Miami Houston Heat — Peak Temp And Hot Miscellany

No, as far as I know, Miami's NBA team has not moved here, which is just as well; we already have the Rockets, thankyouverymuch. But the heat... not the Heat... has moved in on us and set up housekeeping. Yesterday's high was (gasps for breath) 106°F. I had stuff to do and I did it, but as I looked at various laborers in the street I was very glad that their jobs were not my job. At least we finally got some rain, for the first time in several weeks. And today is forecast to be a bit cooler. You know all that talk about climate change? I think maybe it has arrived...

Houstonians, here are a few items for you to read while you are stuck indoors, saving yourself from the heat from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, more or less:

• Akil Awan at Informed Comment writes on "Hiroshima and Nagasaki: the single greatest acts of terrorism in human history?"
  

  As I was born three years to the day after the bombing of Hiroshima, I cannot avoid a certain morbid fascination with the event. Terrorism or the saving of our nation? Dad and I used to debate the subject of whether any of our family would be living if the Bomb had not been used; to no one's surprise, I always took the "terrorism" position (without using the word).

• Tan Copsy of Risky Business, writing at Informed Comment offers the irony: "Deep South, biggest Climate Deniers, will be among worst hit by Global Warming"
  

  As the evidence emerges, it becomes clear that it is a good thing so many words have been spoken in vehement denial of climate change: the region is going to need to eat those words, or starve...

• Kevin Gosztola at Shadowproof ("the new FDL") offers us a "Podcast: Bernie Sanders, Black Lives Matter & Problem of Identity Politics"
  

  No one, not even Sen. Sanders, can please all the people all the time. Sensibly enough, his event organizers allowed the Black Lives Matter activists to take the mic for a period of time; after all, theirs is a compelling and legitimate issue, and though I am not Black, I too would be glad to hear Bernie address race issues more firmly... he isn't going to lose any votes already committed to him by doing so, and there's much to be gained if Sanders gains the reputation as "the fair one."

• Motoko Rich at NYT notes with grim smile and shake of the head: "Teacher Shortages Spur a Nationwide Hiring Scramble (Credentials Optional)"
  

  Never forget my two-parent two-schoolteacher household in my youth: that environment formed much of my political outlook, and I admit freely that it gladdens my heart when Republicans (and even some Democrats these days) try to cut corners on education costs and methods, blame teachers for the failure of a system pared to the bone and beyond in an attempt to pocket the tax money for their own purposes, and yet gaze drop‑jawed as teachers, counselors and even administrators flock to other occupations that pay better salaries for work involving a great deal less outright aggravation than schoolteaching. The ghosts of Bill and Irma are grinning at the sight!

Ten A Dozen Essential Ideas For Fixing The American Economy — Robert Reich

Robert Reich has completed, not his scheduled ten, but an even dozen videos succinctly expressing the great ideas essential to making the American economy more robust for all its participants and transforming American society into one more committed to equality of treatment of all its members under the law.

The 12 Videos appear (in reverse order) in the right-hand column of Reich's blog, and each video runs about 2-3 minutes. I can't think of a better way for an adult or adolescent American to spend about a half hour than in watching these videos. (In addition to his insight, Reich has a great hand as a cartoonist, which he exercises along with voiceovers on the current topic. You'll have fun learning some excellently framed talking points!)

Public Libraries

HPL Downtown - the mouse greets you!

Hey, lefties... are public libraries essential, optional, or a waste of money? Apparently Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) is proudly on the cusp between optional and a waste. Here's Democrats Ramshield at Kos:

As an American librarian I am glad to be living in the European Union where library funding isn't under attack to the extent that it is back home in the United States, because readership, literacy and an open based knowledge system that is publicly funded is still valued. In America, library budgets have become low hanging fruit for conservative local and state politicians.Louisiana is the worse case in point where Gov. Bobby Jindal has eliminated state library funding all together. Not only does it beg the question will your state be next but it asks the question what will you do when they come for your library and your kid's summer reading program? Do you really know how many books it's really going to take to make that special child or grandchild in your life a lifelong reader. Do you think you have anywhere near those numbers of books in your private collection?

