Ferguson, Not Maynard

Ferguson Predictions:

1. It will be confirmed that Michael Brown participated in a strong-arm robbery that day.
2.  By the end of all this, the initial story of a kid being shot while running away, with his hands up, will be found to be entirely untrue...not a kid, not running away, hands not up.
3.  Multiple witnesses will confirm the cop's story.
4.  Police departments will continue to militarize for no good reason.
5.  Political pressure may result in charges against the officer.
6.  He will be acquitted due to the charges being unwise and unwarranted.
7. This will cause people to riot.
8. People will continue to overlay their political agenda on top of this situation.

6 Steps Toward a Better Education System

1. Pay math and science teachers more. This is necessary to attract talent.  The demand for them is high, but they can make more money elsewhere.  I'm a history teacher, so I don't benefit from this.  There is already enough self-interest built into this system.

2.  Decentralize.  Large bureaucratic school systems make poor decisions because they don't have adequate knowledge about the things that go on in their schools.  Don't give money to districts, give it to schools and teachers.

3.  Blur the line between teachers and administrators.  All administrators should also teach.  All teachers should help administrate.  It will make each better at their job.

4.  Fire bad teachers.  Tenure is a plague upon our educational system.  It sounds noble, but it is less noble up close.  How can you determine who is a bad teacher?  First, ask the students if they are learning.  Students can instantaneously tell you which teachers are helping them learn.  They can also differentiate between a cool teacher and a good teacher.  Just ask them.

5.  Hire smart and motivated people.  First, destroy the monopoly enjoyed by education schools.  A teaching certificate is not necessary to be a good teacher.  What's necessary is intelligence, motivation, charisma, and the knowledge necessary to succeed.  The first three can be sought out by human resources professionals.  Necessary knowledge can be gained by immersion into the classrooms of great teachers.

6.  Stop worrying so much about standardized tests.  Somehow, Socrates managed to educate his students without them.  If you implement #4 and #5, you won't need to worry about test scores any longer.

The Best British Films/TV Series You Haven't Seen

Jeremy Brett is the quintessential Sherlock Holmes.  Once you watch The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, you will never be able to read any Holmes stories without hearing Brett's voice.  Available on Netflix Disc.

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Sir Alec Guinness is masterful as George Smiley in the ORIGINAL adaptation of John LeCarre's novels.  First watch Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and then follow it up with Smiley's People.  I can't say enough about the quality of the acting in these two BBC miniseries from 1979 and 1982, respectively.  The 2011 remake is significantly inferior.  Don't bother with it.  The original is available on Netflix Disc.

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When I was a boy, my family would sit together and watch All Creatures Great and Small on PBS.  To this day, it is still one of my favorite shows.  In fact, as you can see above, I visited the real Yorkshire town where the real "James Herriot" practiced.  The museum has the original BBC set, which you'll notice when comparing the photographs above.  The true adventures of veterinarian James Herriot in England's Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s and 1940s are family-friendly and a real treat.  It's just a shame that the original actress that played Helen, the lovely Carol Drinkwater, left the show after three seasons. Available on Netflix Streaming and Disc.

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The 2005 adaptation of Charles Dickens' Bleak House is a wonderful BBC miniseries!  Available on Netflix Streaming and Disc.  Features Big Daddy Lannister and Wedge Antilles from Star Wars!***************************************************************************

Island At War is a British miniseries about the German occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II.  A great dramatization of a difficult time for the Englishmen of Guernsey and Jersey.  Available on Netflix Streaming and Disc.
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Another fantastic adaptation of Dickens by the BBC.  I highly recommend this 2008 version of Little Dorrit. Not currently available on Netflix.
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Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave dazzle as Winston and Clementine Churchill in The Gathering Storm.  Available on Netflix Disc.
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Anthony Kitchen is absolutely perfect as Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle in Foyle's War.  A great view into life in England during and just after World War II.  Available on Netflix Disc.

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The Up Series (7 Up, 14 Up, 21 Up...all the way to 56 Up) follows a group of British children from age 7 to age 56 through a series of documentaries that started in 1964.  What a fascinating study of the lives of these human beings.  Available on Netflix Streaming and Disc.

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Behold the greatest detective in medieval England...Brother Cadfael of Shrewsbury.  Available on Netflix Disc.

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Long Way Round chronicles the real-life adventure of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman to travel round the world on BMW motorcycles.  Watch it, you'll love it!  Available on Netflix Streaming and Disc.

