Quote of the Day – Mike Rowe (12/15/2015)

Bernie Sanders tweets, “At the end of the day, providing a path to go to college is a helluva lot cheaper than putting people on a path to jail.”

I wonder sometimes, if the best way to question the increasingly dangerous idea that a college education is the best path for the most people, is to stop fighting the sentiment directly, and simply shine a light on the knuckleheads who continue to perpetuate this nonsense. This latest tweet from Bernie Sanders is a prime example. In less than 140 characters, he’s managed to imply that a path to prison is the most likely alternative to a path to college. Pardon my acronym, but…WTF!?

Mike RoweFacebook Post

December 14, 2015


[Oh the commentary and hate in response to Mike’s post would be hilarious if it wasn’t for the reminder these people are so attached they believe it. Mike points out, and rightfully so, that the idea if you don’t go to college your other choice is prison is bullshit.

You have a large number of people who have become emotionally invested in their political candidate and they take it personally. Quite like if someone made fun of their sports ball team. Because if a political candidate says something that sounds good, it must be accurate and true.

Look, college isn’t for everyone. The prices are inflated due to the federal loan programs so the answer is to offer more?  Look it wasn’t 80 grand spent over two bachelors of science degrees that landed my wife a job. It was a 500 dollar vocational course for a CNA that finally got my wife work.  I’ve gone into detailed depth before about the economics, and it’s only gotten worse since I wrote it.

Education is an investment and people are investing poorly. I do not want to be forced at the point of a gun to keep supporting this bullshit system.

But TMM, you went to college! Yes I did and lets actually evaluate what it got me other than 80-100K out of my pocket. Most every material piece of information I gained via college I could get freely with a trip to my public library, or now with the advent of Google and the Open Courseware initiative sitting at home in front of a computer.  While I admit not all have the drive to do this solo, the fact is if you actually are in it for the education you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on something you can get for a couple bucks. Now the problem is, how do you prove you’ve absorbed the material, this is changing as well. MIT is offering credits if you complete some of their Open Classes, additionally it’s making a space for certification companies.

You have Cisco certification regarding network design, architecture, and administration. Why not something like that for software or other industries? The point is the mode of education is outdated. Most of what I had to do for my degree was “rounding” and that was all politically correct indoctrination. Don’t try and sell me it wasn’t because “disabilities and society” was bull shit, doubly so as someone who lived in wheel chair for a while. My wife hated the class as much as I did and she’s got nerve damage. We were graded down because we didn’t agree with the professors. It was a game of repeat the bullshit, even if our argument was valid and supported. If you cut out the bullshit like that, I could have done my degree in half the time at a more reasonable course load. What do I mean by a more reasonable load, I averaged 5 to 6 classes a semester, where most averaged 3 to 4. Are some classes required for rounding, sure, history, literature. But the volume of “rounding” was over the top and didn’t even directly correlate to things that do round someone, they were classes in political correctness.

For example I graduated with 152 credits, minimum for EE is 145, for the school it is 120. They actually derated core classes related to my degree in credit value because they had so much extra garbage I had to take. Most other degrees were between 120-130 credits. So I had a full extra year of school by the time I graduated, most was for “rounding”.

But TMM, what about networking. You met all those people and that was a big help. I met a decent number of people and it was a help, except I can tell you exactly who my biggest network source while I was in college and I didn’t have to goto college to meet him. I knew him since I was a child when he and my dad worked together. First job was working for him and it was him that brought me to other opportunities. He was my mentor, and while I did end up taking classes from him, I learned way more working for him as an intern. I made way more in terms of professional contacts and networking working for him as an intern and the jobs that followed along later.

You know what college really got me? A sheet of paper that says I learned something about some subject. That’s it. I’ve worked with plenty of people, even in the software industry, who didn’t have a college degree. They were just as capable, if not more so than me. The degree didn’t magically make them who they are or enable them to accomplish their goals. As a matter of fact, one of my coworkers is a highly respected and known game programmer who didn’t graduate from College and if he had stayed it probably would have destroyed him. It was NOT the environment for him. Yet he isn’t in prison. No instead he gets royalties off of Age of Empires and tons of other games I spent my childhood playing and has worked for heavy hitters such as Valve.

I have friends who are also in blue-collar work making the same if not more than what I do. They work their ass off and they get paid for it, they didn’t goto college and didn’t need to. Seriously, who’s smarter, the guy who spent 80-100k to make 90K a year after school, or the guy who spent nothing and got trained vocationally by his company and is making 150k a year?

