You may recall I recently had a RAM failure on my PC which led to a corruption of my hard drive. I had upgraded to 2 gig of RAM and was loving the improved performance—until it hit the fan. My computer dude only had a 512 stick of RAM that worked in my PC, so I have been seriously slowed down while waiting for my new RAM to arrive. The wait is over! I just installed three brand new 1 gig Kingston (the only brand he recommends) HyperX sticks, and the improvement is extreme. I’m addicted to speed, I guess, but it sure is nice!

A lot has been made in recent days about Americans’ scores on a basic civics test created and hosted by The Intercollegiate Studies Initiative (ISI). According to the press release issued by ISI November 20:

More than 2,500 randomly selected Americans took ISI’s basic 33-question test on civic literacy and more than 1,700 people failed, with the average score 49 percent, or an “F.” Elected officials scored even lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent and only 0.8 percent (or 21) of all surveyed earned an “A.”

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that our elected officials do so poorly, and if you’ve ever listened to Hannity’s Man-on-the-Street Thursdays, it’s probably no shock that average Americans failed either.

I figured I had better go take the test to see if I know anything about which I speak. There are a few tough queries on the 33-question test. I had high hopes of acing the test, but I missed two, ending up with a 93.94%. Woohoo.

Wanna see how you do? Click here to take the test for yourself.

(Via Roemerman on Record)

From the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma website:

Foundation Alerts Constituents to Phone Scam

The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma has learned that someone is calling individuals claiming to be the Baptist Foundation. The caller asks for monetary donations and requests credit card information.

“We would like to alert our Baptist constituents as well as the Oklahoma community in general to this phone scam,” said Taprina Milburn, Foundation director of communications. “The Foundation does not conduct telephone fundraising campaigns.”

John Rinehart, an investigator with The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said, “Fraudulent fundraising is on the rise—especially during the holidays. If you do receive one of these phone calls write down the number that appears on the caller ID—even if the number appears as the Foundation’s number (scammers have the ability to use organizations’ telephone numbers)—notify the Foundation, and report the incident to The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office at 405.521.2029.”

You may contact The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma at 800.949.9988 or 405.949.9500.

J. Scott Moody and Brandon Dutcher write at NewsOK that there is a very important part of the discussion being ignored in regards to the Oklahoma teacher pay discussion.

What must be considered in this and any conversation about income is that same area’s cost of living. Sure, Oklahoma’s teacher pay ranks low (40th in the U.S in 2007), but so does our cost of living.

According to the ACCRA cost-of-living index, Oklahoma’s cost of living ranges from 8.5 percent (Lawton) to 17.6 percent (Pryor Creek) below the national average.

Overall, of the 12 areas surveyed in Oklahoma, the average cost of living was more than 13 percent below the national average. That means Oklahoma teachers can buy more goods and services with their income.

And, on top of that, not only is teacher pay at the bottom of the list (in actual dollars), so are most other professions:

So it’s not just our state’s teachers who rank near the bottom (48th, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics). So do our accountants (46th) and our pharmacists (41st) and our CEOs (46th).

Indeed, nearly all of the most common occupations (based on total employment) in the state rank near the bottom: general and operations managers (48th); secretaries (47th); general office clerks (41st); janitors and cleaners (45th); cashiers (47th); bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks (46th); truck drivers (45th); registered nurses (49th); waiters and waitresses (43rd); nursing aides and orderlies (47th); maintenance repairers (41st); and licensed practical nurses (46th).

The hard truth is, most Oklahomans are paid less than their counterparts in other states. Few of our occupations are near the top in 50-state rankings.

If teacher pay is too low (and I don’t believe it is), it is not due to a lack of trying on our parts:

Oklahoma ranks 26th among the 50 states in state and local education spending as a percentage of personal income.

The kicker to the whole conversation is this:

…former public school teacher Terry Stoops, now a public policy researcher in North Carolina, discovered in 2007 that when adjusted for cost of living, pension contribution and experience, teacher compensation in Oklahoma ranks an impressive 14th in the nation. (emphasis mine)

Long story short (I know, too late): most of us in Oklahoma are paid less than our counterparts elsewhere in America, but it costs us less to live here, and we’re all doing more than our fair share at rewarding teachers for their service. Don’t buy into the hype about low teacher pay, especially here. If I want to make more money for doing the same job, I have the option of moving to where my profession is better rewarded (and not trying to pass a law that requires the state legislature give me a raise). Of course, I run the very real risk that it will cost me more to live there. It’s a choice everyone has to make.

