tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55263462012-01-20T20:28:52.112-07:00El GringoMy Bemusement ParkRobertnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17011100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-31847942428821456382012-01-20T20:28:00.002-07:002012-01-20T20:28:52.124-07:00Juan Williams was right in his exchange with Newt during the MLK debate. Newt was insulting. When a lot of people stop short search their conscience about race.
They ask themselves, "Do I hate or fear minority X; believe that they are biolically inferior; or think it is OK to deny them human decency and civil rights? No. Therefore I am not a racist!"
They then feel free to make sweeping Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-86929567230006497582012-01-17T20:01:00.000-07:002012-01-20T19:51:52.363-07:00"Does anybody else see this tragedy as a metaphor for the fate of the global economy in 2012?" Only you and nearly every other person who commented on the NY Times article about the Costa Concordia fiasco. It is an odd mindset that takes an apparent incident of literal irresponsible showboating by one person and holds it up as proof of:
The inevitable corruption and recklessness of private, Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-65680684183770229052012-01-13T20:21:00.000-07:002012-01-13T20:21:32.041-07:00Happy Birthday NCLB! We are approaching, or passed--I don't know which--the 10th anniversary of the passage of NCLB. Many edu-sites (I know you read them all!) have offered retrospectives on the good and the bad of the law formerly known as NCLB.
Since I spent most of that time on the cutting edge, or more accurately, as one of the knobs on the wide end of the cudgel, of NCLB implementation,Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-5815508781071083762012-01-12T19:46:00.000-07:002012-01-12T19:46:00.201-07:00Before you read Blink, or Nudge, or Twitch, or Blurt, or any other popularization of the latest research into human behavior glance through the articles in the Fall 2011 Journal of Economic Perspectives. You will find that the science trying to find the physiological source of human behavior is still very new, and plagued with results that can't be reproduced.
If that's too heavy, you can read Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-62790299559658070282012-01-12T19:13:00.002-07:002012-01-12T19:13:53.171-07:00The typically moderate Bob Robb lays into a pair of public figures in a way that I can't recall reading from him before...
Brewer and Republican lawmakers apparently believe that the state's future
depends on the economic clairvoyance of Arizona Commerce Authority President Don
Cardon, to whom you wouldn't entrust your personal investment portfolio, and his
sidekick Greater Phoenix Economic Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-47315378493144776812012-01-02T17:44:00.000-07:002012-01-12T19:06:15.268-07:00This post is brought to you by the letter "C". The Republic is hosting a Conversation on how we can have a Civil public discourse. Gringo Daughter Numero Uno submitted an essay to the contest asking students how we can all get along. She did not take my advice and go "Kobayashi Maru" by rejecting the premise of the argument--and thereby dazzle the judges with the historical perspective and Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-13104616288353622532011-12-22T21:15:00.001-07:002011-12-22T21:15:24.200-07:00Did the Republic make an endorsement for North Korean dictator? It looks like it.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-74265131831768942582011-12-09T20:46:00.001-07:002011-12-09T21:13:20.809-07:00What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? Friday, the WSJ carried an essay/book promo by Randy Roberts proclaiming the great social significance of yet another near-forgotten sporting event. This time the event is the Army-Navy game of 1944 and the book is "A Team for America: The Army-Navy Game That Rallied a Nation"**
However, reading the article failed to give me that warm, nostalgic glow. Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-24475654402979003412011-11-22T20:09:00.001-07:002011-11-22T20:19:07.655-07:00Can't tell the modern, baby-faced actor/tresses apart? Richard Rushfield probably can, but he's still not impressed (go to the link for some then/now photos): (from Kaus)
Our young actors today, even the finest of them, are just too much of lightweights to carry off historical roles. We are not capable anymore of portraying a time when people didn’t act like pouty teens well into their 50’s.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-66132441579159955272011-11-22T19:55:00.001-07:002011-11-22T20:00:38.064-07:00“The fundamental issue is that law schools are producing people who are not capable of being counselors.” ...from a NYT article on how law schools, like every other post grad program, are more interested in producing theoreticians than practioners.
To which I say: "Bring back legal apprenticeships." Instead of spending four years earning that BA in political science/history followed by law Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-60297731925326021902011-11-17T19:28:00.001-07:002011-11-17T19:36:18.475-07:00Bob Robb makes an acute observation, which I read first a couple of weeks ago in Holman Jenkins' column. In Obama's mind, when it's jobs vs. the Environment, the environment usually wins.
Although, I believe Obama is sincere when he talks about Green Jobs. In fact Obama is one of the few people who talks about Green Jobs who doesn't have a financial interest the Enviro-Industrial Complex of Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-38334195152366830072011-11-17T19:13:00.001-07:002011-11-17T19:25:09.853-07:00Food for Thought. Congress wants to make pizza a vegetable for school lunch purposes. Although the writer portrays this as a triumph of the nefarious salt-carbs-processed food lobby, fruits, greens, and whole grains are not grown on solar-powered, non-profit co-ops--for the most part.