Now after years of experience that college grad may match the vocational employee, however at the same time the vocational employee will also increase his value. The point is, different strokes for different folks. And if you think making college free is going to solve the educational system problems, I have some ocean front property for sale in Arizona. It’s a basic economics problem and well making it free isn’t going to stop price inflation, it’s just going to pass the bill to someone else and they get to suffer for the poor investments instead of the person who made the poor choice.

Lastly don’t try to sell me a pile of bullshit under a false dichotomy.  -B]

The Counter Keeps On Ticking…

Amazingly this one is slightly unlike the others:

Washington State University confirms a 22-year-old male student fell 11 stories from Orton Hall Wednesday night and survived.

How was it different?

WSU Police confirm alcohol was not a factor in the fall and no foul play is suspected.

At which point I have to start asking the serious question?  How did you fall 11 stories while sober?  What impaired your judgement to place you in that situation to begin with?

That’s the 4th fall on the Palouse in the past month, the 5th this school year.  As I said last time,

Remember these are the “best and brightest” that we send to college.  No, I don’t think so anymore.   A good majority of those who go to college I think go because they’re too dumb to do anything else.

I am quite interested in hearing his excuse though on this one if alcohol wasn’t a factor.

Concealed Carry on Campus

Both the University of Idaho and Washington State University forbid concealed carry on campus.  Luckily the ban at WSU doesn’t have any teeth in that all they can do is ask you to leave at which point if you refuse you’ll be trespassed.  Students and faculty though can face administrative punishment however.  I do not remember the exact details regarding carry at the University of Idaho.

I bring this up because so often I hear the following phrase, “Why would you need a gun on campus?”  Well maybe you live in the dorms or university housing.  Maybe you have a night class and will have to walk across campus in the dark.  Ultimately though people seem to think that bad things never happen on campus.  Reality always has a habit of showing up though.

Moscow Police arrested a man Sunday for the alleged rape of a University of Idaho student on the Moscow campus.

Nothing says stop faster than a hunk of lead flying at 900 fps.  Bad things happen everywhere, even college campuses.  Even more than that, it isn’t always the random person you don’t know.

“The victim knew the suspect from working with him in Twin Falls at a restaurant, so they were acquainted, but on a friendship level only,” said Chief of Police David Duke.

It’s best that we all remember these things can and do happen.  If you can, support Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, the fight is a significant and real one.  I wore an empty holster on to campus on more than one occasion specifically in support.  The one debate that I saw occur on campus ended squarely in favor for campus carry.

The thing is, at least with WSU, the board of regents will not move to change the administrative code and the only way you can bring about a legal challenge is if they exercise the code against you.  For this reason, many of my friends followed the rule of better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.  Not everyone is so willing to do that though.  Then again, when the building you work in has been attacked by ALF, your desire to survive should they return usually wins.

Though the school would prefer you to be disarmed to be easy prey.  It’s not like it’s their life that’s on the line though.  It’s like the government and politicians only care about criminals, not the law-abiding.

Darwin Needs No Further Restraint

Yet another falling incident:

Police said 22-year-old Jonathan Meyer had been drinking with a friend Friday night when he tried to drop to a second-story balcony and missed.

To give you an idea of the current record for this year already:

This is the third alcohol-related fall at WSU and the University of Idaho in the past month. A 19-year-old WSU student was injured in a three-story fall Sept. 14 at a fraternity. A 21-year-old University of Idaho student was injured in a two-story fall Sept. 12 at his fraternity.

Not to mention the August incidents that they didn’t bother reporting.  Remember these are the “best and brightest” that we send to college.  No, I don’t think so anymore.   A good majority of those who go to college I think go because they’re too dumb to do anything else.

They go to college racking up debt to get degrees in things that will never earn them enough money to pay it back.  Again, remember what I was saying about them not really being the best and brightest.  Then you have other incidents where someone claims that College is a right and that everyone should go.

Everyone has the right to attempt to obtain a college education.  However just because you can attempt it, doesn’t mean you can afford it or that you will be admitted.  It is up to the person to perform well enough to be admitted as well as find a way to finance their schooling.  You do not have a right to force someone else to pay for your education.  You do not have a right to be automatically admitted.  You merely have a right to seek education, you do not have a right to have it handed to you.

Besides, you know what’s great about the internet, which you can use at your local library, and it’s also cheaper than going to college, you can self educate.  There are piles upon piles of information out there if you’re willing to go find it and read it.  The MIT Open Courseware is the best example of available information.  I have gone through many of the courses trying to improve my knowledge on different subjects as well as supplementing what I already know.

