Michael Moore is Right--We Should Follow Canada's Example..

Yes, you read that right. I didn't mistype. Michael Moore, fat idiotarian fakeumentarian, is absolutely right. We need to follow Canada's example. They have shown the way for years and we have not listend.

Now, before you revoke my Reagan card and send me over to the Soros camp, let me clarify.

We need to follow Canada's example on education, not health care.

For those of you who didn't know, while Canada does have a boondoggle of a socialized and failing health care system, they have a streak of Reagan individualism in them. There is no Ministry of Education. There is no federal cabinet official for K-12 education in Canada. Canada spends very little on Federal education. All funding and policy making takes place at the provincial and state levels.

Contrast that with our system. Over 4000 federal employees in the Dept. of Education. And, Washington gives 10 percent or better of the funding of k-12 education. And also, we have a 19 billion dollar education budgetal increase. This is a total appropriation of over 78 billion dollars. Since 1970, inflation adjusted spending per pupil has risen almost 200%, while achievement by 17 year olds has stagnated, and drop out rates increase. Obama wants to furnish college students with $173 billion in 2011. What are we getting for this? Let's see.

While more people are getting degrees, those degrees are not worth as much as they used to be. There is a huge surplus of degree hlders. According to the US government, only 21% of jobs require bachelor's degrees. Also, the bang for the buck in higher education has gone away. The most recent National Assessment of Adult Literacy shows that the percentage of Americans whose top degree is a bachelor's who were proficient readers dropped about 10 points between 1992 and 2003, and only about 38% were proficient in 1992. Aemricans with graduate degrees saw comparable drops. But the costs continue to rise in college. Why? Well, more free cashola or less restrictive cashola has encoraged students to demand more from schools--rec centers, gourmet food, big time dorms--and enable schools to pass the costs along to Mom and Dad, and all taxpayers who foot the bill for federal aid. It should come as no big deal to learn that real aid per student rose 149% since 1979, while public four year college charges swelled 105%.

And what of public schools? Well, while failing schools continue to get money thrown their way, the failure rates continue to go up. We continue to fail students upwards, putting out students with less knowledge and academic foundations than their forebears even a generation ago. While they may be able to text and facebook, their knowledge in math and civics has cratered.

As Ronald Reagan said, education isn't "an isolated bureaucrat in WAshington"'s responsiblity. It is "a parental right and responsibility." However, we have let many parents abdicate this role, even as they decry teachers working their best in a failed system. We need to get the feds out of education, as Canada has done and continues to do.

In Canada, there is freer experimentation and innovation than in American schools, where unrealistic and unindividualized mandates must be followed. In the US, Washington bureaucrats have used the feds' pockets as a carrot to push states to meet federal directives. Several Canadian provinces provide direct per student grants, similar to vouchers, to private and independent schools. In provinces like British Columbia and Alberta, school choice has empowered PARENTS at all income levels, and academic achievement has skyrocketed. Meanwhile, in the US, we throw more money at failing school systems and the problems only get bigger. According to a study from the Fraser Institute, "Achievement scores are not only higher generally in th provicnes that fund independent schools, but also higher particularly among studetns from less advantaged backgrounds." The study also finds that public schools, forced to compete with private schools, improve their performance. Wow, free markets work!!! Imagine that.

On the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment, Canada destroys the US almost across the board. In Math, the US scores 474 (below average), and Canada with its free market approach scores 527. In reading, Canada outscores America. This is all the more explosive when you realize the US outspends Canada by 20% per student.

But, let's also take a lesson from civics. Aside from its governance of the District of Columbia and the due process clauses in the 5th and 14th Amendments, the Constitution gives the Federal government NO POWER over education. The founders realized how dangerous such a thing could be, and how it could lead to some monolithic system that discriminates systemically. Which is what has happened. I guess the Court judges who have shamefully used the general welfare clause to allow abuses of power like this to go on should go back to school. But, maybe they should go to Canadian schools for lesson in what competitive and achieving schools should look like.

Like the healthcare issue, the government needs to get out of the way. While Canada has realized this in education, they failed to do so in healthcare. We need to look at Canada's success in education and failure in healthcare and realize government needs to let the market decide, and let the rising tide of competition and achievement lift all boats. Artificial goals and incentives only destroy achievement and incentivize mediocrity. Don't American children deserve better?

