Random Thoughts 11/25/08

• Here's a great interview with Chris Horner about global warming on Pundit Review Radio. I love listening to these interviews while I work.
• China and the Al-Gore-Global-Warming acolytes are asking for carbon credits for their abortions. The thinking is: by aborting babies we're eliminating future polluters, thus reducing our carbon footprint. Hence, give us carbon credits for our abortions. Nice.
• Remember that economic recessions are also good for global warming. I wonder which way government officials and elected leaders will go: save the economy or save the planet?
• Michael Yon says the war in Iraq is essentially over. Hmmm…
  
• Did you hear about the Russian expert who says the economic crisis will cause the USA to collapse and break apart into six countries? Seriously. He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts: the Pacific coast states will become Chinese; the South[west?] will be Hispanic; Texas will be independent; the Atlantic coast will be independent; "poorer" central states will revert back to the "large Native American populations;" and the northern states will become Canadian. He then suggests that "[the Russians] could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all." Yeah, right buddy. That'll happen when pigs fly. Remember, this guy, like most of our children, was educated by socialists.
  
• Speaking of schooling… there's lots of good news on the success of homeschooling. When you homeschool you're often made to feel like a pariah – so good news is always welcome. Here it is:
  
• Homeschoolers win national spelling bees and other contests.
• Homeschoolers score 30-37 percentile points higher than public school peers.
• "…findings show that when parents, regardless of race, commit themselves to make the necessary sacrifices and tutor their children at home, almost all obstacles present in other school systems disappear."
• Homeschooling costs on average per student is $546, while the average for public school is $5,325, where the public school student scores 30 percentile points lower.
• A 1998 study showed that spending less than $200 on homeschooling results in an average of the 80th percentile. Results for $200-600 was still in the 80th percentile. More than $600 per student in homeschool saw a modest increase in test results at the 83rd percentile.
• Homeschooling has grown from less than 15,000 in 1978 to over 1.1 million in 2003. There are more children in homeschooling than charter schools or using vouchers for private school, making homeschooling the largest school refrom alternative.
• Make sure you read the last few paragraphs of this article which evaluates homeschool.