The point of college at this point is to provide a little sheet of paper and certification that you are educated about “X”.  The thing is, that certification is an investment and you had better invest wisely.  My wife got two degrees, both in the sciences, however it was an actual certification that finally got her a job.  All you get out of college now days is a piece of paper, most of them are worthless, a few are gold.  If you’re paying for that piece of paper, I suggest making sure it’s gold and not pyrite.

In Which I Demonstrate It’s Commonality

Last week I posted an incident from Moscow at the University of Idaho.  It was a classic game of fill in the blank, but all the answers were known in advance.  I know some of you probably though I was exaggerating how common this type of event is.  Well wonder no longer.

Police in Pullman say a Washington State University student fell three stories from a fraternity house window and was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Note how the Greek system was involve yet again.  No word on alcohol yet, but it’s hard to think it wasn’t involved.

Now many would wonder why things like this are becoming increasingly common.  The answer though is quite simple, kids now days live in a bubble wrapped world.  Instead of slowly being acclimated to the realities of the real world and personal responsibility they are shielded and sheltered from it.

This quote from Caleb puts it quite well:

People wonder why there seem to be an increasing number of kids filming themselves performing dangerous stunts for youtube – well gosh, if I was raised in a padded bubble of safety by helicopter parents, I’d probably try to ride my bike off the roof too just to see what danger felt like.

Not only are kids sheltered from danger, but adults who attempt to give their kids that taste of personal responsibility are reported to the police and arrested.

“I went out there to see what he was here for and he said, ‘Ma’am, we’re here for you.’ I said, ‘Oh really? Why?’ He proceeded to tell me he had received a call from one of my neighbors that my kids were riding their scooters unsupervised. 

Cooper said she was handcuffed, put in the back of a police car and forced to spend the night in jail. 

“Orange jumpsuit, in a cell, slammed the door, for 18 hours,” Cooper said.

The ages of the children involved were 9 and 6.  I remember at 6 regularly going with my sister different places without our parents.  Including down to the local park, and through the woods as well.

By 8 I was heading off doing things entirely on my own.  My rules were just the same as Robb’s.

What happens when you shield kids from everything in the world?  They simply don’t know how to deal with life when it actually shows up.  They always figure that life is safe and nothing can possibly go wrong.  For them they live in a world without consequences because they’ve never experienced any.

How nice is it though that the state is now trying to force everyone to live in the same bubble wrapped world.  There is one saving grace about this woman’s experience.

The charges against her were eventually dropped but she still describes the ordeal as humiliating and said her children were even questioned by police  and terrified.

(Emphasis mine).  Yeah, you think either of those two children will ever trust the police again?  They got to experience first hand exactly what government is.

In Which I Think We All Know Why

Given the following incident, I think the answer as to why his roommates did not renew his lease becomes obvious.

When he came to collect his belongings on Saturday night, the two residents were escorting Simpson out of the house when Simpson grabbed a shotgun, racked it, and pointed it at them. The residents ran to the back of the house and called Pullman Police Department.

I wasn’t kidding when I said this was a lively time of year for little old Pullman.  Though this year so far has been considerably more lively on the firearm front than usual.  Now I don’t have specifics but I know it’s safe to say that pointing a shotgun at someone is against the law.

I have a feeling there is more behind the scenes here, however the answer is not to the shotgun.  Incidents like this though are what our opponents grab and latch onto as a reason why college students should not have firearms.  Many students, as well as employees are disarmed by the schools policies yet things like this still occur.  Yet this incident occurred only a half mile from the last incident.  Not to mention that students have been attacked walking home after class through these neighborhoods.  It’s as if all those policies and laws don’t really do anything except prevent responsible law-abiding people from having or carrying arms legally*.

So I would like to stand up, applaud, and thank this moron, James Simpson, for supplying ammunition to the enemy and furthering their goals to keep their honest law-abiding fellow students disarmed to be easy prey.

*After VT,  I know for a fact that there was a decent number of people who started carrying against school policy to class.  They did so after they discovered there was no real legal bite to the policy.  At worst they could be expelled if caught and the individuals felt, “Concealed means Concealed” and if they need it expulsion is the least of their worries at that time.

Doubly interesting is a good chunk of those who carried were engineering students.

The Plot Thickens – Unpossible I Tell You!

So last Friday I made a post regarding an incident of an unpossible nature.  Well today the plot thickened!

A man was arrested Thursday morning in Pullman for assault in the first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm.

