Improving education by preventing it?

Berkeley High May Cut Out Science Labs

The proposal would trade labs seen as benefiting white students for resources to help struggling students.

Berkeley High School is considering a controversial proposal to eliminate science labs and the five science teachers who teach them to free up more resources to help struggling students.

The proposal to put the science-lab cuts on the table was approved recently by Berkeley High’s School Governance Council, a body of teachers, parents, and students who oversee a plan to change the structure of the high school to address Berkeley’s dismal racial achievement gap, where white students are doing far better than the state average while black and Latino students are doing worse.

Paul Gibson, an alternate parent representative on the School Governance Council, said that information presented at council meetings suggests that the science labs were largely classes for white students. He said the decision to consider cutting the labs in order to redirect resources to underperforming students was virtually unanimous.

To me this is nothing but an example of political correctness taken to absurdity. Note the reason – “white students are doing far better than the state average while black and Latino students are doing worse”, and “information presented at council meetings suggests that the science labs were largely classes for white students”.

It’s amazing that the thought of actually making their non-white students study did not seem enter the heads of the school governance council, their measure is to take away the classes dominated by students who are doing better academically. Could it be that they are doing better because they take these classes? No, never, that’s crazy talk.

Not to mention that this measure is blatantly racist. Let’s swap white and black in the announcement. Can you imagine the amount of smelly stuff hitting the fan, if the announcement read:

The proposal would trade labs seen as benefiting black students for resources to help struggling students.

Paul Gibson, an alternate parent representative on the School Governance Council, said that information presented at council meetings suggests that the science labs were largely classes for black students.

Rather than help students reach their full potential, giving those with talent and desire to study, regardless of race, the classes they need, the school is going to take them away, and drop everyone to the same average level. This is the embodiment of socialist concept of equality: rather than giving equal opportunity to succeed, everyone is forced to be equal, which means no one succeeds; rather than giving equal chance to shine, which some will use, everyone is forced to be dull.
Makes me sick.

A loosely related analogy from the way companies work (not that Berkeley liberals would want to take advice from the dirty capitalistic world of business): Let’s imagine a hypothetical situation in which at the beginning of the year a new team became part of my organization. Let’s also imagine that this team was previously managed differently and was held to different, in my opinion slightly lower performance expectation. Out of four possible approaches to this, only one makes sense (if you have difficulty telling which one, you might be a member of Berkeley High’s School Governance Council):
a) Hold new team to previous lower standard, and lower expectations for my “old” team to make things “fair”
b) Set same as previously (high) goals to “old” team, and same as previously (lower) goals to the “new” team.
c) Set same as previously (high) goals to both “old” and “new” team, treating them as one team
d) Set even higher goals for the combined team, give highest percentage of my time to help team members who were having problems meeting new goals, but were working hard and were really trying to meet them, and put on improvement plan and (if needed) eventually fire those who were doing “work as usual”, ignoring changes in their reality.

In this analogy, Berkeley HS Governance Council chose option a) – something for which a middle manager (which is what they are for the HS) in a well-run company would well deserve to be fired.

Everybody’s got a plan

For the longest time, and with boring predictability, every time conversation went into the need to make detailed plans, I would quote a phrase seen somewhere, and attributed there to von Clausewitz: “No battle plan ever survived the first encounter with the enemy”.

Recently I was asked about the source of the quote, and went looking for it. Picked up “On War”, and since I wanted to read it for a while now, also picked up “Moltke on Art of War”. Didn’t find the quote in “On War”, but here’s what I found in von Moltke’s writings:

“No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force.”

So, with belated apologies to von Moltke the Elder, my quoting will have correct attribution now.

Mike Tyson said the same thing in a more concrete and laconic way: “Everybody’s got a game plan until you’re hit in the mouth.”

Beyond your wildest dreams

Well, the TSA has reacted. And, as expected, instead of measures that really work, we have a show-off comedy act more likely to inconvenience travel to the point where it’s not practical, than to improve security more than by a tiny margin:

• You can keep the underwear on, but you will be patted down – body, groin, upper legs. I wonder if TSA will accept volunteers to help check in the Swedish bikini team?
• You can’t get up from your seat last hour of the flight … and for those who really have to go, I suppose since soiling ones trousers doesn’t  present a security risk, it’s not TSA’s problem.
• Also during the last hour of flight: nothing in your lap – no laptop, book or blanket.  My recommendation on how to spend the hour – say a prayer for safe landing, and no lines in the airport restrooms. For the latter, you will need a miracle.

