Five After Iowa Caucus Thoughts Under the Fedora: No Bust, Stalking Horses, The 50% Solution, Two Ignored Historic Firsts and the Scythe in the room.

Posted: January 16, 2024 by datechguy in election 2024, elections, elections, politics, primaries
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Well the Nikki Haley boom turned out to be a bust. Did the MSM and Bill Kristol really think their (Temporary) support would carry her over the top in Iowa? The real question is how long will she remain a stalking horse to make sure that moderates who don’t want President Trump as their nominee have someplace other to go than DeSantis? I suspect Trump will want her in through Super Tuesday although a poor showing in South Carolina should finish her off.

I hoped to see a better finish by DeSantis but 2nd will do for now. Given the size of Trump’s victory the real question will be how long there are 2 alternatives to Trump rather than three. The squish republicans in NH don’t want Trump but I suspect they hate DeSantis more because he has the potential to be trouble for a lot longer and as he has proved as Governor of Florida, he really means it.

That why Gov Sununu will likely decide to die on Haley hill.

President Trump drawing 50% in the caucus is significant for several reasons:

  1. It indicates that he is the preferred candidate of a majority of Iowa republicans.
  2. It indicates that a majority of the GOP in Iowa approved of his performance as President
  3. It indicates that neither the rantings of the media have no effect on the majority of GOP voters
  4. It indicates that at the very least a majority of GOP voter don’t give a fig for the “interesting” charges against him

If the President keeps up with 20 or 30 point wins in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina this primary will be finished before we reach the first of the court cases against him.

There are two historic bits concerning yesterday’s primaries that would have gotten a whole lot more play if it had not been for the unprecedented and despicable tactics being used in an attempt to drag Trump off the national stage.

The first is that Donald Trump is the first ex president in over a century to appear on a primary ballot against members of his own party.

It’s a big difference from the last time President Trump won in Iowa when he was an incumbent running unopposed or the first time he ran in Iowa in 2016 when he was simply a businessman and one could only speculate has to how he would govern as president.

His victory in those circumstances would have been a great story even without the frantic (and highly satisfying) cries of the left and the relentless attempt of the left to eliminate him as a candidate.

The 2nd Historic event or lack thereof was the absence of a Democrat primary. This was a step taken to protect Biden from any primary challenge in a state that might have been iffy for him. While it’s not all that unusual for a party to make sure the slate is clear Biden’s record even among Democrats is not all that secure and a caucus would have been an excellent and useful test of his strength among the party.

That the party did all it could to chase away folks even driving RFK Jr. away from the democrat primaries to run as an independent speaks volumes as to how they percieve Joe Biden as a candidate.

Presuming he is the candidate that is.

Finally nobody is talking about what is normally called the Elephant in the room but in this case is the scythe in the room.

Donald Trump is 77, Joe Biden is 81. Most men their age…are dead.

Now it’s true that Donald Trump is a very vigorous 77 and Joe Biden is a comparatively frail 81 but no matter how you slice it if either one dropped dead tomorrow it would not be a gigantic shock, though perhaps it might be a bit of a surprise in Trump’s case.

The life expectancy of a man born in 1946 is under 66 years. In fact according to the CDC if you were a man born in 2015 your total life expectancy is less than Donald Trump’s age today.

People can say 60 is the new 40 but the reality is 60 is still sixty, 70 is still seventy and Bill Belichick interview not withstanding very few men of their age are generally hired to do a job of such responsibility.

Of course given the mechanisms of the dishonorable deep state left to try to disqualify Donald Trump from the ballot and the hints that Joe Biden might be replaced by a candidate who doesn’t need to face voters age might be a moot point but in the end all the scheming and shenanigans are nothing if the call that all men face demands an answer.

Crusading for cursive writing

Posted: January 16, 2024 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Pennsylvania—like 28 other states—does not require students to write in cursive lettering.

Fortunately, at least one Pennsylvania politician is mounting a campaign to force students to learn how to write in cursive.

State Rep. Joe Adams, a Republican representing an area near Scranton, thinks it should be mandated and has proposed legislation to do so.

