Arizona's state superintendent of public instruction Tom Horne (Republican) has indicated that he wishes to reduce university mathematics admissions requirements for high school students. As it stands, math students need four years in order to get in. Horne told the Board of Regents:

"I think it would be reasonable to reduce (the requirement) to three years but make it so that one year would have to be the senior year."

The article notes that "The results of a study of more than 6,000 high school transcripts from the class of 2002 found that only 16.8 percent of state high school students would qualify for guaranteed admission if the new standards were applied," to which I say "So what?"

Let's put it this way. I took five years of math in high school, the discrepancy coming from taking geometry over the summer before my sophomore year. I didn't even figure out trigonometry in that class. I learned it in my junior year in a senior-level class...with one senior in it. The bottom line is that the students whom universities want are willing to do what it takes to meet the requirements. The others are students who are not qualified to enter a university on mathematical merit and need extra mathematical instruction.

Even for a political science major (like me!), three years is not enough to prevent taking preparatory classes in order to meet the math requirement of MATH 124/125. Regardless of that, some have scholarships that require more math even if you're a political science major. That would be me, too. NROTC requires that I take MATH 129 as well as two semesters of physics!

What if a high school graduate enters as a computer engineering major with only three years of English and has to change his major to political science. I'm very glad I took four years of English; I would be in a hole without it. Of course, teachers are very obstinate about the inclusion of English classes, and I suppose that is a good thing. Writing is a skill that lacks in today's younger generation.

High schools cannot afford to make compromises on subjects just because a student intends to get a certain major. Majors can change at any time, and many will learn that the hard way should this measure pass.

The Alliance of Free Blogs has issued an assignment for bloggers to analyze what Reagan would do if he was running the War on Terror (presumably with his mind intact).

1/2001

Reagan re-inaugurated. Military instantly doubles in size both by Reagan policy and new-found enthusiasm in clear-thinking youth. ROTC and OCS overflow with new cadets and midshipmen.

3/2001

Reagan announces war on terror, best birthday gift I ever had. Liberals call Reagan crazy. Reagan tells Leahy "F*** yourself."

4/2001

Armed forces overthrow Taliban. Al-Qaeda announces shortly afterwards that he'll give up in 24 hours at a designated point west of Tora Bora. Bin Laden then heads south to Pakistan, where U.S. is actually waiting. Idiot.

9/2001

Iraq takes over for Al-Qaeda, attempts hijackings. Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson yell "Up yours!" Struggle ensues, pilots win. Bodies jettisoned while tied to lavatory tanks over UN building and Paris. Tanks fail to withstand impact with ground. Annan and Chirac are literally pissed off.

10/2001

Operation Infinite Justice (not the PC "Enduring Freedom") overthrows Iraq.
SEALs steal Al-Sadr's turban, leading to his execution. General Shinseki is retained as Army Chief of Staff. Resistance is futile.

11/2001

Rest of terror regimes abdicate, knowing they're next.

1/2002

New Budweiser commercial features special forces sending French wine into cave holes. Terrorists can't resist temptation and start drinking. Thinking French forces are waiting outside, they all come out of the cave. Special forces, waiting outside, yell "WASSSSSSSUUUUHHHHHPPP?!?" and kill them. Nation rejoices.

H.L. Demond of Editoriality points out in a recent editorial that Rock the Vote is putting out partisan propaganda. Demond writes:

I was rather dismayed by a "public service" commercial I saw for "Rock the Vote." The youngster in the ad says (I paraphrase): "I should be able to determine if my older brother goes to war, how much my grandmother receives in Social Security, and who I can marry." Why not say, "I should be able to determine how much I pay in taxes, how to protect our borders, and how to protect the rights of the unborn"? Kids may not be able to perceive the couched attempt to attack President Bush, but I sure did. What better way to spread propaganda than by plucking the country’s youth’s heartstrings?

But wait, there's more!

First, the homepage links directly to Americans for Healthcare, which seeks governmental health insurance. This page links directly to leftist powerhouse MoveOn.org.

