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By John Mauer The education of our children is an important local priority. Yet we currently measure its effectiveness using yearly standardized tests, as mandated by the federal government. In fact, Connecticut had such tests a decade prior to the intervention of the federal government. But do these tests actually aid in evaluating our schools? How do they measure the value added by our teachers? By John Mauer At a September political rally, the President of the Teamsters Union, James Hoffa, attacked the Tea Party with rather forceful language. Other than the coarseness of his words, the militaristic references were not dissimilar to other political discourse from all sides. However, is it fair to ask whether his Teamsters really follow up with violent behavior, is the meaning of the words different in this case? By John Mauer Ah, the dreaded value-added tax (VAT). The typical socialist response to taxation: hide an enormous sales tax from public view, burden all small business with increased administrative costs, create 100,000 new unproductive public jobs to regulate it, and build an onerous barrier for innovation. VAT is also a nice regressive tax to increase poverty as well as dependence on the state handouts. By John Mauer Bank failures are now a common occurrence. The federal government has even forced many larger banks to simulate tough times. And, for some banks, these simulations have indicated the need for more capital to be set aside to further reduce risk (the risk of being taken over by the government). So, rather than lend these funds as mortgages, or commercial loans, banks now hold onto their extra capital out of fear. Banks are now hard on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. By John Mauer The other day, I heard someone refer to the Tea Party as terrorists, giving voice to that liberal progressive mantra (supposedly from Vice President Joe Biden). Because terrorists are, by definition, those who frighten others and cause fear, I wondered who could create such havoc among liberals. They turn out to be a little bit of everybody, and a lot of somebody. By John Mauer Reverse English is a billards shot whereby side spin is imparted to the cue ball to cause to carom off a cushion in a slightly backward direction. However, it is also the misuse of words to cause their meaning to be the opposite of the normally intended meaning. Part of reading the news is the discovery that some politicians use the side spin of reverse English to harpoon their opponents. (What, you’ve never called a cue stick a harpoon?) Continue Reading By John Mauer War is a disease. War is not the people who fight each other, nor the people who started the action or responded to it, nor the people who oppose it. War infects the human mind, reaching emotional peaks well past reason. Yet, the body of mankind is not at fault any more than one person is at fault for the common cold. A prayer for peace is a prayer for health of the human body, not a usurpation of human actions. By John Mauer For those of us who like numbers, picking apart past predictions by experts is sheer fun. In 1975, the world was cooling from peak temperatures in the 1940s. The predictions of climate scientists were cataclysmic: a new ice age was upon us. Sure feels like it today. Have you ever considered melting the arctic ice cap by covering it with black soot? By John Mauer In 1971, the secret Pentagon Papers were first published by the New York Times. They were not censored, except by the journalist himself. Contrast that with the recent release of secret U.S. documents by WikiLeaks, an online publication. WikiLeaks has been roundly reviled, perhaps rightly so. However, the attempts at government censorship were obvious and disgraceful; online journalism is currently extremely vulnerable. By moving away form the printed word, we are leaving ourselves open to electronic manipulation. Rarely do outside events reach into Kent in a meaningful way. A business failure or downsizing in New Milford will cause some of our residents to lose their jobs. A crash on the stock market will cause the second-home market to dry up. Yet, except for our soldiers, international events seem far removed from every day life here. However, such is not the situation with recent events in global warming science. Continue Reading |
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