I, too, support Canada's national igloo

Via BoingBoing, a hilarious clip of Arkansans congratulating Canada on preserving its national igloo. At the end, a rotund Mike Huckabee shows up in the rotunda to offer felicitations. Perhaps we'll never know if he's in on the gag, but man, is he smooth.

Added: Smooth might not cut it if Chuck Norris is your point man, sounding like a floating white subliminal cross between Tom Tancredo and John Edwards.

Seahawks primed for another tense playoff run

All around the region, antacids are flying off the shelves faster than a Hasselbeck strike to Bobby Engram for 13 yards and a first down. Tomorrow Seattle plays Washington in the first round of the NFL playoffs. Even though we're favored to win, playing in the loudest home stadium in football against a team that scraped into the playoffs by beating a nonchalant Dallas squad, led by a veteran QB and some absolutely killer defensive backs, coached by Seattle's all-time wins leader, we're still going to be watching with our knees at our elbows and our double venti mochas set to decaf. We're jittery enough as it is.

Why the angst? Shaun Alexander and the Cast Apparently Made of Spirit-Sapping and Not To Mention Extremely Heavy Uranium. Mike Holmgren's inexplicable clock non-management. Blown lead after blown lead, even in victories. The debacle in Pittsburgh. And, worst of all, we couldn't convert fourth-and-inches if Billy Graham was praying over the ball.

Bill Simmons sums it up:

By the way, this feels like the 27th straight year that the poor Seattle fans have talked themselves into the whole, "I know we're not that good, but if X happens, and Y happens, and Z happens, we might be able to sneak into the Super Bowl!" It's becoming a January tradition right up there with Vince Carter getting hurt and Fox kicking off a new season of "American Idol."

Even so, even so, even so...

Seahawks 24, Washington 21. Pass me the Rolaids. And don't bet on sports.

Update, 5:10 p.m., 1/5 I was too conservative, but the game was closer than the final score revealed. 35-14 the final. Go Hawks!

Also, here are my other first round predictions:

Steelers over Jaguars
I like Roethlisberger in the playoffs.

San Diego over Tennessee
Same reasons as the TRP's.

Tampa Bay over New York
Defense wins it. Eli Manning will throw at least three picks.

tie goes to the victor

The first tie of 2008 is one of the first I ever owned.

A fresh start, with a return to classic values and timeless style and polyester flair. It's the Barack Obama of ties.

Update: Why you shouldn't fret too much about the Iowa hype:

Factoring out those who ran unopposed...

• Since 1972, 4 of 8 Democratic candidates who won in Iowa have gone on to earn their party's nomination.
• Since 1976, 3 of 5 Republican candidates have done the same.

To the loser go the spoils....

• In 1988, George H.W. Bush was elected president, despite polling third in Iowa, with 19% of the vote. He lost to Bob Dole and Pat Robertson (the raging doofus).
• In 1992, Bill Clinton stormed out of nowhere to win the Democratic nomination and the presidency, despite polling only 3% in the Iowa caucus.

Update II: Gallup looks at the ways the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary have--and haven't--changed voter preferences. (They can't analyze the 1988 example due to a lack of data, and completely whiff on the Clinton anomaly in 1992, since he polled strongly in New Hampshire.)

international law and "anticipatory self-defense"

In "National self-defense, international law, and weapons of mass destruction," in the Chicago Journal of International Law, Spring 2003, Thomas Graham Jr. declares that the Bush Doctrine of preemption isn't justified under international law. In a key passage, he analyzes Israel's attack on the Osirak reactor, which succeeded at largely thwarting Saddam's nuclear ambitions. Though strongly condemned as a violation of international law, did its success merit the action? Even adopting consequentialist logic, Graham argues it would not.

However, this hindsight view is not a sound basis for a rule of law. Otherwise, nations around the world will seek nuclear weapons, claiming self-defense, on the basis of the propensity of some nations to engage in preemptive attacks allegedly justified under international law, and will thereby destroy the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ("NPT") regime that is essential to world peace and security. Such nations would heed some variation of the statement, perhaps apocryphal, but sometimes attributed to George Fernandez, the Indian Defense Minister, that "before one challenges the United States, one must first acquire nuclear weapons." It would be deeply contrary to the interests of the United States, as well as the interests of the world community, to encourage such a psychology. Also, there is the question of how to respond to a threat emanating from within a country but not from its government-for example, a country too weak to suppress a highly sophisticated terrorist organization operating within its territory. Could international law countenance an act of anticipatory self-defense, otherwise justified, against the territory of such a state and over the wishes of the government on the ground that the government in question was not in control of its own territory? This presents a difficult issue.