Next, the "issues" area links to the following organizations:

"Free expression"
American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org
Freedom Forum, www.freedomforum.org
National Coalition Against Censorship, www.ncac.org
Recording Industry of America, www.riaa.org

United States House of Representatives, www.house.gov
United States Senate, www.senate.gov
The White House, www.whitehouse.gov

"Violence"
Children’s Defense Fund, Safe Start, www.childrensdefense.org
The Family Violence Prevention Fund, www.fvpf.org
National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, www.safeyouth.org
National Organization For Women, www.now.org
Pax - Real Solutions to Gun Violence, www.pax.com/speakup
V-Day - Stop violence against women & girls, www.vday.org (Care to guess what the "V" stands for?)

"Environment"
The environment section calls for students to "Help Save the Artic[sic] National Wildlife Refuge" by going to www.savearcticrefuge.org. It's a miracle that they got the URL correct. Other links include the following:

20/20 Vision, www.2020vision.org
Center for Environmental Citizenship, www.envirocitizen.org
Environmental Defense Fund, www.edf.org
Greenpeace, www.greenpeaceusa
League of Conservation Voters, www.voteenvironment.org
Rainforest Action Network, www.ran.org
The Sierra Club, www.sierraclub.org
Student Environmental Action Coalition, www.seac.org
United States Public Interest Research Group, http://pirg.org/uspirg

"Education"
The Center for Education Reform, www.edreform.com
Children’s Defense Fund, www.childrensdefense.org
National Education Association, www.nea.org
People for the American Way, www.pfaw.org/issues/education
United States Student Association, www.usstudents.org

"Economy"
Quotes the page:

The current job market is one of the worst in memory if you are a young adult. Whether you are leaving high school or college, jobs are scarce and debt is through the roof. Wages are low. Health care and retirement benefits are gone. If you ever doubted the impact of government policy on your life, look at the unemployment figures.

Citations, please? Here's the links:

AFL-CIO, www.aflcio.org
Campaign for America’s Future, www.ourfuture.org
UC Berkeley Labor Center Program on Young Workers, http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu

"Debt"
At first sight, they had me fooled. This must be about the national debt, right? Nope. It's about unconsitutional entitlements for college students. The page even demands that the government give financial aid to students convicted on drug offenses. Quoth the idiots:

07/03/03: Repeal H.R. 685
Send an elected official an e-mail in support of H.R.685 which repeals the HEA Drug Provision. This provision denies federal aid to any student convicted of a drug offense. To learn more about this legislation and send your support, visit http://ga0.org/campaign/.

Okay, so do you want it passed or failed. I'm confused. Their stance on the issue is clear, though. Here's the rest of the links. Yes, they do get to the national debt, which is in a large part caused by such unconstitutional entitlements!:

Bank Rate, www.bankrate.com
FinAid, www.finaid.org
Jump Start Coalition for Personal Finance Literacy, www.jumpstart.org
Raise Your Voice, www.raiseyourvoice.com
U.S. National Debt Clock, www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Oh, and might I add that the organization was started by none other than the RECORDING INDUSTRY?!?! Sounds non-partisan to me!

O’HARA: Welcome back to The O’Hara Factor. In an effort to be less ‘biased’ and avoid accusations from both sides of the political spectrum from accusing me being biased towards their opposite sides, I’m inviting two people from opposite ends of the political spectrum to analyze U.S. strategy in the invasion of North Korea, which President Rice initiated just about thirty-six hours ago. With me are retired Lt. General Thomas McInerney, FOX News contributor, and Amy Goodman, host of “Sheocracy Now!”, which routinely accuses FOX News of being biased towards the Rice administration.

GOODMAN: It’s Democracy now.

O’HARA: General, what’s the current situation and what can we expect to see out of our armed forces?

MCINERNEY: Garrett, as the situation stands right now, China has agreed to blockade the northern border. Chinese land forces are some of the toughest around, so don’t expect any problems there. Much of the action will be on the southern border, but I expect that the Army divisions on the border now will hold them up quite nicely. In the meantime, the Navy has surface and subsurface superiority all around the Korean peninsula thanks to our submarines and these new littoral combat ships are working out quite nicely in getting our Marines onto the coast. We also have the Air Force based both in Seoul and at airstrips north of the enemy, so in essence we already have them completely sieged.

