Late Check in; some entertaining rants…

I didn’t sleep well last night and so didn’t get up early to workout.

Workout notes 11-12:20 at Bradley. The pool is nice; but the users have some issues? I asked someone if they wanted to split a lane with me; he did.

500 warm up (9:06), 5 x (25 front, 75 swim) on 2 (1:48-1:51), 5 x (25 sfs, 75 swim) on 2 (1:49-1:53), 5 x 100 fist on 2 (1:40-42), 5 x 200 on 3:30 (3:17, 3:18, 3:19, 3:17, 3:19), 8 x 100 (25 fly, 75 free) on 1:50 (fins), 2 x 100 paddle.

This swim was fine; the pool had a bit of a “salty” taste.

I still had 25 minutes to finish lunch.

Politics Someone (Cal Thomas) evidently doesn’t understand the Constitution.

Her is concerned with radical Islam (ok, I understand that). So he talks about preconditions of admitting Muslim immigrants:

What is needed in Britain — and America — is a change in the thinking that naively believes that simply exposing foreign nationals to our way of life means they will “catch” it as they might the flu. Allowing immigrants from nations in which the dominant religion mandates the forced subordination of every other faith (or no faith) and their subjugation through state power under Sharia law, increases the likelihood of more attacks.

At the very least, all non-Western immigrants to Britain and America should be told prior to their arrival that our intention is to westernize them. They must learn English, study and embrace the history of their host nation and, if they are Muslim, they will be allowed to worship only in existing mosques. No new ones should be built. Existing mosques must be monitored to make sure that hate is not taught and aggressive behavior toward their host countries is not promoted. If such behavior and speech are detected, the mosques should be closed and the imams arrested or deported.

See? According to Mr. Thomas, the government should have control over centers of worship and whether they should be built or not.

THAT is why I call some social conservatives “fascists”.

PS: I don’t care for Christianity either and I think that we’d be better off without the fundamentalists. Nevertheless, I’d never support any attempt of the government to forbid the building of new moron magnets fundie churches.

Robert Reich: talks about why the attempt to “green the auto industry” will probably fail.

Telling automakers to make more fuel-efficient cars as a condition of being bailed out is like telling Citigroup or any other big bank to issue more affordable loans to Main Street as a condition of being bailed out. It won’t happen. Conditions like these make the public feel better about using their tax dollars to bail out private firms, but they’re useless. Automakers, like the big banks, will do the minimum required, and you can bet their lawyers and lobbyists will find ever more clever ways of avoiding even that minimum. Without lots of buyers who want fuel-efficient cars, automakers won’t produce them, period. (Without credit-worthy borrows able and willing to pay the costs of bank loans, they won’t be issued, either.)

You might think that the recent memories of $5-a-gallon gas would transform nearly everyone into prospective buyers of hybrids that get more than 30 miles a gallon. Think again. Consumer memories are dreadfully short. With gas prices settling down to half that sum, buyers (to the extent they still exist in this recession) are moving back to SUVs and pickup trucks, which automakers are all too happy to provide given the larger profits that come with gas-guzzlers. [...]

He does suggest a solution; follow the link to find out.

You’ve got to be kidding me: This is supposed to be a brain teaser?

Rate My Students Will my calculus 2 students get what is going on here?

Paige: I keep forgetting, what’s the cosine of 60 degrees?
Jason: Well, let’s see…if I recall correctly…
….

Paige: In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not paying you by the hour.
Jason: Oh. 1/2.

Bad Science: I often enjoy a “I hate bad science” type rants, as well as the discussion that follows.

Here is a good example. Upshot: the people in the linked video are testing a “wind powered vehicle that can go faster than the wind that is powering it” ON A TREADMILL.

No, I am not talking about this kind of treadmill.