Canada Gets It Right...Re-Elects Conservatives

Canada is getting it right as we in the US seem to be getting it wrong. If we look at what is going on around the world, we are becoming less capitalist and less free market as the rest of the world is becoming more so. As the rest of the world moves toward the right, we are moving to the Left. Look at France--pro capitalist Sarkozy. Look at Germany. Pretty soon the Brits will wise up. Just think, at the next G8 meeting next year, America might have the most socialist leaning leader of the group. Canada is getting it right. They are becoming more conservative:

With nearly all the returns in, Canada's election agency reported on its Web site that the Conservatives had won or was leading in races for 143 of Parliament's 308 seats, an improvement over the 127 seats the party had in the previous Parliament.

The Conservative Party needed to win 155 seats to govern on its own.

The Liberal Party, long Canada's top party, suffered a severe drubbing, dropping to 76 seats from 95 in the previous Parliament, according to the election agency. Bloc Quebecois won 50 seats, the New Democrats 37 and independent candidates 2.

More from Canada's National Post:

Stephen Harper's Conservatives returned to power with a stronger, broadly based minority, facing a weakened opposition leader and ready to pursue an agenda that is likely to be aimed first and foremost at addressing the fallout in Canada from the economic storm sweeping the globe.

The results of Tuesday's election deprived Mr. Harper of the majority he so desperately wanted when he killed his own minority government on Sept. 7 and showed Canadian voters wanted to keep the Conservatives on a leash during what the Tory leader acknowledged would be uncertain economic times ahead.

The Conservatives hope their tally and their wins in all regions of the country will give them enough power in the Commons to press ahead with their economic agenda, which, among other things, includes $50-billion in corporate tax cuts and possibly big buck solutions to easing the credit crunch. The party also promised in the campaign to enact a tougher crime package aimed at young offenders in particular.

"Tonight Canadians voted to move our country forward, and they have done so with confidence," Mr. Harper told supporters at his Calgary headquarters.

"As the result of our campaign, our party is bigger, our support base is broader and more Canadians are finding a home in the Conservative Party of Canada."

This happened because the Conservative party in Canada stuck to its guns and its values instead of trying to build the big tent. However, there are some other lessons perhaps the GOP can learn from Canada:

Canadian libertarians tell me that Harper and his Tories have serious flaws, and I don't doubt it. But the Conservatives north of the border sure look a lot better to me than either American party does right now. Their policies are probably more pro-market than those of Bush's 'big government conservative' GOP. . . . In addition, the Canadian Conservatives don't have nearly as much of a social conservative/religious right streak as the Republicans do. And libertarians have to give at least a little love to a prime minister who took a lot of flak for cutting government subsidies to the arts - a goal the Republicans weren't able to achieve with their campaign against the NEA.

Interesting observations....however, I think the values issue is one that we should stick to. The key thing is to stick to core principles, instead of doing what the party did in the late 1990s, when they got greedy and decided to build the big tent and who cares if the person has Republican values as long as they can win and have an R next to their name. See, that is what has gotten us to this point, not standing on principles. The Canadian Conservatives won based on the merits of the argument, not pandering. That is the main lesson to learn.

What WMD's???

Remember when the rallying cry from the left was "Show me the WMDs?" Well, according to this story from the Assoicated (with terrorists) Press, the last of Saddam's uranium "yellow cake" just made port in Canada.

Where was this stuff? Surely it wasn't IN Iraq...

"Everyone is very happy to have this safely out of Iraq," said a senior U.S. official who outlined the nearly three-month operation to The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Well, I'll be...it was in Iraq. Where our friends on the left said there were no WMD programs at all!

I know, I know...we stopped the flow of the chocolate rivers with the gumdrop trees on their shores in war for oil. Of course, the reality is that Saddam was an evil tyrant who abused his people and had the ambitions of becoming a nuclear power. That he'd use biological weapons on his own people is evidence enough for me...

Anyway, I just thought I'd take a moment to illustrate that once again, the left is wrong on yet another issue.

7/13 UPDATE: I've received some criticism from several folks that I think requires some clarification on my part because some of it is fair and some of it isn't.

One area which I think my critics have gotten this story wrong is the supposed fact that this yellowcake was under IAEA seal since prior to the invasion. According to this AFP piece [HT: Sticks and Stones], the 550 metric tons of uranium yellow cake was turned over to the IAEA after it was discovered by US troops AFTER the invasion.

The yellow cake was discovered by US troops after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq at the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Facility south of Baghdad, and was placed under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Near as I can tell, that means that this material was not previously known about nor was it under IAEA watch.

