Stay in school, kids

This post on one of the blogs I follow (www.controlledgreed.com) got me a little stirred up. It's titled "College a waste of time and money?" There was a similarly-themed question on linkedin.com this week asking "Is it derogatory to be a college dropout?". While both threads include valid points, especially the "opportunity cost" of going to college balanced against the incremental return, I have to call bullshit.

If you plan on working in the corporate world, formal education is essential. If you're planning on being an entrepreneur and starting your own business, corporate experience is important; it gives you an edge over other entrepreneurs, bith in the networking aspect as well as exposure to those elements you think you don't like. "I don't want to wear a suit and have a boss!" How do you know you don't? Because MTV told you it's not cool, or because you tried it and learned that about yourself? Of course, if you plan on starting a band, or being an artist, or a professional adventurer, or missionary, you can probably skip college. I made the comments below in response to the controlledgreed post; I wonder what others would say ion the subject... Am I being too old-fashioned in my belief that going to business school and working on ridiculous projects with teams of people you don't know and may not like teaches you important skills?

Sorry folks, you can talk about alternatives to education, but I work in financial services (and technology for financial services before that) and I will not hire you or your kids without a college degree. Also I would not have been hired in any job I had without it. At least you need to explain why you didn't go: "I needed to support my family, so couldn't afford it, but 6 months in a trade school got me a job" is acceptable. "I don't believe in the concept that I'd have to take Literature when I'm more of a science guy" is not. I agree that the quality of your education is critical, and socialization plays into that quality - hence the University of Phoenix MBAs get less credit in my book - but education is required. Mind you it doesn't guarantee success, just gets you in the door. Without it, enjoy your alternatives.

Hillary Clinton = Welsey Mouch

Holy shit. I was trying to take a break from ranting about politics, but it's becoming just scary how our "fearless leaders" are taking the worst possible ideas from literature and attempting to apply them to our lives. Earlier I wrote about how Mike Huckabee is becoming Nehemia Scudder; now it seems that Hillary Clinton is doing her best Welsey Mouch impersonation. For those who don't know the character of Mouch, he is "the country's economic dictator" in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

Senator Clinton:

Clinton said any agreement should include a moratorium on foreclosures of at least 90 days on owner-occupied homes with subprime mortgages. Any agreement should also include a rate freeze on adjustable mortgages of at least five years or until the loan is converted into a fixed-rate mortgage, she said.
Clinton said the freeze would give the housing market time to stabilize and homeowners time to build equity. She also called on the mortgage industry to provide regular reports on the number of mortgages they have modified. (source)

Wesley Mouch:

"The economic condition of the country was better the year before last than it was last year, and last year it was better than it is at present. It’s obvious that we would not be able to survive another year of the same progression. Therefore, our sole objective must now be to hold the line. To stand still in order to catch our stride. To achieve total stability. Freedom has been given a chance and has failed. Therefore, more stringent controls are necessary. Since men are unable and unwilling to solve their problems voluntarily, they must be forced to do it.” He paused, picked up the sheet of paper, then added in a less formal tone of voice, “Hell, what it comes down to is that we can manage to exist as and where we are, but we can’t afford to move!
So we’ve got to stand still..."

Dogs give up their lives to save family

This article I saw in the "Odd News" section on Yahoo goes to prove Andy Rooney's quote:

“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person”.

Apparently, two dogs helped save the lives of their owners, at the expense of their own doggie lives. Very sad, yet very noble. I think about all the times I yell at my own dog when he starts barking at things only he can see, and I have to remind myself that he's not just being annoying (well OK he gets very annoying) but he really thinks he's helping. They don't really "think" about it in those terms, because dogs have brains the size of my toe, but they mostly have good intentions. Well done Bella and Maddie.

New Favorite Site pro tempore

I've been way too political lately, so I decided to again rant about the collection of human mental excrement that is the internet. Check out this awesomeness for example:

http://www.theonion.com/content/atlas/

This is a link to The Onion's "Our Dumb World" site. They have country profiles as well as point-of-interest highlights. Click around, see what you find. My favorite item: the country profile for Democratic Republic of Congo - Like a Zoo You Get Killed At...

Radar's article on McCain's enemies list

Wow - the more I learn about McCain the better I like the guy. Specifically this article falls into the "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" category. If this collection of whack-jobs hates McCain, I'm getting me a McCain bumper sticker. Radar doesn't even capture the animosity of Dobson (or for that matter Huckabee) but as I've said before that scores him bonus points in my book...

Dobson endorses Huckabee

Dobson says "he could not in good conscience vote for John McCain" - that's good enough for me. I'm not a big McCain fan but now that Mullah Dobson hates the guy...

John McCain for President!

For the record, Dobson and his ilk are the Taliban with a better shave. These hateful, ignorant, backwoods freaks are emblematic of what is wrong with American society today.

The Onion kills Brady

Patriots' Season Perfect For Rest Of Nation

FOXBOROUGH, MA—As the once-invincible, still-insufferable Patriots attempt to come to grips with their 17-14 Super Bowl loss to the Giants, the death of their dream to go undefeated, and the possible end of their dynasty, almost every other...

I thought the Onion was satire, but they seem to hit it right on the nose with this piece! Favorite line:

"...as a team that has been insufferable and unappealing in victory instantly became inconsolable and self-pitying in defeat."

Mike Huckabee = Nehemiah Scudder

Some of the most effective dire warnings about how human society [will have / has] gone astray come from great writers. Literary works like Farenheit 451 and Brave New World show us frightening visions of where our own actions as a society can take us. Now that Huckabee has won a modest victory in the South, I think it’s time to point out another Heinlein work that serves as a harbinger of doom yet is often underrated and under-referenced in such discussions: Revolt in 2100 .

One of the taglines of the book (written during the cold war) was "In the end, it wasn't the communists who got us after all". Now you all know I'm no friend to communists (nor to socialists, nor to any breed of looter) so this is not to excuse the danger we face from such folk. However, this serves to remind us of the danger we face from the rising power of Christianists (yep, just like Islamist but more white-bread) in our own society.

Which of the current presidential candidates most eagerly yearns to establish a Christian Caliphate here in America that would echo the horror of Revolt? Give you a hint: he doesn’t believe in science and yesterday won Georgia… Everyone considering voting for this clown should read this book - although many of his minions awaiting the rapture might actually want to live in such a dystopia. Maybe they should read Philip Pullman instead...