http://tucsonsammy.com A libertarian curmudgeon who lurks near the ever changing geographic center of the Old Pueblo Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:02:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en ©Tucson Sammy contact@tucsonsammy.com (Tucson Sammy) contact@tucsonsammy.com(Tucson Sammy) 1440 A libertarian curmudgeon who lurks near the ever changing geographic center of the Old Pueblo Tucson Sammy Tucson Sammy contact@tucsonsammy.com No no http://tucsonsammy.com/wp-content/uploads/podcast/tucsonsammy-podcast.jpg http://tucsonsammy.com 144 144 This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/07/04/losing-our-aims/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/07/04/losing-our-aims/#comments Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:31:36 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/?p=102 http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/07/04/losing-our-aims/feed/ 00:01:01 Governor Napolitano signed into law a bill that will allow government school students to boost their AIMS test scores with good grades. This brings us ... Governor Napolitano signed into law a bill that will allow government school students to boost their AIMS test scores with good grades. This brings us back to the world as it existed before the test was a gleam in Lisa Keeganrsquo;s eye. We are now full circle because the original problem was artificially good grades, and social promotions. Those problems persist, and now that those grades trump, or ldquo;augmentrdquo;, the AIMS test score. It seems that there is no longer any hope for government schools. This sordid story goes back to 1995 when then State Schools Superintendent, Lisa Keegan, got the ball rolling on a high school graduation test. The hope was that, by setting statewide standards, a high school diploma would indicate that the student had a basic grasp of reading, writing, and mathematics. A year later, the Board of Education set the standards, and the Arizona legislature made passing the test a requirement for graduation. So, the government education establishment rolled up its sleeves, stepped up to the plate, and made seeing that every senior could pass the test its main goalhellip; right? Well, not exactly. Though the requirement was to be phased-in over a five-year period, no serious attempt at compliance was made; rather, energy was spent fighting the test. The year that the requirement was to go into effect was pushed from 2001 to 2002, then to 2006. Pressure was put on Superintendent Tom Horne in 2003 to dump the test. He refused, but promised to water it down. It was in 2006 that two advocacy groups sued to remove the test as a graduation requirement, a Superior Court Judge in Maricopa County tossed it out. Now, with Governor Napolitanorsquo;s signature, the test scores can be inflated just like the grades; in fact, using the grades, and to the same ends. The education establishment wins, the students loose. If that is not bad enough, think of the message the educatorrsquo;s example sends to the students. Imagine a guy with a shiny suit, two-tone wing tips, and a pencil thin mustache with slicked back hair approaching your kid as he leaves school. He puts his arm around your kid, leans over, and says, ldquo;Hey kid, donrsquo;t worry about all that AIMS stuff. It donrsquo;t matter. Yeah, yoursquo;ll hear them say stuff like lsquo;accepting the challengersquo; and lsquo;achievementrsquo; and all that crap, but you know that stuffrsquo;s for chumps ndash; they canrsquo;t touch us. Do they think they can make you learn? Think you gonna be an engineer or something? Just keep doing what yoursquo;re doing, those punks will cave.rdquo; That is just what happened, the punks caved. However, all is not lost. While the documents were on their way to the governor, George Sanchez of the Arizona Daily Star reported that, ldquo;Tucson's BASIS Charter School is heralded as the top public school in the United States in the new issue of Newsweek magazine.rdquo; Charter schools, if you do not already know, are privately owned schools which contract with the state board of education, and the local school districts, to provide education services. They charge no tuition, and are paid by the state per pupil ndash; much like the government schools, but at a lower rate, and they have no freely provided infrastructure. I will certainly admit that the populations at the charter and government schools are different. Clearly, the charter student parent is, generally speaking, more engaged than the government parent. After all, the charter parents concern themselves with their childrenrsquo;s education at least, while many mouth-breathing government parents are just glad that the kids are gone for the day, and someone feeds them lunch. Parental involvement is, by far, the most important factor in a childrsquo;s educational success. Charter schools are considered ldquo;publicrdquo; schools, though they more accurately described as ldquo;government contractorsrdquo;. Government contractors have ... In,the,News,,Politics Tucson Sammy no No http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/04/10/the-bizarre-case-of-san-tan-flat/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/04/10/the-bizarre-case-of-san-tan-flat/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:31:11 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/?p=101 http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/04/10/the-bizarre-case-of-san-tan-flat/feed/ 5:48 Let me start by saying that San Tan Flat is in no way connected with Tortilla Flat. There are no tee shirts that say, ldquo;Where ... Let me start by saying that San Tan Flat is in no way connected with Tortilla Flat. There are no tee shirts that say, ldquo;Where the Hell is San Tan Flat?rdquo; Although new to Arizona, San Tan Flat has enjoyed a level of publicity unknown to Tortilla Flat. Our story begins with a father and son, Dale and Spencer Bell. Dale has operated successful restaurants in both South Dakota and Wyoming. He and his son, Spencer, opened their new venture in Pinal County, Arizona, on the flats next to the San Tan Mountains ndash; hence the name. After three years of jumping through hoops, they finally opened on 2005 with Pinal Countyrsquo;s blessing. Shortly thereafter, Pinal County began to harass them mercilessly. They made them remove one of their two signs, reduced their road access from four entrances to one, and they made them build a bigger parking lot. They also sent deputies out at night to measure decibel levels. This sort of behavior usually indicates that some well-connected turgid member of the community wants him out of Dodge. In the older frontier times, they usually just sent the Sheriff around to tell him, ldquo;Be out of town by sundown.rdquo; These are less direct, less honest, weenie times. Dale complied with all the harassing demands, until they turned their sights on his customers. They claimed it was illegal for them to dance to the music in the courtyard. They cited an ordinance from 1962 that required ldquo;dance halls, penny arcades, and bowling alleysrdquo; to be in fully enclosed structures. San Tan Flat is a restaurant bar. As Dale said to me, ldquo;Irsquo;ve never seen a penny arcade in my lifetime, Irsquo;ve never been able to put a penny in a machine and have it do anything, I donrsquo;t know how old you are, but Irsquo;m an old guyhellip;this thing is pretty obsolete even in its language.rdquo; With the help of the Arizona chapter of the Institute for Justice, Dale went to court. The Pinal