Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness

Be scared!

by Reena Kapoor

Here is an excellent video The American Form of Government which provides a real civics education.  Besides providing more evidence for the fact that public education has failed (how many Americans know we were designed to be a Republic and not a Democracy) it also offers great illustration of why Democracy (which US was not designed to be) is often antithetical to liberty.  We should be scared! And while I hate the cynicism that has come upon my own thinking I am convinced USA has turned into a tyranny of the elite - an oligarchy - where the rest of us are ...well...not important.  Wall Street + Obama's henchmen, Obama + UAW + GM or Obamacare + AMA .....   The only thing that remains to be debated is how soon the police state will descend upon our everyday lives. 

Pakistan's Islamic Education Myth

by AW

In a brilliant post, Asim Khwaja lays bare the Madrassa Myth of Pakistan. In post-9/11 era, there is media perception that Pakistan's madrassas (religious schools) are rising in prominence and are the hot bed of terror. This is a common myth that even NY Times ascribes to in the article Pakistan’s Islamic Schools Fill Void, but Fuel Militancy.

An Indomitable Spirit

by Reena Kapoor

I was pointed to this fascinating read A Civil Heretic by a friend about Freeman Dyson and why he's opposed to the alarmist and anthropogenic view of global warming.  His criticisms are worth noting - especially because he's a self-proclaimed "liberal" - but more interesting is his sheer genius and his uncompromising independent thinking. I could not help but wonder how much we owe to men like these to keep us honest.  An insightful read also on what makes a genius and a renaissance man.  Unbelievably refreshing for folks on all sides of the global warming debate!

We could all learn to think a little more independently.

Say NO to Universal Preschool

by Reena Kapoor

Here is a letter I fired off to editors of the San Francisco Chronicle today in response to recent spat in their papers over this issue. Shikha Dalmia & Lisa Snell from Reason have been fighting this issue with cogent arguments and hard evidence. Yet they're being attacked viciously from the left (who else?) on this one.  Here is a response they recently issued (Universal Preschool hasn't delivered results) and my letter to the editors is pasted below.  I urge you to do the same.

Rename it Surrealand?

by Reena Kapoor

This article (Switzerland's Green Power Revolution...) in the WSJ today talked about how Switzerland now has a constitutional amendment that mandates that geneticists conduct their research without trampling on a plant's dignity. So plant geneticists now have to first debate the finer points of plant dignity with ethicists before they can get permission to embark on any research.

One scientist correctly asked: "Where does it stop?" asks Yves Poirier, a molecular biologist at the laboratory of plant biotechnology at the University of Lausanne. "Should we now defend the dignity of microbes and viruses?" 

BUT that is when it got really bizzare...

Seeking clarity, Dr. Poirier recently invited the head of the Swiss ethics panel to his university. In their public discussion, Dr. Poirier said the new rules are flawed because decades of traditional plant breeding had led to widely available sterile fruit, such as seedless grapes. Things took a surreal turn when it was disclosed that some panel members believe plants have feelings, Dr. Poirier says.

Read on to discover there is indeed no limit to human lunacy!

'Tis Religion...

by Reena Kapoor

According to this article Kids Your time is Up, Australian Broadcasting company is promoting a Global Warming Game which allows kids to calculate by what age they should be dead in order to avoid leaving a carbon footprint.  Here is what the article says...

Watch out, Australians. According to the state-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), most of you have overstayed your welcome on this good earth.

The colorful flash site, called Planet Slayer starts with a cartoon called the "Adventures of Greena" and ends by suggesting to vulnerable children that they are pigs whose very existence has a horrible impact on the global environment.

Inverting wisdom: Technology in Education

by Anurag Wadehra

For the last nine years in India, Sugata Mitra has run various experiments on the role of computer technology (PC and Internet) in educating children.  What's interesting is that these children (mostly between 8-12 years) are poor, in the remote parts of the country and usually without any teachers! His biggest conclusion: children can pick up the use of PC, learn stuff on the Internet, and self-organize to teach one another. 

Though he doesn't acknowledge the connection, Mitra's social observations should come as no surprise to those familiar with the Montessori educational method.

In this fascinating talk by Mitra, he expounds on his Hole In The Wall experiments.  He turns the conventional wisdom on the use of technology on its head by stating:  [Geographical] Remotesness effects the quality of education. Educational technology should be introduced into the remote areas first.

This is also borne out by the mobile phone revolution in India that has prompted millions of illiterate people to  learn how to store names and numbers and send text messages, often in the English language!

Nanny State's New Love: Universal Preschool

by Anurag Wadehra

Obama has toted out his grand vision for universal preschool. My friend Shikha Dalmia and her colleague Lisa Snell write in their WSJ article that despite overwhelming evidence against this bad idea, liberals still love it.

Mr. Obama asserted in the Las Vegas debate on Jan. 15 that every dollar spent on preschool will produce a 10-fold return by improving academic performance, which will supposedly lower juvenile delinquency and welfare use -- and raise wages and tax contributions. Such claims are wildly exaggerated at best.

In the last half-century, U.S. preschool attendance has gone up to nearly 70% from 16%. But fourth-grade reading, science, and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) -- the nation's report card -- have remained virtually stagnant since the early 1970s.

Preschool activists at the Pew Charitable Trust and Pre-K Now -- two major organizations pushing universal preschool -- refuse to take this evidence seriously. The private preschool market, they insist, is just glorified day care. Not so with quality, government-funded preschools with credentialed teachers and standardized curriculum. But the results from Oklahoma and Georgia -- both of which implemented universal preschool a decade or more ago -- paint an equally dismal picture.

Last year in California, despite its advocacy by the famous film director Rob Reiner, universal preschool proposition was defeated at the polls. But now Obama is lending his baritone to the cause, with the most universal of excuses for government intervention: "for the sake of our children".

 

Reasoning with unreasonable people: Joe Nickell

by Anurag Wadehra

One of my recent find is the work of Joe Nickell. He is the preeminent investigator of paranormal phenomena, a real-life Scully of X-Files, who has looked into ghosts, crop-circles, UFOs and other such miracles. While there are many others who debunk paranormal phenomena, Nickell is unique in his approach on how he engages with the believers of such phenomena.

Two characteristics stand out: first, he listens actively to the most bizarre of claims with full attention to all details and second, he genuinely respects the folks baffled by these phenomena. He makes a simple point - IF (a big if) you care to change people's opinion, you have to listen to them with respect. This is a prerequisite. Only after that, can you hope to possibly persuade them away from their irrational beliefs.

Distracted!

by Anurag Wadehra

The fact that we have an ocean of information at our fingertips is not a source for solace but the root of chronic anxiety for many. We live interrupt-driven lives where mobile calls, SMS beeps, email alerts and now always-on-net iPhone make us flit from one subject to another - with little time for reflection and even less for cognitive processes that require sustained attention. To stumble on the quintessential "Aha" moment, we need concentrated, free play - a state described as flow - which is rare to achieve when we are distracted.