Field observations of our school's lunchroom conducted by Mrs. Gringo and a panel survey of the Littlest Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-71345565927752021462011-10-13T21:07:00.000-07:002011-10-13T21:07:08.766-07:00The state of Arizona is making a big bet, that is, we taxpayers are making a big bet, that bombarding teachers and parents with student performance information via dashboards, web sites, spreadsheets etc will somehow make our kids smarter--all, of course, with a minimum of research support. (A big bet encouraged by the feds) Well here's some research, but it doesn't look promising.
P.S. This Robertnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-83429333575532644012011-10-13T20:48:00.004-07:002011-10-13T20:59:22.251-07:00I don't discriminate, I'm just homophilic...not that there's anything wrong with that."Can Birds of a Feather Fly Together? Evidence for the Economic Payoffs of Ethnic Homophily"by DEEPAK HEGDE & JUSTIN TUMLINSONDoes ethnic homophily (love for ethnically similar individuals) influence investment decisions and their payoffs? We investigate this question using novel data on the ethnic origins of Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-80865902053724147462010-09-27T20:38:00.002-07:002010-09-27T20:48:16.431-07:00Recession over? These graphs from the NYT (thanks to OTB commentator John Personna at OTB) help show why the tech-a-zoids at NBER think the recession is over--and convince Mrs. Gringo that economists aren't completely out to lunch. Most indicators are turning upward, or at least have stopped falling.Many like OTB think that most Americans won't believe the recession is over until jobs pick up.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-69691485717604670632010-09-26T14:53:00.002-07:002010-09-26T15:08:54.615-07:00Byron Schlomach, I feel your pain. When I had the think tank gig, I would often present in what was supposed to be a Conservative forum, and get the same reaction he did from from the readers of "Sonoran Alliance."Most people who describe themselves as Conservatives, that's with a big "C", are actually conservatives--with a small "c". So that's why when Byron mentioned toll roads, a policy idea,Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-40582048351661232512010-09-07T21:06:00.003-07:002010-09-22T20:37:00.280-07:00David Brooks serves up another column telling us how the great recession could/should lead to fundamental changes in how Americans view money, possessions, and saving.This reminds me of how after 9/11 we were told that the attack could/should lead to fundamental changes in American values. Namely, we were to become less materialistic and hurried, and lead slower, more meaningful lives. A writer Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-57649631268228812432010-09-07T20:53:00.002-07:002010-09-07T21:05:58.013-07:00From today's NY Times:Forget What You Know About Good Study HabitsSome nuggets:Take the notion that children have specific learning styles, that some are “visual learners” and others are auditory; some are “left-brain” students, others “right-brain.” In a recent review of the relevant research, published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a team of psychologists found Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-44441317369683804842010-09-06T17:11:00.002-07:002010-09-06T17:26:34.661-07:00What to make of the news that 3 of the top 5 highest selling lottery retailers are in Sun City? (And Nos. 6 and 7 serve a lot of Sun City residents as well. Of the top 15, 13 are in the west valley. ) Aren't the Social Security checks enough? Are the ex-employers defaulting on the pensions? Are the savings wiped out? It reminds me of story an ex-professor told me about his time as the Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-80887521828935195782010-09-06T17:05:00.002-07:002010-09-06T17:11:30.243-07:00I have been reading Armenian Golgotha, an eyewitness account of the Armenian genocide, for the past week or so. Hope to have more thoughts on it later, but here's the first one: What could cause ordinary people to hack to death with hatchets and cleavers men, women, and children who have been their neighbors for years?Then today I read this chilling echo in the WSJ: [M]any in the country would Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-23341785669873322742010-09-03T20:42:00.002-07:002010-09-03T21:10:38.699-07:00Finally had a chance to see a recording of Jan Brewer's "disastrous" performance at the debate two nights ago. All that hoo-hah over over a little stage fright? Everyone who has spoken in front of a camera or audience has locked up at one time or another--and it might seem long to the audience, but believe me it seems even longer to the speaker.Besides, after the last 18 months maybe we have Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-87481890269075819942010-09-01T18:36:00.002-07:002010-09-01T21:07:10.312-07:00Property rights, bah! Or that's what I'm beginning to think about intellectual property rights. Our legal system is absurd. The intellectual property rights system seems increasingly absurd. Combine them both and we get this: A potential new legal feeding frenzy as "plaintiff" sharks circle unsuspecting businesses prowling for the numbers of expired patents stamped on products.As usual, the Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-26216711023331046102010-08-20T20:37:00.003-07:002010-09-01T18:33:48.004-07:00Although I don't care much for the gratuitous woundikins, and the picture of Sean Connery in the dominatrix get-up he wore in Zardoz, I think Nick Gillespie is pretty much correct when he says los Republicanos don't have a clue about what to do when they regain power.More mosque madness! It appears that the whole Cordoba house brouhaha is an even more irrelevant diversion than it initially seemedRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-14394387021673684302010-08-19T21:39:00.004-07:002010-08-20T20:23:02.005-07:00"You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." Those words uttered by Admiral Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay