They can't tell any adult in this state not to have sex, but soon it may be the only way many people will be able to have children in Indiana.
The Health Finance commission, a special committee in the Indiana General Assembly, is considering whether or not to recommend a bill that will prohibit unmarried couple and single people from using in-vitro fertilization. The bill will also create a special commission that will determine a case by case basis on which married couples will be allowed to have a child through artificial insemination.
Can you imagine a board that labels prospective parents "fit" or "unfit" prior to conception? Do you remember all those creepy sci-fi novels in which the government decides who gets to have kids? (I don't. I'm more of a "Fahrenheit 451" kind of guy.) The future is now, and a "brave new world" is on the verge of being created in the State House.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Thursday, October 06, 2005
I hope the Angels lose in the first round of the Playoffs
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim? I hate it when the name of the team sounds like it was picked out by a marketing focus group. "Parsachs and Johnston Consolidated: a Macrosoft Subsidiary" Give the team a short sweet name that is fun to yell out during games.
The reason for the ridiculous name is because Angels Baseball LP thought that having "Los Angeles" would make the team more marketable, but the terms of the lease in their current stadium required that the keep "Anahiem" in the name.
The same nonsence occured over here when it was decided that Fort Wayne's minor league baseball team would be called the "Wizards" rather than "Falcons" because of the merchandising possibilities. Visions of over priced foam wands and pointy purple hats danced in the heads of the owners. The new team found themselves with a pagan-sounding name in the middle of the Bible Belt. I still remember all those angry letters to the editor.
The reason for the ridiculous name is because Angels Baseball LP thought that having "Los Angeles" would make the team more marketable, but the terms of the lease in their current stadium required that the keep "Anahiem" in the name.
The same nonsence occured over here when it was decided that Fort Wayne's minor league baseball team would be called the "Wizards" rather than "Falcons" because of the merchandising possibilities. Visions of over priced foam wands and pointy purple hats danced in the heads of the owners. The new team found themselves with a pagan-sounding name in the middle of the Bible Belt. I still remember all those angry letters to the editor.
Gratuitous Assisted Suicide Post
The issue of doctor assisted suicide has come before the Supreme Court once again. Less than 300 hundred people have used Oregon's law to end their own lives. More is at stake than assisted suicide. After all, if you need the help of someone with a medical degree to off yourself, are you compentent enough to make the decision? Ultimately its a luxery for rich dying people who won't need their money where they are going.
What is at stake is the issue of self determination. The federal government want to tell you what you can and cannot put in your body. This will probably go the same way as California's medical marijuana case: the state's rights and the individual's rights will be trumped by federal authority. I'm predicting that O' Connor and Thomas will be the only dissenting justices. Ironic that one of the most conservative justices on the bench will rule in favor of a cause traditionally championed by the left.
What is at stake is the issue of self determination. The federal government want to tell you what you can and cannot put in your body. This will probably go the same way as California's medical marijuana case: the state's rights and the individual's rights will be trumped by federal authority. I'm predicting that O' Connor and Thomas will be the only dissenting justices. Ironic that one of the most conservative justices on the bench will rule in favor of a cause traditionally championed by the left.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Something good out of this disaster
When President Garfield was assassinated by a member of his own party who did not get a job just for being Republican, it led to civil service reform. Now, for the most part at least, being in the same party as the president doesn't guarentee you a government job, unless you're Mike Brown.
Anyway the point is that a tragedy spurred the country to make long needed changes. Lets make spending cuts to pay for disaster relief, and lets make those cuts permanent, even in years that are relatively disaster free. Its better to do it now than when we really do hit rock bottom and default on all that overseas debt and the economy implodes like the glass jar hooked up to the vacuum pump in that one episode of "Mr Wizard's World".
Anyway the point is that a tragedy spurred the country to make long needed changes. Lets make spending cuts to pay for disaster relief, and lets make those cuts permanent, even in years that are relatively disaster free. Its better to do it now than when we really do hit rock bottom and default on all that overseas debt and the economy implodes like the glass jar hooked up to the vacuum pump in that one episode of "Mr Wizard's World".
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Virtual Classroom!
Is it time for the virtual classroom? College students can opt to take online classes. Competence in Internet use is becoming more and more important in the workplace. Classes in some school districts are being canceled because they cannot afford the diesel fuel for the buses.
In most cases, this concept can only supplement and not substitute for flesh and blood teachers in brick and mortar schools. But subject like math and most science courses consist solely of facts and figure that can be just as easily be transmitted over a phone line as they can be presented in person.
Critics might claim that this system would be unfair to the increasing small minority of high school students without Internet access. But life isn’t fair and the public school was created because lower income parents simply couldn’t afford to educate their kids and rich folks could. Any system you could ever conceive of will favor someone over somebody else. But this is intended as a cost and personnel saving measure. If less students need to be fed and ferried to school then that frees up funds and faculty to focus on the children who actually do need the help.
Some students, even if they do have Internet access, will still need help and supervision from a tutor or teacher. Different students learn different ways, so a flexible system is needed. If anything, the virtual classroom will be more flexible than any educational tool previously devised. South Side High School students will be able to attend Snider classes, and kids in Miami could be conceivably be allowed to “attend” classes held in Anchorage. This could even allow us to expand the foreign exchange program to levels previously undreamed of.
Online and correspondence courses have had poor reputations. Many students simply lacked the self discipline to read material assigned by an instructor that they would never meet. But with networks that support more bandwidth and higher connection speeds, a teacher’s face and voice can be transmitted in real time to a home computer. Unlike traditional correspondence courses and television courses held on college access, students would be able to ask questions and give comments in real time as well. Disruptive students can be blocked from doing so, which would take less time and cause less of a ruckus than calling the dean of boys down to physically remove the disturbance. If a time delay is used like on live radio call-in shows, the rest of the class need not know what the clown had to say.
