VA AG continues to prove what a scumbag he is

This guy better not be the next governor of my adopted home-state. 

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/04/26/cuccinelli_failed_to_disclose_gift_vacations.html

He's bad news. 

OK, so I was wrong...

No QB in the first round for the Browns. I thought it made more sense to get a cornerback than a linebacker/DE, but Mingo should be good either way.

I think we're off to a decent start.

NFL Draft Prediction

The Browns (my team of destiny...or density...or both) will trade back twenty spots in the first round to grab a second string punter from a small liberal arts school in upstate New York. You heard it here first, folks.

An hour and thirty seven minutes til I'm proven correct. Sigh...

In more seriousness, I do think they'll trade back, though. If they do I think they'll try to get a QB.

Good luck tonight to everyone who follows this thing!

An Analysis of GWB

I feel no need to comment. Charlie just about sums it all up:

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/george-bush-library-opening-042513

The "Avignon Presidency" indeed.

Fun History Stuff

The WashPost had an interesting feature today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/feature/wp/2013/04/24/presidents-together-7-striking-images/

There is also a recorded conversation at the end between LBJ and Nixon. Kind of a weird, awkward conversation, IMO. It all sounded so disingenuous and forced...probably because of all the dirt each one knew about the other.

Gosh Hates Cleveland...

...as they say.

For those not up on current Cleveland sporting events, my favorite football team (the Browns, for the uninitiated) has had a scandal this past week. New owner Jimmy Haslam had his Flying J business headquarters raided by the feds...

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/04/contracts_emails_spreadsheets.html

The upside, though, of Haslam's alleged fraud could be that yet another Republican will end up behind bars.

Just thought I should look at the bright side :)

Return of the Blogger

I've decided to return to the blogging world and bring back Heroes' Handbook (hereby known as "HH" for brevity purposes). While the focus of the blog had previously been political, I will now branch out a bit into other areas of interest as well. These include education, sports, and popular culture, among other topics, though there will be a strong dose of politics for old time's sake.

I've also had a slight pseudonym change, in case any of you hardcore HH fans were wondering. Whereas before I was known as H. Conway (in a nod to the novel Lost Horizon), I will now go as "Capt. B", which is a reference to a character in my book manuscript that I hope to publish soon.

In any case, it's good to be back. Looking forward to continuing the discussions after a 6 year hiatus!

Edwards, Obama or Richardson

The 2008 Democratic Presidential Campaign is heating up and people are just beggining to align themselves with candidates. I am leaning towards:

• John Edwards
• Barack Obama
• Bill Richardson

Who are you leaning towards or who do you support? Why? Let's debate!

Will Heroes' Handbook Be No More?

It seems that our efforts at creating a forum to discuss the important issues of the day is failing. Speaking for myself, my job is keeping me extremely busy, especially with the recent extension. It has made posting difficult and time-consuming. But what say you, faithful readers? Shall Heroes' Handbook be no more? Or perhaps it should go on hiatus until the summer months when posting will be easier for all (especially for myself and H. Abiff) Please give us your thoughts... Thank you.
Sincerely,
H. Conway

Kid shot... but doesn't want the bullet removed

Here is an interesting article that my cooperating teacher and I had our students read in the civics classes we teach ...

It begs many questions (not the least of which is, "Why doesn't he want the bullet removed unless he has something to hide?"). But there is one question that's been bugging me ever since I heard about this case.

If this case makes it to the Supreme Court, might there be an impact on Roe v. Wade? I may be going out on a limb here, but follow my logic, if you would...

1. Much of the modern privacy-of-body laws stem from Roe.
2. A main focus of Roe is that it violates a person's 14th Amendment rights to have State officials telling her what to do with her body.
3. In the case I've mentioned above, the state wants to remove a bullet lodged in a teen's forehead to prove that he was (or was not?) attemting to murder the owner of a used car dealership. (See, the kid has already admitted to being a part of the robbery of the dealership earlier in the day. Police suspect that this kid returned later, threatened the owner's life if he spoke to police, and shot at the owner. Hit the link above if you want more info about the case.) The question at hand is who has more rights: the state in procecuting the crime or the individual's right to privacy?
4. IF the case made it to the Supreme Court and they decide that the State has the right to force the kid to have surgery to remove a foreign body, might this start eroding rights to do what we want with our own bodies?

OK, so it's a bit of a stretch, but it sounds conceivable. At the very least, might this turn out to be a precedent that others may build on (a la Brown v. Board was a stepping-stone to get rid of all Jim Crow laws...)

Thoughts?
5.

Happy New Year! Shanah Tovah!

