Wednesday OTA/Bits ‘n’ Pieces

Bits n pieces below the linkfest slug

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A hodge podge of things I’ve tripped over CLICKing around recently:

From Chaos Manor View,

There are two parts to education. One is learning what one must know to get along in life. This is often fairly dull work, but necessary. Among these are the ability to read, write, and cipher; the traditional goals of the first six grades of public school at a time when fewer than half the children were expected to go beyond six grades. We can have some debate on what “read, write, and cipher” mean, but not a lot. By read one means at least read and understand newspapers, job application notices, neighborhood flyers, and most popular books: in other words, to be able to read any word one already knows or has heard often. By write one we usually mean at least the ability to write coherent letters to one’s friends and families, and we usually hope for more than that. By cipher we mean being able to make change and do simple calculations: in other words, to know basic arithmetic…

Alien invasion as bio war? Duh. Chief among the reasons for controlling our borders, for requiring everyone who enter do so within our legal strictures are disease control, exclusion of known criminals, etc. President Bush’s reiterated aspirations of open borders and amnesty for illegals is just plain flat irresponsible and contributing to public harm in more ways than simply economic.

Shame on him.

And,

Is there any point in pretending that CO2 increases will be catastrophic? Or could they be modest and on balance beneficial? India has warmed during the second half of the 20th century, and agricultural output has increased greatly. Infectious diseases like malaria are a matter not so much of temperature as poverty and public-health policies (like eliminating DDT). Exposure to cold is generally found to be both more dangerous and less comfortable…

…The conclusion of the late climate scientist Roger Revelle—Al Gore’s supposed mentor—is worth pondering: the evidence for global warming thus far doesn’t warrant any action unless it is justifiable on grounds that have nothing to do with climate.

Read the article, even if it is in NewsweAk…

Just stop it! Opening yourself to hacking at insecure hotspots, that is. Easily-accessible article at PCMag online. Your laptop will thank you. *heh*

I sent this to my favorite children’s librarian. Orson Scott Card’s review of what sounds like a very interesting juvie, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Sounds like it’d be interesting to young readers, so if you have some in your family, CLICK on over and see if you come away thinking the same.

Oh, and while you’re at it, check out OSC’s production of Taming of the Shrew. (Just click on the link on the Hatrack page.) Be patient. Each “half” is about 150+ MB, so a thick pipe is pretty much required.

Do you believe the U.S. system of taxation is fair? Take the survey.

More Kelo fallout. *sigh* THIS is why the Framers wrote the Second Amendment… And more takings in the wind: the Army set to seize land homesteaded in the 19th century and continually in use since that time.