O’HARA: Ms. Goodman?

GOODMAN: This action by Condoleezza Rice has got to be the most disrespectful American act against human rights in the last century, Garrett. This country has got to stop meddling in the business of Koreans who just want to live their lives.

O’HARA: Under a brutal dictator?

GOODMAN: Rice is a dictator. Regime change begins at home.

MCINERNEY: Complete and utter ignorance of facts, Garrett. Look at this.

O’HARA: I disagree with Ms. Goodman, but I do think that it is important for us to remember that there are civilians dying. That doesn’t make the war wrong, but what steps are the Armed Forces taking to prevent such loss of life?

MCINERNEY: You’ll definitely notice that we could have easily used our Trident submarines to nuke the entire landscape of North Korea, but that’s not what we want to do. We do care about the civilians. Just on a strategic level, taking care of them makes sense because that’s the only thing that’s going to prevent a huge uprising right when we’ve taken Pyongyang.

O’HARA: Ms. Goodman, your response?

GOODMAN: War sucks, and I’m gonna prove it! [holds up pictures] This is what your biased media refuses to show: what civilian casualties look like! You chickenhawks have no idea what war is like! McInerney, you oughta go to the North Korean trenches and see what war is like, you desk jockey!

O’HARA: Uh, Ms. Goodman, those don’t look like…

GOODMAN: You’re a BABYKILLER, MCINERNEY! A F***ING BABYKILLER!

O’HARA: Those look like aborted Caucasian babies, Ms. Goodman.

GOODMAN: Uh, I…oh yeah! I took these from the anti-choice protesters outside your building. You set me up! YOU SET ME UP!

O’HARA: Next week…we review Michael Moore’s latest film, We Were Shields!

Ronald Wilson Reagan
1911-2004

To the one whom God called to save this nation, we salute you. He must be talking with George Washington right about now.

The Associated Press reports that black enrollment at UC Berkeley has dropped thirty percent, and "[c]ampus officials aren't sure what lies behind [it]."

However, officials do point to the recent Supreme Court ruling striking down Michigan's system for giving admission preference based on race, as well as the stoppage of flying minority students to Berkeley's campus for pre-application visits.

Berkeley spokesman George Strait is quoted as saying "Virtually every part of the campus is extremely concerned about the low numbers of underrepresented minorities and, in particular, the appallingly low numbers of African-Americans."

Really, Mr. Strait? "Virtually every part of the campus?" Perhaps you need a little enlightenment. Is it possible that the pool of black students just didn't have enough to get into your university?

The same article reports that these figures come six months after a UC regent "issued a report saying Berkeley turned down thousands of students who aced the SAT but accepted hundreds -- many of whom were black or Hispanic -- with low scores."

You think that blacks don't have brains, don't you, Mr. Strait? You think that it's just some homogenous, disadvantaged group that needs lower standards. What could be more insulting?

The UC Board of Regents slapped the previously mentioned regent, John Moores, with a public censure after writing an opinion column.

The article also reports "Regents also reaffirmed their commitment to UC's 'comprehensive review' admissions, which don't consider race but do look at social factors, such as overcoming poverty, as well as grades and scores."

So I'm more qualified for college if my parents are on crack?!?!

9 divided by eleven is .81818181... It looks like multiple pea-brained faces eating if you put it sideways.

Ray Bradbury has come out condemning Michael Moore for clearly concocting the title "Fahrenheit 9/11" from "Fahrenheit 451." Though Bradbury declined to say whether he would take legal action, doing so might cause uproar from the "anti-censorship (as long as we agree with it)" crowd. However, one must also closely analyze Moore's chosen title.

Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which book paper burns. This is clearly stated in Bradbury's novel.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" may be interpreted in two ways:

1. Nine divided into eleven gives you .8181818181818181... . With the right font, .81 looks likes an emoticon of a guy with a pea-sized brain eating something.
2. Fahrenheit 911 is a really hot temperature, about as hot as Michael Moore is hot-headed. Enough to make brains fry, about as fried as the brains at the Cannes Film Festival or possibly his own.

So either way, one can conclude that Michael Moore is declaring himself an idiot and a glutton by the chosen name of his film.