Smart Talk #19
Republican candidate for North Carolina governor, Mark Robinson, is touting the advantages of industry apprenticeships as a possible alternative, for some students, to four-year schools. With college tuition continually rising, and far too many young graduates now burdened with often very large student loan payments (now becoming due again, following the three-year Covid pause), local technical schools offer two-year degrees and trades certifications over shorter study durations and at considerably lower tuition, plus the likelihood of lower costs overall by often being able to live at home while in school.
Said Campus Reform Higher Education fellow Nick Giordano: “A lot of parents out there are saying: ‘Should I invest (tens of thousands of dollars a year) for my child to be indoctrinated and, at the same time, not actually have any skills to actually build out the career that they need to sustain themselves?” And according to a recent study done by ‘Resume Builders,’ “one out of five college graduates are working in jobs that are unrelated to their college major, and roughly 40% of recent graduates are struggling to get a job after graduating.” There are other states besides North Carolina beginning to put a priority on trades apprenticeships. Noted Mark Robinson: “Those employers (offering apprenticeships) and those employees are a key to success in our state because we want folks to have great careers.”
And some really Smart news amidst this heavily ‘woke’ era we are all struggling through. North Dakota’s Republican Governor Doug Burgum recently signed a bill into law that “allows teachers at public schools and state government employees to refer to transgender people by their name and pronouns that correspond to their biological sex, rather than their gender identity.” OUTSTANDING ! In April of this year, this fine governor also signed bills “protecting women’s sports from biological male athletes who identify as transgender women.” Remarked one former female high school athlete recruited to play college sports: “I think if I had to compete against a male, I wouldn’t have been able to do all of the things that I was able to do.” Protecting women’s sports AND relieving the burden on teachers to have to play the game by juggling names/pronouns, rather than concentrating full-time on teaching and learning. Congrats to the North Dakota governor and legislature! Smart thinking for the citizens of their state.
And on that note of keeping fantasy men away from women’s sports, back in March, Wyoming became the 19th state to ban men from women’s sports. On the strange side, the state’s Republican Governor did not sign the bill, nor did he veto it, but rather simply allowed it to pass minus his signature. Bottom line: it’s now the law. Said the president of the American Principles Project: “Men cannot become women, period. However they identify, males will still retain the athletic advantages that come with their biological sex. It’s not at all draconian or discriminatory to limit girls’ athletics to girls; in fact, it’s simple commonsense.”
And speaking of emotions, feelings, and lack of commonsense in the woke world’s imaginary vision of multiple versions of gender, distinguished England biologist Richard Dawkins decries the bullying of author JK Rowling and others who adhere to the accurate and historic truth of only two genders: male and female. Stated Dawkins: “As a biologist, there are two sexes and that’s all there is to it.” Smart talk on a subject that should never have become controversial in the least, in more normal times and among more normal people.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill into law prohibiting “the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapies, or surgeries to treat gender dysphoria for anyone in the Sunshine State under the age of 18.” Mr. Biden commented: “Florida’s new rule is close to sinful. It’s just terrible that they’re doing. So, let’s see. Florida is preventing its citizens under age 18 from being permanently partially dismantled for the sake of woke gender worship, at ages when young males and females likely have no concept of the long-term impact of their transitional decisions. Said Governor DeSantis: “Children are not guinea pigs for science experiments, and we cannot allow people to make money off of mutilating them.” Smart legislation in Florida to keep from harming people too young to be making those potentially very harmful life-long decisions.
The most effective, continuously producing renewable energy source available today is nuclear power, now available in modular configurations. Many Americans don’t want to hear about, or even speak about, nuclear because it’s not woke. Finland, however, has smartly ignored the ever-irritating and ineffective wokies, and after a year of testing, has recently fired up Europe’s most powerful reactor, “by production capacity, boosting the Nordic country’s electricity self-sufficiency significantly.” This move is considered to “help Finland to achieve its carbon neutrality targets and increase energy security at a time when European countries have cut, oil, gas and other power supplies from Russia.” Smart move by Finland without one word about no longer needed solar or wind !
Meanwhile, in a decidedly un-smart move in Germany, the ‘Greenie’ government there has opted to shut down its remaining three nuclear reactors. “Such an end to nuclear in Germany is being celebrated by the country’s hardline political Left, with the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany holding a ‘nuclear phase-out festival’ in Munich to mark the occasion.” May the sun ever shine, and the wind forever blow, because, along with fossil fuels, that’s what Germany is now apparently banking on. Here’s the only positive: “Even if Germany shuts down its last nuclear power plants, ignoring science and the majority of voters(!), our nuclear power plants can be reactivated and can continue to supply clean electricity for many decades.” Smart alternative in reserve.
We’ll conclude this installment of Smart Talk with some Smart Questions, and a regrettable truth from Mike Rowe:
“Why is it that when archeologists find human remains, they always determine that they are either male or female, and none of the other hundreds of genders?”
“How is it that the government can’t control gasoline prices, but the weather is something they can fix?”
“Why is canceling student debt a good idea? Does it make sense to reward people who do not honor their financial commitment by taxing the people who do?”
“Are we living in a time where intelligent people are silenced so that stupid people won’t be offended?”
And, finally, this sad truth from Mike Rowe: “We’re (now) churning out a generation of poorly educated people with no skill, no ambition, no guidance, and no realistic expectations of what it means to go to work.”
(Fact Sources: Vocational apprenticeships as 4-year college alternative via justthenews.com, Charlotte Hazard, 5-10-23; North Dakota allows teachers to ignore woke pronouns via townhall.com, Madeline Leesman, 5-9-23; Wyoming bans men from women’s sports via breitbart.com, Spencer Londquist, 3-20-23; Dawkins’ only two sexes via breitbart.com, Kurt Zindulka, 3-21-23; Florida law limited the age of medical gender decisions via legalinsurrection.com, Mike LaChance, 3-19-23; Finland’s powerful nuclear reactor via newsmax.com, Associated Press, 4-16,23; Shutting down nuclear in Germany via breitbart.com, Peter Caddle, 4-15-23).