Nerd News: I'd Like a Tall Mocha Frappuccino, No Whip, With a Shot of Arizona State University

Here's the news blurb:

Starbucks Corp. will provide a free, online college education to thousands of its workers, without requiring that they remain with the company, through an unusual arrangement with Arizona State University, the company and the university will announce Monday. 

The program is open to any of the company’s 135,000 US employees who work at least 20 hours a week and have the grades and test scores to gain admission to Arizona State. For a barista with at least two years of college credit, the company will pay full tuition; for those with fewer credits it will pay part of the cost. But even for many of them, courses will be free when government and university aid is included.

I expect ed bloggers and commentators to start a firestorm in 3 ... 2... 1 ...

Razing Arizona

The completely unnecessary mess in Arizona was an embarrassment to everyone.  This is as good an analysis as any:

In a doomed effort on a superfluous bill, Arizona legislators created a political disaster for themselves, short-term damage to the business community, massive fundraising and PR victories for the Left, and a national black eye for social conservatives. Not to mention a lovely media distraction from Obamacare. 

In fact, the whole thing was so awful that I'm tempted to hatch a conspiracy theory that those Arizona legislators were Democratic infiltrators and agents provocateurs.

Go West, Young Photographer

Check out these remarkable photos from the American West as it looked 150 years ago.

Geek Fun: Yet Another Hacked Traffic Sign

This one's from Arizona, and it joins the ranks of road signs warning of apocalyptic doom, zombies, and velociraptors.  I love these things!  (Oh, nearly forgot this gem from Down Under.)

"The Blood of Patriots": Jon Stewart on Tucson

Watch this.  All of this.  Especially after this.  Thank you, Jon.  The established media and political punditocracy lose their senses, and the only sensible, insightful man in the room is a comedian who takes a serious turn.

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Quote of the Day: In the Aftermath of Tucson

This sums up the excesses of both Right and Left in their response to the Tucson shooting:

How do you take one of the most shocking and revolting murder sprees in memory and make it even more disturbing? By immediately pouncing on its supposed root causes for the most transparently partisan of gains.

Read also this and this.  At least the public doesn't seem to buying the crazy media spin, which has been -- let's be honest -- pretty bad.  OK, really bad, as in Paul Krugman bad (via Insta-Prof).


UPDATE:  Watch this.

Nerd News: Arizona Bans Affirmative Action

Here's still another happy result of Tuesday's Election-a-palooza: the State of Arizona has banned affirmative action.  This includes public colleges and universities in the state.   Oh, I expect there will be the same usual sources and expressions of criticism, but that's fine by me.  I  hold to my long-held stance that affirmative action has now become (a) a tool of identity politics and demagoguery about "diversity," and (b) discriminatory in itself as a form of soft racism and even reverse racism.  

Checking IDs for Illegal Immigrants: Is This Arizona Or Mexico?

I haven't posted on the flap over the new Arizona law because everybody else has been frothing about it. But this is worth a look. The article appears in USA Today here.

Hypocritical much, Felipe Calderón? I'm just SAYIN'. You come to the US and criticize the Arizona law, and what are you doing at home?

Nerd News: Professor vs. Graduates at University of Arizona Commencement

I absolutely hate it when graduation speakers use their speech as a time to gab about whatever personal political hobbyhorse they like. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks Commencement speakers should simply say congratulations and step aside, not turn their speech into a political harangue.