Posted by Bill Hennessy on November 30, 2008 under Academics & Education, Living | 
Rarely does a book require immediate action from the reader. "The Rights of Man" by Thomas Paine moved America’s founder’s to action. "The Communist Manifesto" moved Vladimir Lenin to enslave a nation–and allowed Stalin to enslave many more. "The Origin of Species" launched a crusade against tradition that grows in intensity with each subsequent generation. (Listverse has a list of the 10 most influential books of all time, admittedly subjective.)
I Can’t Believe It’s Not a Novel
Malcolm Gladwell might have penned the next book to change history. "Outliers: the story of success" (Little Brown, New York) takes the reader on a marvelous tale of men and women who toiled and strained to rise above their meager starts to become . . . great. There are world-class hockey players, software and computer billionaires, great lawyers, mathematicians. All of these "outliers" fall many standard-deviations from the top of their kind.
And like a great fairy tale writer, Gladwell deftly draws the reader deeply into his little secret: "All is not as it appears."
Was there foul play that made these people rich?
Did the hockey players’ parents cheat?
Were these geniuses not as smart as they pretended to be?
Like the titillating headlines in supermarket tabloids, "Outliers" makes you turn the page to find out Bill Gates’s dirty little secret of success and why certain hockey players were heads and shoulders above peers of the same age.
Masterful Plot Twists
As the story unfolds–and Gladwell’s action and tension rise and fall like a Dean Koontz novel–you learn facts far from scandalous yet more intriguing, even, than an illicit affair between Queen Elizabeth and Elton John.
I’ll leave the details to your reading of this fine book. But I’ll tell you why this book will change the world if we let it. And why we should.
America’s Shameful Education Results
Walter Williams once said that if he were the Grand Wizard of the KKK he could think of no better way to destroy blacks in America than to send them to our public schools. Just this past Saturday, Morton Kondracke on Fox News’ "The Beltway Boys" said that education could be Obama’s Achilles’ Heel–it is so bad and the teachers’ unions so corrupt and selfish. (Kondracke is the liberal.)
If you have children in public school today, unless it’s one of the top 100 or so districts in the country, you probably realize that your children will leave high school far less educated than you did. Somehow we have to fix it.
Not so much recently, but a whole lot when my kids were tiny, I read reams on education reform. I drew many conclusions about the causes of our declining education–the unions, government meddling, bad homes, emphasis on entertainment over learning–but inventing a solution seemed out of reach.
The Solution to a Quagmire
Enter Gladwell. "Outliers" explains the most plausible and unmentionable (in liberal elite circles) cause and solution to American education problems since Carl Childers identified the problem with a broken roto-tiller in "Sling Blade": "I reckon it ain’t got no gas, um hmm."
The model for fixing education quickly, inexpensively, and permanently is pretty straightforward. Except for the special interests. The young girl Gladwell models, Marita, has, like so many others in the book, made herself into an outlier. From single female head-of-household home with a single bedroom for the family and a minimally educate mother, Marita has become a math wizard in a special KIPP middle school in one of the worst neighborhoods in New York.
"Marita doesn’t need a brand-new school with acrews of playing fields and gleaming facilities," writes Gladwell. "She doesn’t need a laptop, a smaller class, a teacher with Ph.D., or a bigger apartment. She doesn’t need a higher IQ or a mind as quick Chris Langan’s. All those things would be nice, of course. But they miss the point. Marita just needed a chance. And loot at the chance she was given!"
That chance, according to Gladwell, was the opportunity to work as hard as a wet-rice farmer in rural South China.
Imagine how the NEA will attack Gladwell’s recommendations: longer hours in school, fewer but more intense "specials," hours of homework every night, weekend classes, and no summer vacation. The New York Times has already panned the book, as Gladwell gores one of its favorite oxen. (h/t Yglesias) Yet Michiko kakutani, the reviewer, almost certainly did NOT read the book. If he did, he clearly has little interest in education–he doesn’t mention the only prescriptive part of "Outliers!" That would be like reviewing the Bible and leaving out the part about God.
