by The Panda Man ·
05/17/2005 6:41 pm
The University of Texas at Austin has brought in its first “diversity officer.” Break out the air sickness bags, this could get bumpy:
Vincent will be vice provost for inclusion and cross-cultural effectiveness at UT-Austin.
Gregory Vincent has held similar jobs at the University of Oregon, Louisiana State University, and the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Mr. Vincent’s services have been appropriated for the university because of a 2004 report on race relations at the institution.
According to UT’s “diversity page”:
Moreover, a diverse campus community enhances the learning environment, because it affords a broad range of cultural experiences that few of us encounter in the home neighborhoods of our youth.
What do “diversity” and “cultural experience” have to do with learning? I thought learning was a universal human activity and that we were supposed to ignore superficial things like skin color. How silly of me.
A university is a place, rare among institutions in our society, that engenders respect for others and demonstrates daily that what we have in common is far more important than our differences.
“What we have in common” is that we are human beings and Americans. What difference does it make whether we are black, white, brown, or green? Apparently the university’s president believes that the rest of American society is racist and corrupt and only the Leftist bastions of Academia can show us the way by appointing highly-paid diversity officers. Why are Liberals so obsessed with dividing us into groups?
People of all backgrounds should be encouraged to improve themselves with higher education, regardless of skin color. Most Americans support this, and don’t need holier-than-thou college presidents or insulting race quotas to tell them so. The great promise of the United States is not "diversity," it is that anyone, from any background, can make something of themselves.
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Click pic for story. And hold on tight.
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LST reader and tipster Don points out Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s latest hate-filled communique:
Iraq’s al Qaeda blasted calls by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for Sunni Muslims in Iraq to participate in drafting a new constitution, saying those who did would be infidels, according to an Internet statement.
"Our Sunni faith stipulates that the sword and bullets be the only dialogue between us and worshippers of the cross."
Yeah, terrorism is all about resistance by economically depressed people. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the ticket.
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by The Panda Man ·
05/17/2005 4:11 pm
A 13 year old Jacksonville, Florida girl, handcuffed and in the back of a police patrol car, was Tasered at least twice by a police officer in February. A recently completed review of the incident has resulted in the officer’s suspension.
After responding to a disturbance call at the girl’s home where she was arguing with her mother, officers handcuffed the child and placed her in the back of the patrol car. The girl managed to get her cuffed hands in front of her and became unruly, and the officer used his Taser to subdue her.
At this point a supervisor was called in:
Sgt. D.E. Smith, who was called to the scene, said, "Please don’t tell me this is the person you Tased."
An investigation was launched, and resulted in a three day suspension for the officer. The report concluded that the officer violated no written guidelines, and noted that he had recently completed Taser training as an instructor at the time of the incident. His judgement in using the stun gun on the child was found lacking, however, thus resulting in his punishment.
The non-lethal Taser has sparked (sorry about the pun) some controversy in recent years, given that a number of people have died after being zapped by the device, including a Fort Worth man and a Houston man.
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Researchers in Boston have discovered that kudzu vine reduces binge drinking by intensifying alcohol’s effects, allowing a smaller amount of beer to create the same buzz:
Dr. Scott Lukas said he didn’t have any trouble finding volunteers for his research project on a Chinese herb and alcohol.
Of the 11 participants who completed the entire study, "eight drank fewer beers while receiving kudzu versus placebo treatment, two drank the same number of beers and one drank one more beer," Lukas said in a news release. Participants also took more but smaller sips of beer while taking the kudzu extract, the researchers found.
Interesting research. Even more interesting are the headlines that various news outlets have put on this story.
WVEC in Virginia:
Vine extract may help drinkers drink less
BeerLeagueHockey.com in Canada:
Get Drunk Quicker With Kudzu
Heh.
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Oenophiles, rejoice:
The court said states cannot ban out-of-state wineries from shipping directly to their residents if they allow in-state vintners to make such sales. Paired cases decided Monday challenged laws in New York and Michigan that allow only in-state vintners to ship directly to residents. Six other states have similar laws, and 15 more have some form of out-of-state limits, so the decision has the potential to open up direct access to out-of-state wineries for residents of 24 states. The District of Columbia and 27 states already allow out-of-state direct sales, according to the Wine Institute.
