Below are some of my comments at various web sites.
In a previous Presidential debate Reagan went blank and did worse than Gov. Perry. Yet, Ronald Reagan was an excellent President. I am not a big defender of Gov. Perry, but attack him on issues, not because he abolished a Cabinet post in his brain before he might do so in reality. His gaffe about 3 cabinet positions is the kind of forgetfulness every public speaker experiences sometimes. Unfortunately, the liberal media seek to spin this against Perry in all of Obama's 53 states.
In a previous Presidential debate Reagan went blank and did worse than Gov. Perry. Yet, Ronald Reagan was an excellent President. I am not a big defender of Gov. Perry, but attack him on issues, not because he abolished a Cabinet post in his brain before he might do so in reality. His gaffe about 3 cabinet positions is the kind of forgetfulness every public speaker experiences sometimes. Unfortunately, the liberal media seek to spin this against Perry in all of Obama's 53 states.
And a “senile” Reagan was still a better President than Carter and many of the others.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
READERS' COMMENTS
At the Border, on the Night WatchBack to Article »
By MARC LACEY
It is quieter than it used to be for Border Patrol agents at an outpost in Arizona, but a night on the swing shift was still plenty busy.
Hugh Murray
Milwaukee
October 13th, 2011
1:09 am
If a small country like the German Democratic Republic could maintain its borders so that almost no illegals could get in, then surely the US can and should do the same. Build the fence, electrify the area, use mines if necessary, and shoot those who cross illegally.
Expand the border patrol, providing more jobs for Americans. Deport the illegals, providing even more jobs for Americans. (A real jobs bill, unlike that of Obama.) Shoot the invaders. And America could begin to prosper once again.
Expand the border patrol, providing more jobs for Americans. Deport the illegals, providing even more jobs for Americans. (A real jobs bill, unlike that of Obama.) Shoot the invaders. And America could begin to prosper once again.
Single-Sex Schools: Separate but Equal?
A new study debunks the benefits of segregation by sex in the classroom, and says the practice does more harm than good. Should it be illegal?
A Necessary Option
October 17, 2011
Christina Hoff Sommers is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Her books include "Who Stole Feminism?" and "The War Against Boys."
Milwaukee
October 17th, 2011 11:49 pm
A friend's young boy was enrolled in a New York public school. The woman teaching, undoubtedly a staunch feminist, refused to call on boys even when they held their hands up showing they knew the answer. After some time of this attempt to encourage girls by discouraging boys, my friend withdrew his son from the public school. Even if that class was theoretically a co-ed one, in reality it was meant to demean young males. One hopes it was an exceptional case.
For thousands of years, education was segregated by sex, and mankind made progress. Mixed schooling is the experiment of the last century, and it is too early to really judge the results. The educrats seem to believe it more important that a child learns not to stereotype and accept a liberal world-view, than that the pupil learn the fundamentals of math or science. I contend learning the basics in math, history, science, language is far more important than learning the politically correct lessons required by social engineers. And this can be done in traditional same-sex classrooms, or in the newer co-ed ones. The parents, not Washington, should decide.
For thousands of years, education was segregated by sex, and mankind made progress. Mixed schooling is the experiment of the last century, and it is too early to really judge the results. The educrats seem to believe it more important that a child learns not to stereotype and accept a liberal world-view, than that the pupil learn the fundamentals of math or science. I contend learning the basics in math, history, science, language is far more important than learning the politically correct lessons required by social engineers. And this can be done in traditional same-sex classrooms, or in the newer co-ed ones. The parents, not Washington, should decide.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Readers' Comments
In College, Working Hard to Learn High School MaterialBack to Article »
By MICHAEL WINERIP
The City University of New York has started a program offering intensive remedial instruction for reading, writing and math.
Hugh Murray
Milwaukee
October 24th, 2011
9:42 am
Why does America waste money on high schools? If the students who have such high grades and do so well on the Regents cannot pass into regular university courses, the previous years of education have been a waste. Why not eliminate high school? Students could go from 8th grade directly to CUNY. And then CUNY could change its name to the City High School of New York. This would save the taxpayers millions of dollars; the students years of wasted life; and employers time wasted trying to understand why graduates know so little.
Readers' Comments
The makeup of the Supreme Court is an important issue in the presidential race, and it is not being truly addressed.