Click here. Watch the video.

Larrey Anderson posts at the American Thinker blog:

America’s young people helped elect Barack Obama. Way to go kids! This article is for you. Let’s take a look at your future.

We won’t need a time machine. We will just need to visit Europe and talk to the youth of France, Italy, and Greece. Don’t worry. They won’t mind. They have plenty of time to talk. They don’t have jobs.

Young people in Western Europe tend to sit around, smoke Marlboro cigarettes, drink espresso (and Coca Cola), and (at least until this election) [gritch] about America.

He then describes overhearing a discussion among young people at a cafe in Rome in which they, feeling the pain of socialism, have determined not that socialism is evil but that they just haven’t empowered the right socialists. It’s worth a read, especially the conclusion:

Listen up young Americans: What is coming to the United States is what has been happening in Europe for decades. The ships of state have smashed into an iceberg called socialism and they are sinking.

This is not a Republican versus Democrat thing. Republicans had ten years to clean up the mess. They made it worse. I don’t blame you for wanting to throw the bums out. I did too.

But putting in a new and improved and ever more aggressive socialist like Obama is not the answer. (Don’t argue about his socialism. Go to his website and show me some free market proposals.) They have been trying this in Europe for three generations. It has not worked.

That trillion-dollar “bi-partisan” bailout passed by our Congress did not go to the people who cannot make their house payments. It is being handed out to the big bankers and to big business.

That is how socialism works. Politicians, bankers, and big businessmen do an age-old dance in triple time. There is no trickle down economics in socialism. Almost all of the money stays at the top.

America will soon be, like Europe has been, waltzing on the Titanic. Thanks for the dance.

Under socialism, the producers pay for the non-producers. Apparently, at Langston University, the responsible thinking persons pay for the brain-dead losers.

In a story on NewOK.com, it is reported that because some skull-full-of-jello fired a gun on the Langston University campus, rules are being changed to improve safety on campus. The changes?

• a safety hot line,
• hiring more police officers, and
• a random apartment search policy.

Absolutely none of the above measures will do anything to make campus safer. A safety hotline (isn’t that 911) and more police may help clean up after someone’s been shot. And the random apartment search is ludicrous in a free society. But I’m sure everyone feels better now that there’s a new policy.

And to illustrate how maligned guns are in this society (instead of the morons who accidentally fire them (by the way, guns do not go off accidentally unless they are seriously damaged)), just pretend that, because they found some crack or meth or weed on campus, university officials decide there will now be random apartment searches. See the disparity?

Students, time to move off campus where you can legally have a gun for protection (kept out of reach of idiots who “accidentally” fire them) and where you are safe from your “protectors” searching through your personal effects to make sure you don’t have a gun (or maybe eventually a Bible, or maybe pen and paper, Winston). This is just an example of how the government will erode your rights for your own good if you will let them. Sure, we’ll help you afford college. Sure, you can live on campus. Oh, but wait, you cannot defend yourself with a gun if someone attacks you. But, it’ll be OK because we have an emergency hotline you can call and get one of our many police officers to mop up the blood. Oh, and we’ll be pilfering through your things on a regular basis. We’ll only need this phone hotline until we get the telescreens installed. Now don’t you feel safe?

I’ll be interested to see if the many who have been writhing in anguish over eavesdropping on terrorists will make a peep about this.

P.S. Anyone who’s ever tried to get an open record from a university is probably laughing (if it didn’t hurt so much) at this whole situation. One must move heaven and earth to have access to documents that are public by law, yet the university regularly tramples students’ 2nd and 5th Amendment rights with no outcry. I think I’m gonna be sick.

Jeane and I are both from Welch, OK, a place that is very special to us. Both of our parents still live there, as do many of our friends. We were very sad to learn of the recent double homicide there. If anyone has any information, please contact the Craig County Sheriff’s Office.

Copy & Paste: http://www.newson6.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=3121272&at1=News&h1=Couple Found Shot To Death

You’ll notice a bit of cyber silence from me for a couple days, as some bad RAM has caused some issues with my PC. I should be up and running again soon. Enjoy the break….

This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done:
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.

This is my Father’s world, should my heart be ever sad?
The lord is King—let the heavens ring. God reigns—let the earth be glad.

Have a great Lord’s Day!