stupid is as stupid does – Page 8

September 22, 2007September 23, 2007

Fred on Ed

I don’t always agree with Fred Reed, but it’s hard to disagree with his take on “higher education” in the U.S.

YouÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve heard of Kaplan, which sells prep courses to subvert the SATs. You know, vocabulary lists, drills, that kind of thing. If you are too witless to have acquired a vocabulary by graduation from high school, you memorize a bunch of those word thingies with all those, like, letters in them, and forget them the day after the test, but youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re in.

Which is what the universities want. Universities are about tuition. The money of the barely sentient spends as well as any other, and there are more of them. Like all businesses, the schools, if such they are, want to expand their customer base. They want to spread the wondrous radiance of cultivation over the autistic, the anencephalic, and perhaps the dead, who might be taught by channeling. Pets, arthropods, outcroppings of rock. Furniture. Rosy OÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Donnell. George Bush. The potential clientele is large. Empty space, perhaps.

As it turns out, who would have thought it, some kids donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have vocabularies, and largely donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have brains, and either canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t read real books or would rather be poisoned, and consequently are totally incapable of study in a university. Thus the pressing need to get them there. It doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t make economic sense that a university should lose twenty K a year because some wretched prole canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t read Dick and Jane.

Read the rest at the link.

It’s doubly unfortunate that so many kids who are intellectually (and ethically–more on that another time perhaps*) unsuited to a real college education are steered toward college and away from meaningful work that suits them, because it not only cheats them, it cheats those who are suited, by the process of dumbing classes down to the level that dummies (or even just those who’d otherwise be out of their depth) need to survive.

Oh, well. The ones who are suited to real college work can always make their way to the library and play a few rounds of autodidacticism.

Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Shadowscope, The Pink Flamingo, Phastidio.net, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, The Amboy Times, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

* Continue reading “Fred on Ed”

September 21, 2007

Let’s Just Copy Mexico, Shall We?

All the Bushwah (another word for bullshit that is strikingly appropriate given Fifi Bush’s–that lapdog to successive Mexican presidents–unwavering intent to erase our Southern border) about giving away the store to illegal aliens (70% or more of whom are Mexican illegals with most of the rest entering via our porous Southern border with Mexico), and all the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth (along with legal and bureaucratic saber rattling) from Mexican officials about how badly we treat Mexican citizens who just want to come here and steal jobs from Americans (along with ID theft and much, much more), services paid for by American citizens, etc., why not “surrender” to Mexico and… adopt Mexican standards for immigration and Mexican practices for controlling our borders?

Sounds good to me.

This article in Human Events (from last year) outlines the way Mexico views illegal immigrants and touches on how illegals are treated there.

Mexico has a single, streamlined law that ensures that foreign visitors and immigrants are:

in the country legally;

have the means to sustain themselves economically;

not destined to be burdens on society;

of economic and social benefit to society;

of good character and have no criminal records; and

contributors to the general well-being of the nation.

The law also ensures that:

immigration authorities have a record of each foreign visitor;

foreign visitors do not violate their visa status;

foreign visitors are banned from interfering in the countryÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s internal politics;

foreign visitors who enter under false pretenses are imprisoned or deported;

foreign visitors violating the terms of their entry are imprisoned or deported;

those who aid in illegal immigration will be sent to prison.

Well, those sounds like reasonable steps any country might take to protect its citizens, don’t they?

How about also implementing the same sort of “border patrol” the Mexican government has on its southern border? Yep. Real life, fully armed (with ROI that allow actual, well, use of those arms against invaders) Mexican Army troops.

So what was with all the stuck pig sounds emmanating from Mexican officials when Bush(wah) ordered a token number of National Guard to man small portions of our Southern border as observers, only?

Oh, it would have forced the Mexican government to revamp the “How to Evade Capture and Effect Successful Invasion of the U.S.” comic books it had been offering free to any Mexican who would volunteer to be a part of Mexico’s invasion of the U.S. (OK, so I titled the thing more honestly than the Mexican government did. What will the Mexican government do? Sue me? Good luck, Juan.)

