Bureaucratic Bloat Is Eating Away at the American Education System

The American Interest  . . . "Rothwell offers some grim statistics on “the declining productivity of education,” focusing specifically on one source of the decay: bureaucratic bloat, or the steadily increasing share of education expenditures that flow to managers and administrators.

For higher education, a major factor driving up costs has been a growth in the number of highly-paid non-teaching professionals. In 1988, for every 100 full-time equivalent students, there were on average 23 college employees. By 2012, that number had increased to 31 employees, with a shift toward the highest paying non-teaching occupations. Managers and professionals now outnumber faculty, who comprise just a third of the higher education workforce. […]

In primary and secondary public education, where price increases have been less dramatic, there has been a decline in bureaucratic efficiency. The number of students for every district-level administrator fell from 519 in 1980 to 365 in 2012. Principals and assistant principals managed 382 students in 1980 but only 294 in 2012.

. . .

Rushing Roulette

HopeNChangeCartoons

"After repeatedly having his ass handed to him by Vladimir Putin for the past 8 years, Barack Obama decided yesterday that it was "now or never" to finally take strong action against Russia... whether Russia had done anything wrong or not.

"Which is why, in reaction to the so-called "election hacking," Obama ordered 35 Russian diplomats (described by the White House as "intelligence agents") out of the country, closed a couple of domestic Russian facilities (described by the White House as "intelligence agencies"), and promised to unleash a cyber counterattack (described by the computer literate as "fat chance").

"Unfortunately, despite requests from the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, Barry has failed to produce any compelling evidence that Russia was behind the Wikileaks document releases which revealed to American voters that the Democratic party, from Hillary on down, is populated by sleazy, bribe-mongering crooks, lunatics, and sex addicts. In fact, it's highly questionable whether any final intelligence analysis will even hit Obama's desk before he leaves office - making the timing of his saber-rattling highly suspect if not downright dangerous." . . .

CLASH POLL: Are You SICK of Hearing Obama's OPINION?
Are You SICK of Hearing Obama's OPINION?*

• Yes! I wish he'd go away and retire very, very quietly
• No, I loooooove President Barack Hussein Obama!

This Is the Moment for an Israeli Victory

Daniel Pipes

It’s time to shake up the stagnant status quo in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

"That peace process screeched to an end in December 2016, when the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 2334. Khaled Abu Toameh, perhaps the best-informed analyst of Palestinian politics, interprets the resolution as telling the Palestinians: “Forget about negotiating with Israel. Just pressure the international community to force Israel to comply with the resolution and surrender up all that you demand.” 

"As 28 years of frustration and futility clang to a sullen close, the time is nigh to ask, “What comes next?”

" I propose an Israeli victory and a Palestinian defeat. That is to say, Washington should encourage Israelis to take steps that cause Mahmoud Abbas, Khaled Mashal, Saed Erekat, Hanan Ashrawi, and the rest of that crew to realize that the gig is up, that no matter how many U.N. resolutions are passed, their foul dream of eliminating the Jewish state is defunct, that Israel is permanent, strong, and tough. After the leadership recognizes this reality, the Palestinian population at large will follow, as will eventually other Arab and Muslim states, leading to a resolution of the conflict. Palestinians will gain by finally being released from a cult of death to focus instead on building their own policy, society, economy, and culture." . . .

Local Black Lives Matter Chapter Defends Alleged Prank Pulled On Stockton Officer

These are the people that the Democrats buddied up to to get votes…

Fox40  

. . . "The “Stockton Police Department, Corruption Reporting Page” on Facebook posted a picture of a man and his family with a message that reads, “We are happy to report that today this officer from the Stockton Police Department got to have coffee at Starbucks...served with a side of spit,” adding, "They even gave it to him with a smile and a nice comment.”

"The Stockton Police Department tells FOX40 they were called out to investigate the incident at the Starbucks on Waterloo Road on Wednesday night. They wouldn’t go on camera but a police spokesperson said they found no evidence that an employee spit in the officer’s coffee.

"Starbucks also denies the allegation, saying in a statement, “We are proud of our relationship with the Stockton Police Department, who initially notified us of this rumor. We can confirm there is absolutely no truth to this post, and we are disappointed with the suggestion.”

"Despite all of this, the Black Lives Matter Stockton chapter claims the post is 100 percent true. They told FOX40 off camera that a barista who wants to remain anonymous spit in the officer’s coffee because they were upset. They said a family member had a problem with the officer in the post and they also mentioned that their complaints regarding race related issues to the department are not being taken seriously." . . .

Democrats Have a Religion Problem

The Atlantic

A conversation with Michael Wear, a former Obama White House staffer, about the party’s illiteracy on and hostility toward white evangelicals.

 

"There aren’t many people like Michael Wear in today’s Democratic Party. The former director of Barack Obama’s 2012 faith-outreach efforts is a theologically conservative evangelical Christian. He is opposed to both abortion and same-sex marriage, although he would argue that those are primarily theological positions, and other issues, including poverty and immigration, are also important to his faith.

"During his time working for Obama, Wear was often alone in many of his views, he writes in his new book, Reclaiming Hope. He helped with faith-outreach strategies for Obama’s 2008 campaign, but was surprised when some state-level officials decided not to pursue this kind of engagement: “Sometimes—as I came to understand the more I worked in politics—a person’s reaction to religious ideas is not ideological at all, but personal,” he writes.

"Several years later, he watched battles over abortion funding and contraception requirements in the Affordable Care Act with chagrin: The administration was unnecessarily antagonistic toward religious conservatives in both of those fights, Wear argues, and it eventually lost, anyway. " . . .