HPL Downtown - Jesse H. Jones Bldg.
Entry area, view from 2^nd floor

Please let's remember the voluminous studies that have been done year after year, decade after decade that show us that prison inmates for the most part are functionally illiterate and that teen pregnancy is directly linked to literacy rates.

Christian Science Monitor: November 18, 2013
Louisiana residents choose libraries over jail to receive funds Residents of Lafourche Parish in Louisiana recently voted down a proposal that would have used money currently going to local libraries to build a new prison.
http://www.csmonitor.com/...

...

HPL Downtown - Jesse H. Jones Bldg?
Reading Room

The LA Times has more in this article:

HPL Downtown - Julia Ideson Bldg.
(The library of my childhood)

Citing budget concerns, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed a $25-billion budget that eliminates almost $900,000 in state funding for its libraries. In a statement, the governor’s chief budget aide, Paul Rainwater, said, “In tight budget times, we prioritized funding for healthcare and education. Operations such as local libraries can be supported with local, not state dollars.”

On Thursday, Library Journal took a look at that assertion. What they found was that while some local parishes may be able to cover the funding gap, others will feel the loss. Rural parishes will face a particularly daunting challenge.

...

I am anything but neutral on this matter: a free and democratic society stands or falls on the depth and breadth of its information resources available directly to citizens. Cutting public library funding by almost $1m virtually assures Jindal and his sorry state (sorry, State of Louisiana, but that's how I see it) will slip irretrievably behind in today's knowledge-driven world. It just won't work to leave out rural people, or poor people, or... anybody. Everyone must have access to the means of lifelong self-education.

HPL Downtown - Julia Ideson Bldg.
(View from above old catalog room?)

I know some educated, one might even say brilliant people who have lived most of their lives in Louisiana. I can make a good guess at which side of this issue they're on, and it isn't "cut my taxes by whacking libraries." In rural Texas, I have had the great pleasure of seeing my direct ancestors, farmers all, benefit from their personal commitment to college education for a large portion of the family; you should have seen my grandfather tackle the latest research from the agricultural extension at Texas A. & M., and apply it to the next year's crops. You can bet every blessed one of that family spent their share of time in public libraries and the libraries of agricultural colleges: it's what bright, successful people do, and they were both.

I know it's not my place to tell Gov. Jindal what to do, but it is within my reach to tell him he's being a damned fool, and urge the residents of the great state of La. to boot him out and replace him. And... he wants to be prez? Awwww, gimme a break...

As you can tell, I'm very proud of the Houston Public Library system. In addition to the Jesse H. Jones (downtown) library, there are (I think; I was counting by hand) 43 neighborhood locations, including some specialized libraries (Genealogy, anyone? African American Studies? We got it!) The hold system (effectively ILL) works reliably, reminding one by email when the book has reached the neighborhood library. Maintenance is excellent and the buildings are occasionally renovated. IOW, I live in a city committed, rain or shine, to a top quality library system for its citizens. Yes, I'm sure it costs tax money, and yes, HPL had to back off along with everything else during the Great Recession... but the commitment remained, and was fulfilled even in the worst years. The management and the professional staff clearly understand what is at stake. If only every American (*cough* Gov. Jindal, and for that matter, Gov. Abbott *cough*) understood...

Texas GOP State Legislator: The Solution To Guns In Schools Is More Guns In Schools, And Teachers Shooting Students Bearing Guns

That tumbling noise you just heard was my late father, a secondary school educator and former Navy gunnery officer in W.W. II, rolling over in his grave. The provocation for his spinning was probably this bill introduced in the Texas Lege, probably by legislators like this one. From Catherine Thompson at TPM:

Texas Aggie pistol

Legislation filed last week in Texas would allow teachers to use deadly force in order to protect school property, the Houston Chronicle reported.

State Rep. Dan Flynn (R), who's previously fought to roll back concealed handgun license requirements, filed the Teacher's Protection Act authorizing educators to use deadly force to protect themselves or another person on school grounds.

The bill would also authorize the use of deadly force to protect school property and shield any teacher who uses deadly force from prosecution should they cause injury or death.

Texas law already offers immunity from discipline to teachers who use "reasonable" force against a student, according to the Chronicle. State law also allows any adult to carry a firearm in a school with the principal's permission.

