Mad rantings about politics, evolution, and microbiology. Comment policy: say what you want, but back it up with an email address. I don't like anonymous trolls.
Working on a grant, only to have the lead PI pull it, is always fun. Anyway, more time for links:
MIT's levered wheelchair extends freedom to Third World
Who's Accountable When Kids Don't Learn
If you thought they'd stop at harassing women having abortions, you were naive
Cell phones, Facebook, and the war on loneliness
Ten Most Annoying Gym Personalities
Across city, people rally to save their branch libraries
Obama and Social Security: NewDealDemocrat Tees Off
Are Republicans Driving Me Mad?
The Libraries of Boston
Comments
I do not understand the persistent, vehement conservative attack on public school teachers. Not that I am defending the teachers. Some are lazy, and many are incompetent. But the market solution seems obvious: pay teachers more money, to attract more competent teachers. The idea that you can have good education on the cheap is ludicrous.
Not that conservatives really want good public education, I suppose. I cannot say that I know any conservatives who actually believe that, but Reagan campaigner Roger Freeman warned of the "danger of producing an educated proletariat." That is a conservative sentiment that I understand.
Perhaps it goes back to the conservative mantra that government is incompetent. Public education is an easy target. By attacking teachers conservatives can pretend that they are in favor of public education, even though they are not in favor of paying for it.
Posted by: Min | March 11, 2010 8:04 PM