Barack Custer

WND  "Mike Lester illustrates Obama commenting on 3rd-term possibility"

Painting That Depicts Police Officers As Pigs Hangs In The US Capitol

Missouri Congressman Hangs Painting In US Capitol Showing Own Cops As Pigs

Downtrend

"This is both disturbing and offensive. A painting which depicts police officers as pigs hangs in the US Capitol, mocking and insulting law enforcement. The piece of art, and I use the term loosely, shows the “pigs” terrorizing a black Missouri neighborhood. It was the winner of a Congressional art contest hand-selected by Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO).

"The St. Louis American reported back in June that the painting was created by a St. Louis area high school student. It won first prize in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District as part of the United States Congressional Art Competition and now hangs on Capitol Hill.

"As you can see, this is a representation of the Ferguson, MO riots that erupted after thug Michael Brown was killed for attacking officer Darren Wilson. Brown, who had just robbed a convenience store and was high on drugs, tried to take Wilson’s gun and was shot as he charged the officer. Days and months of violence and destruction followed.

"In the painting, Michael Brown is depicted as aa Jesus-like figure, crucified on justice scales with his graduation cap on. Rioters hold signs reading “history, stop killing, and racism kills.” In the back ground is the St. Louis Gateway Arch, and the Ferguson beauty supply store that was looted several times." . . .

Silencing professor speech to prevent students from being offended — or from fearing discrimination by the professors

Volokh Conspiracy  "People often support disciplining and even firing professors who say things that are perceived as racist on the grounds that 1) those professors can’t be trusted to evaluate minority students fairly, 2) students will be afraid that they won’t be judged fairly, or 3) students will more broadly lose confidence in the professors (or just couldn’t stand to be in the room with them) or even in the institution, and won’t learn as effectively. I’ve seen these arguments made often, most recently as to the University of Oregon controversy. One response to my Oregon post, for instance . . .  “What does the institution say to students of color by allowing [Prof. Nancy] Shurtz back into a classroom?” — seems to be implicitly making these arguments (though it seems to focus most clearly on No. 3. But, again, this is just one example among many."

Eugene Volokh teaches free speech law, religious freedom law, church-state relations law, a First Amendment Amicus Brief Clinic, and tort law, at UCLA School of Law, where he has also often taught copyright law, criminal law, and a seminar on firearms regulation policy.

Obama’s Late Hit on Israel

Charles Krauthammer

It’s his final, most shameful, legacy moment. “When the chips are down, I have Israel’s back.”    — Barack Obama, AIPAC conference, March 4, 2012

"The audience — overwhelmingly Jewish, passionately pro-Israel, and supremely gullible — applauded wildly. Four years later — his last election behind him, with a month to go in office and with no need to fool Jew or gentile again — Obama took the measure of Israel’s back and slid a knife into it.

" Many people don’t quite understand the damage done to Israel by the U.S. abstention that permitted passage of a Security Council resolution condemning Israel over its settlements. The administration pretends this is nothing but a restatement of longstanding U.S. opposition to settlements. 

"Nonsense. For the last 35 years, every administration, including a reelection-seeking Obama himself in 2011, has protected Israel with the U.S. veto because such a Security Council resolution gives immense legal ammunition to every boycotter, anti-Semite, and zealous European prosecutor to penalize and punish Israelis. 

"An ordinary Israeli who lives or works in the Old City of Jerusalem becomes an international pariah, a potential outlaw — to say nothing of the soldiers of Israel’s citizen army. “Every pilot and every officer and every soldier,” said a confidant of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, “we are waiting for him at The Hague” — i.e., the International Criminal Court." . . .

Video Hilariously Mocks Liberals Suddenly Concerned With Reining In Executive Power

Daily Wire  "In the video, the soon to be ex-president somehow tells the reporter with a straight face,"What I worry about in our politics is people getting impatient with the slowness of democracy."
"Then a montage of clips start that show Obama threatening to use executive orders to cram his own agenda down America's throat, with quotes that include:" . . .

"Exit thought from an article at The Federalist titled, "Democrats Are Suddenly Terrified By The Prospects Of An ‘Imperial Presidency":" 

Hat tip to The Conservative

Chicago 2016 in one picture

Thomas Lifson

"If Chicago were run by a Republican machine, and if President-Elect Trump had adopted it as his home town and political base, the media would constantly proclaim it a stain on our national honor, a killing field maintained for the purpose of killing young black men.  There would be ceaseless reminders that an intolerable climate of violence has been fostered and tolerated by evil Republicans. " . . .

"Of course, Chicago has been run by Democrats almost since dinosaurs roamed the earth, so nobody in the media much cares." . . . 

"Gregory Sims, 25, was Chicago's 522nd homicide of the year,  according to the authoritative research of HeyJackass.com."

HeyJackass!.com Illustrating Chicago Values

30 Day Stupidity Trend

Israel should be thankful for the 22nd Amendment of America's Constitution

"When had the U.N. ever condemned the Palestinians for their actions or penalized them?  Has anything been done by this administration or the U.N. when Palestinians name parks and schools after murderers?  Simple answer: no."

Image by Ghenghis Gary

Israel Celebrates Hanukkah, Weathers an Obama Betrayal

"As Hanukkah began, President Obama and his administration did not give their well wishes, but instead gave Jews all over the world the finger.  People should not be surprised, considering their previous actions.  But fear not, because the holiday itself is a reminder of how the Jews have stood up to their enemies under adverse conditions.

"A recent film, On the Map, signifies how Israelis have fought the David versus Goliath story.  It tells the against-all-odds story of Maccabi Tel Aviv's 1977 win of the European Basketball Cup.  Moments after this highly charged and historical win, Israeli-American basketball hero Tal Brody stated, "Israel is on the map – not just in sport, but in everything."  Unfortunately, not if the Obama administration has its way, because their recent actions have shown they want Israel off the map, replaced by a Palestinian state." . . .