Let’s get a pilot program started. Start with one class, broadcast it on the Internet and let anyone enrolled in any accredited school attend for class credit. This way we can weed out any unforeseen problems that I failed to predict here. If it works, and we follow through on it, it will save money in the long run and get better results.
In most cases, this concept can only supplement and not substitute for flesh and blood teachers in brick and mortar schools. But subject like math and most science courses consist solely of facts and figure that can be just as easily be transmitted over a phone line as they can be presented in person.
Critics might claim that this system would be unfair to the increasing small minority of high school students without Internet access. But life isn’t fair and the public school was created because lower income parents simply couldn’t afford to educate their kids and rich folks could. Any system you could ever conceive of will favor someone over somebody else. But this is intended as a cost and personnel saving measure. If less students need to be fed and ferried to school then that frees up funds and faculty to focus on the children who actually do need the help.
Some students, even if they do have Internet access, will still need help and supervision from a tutor or teacher. Different students learn different ways, so a flexible system is needed. If anything, the virtual classroom will be more flexible than any educational tool previously devised. South Side High School students will be able to attend Snider classes, and kids in Miami could be conceivably be allowed to “attend” classes held in Anchorage. This could even allow us to expand the foreign exchange program to levels previously undreamed of.
Online and correspondence courses have had poor reputations. Many students simply lacked the self discipline to read material assigned by an instructor that they would never meet. But with networks that support more bandwidth and higher connection speeds, a teacher’s face and voice can be transmitted in real time to a home computer. Unlike traditional correspondence courses and television courses held on college access, students would be able to ask questions and give comments in real time as well. Disruptive students can be blocked from doing so, which would take less time and cause less of a ruckus than calling the dean of boys down to physically remove the disturbance. If a time delay is used like on live radio call-in shows, the rest of the class need not know what the clown had to say.
Let’s get a pilot program started. Start with one class, broadcast it on the Internet and let anyone enrolled in any accredited school attend for class credit. This way we can weed out any unforeseen problems that I failed to predict here. If it works, and we follow through on it, it will save money in the long run and get better results.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Enders on Education
I attended public schools, but I got my education by reading everything I could get my hands on. We spend more than other countries, but our kids do worse in school. Part of it is the infastructure of the schools, and part of it is the culture. Most Americans, young people especially, are inclined to rebel against the Man, or in this case the Adult. When the Adult stick a lession plan in front of you, you do whatever you can to get around it.The fact is that kids had to read and learn because we make them read and learn. Mom got me to like reading by prohibiting from me from doing so. You think I'm kidding don't you? You never met Mother then.
Mother's strategy (if it in fact was a strategy) would of course not work with the obidient kids, though it would be funny if we tried it. ("We confiscated a copy of the complete works of Shakespeare from your son's locker.") Rather, we should provide them the opprotunity to learn rather than making them do so.
The key is to give them the skills to learn rather than cramming dry facts down their throat untill they are 18. If they don't want to learn, they won't learn. They'll cheat on tests or simply not do the assignment at the worst, at best they will parrot back everything they are taught, then delete it from the hard drive inside their head when June rolls around.
I'm not even worried about graduation rates. A high school degree doesn't mean anything if everyone has one. Some people are naturally inclined to be lazy and stupid. They should be left alone so that this country can compete with China when it comes to cheap labor.
Mother's strategy (if it in fact was a strategy) would of course not work with the obidient kids, though it would be funny if we tried it. ("We confiscated a copy of the complete works of Shakespeare from your son's locker.") Rather, we should provide them the opprotunity to learn rather than making them do so.
The key is to give them the skills to learn rather than cramming dry facts down their throat untill they are 18. If they don't want to learn, they won't learn. They'll cheat on tests or simply not do the assignment at the worst, at best they will parrot back everything they are taught, then delete it from the hard drive inside their head when June rolls around.
I'm not even worried about graduation rates. A high school degree doesn't mean anything if everyone has one. Some people are naturally inclined to be lazy and stupid. They should be left alone so that this country can compete with China when it comes to cheap labor.
Preservation or Progress
The Lincoln Highway are early 20th centruy relics that stand in the way of economic progress.
A section of the Lincoln Highway stands in the way of a proposed road extension that would connect Maplecrest Road with Adams Center Road. The Lincoln Highway once lead from New York City to San Francisco. It was build to spur economic growth and progress, and now one small piece stand in the way of progress.
If people want it preserved, they should tear up chunks of it and stick it in a museum like they did with the Berlin Wall. That wall interfered with traffic as well, and had to be removed dispite its obvious historical significance. Sections of it are preseved by both those who want to celebrate the triumph of democracy over Communism and by those nostalgic for the glory days of the Stasi.
The purpose of a road is to make transportation easier, cheaper, and quicker. The purpose is more important than the artifact itself. Remove any sections of the Lincoln Highway that stand in the path of new roads.
A section of the Lincoln Highway stands in the way of a proposed road extension that would connect Maplecrest Road with Adams Center Road. The Lincoln Highway once lead from New York City to San Francisco. It was build to spur economic growth and progress, and now one small piece stand in the way of progress.
If people want it preserved, they should tear up chunks of it and stick it in a museum like they did with the Berlin Wall. That wall interfered with traffic as well, and had to be removed dispite its obvious historical significance. Sections of it are preseved by both those who want to celebrate the triumph of democracy over Communism and by those nostalgic for the glory days of the Stasi.
The purpose of a road is to make transportation easier, cheaper, and quicker. The purpose is more important than the artifact itself. Remove any sections of the Lincoln Highway that stand in the path of new roads.
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