That’s what some researchers are saying. Mitchell Hartman of NPR reports on a recent study from the non-hereditary Marketplace Entrepreneurship Desk at Oregon Public Broadcasting. If there is a genetic link to the start-up lifestyle, more than just entrepreneurs are interested. Here is a highlight of the report:
Knowing which genes encourage entrepreneurship, and who has them, could help educators design better programs to spur business-creation. It could even help venture capitalists pick whose startup to fund, though there’s no guarantee the genes actually lead to success.
Still, many researchers doubt we’ll ever be able to pinpoint exactly what role environment and genes play in raising up entrepreneurs.
“It appeared the superintendent and board members were at least trying to work together in the first two months, but it was a lopsided relationship. A majority of the board dictated changes often driven by campaign promises made during an unusually partisan race. Several members also made it clear they didn’t trust the information they were getting in response to their requests.”
That blurb is from Tim Simmons who’s writing in yesterday’s Wake Education Partnership Newsletter about the resignation of Wake County School Superintendent Del Burns. I found much of the phrasing curious. Simmons says a “lopsided relationship” is in part the reason for Burns’ decision. Really? Last I checked the superintendent was an employee of the school board. Since the school board hires the superintendent to carry out the policies and directives of the Board, I’d guess that an arrangement is accurately described as an employer-employee relationship. As such, there is every expectation that the relationship is NOT one of co-equals but of superior-subordinates.
Simmons also claims “a majority of the board dictated changes often driven by campaign promises made during an usually partisan race.” How dare that duly-elected school board tell Del Burns to carry out policies that – at times — differ from his own views! Sounds like Simmons thinks Del Burns should have the opportunity to pick and choose which policies he’ll follow and which board members he’ll listen to –since after all, a member’s election might have been contested or highly partisan.
Silly me. Here all along, I thought the voters were supposed to be in charge.
From what I hear, DPI is getting an earful about the new draft social studies curriculum (See: DPI: Don’t Know Much About History). If you’re not keen about giving America’s founding documents short shrift or having your child learn that Roe v. Wade is an example of “the U.S. Supreme Court upholding rights against oppressive government,” speak up. DPI has extended the public comment period until March 2 (the old deadline was February 15, 2010). Submit your comments to: feedback@dpi.state.nc.us
The folks over at the NC Justice Center offered up a double-whammy this week of self-contradiction. First up, Adam Searing penned this op-ed in the N&O urging Congress to pass some version of health care “reform” (public opinion be damned, of course).
He points out that, under the current, mostly-government run system, “Health insurance has never been more expensive than it is today for individuals, businesses and governments. The growth is unsustainable.”
Yet in the same article, he makes the claim that the reform he advocates for is “No scary ’socialist’ takeover of health care here – just quietly building on the current system.”
So why would he want to build upon the current system he readily admits as being unsustainable?
Moving on, NC Policy Watch discusses the rapid rise in food stamp recipients in North Carolina over the past year, noting “More than 1.2 million people in the state now receive food stamps. That is up 24 percent over a year ago.”
But in a recent post, Policy Watch defended the federal stimulus package, supporting the claims of an area economist.
…money spent on food stamps or unemployment directly stimulates the economy because people almost always spend it. That helps create jobs.
So if spending more money on food stamps “helps create jobs,” and North Carolina saw a jump of 24% in food stamp recipients last year – where are the jobs?
Thomas Sowell today concludes his three-part series of articles on the “Fallacy of Fairness.” In this installment, Sowell exposes the weaknesses of the arguments of those that believe fairness to be results-oriented and not a matter of equal treatment under the law.
People like philosopher John Rawls call treating everyone alike merely “formal” fairness. Professor Rawls advocated “a conception of justice that nullifies the accidents of natural endowment and the contingencies of social circumstances.” He called for a society which “arranges” end-results, rather than simply treating everyone the same and letting the chips fall where they may.