Wow, it's so cool to see so many new hits on the website, in spite of the fact that no one has posted in the past couple of weeks! I hope all of our new readers have seen enough that they are compelled to come back though!

More to come... I've just been insanely busy over winter break grading papers and doing lesson plans. But I promise a good post soon!

John Edwards Is Planning on Running For President

John Edwards is planning to enter the race again for president. According to All Headline News:

Reports say former North Carolina Senator John Edwards will enter the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to news outlets say the former Democratic vice presidential nominee will make the announcement from New Orleans before 2007.

John Edwards ran in 2004 and although he lost the primary he was chosen by John Kerry as vice president. During 2004 I was a huge Edwards supporter. I donated much money to him and campaigned for him in South Carolina. Will I support him again? It depends on who else decides to run. I am leaning towards Edwards.

For more information check out John Edward's website.

Good"Bayh"

According to the New York Times this morning, Evan Bayh will not be running for President. I guess this means I can now count on the support of RUGWDEM for my candidate, Senator Barack Hussein Obama!

Jimmy Carter

What a douche-bag.

I think that about covers it. So I'm guessing there won't be any comments on this one :)

Today

I had my psychology class meditate for 10 minutes today. Who knows if they were telling the truth about how it went. That is, if they ever achieved true relaxation or a real state of "inner peace". When I woke them up by yelling "Okay!" about half the class jumped, though. Heh heh...

In other news, I would like to make my formal endorsement of Barack Obama for President of the United States of America. This both a premature and uninformed pronouncement by yours truly, but I couldn't resist. Any other opinions on candidates??

Say Goodbye to My Little Friend

I would like to announce a purge at the Heroes' Handbook blog. The member formerly known as "Whorush" has been removed, not so much for his lack of postings, but because I don't think he even realizes the blog exists.

Thus I have removed him from the Masthead. He will be off to Vancouver shortly, anyway, where he will attempt to hit on women of Asian descent, so I expect him to have even less time than now to contribute. I bid him adieu...

Movie Recommendation of the Week

Paths of Glory

Starring Kirk Douglas (aka: Issur Danielovitch); directed by Stanley Kubrick

It is the classic World War I movie. I am screening it for my US History classes. It's just amazing and should be required viewing in all high schools across the globe. For real.

Recession Very Likely In 2007

As the housing market continues to weaken it will have serious ramifications for the overall US economy. "The collapse of the housing bubble will throw the economy into a recession, and quite likely a severe recession," warned a July report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Furthermore, Lehman Brothers report, "[A] turn in the housing market is central to our economic forecast. " As reported by the AP on Nov 11, 2005:

A downturn in housing could mean more than 1.3 million lost jobs, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts, bumping up the national unemployment rate by 1 percent and the unemployment rate in house-mad California by 2 percent. Those numbers don't include likely job cuts in housing-dependent businesses, such as banking, furniture and building materials.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research predicts worse, saying a bubble burst would mean the loss of 5 million to 6.3 million jobs.

The housing run-up has financed consumer spending, creating more than $5 trillion in bubble wealth, the center estimates. Consumers have used "cash-out" mortgages to pay for everything from new kitchens to college tuition.

The current economic predicament is simply unsustainable. The double digit price appreciation of the housing boom years has come to an abrupt end. Once the housing bubble pops, a recession is almost inevitable. Here are other factors that will contribute to a future recession:

• High Energy Costs
• Federal Debt & Deficit
• Continuing Housing Bust
• High Consumer Debt
• Large Trade Deficit
• Continued Offshoring
• Security Costs

Billionaire speculator George Soros said he did not expect the United States to fall into recession in 2006 - but he does the following year.

For the past 4 years the US economic 'recovery' has been too dependent on cheap credit and the housing boom. The boom is fast becoming a bust. The convergence of the housing bust with other significant economic factors will very likely put the US into a recession by early 2007.

Traffic Declining on Heroes' Handbook

Traffic has been declining on thsi blog.

We need away to reverse this trend. How? Discuss!

An interesting quote

Since I deal with kids with special needs, I oftentimes have students that make less than appropriate decisions about how to spend time during "silent" work time. After discussing various strategies with colleagues, one of them said this:

"We are entrusted to make academic decisions for those students who refuse to make successful academic decisions for themselves."

In the real world, however, these students won't have us around to rely on. I'm not working with moderately- or severely-disabled kids anymore. The students I'm working with are "normal" but have a few learning difficulties. Is it really our place to make these decisions for these students, as my colleague suggests, or is it more of our responsibility to model proper decision-making techniques? Is it even our job to do that much? Should we just let the kids who don't care fail? Should we just let the kids who are too distracted to do their work fail?