...

My father knew firsthand the most likely result of introducing guns into the school environment: once, using his Navy training, he disarmed a mentally disturbed girl who brought a loaded gun to school with the intention to shoot (at least) the principal. She got as far as the administrative offices before my father spotted the outline of her gun in a coat pocket.

Lest you make some invalid assumptions about him, Dad was not shy about guns. In his old age, he owned a rifle for hunting and a shotgun to display in the presence of the occasional burglar who sought entry to his trailer. The weapons with which he had the greatest familiarity 40 years or so earlier were mounted on a W.W. II troop landing ship on which he was the fire control officer; some of those guns were large enough that a man could theoretically crawl inside. (A woman could as well, but no woman would be that much of a damned fool.)

With all that background, training and experience, Dad was utterly determined to keep guns out of the public schools in Texas. I don't know if he testified about such matters to the Texas Lege, but he appeared before legislative committees quite a few times about other matters, so I assume he spoke to them about concealed-carry guns as well. If Dad were alive now, his views on guns would be very unpopular in his home state.

It is already hard enough to capture the attention of intelligent, well-prepared, recently graduated schoolteachers who might want to work in what anyone smarter than a fish would understand is a difficult and sometimes dangerous position at any wage, let alone poverty wages. Compelling teachers to be responsible for firearms in their classrooms, for preventing felony theft, for using deadly force against students, is too damned idiotic even to contemplate in the Texas Lege chambers, let alone in real life in actual schoolrooms full of hormone-saturated pre-adults. But I've often said that Republicans are too dumb for words...

Those Overpaid Teachers [/snark]

My first instinct was to send this post by sboucher at Kos to my parents, both of whom were schoolteachers. Unfortunately, they are beyond the reach of my email. You may find it amusing, especially if you're a teacher.

US No Longer #1 In Science Since The Year 2000

Let's see, what else happened in that year? A religious nut-job from Texas won stole the presidency, instituted a surely unconstitutional Office of Faith-Based Programs (aside: at first I misunderstood, thinking Bush had appointed Tammy Faye Bakker to a new Office of Face-Paste Programs), and de-emphasized science to the point that serious young science students began thinking of careers elsewhere in the world. Note this is the judgment of the students, not of a commercial publication trying to sell newspapers or magazines, who often saturate their top 10 lists of colleges in the physical sciences with American universities. And it is the judgment of talented American students, who must at least consider moving elsewhere, and non-American students, who are less likely to come here for their education than they were a couple of decades ago.

How much of this is GeeDubya Bush's fault? It's hard to tell. As far as I can see, a GOP tradition of dismissing higher education in science began approximately in Ronald Reagan's presidency, and has worsened in every Republican administration since then. In many fields, the best students know not to come here. And America was once so secure in that #1 spot! It seems a crying shame to have let it slip away.

Large Hadron Collider, CERN, Tunnel Interior, Switzerland and France

But slip away it has. Prof. Matt Strassler, a theoretical physicist on the Rutgers faculty, is currently happy to be on loan to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). currently the world's most powerful particle accelerator, built... sorry, Americans; not in America... built by CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research, headquartered in Geneva), in a tunnel spanning parts of Switzerland and France. A comparable American project, the Superconducting Super Collider, was envisioned and debated, but fell victim to political greed when it lost the support of every Senator whose state was not its proposed location. Strassler, who blogs at "Of Particular Significance" (it's on the blogroll), has this to say, pointing to the words of Bruce Alberts, Editor-in-Chief of the major journal Science as a basis for Strassler's own thoughts:

A mere twenty years ago, this nation was clearly the best place in the world to do scientific research. Since 2000 the decline has been precipitous, and though the U.S. still surely ranks in the top ten, few would say it clearly is the best anymore. In general, the country remains a relatively great place to live and work. But any excellent young scientist from abroad has to think carefully about coming to or staying in the U.S. for a career, because there might not be enough money to support even first-rate research. Similarly, any young U.S. scientist, no matter how devoted to this country and no matter how skilled, may face the tough choice of either going abroad or abandoning his or her career. (It’s not just young people either, as I can personally attest.)