For those inclined to see the current Iraq conflict as a "test case" for the Bush Doctrine, or for debaters looking for a different angle on the current resolution, Graham's article is worth reading in its entirety.

support your local librarian

School librarians: a vanishing breed?

This year, Federal Way cut 20 librarian positions. Spokane reduced 10 librarians to half time. Darrington cut two librarians. A school in Marysville eliminated its half-time librarian.

Libraries are open fewer hours, programs minimized, jobs combined. In many cases, part timers with little formal library training are replacing skilled veterans. In Pomeroy, Garfield County, a school employs a combination custodian-librarian — she opens the library after cleaning the locker rooms.

At one school, parents said, enough is enough.

Click through to read how parent activists are pressuring the legislature to make librarians legally recognized as equally valuable contributors in education, to which I say, "Amen and amen."

a caucus, a caucus!

Tomorrow the hype begins, ends, and begins again. Caucus away, Iowans, and let the rest of us wallow in the moment.

For all the times I've been caught up in the hype, or bought into the hype, or even let the hype through without glaring, I apologize.

in your future

Ten things that will change your future.

10 things that will happen in 2008.

In short: you are doomed. But you already knew that.

the doctor's new digs

Dr. Pezz has moved to Wordpress, so update your links accordingly. Or, if you aren't linking, by all means do so. He deserves a wider audience.

ban "meh?" meh.

The title is just a flame-beg, which is also banned. As for "Meh:"

But as an interjection into a discussion, “meh” encapsulates a lot of what’s wrong with on-line discourse. What it really expresses is this: “I have no strong opinion about what the rest of you are discussing, and none of you know who I am anyway, but I’ve got 10 seconds to spare and I like to type.”

The ban, and its concurrent prohibitions, are wholeheartedly endorsed by this blog.

Mount Adams, etc., photos

Our recent trip to the Mount Adams area did not go unphotographed. Here are just a few selections.


We haven't enjoyed much snow in the Olympia area, so it was refreshing to muck about in ten-foot drifts. Returning to the lowlands felt uncanny: here it was, winter with no snow. Worse than anything CS Lewis could imagine.


I guess it was colder in our cabin than I remembered.


Diligence kept the road passable, which is a pity.


Two days socked in by clouds, and then the sun broke free. Monday was simply spectacular. Adams is as fine a mountain as any in the region, but loses the popularity contest to Rainier, St. Helens, and Hood. Just fine, if you like your vistas tranquil.


Melissa and Melody, or Melody and Melissa.


Our comfy cabin, with live snow in the foreground.


Symbolism aplenty, if you care to decipher.

the Shakespeare of 11222 Dilling Street

Here's one way to ring in the new year: by resolving to adopt the sanctimonious seriousness, the principled priggishness of Robert Reed, otherwise known as Mike Brady of the Brady Bunch. Turns out Reed wasn't always pleased by the show's lack of verisimilitude.

Without belaboring the inequities of the script, which are varied and numerous, the major point to all this is: Once an actor has geared himself to play a given style with its prescribed level of belief, he cannot react to or accept within the same confines of the piece, a different style.

When the kid’s hair turns red, it is Batman in the operating room.

I can’t play it.

Click through and read the entire memo to the show's producer, which pits a classically trained actor against the small-minded commercial interests of the Hollywood establishment is hilariously overwrought.

Unbeknownst to Reed (and "unbeknownst" is just the sort of word Reed would appreciate), the red-hair-transmogrification episode would be the Bradys' last. Reed did not appear on screen.

[via Ed Brayton]

where we were

Mount Adams.

Well, as close as we could get without traction tires.

The wife, I, and a portion of the inlaws spent a couple days near Trout Lake, long enough to enjoy fresh snow and an outstanding view of the Lesser Rainier, but not long enough to get trapped for the winter.

Pity.

I'll post photos as soon as I can. This morning, the air was clear and crisp, and the mountain especially photogenic.

Update: Photos here.

noodly gingerbread appendages

Flying Spaghetti Monster cookies: coming to a school district near you.

choosing Olympia's Person of the Year

OlyBlog's Guglielmo has the scoop:

Every year, Time Magazine exercises its privilege to name the "Person of the Year." Hitler, Stalin, the computer, Bill Clinton, and even "You" have been persons of the year. Who is your candidate for the hyperlocal person of the year? No arguments please, just names and the reason they deserve the recognition.

You have to go over there and log in if you want your vote to count.

Unofficially, I'll second Rob Richards' nomination of the folks running Camp Quixote. Even the curmudgeonly Olympian has changed its heart on this one.