launched American as a world power. So it is shocking and dismaying to find out that, Dewey's flagship, the Olympia, is in danger of being sunk as reef: [T]he Olympia, a National Historic Landmark, needs $10 million for hull repairs orit could go to a watery grave within three years, Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-70482535394919844182010-08-13T21:52:00.000-07:002010-08-13T21:54:07.740-07:00The Etymology of 10 Musical Genre Names (from GMSV)Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-14420903626817448122010-08-13T21:20:00.002-07:002010-08-13T21:52:20.168-07:00Leviticus 19:34 (but see also Genesis 21:23!) Exurban Kevin makes a very eloquent appeal to immigrants on behalf of conservatism. Unfortunately, an acute commenter throws water all over it.And here's another dash of water from the Monkey Cage.Making illegal immigration a major plank in the conservative/Republican platform will continue to alienate otherwise conservative Hispanics.First, many Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-11094936643654087172010-08-11T20:14:00.004-07:002010-08-11T20:42:18.440-07:00Ecclesiastes 7: 10. Peggy Noonan quotes herself 16 years prior:"At home certain trends—crime, cultural tension, some cultural Balkanization—will, we fear, continue; some will worsen. In my darker moments I have a bad hunch. The fraying of the bonds that keep us together, the strangeness and anomie of our popular culture, the increase in walled communities . . . the rising radicalism of the Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-28374119095982496332010-08-08T12:02:00.002-07:002010-08-08T12:10:50.912-07:00Won't get fooled again. Bob Robb tells us how he learned to love his Kindle. Sorry Tech Lords, I'm not falling for that one. I have boxes stacked in closets and in the garage full of obsolete media: VHS tapes, LPs, cassette tapes, etc. I'm not taking the same risk with my library. Besides, which is a greater target for thieves and burglars: twenty of my books on a shelf, or a Kindle with 20 Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-87797180557390555912010-08-02T20:40:00.003-07:002010-08-02T20:55:53.533-07:00On Some Faraway Beach the Brian Eno story by David Sheppard. The book follows a definite arc. First, the young art student Brian Eno goes on the dole, enters the avant-garde art scene of mid-60s London, and meets a bunch of people I've never heard of. Then he joins Roxy Music and works with a bunch of bands I've heard of. The guy had a hand in nearly half of the pop-rock albums I own. This Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-34239614774087085282010-07-13T21:35:00.002-07:002010-07-13T21:46:15.484-07:00This is getting old..show up at a meeting and film a politician being confronting a rude and truculent crowd, watch him snap, express amusement and outrage.Although there were smoother ways of handling the question, I will say this in Rep. Ciro Rodriguez' defense, his interlocutor who launched the l-bomb first.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-71124979884429928472010-07-12T21:24:00.003-07:002010-07-12T21:29:25.855-07:00Which party is going to carry the banner of Jacksonian, small-government egalitarianism? Read the link for some kind words about Woodrow Wilson too!Republicans talk about small government, but confuse being pro free-market with being pro business, and wind up giving favors to their golfing buddies.Democrats talk about equality, but confuse equal opportunity with equal outcomes and wind up giving Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-10778874360163868212010-07-12T21:15:00.000-07:002010-07-12T21:23:35.942-07:00Sean Noble says it better than I did. And has more inside dope, too.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-46706271376569491372010-07-11T15:36:00.004-07:002010-07-12T21:12:05.874-07:00Finding Oz by Evan I. Schwartz. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a New Age parable mixing Eastern mysticism, feminism, and Native American wisdom. Baum was a theosophist who sent his sons to "Ethical Culture Sunday School;" and his mother-in-law was radical feminist and a colleague of Susan B. Anthony and Elizbeth Cady Stanton. Unfortunately, he had conventional Republican politics, when he botheredRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-65707959193944879792010-07-09T21:24:00.002-07:002010-07-09T21:38:57.850-07:00Great Mysteries of LifeHow does something like this Paul the Octopus thing get started? Some caretakers are sitting around the aquarium breakroom, and one wonders, "Hey, I wonder if the octopus can pick world cup winners?" Did they try the rays first?And who decided to announce it to the press? And what editor at the daily Zeitung said, "Ach du Lieber! Und Octopus that can pick world cup winners!Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-63857801845349747452010-06-21T21:25:00.002-07:002010-06-21T21:33:08.107-07:00Gone are the days...from an old (1977) article in the National Review describing the line up of speakers at the 1976 Democratic convention: George Wallace had a speech to make, in which he denounced the “monstrous bureaucracy” in Washington that had recently forbidden a father-son dinner at one of HEW’s pads, on the grounds that such exclusivity violated the rights of women. Hubert Humphrey was Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-79976424256987244712010-06-21T21:15:00.002-07:002010-06-21T21:25:22.771-07:00What liberal bias? If Big Media favors Big Government, why do stories about scandals involving public officials bother to tell us how much they are paid, even if it's irrelevant to the story?In Saturday's story about the amorous constable, the Republic's correspondent not only relates his salary, $146,071 per year, but also tells us he is a double dipper. A nearby story about the biased IT Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-90267517462185984802010-05-30T17:10:00.002-07:002010-05-30T17:14:47.133-07:00A Matter of Life and Death. The Archers do for the US what they did for Canada in 49th Parallel. Good movie for a Memorial Day weekend if you don't want to watch Battleground again. Some really amazing scenes, like the opening sequence. (First released in the US as Stairway to Heaven. It has nothing to do with that "Stairway to Heaven.)Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-33937349262962730162010-05-30T17:00:00.002-07:002010-05-30T17:06:03.752-07:00According to the Republic he's a Republican. I hope it's true. Indulging its nativist roots not only hurts the R's with minorities, but also with kids today.I also agree that momentous and controversial laws (like prop 100) should be put before voters instead of just being passed by the legislature.Robertnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-84549671744388561152010-05-28T20:53:00.003-07:002010-05-30T17:00:07.100-07:00This item caught the attention of righty bloggers:Mass. Senate passes crackdown on illegal immigrantsWhat would you expect from a state that would elect a Mormon Republican as governor? This actually isn't the first law Massachusetts copied from us. They also thought Clean Elections was an idea worth emulating.Really, being anti-immigrant and being liberal doesn't lead to that much cognitive Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-51867885774555655042010-05-23T16:47:00.002-07:002010-05-23T16:59:19.056-07:00More Game Change (Heilemannn and Halperin). Slogging through to page 100 your intrepid reader has endured a series of undistinguished speeches, press interviews, hotel-room conferences, phone calls, and profiles of various political flacks--all without any wit or insight from the authors.An all too typical example: On page 57 we are introduced to Democratic "grassroots-organizing savant" Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-15074384979626655122010-05-21T21:13:00.002-07:002010-05-21T21:19:02.983-07:00Le Morte d'Arthur. The equivalent to a 15th-century shooter video game. Knights roam the countryside, cross paths with other knights, joust, and continue roaming.Game Change. Filled with even more repetition, self-regard, posing, and cardboard characterizations than Malory. Made it through 32 pages...can't...go...on.......Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-74416103979401699682010-05-14T20:54:00.002-07:002010-05-14T21:00:33.525-07:00Let me understand this: you pay $40-$50K for a high performance German auto to drive down the 51 5 to 10 mph under the speed limit--while talking on the phone. For those who want German engineering for their mobile phone booth/road block, Mercedes makes buses too.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-77652255129741682972010-05-14T20:46:00.002-07:002010-05-14T20:54:48.392-07:00One side wants the law to be obeyed for the sake of public safety.The other side thinks that the mode of enforcement is an intolerable intrusion of government power on free citizens.The issue: photo radar cameras.The irony: the partisans on either side have just caught their collective breathe from making the opposite arguments over SB 1070. It's so comical you have to cry. Who nowadays Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-65113864727409148732010-05-14T20:37:00.002-07:002010-05-14T20:46:44.672-07:00Sometimes it's hard to read a Mark Steyn column due to the incessant rimshots clanging in your head:And yet the coastal frothers denouncing Arizona as the Third Reich or, at best, apartheid South Africa seem entirely relaxed about the ludicrous and embarrassing sight of peaceful protesters being menaced by camp stormtroopers from either a dinner-theater space-opera or uniforms night at Mayor Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-70777434633252379312010-05-02T16:09:00.003-07:002010-05-02T16:12:36.429-07:00Sure I wish McCain-Feingold was just called Feingold. And I do respect JD. But right now we need more than anything legislators who are fiscal conservatives, and McCain clearly beats JD in this.Robertnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-78023383621306296502010-05-02T15:33:00.002-07:002010-05-02T16:08:59.892-07:00Because I'm only a third generation American, I've always believed that one of the great things about the US is that we are a nation of immigrants. And I've always been sanguine about the long-term effect of immigrants on our country. If I hear worries about how we are being inundated by a wave of immigrants with an alien culture who refuse to assimilate, my response has always been, "They've Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-18524229398161437242010-04-22T21:00:00.003-07:002010-04-22T21:02:37.970-07:00Happy Earth Day! By coincidence(?), as my American Economic Association calendar notes, it is V. I. Lenin's birthday. Why the American Economic Association calendar sees fit to note Lenin's birthday, who knows.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-13688724238227025642010-04-06T21:07:00.006-07:002010-05-02T15:33:00.541-07:00The Economic Outlook. I usually have a jaundiced view of the inspirational messages people often attach to their e-mails, but this one is a good one to remember when Obama starts to crow about how his stimulus package is growing the economy:Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance. Remember you read about this here first:It is an alarming, jaw-dropping conclusion. The U.S. standardRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-7946120373803196822010-03-26T20:54:00.004-07:002010-03-27T08:33:11.635-07:00The best thing about Hayworth running for McCain's senate seat is that Mike Broomhead has taken his spot on PM drive time. Broomhead's worth listening to because he's entertaining, focuses on local issues, and his POV is that of a backyard BBQ conservative--a view that is more representative of the average middle class, suburban voter than say the crew at NRO corner or Cato.His approach does Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-84879672905403480722010-03-25T21:17:00.001-07:002010-03-25T21:20:17.357-07:00Is Facebook chametz? The Chassidic tradition clearly links chametz with an inflated sense of self, egotism, and narcissism. Dietary shifts alone do not necessarily