Scientific Observation of the Day

If the electro-magnetic spectrum used by cellular telephone service could cure acne there wouldn't be a pimple on any college campus.

The Latest in School Defense

This story  tells us about the newest and most ridiculous idea in producing a zero risk environment for the nation's government school students.  When an armed psychopath enters a classroom with murderous intent the teacher will be able to grab the $300 white board from the wall and hold it between him and the shooter, fending off the hail of bullets.

But why, if school authorities can't guarantee the safety of students, should parents even be expected, much less required, to send their children to these magnets for schizos?

The Missing Light Rail

In a country where a consortium of greenies and statist Keynesians are advancing all manner of bizarre transportation alternatives that will never produce the enthusiastic ridership predicted, there's one nice big opportunity for light rail  that never seems to get considered.  That would be the University of Minnesota inter-campus transport system.

There are two U of M campi in the Twin Cities, one in Minneapolis, the "Main U", and another in nearby St. Paul, the "farm campus".  The furthest distance between spots on the two venues is roughly six miles and regular free bus service is provided as often as every ten minutes for students going from one location to another.  So, why not a train, a light rail system, a trolley in new clothes?

Behemoth bus that totes students from one campus to the other.

While much of the route followed by the Campus Connector is on city streets, which can always be redesignated, some of it is an actual university limited-access highway restricted to official use, something that could easily be converted to a railbed, just as the the humongous light rail system running between the two downtowns parallels it for a distance.  Why not?

Could it be because the feds haven't sent a few trainloads full of money to the Gopher regents, who otherwise depend on the largesse of the state taxpayers and ever-increasing tuition receipts for liquid assets?  Wealthy alumni have donated funds in the past for the construction of buildings on campus, why not cajole one or more of them into financing a rail system?  Since it makes so much sense.

Karl Rove's Reply to Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin criticized in her folksy persona the strategists of the Republican party at the CPAC meeting in suburban DC for their failures in elections across the country as written here. Amazingly, failed Republican non-thinker Karl Rove rebutted Palin's assertion with the very same one repeated ad nauseum by left-leaning statists, that Palin had "quit" her Alaska governorship after her unsuccessful run for vice president with failed Navy pilot John McCain. There are a number of ways of looking at this. First of all, gangster politicians like Barack Obama, John McCain, John Kerry and battalions of others ran for higher office without resigning their incumbent position, in fact, campaigning for election while on the company payroll. Evidently, Americans are so accustomed to being fleeced by these power-mad psychopaths that they're unperturbed by such behavior and, in fact, consider it normal. Palin's integrity is so unusual that it's regarded negatively by these Bozos.
  Of course, if the supposedly conservative Republicans are ever going to get back in the batting order, they'll have to modify their message to dovetail with that of the progressives, luring in the voters with the same bait as that presented by the socialists.

Olympic and World Champion Marianne Vos Wins Ronde Van Drenthe

On a rainy, miserable weekend in the Netherlands the most dominant rider in the ladies' peloton returned from a foray into mountain bike competition to assert her credentials once more on the road.  In a crash-filled contest through the Dutch countryside, Vos was where she wanted to be in the meters before the finish, powerfully sprinting past Ellen van Dijk for her third consecutive win in the first women's UCI world cup event of the year.  It's the start of another successful road season for the super star of women's cycling.

Leah Kirchmann Runs Away at the Old Pueblo

Winnipeg, MB native and Optum Pro Cycling-Kelly Benefit Strategies rider Leah Kirchmann defended the title she won last year in the annual downtown Tucson criterium with an impressive solo breakaway, nearly lapping the field and crossing the line 40 seconds ahead of field sprint leader Erica Allar. Kirchmann attributed her success not only to team tactics but also to an increase in her time trial training.



Leah Kirchmann in her Canadian national champion kit last year.


  Exergy TWENTY16 track superstar Cari Higgins converted her banked track skills to a fifth place in the crit.
Guam native and Cornell student Lenore Pipes finished 6th.
 