County attorneys stated, at four separate times during the initial hearing, that the supervisors thought the outdoor stage at the Country Western Saloon and Steakhouse would be used for ldquo;mimes, puppet shows, poetry readings, and art displays.rdquo; Why, of course! Any cowboy worth his salt needs a little miming, and poetry read to him every now and again. Those dang Bell Boys deceived us! Dale has determined that upstanding member of the community Pinal County Supervisor Sandy Smith is directing the attacks against him. It is her appointee, the Pinal County Sheriff, who sends his deputies out three times a night to test the decibel levels. So far, they have had no luck. I asked Dale why Sandy Smith was trying to make his life miserable. He answered, ldquo;Why is she doing it? Possibly petty jealousy over the success of the business, possibly because we did not grovel, or kiss her butt, which is apparently what she was expecting us to do after we were open and permitted.rdquo; He had some other ideas that involved millionaire developers, but itrsquo;s all just speculation. The silver lining to this dark cloud is that the longer it drags on, the more support the Bells get - from George Will, who wrote of their plight in his Washington Post column, to Dale and Spencerrsquo;s customers. Dale said of his customers, ldquo;They donrsquo;t say they like it, they say they love it!rdquo; The significance of this case lies not so much in the fact that the petty commissars of Pinal County are being exposed; rather it verifies what we in the freedom movement have come to realize over the past few years. Traditionally, it was government at the federal level that sent edicts from far away for the great unwashed, doing away with federalism, and exceeding its limited jurisdiction in a rather tyrannical way. It seemed to make sense that when people are reduced to numbers and formulas, they would be treated like them. Now we see those close to us, here at home, behaving in similar fashion. Whether th... In,the,News,,Living,in,a,blue,county,,Politics,,Random,Thought,,Vanishing,Rights Tucson Sammy no No http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/04/03/vets-for-freedom/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/04/03/vets-for-freedom/#comments Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:44:24 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/?p=100 http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/04/03/vets-for-freedom/feed/ 8:43 Regardless of what you think of the global war on the Western World launched by Islamic fanatics, it is important that the West prevails. It ... Regardless of what you think of the global war on the Western World launched by Islamic fanatics, it is important that the West prevails. It is a matter of survival. There are many fronts, hot and cold. The European theater is mostly cold - if you don't count the rioting around Paris. In the Pacific Theater, there are the Indonesian and Philippines fronts, hot and cold in turns. In the Middle East, there ar the Afghanistan, Israel, and Iraq fronts, all hot. The enemies of the West have learned that the have not a prayer in a stand-up fight. The Arab states surrounding Israel launched conventional wars against her repeatedly, and failed every time. Then they learned, from the North Vietnamese communists, to frame it as a "human rights" struggle for the "Palestinians". They would get plenty of support from western leftists, and the war would be won in the streets of America and Europe. The jihadis understand this too. After all, it worked for the Vietnamese, it is working against Israel, it should work for them. That is why they keep attacking. They see how the American left is undermining the military effort, and realize that it is just a matter of time before we cut and run. Our military is the best in the world. We are winning in Iraq. Like Vietnam, we win every battle, but the war will be decided on the streets of America and Europe. Along with the jihadis, many in our military get it. That is why a group of Iraq veterans, who came home to witness a propaganda campaign against the American military, are fighting back at home with the sword of truth. They will not stand by while the battles are being won in Iraq, and th war is being lost at home. They are now in the middle of a nationwide tour that will culminate in an appearance before the U.S. Congress on April 8, 2008. You can go to their web site to learn more: vetsforfreedon.org I was able to interview a few of these decorated Iraq veterans when they were in Tucson. You can listen to the interviews by clicking the podcast buttons below. If you are a Vietnam Vet, you really should listen to the interview with David Bellavia; he has something important to say to you. In,the,News,,Politics Tucson Sammy no No http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/03/06/sb-1214-getting-to-the-bottom-of-objections/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/03/06/sb-1214-getting-to-the-bottom-of-objections/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:48:01 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/03/06/sb-1214-getting-to-the-bottom-of-objections/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/03/06/sb-1214-getting-to-the-bottom-of-objections/feed/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/02/28/wfb-rip/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/02/28/wfb-rip/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:19:13 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/02/28/wfb-rip/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2008/02/28/wfb-rip/feed/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/12/20/just-like-reagan/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/12/20/just-like-reagan/#comments Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:39:22 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/12/20/just-like-reagan/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/12/20/just-like-reagan/feed/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/11/02/none-of-your-business/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/11/02/none-of-your-business/#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:37:20 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/11/02/none-of-your-business/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/11/02/none-of-your-business/feed/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/09/28/keep-your-hands-on-th-wheel/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/09/28/keep-your-hands-on-th-wheel/#comments Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:12:28 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/?p=95 http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/09/28/keep-your-hands-on-th-wheel/feed/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/09/11/nina-channels-fred/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/09/11/nina-channels-fred/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:09:06 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/09/11/nina-channels-fred/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/09/11/nina-channels-fred/feed/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/05/13/the-week-in-review-51207/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/05/13/the-week-in-review-51207/#comments Mon, 14 May 2007 01:56:23 +0000 Administrator http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/05/13/the-week-in-review-51207/ http://tucsonsammy.com/2007/05/13/the-week-in-review-51207/feed/