Note to self: do not try to guess how a government agency will react to a situation, the reality will always be stranger than anything you can come up with.

Ladies and Gentlemen, take off your underwear please

Ever since one idiot set his shoes on fire, the rest of us have to pass through airport security barefoot.

Many experts, including Bruce Schneier, wrote that this is a knee-jerk measure that does little to nothing to improve security, and is mostly a PR thing to show that the administration “did something”. My first reaction back then was: what are they going to do when the next idiot hides a bomb in his underwear (or deeper)?

Now we have a chance to find out, many thanks to Tam for digging out this piece of news.

Stories of my Zaporozhets – second story

(Continued from here and here).

The nice side of driving a Zaporozhets was that traffic police did not stop them. Ever (at least, not mine). The reason was that in those distant times – may this statement be forgiven by the honest hard-working traffic cops of today, who I believe exist … I also believe in tooth fairy, but that doesn’t mean anything … anyway, what was I talking about – ah, yes, in those distant times the traffic cops really liked bribes, and since the image of owner of Zaporozhets in their mind was not consistent with the image of someone with money, stopping them was a waste of time, no matter what traffic rules they broke.
I wasn’t the only one noticing this pecularity in traffic police behavior. Kiev yellow press ran several articles about criminals who used Zaporozhets cars to transport corpses to be buried in the forest … guaranteed not to be stopped and searched.

And here I am, driving to work one day. In a bit of a hurry, so I’m driving aggressively, overtaking on the right, cutting in front of cars, but not too dangerously – no reason to get on people’s nerves, they’ve got a whole workday ahead of them for this. And so do I.

Three-lane road. Left lane is hardly moving. I’m in the central lane, but the guy in Opel Kadet in front of me is really slow, with no one ahead of him. Right lane is empty, but I can see a trolley bus ahead, really crawling. Alright, I should be able to make it. Turning right, gas to the floor, catching up with Kadet and now Kadet’s driver decides to wake up – the unthinkable happened: some Zaporozhets dared overtake him! Him, with his miracle of outdated German junk construction. He accelerates. But I already got the speed … I add some more and almost three feet away from the bus I go left, cutting Kadet’s nose … he continues to accelerate and scratches his front bumper on my rear.
Damn, I’m really going to be late now. OK, right turn signal on, get my car to the side of the road. Kadet also gets off the road, stopping in front of me at an angle – he doesn’t want me to run away. Well, I’m not about to give him that pleasure, first let’s see what we did to each other’s cars and who is this guy. Man of uncertain age, track suit hangs real loose on him – either he runs “unofficial” taxi business, or he’s a low-rank criminal, or he dresses up to pass for either of those. First he runs to check his bumper, then walks towards me with the evil grin “well, I’ve got you now” expression on his face. I open the door and slowly get six feet of myself from the car … dressed in long black raincoat … black fedora … impeccably white silk scarf on my neck … and cell phone already next to my ear – I do need to call the office and let them know I’ll be late. Something strange is happening to that guy, though: no trace is left of his grin, his face is completely white and it’s as if he shrunk in size too. And judging by expression on his face now, he really wants to be somewhere else, somewhere very far from here, the farther the better. He gets closer to me:

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine and as for the car – I’ll take a look in a second. Are you ok?”

“Yes, yes, I’m ok.”

So, I go and take a look at my bumper. Nothing major – light contact, just a bit of paint smear, it’s not even a scratch.

“This is nothing. It’s fine. How’s your car?”

“It’s fine too. So, can I go?”

“Sure, take care.”

“Thanks, bye.”

He practically ran to his car and started it so fast, as if he was afraid I might change my mind. He probably read those articles. Driving a Zaporozhets definitely had its nice sides.

North Carolina

A week-long business trip. Lots of work ahead, but I will leave a couple of evenings for myself. Got in touch with guys from a couple of clubs in the area, and made arrangements to practice and fence with them.