Get those faxes, calls and letters (and visits, if you can) to your congresscritters demanding that the U.S. adopt Mexican immigration policy–and actively, vigorously, diligently enforce it.

And as for Fifi Bush? Let him eat beans.

Trackposted to Stop the ACLU, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Perri Nelson’s Website, Rosemary’s Thoughts, DeMediacratic Nation, Adam’s Blog, Big Dog’s Weblog, Right Truth, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, The Bullwinkle Blog, Adeline and Hazel, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, High Desert Wanderer, Right Voices, Church and State, and Public Eye, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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September 19, 2007September 19, 2007

Better Profits Through Scaremongering!

Merck has begun marketing its Gardasil vaccine as applicable to young boys. So, what’s the big deal?

Gardasil, MerckÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s cervical cancer vaccine, has already been heavily marketed to young girls (actually, to brainwashed soccer moms for their young daughters). The real market for Gardasil is young women who have compromised immune systems. (HPV is almost never a problem for women with uncompromised immune systems, and less so for women who do not engage in risky behaviors like scooting between multiple sex partners, drug use, etc.)

Nevertheless, parents should evaluate whether the vaccine is for their daughters. Side effects include, but are not limited to:

Pain in the area of the injection
Swelling in the are of the injection
Redness in the area of the injection
Fever (or very high fever)
Nausea
Dizziness
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Cough
Toothache
General ill feeling
Joint pain
Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
Stuffy nose
Signs of an allergic reaction, including difficulty breathing, wheezing, an unusual skin rash, itching, or hives

Of course, now that Merck is marketing the stuff for boys, who knows what the side effects may be, since it wasn’t tested on males (see the other “Things You Might Not Know About Gardasil” at the link…)

But why market the vaccine for boys, anyway? Oh, I guess because,

The new male recommendation is based on the notion that boys could get throat cancer if they have oral sex with an HPV-infected girl.

OK, examine that for a second. There are really relatively few cervical cancer cases in American women each year, in fact, in any given year, only 0.0087% of women are even diagnosed with cervical cancer. Look at that percentage carefully again: 0.0087%, that’s 8.7 in 100,000. And of those cases, 8.44 of the 8.7 (per 100,000) new cases are cured by various medical means currently available.

The death rate from cervical cancer is about 4,600 per year in the U.S., a less than the flu. No matter how you slice the annual average 36,000 deaths from flu in the U.S., many, many more than 4,600 are women. So, among many risk factors, HPV is relatively low, even for women, as a health risk factor–and even lower if they do not engage in risky behaviors and behaviors that compromise their immune systems.

So, then, what’s the big risk of throat cancer in boys from exposure to HPV, anyway?

In looking at patients with tumors that were positive for a particular strain of HPV already well-linked to cervical cancer, six or more oral sex partners increased risk for throat cancer by eightfold. [emphasis added]

Wow! That certainly seems scary enough, doesn’t it? But wait a minute… how prevalent is throat cancer anyway, and what are the other risk factors, and how are they weighted?

Approximately 34,000 people in the US will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2007.^*

That’s certainly more than will be diagnosed with cervical cancer–by a factor of about 9. But of course, most of those with throat (and oral) cancers are men.

“HPV has been found to be a factor in about one out of five oral cancers.” OK “a factor” in 20% of throat cancer cases. That’s poretty significant, but still leaves other factors influencing the other 80%, doesn’t it? And note that’s “a factor” in those 20% of cases, indicating that even in those cases, there are others. In fact, “About 90 percent of people who develop these [oral, throat] cancers use some form of tobacco.”

Seems tobacco use is the biggie. In fact, from that source it would seem that at least some (up to 90%?) of those “20% of cases” would likely involve tobacco use, too.

So, Merck’s marketing their Gardasil vaccine to protect boys from this risk? At about $300-$400 per boy (OK, I threw in a nominal–and totally bogus!–$15 per Dr. visit for the three-series shots; it’ll be more, of course)? And what will the customer get? Possible protection for boys who

a. have compromised immune systems
b. are (likely) heavy tobacco users
c. have six or more oral sex partners

Possible protection, because the jury’s still not in on Gardisil’s effectiveness against oral/throat cancers with an HPV linkage.