"It means consumers are going to have more choices," says Steve Gross, director of state relations for the Wine Institute, a lobbying group for 821 California wineries.
Now bring on the Two-Buck Chuck.
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A man is accused of sexually molesting at least five boys, is suspected of assaulting more children, and is released on bond. Golly, who could predict that he would flee prosecution? Not Judge Belinda Hill, that’s for sure:
A former church choir director accused of molesting five boys failed to show up in court Monday. German Moreno’s whereabouts remain a mystery.
A bailiff called Moreno’s name three times Monday morning. No one answered, and now he is facing charges of failure to appear. That’s in addition to the five felony charges involving molestation of children that he already faces.
Now let’s hear from the pervert’s lawyer:
His lawyer, Don Hecker, hasn’t spoken to him since Friday. One possibility being considered is that the Costa Rican-born Moreno may have fled the country.
"I’m not sure if that, at this point, is a concern. I just hope nothing has happened to him," said Hecker. "I have no knowledge that he is running. Right now, my basic concern is for his health and welfare."
Really? Everyone else’s basic concern is for the crimes this deviant scumbag is likely to commit while he’s on the lam. Maybe he’ll steal a few cars and rob a liquor store or two on his way across the border. Or maybe he’ll drug and molest some more kids. Judge Hill should be ashamed. The man is accused of practicing medicine illegally, drugging and sexually assaulting children, and he gets off by paying $6,000.
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by The Panda Man ·
05/17/2005 11:05 am
Now that the base closures have been announced and the arguing has begun, let’s look at one of the things Houston stands to lose. The 147th Fighter Wing, which is based at Ellington Field, is slated for “realignment” which means retirement of most of the aircraft.
The history of the wing in Houston goes back to 1976, when the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group was moved in as the field transitioned from Air Force to Texas Air National Guard control. After eight years, the city of Houston took over, but the Guard maintained ownership of a portion of the facility for operations. The air group was redesignated the 147th Fighter Wing in 1995.
On September 11, 2001 Houston’s F-16s played a crucial role in the nation’s defense. The 147th Fighter Wing scrambled its aircraft to help ensure control of our country’s airspace during those first chaotic hours. The wing’s 111th Fighter Squadron also provided President George W. Bush’s escort as Air Force One wound its way back to Washington. Interestingly, the 111th is the President’s old unit from his Texas Air National Guard days. The 147th has also performed air cover operations in post-9/11 New York and pre-invasion Iraq.
Currently the 147th FW maintains operational readiness for defense of the Gulf Coast region, which includes Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites, the Ship Channel, and the fourth largest city in the country, as well as worldwide needs. If the proposed reduction goes through, the Houston area would be left with three or four jets for alert intercept missions, and the crews would rotate in from other bases. Surprisingly, cost savings from the proposed draw-down at Ellington are quite small according to the BRAC report:
The net present value of the costs and savings to the Department over 20 years is a savings of $3.6M.
$3.6 million spread over twenty years is roughly $180,000 per year. Up to 556 full and part-time jobs could be lost in Houston if the 147th is “realigned.”
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by Owen Courrèges ·
05/17/2005 7:30 am
I’m hardly Rick Perry’s biggest fan, but I’ll give him some credit — he hasn’t jacked up taxes, and he cut spending. Accordingly, I’m going to have to part company with Rob with he takes issue with Perry’s lackluster list of accomplishments, and contemplates putting his faith in Kinky Friedman. Kinky is a curiousity to be sure, but even with his evasive campaign, the spectre of a tax-and-spend liberal rears its ugly head.
Besides, I frankly I prefer it when politicians do little. When politicians start doing things, it usually involves spending more money — our money. With this in mind, let’s look at an excerpt from Kinky’s rather vague agenda from his website:
Texas is #1 in drop out rates and #48 in education spending. Our children deserve so much more. Texas is also 48th in per capita child protection expenditures, as well as 49th in general, 46th in mental health, 45th in public health, 49th in state arts agency, 44th in highway, and 49th in water quality expenditures. The Austin American-Statesman is correct: "It’s Texas vs. Mississippi in a race to the bottom."
