Ken Nelson

http://www.taylorgifts.com/item/haircut_umbrella/31222

Just $8 bucks!  Portable too. I may just get one and bring it to my next haircut so I’m not ITCHY the rest of the day.

Kudos to Sen Buttars

Chris Buttars, a state Senator from West Jordan, UT has proposed controversial things before, largely related to social issues. But today, he really impressed me with his thoughts on education reform to save money.

He wants to get rid of the 12th grade:

Buttars argued before the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Monday that 12th grade is essentially a wasted year, with high school seniors either already taking college courses, or just playing around. The students who are ready would move on, while some type of remedial system would be available for those who aren’t.

I don’t know the merits of the proposal. I instinctively like it because graduation would be based on skill, not time in the system.  But I’m happy to have it studied, honestly, before implementation.

But what I really like is his no sacred cows approach.  Naturally the education establishment hates the idea – which is a plus in its favor in my book.

Fresh from the oven. Tasty good!

We’ve been eating in more. Not so much because of the economy, but because going out is a pain in the butt and is time-consuming. And, frankly, not worth the money. Just cause you can afford it doesn’t mean you want to spend money foolishly.

But most of all, we like having family dinners. In spite of last night’s where I had to chastise my daughter for part of it for being moody and bratty lately.

This “5 Minute Bread” approach sounds tasty, so I post it for my wife’s consideration:

Why Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day? Literally five minutes of effort. Throw the ingredients together, mix, pop the dough into a bucket and then into the fridge. After a couple hours of rising, I have enough for three big loaves. The dough keeps very well in the refrigerator for a couple weeks (and tastes noticeably better the longer it’s been sitting, though mine rarely makes it that long). When I want fresh bread I pull out a bit of dough, get the oven heated up and bake away. There are plenty of no-knead recipes about, but Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois perfected a process that works for me

A big hunk of artisan bread, some cheese and a sausage of some kind makes a great dinner.  Or Artisan bread and a thick hearty soup. Mmm…

A urology practice opted out of the insurance racket a few years back. They love it!

I can imagine how the old guys must have felt. This is what doctoring is all about…. it is like being free for the first time.

I’d like to see more of this. Even though procedures can cost larger money than most people can pay out of pocket, financing them over time could be cheaper than paying insurance ongoing.

Combining high deductible catastrophic insurance with this approach seems the only realistic way to cut healthcare costs while letting patients decide what they will do without.

I just had a back procedure disapproved by my insurance company. I’m not mad at them, they have a job to do, and they’ve certainly done right by me in the last three years. But as I imagine a government person denying me, and how little I could do about it, I’m glad that, for now, health care single payer isn’t happening.

H/T: Carpe Diem

Home schooled, practical pistol and rifle shooting, blogging, 12 year old

My 12 year old son, Brian, has a blog now. And he has learned to post to it. We reposted a couple things he wrote for my site, and then he wrote a fresh piece on the match he shot today.

http://www.briankevinnelson.com

Bookmark it today!

 
Don’t voodoo me!

Liberals constantly make decisions from “the heart” that end up stopping other people’s hearts.  A recent example is President Obama’s decision to permit Haitians here illegally to stay. Just as America’s liberal stance on illegal immigration has sucked Mexico’s hard workers, north, Haiti’s best and brightest have moved here too.

Vox Day feels similarly:

If Haiti needs anything from the United States, it is the 30,000 Haitians who are presently in the United States illegally, and thanks to the Obama administration, will now be permitted to stay another 18 months. Since the Haitian diaspora is made up of Haiti’s most entrepreneurial and productive individuals, Haiti is far more in need of them now than ever. Both the U.S. and Haiti would be much better off if those 30,000 Haitians were given government contracts to return to Haiti and help rebuild it than remaining in the U.S. and adding to the 10 percent unemployment rate.

This may seem cold hearted, and it is, but in a tough love sort of way.  How can Haiti ever fend for itself if most of its talent is here?

This principal applies to many things liberals do “from the heart”. From welfare, to “spreading the wealth”, to pacifistic diplomacy, their “best intentions” doom billions.