It is not yet clear if the HPV vaccine now approved for the prevention of cervical cancer in women can also prevent HPV-driven throat cancer or other malignancies that have been linked to HPV infection… ^**

Hmmm, seems like parents actually being parents and teaching their boys (and girls) about the benefits of chastity as opposed to instant gratification, avoid tobacco use and other risky behaviors, etc. would be much more effective, as well as having a beneficial effect on society in general.

But that would require parents to be, well, parents, you know, the responsible adults we all know most parents… are not.

Oh, well. Just scare ’em and give ’em some drugs.

(Oh, and before anyone pipes in with “You just don’t know kids” or some such bullshit, well, yes I do. I’ve not only taught and worked with teenagers, my Wonder Woman and I have raised our own. Responsible parenting is too possible. I learned it from my wife.)

Trackposted to Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Faultline USA, Right Truth, Nuke’s News & Views, Cao’s Blog, Right Voices, Pursuing Holiness, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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September 18, 2007September 18, 2007

“Enter at the strait gate… “

This trailer for an “updated” 300 is as good an intro as I could ask for…

h.t. NealsNuze

Matthew 7: ¹³Enter ye in at the strait* gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; ¹⁴Because strait* is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.–NJKV

The semi-archaic construction above actually carries the meaning of the text better (for those who can read it) than many more modern translations. *sigh*

This makes me think of gates and fences. In the broader context of society today, we have a political elite and those they serve (decidedly NOT the majority of citizens they are tasked to serve!) who have determined to completely eliminate the gate controlling access to the superhighway leading to perdition while at the same time piling heaps of trash in front of the gate that opens onto the narrow path to life.

An example–one of many–can be found in the clear message of those who once again seek to grant amnesty to those who have violated our borders, stolen IDs, jobs and services from citizens and done so with the active aid of a foreign power. ¹, ², ³. Were our political elite–elected for the most part with votes bought from greedy and lazy American sheeple–not blinded by their own greed, lust for power and stupid short-sightedness as well as being completely scornful of their duty to this country’s citizens, the hordes of illegal aliens would soon be flooding over the borders OUT of the U.S.

No, don’t give me the old lying memes that they’re here to do “jobs Americans won’t do” or that it’s impossible to deport 20 million people. *throws the bullshit flag*

1. Eliminate illegals’ jobs by cracking down on those who hire illegals
2. Eliminate social services for illegals that are paid for by tax dollars (private social services that do not use ANY public monies could, of course, continue to aid outlaws if they wished).
3. While cracking down on illegals in the workplace, put those thus caught on chain gangs making little rocks from big rocks until they’re too worn down to EVER consider coming back through the back door.

Do those simple things and the flood of invaders seeking to leave would swamp our borders.

But the other side of that particular “open the wrong gate and block the right gate” behavior by our political elite is that the gate to legal immigration is blocked by piles of bureaucrappic trash. Yes, we do need immigrants, but not to do the grunt work and menial labor that limosine “liberals” and fake “conservatives” want done on their estates and in their lowballing businesses. We need immigrants who have technical skills and real science education since those skills and education factors are lagging in the U.S. Yes, lagging, falling behind, failing to meet our needs as an advanced, technological society. (But that’s another rant–about education.)

Any politician *spit* with more than two active synapses in the thunder mug that sits atop his shoulders could see that offering amnesty (even the backdoor amnesty being considered this week)–rewarding outlaws who wreak havoc on our social structure, economy, national health and medical systems, etc.–is a bad, bad idea. But though the smartest of our politicians *spit* (those who actually do have two or more working synapses in the thunder mugs sitting atop their shoulders) know this, almost all of them are still on the road to tearing down the last of the crumbling walls between us and the barbarian hordes. (And yes, I am aware of a very few statesmen left who seek to preserve what little of the Republic we once had. Too little, too late? Maybe.)

*For those to whom “strait” is a confusing term, “strait” is a perfectly good word that is very different in meaning to “straight”. It is most often used in our less and less literate culture to mean “a narrow channel joining two larger bodies of water,” leaving aside its broader meaning. Strait=narrow (thus “straits” as bodies of water are also often referred to as “narrows”!)

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