This more hands-on concept of fairness gives third parties a much bigger role to play. But whether any human being has ever had the omniscience to determine and undo the many differences among people born into different families and cultures– with different priorities, attitudes and behavior– is a very big question. And to concentrate the vast amount of power needed to carry out that sweeping agenda is a dangerous gamble, whose actual consequences have too often been written on the pages of history in blood.
…..
Disregarding criteria in the interest of “fairness”– in the sense of outcomes independent of inputs– adds to the handicaps of those who already have other handicaps, by lying to them about the reasons for their situation and the things they need to do to make their situation better.
For those interested in a more thorough and enlightened contrast of the philosophic foundations serving as the basis for competing political schools of thought, Sowell’s Conflict of Visions is a must read.
Need a job? Today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports the federal government added 103,000 new employees last year and will add another 170,000 this year. That’s right while companies and households were cutting back to whether the recession, the Democrats and the Obama administration increased federal “civilian full-time” labor force 273,000 in the last two years alone. That’s a whopping 14 percent! Think there’s a disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country? Go ask the people of Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has proposed draft Essential Standards in the Social Studies: Civics and Economics that ask students to use three Supreme Court cases (e.g. Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, or Korematsu v. U.S.) as support to explain how the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld rights against oppressive government.
It is never justified to equate abortion rights with segregation and ethnic discrimination. For many obvious reason, the situations are too dissimilar. Roe v. Wade created a woman’s right to an abortion. The case overturned 40 plus state and federal laws aimed at protecting the developing child in the mother’s womb by restricting a woman’s right to an abortion. Classifying the case as an example of oppressive government is a political statement and a gross misreading of history and law. Asking students to group the cases together is indoctrination of the worst kind. Upholding rights against oppressive government? This situation might be a better example for students to study.
How serious are politicians about fixing abuses within local Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) boards? Newspapers in Charlotte and Wilmington have highlighted local ABC abuses and have helped to propel the story. However, one wonders where the scrutiny was when the Program Evaluation Division (PED) of the North Carolina General Assembly released a report in December 2008. The report recommended that North Carolina:
Modernize the current alcohol beverge control system by defining the mission of local boards, providing the North Carolina ABC Commission with management tools for better oversight of boards and modifying outdated statutes for ABC store elections and purchase-transportation permits.
Clearly, the PED report highlighted some major problems and made signficant recommendations. Still reports don’t do much good if the General Assembly fails to act.
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Yesterday Chad Adams posted on allegations of insider trading concerning Law Enforcement Associates (LEA) by State Senator Tony Rand (D-Cumberland).
Among the allegations “…approximately 50 North Carolina Politicians, including former and present governors, who were personal friends of both Rand, and Carrington, its former owner. The list showed that those persons had purchased large amounts of LEA stock in 2004 and 2005.” Carrington refers to former State Senator John Carrington (R-Wake) who served with Rand in the state senate until 2005.
While there is no proof that any of the claims are true it is interesting to note that The News & Observer published a story confirming that Gov. Bev Perdue (D) and former Gov. Mike Easley (D) both purchased stock in LEA. Easley and Rand have had what appears to be a close relationship over the years including an interesting real estate deal uncovered by Carolina Journal’s Don Carrington.
Looking at the history of LEA as a stock shows that it has had a very low volume of trades except for a brief period in the 2004 – 2005 time period. Given that not many people trade the stock and it can be considered a penny stock, it will be interesting to see if a number of politicians with connections to Rand turn out to have invested in this rather obscure stock.
Looking for a stimulating discussion for a Thursday lunch? Tomorrow our friends at the Pope Center for Higher Education are sponsoring a Headliner Luncheon Panel Discussion to highlight a new report titled “The UNC School of the Arts: Should it be Self-Supporting?”. Panelists include the author of the report, Max Borders, Executive Editor of the Free to Choose Network. Borders argues that the high expense of the UNC School of the Arts ($24,943 per student) and lack of tangible benefits for North Carolina taxpayers makes a compelling case for privatizing arts education. John Hood, President of the John Locke Foundation and J.Peder Zane former Ideas columnist for the Raleigh News and Observer round out the panel. For additional information and to register.