Yet his evidence is unmistakable. Summer break separates the rich kids from the poor kids. In his always-remarkable research, Gladwell proves that kids from the wrong side of the tracks learn more in school–even in supposedly crappy schools in the inner city–than the rich kids in prestigious districts. The problem is that they unlearn in the summers while the rich kids keep on learning. The kids start pretty close, but each new school year, the poor kids start further behind the rich kids. As Gladwell points out, "School works. The only problem with school, for the kids who aren’t achieving, is that there isn’t enough of it."
How To Make It Work
Before Christmas, buy and read "Outliers." For Christmas, buy a copy for one member of your local school board. I have already ordered a copy for a board member in my district.
This could be the most important book in a generation, but only if we are serious about fixing education in America. If not, at least you’ll enjoy one of the best books I’ve read in a year.
(cross-posted to The Work Works)
Also see a 2 part, thoughtful review on The Quick and the Ed (part 1 | part 2). I believe the author of this post found something I did not: that Gladwell claims more hours of school is the only solution. Gladwell says that bringing the Chinese wet-rice farmer’s work ethic to school, not just hours, is the key to KIPP.
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Posted by Bill Hennessy on under Living |
With our first snowfall of the season, it’s time for stew. I created this recipe over a couple of years. It seems, finally, ready to release. Get your pens and shopping lists.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. stew beef chopped in 1" to 1.5" cubes
- Tone’s Canadian Steak Seasoning (do not attempt this recipe without it)
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 16 oz. can beef bullion(or 2 cups water, 2 bullion cubes)
- 28 oz. can whole tomatoes in tomato juice
- 12-16 new red potatoes (whole with skin firmly in place)
- 4 - 6 celery stalks, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
- 8-12 green onions, chopped into 1 inch pieces (stems, too)
- 4-6 fresh carrots, skinned, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 6-10 stalks fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
- 3 tbs flour (for thickening)
Preparation
Sprinkle the Tone’s Canadian Steak Seasoning mix over the meat, toss, and set aside. (Be careful not to use too much seasoning or the stew will be too salty.)
In large frying pan with lid, sauté the garlic over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the meat and stir fry, almost on high, until meat is uniformly browned. Add beef broth (or water and cubes), cover, and simmer for 2.5-3 hours.
Transfer this amazing-smelling stew to a large stew pot with lid. Add canned tomatoes, celery, carrots, green onions, cilantro leaves, potatoes. Increase heat to medium-high to induce light boiling. Return heat to simmer, cover, and read a book for 1.5 hours.
Before serving, mix flour with ice cold water to form a loose paste. Gradually stir the paste into the stew, cover for 5 minutes, serve.
Serves 6-8.
Notes
You can use the cheap scraps many stores sell as stew meat, but you might want to invest in a slightly better grade of beef. I prefer fresh organic vegetables except for the tomatoes. The green onions and cilantro do something that regular onions cannot.
I like the beef to literally shred in the juices. If you want chunks of beef, cut the beef simmer time to 1.5-2 hours.
If you love this recipe, please add a comment.
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Posted by Bill Hennessy on November 29, 2008 under Crime, Economy, Politics |
Robert Rubin was a key player in keeping Enron afloat while he and his cronies fleeced billions from employees and investors.
Robert Rubin abandoned the Clinton administration when a recession was unavoidable. His relief was his protege, Larry Summers.
Robert Rubin talked the Citigroup board into investing in extremely high-risk mortgage-backed securities. He also showed the bank how to carry those risks off the books–exactly the way he showed Enron how to do it.
Robert Rubin negotiated the Fed’s bailout of Citi even as the government refused to help the auto makers.
Robin Rubin installed Larry Summers on Obama’s economic council in order to avoid prosecution as the kingpin of Citi’s downfall, which should have resulted in Fed takeover and receivership.
