Light Week ending 10/3/26
(6 minute read)
Top Three Tags...
Public School Spending: Mind Boggling
More Education Bad News
AI Safety Accords
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#1 - Public School Funding: Funding What?
US public schools are given over $1 trillion in funding each and every school year. That averages out to $21,100 per student.
Per-student funding was highest in NY averaging $37,500.
Think about it. The average classroom size is 24 students in NY. Thus, OVER $900,000 PER CLASS a year. Under $100,000 of that goes to the teacher. Where does the other 89% go? How much do utilities, building and grounds maintenance, lunch, supplies cost? When almost 90% is spent on "other than teachers", something is out of whack.
Oh yeah. I forgot. A ton goes to "Administration" so we can make certain DEI is fully enforced.
Be different, if the kids were knockin' em dead on standardized tests.
#2 - Our STEM Grads Ain't from Here.
Not that it matters much, as we speed into the AI age, for the U.S. to lead in graduates with relevant educations.
Consider this...
America’s STEM education system at advanced levels has become heavily dependent on international students. International students earn more than half of STEM master’s degrees and more than a third of STEM research doctorates, with still higher shares in computer science, engineering, and mathematics. Only at the bachelor’s level is the share of international students in the single digits across most fields.
India and China together now supply 61 percent of all international graduate students. Who thinks the Chicom "grads" are gonna stick around to do anything beside steal secrets?
Wonder if this has anything to with the fact our kids can't read or do math at grade levels? At least I hope our kids acquire skills in the trades where we will have a 50% shortage by 2030.
#3 - WH Takes Steps to Ensure AI Safety
A slew of Tech luminaries met at the WH and agreed to a bunch of pinky swears. Present were Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, and OpenAI’s Greg Brockman.
They agreed to:
(1) robust internal controls during training and deployment, special attention to cybersecurity, biosecurity, chemical threats, and models that hack or wander into systems they should not touch;
(2) an internal team charged with making sure those controls actually work and that failures get fixed;
(3) an independent outside auditor to test whether the models behave as designed; and
(4) an independent board that receives the reports and is supposed to force a response.
Trump called these accords "morally binding."
I call them "another MOU". Remember how the MOU with Iran turned out? Unless death penalty consequences apply to those companies responsible for any AI out of control incident, this is all...yes, yaddy, yaddy, yaddy.
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And In Other News...
Dems Do It Again
A poll from the University of Maryland found that 86% of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum supported banning lawmakers from trading stocks. A 2025 poll from the Pew Research Center found that 83% of Americans favored "requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote."
Doesn't matter. Republicans put forth bills on both matters...as the voters wished...and the Dems shot them down fearing their passage might look like "Republican victories" right before the midterms. To hell with doing the right thing.
Sorry, But I'm in Favor
Permission to enter the U.S. from Muslim-majority countries has fallen by 96% since Trump took office. 96% probably don't want to be Americans anyway.
On a similar note...the State Department under Marco pulled 250,000 visas, as the administration continues to crack down on unlawful immigration while increasing vetting of who is allowed to visit the United States.
The revocations were for a variety of violations, including visa holders who violated the terms of their visas, committed crimes, called for violence against the U.S. or Americans, defrauded Americans, abused the immigration system, and endangered national security. Sounds fair and square to me.
Let's see how the Dems position this one.
Prices for Natural Gas Will Remain High...
as long as Blue States like NY block pipelines with stupid regulations. We have incalculable natural gas resources yet households are deprived as permitting for essential pipelines remains a quagmire. Next to nuclear, gas is the cleanest cheapest fuel that's reliable...and AVAILABLE here at home. Plus we have it in abundance. Doesn't matter...politicians can't get out of their own way.
The More Musk the Better
Good news...Elon just has been tapped to help the Department of War decide which high tech weapons they need to focus on.
Bad news...only a 120 day assignment. No problem for Elon, he moves at the speed of light anyway..
War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that Musk will co-lead Project Meridian, a new Pentagon initiative tasked with looking years and even decades ahead to identify emerging domains of warfare and the capabilities the U.S. military will need to dominate them.