To transport my epees, I bought a large plastic golf case, it made a very nice travel fencing bag. Waiting to check in luggage at the airport, there’s a nice elderly couple next to me. The guy looks at me, looks at the bag, then looks at me again with “we share a common hobby” kind of a smile and nod, and asks: “Clubs?” In the same tone and with the same smile I reply, “No, swords.” This apparently causes him to swallow already prepared next phrase, and his facial expression is a little different now. So is his wife’s. Both of them very slowly, as if unintentionally, back away from me. Oh, well.

I land in North Carolina around 10pm. It’s about 30 miles drive to the hotel. Car rental place doesn’t have a car with GPS available, so they give me a map, and explain with a lot of detail how to get to my hotel. Trouble is that the weather is just “perfect” for driving in unfamiliar area – it’s pitch black, and the heavy rain soon turns into a thunderstorm. I am driving on an arrow-straight road with no idea whether I already missed my exit, or not. But I no longer care about that, because I am watching the lightning strikes above the road, and how they cut through the darkness. Too bad I can’t paint. Getting slightly lost is a small price to pay for such a view.

Well, in the end I got to the hotel just fine, even got enough sleep before driving to the office through traffic jams that are not that different from ours. The rest is not as interesting – what I planned for this trip got done, questions that needed to be answered got answered, etc.

And I was able to get those couple of evenings for fencing. I visited two local clubs. Got very nice variety of fencers at different levels, had lots of fun fencing with them, and was able to put some faces to names familiar from fencing.net forums.

Good trip.

What kind of pirate are you?

William Dampier You are 61 %Treasurer, have 57% Seafairability, crave 43% Bloodlusting, and lust 40% in Wenchwanting!

Naturalist, Scientist, and Buccaneer, Captain Dampier you are the gentleman of pirates! Circumnavigating the globe three times whilst collecting treasure and anthropological data has made you a pirate of substance and class which doesn’t happen very often! You’re in a league of your own here, and while I don’t neccessarily condone the lack of wenching and bloodletting, your great passion and scientific inquisition are well noted!

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 55% on Treasurer You scored higher than 25% on Seafairability You scored higher than 48% on Bloodlusting You scored higher than 25% on Wenchwanting

Link: The What Kind of PIRATE Are You Test written by JosephineGreen on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Personality Defect Test

Smartass You are 71% Rational, 100% Extroverted, 57% Brutal, and 85% Arrogant.

You are the Smartass! You are rational, extroverted, brutal, and arrogant. You probably consider people who are emotional and gentle to be big pussies who are obviously in lesser stature than you. You have many flaws, despite your seeming intelligence and cool-headedness. For instance, you aren’t very nice. In fact, you’re probably an asshole. And you are conceited and self-centered. Not only that, but you are very loud and vocal about all this, seeing as how you are extroverted. There is no better way to describe you than as a “smartass”, I’m afraid. Perhaps just “ass” would do, too. But that’s a little less literary and descriptive. At any rate, your main personality defect is the fact that you are self-centered, mean, uncaring, and brutally logical. To put it less negatively: 1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive. 2. You are more EXTROVERTED than introverted. 3. You are more BRUTAL than gentle. 4. You are more ARROGANT than humble. Compatibility: Your exact opposite is the Emo Kid. Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Capitalist Pig, the Braggart, and the Sociopath. * * If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits. The other personality types: The Emo Kid: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Humble. The Starving Artist: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Bitch-Slap: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Humble. The Brute: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Hippie: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble. The Televangelist: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Schoolyard Bully: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble. The Class Clown: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Robot: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Humble. The Haughty Intellectual: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Spiteful Loner: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Humble. The Sociopath: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Hand-Raiser: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble. The Braggart: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Capitalist Pig: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble. The Smartass: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 52% on Rationality You scored higher than 96% on Extroversion You scored higher than 67% on Brutality You scored higher than 94% on Arrogance

Link: The Personality Defect Test written by saint_gasoline on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

More Sayings

Ability to laugh makes us human, ability to laugh at ourselves makes being human more fun

Russian smile

Saw comments in one of the forums I regularly read about how Russians rarely seem to smile, compared to Americans, especially on the streets or in unfamiliar company.

The way I understand reasons for this is that a smile in Russian (or rather Soviet) culture is part of conversation. Are you having a conversation with everyone you pass on the street? You don’t even know them.

And even in conversation with someone you know, smile appears where appropriate in the context of conversation. People who smile at everyone all the time are usually percieved as insincere (and also as retards, if in addition to smile they shake their head a lot and have saliva runnung from their mouth)