touch the roots of our inflated self-interest. I'm a fan of Facebook in general, but have noticed that using the network not only can distract me from other more introspective or meditative pursuits, but it can also induce comparing Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-87958769358329761022010-03-25T21:09:00.003-07:002010-05-02T15:32:22.162-07:00Maybe this is why Bono is concerned about African debt:While U2's frontman is celebrated for his charitable work in Africa and bipartisan approach to political issues, the Irish singer is actually "the worst investor in America" according to the online publication, 24/7 Wall Street.The man can identify with people who make consistently bad investment decisions. (Well, maybe in the past. But I've Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-9823839729565719422010-03-22T20:26:00.002-07:002010-03-22T20:31:40.021-07:00More '"good" news. Ignore the acronyms, the killer line is highlighted (by me):[O]ver the next 20 years (2007-2027) growth in real potential GDP will be 2.4 percent (the same as in 2000-07), growth in total economy labor productivitywill be 1.7 percent, and growth in the more familiar concept of NFPB sectorlabor productivity will be 2.05 percent. The implied forecast 1.50 percentgrowth rate of Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-76202595808609901262010-03-19T20:51:00.003-07:002010-03-19T20:58:40.469-07:00Good News. This morning I found this comment in my in-box:They have finally found the man who killed my grandfather, and he is now to serve 9 years in prison. It's not enough, but it's better than nothing.It was a response to this post. And sure enough they did. Congratulations to the police for their tenacity and hard work. It's bad enough to lose a loved one to time and nature, but to lose Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-33510833310006357642010-03-12T21:22:00.002-07:002010-03-12T21:29:40.671-07:00Social Security Makes You Stupid. It's true! The latest Journal of Economic Perspectives has an article by Susann Rohwedder and Robert J. Willis on "mental retirement." The premise is that keeping mentally active as you age helps preserve mental acuity, and nothing keeps the gray cells firing like work. So in countries where residents tend to retire earlier, the elderly show greater drops in Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-90379944536313167192010-03-12T21:16:00.002-07:002010-03-12T21:21:58.356-07:00Anonymous Mike e-mails that he too is listening to a Timothy Luke Johnson from the Teaching Company. That makes three conservative bloggers with Arizona connections who are learning about early Christianity thanks to the Teaching Company. And you thought we only had Crowded House and Clash CDs in our cars.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-62547173313640043492010-03-12T21:15:00.000-07:002010-03-12T21:16:06.672-07:00Just like I said: severed finger in the chili!Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-57229917023200668832010-03-10T21:02:00.003-07:002010-03-10T21:06:05.581-07:00I've read several articles while following Diane Ravitch on her recantation/book promotion tour, and have yet to read one where she offers concrete ideas to improve schools. She hasn't adopted the "There's nothing wrong that more money can't fix," or the "Let's solve the problems outside of school first," positions. Maybe she's just being coy, hoping we'll buy her book to find out what she's Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-77244303453669628392010-03-10T20:46:00.000-07:002010-03-10T20:47:43.779-07:00Froma Harrop gives us another example that the urban progressives have abandoned public education.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-43713335678843255072010-03-09T21:11:00.003-07:002010-03-09T21:31:32.260-07:00Ah, the sweet life of a big time, MSM columnist. Spend the morning reading another guy's article, and write a 750 word summary of it after lunch. Both Krugman and Douthat practice this technique in their columns yesterday.Krugman's piece--mirabile dictu!--was actually worth reading...at least this paragraph asking why the Irish like the Americans have a housing bubble followed by a financial Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-90048570323391197522010-03-09T21:07:00.003-07:002010-03-10T21:07:20.440-07:00Runaway Prius! While reading about today's incident, one phrase kept repeating in my mind: "Severed finger in the chili." Two things:1. On what SoCal freeway can you book at 90mph for 20 minutes? Why don't these accidents happen in traffic?2. He had time to use a cell phone, but counldn't put the car in neutral.Just you wait...he was driving so fast because the repo man was after his car.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-59044769645897105902010-03-07T15:21:00.003-07:002010-03-07T15:43:46.342-07:00TheMedea Hypothesis by Peter Ward. Although some have dismissed the Gaia Hypothesis as fancy treehugging, I am sympathetic towards it. Competition by optimizing, self-interested organisms leads to homeostasis and/or some optimum--it's a lot like classical economics.Ward contends that the Gaia hypothesis has it backwards; that Darwinian competition by organisms from microbes to mankind Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-50533017935528058562010-03-05T16:50:00.002-07:002010-03-05T17:02:04.186-07:00Red tape for Reds. The surest way to suppress something is to regulate it. SECTION 23-29-60. Registration of members of subversive and foreign-controlled organizations. Every member of a subversive organization, or an organization subject to foreign control, every foreign agent and every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-61267265116271152702010-03-05T16:43:00.003-07:002010-03-05T16:48:55.046-07:00Kids today. What's a father to do when his child does not want to take the "human development" (sex ed) class, and the dad wants her to?Like they say, maybe it's better to be handled within the family. Guess I better get my visual aids ready.