Musk will lead the effort alongside defense tech billionaire Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Couldn't have named a more capable guy!!!
Wrapped Up in Iraq
Our troops have left today after being asked to return in 2014 to combat ISIS. None of our soldiers died in the withdrawal. No Americans were left behind. Nor were billions in equipment. Nothing like Kabul in 2021. Different Commander-in-Chief.
By this time next week, Islamic terrorists will have taken over the country. You heard it here.
Russia Goes Full On Armageddon
If you can believe, Putin plans to ramp up even further by terrorizing urban centers in Ukraine. Madman.
Russia has sharply increased its use of ballistic missiles and deployed fast, long-range, jet-powered drones at newfound scale. It also widened its set of targets.
After nearly five years of bloodshed, I guess losing 500,000 soldiers with another 1.5 million casualties remain of little concern.
NATO better keep its eyes peeled. Vlad is a comin'.
Just proves Putin can't afford to lose. Somebody find a balcony, please.
Musings...
We are (at least supposed to be) a Nation-State
Not a monarchy, a dictatorship, an empire, a theocracy, a confederation or a tribal clan.
A nation-state is a country where the state (the government and territory) largely corresponds to a nation (a group of people who share a common identity, culture, language, history, or traditions).
Nation = a group of people who feel they share a common identity.
State = a politically organized territory with a government, borders, and sovereignty.
Nation-state = when a nation has its own sovereign state.
Without a common language, a dominant ethnicity, secure borders and shared traditions, a nation-state cannot long remain.
Think about it. As we fling open our borders, dishonor our traditions and dilute our common language.
WNBA Gettin' More Whacko
...by the day. First they try to kill the goose that lays their golden eggs. Then they lean so Woke that former NBA guys are trying to enter the draft.
Now one of the stars, A'ja Wilson, after being called for a blocking foul, charges a fan because the fan pointed a finger and said, "It is on you!".
Wilson said, "You don't get to point a finger at me." What? We buy $200 tickets, pay $25 for parking, buy $15 beers and $45 ballcaps then we're supposed to wear our "Go Tranny" T shirt and golf clap?
Some Interesting Facts about Israel
All you hear these days is the Zionists are murderers, persecutors, etc. They practice genocide. They threw the Palestinians out of their homes.
Facts are:
Under the 1947 British Mandate Plan, the land now Israel was to be divided between Jewish and Arab inhabitants.
If you look at the proposed map...the area the Arabs were to occupy was larger.
Jewish leadership accepted the plan.
Arab leadership rejected it.
War followed. In fact, several. The Israelis won every one.
Thusly, they now occupy and control most of the land involved.
The claim that Palestinian Arabs were "there first" is totally insubstantiable.
Overwhelmingly, historians agree Ancient Hebrews occupied as far back at 1200 BCE. Maybe further.
Arabs came in 600 AD at the time of Muhammad.
What If They'd had a 2nd Amendment?
Imagine if Iran had their own 2nd Amendment (Right to Bear Arms)? Would they still be getting mowed down in the streets? Would they have let it get this far?
Remember what Rush said...The only reason for the 2nd Amendment is if the government "forgets" the first.
It is as equally preposterous...
To expect China to start playing ball on AI, rare earths, pharmaceuticals or anything else as it is to assume the Nutjobs in Iran might voluntarily lay down arms and turn over the keys. Keep that in mind, Mr. President.
We're Done, It's Over...AI Will End Us All
Before you give up the ghost, however, remember all the scams lamestream media and so called scientific experts have foisted on us over the past 100 years.
Y2K, Global Warming then Climate Change, super-volcanoes, earthquakes in California, fracking, meteors, pandemics (ahem!), economic Armageddon (2008), even space aliens.
Yet here we stand. Bloodied but unbowed.
Meanwhile, the average human lifespans has increased 50% over the same 100 years. Keep in the back of your mind the old news axiom...if it bleeds, it leads.
See next week...if AI didn't get us.
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