If you want to know who’s responsible for the economic meltdown, you’ve read them all here:
- Franklin Raines
- James Johnson
- Jamie Gorelick
- Robert Rubin
- Lawrence Summers
- Christopher Dodd
- Barney Frank
- Lacy Clay
- Maxine Watters
There’s your list. These are the men and women who brought you to brink of a Great Depression. And now the criminal, slimy thief Robert Rubin is whining and lying to the Wall Street Journal.
Still, Mr. Rubin was deeply involved in a decision in late 2004 and early 2005 to take on more risk to boost flagging profit growth, according to people familiar with the discussions. They say he would comment that Citigroup’s competitors were taking more risks, leading to higher profits. Colleagues deferred to him, as the only board member with experience as a trader or risk manager. "I knew what a CDO was," Mr. Rubin said, referring to collateralized debt obligations, instruments tied to mortgages and other debt that led to many of Citigroup’s losses.
Disgusting. Yet Rubin is the odd-man out and could be the fall guy for the economic collapse. Unlike the others listed, Rubin remains outside of Obama’s inner circle. He’s a Goldman Sachs guy, which is not a popular thing to be these days.
Look for some federal prosecutor to make a name for himself by indicting Rubin.
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Posted by Bill Hennessy on under Living, Politics |
This is not tongue-in-cheek or flippant.
We can find two good results of the terrorist siege of Mumbai, India.
First, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg’s baby son, Moshe, escaped alive. Good people have set up a fund for the child where you can contribute. Please do so. The child’s survival seems to destine him for greatness, as the story contains odd parallels to the story of Moses.
Second, the tragic events forced organizers to cancel Live Earth India, a pagan celebration to spread the lie of Anthropogenic Global Warming. With real problems to face, organizers saw no point in promoting a contrived problem invented to increase the power of mega-governments like the United Nations.
Meanwhile, the Arctic Sea Ice is nearly equally to its1980 extent and appears (based on color coding) significantly more dense than in that bitterly cold winter 28 years ago.
UPDATE: What do you know. Looks like people around the world are reading Hennessy’s View and wising up to the AGW nuts.
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Posted by Bill Hennessy on under Crime, Living |
Say you’re the CEO of Wal-Mart. You get a report from your store in Valley Stream, NJ, that one of your employees was trampled to death by your customers who broke down the doors to get at your Black Friday specials before anyone else. In the chaos, a customer, 8-months pregnant, suffered a miscarriage.
How would you respond?
Suppose you were the police who responded? How would you handle the situation in which the crowd, gripped by throes of a shopping frenzy refused to allow first responders to attempt to save the man’s life? Not that they had anything against 43-year-old Jdimytai Damour, the victim; it’s just that he picked a really inconvenient spot to die.
Perhaps you’d have closed that store and all other Wal-Marts in the US immediately. Pay the employees, but close the doors for the weekend. Forget Black Friday and its narrow margins and high volumes.
Perhaps you’d announced the end to Black Friday panic sales. Go back to your everyday low price policy.
Perhaps you’d do nothing. After all, the customers want super cheap bargains, and the customer is king.
Suppose you’re the police. Maybe you’d handle this situation like a riot, seal the store, and process every customer inside as a participant in manslaughter.
With all the talk of an end to excess consumption, this sad story indicates something else entirely. It indicates that many Americans are so obsessed by consumption that they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way.
"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, ‘I’ve been on line since Friday morning!’" Cribbs said. "They kept shopping." [source]
Ed Morrissey points out that this murderous mayhem occurred in preparation for the coming of Christ.
This Christmas, let’s take Seth Godin’s advice: shop small, shop quality, shop local, shop handmade. Let’s be satisfied with a single gift instead of measuring our happiness by the number of packages we open. If you can’t bring yourself to do this the name of God, perhaps you can do it in the name of Jdimytai Damour. Or of the unborn baby–less than one month from birth–who gave his life so that someone could get an HDTV for 30 percent off the already low, low price.
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As the story unfolds–and Gladwell’s action and tension rise and fall like a Dean Koontz novel–you learn facts far from scandalous yet more intriguing, even, than an illicit affair between Queen Elizabeth and Elton John.