First runner-up: Emmett O'Connell. The man is passionate about politics because he's passionate about people.

Second runner-up: Sarah of OlyBlog. She often links here, and for that, she's awesome.

defining "acquisition" in the nuclear weapons resolution

A reader writes,

Throughout my researching of this topic I have a found a sticky issue that may be extremely important in the debate round for this resolution. Needless to say I would like some help in "resolving" this issue.

So,

How have you defined the term "Acquisition"?

Does it entail something newly acquired, or just further acquisition by states that already have them?

Also, can "acquisition of nuclear weapons" be interpreted to mean the acquisition of knowledge or specifications to build nuclear weapons?

Great questions.

It's helpful to consider the dictionary definition of acquisition: "the act of acquiring or gaining possession." (All the other options are, as far as I can see, semantically indistinct.) Acquisition is the act of acquiring. So, what does it mean to acquire?

1. to come into possession or ownership of; get as one's own: to acquire property.
2. to gain for oneself through one's actions or efforts: to acquire learning.

If both are valid, then the resolution allows interfering in a nation's efforts to beg, borrow, steal, or purchase nuclear weapons, and in a nation's efforts to build its own nuclear weapons. (Note that these processes aren't necessarily exclusive; South Africa, for example, borrowed nuclear know-how from Israel when developing its nuclear program, but used only South African nationals, equipment, and material when building the actual weapons.)

So, let's examine each successive question in turn.

1. The resolution could be fairly read to imply that the nation in question doesn't already have nuclear weapons--but it's only an implication, not a narrow reading. A negative might argue that since the resolution doesn't explicitly rule out attacking a nation that already possesses nukes, then the risks of preemption are multiplied.

2. The resolution clearly states, "to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons." If, using definition #2 above, this includes a nation's own efforts to build a bomb, then preventing such an effort might require disruption at any point in the process--whether in the planning, building, testing, or deployment phase. The word "prevent" here is key.

The Sports Gal is living proof

Filling in for The Sports Guy, his wife does an admirable job explaining why betting on sports is foolish.

Don't get me wrong, I knew what I was in for when I married him. Still, it's been nice to trounce him this season and humiliate him on a famous sports Web site. Even though he claims that this was the point of our ongoing picks experiment -- "the more you know, the less you know" -- I say he's lying through his teeth and he'd much rather be the one who is 23 games over 50/50. What kills him is that he knows how little thought I put into my picks. Here, watch. I'll take you through my picks process and "think out loud." I looked at each game, jotted down my thoughts and quickly made the pick, then expanded them for each pick after the fact.

If I didn't make it clear enough, I never spend more than 90 seconds total on my picks.

Just to prove the point, here's her rationale for picking the Bengals over the Dolphins:

If it's an all-animal matchup, I always try to weigh that accordingly. Dolphins are cuddly and nice. I don't understand why any NFL team would wear aqua blue unis and call itself "The Dolphins," then not expect to get its butt kicked. They should go with the Spearfishers. I would have taken them if they were the Spearfishers.

Remember, she could lose every pick this last week, and still finish ahead of Bill.

Don't bet on sports.

your legislature, hard at work: part I

For interested Washington State residents, I've compiled a list of passed educational House bills, big and small, from the 2007 session. There were more than I remembered.

up in the House

What the legislature wrought, 2007 education edition. Government sure didn't shrink any over the session.

educational legislation: 2007 House Bills in review

In 2007, regional media types paid all kinds of attention to the fate of various Washington State educational laws. Joint Resolution 4204, which passed by a Gregoire-thin margin to allow simple majorities for levies, was probably the best-known, while HB 2079 was the most controversial. But lots more were passed. Here are the highlights from the House's year in educational legislation. (I've focused on the elementary and secondary level, with a few postsecondary bills thrown in there as they relate to high school instruction. If I've missed one, let me know.)



Kevin's Law: ESHB 1050
IEP students must be allowed to walk in a grad ceremony with their peers, even if all they receive at the time is a "Certificate of Attendance."


Completing High School at a Community College: HB 1051
The most concise summary comes from Governor Gregoire's partial veto:

Sections 1 through 8 of this bill provide for the development of two pilot programs at community or technical colleges. The programs are intended to support certain students as they work to meet the State's academic standards in reading, writing, mathematics or science. For these students, demonstrating proficiency in one or more of these subjects is the final step in meeting their high school graduation requirements and obtaining a high school diploma. The legislation outlines the student eligibility and program criteria, authorizes the financial support, waives student tuition and fees, and provides for a study of the program's results in two years' time.