I’ve got one thing to say to most incumbents

Ben Nelson, Senator (ForSale-Nebraska), and his wife were scorned and booed at a pizza place in Nebraska recently:

Other customers started booing. A woman yelled, “Get him the hell out of here!” And the Nelsons and their dining companions beat a hasty retreat.

Now some would consider this unseemly, but how are we supposed to treat people robbing billions from us, our kids, our grand kids, and our great grandkids?

I think the behavior appropriate and if anything, too nice.

I don’t go to candidate meetings with Orrin Hatch or Bob Bennett, or Jim Matheson. I’ve got nothing to say to them that wouldn’t be rude. 

And if I met them in a public setting, I would not be polite. They haven’t earned it.

What if  a simple, cheap, and safe bike bridge lifted bikers past dangerous roads and intersections?   The system uses a simple cable system to support a v-groove the bike rides in:

Clever!

This would be my first clearing of the snow from the windows so we could see out. I would typically do it again once or twice in a winter.

As opposed to today, where not feeling well, I went home for lunch and ate it out in the front courtyard, without a jacket, and with the umbrella up to block the hot sun.

+ =

First came the Snuggie, then the Weezer Snuggie, and now the electric Snuggie.

The Toasty, due this spring for $60 (www.ionaudio.com), is a fleece electric blanket with sleeves that also features a built-in thermostat and controls to keep you at the right temperature while watching TV or reading.

I’ve got my wife’s next Christmas sorted out.

+ =

Some read her joining Fox with  a multi-year contract as a sign she won’t run for President.  I’d remind you Governor usually last 4 years and that NOTHING is conventional for this woman. Which is why I like her.

I wish her the best. I hope she makes tons of money and then runs and win the Presidency.  The current occupant holds the bar low, but I’m confident she will do very well by measure of any past President.  I don’t envy her the problems the current buffoon will leave her.

I’ve been involved in the machinations of politics intermittently in my life, with varying degrees of distaste.  I do feel that these days, something is different, and bad enough that I should plug my nose and dig in. So I am.

I researched the candidates and talked or e-mailed with them or their supporters, and have come to a decision…. I support Cherilyn Eagar to replace Bob Bennett in the U.S. Senate.

Further more, in the spirit of digging in, as of last night I’m officially a volunteer for her campaign, and as of late last night, I’m the newly promoted District Captain for Washington County District 71.  This means I’m supposed to organize caucus efforts in Washington County east of I-15.  Wish me luck… and if you know me, I may be bugging you in the near future….

Now, why Ms. Eagar…. as opposed to Bob Bennett (incumbent), Tim Bridgewater, or Mike Lee?

I’m supposed to start with positives, but I prefer to be honest.  First off… there was no way I was going to support Bob Bennett for anything other than early retirement or recall. He was NEVER an option.

And to the rest of the candidates… well, we have an embarrassment of riches here. All three are terrific. But… you have to choose.  I had four priorities:

• fiscal conservative – all, except Bennett, fit the bill. Eager has promised no earmarks or pork. So she is strongest in that area.
• social conservative – all fit the bill mostly, Eagar was strongest here. Her Eagle Forum endorsement and involvement prove it.
• risk of going native — Bennett has already gone native. I felt Lee is close to that even before being in office because of his role as lobbyist for corporations here in Utah.  It came down to Cherilyn committing to a personal term limit. If you aren’t there, you can’t go native. Problem solved.
• avoid careerists… Bennett and Lee are clearly political careerists. Bridgewater… I get the sense he would be if he could just win an election somewhere.  Eagar, definitely, not. She has been an activist for issues I agree with.

So I’m off… embarking on a political career that, if things work out,  will end in success in March 2010. 

If you live in Utah and want to know how to help Cherilyn at the March caucus, just e-mail me.  And if you live in Washington County, especially east of I-15… , I definitely want to talk to you (-:

Caveat:  I intend to blog as normal, with possibly politically incorrect positions on major issues of the day.  Or even a few typos…   In no way are my positions Cherilyn’s unless I specifically say so.