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-77735821525282713912010-03-03T21:41:00.001-07:002010-03-03T21:42:50.689-07:00 A Mock Turtle Trial from the American Bar Association. Trial lawyers take on Yertle the Turtle. Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-36645933090078092302010-03-03T21:37:00.002-07:002010-03-03T21:39:52.975-07:00"I didn't paint over a 'Robbo' piece. I painted over a piece that said 'mrphfgdfrhdgf'. I find it surreal when graffiti writers get possessive over certain locations. I thought that having a casual attitude towards property ownership was an essential part of being a vandal." London street artist Banksy.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-67341817981257429042010-03-03T21:15:00.002-07:002010-03-03T21:36:35.980-07:00Goliath the Consensusbuilder (as if the world needs more observations on the health care summit).Remember this [emphasis added]?He [Obama at law school] proved deft at navigating an institution scorched with ideological battles, many of which revolved around race. He developed a leadership style based more on furthering consensus than on imposing his own ideas. Surrounded by students who enjoyed Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-22193707194761870612010-03-01T20:57:00.004-07:002010-03-01T21:40:27.865-07:00When I renewed my subscription to the Republic I swore not to read the editorials. I know and like and agree with many of the members of its editorial board, but when they get together it's likes some demonstration of the problems with group thinking.So every morning as I open the paper I warn myself, for the sake of my peace of mind and digestion: Don't look left! Don't...read...the...editorial!Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-22546444172417685312010-02-26T21:37:00.002-07:002010-02-26T21:53:10.648-07:00I'll drop mine if you drop yours. Bob Robb relates the story of a visit from Clean Elections supporters to the ed board of the Republic. Apparently, they believe the failure of their pet cause to usher in a new progressive era in Arizona is due to...term limits!The irony of Robb's refutation of their argument is that is also refutes the reason for term limits. So the electoral reforms of both theRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-77918241310974391232010-02-26T21:33:00.001-07:002010-02-26T21:34:37.022-07:00This is funny:Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-38369517506757514542010-02-26T21:16:00.002-07:002010-02-26T21:21:42.797-07:00There are three possible take-aways from this article about the accuracy of e-verify.1. It is accurate 95.9 percent of the time.2. Over 50 percent of its denials are inaccurate.3. 93 percent of people who may legally work in the U.S. have to take yet one more bureaucratic step when they are hired. Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-75174116649248170072010-02-26T21:09:00.003-07:002010-02-26T21:16:12.641-07:00Prove me wrong. Mickey Kaus offers a reason to vote for the health care bill: [P]assing health care reform offers Dems, in the not-so- long term, a chance to do more than avoid Republican attacks. It offers the chance to disprove them. For months, both GOP and Fox hosts have been talking about socialized medicine and death panels and vicious Medicare cuts and the government coming between you andRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-78309885612521313632010-02-24T21:26:00.002-07:002010-02-24T21:31:40.095-07:00Viva Las Vegas. Went to Las Vegas last week for a gymnastics meet. The daughters were "grossed out" by the smoking, drinking, gambling, and nudity. Their dad probably can only take comfort from this for a short time. Bright kids go through a stage where they believe everything they are taught in school and church about smoking, drinking, gambling, and nudity. Just like the multiplication Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-85261007849920462362010-02-24T21:11:00.003-07:002010-02-24T21:26:17.311-07:00School Vouchers. It's about time for those advocating school vouchers to realize that they haven't been performing as promised:[A]fter three years, students who were offered vouchers to attend private schools had reading scores about one-eighth of a standard deviation greater than control group members. This is roughly equivalent to 3.1 months of additional learning over three school years.The Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-12634806773234755712010-02-18T21:02:00.002-07:002010-02-18T21:13:04.464-07:00Promises, promises. A long, long time ago--maybe it was even the Edward Boyd era--Zonitics, telling us that MSNBC was the graveyard of cable TV ego, promised that newly hired Keith Olbermann was on the road to oblivion. Well, as we all unfortunately know, KO grew in popularity.Now Nick Gillespie is promising us the same thing. Dare we hope that after the winter Olympics is over, we won't run Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-33729716597867770532010-02-18T20:19:00.002-07:002010-02-18T20:25:20.575-07:002 Scary Numbers. Yesterday an article in the WSJ quoted an economic forecaster at some bank predicting growing government debt causing a 10% long treasury rate by 2020. Now some economic forecasters predicted that housing prices would keep going up, but if this turns out to be true it will represent a significant decrease in the standard of living for a lot of people, and a huge regressive Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-3319210635285199742010-02-17T20:31:00.002-07:002010-02-17T20:40:26.537-07:00It's a Wednesday morning ritual, I get my oatmeal, my glass of OJ, and open the Wall Street Journal to read Holman Jenkins...and there it is. Like a car wreck, you know you shouldn't look, but you can't help it. It's Thomas Frank's column. If the Journal wants a token liberal columnist, it should choose a happy lefty warrior. Someone who's read a lot of studies; someone who has a long list of Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-69730767351445731232010-02-15T20:21:00.003-07:002010-02-17T20:31:45.157-07:00Coyote Blog has a proposal to keep several state parks open by having them run by a private company. He gives two possible objections from public managers. As public manager myself, I'll give a third. There are several theories about what motivates us bureaucrats: maximize our budgets, maximize the public good, etc. One I haven't seen mentioned is to minimize angry phone calls: from constituents,Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-71316257516296765872010-02-12T21:24:00.002-07:002010-02-12T21:28:04.924-07:00Bob Robb proposes a health care compromise a lot like the one I offered earlier. He is correct that the Republican plan to insure those with chronic and pre-existing conditions with risk pools hides the subsidy just like the Democrats' banning insurance companies from denying coverage to the same group.