Abraham Lincoln

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. -- from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Donate to Pakistani Relief Efforts

If you are looking to donate to Pakistani relief efforts, check out the following link:

https://www.theirc.org/donate/help-rescue-lives-pakistan

IRC seems to be providing much-needed help all over the world.

California's Budget Mess: Blame the Stock Market

A must-read for anyone interested in the reasons behind California's budget mess:

http://www.businessinsider.com/california-pension-dow-25000-2010-6

An excerpt: "[E]veryone related to California's pensions must have known for quite some time that the underlying assumptions were way too high. Yet, absurdly, when someone tried to correct these obviously broken assumptions, he was kicked out [by Democrats]."

My kingdom for a fiscally-sane Democrat or a socially-sane Republican. Sigh.

Bryan Caplan on Immigration

Bryan Caplan has an interesting post on immigration here.

American Dollar: Fallin' since 1971

The New York Times chart above shows the American dollar's relative value. As you can see, a dollar just 30 or 40 years was worth much more in the international marketplace. I am willing to bet if you asked most college graduates how much the American dollar has been devalued since 1971, almost no one would know.

I wish high schools would teach Americans basic statistics and macroeconomics, but with teachers' unions and religious fundamentalists influencing the academic curriculum and refusing to adapt to the 21st century, I don't see much change on the horizon.

Here's a basic tip: when analyzing economic data, you cannot rely on one set of numbers. For example, if someone shows you a chart of income growth rates, such data is meaningless without also evaluating inflation rates during the same time periods. More specifically, if your income rises 3% but inflation rises 4%, you are worse off than if your income rises 2% but inflation rises 1%. That's another interesting question to ask a high school senior--whether you are better off under the former or latter scenario. Again, I bet most of the high school seniors would answer incorrectly.

Random Thoughts

1. In most cases, the single most important factor in keeping a marriage together is keeping the primary breadwinner employed.

2. I read the following line in a review of the German film, The White Ribbon: the main character is "an intellectual whose pursuit of the truth is enabled by the inability to change anything." It made me stop and think about the possibility of an inverse relationship between power and truth.

3. I was playing chess in Campbell, and my opponent gave me the following gem: "In the old days [before cell phones, email, etc.], it was harder to communicate, but easier to understand each other. Now, it is easy to communicate but harder to understand each other."

4. If you like action flicks, you should see the Korean film, The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (2008). The plot involves a treasure hunt where a cowboy, gangsters, the Japanese military, and various thieves are all after the same prize. Lots of fun.

5. I recently discovered Republican Chuck Hagel. Along with Ron Paul and Richard "Dick" Armey, he appears to be a true Republican. When he was Senator, he questioned George W. Bush and the Patriot Act, stating, "I took an oath of office to the Constitution. I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president."

CTA Issues Press Release from Fantasyland

Prior to losing millions of dollars in federal aid because it refused to accept educational reforms, the California Teachers' Association (CTA) had issued a hilarious press release (see here). I couldn't help but laugh at this line: "It's alarming that the president wants to focus on a competition system that creates winners and losers." Are you kidding me? Welcome to the real world, CTA. The 88% of schoolchildren who don't end up working for the government will eventually enter a system that creates winners and losers. Sheltering students from reality or protesting methods that evaluate academic progress doesn't help anyone.

Also, when teachers' unions view the public's desire for accountability as a threat, something is obviously wrong with our educational system. No one but California teachers would ever dream of accepting $50 to $62 billion each year and then crying foul when taxpayers want to see results.

I never thought I'd see a Democratic president stand up to the teachers' unions in my lifetime. Thank goodness President Obama cares more about children than teachers' unions.

Bonus: most people don't know that most California teachers are adequately compensated. See here:

According to the CTA's parent union, the National Education Association, California teachers were the nation's top-paid, with $64,424 average annual salary in 2007-08...Because of its huge student population and its high-priced teachers, California spends 44 percent more on K-12 public education than does Texas, the next highest-spending state, $59 billion versus $41 billion.

Tenured teachers also receive unique benefits including pensions, lifetime medical benefits, and job security.