We got George, an 8 to 9 year old Black Lab, from Best Friends a couple of years ago. He was overweight when we got him.  We got some off, but it was hard because he just was having trouble exercising.   I’d actually given up taking him on walks because he couldn’t go very far, maybe 1/2 a mile. He looked to be in such pain, I didn’t think it was really doable. The Vet gave us medicine for him, but it seemed to do little good.

But this school break I decided to walk him, and me, twice a day. Going as far as either of us could manage. I’ve got lower back problems, walking hurts. And I’m  taking medicine for pre-diabetes, rapid heart rate, and high blood pressure. You wouldn’t know it to look at me, but I’m a wreck (largely due to an accident a couple years back).

But, I figured,  we will just see what either of us can do.  I had two goals… get George “frisky” again, and get me off my meds through diet and exercise.

This was George, this morning, about 3.5 miles into a river walk:

And once I took him off the leash, he led the way, ranging here and there. Like a dog. Two weeks ago, he would be on leash, 30’ behind, struggling just to move one foot in front of the other.

Congratulations George!

As to me…. well, the resting heart rate just before I wrote this was 101, the BP 190/87, and well… I’ve got a ways to go. I suspect, due to a broken pituitary gland (courtesy the afore mentioned accident) that my body chemistry is just screwed up and though I may be 45 years old,  6’, 180lbs, 13% body fat, my innards will not function well no matter what I do. 

C’est le vie!  I enjoy the walks and will continue to do them as long as I can.  I think this afternoon we will strap on the leash again and walk to Chili’s (about 2 miles) for dinner.

BTW: Fritz, our 2 year old dauschund, easily ranges 3 miles for every mile we walk. His legs may be little, but he has abundant energy.

A mob of angry Iranian protestors rush a regime hanging and cut down the two victims.

It seems like we ought to be doing more to help these groups.  After all, what kind of country has portable hanging platforms readily available to their government employees?

Via Ace

Bjarne Stroustrup, inventor of the C++ programming language, says that universities should focus less on creating new Computer Science (CS) professors and more on developing professional software engineers:

My suggestion is to define a structure of CS education based on a core plus specializations and application areas, aiming eventually at licensing of software artifacts and at least some of the CS professionals who produce them. This might go hand-in-hand with an emphasis on lifelong industry/academia involvement for technical experts.

I disagree emphatically with creating a licensed guild. But the rest I generally agree with.

I regularly meet with the Computer Science faculty of one local college, and I’m about to join the curriculum committee of a computer science department at another Utah college as well.  I have strong opinions, formed in the forge of wasted money on failed software projects, on what should be taught in a computer science degree.

Stroustrup pegs it:

It would contain much of the established CS curriculum—algorithms, data structures, machine architecture, programming (principled), some math (primarily to teach proof-based and quantitative reasoning), and systems (such as operating systems and databases). To integrate that knowledge and to get an idea of how to handle larger problems, every student must complete several group projects (you could call that basic software engineering). It is essential that there is a balance between the theoretical and the practical—CS is not just principles and theorems, and it is not just hacking code.

Basically, I want it hard. And what he proposes sounds a lot like what I had in college.  ESPECIALLY the more math (the hard kind) part because the quantitative reasoning it teaches seems missing from many of the graduates I hire or interview.

So what happened? Where did the rigor go?   Many (most?) of them had cook book calculus as their highest math, never getting into the exotic mind benders like differential equations, or linear methods, that put quantitative hair on your chest.

Computer Science enrollment dropped 70% since I was in school in the early 80’s.  Other paths (Information Systems, Microsoft Network certification for example) into the field caused part of the drop, but also a general recognition that industry would hire you _without_ a degree.  So why spend the time and money?

Lately, the kind of person entering the degree has changed too. They are still “geeks” but many are “gaming geeks” focused on video games.  The geeks of early CS were algorithm/logic geeks – they built puzzles, enjoyed logic, and ultimately built up languages like C++, and operating systems like Unix.  As Stroustrup suggests, for many:

"programming" has become a strange combination of unprincipled hacking and invoking other people’s libraries (with only the vaguest idea of what’s going on).

When I meet with CS faculty, I say "make it hard!”, “challenge them” and make them fix other people’s code.    Because if we are going to have less CS graduates, lets at least make them top notch.