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-45213999954183225432010-02-12T21:09:00.002-07:002010-02-12T21:17:48.962-07:00Need for Speed. Photo-enforcement cameras have caught Maricopa County employees more than 1,500 times over the last two years as they have exceeded the speed limit and run red lights. My first thought was: They can get government cars to speed? Every time I took one of those state-issued, alt-fuel, no-cruise-control Cavaliers out on the road I became a rolling roadblock. Like I used to tell my Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-38603692556243611032010-02-11T20:44:00.002-07:002010-02-11T21:02:32.996-07:00Here's an article in today's Journal about how books are making a comeback among basketball players. Are basketball players the nerdiest athletes? Kareem, Bill Bradley, Phil Jackson, just maybe. Even more surprising, to me at least, this literary revival is being led by the foreign players, especially the Europeans. My impression of European athletes, coming from following football (soccer), Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-21878960553135685852010-02-11T20:40:00.002-07:002010-02-11T20:44:01.681-07:00Part of the Problem. How ironic that on the same day Bill Clinton gets a stent put in an artery, the Journal runs an article about how stents, even though shown not to be effective in many cases, are still commonly used by doctors.Question: Would he have received a stent under Obamacare, or would they have told him to try out taking generic meds for two weeks, and to come back if he didn't feelRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-14583068867258331692010-02-10T21:07:00.002-07:002010-02-10T21:14:02.918-07:00A Stitch in Time: The Effects of a Novel Incentive-Based High-School Intervention on College Outcomes by C. Kirabo JacksonI analyze the longer-run effects of a program that pays both 11th and 12th grade students and teachers for passing scores on Advanced Placement exams. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, I find that affected students attend college in greater numbers, have improved Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-23373535994764520982010-02-10T20:50:00.004-07:002010-02-10T21:04:23.967-07:00Underpants gnomes. Joe Queenan makes a pointed and amusing observation about this year's Super Bowl ads ($$ to read): People who don't like sports tend to dismiss professional football players as crass, sexist, and stupid. Well, take a look at the the ads that appeared on this year's Super Bowl, and decide who's crass, sexist, and stupid.If you didnt's watch the Super Bowl, or don't want to spendRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-387733270237513952010-02-09T21:17:00.002-07:002010-02-09T21:33:49.821-07:00Laurie Roberts has been doing a series ofcolumns exposing how lawyers, judges, caregivers, and relatives have been leeching money from the unfortunates who fall into probate court. I have been tangentially involved in a guardianship and trustee situations in California that has involved several rounds with social workers, lawyers, auditors, and judges. After it all, I was left with the feeling Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-25712324492596544662010-02-06T16:53:00.002-07:002010-02-06T17:02:56.994-07:00Scottsdale 85254. The past couple of Saturdays when I've had to run errands to the Scottsdale post office the lines have been out-the-door, Christmas-style long. Today I spent over half-an-hour to mail a package. If you are thinking that's just lines a the post office, it tales less than half that time at the post office downtown. What's the deal? Is everyone running a mail order business Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-37247437902410982102010-02-06T16:25:00.002-07:002010-02-06T16:52:43.014-07:00AzBlueMeanie calls AZ legislators cowards and clowns for referring the sales tax to the ballot instead of approving an (income?) tax themselves. The legislator did exactly the right thing by having voters approve this. The budget crisis has reached the point more is neeed to resolve than the decisions of 91 elected officials accompanied by the voices of bloggers and whoever can make it down to Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-70159462878287158432010-02-04T21:15:00.002-07:002010-02-04T21:24:21.227-07:00The Bipartisan Health Care Throwdown. I second SAJU's suggestion that the perfect bipartisan health care bill would be just to give every side what it wants...all or nothingFor the RightTort reform.Ability to buy insurance across state lines.Equal tax treatment of employer-provided and individual insurance.Repeal of regulatons mandating coverage, etc.In return forA public option paid for by a Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-40768713730902378542010-02-04T21:07:00.003-07:002010-02-04T21:15:16.894-07:00It's official: commuting on the 51 is worse than the west side I-10. Sure on the 10 the sun is in your face coming and going, and then there's the rolling roadblock of trucks. But there's so many lanes! So if you come across an accident, daydreamer, or phone yakker, there's plenty of space to go around them. On the 51, however, one slowpoke and you're stuck driving 48 mph for two miles. And Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-4505166841615327362010-02-03T21:23:00.002-07:002010-02-03T21:40:08.888-07:00The Know-Nothing