The fair piece of criticism comes from my first sentence. Yellowcake, by itself, isn't a weapon. I should have refined the argument to center around the WMD programs which Saddam had and not the weapons themselves. I left out a word and the criticism is fair on that point.

However, the notion that the lack of WMD's somehow de-legitimizes the war in some way is not a position that I accept. WMD's were not the sole justification for going to war, but that argument did become the centerpiece for doing so.

The presence of the programs under Saddam's control that prompted the need for regime change and not the weapons themselves. In fact, it is the absence of the weapons themselves that makes the military option more available. Diplomacy had run its course after 12 years and 17 UN resolutions; it was vital for the region and American security interests, to shut down those programs for good.

This yellowcake could be “further enriched as fuel for nuclear weapons.” Even if it were true that this material was under the supposed watchful eye of the IAEA, why wasn't it destroyed or removed? We're supposed to trust El Baradei and the IAEA with it? There are plenty of reasons to suspect El Baradei's loyalty to non-proliferation including his promise to resign if Israel or the US should do his job for him and eliminate Iran's ambitions for a nuclear weapon.

While I don't think this find vindicates the Bush administration on the claim of stockpiles of WMD, it was a serious threat that should have been handled. Mock me for that if you want, but I'll sleep at night just fine thank you very much...

YCMT$U: Canadian Beer Drinkers Threaten Planet

The latest threat to the world via global warming appears to be the Canucks and their "beer fridges" (FOX News):

Scientists have found a new threat to the planet: Canadian beer drinkers.

The government-commissioned study says the old, inefficient "beer fridges" that one in three Canadian households use to store their Molson and Labatt's contribute significantly to global warming by guzzling gas- and coal-fired electricity.

"People need to understand the impact of their lifestyles," British environmental consultant Joanna Yarrow tells New Scientist magazine. "Clearly the environmental implications of having a frivolous luxury like a beer fridge are not hitting home. This research helps inform people — let's hope it has an effect."

The problem is that the beer fridges are mostly decades-old machines that began their second careers as beverage dispensers when Canadians upgraded to more energy-efficient models to store whatever Canadians eat besides doughnuts and poutine.

University of Alberta researcher Denise Young, who led the study, suggests that provincial authorities hold beer-fridge buy-backs or round-ups to eliminate the threat — methods that Americans use to get guns off the streets.

You can't make this $#|+ up!

HT: Mark Steyn at The Corner, who adds:

I've never felt prouder.

Preach on, Mark...

Spring Breakers: Get Your Passports Now

From PR/US Newswire:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reminding travelers planning spring break trips to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean to apply now for their passports.

A new passport requirement, also known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, went into effect on January 23 and applies to all air travel into the United States. It affects all citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda who previously could use any combination of 8,000 types of birth certificates, drivers' licenses and other documents to enter the U.S. This change is the result of recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission, which Congress subsequently passed into law in 2004.

"We are very pleased at the high level of cooperation, and want to thank the traveling public and foreign visitors for their support," said Commissioner W. Ralph Basham. "The partnership with our neighbors to the north and south, as well as private sector travel and tourism groups, has been instrumental in implementing this important requirement. The greater than 99 percent rate of compliance we have witnessed is a direct result of these partnerships and coordinated outreach efforts. WHTI represents a security benefit and also an important step in creating a more efficient border."

CBP also created a variety of ads to help raise awareness of this requirement. The ads are specifically designed for spring breakers, hunters and sports enthusiasts, families and business travelers; they can be used freely used and downloaded at http://cbp.gov.

In addition, the State Department has expedited passport processing available for an extra fee. They, in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service, offer 9,000 passport application locations nationwide. For more information on where to obtain a passport, please visit http://travel.state.gov or http://usps.com.

The NEXUS program, a U.S./Canada trusted traveler program, also fulfills the document requirements of WHTI. NEXUS kiosks are currently available at Vancouver and Toronto International airports, and will be expanding to Montreal, Edmonton, Ottawa, Calgary, Victoria and Winnipeg throughout 2007. For more information on this and other international travel tips and resources, please visit http://cbp.gov and http://travel.state.gov.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our Nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Legal War on Terror Update

AP News Alert:

TORONTO (AP) Canada's Parliament votes to scrap anti-terror measures that allow for preventive arrests and compelled testimony.

It's 9/10 up in Canada...