Minnesotan Terra James won a field prime with 13 laps to race. 

Results from Cycling News:

Full Results

Elite women

1	Leah Kirchmann (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
2	Erica Allar (Care4Cycling p/b Solomon)
3	Joanie Caron (Primal Pro Women p/b BH)
4	Lauren Hall (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
5	Cari Higgins (Exergy TWENTY16)
6	Lenore Pipes (Care4Cycling p/b Solomon)
7	Christina Gokey-Smith (Rouse/Oogie Racing)
8	Jennifer Valente (ExergyTWENTY16)
9	Morgan Patton (Team Novo Nordisk)
10	Lauren Stephens (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore)
11	Tiffany Pezzulo (Primal Pro Women p/b BH)
12	Anne Donley
13	Annie Ewart (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
14	Amber Gaffney (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
15	Alisha Welsh (Sabino Cycles Racing)
16	Cinthia Lehner (Pepper Palace Pro Cycling)
17	Jessica Prinner (Care4Cycling p/b Solomon)
18	Christy Keely (Pepper Palace Pro Cycling)
19	Irena Ossola (Team Kenda)
20	Melina Bernecker (Primal Pro Women P/B BH)
21	Anna Sanders (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore)
22	Marilyn McDonald (Landis/Trek)
23	Melissa Ross (FASTER Performance Center)
24	Terra James (Team Kenda p/b RACC)
25	Carrie Cash Wootten (Pepper Palace Pro Cycling)
26	Kelli Emmett (Giant Bicycle)
27	Whitney Schultz (SkiNourishment p/b Paceline Projects)
28	Gwen Inglis (Team Kenda p/b RACC)
29	Amity Elliot (Team Kenda p/b RACC)
30	Kaytie Scott (Primal Pro Women p/b BH)
31	Julie Cutts (Primal Pro Women)
32	Nichole Wangsgard (Primal Pro Women p/b BH)
33	Kapri Gonzales (Landis/Trek)
34	Chloe Black (Sabino Cycles Racing)
35	Colleen Gulick (Team Kenda p/b RACC)
36	Kat Carr (SkiNourishment p/b Paceline Projects)
37	Judy Jenkins (Landis/Trek)
38	Katherine Ross (Pepper Palace Pro Cycling)
39	Lindsey Durst (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore)
DNF	Lee-Ann Beatty (Body by Vi p/b VeloVie)
DNF	Lisa Ribes (Sabino Cycles Racing Team)
DNS	Rachel Byus (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore)
DNS	Kimberly Truitt (Landis/Trek)
DNS	Stacey Jensen (Team Kenda p/b RACC)

Mrs. Bill Clinton's Travel Diet

This article from the UK's Daily Mail, which seems to cover US politics more effectively than any domestic paper, tells us about Mrs. Bill Clinton's passion for both chilis and air travel.  A new biography of the former First Lady by BBC reporter Kim Ghattas, who rode along with the Secretary of State a distance corresponding to 12 1/2 times around the planet, marvels at the stamina and endurance of the celebrated woman.  My, my.  Don't commercial pilots and crew members cover even more miles in the ordinary course of their working lives?  What's so hard about riding around in an airplane, eating free catered food and having internet access, along with a stable of servants?  It isn't like she's been walking from Quito to Cairo.  And what, exactly, has the pasty-faced power-seeker accomplished by burning up about 5 million gallons of  JP-4?  Most of the heads of state and their attendant thugs have adequate cell phone access, why not give them a call while baking some cookies for Bill?  Is peace breaking out in the middle east?  What else can this architect of international diplomacy brag about when she makes her run, as a 69 year-old, in the next presidential election?

There's a probably apocryphal tale about author Edna Ferber on a coast-to-coast flight asking the pilot to fly lower over Texas as she needed to gather the information to write her acclaimed novel "Giant".  No doubt the aerial travels of Mrs. Clinton have similarly made her an expert on the rest of the world.