Inherent the Wind

Recent Prairie graduate and Columbia University student Maria Zahn has penned a commentary for the Journal Times, which you can read here, calling for "moral action to develop renewable energy sources."

It seems Maria's parents have been denied a request to build a 54 foot wind turbine in their Racine neighborhood. I might be inclined to support Maria's argument if it were based on property rights, but it was not. Rather, it concerned our moral responsibility to fight global warming.

Rather than get bogged down in the pro and con arguments of global warming, Maria opts for the tried and true method of simply claiming to be correct, citing science and Al Gore as proof. Science of course involves replicating experiments rather than inserting assumptions into computer models, but that point tends to escape many proofers.

I am most intrigued by the following quote from Maria's commentary. "Experts in moral reasoning have concluded that our inherent moral sense results in emotional responses that prompt our actions. When will we feel an emotional connection to the global warming cause and feel inspired to take moral action?"

Assuming that the unnamed experts are correct, we will have little choice in the matter. Since our "moral sense" is "inherent," ie a "permanent characteristic," according to Webster's, we will know, inherently, when moral action is required.

I can't speak for other humans similarly equipped with a moral sense, but mine is unconvinced that global warming should prompt us to fight for backyard wind turbines. That said, my moral sense is aroused concerning the threat posed by the warmist, now climate changist, agenda.  The appeals to emotion and the pseudo science underpinning the argument are detrimental to the intellect of young people like Maria, and the movement threatens to destroy our economy and ultimately our freedom. Other than that, it is a great idea.

Sorry for the emotional outburst readers. My inherent moral sense made me do it.

Philosophy of Death

"Susan Schwartz already drives a Prius and has solar panels on her home. But the 69-year-old Berkeley woman still doesn't think she's doing enough to stop global warming."

I found this quote at the Wall Street Journal. Of course she is not doing enough to stop global warming. In fact, she is advancing global warming by using an electric car and by breathing on earth. To truly do something to slow global warming, she should cause herself to no longer exist. Or, she could end other lives before taking her own. 

So why aren't mass murderers hailed, in part, as an environmental leaders and visionaries?

Granted, it is a sick question, flowing quite logically from a sick philosophy.

Local Cliff Maneuvering

On Monday I was offered an opportunity at my business to sign a petition initiated by Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG) to end "tax dodging" and to support "legislation to stop tax haven abuses."

I declined. For starters, I am reluctant to speak for a business which includes people other than myself. But more importantly, I was uncomfortable with the content of the petition, particularly what I would consider loaded language. For example, tax dodging I would think is already illegal. Or the activity they are concerned with is lawful and as such should not be described as "dodging." Nobody pays taxes unless they are legally obligated to do so and, as such, I think it is wrong to denigrate such people. Also, while I suspect I might find some common ground with WISPIRG on tax haven legislation, I am cognizant of the larger fiscal concerns facing our country and I find WISPIRG's goals insufficient to address our larger problems. I would have been more inclined to sign if dramatic government spending reductions were included in their petition, for example. And lastly, I wouldn't want myself as a business owner or my business name to be used in a political showdown.

My instincts it turns out were correct. The Journal Times local section headline read: A solution to the fiscal cliff? Subtitle read: Shutting tax havens would help, says Mayor Dickert, research group. The article included a local businessman angry at "corporations taking money away from us,"a Parkside student who suggested the money could be used for more student aid, and a WISPIRG associate noting that the money could be used to build 50 commuter rail lines.

But no mention of federal spending levels.

The Quranal Times

The Journal Times today has an article entitled "A sacred text of peace and justice" and subtitled "Quran exhibit tries to debunk stereotypes, build understanding."Read it here if you like.

"The Muslim holy book is a text of peace and justice." "It doesn't support any acts of terrorism." Don't kill blasphemers, just leave their company for a while. Unequal treatment of women is not in accordance with the Quran. Etc...

Remarkably, the article made no mention of any of the more controversial content found in the Quran. Probably just an innocent oversight on the part of the JT.