For those who aren’t aware, here is the beginning of RCW 9.41.040:

(1)(a) A person, whether an adult or juvenile, is guilty of the crime of unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree, if the person owns, has in his or her possession, or has in his or her control any firearm after having previously been convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity in this state or elsewhere of any serious offense as defined in this chapter.

It continues on this way throughout the entire law.  This is basically the state equivalent of “felon in possession” and would be listed as prohibited by the state of Washington.

So it begs the question where did he get the weapon?  Not that it really matters because it is yet another nail in the coffin of “laws controlling criminals.”  The fact is criminals don’t care about the law, it is only the law abiding that actually pay attention.

So here’s the skinny, we have a college bar, next to a college campus that forbids concealed carry.  When I say next to, we’re talking a block from the WSU Presidents house, 2 blocks from the WSU Campus Police station and the main bust stop for campus, 2 blocks from numerous on campus dorms, and centered smack dab in the middle of Greek housing.  The state forbids carrying firearms into bars, as well as being intoxicated while carrying a weapon.  Lastly this individual was a prohibited person under Washington State law.

Tell me, what in the name of god would another law have actually done in this instance?  All those laws have effectively done is ensure that any responsible person that would be in that area would be disarmed and lacking the most effective tools when criminals don’t bother to play by the rules.

That’s right, not a damn thing.

(Misc Rant/Story/Joke)

As an FYI, that area on campus is by no means my favorite.  I had friends that went to many of the bars in the area but for the most part I just went to friends places when they had parties.  The reason being is because one should avoid dangerous situations and those bars are exactly that.  When I spent some time with Pullman PD and did a couple ride-alongs I found out how bad that little part of campus really is.  There are numerous people who hang around the area to prey upon people leaving the bars.  Now I’m going to leave the user to apply the term prey how they would like because it applies to both genders.  Assault is the main issue, but other incidents abound as well.

About the only way I’d go in those dives is with a bunch of buddies from back in the unit, mainly two particular Sergeants come to mind.  One of whom is the only man that has ever really intimidated me.  That man made our Gunny look like a baby and that’s just not right!  The other one got kicked out of Burma while he was a Embassy Guard.  Yeah, I had some awesome friends going through my college career.

Though me and some other friends did think it would be funny to come out of some of the college hill bars acting drunk and kick their ass.  We just realized it would be pretty hard to explain it all away after.

Cop: So why were you all at the bar?

Us: Because the food is that awesome!

Cop: This is a campus bar, wanna try that again?

Because: We were studying human physiology?

Cop: You’re all stone sober yet everyone said it looked as if you were drunk as you all left?  They also said you left one by one headed in the same direction with regular spacing, why?

Us: Well we wanted to blend in!

Cop: Why?

Us: Umm, would you believe us if we said so you’d follow us instead of our drunk buddies driving away?

Cop:Wanna try again?  Besides, you were all armed in different manners as to remain legal, why?

Us: Because we were playing a game!

Cop: And what game is that?

Us: Induced Victim Selection Failure

Cop: What the hell is that?

Us: It’s where you try and get a wolf to go after a sheep-dog thinking it’s a sheep.

Cop: What happens to the wolf when he bites?

Us: Well that’s his own damn fault, should have just stayed his ass out of the kitchen if he can’t take the heat!  All he had to do was let us walk on by!

Yeah, I don’t think I would have been able to stay out of a jail cell if we tried that.  I have a feeling it would be treated as hunting over bait.  Not to say it wouldn’t have been worth it.*

*As an extra note, these assaults were done predominately by 3 to 4 individuals with one person leading the attack.  As one group leaves Pullman another one usually fills its place.  Seriously the group could be considered along the misfits from A Clockwork Orange and for that reason if we did it, I wouldn’t have shed a tear.  Again, that wouldn’t have been good for my court appearance.

Semi + Pedestrian Overpass = Broken Trailer

Buddy of mine got pictures of this incident described by the Moscow Pullman Daily News.

The southbound lanes of Stadium Way in Pullman are closed until 10 p.m. so crews can clean up the wreckage from a tractor-trailer that collided with a Washington State University pedestrian overpass this afternoon.

So how bad could it have been.  Ripped the top of the trailer?  Nope even better actually!

 

In case you don’t see it that well, here’s a better picture.
That’s right folks, the spine of the trailer is no longer straight.  I have a feeling that the truck was probably in the wrong lane for maximum clearance for the trailer as the walkways arch through campus.

Then again for the most part I never see semi trucks drive that section of stadium way, they take the truck route that avoids the overpasses.