tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38457192011-12-14T19:01:25.818-08:00Comments, facts, opinions and links.Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-84524007500869948212010-05-01T09:03:00.001-07:002010-05-01T09:42:06.777-07:00

Today, Jerry Johnston went on a rant in the Deseret News about Arizona's tough new immigration law, essentially accusing anyone who disagrees with him of being a grossly immoral and unethical person. He's dead wrong, though.Let's apply Johnston's anti-Arizona rhetoric to other areas of the law, like investor fraud. Rewriting Johnston only a bit, "Utah has thousands of active LDS members who have

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-15460441397871602009-08-11T10:09:00.001-07:002009-08-11T10:25:47.911-07:00

So in Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard"), if you put a folder in the Dock, then the folder's icon gets replaced with the icons of files inside that folder. The most common place to see this is the Downloads folder. I find this feature useless and ugly. My Downloads folder has dozens of items in it, and the preview algorithm is not helping me at all. So with some digging around, I found out how to make my

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-44491269178689374952009-08-08T21:58:00.000-07:002009-08-08T22:22:51.444-07:00

I like Schlock Mercenary. Howard Tayler, the author/artist of that webcomic, does two difficult things well -- science fiction humor, and "hard sf" storytelling.Now, people often disagree on humor; I know sf readers who would balk and then gag at Howard's sense of humor. But even so, if you like SCIENCE fiction or cracking good storytelling, you owe it to yourself to read a few weeks of Schlock (

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-79192859786671740172008-05-08T17:37:00.000-07:002008-05-08T17:43:24.325-07:00

We are told by experts that the U.S. is moving from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. Old manual labor jobs are leaving and are being replaced by "knowledge worker" jobs. We are told by political and business leaders that the U.S. "needs" to import manual laborers from less-developed countries, and provide amnesty for previously-imported illegal workers (largely employed on farms and in

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-71920432444005215042008-04-25T07:10:00.000-07:002008-04-27T21:46:51.802-07:00

As Steve Sailer intuits, the end of polygamy led to a great number of other changes in Mormonism. Sailer asks why. I wrote a response, but after reading the much more insightful comments on Sailer's website, I deleted it. Sorry.

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-52312655731614560492008-04-22T22:14:00.000-07:002008-04-22T22:34:10.119-07:00

Recorded below are statistical data taken from the Annual (April) General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for each of the years 1997-2006, along with world population data for comparison.Type19971998199920002001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -children born7521476829841188145069522convert baptisms317798299134306171273973292612total

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-45481125705462435302007-09-22T18:50:00.000-07:002007-09-22T19:45:48.657-07:00

Here is a table of data for my earlier blog posts on school spending in the US.Methodology:State per-pupil spending was calculated as the average of three years (2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005). This was to capture some of the effects of time; the effect of education on a student's performance is the result of several years of education.Performance was taken from the 2005 administration of

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-89604426977209709582007-09-17T21:08:00.000-07:002008-12-09T06:57:39.374-08:00

The charts show it, and the data prove it. In the US, more school spending won't increase your students' performance significantly (in most cases anyway).Why? We'll talk about that another time.Reading:(NAEP reading scores from 2005 compared to average annual per-student instructional spending 2002-2005; each dot indicates a US state or the D.C. Red lines indicate "cut scores" for rating

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-58051617185770741922007-08-24T22:01:00.000-07:002007-08-24T22:19:38.905-07:00

A more thorough examination of state school spending data versusperformance shows some minor changes but the overall trend is the same as in my previous blog post.Method:(1) State per-pupil spending was calculated as the average of three years (2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005) rather than the single year of the previous blog post. This was to capture some of the effects of time; for example,

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-23016466133282963602007-08-01T22:13:00.001-07:002008-12-09T06:57:39.677-08:00

Activists and groups like the NEA tell us that we need to spend more money on schools in order to improve performance. Does more public school spending really improve student outcomes? Since different states spend different amounts, we can find out.This is the first of a series of blog posts on school performance.I went into this project believing that the NEA and friends were dead wrong, that

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-1153630716292981592006-07-22T21:54:00.000-07:002006-07-22T21:58:36.296-07:00

Okay, that's cool. There's a little title blank above the main content area in this Blogger widget I'm using, and it formatted the heading in for me (in a different way than the h2 tags I used in my old postings).Okay, most serious users of Blogger already knew that and I'm way behind. So sue me :-)

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-1153630559879064222006-07-22T21:51:00.000-07:002006-11-22T20:58:28.593-08:00

I just added headings to my older posts; I did not change any of the content, but I wanted the "Previous Posts" list to make sense. In some of the old posts, it's not clear from the first paragraph where the post is going. Any remaining lack of clarity is probably unfixable!