John Kerry...The Belle of the Ball

"It’s the buzz from Boston to the Beltway: What the heck is going on with Secretary of State John Kerry’s face???  The former senator’s usually craggy puss is now smooth, puffy and showing no sign of the laugh lines, crow’s feet or deep forehead creases that were evident in his 2004 official Senate portrait."  

-- Boston Herald, September 20th, 2013

ALL the international diplomacy fashion blogs were abuzz about it.  It was on the tip of the tongue of every diplomat, fashionista, and designer in and around Foggy Bottom.  Vladmir Putin blogged about it.  Bashir Assad wondered about it in cabinet meetings.  David Cameron and Francois Hollande gossiped about it ENDLESSLY.

 

The topic of conversation?

Was John Kerry pretty enough to bring about world peace?

Sure, his friends always reminded him how beautiful he looked in an ascot, or wearing a collared shirt with a few buttons tastefully undone.  But a Secretary of State can grow jaded about these kind of compliments.  I mean, it's one thing to have your friends say this kind of thing, but it's another to have a European foreign minister undress you with her eyes in front of everyone at the Palace of Versailles.

The problem is that everyone in the diplomatic community over-glamorizes physical beauty.  Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat received endless fan mail from teenage girls after the Oslo Accords.  Neville Chamberlain couldn't get Tiger Beat to leave him alone after his peace agreement with Hitler.  Screaming Parisian girls constantly disrupted the Paris Peace Accords whenever Henry Kissinger would appear outside for a smoke break.  Warren Christopher received so many marriage proposals after the Dayton Accords that he shaved his head and refused to appear in public without a disguise for six months.

Despite all the compliments about his soft skin...Despite the comparison of his eyes to the color of a patrician's private lake...Deep inside, John Kerry didn't really believe he was beautiful.  Many wonder if his diplomatic skills would have completely collapsed if Simon Cowell and Bruce Jenner hadn't taken him aside and shown him that there was another way...a shortcut to beauty, and therefore, diplomatic excellence.

The procedure didn't take long.  But the effects were lasting.  America's status in the world has skyrocketed.  John Kerry has been hailed as perhaps the prettiest Secretary of State since George Schultz.

Dreams really do come true.

To The Moon, To Mars, or To Nowhere?

This Blargh Post contains a link to some more information on the state of NASA.  I found this article incredibly dispiriting, but hope that policymakers change course in the next few years...  

Adrift - From the Houston Chronicle

To Infinity and Beyond

45 years and two days ago, approximately six years before I was born, America launched a Saturn 5 rocket towards the moon.  This rocket contained three human beings: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.  Over the next 3.5 years there would be five more successful Apollo program moon landings.  Then it all stopped.  In the last 42 years, no men have walked on the moon.  And there is little chance anyone will walk on it anytime soon.

NASA's Constellation program was intended to be the next leap to the moon.  But President Obama cancelled it.  If only NASA were as important as the "Obamaphone" program.  Perhaps you can tell that I am bitter.  I find it shameful that our federal government continues to spend money on programs best left to states, localities, or private enterprise, instead of funding programs uniquely suited to the federal government's abilities.

Dams, interstate highway systems, and a space program are the sort of federal program I can get behind.  I believe in the idea of human progress and I don't think it lies in increasing the dependency of our citizens on a government check.

Also, if you think the moon landings were a hoax, I hope Buzz Aldrin punches you in the face.

To The Stars Through Westeros

Thanks to the Reddit user boo-yay, we now have a Westeros-esque sigil for every state of the union.  House Kansas, as you can see above, utilizes our state motto, "Ad Astra Per Aspera".  The unicorn is, of course, a reflection of the widespread worship of Ehlonna in most parts of eastern Kansas.  Here are some more Kansas/Game of Thrones metaphors:





Johnson County = Casterly Rock:  Rich?  Check.  Perceived as arrogant?  Check.  Sisters and brothers sleeping together?  Nope, that's Missouri.



BTK = Ramsay Bolton: Do they both like to torture?  Um, yeah, that's the "T" in BTK.  Were they both in law enforcement?  Sure, Bolton Jr. was given enforcement tasks by dear ol' dad.






KU College Republicans = Brotherhood Without Banners:  They fight the good fight surrounded by a host of enemies...they are few and the odds are bad.  They sometimes return from the dead?  Yes, actually, I saw it happen in 1993.




The City of Topeka = Hodor:  Both incapable of rational thought, difficult to understand, and frumpy.  Biggest Difference:  Hodor is well-intentioned.



Kansas Cowboys = Wildlings/Free Folk:  Keeping it real beyond the civilized parts...keeping it real beyond the Wall.



Wilt Chamberlain = Gregor Clegane: The Mountain That Rebounds vs. The Mountain That Rides