CommentsDisplaying Kinnison's 10 most recent comments.

• IB Programs Are Worth Preserving

  May 22, 2012 at 7:41pm

  In reply to Renegade6868.

  The expensive IB certification is unnecessary so long as schools offer AP(Advanced Placement) classes. As a former AP U.S. History teacher in a public high school, I can tell you that the program is actually more demanding than most college and university courses at the freshman and sophomore levels. Students self-select for the classes and many schools have admission requirements for them, e.g., “B+’s“ or ”A’s” in the general subject matter area prior to enrollment. AP classes are a great prep for the level of work expected at the post-secondary level and teach critical reading and thinking and writing skills to enrolled students. Teachers are kept honest because they do not get to write the final exam. The final exam is written, administered and graded by the Educational Testing Service, the same company that does the SATs and the GREs, and students have to pay to take the exam. If they score highly enough most colleges and universities will grant college credit for the courses, so if your child’s high school has AP courses in each subject area they could conceivably graduate from high school and begin college as an entering sophomore or even a junior. Additionally, college and university admissions people know how demanding AP classes are and tend to be more favorable to admitting high school students who have already proven that they can handle college level course work and do well. AP classes are a “win/win” for teachers, students and parents.

• Why is college even worth the cost these days?

  May 14, 2012 at 7:06pm

  And yet BHO wants all high school graduates to go to college, and on our nickel. The problem is that with almost everyone who can fog a mirror going to college, colleges and universities have “dumbed down” their courses and “plussed-up” their grading curves. The sheepskin that was almost a guarantee of professional employment 30 years ago is now—unless you are a hard science, math or engineering major—simply a set of extended GREs for admission to grad school, because in order to be employable in most professional fields you need at least a Masters degree if not a PhD. Let’s face it, if you amass a substantial college debt as an undergraduate and major in Gender Studies, Black or Hispanic Studies, Ecology, French Literature, Music, etc., you will be paying off your college loans for a long, long time while reciting your mantra: “Would you like fries with that?”, or “Do you want a venti or a grande?”

• We Dare You Not to Cry: Boy With Palsy Greets His Soldier Father by Walking to Him for the First Time

  May 12, 2012 at 1:45am

  It is a touching video. But doesn’t the Blaze—10+ years into the War on Terror—have anyone on staff competent enough in military lore to know that a Marine sergeant is not a “soldier”? Can you guys please hire a vet to review military terminology for you so that you get this stuff right? You civilians may not think so, but it’s important to us.

• Federal Court: Illegal Immigrants Don’t Have the Constitutional Right to Own Firearms

  May 8, 2012 at 3:20pm

  In reply to Bum thrower.

  “Illegal” is pretty clear. It defines someone who entered the country without authorization. And illegal alien is by definition not a U.S. citizen and is therefore not subject to the protections afforded legal citizens in the Constitution. It does not apply to them; they stand apart from it. Legal immigrants are another matter; as legal entrants and prospective citizens they are afforded the protections of our Constitution.

• American Airlines Once Offered Unlimited First-Class Tickets for Life — and Then People Started Using Them…

  May 7, 2012 at 2:55pm

  U.S. airlines have clawed their way to the bottom of the heap. It is sad to see the nation that pioneered air travel sink so low. Dispirited airline staff provide lousy service. Most carriers have discontinued any food service at all in coach for coast-to-coast flights, so passengers either have to bring their own food or subsist on a tiny packet of peanuts or pretzels for 4 or 5 hours. My expatriate daughter lives and works in Germany and we visit her several times a year, while she comes home for Christmas vacation. We have tallied so many horror stories of airline indifference and mismanagement that we now plan to fly foreign carriers. Once, a long time ago, I flew across South Vietnam in a military C-130 cargo plane. Also on board were about 50 Hmong tribesmen with piglets and chickens in handmade wooden cages, and one large water buffalo who had been “sedated” with 3 o or 4 quarts of Ba Mai Beer. It was a memorable if uncomfortable flight. (The water buffalo was not housebroken…) Levis, T-shirts and flip-flpos are now standard dress in coach. Given the state of U.S. airlines and their abysmal service I figure it is only a matter of time before coach passengers are trying to stow their piglets and chickens in the overhead bins, as on many 3rd-world world rural busses.

• 9/11 Defense Attorney in Hijab Asks Court to Order Other Women to Wear ‘Appropriate’ Clothing

  May 6, 2012 at 2:28pm

  In reply to Watchingtheweasels.

  Good one, Razor… And absolutely correct.

• SNL Mocks Fox News: ‘Fox & Friends’ Hosts Undecided Whether Bin Laden Is Dead, Mt. Rushmore Is Real

  May 6, 2012 at 12:14pm

  Well, they couldn‘t do a similar sketch of an MSNBC panel since no one watches them and the SNL audience simply wouldn’t get the jokes…

• Ed Schultz: ‘Damn Right I Would’ Give Money to Obama if MSNBC Would Let Me

  May 5, 2012 at 1:17pm

  Ed, donate as much as you want to the Obama campaign. Since very few people listen to you or care about your opinions, it simply doesn’t matter. What are you going to do when Obama loses in November and you don’t have anyone to pander for? Good luck with your future career, because MSNBC as lost all credibility and is going down.

• Allen West Compares Obama to…Neville Chamberlain

  May 5, 2012 at 11:18am

  Rep. West knows his history, and yes, President Obama in his foreign policy and appearances is acting very like Neville Chamberlin. The former British Prime Minister had good intentions too, and look how they turned out. Chamberlin thought he could “do business” with Hitler and trust his word, just as Obama seems to think he can do the same with Vladimir Putin and various other odious dictators. Bad, bad plan.

• ‘Tax Me, For F@%&‘s Sake’: Author Stephen King Slams the GOP & Calls for Higher Taxes on the Wealthy In Virulent Op-Ed

  April 30, 2012 at 2:12pm

  The top 1% of U.S. taxpayers pay 43% of all income taxes. The top 10% of U.S. taxpayers pay 76% of all income taxes. So, what’s their “fair share”? How much is the “fair share” of the deadbeat 49.5% of American citizens of working age that pay zero income taxes? This president has done more to polarize this nation and to demonize those people who actually work hard and make money and create jobs than any other president in the country’s history. Class hatred and class envy may be the only way he and his posse can think of to get everyone’s minds off of his dismal record in the Oval Office, but it is bad for America.