Party. Republicans have been accused of waging a war on science. Maybe it's because many conservatives believe science is waging a war on them. Maggie Gallagher has the indictment. Not all scientists are upholding a progressive agenda. Economists regularly provide theory and evidence supporting minimal interference with the market--which is why they are the scholarly field Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-59077794513238195772010-02-01T20:57:00.002-07:002010-02-01T21:06:41.793-07:00Obama and the Republicans. The snippets I heard from last week's meeting between Obama and the Republican caucus sounded like a bad marriage counselling session: lots of pettiness, self-pity, and recriminations. Yet commentators on both sides believe that it was a deep, issue-filled discussion in which their champion kicked butt. Either I am lacking a major faculty for understanding politicalRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-8301165701890145822010-02-01T20:43:00.002-07:002010-02-01T20:57:52.740-07:00World War I--The African Front by Edward Paice. At the end of the book, as the influenza virus started to sweep through the cities, camps, hospitals, ships at sea--killing even the baboons in the bush--Paice quotes the memoir of a surviving soldier saying that it seemed like act of an angry God seeking to wipe out the rest of humanity after four years of stupid brutality. The campaign in Africa Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-60690010450038391092010-01-26T20:28:00.002-07:002010-01-26T20:49:54.005-07:00Obama Year One. I'm surprised. All he had to do was be calm, cool, and charismatic; fly around the country saying, "We've nothing to fear but fear itself;" and wait for the natural resiliency of the American economy to work it out. Instead we have a big mess. Even more surprising are the faux pas and missteps like the gooberish gifts to the Queen.Public service, for the most part, is the Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-69490797565132023022010-01-25T20:15:00.002-07:002010-01-25T20:34:10.071-07:00Yesterday, the Republic featured its semi-annual chin-stroker on Arizona's future. All the talk about improving education remined me of listening to a professor recount his visiting stint at Berzerkley. He asked around about the local schools and received the advice that if one could help it one didn't send one's kids to public schools in Berkeley.If you look at the quality of the schools Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-22888507756608556512010-01-24T16:25:00.002-07:002010-01-24T16:58:20.109-07:00Anonymous Mike scooped me with the prediction that Senator Scott Brown's voting record will probably fall somewhere between McCain's and that of a hypothetical Senator Napolitano. Still it is fun to savor sweet, sweet victory because it put one straight in the puss of those who have spent the last year crowing that the Republican party and the conservative movement were (to quote "Hitler") a "Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-44154956943986922572010-01-24T16:06:00.003-07:002010-01-25T19:44:25.462-07:00Karma. After spending the weekend helping the neighbor clean up storm damage, giving blood, and going to Mass, I come out from CostCo and find 12-inch long gouge taken from the rear bumper of my (nearly) new car. No note, no nothing. Just the consolation that (given the clientele of the north Scottsdale CostCo) the other driver's Hummer or Lexus has just an evil a scar.One of my pet theories (Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-30280139110122545612010-01-13T21:05:00.002-07:002010-01-13T21:30:35.276-07:00Well I figure I'd post again, just to dispel the rumors about zombie cheerleaders from Chandler; but really, who has time for this? 20 years from now do I want to have fond memories of a)playing with my daughters, or b) some bon mots on Harry Reid?Anyways, I found the attitudes in this article kind of intriguing. e.g.“I’m a middle-of-the-road kind of guy. I want the Democrats out of my pocket andRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-75009535849219074832009-11-19T20:45:00.005-07:002009-11-19T21:27:28.650-07:00Some Notes on Women in Sports.Last weekend was an eventful one in La Casa de Gringo as Daughter #1 competed in the state gymnastics meet.You might believe, as I used to, that gymnastics was the sport of skinny, rich white girls. Au contraire. You will not find many Priuses with Obama/Biden bumper stickers in the parking lot outside of gymnastics meet here in AZ (although you will find some.) And Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-16457102665593079832009-11-11T19:49:00.006-07:002009-11-11T20:42:46.066-07:00Uncle Tom's Cabin--by Harriet Beecher Stowe. (In my continued effort to make up for the liberal arts education that I missed.)Modern depictions of slavery in America see it through a lens ground in the Holocaust, so there is heavy emphasis the racism and brutality. To be sure there is racism and brutality in Stowe's book, but it's emphasis is on its impact on families, especially mothers. SlaveryRobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-35198967307777236842009-09-22T11:35:00.002-07:002009-09-22T11:44:06.059-07:00Misperceptions About the Magnitude and Timing of Changes inAmerican Income Inequality by Robert J. GordonThe rise in American inequality has been exaggerated both in magnitude and timing. Commentators lament the large gap between the growth rates of real median household income and of private sector productivity. This paper shows that a conceptually consistent measure of this growth gap over 1979Robertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526346.post-84513957945989866662009-09-22T11:05:00.002-07:002009-09-22T11:24:48.800-07:00Better persons than I.Olberman, Krugman, Pelosi, and their fellow travelers may have undisguised hatred and contempt for tea-partiers, 9/12er's, and conservatives and Republicans in general, but you can say this for them: they are willing to pay more taxes to provide the objects of their fear and loathing health insurance.Robertnoreply@blogger.com0