A former school superintendent, Adams said he believes it is important enough to find time to teach it, and he said so do experts in education, neurology, and psychology who offer up brain science and historical reasons to support the idea. He also gave some practical reasons.

“You can’t open a bank account without signing your name. You can’t buy a property or get a credit card without having to be able to sign your name,” Adams said. He added that a person’s signature can be a unique identifier that could be one thing artificial intelligence cannot reproduce.
“All those things pointed me to saying, this makes great sense,” Adams said.

Pennsylvania’s Education Secretary Khalid Mumin doesn’t consider cursive instruction to be vital.

“Secretary Mumin encourages schools to determine the best paths for their students to learn to communicate effectively in writing and achieve success, regardless of the mode of writing used to get there,” Education Department spokesman Taj Magruder Adams told PennLive.com.

Cumberland Valley, located in southern Pennsylvania near the Maryland border, decided to reintroduce cursive writing into the curriculum.

Robyn Euker, Cumberland Valley’s director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, said the district chose to require cursive instruction after noticing an increasing number of students with poor handwriting in the upper grades.

When the district was looking to adopt a new literacy curriculum, she said, it decided to buy the cursive writing supplement to address the handwriting concern.

Two years later, Euker said the feedback she had received was positive.

“I think it’s a little bit of a creative outlet for students,” she said.
Euker also said it seems beneficial for students with reading and writing issues. Writing in cursive has fewer starts and stops than in print. Words appear as one block instead of a series of separate letters, which can help students with dyslexia.

Given the benefits, including allowing students to read handwritten cards from older relatives, Euker said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more states require it.”

After all, it’s not an instruction that needs to be taught repeatedly. Once students learn it, the neuropathways allow them to associate a manuscript letter with how it looks in cursive and understand what is written, said Lynn Baynum, chair of Shippensburg University’s Teacher Education Department.

“When we first began teaching cursive a hundred years ago, we didn’t understand it was a pattern of associations we were doing to create a literate society,” Baynum said. “It’s also why keyboarding is important to teach, too, because we don’t want students slowing down their ability to communicate because they have to find a letter on the keyboard.”

Teaching cursive is a no-brainer to me.

Medjugorje and Main Street What Do you Believe?

Posted: January 15, 2024 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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This morning when I woke up I noticed that Medjugorje was trending on twitter likely because one of the bishops that the Vatican under Francis has gone after is going there.

Nobody seems to have a neutral position on Medjugorje either they firmly believe in the apparitions or they don’t. The Vatican has not approved Medjugorje, which does not mean they never will, but they have not denounced it either. Catholic Answers has a pretty good summery of the Church’s position:

In 1985, Mostar-Duvno’s bishop Pavao Zanic determined that the apparitions were not authentic, i.e., not of supernatural origin.

In 1991, the bishops’ conference of Yugoslavia ruled that the supernatural character of the reported apparitions could not be affirmed. This is different than a definitive declaration that there is no supernatural character

No subsequent bishop who has authority over that area has overturned these rulings. As for the Vatican:

The Holy See, consistent with the rulings of the local bishops, has allowed pilgrimages to Medjugorje—and in May 2019 Pope Francis formally authorized them—provided they don’t present the reported apparitions as approved by the Church. The Holy See has also forbidden the faithful from participating in events where the reported seers present their reported apparitions as of supernatural origin (see this for more information).

Those who have experienced conversions—or a deepening of faith—associated with pilgrimage(s) to Medjugorje should know that the validity of their experiences does not hinge upon whether the reported apparitions are declared of supernatural origin. Indeed, the sacraments are valid at Medjugorje, and the Blessed Mother can—and does—fruitfully intercede for those who seek her sincerely, wherever that may be.

Emphasis mine

What it really comes down to in my opinion is this. 

If you are seeking God, if you are praying faithfully, going to confession, receiving the sacraments, reading scripture and loving your neighbor as yourself then you have already found him, even if you don’t realize it.

There is a tendency among people in general and among those in the faith in particular to go “hunting miracles”. It’s not unnatural thing to do. Man always sees awe and wonder in the natural, man made and even the supernatural world. That just human, but to those who chase miracles hoping to find God it me tell you something.

