I don't know why we have not heard more about TP-gate in Venezuela, but I think it has to do with socialism works poorly even when it doesn't outright kill its citizens.   This is not exactly the narrative the left wants out.  I have been to Venezuela many times and it has been sad to see its downhill slide.  Imagine if oil prices were not historically high, (more) blood would run in the streets.

I don't know why we have not heard more about TP-gate in Venezuela, but I think it has to do with socialism works poorly even when it doesn't outright kill its citizens.   This is not exactly the narrative the left wants out.  I have been to Venezuela many times and it has been sad to see its downhill slide.  Imagine if oil prices were not historically high, (more) blood would run in the streets.

The grin, the teeth.

People of course can spend their money as they may, but I would compare wine making to bread making, weaving, or furniture making.  At one time all were done by hand, using ancient methods.  I certainly can appreciate home made bread.  A hand woven kimono is expensive and collectible, but an oddity.  A hand made piece of furniture is romantic but is a stile turned on a lathe is generally of better quality than one carved with a chisel?

Wine making seems peculiarly Luddite to me, but not always.  Wine is now fermented in stainless tanks with refrigerated jackets to remove excess heat from the process.  It was in the past made in cellars where it was cooler.  No one complains about the newer technology because it means a lot less ruined wine. 

Other technologies are out there (as I have mentioned) that can create precisely the taste effects acquired through traditional methods.  However, mass quantities and low prices are not what wine making is about.  I am not sure that is good for them or for us.

cont.

Of course I have never seen an  apple in a barrel so it is no surprise we don't get it now.  Disruptive students hurt the opportunities of other students.  Teachers commonly spend 10% of their time dealing with one student out of 25.  This cannot be good for the others.  Those students need to be segregated into a program that suits them, which is anathema to the modern ethos of egalite.  As Annefy points out above,The school district just wants the money and the school district has no objectives about that.

I can see you are frustrated with the state of the school system.  When Thomas Sowell cites as he often does, black test scores in Harlem, NY when he went to school were much more equal to white test scores, I cannot escape the conclusion that something has changed for the worse in schools since the 50's.  It is not funding, it is not less or more racism, it is not curriculum, and I suspect in most cases it is not parent involvement (ie. parents were just as concerned then).  IMHO it is 1) objective standards of what constitutes a passing grade and 2) objective standards for behavior and discipline both of which have largely been abandoned.   If the second point is true, then Tim's criticism is valid (although only part of the problem I'll admit).

It was once common wisdom that one bad apple spoils the barrel.

Bingo, now I get it.  If the kid cusses out his/her teacher rather than suspend the student they can stick him/her in a rubber room with a cell phone to play with and still get paid.

If the kid will abide by the rule that they will watch TV on their cell phones in the back of the class they will be allowed to remain. 

Fiendishly clever plan.

I have been pondering how the video connects up for days and this is the first time I see some clarity on how that came to be.  Two comments:

1)  It seems a bit of a leap to blame the video just because it "aired on Egyptian TV in the days before the event" without knowing more context on the broadcast.  That is, did the broadcast claim the video was American or what?

2) Rewind back 10 years (see recent piece in Foreign Policy here) to when the left accused the GWB administration for cooking the evidence on Iraq WMD when the CIA director called it a slam dunk and ALL of our allies agreed with.  Here we have and example where (to keep the basketball analogies going) the best the intelligence community could muster were long 3-point attempts and those same folks who are now proved to be partisan hypocrites will say nothing.

That is an interesting comment.  The mind boggles with the ideas of I- beams, trusses, and multi-ply structures all on a micro level looking for the right application.

Is this really your argument?  We should not care about this policy because education does not matter for the futures of CA kids?  I must have misread this.  Don't you think that businesses make decisions based on their available workforce and over the medium and long term, places with lower skilled (even among low skilled) workers will lose out?  Even a sheet metal worker must know something about geometry to be good at his or her job.

Vargas girl made flesh is a canny, well-put observation.  I don't know much about her, but this photograph is amazing for beauty and glamour.  Conversely, my recollection is that she was the long time "partner" of goth-rocker Marilyn Manson, which does burst the illusion somewhat.  I guess I should congratulate here on her tattoo/piercing-restraint.

I think you have genuinely nailed it.  Of course what can you expect but self-serving cynicism from this guy.  He comes from place (Chicago) where his very senate seat was to be auctioned off to the highest bidder by the political ally (Blagojevich) of his first chief of staff (Rahm E.). 

The best comparison that can be made would be to look at what I suspect is continued slow growth versus our recent/historical rates of growth.  And when we cheer a reduction of the deficit from $845 to $642 B we should remember that the press excoriated GWB for levels far lower than that.

The professor has a dangerous intellect when it comes to this administration.  He should be extra-careful on his 1040 next year!

I think we have to see what happens.  I suspect the longer run dynamics effects that AZ dude speaks of above are not yet in play.  High wage earners who have the ability to shift investments around or just work less and take less are not likely to change their behaviors immediately until the dust settles.

Double post