Section 9 of the bill creates and recognizes a new state certificate for high school students who do not meet the requirements for a high school diploma, the Certificate of Academic Completion (Certificate). The Certificate may be conferred by school districts to students who meet all state and local requirements for graduation with the exception of passage of one or more of the high school assessments in reading, writing and mathematics. Our students are working very hard to achieve the skills necessary for success in their endeavors beyond high school. By creating the Certificate of Academic Completion we will be sending a message to these students that they do not need basic skills required for the high school diploma. This is wrong.

Get Students Involved: HB 1052
This little bill provides greater access for middle and high school students to the Legislative Advisory Council, plus grants for students to participate in civic education competitions such as Model UN.


Postsecondary Opportunities: HB 1096
Globalization, according to the legislature, requires need-based grants for workers to gain certification or skills training in "high demand occupations" from community or technical colleges.


Book Savings For All: HB 1224
Community colleges were added to the ranks of institutions that must pursue policies that keep book and material costs down, or, at the very least, make options and alternatives publicly known.


Cash for Computers: HB 1280
If I understand this correctly, this bill allows districts to pay for major technology upgrades out of existing "capital projects" levies, instead of having to run a special techno-levy. (Another minor bill, HB 2357, would allow districts to use timber money for capital projects, too.)


Service Credit for ESAs: HB 1432
Might as well quote the bill itself:

Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, the calculation of years of service for occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, and psychologists regulated under Title 18 RCW may include experience in schools and other nonschool positions as occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, or psychologists. The calculation shall be that one year of service in a nonschool position counts as one year of service for purposes of this chapter, up to a limit of two years of nonschool service.

It's only for the salary schedule; retirement counts only school service.


Dealing With the Dropout Problem: HB 1573

Sections 1 through 7 of this bill provide for the development and implementation of a grant program that, through collaborative school district, family and community partnerships and services, support vulnerable students who are at risk of dropping out of middle or high school. The grant program will be called the Building Bridges Program.

This is perhaps the most ambitious attempt the state has made at reducing the dropout rate. I still see this as the problem at the high school level, come low or high WASL.


Defining a Counselor: HB 1670
Up until this year, for all legal intents and purposes, school counselors didn't exist. Now they do.


Agency Shop Fees Clarified: HB 2079
10 + 10 - 10 = 10. Now, which 10 is left? This bill says: not yours, shop fee payer, that the Supreme Court may be mollified. Whew. That was a dire emergency.


Add a Little Spice: HB 2154
Now ESD board members will come up for election in odd, rather than even, years. That oughtta bring out the vote.


Bonus Bonus: HB 2262
Become certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, collect $5,000--or more, if you teach in an impoverished district. For me, this was the incentive that tipped the scales away from ProCert to NBPTS. Apparently, a lot of other teachers feel the same way.


Investing in the Common Schools: HB 2396
On the same day she signed the Rainy Day Fund into law, Gregoire also allowed the state to invest its permanent common school fund in equities, in hopes that it would earn at a rate at least equal to inflation.


Killing Gainsharing: HB 2391
On that same day, gainsharing died, and teachers mourned.


Let's Have a Poet Laureate: HB 1279
Why not? By the way, it's Samuel Green.

top twelve posts of 2007

It's the end of December, time for self-evaluation and top ten lists. Why not combine the two? Here are the 12 best decorabilia moments of 2007, as chosen by yours truly. As far as I can tell, there's no obvious pattern in my choices. Maybe that's the pattern.

January: when the truth isn't true enough: We Are Marshall
Apparently this season's WAM is "The Great Debaters."

February: I choose Jesus
Word is, it made my mom laugh.

March: least realistic movie about gangs spurs attempt to reduce real gang violence
Sometimes bloggers are criticized for criticizing, rather than digging up, the news. But some stories should just stay buried.

April: new wine in old wineskins
I'm still not settled on an opinion.

May: you shall know them by their decorabilia
That about sums up my life philosophy.

June: Walt Whitman, idiot?
No.

July: cuffing the language police
We don't have to lose friends over grammar.

August: virtual morality, virtual ontology
In which I map out the Canny Valley of Intelligent Design.

September: Brian Baird comes to CHS: a decorabilia liveblog exclusive
The media event of the school year so far.

October: dream trio with tacky tie duet
The title is self-explanatory, mostly.

November: "blue ghost" spooks the stupid
Sad. Truly sad.

December: how to debate without sounding like a jerk
Note to self: practice what you preach.


Update: Mark Olson lists his most-commented-upon top 12.