Post-Secondary Options in Minneapolis

Joe High School did not get into the University of Minnesota as a 10th grader, an admission that is theoretically possible. The U noted that neither his GPA or class rank fit the profile of admitted high school students. Things have changed. Joe College Grad, who was admitted to the U as junior eight years ago, had similar stats. The difference is that far more kids now apply to this high school program, known as PSEO (or some variation on this acronym, which stands for Post Secondary Education Option). And I bet they apply in larger numbers at least in part because public schools just don't have what they need. In the era of Pawlenty and his gang of tax-hating Republicans, the public schools in this state are shameful for a place that touts itself as an education state.

Anyway, that's why Joe wanted to go to the U--he wants to take AP Physics, which is no longer offered at Minneapolis South. He'll have to come up with a Plan B. Blaming his failure to get into the U entirely on Pawlenty is probably a bit unfair, but is entirely fair to blame the gov for the increasingly limited selection of course options at Minneapolis South.

Al Gore: Quixotic?

Heard Al on the radio tonight. He was pushing his new book, The Assault on Reason. Al may be stiff and wooden, but he is still a breath of fresh air. He spoke in complete sentences, making every word count. He skillfully danced around the interviewer's suggestion that he was calling Current Occupant a liar. And he used words like quixotic.

Although CO probably doesn't know the meaning of that word, and wouldn't use it if he did, it could apply to him if he actually had any whimsy about him. But he doesn't. We are locked in a trial by fire and sand organized by ideologues who are unable to say why we are getting blown up in the desert. They have dug us a hole so deep that no one can figure out how to climb out. That is not quixotic. That's stupid.

Wolfie

Unbelievable! One of the main promoters of the disaster in Iraq, Paul Wolfowitz, has been brought down (finally) by penny-ante corruption. The fact that in some countries he might be considered a war criminal is unimportant. But cronyism--now that's serious.

And the pronouncements by Current Occupant on the matter reinforce my impression that loyalty to one's friends is the most important value, even if those friends are venial, arrogant, and corrupt. Heckuva job.