Its been my experience that those chasing miracles are forgetting Elijah in the cave.  The miracles of God are all around us. We just need to learn to notice them amongst the noise of the world and if you stick with prayer and the Sacraments you’ll eventually see what’s been around you all the time.

As for Medjugorje, if it’s not supernatural Christ and Blessed mother will do what they always do, make Lemonade of Lemons and if it is the Vatican will eventually approve it in God’s own good time.

If you want to go there, go ahead, if you want to stay away, that’s fine too just but keep in mind this advice from Christ:

But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.

Matthew 6:33

You don’t have to travel half way around the world to seek the kingdom of God. Worry about being a good and faithful Catholic where you are, anything else is just gravy.

Damning OIG report leads to an obvious conclusion: Chicago Public Schools system has too much money

Posted: January 14, 2024 by John Ruberry in crime, education, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

When I was in sixth grade at Palos East Elementary School near Chicago, for two semesters the school principal withheld my report card–pretty good ones by the way–because the shrewish school librarian said I failed to return a book. I told her that I did, but that wasn’t good enough for her. 

Eventually, the missing book turned up. It was a school library employee, possibly “the Shrew” herself, who misplaced that book. 

Which brings me to a story out of Chicago that is not getting nearly enough coverage The disappearance from mid-2022 to mid-2023 of electronic devices–laptops, iPads, and more–over 77,000 devices, according to a report from the Chicago Public Schools’ Office of the Inspector General. 

Sure, the local media reported on the OIG report for a couple of days. But they of course lean left, and the sympathetic media has moved on to other stories, such as criticizing Texas governor Greg Abbott for sending buses with illegal migrants to the Chicago area. Of course, our “betters” in the media rarely condemn the politician who is at fault for the migrant crisis–Joe Biden.

Back to CPS: The OIG says there have been no repercussions for the students who failed to return them. Their parents weren’t sent a bill–and yes, the kids certainly received their report cards. The value of those lost and stolen devices is massive, over $23 million. In 2021-2022, CPS spend $123 million on technology devices. “You can’t pin this on COVID,” CPS Inspector General Will Fletcher told CBS Chicago. “You can pin this on students who are just taking devices and not returning them.”

CPS, with COVID-related funding drying up next year, faces a huge deficit. But when reading the OIG report, one can conclude Chicago Public Schools has too much money. It’s time for CPS to go on a diet, or be put into some kind receivership, possibly under federal control–but only with a Republican in the White House.

Too much money? Yeppo. If $23 million in equipment goes “missing” and it only becomes public knowledge because of an OIG report, then there is not a lack of money issue for Chicago schools.

Let’s not place all of the blame on the students for the thievery. The report also notes that at three dozen CPS schools, every tech device was marked lost or stolen. All of them. An inside job? That’s likely, in my opinion.

Here’s some more waste: Could these devices have been tracked. Yes. OIG Fletcher also told CBS Chicago, “The district spends about two and a half million dollars on software that’s meant to track and locate devices, but the district just wasn’t using that software.”

The Office of the Inspector General previously discovered over a dozen CPS employees, some in leadership roles and collecting six-figure annual sinecure salaries, allegedly fraudulently obtained PPP loans. And one elementary school assistant principal has allegedly stole over $270,000 from her school.

Even worse than theft and incompetence is sexual assault. During the same time period covering the thefts, the OIG discovered eight substantiated adult-against-child incidents of sexual abuse.

Last year Chicagoans made the horrible mistake of electing leftist Brandon Johnson mayor. He’s a former CPS teacher and Chicago Teachers Union instructor. Johnson apparently is too busy criticizing Greg Abbott–a Google News search retrieved no comments from Johnson, the CTU pick for mayor, about the OIG report.

Chicagoans voted for more failure.

Are the students learning anything at CPS schools? Not really, over three-quarters of them test below grade level. 

Now back to report cards: Here is my grade for Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Teachers Union, and Brandon Johnson.

It’s an F minus. 

And I will happily hand out those report cards.

John Ruberry, who attended a CPS school as a kindergartener, regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

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