the question to you, dear readers: Who Would Jesus Sell, or lacking word from on high, whom would you trade to the Canadians for debt relief? Putting it another way, who wants to become a Canadian, a Mexican, or - by annexing yourself to St. Pierre and Miquelon - a French(wo)man? And, with no modesty allowed, how much debt cancellation are you and your state, city or neighborhood worth?

Bids are now open! Disclaimers below the orange thingamabob.

Poll

10 votes Show Results

I wanna be a:

10 votes Vote Now!

I wanna be a:

Canadian

4 votes

Mexican

0 votes

French(wo)man

2 votes

Martian

1 vote

Venusian

0 votes

Earthling

1 vote

Airborne Ranger

1 vote

American, darnit! American!

0 votes

All and/or None of the Above

1 vote

"Jeremy" responds to Rick Perry

NinetyNineNorth

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Wednesday November 02, 2011 · 11:34 AM PDT

2011/11/02 · 11:34

Breaking news from the Globe and Mail:

Texas governor Rick Perry made headlines when he recently cited a quote from "Jeremy", a supposed 38-year-old protester at Occupy Toronto.
[Sadly] "Jeremy" exists only in the mind of writer Mark Schatzker, who contributes a weekly satire column for The Globe and Mail. But we won't let that stand in the way of a good tale. So here is Jeremy, back by popular demand, reflecting on his new found infamy.

Follow the continuing story of your favorite (or favourite, where required by English-only laws) non-existent Occupier, as he travels a path from rags to riches, from the Frozen North to God's Own Country, Texas.

And if all y'all don't want to click through to the article - or wait for Rick Perry to summarize it for you in his next speech - check out excerpts below the fold. Cheers!

NinetyNineNorth

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 27, 2011 · 4:36 PM PDT

2011/10/27 · 16:36

Raffi Cavoukian, the author of well-loved children's songs such as Baby Beluga, has strongly stated his support for the Occupy Wall Street on several occasions, most recently by visiting Occupy Vancouver (British Columbia) on Tuesday, September 25.

Several of Raffi's songs, including his 2004 No Wall Too Tall, which calls for reform of the financial system, are available for free download or streaming at the website of the organization Centre for Child Honouring, with which Raffi is involved. (Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Centre for Child Honouring, but just heard about them because Raffi also came out with a song honouring and using words from the final letter of recently deceased Canadian New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton.)

Happy listening and singing!

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Star Trek: Majel Barrett Edition

Students from "poor" BC schools do better in university science

Star Trek: Who's Your Captain?

How Federal Mandates Saved My Family...

Nancy Brinker's official response: "Komen (and I) are perfect, so shut up!"

Murder of 24 Iraqi Civilians Nets No Punishment

Limbaugh speaks, Gingrich grovels

The Two Mitts' Assault on Mt. Kilimanjaro

Request for Proposals - Who Would YOU Sell?

"Jeremy" responds to Rick Perry

Raffi Songs for Occupiers and Activists