3.29.2006
Judge Barker ruled that “teachers ... do not have a right under the First Amendment to express their opinions with their students during the instructional period.”
3.20.2006
...
It’s Economics 101. The oil industry is run by a cartel, OPEC, and what economists call an “oligopoly”—a tiny handful of operators who make more money when there’s less oil, not more of it. So, every time the “insurgents” blow up a pipeline in Basra, every time Mad Mahmoud in Tehran threatens to cut supply, the price of oil leaps. And Dick and George just LOVE it.
Dick and George didn’t want more oil from Iraq, they wanted less. I know some of you, no matter what I write, insist that our President and his Veep are on the hunt for more crude so you can cheaply fill your family Hummer; that somehow, these two oil-patch babies are concerned that the price of gas in the USA is bumping up to $3 a gallon.
No so, gentle souls. Three bucks a gallon in the States (and a quid a litre in Britain) means colossal profits for Big Oil, and that makes Dick’s ticker go pitty-pat with joy. The top oily-gopolists, the five largest oil companies, pulled in $113 billion in profit in 2005 – compared to a piddly $34 billion in 2002 before Operation Iraqi Liberation. In other words, it’s been a good war for Big Oil.
...
It’s Economics 101. The oil industry is run by a cartel, OPEC, and what economists call an “oligopoly”—a tiny handful of operators who make more money when there’s less oil, not more of it. So, every time the “insurgents” blow up a pipeline in Basra, every time Mad Mahmoud in Tehran threatens to cut supply, the price of oil leaps. And Dick and George just LOVE it.
Dick and George didn’t want more oil from Iraq, they wanted less. I know some of you, no matter what I write, insist that our President and his Veep are on the hunt for more crude so you can cheaply fill your family Hummer; that somehow, these two oil-patch babies are concerned that the price of gas in the USA is bumping up to $3 a gallon.
No so, gentle souls. Three bucks a gallon in the States (and a quid a litre in Britain) means colossal profits for Big Oil, and that makes Dick’s ticker go pitty-pat with joy. The top oily-gopolists, the five largest oil companies, pulled in $113 billion in profit in 2005 – compared to a piddly $34 billion in 2002 before Operation Iraqi Liberation. In other words, it’s been a good war for Big Oil.
...
3.02.2006
(in case you were wondering, massachusetts state law stipulates that:)
For the purposes of this section, a Flesch scale readability score shall be measured as hereinafter provided:
(1) For policy forms containing ten thousand words or less of text, the entire form shall be analyzed. For policy forms containing more than ten thousand words, the readability of two two hundred word samples per page may be analyzed in lieu of the entire form. The samples shall be separated by at least twenty printed lines.
(2) (a) (i) The number of words and sentences in the text shall be counted and the total number of words divided by the total number of sentences. The figure obtained shall be multiplied by a factor of 1.015.
(ii) The total number of syllables shall be counted and divided by the total number of words. The figure obtained shall be multiplied by a factor of 84.6.
(iii) The sum of the figures computed under subclause (i) and subclause (ii) subtracted from 206.835 equals the Flesch scale readability score for the policy form.
(b) For the purposes of clause (a) the following procedures shall be used:
(i) A contraction, hyphenated word, or numbers and letters, when separated by spaces, shall be counted as one word;
(ii) A unit of words ending with a period, semicolon, or colon, but excluding headings and captions shall be counted as a sentence; and
(iii) A syllable means a unit of spoken language consisting of one or more letters of a word as divided by an accepted dictionary. Where the dictionary shows two or more equally acceptable pronunciations of a word, the pronunciation containing fewer syllables may be used.
Every policy form filed with the commissioner under this section shall be accompanied by a certificate stating the Flesch scale readability score achieved by such form.
For the purposes of this section, a Flesch scale readability score shall be measured as hereinafter provided:
(1) For policy forms containing ten thousand words or less of text, the entire form shall be analyzed. For policy forms containing more than ten thousand words, the readability of two two hundred word samples per page may be analyzed in lieu of the entire form. The samples shall be separated by at least twenty printed lines.
(2) (a) (i) The number of words and sentences in the text shall be counted and the total number of words divided by the total number of sentences. The figure obtained shall be multiplied by a factor of 1.015.
(ii) The total number of syllables shall be counted and divided by the total number of words. The figure obtained shall be multiplied by a factor of 84.6.
(iii) The sum of the figures computed under subclause (i) and subclause (ii) subtracted from 206.835 equals the Flesch scale readability score for the policy form.
(b) For the purposes of clause (a) the following procedures shall be used:
(i) A contraction, hyphenated word, or numbers and letters, when separated by spaces, shall be counted as one word;
(ii) A unit of words ending with a period, semicolon, or colon, but excluding headings and captions shall be counted as a sentence; and
(iii) A syllable means a unit of spoken language consisting of one or more letters of a word as divided by an accepted dictionary. Where the dictionary shows two or more equally acceptable pronunciations of a word, the pronunciation containing fewer syllables may be used.
Every policy form filed with the commissioner under this section shall be accompanied by a certificate stating the Flesch scale readability score achieved by such form.
