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Saturday, February 25, 2017

Post #3127 M

Quote of the Day

I believe in intuition and inspiration.
 Imagination is more important than knowledge. 
For knowledge is limited, 
whereas imagination embraces the entire world, 
stimulating progress, 
giving birth to evolution. 
It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.
Albert Einstein  

Tweet of the Day

I wouldn't say when I go to a trending hashtag, I'm looking for a fight. I know that quite often I'll find a number of Trump-bashing leftists and/or alt-right cultists cluttering the thread. Quite often the tweets are repetitive. When or why will I respond? Sometimes the tweet goes over the top, others I've finally become exasperated with after reading too many similar ones and biting my tongue; still others are crying out for an obvious reply. For example, Iceland's President got into trouble recently for jokingly suggesting pineapple should be banned as a pizza topping. This is a classic example of my libertarian viewpoint; the whole concept of putting pineapple on a pizza is nauseating. But I saw it listed on someone's compilation of top 10 selling toppings. Whatever rocks your world. Personally, I have never bought, nor will I ever buy, pineapple pizza. But I would never ban it. So on the latest hashtag game "I could never respect someone who", some lady responded, "doesn't approve of pineapple on pizza". I responded that I could never be with someone who defiles pizza or meat by putting pineapple on it.

Other times an annoying tweet motivates a creative twist. Let me give a classic recent tweet. There was a theme about the topic "what women want". One predictable tweet came from one of those pretentious academics (e.g., they include "Dr." in their handle) who began a trite wishlist of "progressive" goals: universal healthcare, living wage, blah, blah, blah.  It was a pro-government rant. Is that true? I, a lifelong bachelor (not by conviction but limited opportunities), am hardly an expert on "what women want", despite a mom, 4 little sisters and 9 nieces. But one thing I do know from my relationships with women is almost all dislike being told what to do (not that I was ever stupid enough to try; e.g., when I've taken women out to eat, I've never ordered for them). And what does the government do? It tells people what to do. So that's how I went from initially intending to snipe back at a clueless progressive's tweet to fashioning my own: "Women don't like being told what to do. In other words, they want less government", which earned a decent number of impressions and, I seem to recall, a few likes from women.
























Image of the Day



A Twist on the Star Spangled Banner




Beer and Socialism





The War on Drugs is Simply Bad, Inefficient Public Policy


I don't advocate abusing your body through drug use. But I'm not your nanny.



Millennials and Politics




Facebook Corner


(National Review). If what they say regularly in class receives attention, they risk being exposed for their ignorance.
No, as a former IT professor, I didn't like the idea of others recording my intellectual property without my knowledge or consent. I think the practice also has a chilling effect on academic freedom; who wants to be quoted out of context by doctored clips? Now personally I never discussed politics in class, but I generally don't want political whores intervening in the classroom for the same reasons I don't want the government in my doctor's office. 

 It depends on the nature of surveillance. I don't have an issue with some forms of public transparency. For example, I once had a coed student who had a complete meltdown in class, a full-blown temper tantrum. (I had reminded students of the academic honesty policy in my syllabus; she had inferred she was one of the unnamed students I had caught cheating.) Video evidence would have been much easier to document her behavior for disciplinary review, and I suspect the student might have been deterred if she knew her actions were being recorded.
If it is a public institution, there should be no right not to be recorded. Taxpayers and the public have a right to know what they are teaching!
WRONG! You can argue that the education system should be privatized, but I don't trust special interests and their political whores intervening on academic freedom.

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists


 Tom Petty, "Mary Jane's Last Dance"


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