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-1153629279953777032006-07-22T21:30:00.000-07:002006-07-22T21:50:02.143-07:00

Google Blogger Widget for Mac OS XThis blog started out as a way to learn more about blogging in general. After a few entries, I then took a few years off from blogging.I'm now experimenting with Google's Blogger widget for the Mac OS X Dashboard. We'll see how it goes. (I know I used a program called Frequency once or twice a few years ago but I barely remember it; perhaps I should find the

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-1065395747977854502003-10-05T16:15:00.000-07:002006-07-22T21:47:52.653-07:00

Iraq IIWell, the new blogging program (Frequency 1.1) works pretty well. If I decide to keep blogging, I'll probably keep this program and send some money the author's way.It's been seven months since I posted "Legal-style Analysis of Colin Powell's testimony." The media and many citizens are up in arms about the lack of actual weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. So what? As I set forth in

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-1065394496186020502003-10-05T15:54:00.000-07:002006-07-22T21:48:56.030-07:00

Software Test: FrequencyThis is not a real post, just a test of some blogging software. I gave up on blogging earlier because I was tired of fighting the browser interface; now that there are lots of blogger clients for Mac OS X, I thought I'd try again.So here we are. This one is called Frequency.

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-890186862003-02-12T22:20:00.000-08:002006-07-22T21:47:16.650-07:00

Iraq: "Legal-style" Analysis of Colin Powell's TestimonyNo links today; everything is pretty much well-known or easy to find.A friend asked the other day if Colin Powell's evidence against Iraq, presented to the U.N. Security Council, was enough to get a conviction if the Council were an American court of law. I didn't answer, partly because I'm not a trial lawyer. I just do contracts and

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-873369722003-01-12T20:43:00.000-08:002006-07-22T21:46:38.856-07:00

Autism EpidemicReference: I wrote this after a brief discussion at Chaos Manor, which by the way I highly recommend. The essay below incorporates feedback from Chaos Manor's host, Jerry Pournelle, and some of his other correspondents. However, it represents my opinions and interpretations, and I do not speak for anyone else.INTRODUCTION: AUTISMAutism. The word conjures up images of Dustin Hoffman

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-854653672002-12-03T20:51:00.000-08:002006-07-22T21:50:57.386-07:00

William Raspberry and John AshcroftWilliam Raspberry of the Washington Post is worried again about John Ashcroft. Raspberry is upset because Ashcroft has the power to get his way, which is not Raspberry's way.Yet, why should he be surprised? For 100 years, we the People have worked to unconstitutionally expand the powers of the Federal government. At the urging of "leaders" like Raspberry, we've

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-834970122002-10-24T21:30:00.000-07:002006-07-22T21:51:35.543-07:00

Ron Lantz Finds the Beltway SnipersRon Lantz says he's not a hero. I think he's something even better. He's an American.Cheers of course to the police, FBI, ATF, and other officials who took down two murderous wackos Wednesday night. But it wouldn't have happened without Ron Lantz, ordinary American. If there is one lesson that has been driven home time and again in the first 14 months of the

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-833021922002-10-21T09:00:00.000-07:002006-07-22T21:52:48.616-07:00

John Adams tells us why we no longer fit the ConstitutionNews: New address for comments. To comment on material posted here, send email to spiffsetz AT hotmail dot com (sorry about spelling it out, but my Inbox gets enough spam as it is).I am of the opinion that the USA no longer exists as a Republic under the Constitution of 1787. Our citizens no longer understand the Constitution--they don't

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-827568452002-10-09T13:52:00.000-07:002006-07-22T21:53:47.076-07:00

Why the Earth Charter is a Really Bad Thing(tm)This started life as a letter to the editor, but it seems appropriate here.Don't get me wrong, I believe in sustainable development and personal simplicity. Our family is engaged in a project to rip out much of our lawn and replace it with native canyon plants. Our life is far simpler, less materialistic and more peaceful than most families we know.

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3845719.post-827464702002-10-09T09:50:00.000-07:002002-10-09T15:00:58.000-07:00

Introduction to Uncommon Sense, Steve Setzer's blog No wackos. No conspiracies. Just commentary and links to Web sites for supporting (or opposing) thoughts. I wrote a better first post, but then my browser crashed. Sigh. Anyway, here's a quick rundown of where I'm coming from (this is your only warning): Nationality: USA citizen. Ethnicity: Mixed. Generally Anglo-German with 1/4 Mexican and

Steve Setzernoreply@blogger.com0