Whereas before the year 2000 it was easy for U.S. universities to attract the best in the world to teach and do research at their institutions, and to train the next generation of American scientists, the brain drain since that time has been awful. (I see this up close, as more and more often I fail to hire talented individuals specifically because they see a better scientific and personal future outside the United States.) And it is getting worse. All of this affects our economy’s future, our society’s health, and even our ability to defend ourselves, especially since some of the most active spending on science is being done by countries that are hostile or potentially hostile to the free world.

It’s easy to blame this on the recession. “Oh, these are bad times and we all have to share the pain.” That’s true, but this problem started long before 2008. The system became threadbare during the Bush administration, and now, in the ensuing recession and political chaos, it’s at risk of falling apart.

...

So there you have it, from a respected theoretical physicist, one who himself had to move to Switzerland to pursue his high-powered career (pun intended): America once had it, but America lost it, its system of scientific research collapsing in a heap during the Bush administration. One man's opinion, you say? I'm afraid a lot of other physicists concur. America has plenty to spend maintaining a war machine well-suited to fighting the nuclear war we never had (thank goodness), but we can't afford to support first-rate scientific research. This scarcity of research funds (for any research not of military consequence) has unfortunate implications: most American scientists, even eminent figures in their fields, inevitably spend large portions of their workdays not on science but on spinning the research they wish to do, to Congress of course, but also to the public; to hear them tell their story, every forthcoming breakthrough is new, radical, of overarching significance, etc.

It's a helluva way to run a nation's science programs.

Youth Rights Texas Publishes ACLU E-Books

Texans (or any other Americans), do you have youngsters in school? Are they (or are you) interested in their rights in the educational setting? Are you facing problems with a particular school administration, or a local or state school board, involving your child?

Youth Rights Texas has joined with the ACLU to publish a series of short e-books available to you free as .pdf downloads. Subjects range from their Youth Rights Manual (in English or Spanish), Stand Up for Children (two volumes on dealing with local and state boards of education), Free People Read Freely (from the ACLU Foundation of Texas's Banned Books Project), and others such as Use of Force in Texas Public Schools (the title speaks for itself), Distribution of Gideon Bibles in Texas Public Schools (I still have mine from my childhood when the Gideon folks did their unsubtle proselytizing unimpeded in public schools), and The Texas State Board of Education (surely the worst of the worst, and one of the most influential on textbooks all over America).

Note that I never "bleg" for myself. But I will suggest that if you have a steady job that pays decently, perhaps you could throw a little money toward the ACLU and/or your state ACLU. It's one of only three org's that I continue to support in these hard times. (The other two are Sierra Club and Planned Parenthood.) Without the ACLU, the anti‑rights agendas of presidents Bush and Obama and possibly (Dog forbid!) Rmoney, would roll over us without obstacle. With the ACLU, we have a fighting chance. Help if you can.

No News Flash: GOP Hates Education

Sahil Kapur of TPM:

Senate Republicans’ Tuesday filibuster of a Democratic bill to avert a student loan interest rate hike signals a return to familiar territory for the party. The move comes after a brief detour that spurred speculation about whether, with the general election in full swing, Republicans were ready to ease up when it comes to blocking hot-button issues.

...

As recently as Monday the Capitol rumbled with rumors that Senate Republican leaders would follow the same playbook [as on VAWA] with the student-loan measure — which President Obama’s re-election campaign is seizing on to energize young voters — and potentially let Democrats advance it. But the GOP’s position quickly hardened and it didn’t happen. Tuesday’s party-line 52-45 vote fell short of the 60 needed to overcome the GOP’s filibuster.

...

Until the rules of the Senate are changed to prevent a 41-vote minority from suppressing legislation even if it has a majority of Senators voting for it... we do not live in a democracy.


As for the issue, I was a poor kid who went to college only because he got an outright scholarship. Without help, or with a loan instead of a scholarship, I'd have been out of luck altogether. On the whole, I think society got a pretty good deal by paying for my education (through the good offices of Rice University). But kids like me today will not have that opportunity... and our nation will suffer.


AFTERTHOUGHT: GOP theme song!


CORRECTION: "40-vote minority" corrected to "41-vote minority".