Note that Kinky is complaining that we rank low in spending. Now, consider the fact that Texas, under Perry, has the lowest average per-capita tax burden in the entire country. Now put two-and-two together. Kinky can’t spend more money without raising taxes; if these are "problems" he wishes to solve, he’s going to need to enact a massive tax increase.
It doesn’t help matters when Kinky refuses to take a position on enacting a state income tax, essentially saying that he hasn’t thought about the issue enough to stake out a position. Newsflash — If you’re going to run for governor of Texas, you sure as heck had better have a position on a state income tax, and that position sure as heck better be "NO." I’m rather uncompromising about that, as are most Texans.
And on a final note, I’m highly skeptical of anybody who complains about education spending. Washington DC is first in per capita education spending, and they have the worst schools in the country. Funding is important, but spending money wisely is far more important. I don’t think Kinky’s up to the challenge.
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AIM: Texas Style Elections
How times have changed. Not long ago Texas was a Democratic State in which the winner of a Democratic Primary for the U.S. Senate, Governor or Lt. Governor was assured of a general election victory.
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by Owen Courrèges ·
05/17/2005 6:02 am
I think Kevin Whited sums up Governor Perry’s situation quite well over at BlogHouston:
Governor Perry did hold the line on major new taxes at a time when leaders in some states — Republicans and Democrats alike — showed no such restraints, and at a time when Texas liberals like Clay Robison were almost giddy with the thought that Texas might finally institute an income tax. No nonsense there, just fact.
Perry never has gotten much mileage out of that act of fiscal restraint — especially since major editorial boards in the state have blasted away ever since at him for resulting cuts in "services" (otherwise known as wealth redistribution) — and that’s bad news for the Governor, because he will need to use the issue effectively if he faces a serious primary challenge.
I really don’t think a Governor Hutchison or a Governor Friedman could be counted on to show a similar degree of fiscal restraint. Perry showed backbone; he deserves to be rewarded for that. It’s a shame that nobody is remembering.
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Artists concerned tattoos losing nonconformist lure
The Navy assures them that it’s not.
A 14-year-old girl received detention over a lingering hug she gave her boyfriend at school.
The sentence is part of the school’s zero-tolerance "Drugs, Not Hugs" policy.
A federal appeals court agreed on Friday to reconsider the case of a female bartender who was fired from her job at a Nevada casino for refusing to wear lipstick, blush and other make-up.
It’s not known whether or not the judges will be wearing beer goggles during testimony.
A border collie/golden retriever mix from Missouri has won the National Hero Dog award for alerting her owner that her husband was pinned underneath a tractor.
The barn cats are still napping and haven’t a clue of, nor care about, what has happened.
An Arkansas man who decided to use fire instead of sledgehammers on a demolition project blamed his own bad judgment for starting a blaze that destroyed three unoccupied buildings in town.
Could we hire him to do some work near a certain library in the same state?
It’s illegal to put up a billboard in Vermont. So the Governor’s Highway Safety Program in that state took its seat-belt safety campaign to New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Apparantly common sense in Vermont is also illegal.
Customer Tackles Deer in Nebraska Wal-Mart
Flying smiley-face character piles on
A man who pretended a vacuum cleaner attachment was a gun during two robberies last year has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
A visit to the man’s home found bullet holes in the carpet.
Milwaukee Making Progress on Stray Condoms
Success attributed to Bob Barker’s spay/neuter campaign.
Italian police have discovered a mob-linked race track where they say horses were pumped full of Viagra and other drugs to fix races.
Which solves the mystery of why females were always way out front in record-breaking time.
Be it in good taste or not, a Norwegian judge has ruled that striptease is an art just like opera.
The same judge also ruled that high school cheerleader dance routines are art — just like striptease acts.
A travel firm will offer "sun and surgery" package deals to India for patients tired of waiting for operations in Britain’s National Health System.
Travel packages to Mexico will also be part of Hillary and Newt’s proposed U.S. government healthcare program.
A visitor to a gun show was shot in the shin by a gun that was supposed to be unloaded
Federal law requires a three-day waiting period before the man can seek medical attention.
A woman isn’t legally responsible for injuries her boyfriend suffered while they were having consensual sex more than a decade ago, a state appeals court ruled Monday.
Tom Arnold says he plans another appeal.
All jokes are copyrighted and may not be copied or used without my permission (which I will grant if you’re willing to pay me).
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