Hugh Murray
Milwaukee
October 29th, 2011
8:43 am
All can agree that the next presidential election is important for the composition of the US Supreme Court and the quality of life for all citizens. Will illegal aliens continue to pauperize America because courts have dictated that hospitals must tend to their afflictions, schools must educate them (though often poorly accomplished), and their children transformed into citizens? Will anti-white and anti-male discrimination continue and expand under the banners of affirmative action and diversity? Will professors continue to be bullied, fired, or not hired because they discuss or research controversial topics like IQ? Will the courts continue to obstruct the deterrent effect on criminals of public executions? Will the courts continue to encourage crime by creating unreasonable rules for law officers?
To restore sanity to American society, to revive the American nation, the court needs more judges like Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Thus, the way to a better America is through the defeat of President Obama and his progressive (in the tradition of Henry Wallace) government.
To restore sanity to American society, to revive the American nation, the court needs more judges like Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Thus, the way to a better America is through the defeat of President Obama and his progressive (in the tradition of Henry Wallace) government.
Readers' Comments
More Americans are questioning the Republicans’ flat tax plans, which keep rewarding the rich.
Hugh Murray
Milwaukee
October 31st, 2011
10:58 am
A few decades ago Dem. Jerry Brown also proposed a flat tax. The reason is clear that many Americans of all parties demand a flat tax - it will be fairer to all. With the monstrous tax code of today, who believes that the rich pay more? The loopholes on hundreds of pages of fine print make it impossible to know what people pay or should pay. The present system of exemptions for this, for that, and for hundreds of pages more of this and that is a lobbyists dream. A flat tax will make everyone pay their fair share - a given percentage of their income.
readers' Comments
Science, Faith and First Principles: A Response
Why our faith in reason is not blind.
Hugh Murray
Milwaukee
November 4th, 2011
9:54 am
In my review in Polity, 1990, "Nazi Science," I accepted the research of others like Proctor, who stressed that the Third Reich published more medical journals than those of any other nation, that more medical doctors headed universities there than elsewhere, and research was encouraged and subsidized. I concluded by remarking that it is a cliche that the victors write the history; AND we should add that the victors also determine what is science. For example, all see a problem in growing unemployment and poverty. Suppose a scientist suggests the best way to end poverty was to kill the poor, and proposed scientific methods to aid in the project? Or to determine if the disabled feel pain by inflicting pain upon them? Most readers immediately reject such experiments? Yet, such experiments can surely be justified on a "scientific" level. And if one replies that a majority reject them, what happens when the majority have accepted similar outrageous acts (at least by today's fashions)? I've read that in one country today one can dine on a human fetus. Who would object? The majority do not object.
Science does not stand alone. It is part of a wider culture and partakes of the wider values. It is a dialectical process, whereby the culture determines what science is allowed (can a dead body be cut up?), while science can in turn change the values of the culture. They interact.
Science does not stand alone. It is part of a wider culture and partakes of the wider values. It is a dialectical process, whereby the culture determines what science is allowed (can a dead body be cut up?), while science can in turn change the values of the culture. They interact.
Readers' Comments
By ROSS DOUTHAT
The ruling class proves, again, that it is too smart for its own good.
8.
Hugh Murray
Milwaukee
November 6th, 2011
6:12 am
There is an elite, but is it determined by merit? Soon after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 64, enforcement was turned on its head. A bill meant to insure hiring based on qualifications and merit was quickly turned into one demanding hiring of "marginally" and un-qualified minority and female applicants over the best qualified white male. The elite, on the EEOC, the US Supreme Court, and Presidents beginning with Republican Nixon demanded this. No wonder the American workforce declined in quality. No wonder factories moved abroad. No wonder employers abandoned inner cities. Merit was denied in favor of racial balance and diversity. Corruption is not new and is part of the Fannie May-Freddie Mac schemes to allow politicians to grant housing to those who cannot afford it and do not merit it according to their credit histories. The elite of the past was not always merit based; the elite of the present has done everything possible to prevent real merit from going to the top. Instead of merit, "diversity," quotas, and corruption reign.
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Should Voting Be Mandatory?
Or are there already too many people casting ballots?
Milwaukee
November 8th, 2011 12:08 am
Recall the great success of the mandatory approach: think of the Soviet Union! If one did not vote, there might be consequences concerning one's job, one's apartment, one's "freedom." And while we're at it; make mandatory voting for the party of the Left. Then we could really enjoy a Stalinist revival.
Or, we can continue the old, messy American way of voting for whom we want; and if we don't care much about any of them, then not voting at all.
Let those who care about voting, vote. Those who have to be forced to vote, probably don't care, and will probably vote for all the wrong candidates for all the wrong reasons.
Or, we can continue the old, messy American way of voting for whom we want; and if we don't care much about any of them, then not voting at all.
Let those who care about voting, vote. Those who have to be forced to vote, probably don't care, and will probably vote for all the wrong candidates for all the wrong reasons.
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