Nuttin' like them hatin' libs...

...to spice things up!

Got a laugh out of a couple of comments on last post. Obviously struck a nerve with the libs.

They don't like to face facts:

1. Pro-health care reformers are losing ground.

2. The American people don't want this to become the law of the land.

3. Michael Ramirez speaks for the majority of Americans who do not want the "nanny state" that's been rammed down our throats for decades.

Putting two small piles of poop together...

...to make one big pile of poop!

We call it health care reform.

Michael Ramirez drew this:

Learning-styles

Wouldn't you agree that the education of our children is extremely important to the future of our nation?

Why, then, are so many crackpots allowed so much influence over it?

The latest scam to be exposed was pulled off by the "learning-styles" crowd. They claimed that we'd learn best if presentations/materials were geared toward our particular learning styles.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Unfortunately, there's no solid science behind it. As we so often find out - after the fact - studies that were supposed to support theories weren't at all scientific.

Pashier, McDaniel, Rohrer, and Bjork have called out the learning-styles camp here.

Our review of the learning-styles literature led us to define a particular type of evidence that we see as a minimum precondition for validating the use of a learning-style assessment in an instructional setting. As described earlier, we have been unable to find any evidence that clearly meets this standard. Moreover, several studies that used the appropriate type of research design found results that contradict the most widely held version of the learning-styles hypothesis, namely, what we have referred to as the meshing hypothesis (Constantinidou & Baker, 2002; Massa & Mayer, 2006). The contrast between the enormous popularity of the learning-styles approach within education and the lack of credible evidence for its utility is, in our opinion, striking and disturbing. If classification of students’ learning styles has practical utility, it remains to be demonstrated.

Idealists promote ideas like learning-styles because it seems like it would be a great idea. How wonderful it would be if it were so, right?

Realists, on the other hand, see learning-styles theory for what it is: just another "feel good" education scam.

I don't dispute that we have different learning styles. However, I do think we've done children a great disservice by trying to teach them with a focus on those styles.

Try ordering at a fast-food restaurant without repeating yourself. What are the chances your order will be correctly filled? If the young person taking that order was a "visual learner", the chances aren't good.

You see, we've taught to their learning style by giving them written instructions. When we must give them verbal instructions, we make certain to repeat them until they understand.

Once is not enough...

Balloon Boy

The latest on the Balloon Boy story is here.

Put the blame for the hoax squarely on the parents' shoulders. What a pair of losers!

He portrayed the Heenes as growing increasingly desperate as their pitches for a reality TV show kept getting turned down by networks—and the family fell deeper into a financial hole. Lewis said the Heenes set in motion the balloon hoax in early October as a way to jumpstart the effort and get some attention.

They chose Oct. 15 because the weather was cooperating and the kids were home for school with parent-teacher conferences, allowing the Heenes to report that 6-year-old Falcon had floated away, Lewis said.

Once the parents were brought in for questioning, Richard Heene feigned sleep during the lie-detector test, claiming it was some sort of diabetic episode, Lewis said.

Of course, they wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in hell of getting their hoax off the ground if it weren't for our country's rabid media. They jump on any and every "story" the second it "breaks".

Twenty-four hour news channels seemed like a good idea at first. There are so many now, though, that there's just not enough solid news to go around. They've resorted to tabloid-type journalism and it's out of hand.

Not Just Yet

I'll post rant upon rant for a quite while before I can get to the Global Warming scam.

Give me some time - there are so many that got here "first".

Take the "We never walked on the moon!" crowd. It's absolutely sickening that young people today would even think about buying into that one. You might be surprised at how many believe it was all an elaborate hoax.

Ten years ago, a Gallup poll showed the 89% of us believed the moon landings were real. Six percent thought they were faked, and five percent were undecided. A Time/CNN poll in 1995 showed a shift to 83% believed, 6% didn't, and 11% weren't sure. Read about it here.

While I find those numbers disturbing, it gets worse. About.com has a newer poll here. While it's probably not as scientific as the others, I spot a trend.

Even with my vote for "real", that choice was picked by only 78%. Nineteen percent think we never walked on the moon and another one percent aren't sure. Check out current results (15,598 votes up to now) here.

Where's the respect for the thousands upon thousands of people who made the landings a reality?

How are the scammers who profit from the hoax theory allowed to get away with it?

We have laws that prevent criminals from capitalizing on their "fame". So, why are these jackasses allowed to get rich by smearing heroic Americans?

It's Getting Worser and Worser

I laugh at characters like Dale Gribble. Paranoia and stupidity can be funny.

Unfortunately, the world has become overpopulated with humans that can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy.

They're taking over, folks. The Dale Gribble's are in the majority.

You know Lee Harvey Oswald killed John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Still, scammers suck millions of dollars out of y'all with books, films, shows, and sites that try to tell you otherwise.

The Kennedy assassination happened over forty-six years ago. Since then, more and more nutcases have found larger and larger audiences.

It's getting worser and worser...