The event was held at the Bray Center, a public community center. Will this bring out the rabid separation of church and state crowd or is that enmity reserved only for Christianity?

Also interesting is the Journal Times decision to not allow comments. No efforts to debunk the debunking will be tolerated. It is best to just believe everything you read about Islam.

Yes We Can!

I am sure all several of you are ready to move on to another subject, but I have one final observation. It seems the educational message sent to minorities at Racine Unified is "No you can't!" Unless of course the subject is sex education:^)

Failure Explained

Are you ready Sean? The reason for poor academic achievement at Racine Unified is cultural. The cultural problem I am about to describe affects us all to some degree, but is disproportionately more harmful to minorities than whites and to boys than to girls. As such, the people most harmed by the cultural problem are minority boys.

Let us start with birth. We are seeing increasing numbers of out of wedlock births with a far greater occurrence among minorities, particularly blacks. A child born into a single parent family is at a big disadvantage as anyone who has raised children understands that it is a difficult enough undertaking with two parents.

The reasons for the increase in out of wedlock births are many. Immaturity and impulsivity are characteristics of youth naturally that must be drummed out of them by culture. Ideally they would be replaced by maturity, caution, reason, and delayed gratification among other values. Incidentally, these are the things that also lead to academic achievement, success and in many cases wealth.

A child born out of wedlock is therefore more likely to have only one active parent and indeed one demonstrably displaying the characteristics of immaturity and impulsivity rather than the healthier values listed above. A rough start indeed for the future RU scholar.

Such a child will have several years stewing in a culture more likely to embrace prison fashion, misogynistic pop culture, a victim identity and an entitlement mentality etc.. than a more healthy culture that celebrates or values commitment, hard work, deferred gratification, savings and so on.

Now by no means do I think these are problems exclusive to minority communities, only that they are far more pronounced there.

Now with that cultural baggage, they show up at Unified's doorstep at age four or so. And this creates a problem for Racine Unified insofar as it is universally agreed upon that all cultures are equally terrific and healthy and deserving of celebration, except of course conservative America which must be denounced as racist, sexist, homophobic, etc... at every opportunity. Thus RU can not and must not challenge the culture of their students.

The result is a school system that does not challenge the negative culture that harms the student and his future. Instead, they become enablers like Sean, making excuses for the poor performance, blaming society and or corporations that refuse to sell free range goat meat in the inner city.

So a child born into a culture as I have described has little chance, on his own, with few role models in or out of school, to reject said culture in favor of a more healthy one.

One more thing. Whites will fare far better at RU in part because the white liberals at RU hold different standards and expectations for white students than they do for minorities. Also, they will be peddling the myth to minorities, and not whites, that society will not give them a fair shake, thus lessening the incentives for minorities to work hard as compared to whites.

A Modest Proposal

Apologies for my recent fixation with what ails our public school system, but I believe I have solved the riddle. As I have proven in my most recent post, it is not poverty that is causing poor academic performance at Racine Unified. This should be rather obvious as RU students receive a world class education for free. So what is it?

Minorities are struggling in RU right? Is it Asians, blacks or Hispanics? Blacks and Hispanics primarily. Is it boys or girls? Both, but boys seem to be faring more poorly, with black boys doing the worst, I suspect.

Of all the students in RU, which are most likely to have their butt cracks showing? Black boys of course!

Now I don't think for a moment that exposed butt cracks cause poor academic achievement, at least not for the exposer. Rather, like poverty, there is merely a correlation. So what is the cause?

It is obvious. Black boys are competing academically with one hand tied behind their back. OK, its not actually tied behind their backs, but it is being used to keep their pants from falling down. They have one less hand to hold a pencil, use a computer, turn a page in a book, conduct a chemistry experiment etc...

They are at a huge disadvantage!

Still don't believe me? Where are the most notable successes found among the black students in RU? On the athletic fields and courts of course. They are on those occasions in uniforms that don't collect at their ankles every few minutes. The playing field is leveled and the black boys are competing just fine.

Obviously, huge academic gains could be had with one simple policy change at RU. Spandex uniforms.