Meet LA's Chinese American Gun Owners

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting report.

You may remember the experience of some Korean Americans in LA some time ago.

The Incredible Journey: From San Francisco to Anchorage

On the road again.  A taste of it here.

Nerd News: San Diego State Students Mix It Up Over Gaza

What I want to highlight is the fact that there is significant, thoughtful pushback from other students.

Nerd News: Race-Based Admissions at UCLA

Professor Whistleblower.

LOL: A Prank for the Principal

Take a look (and listen!) to what the seniors of Santa Barbara High School did.

Question: "Will Asians Kill Race Preferences in California?"

KILL THEM WITH FIRE.  Schadenfreudelicious phrase in the story: "spontaneous Asian-American backlash."  Let me tell you something, people: Do NOT screw with Asians with it comes to getting a good education.  (But what do I know, right?  According to all the race-preference academic crowds, I'm just a white girl.)

I Would Totally Hug This Tree

I make fun of treehuggers all the time, but this is no ordinary tree.  Save this gorgeous albino redwood, only one of less than a dozen of its kind!  IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE!

Nerd News: Asians vs. Affirmative Action in California

Again.  

As a friend once said, "Asians don't count.  You're too successful."  

Someone else not too long ago: "You don't count as a minority.  You count as a white person."  (Me: "You know that that was the same attitude in apartheid South Africa?")

Quote of the Day: Blue Model Implosion

From the mayor of San Jose, California:

"This is one of the dichotomies of California: I am cutting services to my low- and moderate-income people . . . to pay really generous benefits for public employees who make a good living and have an even better retirement."

Yeah, I'm sure this is going to turn out just awesome.

Movie Review: "At Berkeley," A Documentary On Higher Ed

Here's a movie review.

I'm Shocked ... SHOCKED: Californians Appalled By Rising Health Insurance Costs

Oh, yeeeeeeah, like we couldn't see this coming.  But apparently some Californians didn't.  Time to pay up, suckers.  Gullibility and stupidity are expensive, yo.  

Plus there's this precious little comment:

Although recent criticism of the healthcare law has focused on website glitches and early enrollment snags, experts say sharp price increases for individual policies have the greatest potential to erode public support for President Obama's signature legislation.

You don't say!

Nerd News: More Meaningless College Rankings

It's getting to the point where I basically don't even care anymore, but I keep posting these out of sheer dumb habit.  Here's the latest listing from Forbes.  According to that, Stanford and Pomona are on top of the nerd-heap.  Go and argue among yourselves.

Nerd News: The Comic and the Campus

Hey, at least the commencement speech would be funny:

In a November 27 Jimmy Kimmel Live episode, the titular host poked fun at the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research at HSU [Humboldt State University], jesting that to get into the school “you have to fail a lot of very rigorous drug tests.” He even included a parody promotional video that said prospective students could expect such exciting career options as pizza delivery, snowboard rentals, living in a van and selling friendship bracelets and patchouli oil, and Olympic swimming. Now the school wants the noted talk show host to visit the school and/or deliver the commencement speech.

Awesome: Dolphin Stampede

Take a look at this glorious scene off the coast of southern California:

A Letter to a Senator

Pithy and to the point.

I Can't Believe This Is Happening

What fresh hell is this?  Or this?  I confess to using language unbecoming a lady.

Law enforcement knocks on your door at midnight and hauls you away in handcuffs not because you committed an actual crime, but because you made a video.  

This happened in AMERICA.

UPDATE: The responses of two law professors - Glenn Reynolds and Ann Althouse.  On a related note, law prof Eugene Volokh argues that stuff like this will only lead to more violence.

Awesome: Insanely Gorgeous Rainbow

Feast your eyes!

Nerd News: Academic Conservatism by Liberal Instructors 1, Mushy Programs 0?

What do you think?

Nerd News: A Professor Ponders Cinco de Mayo

Not a Mexican import after all?

Holy Moly! Disney Really Does Have An Army of Killer Cats?!

Alessandra and I were just a teensy bit flabbergasted when we read this little write-up today about 10 Secrets from the Wonderful World of Disney.  Just look at #2, will ya?

Each night at Disneyland, after the sunburned families and exhausted cast members have made their way home, the park fills up again - this time, with hundreds of feral cats. Park officials love the felines because they help control the mouse population. (After all, a park full of cartoon mice is more enticing than a park full of real ones.) But these cats aren’t a new addition to the Disney family. They first showed up at Disneyland soon after it opened in 1955, and rather than spending time chasing them away, park officials decided to put the cats to work. Today, there are plenty of benefits to being a Disney-employed mouser. When they’re not prowling the ground, these corporate fat cats spend their days lounging at one of the park’s five permanent feeding stations. Of course, Disney also goes to great lengths to manage its feline population. Wranglers at the park work to spay and neuter adult cats, and any time kittens are found, they’re put up for adoption.

OK.  We had first heard about this feline army in a hilarious exchange between Conan O'Brien and a certain charming Canadian, and I frankly didn't think much about the cat story.  I kind of assumed it was mostly a shooting-the-breeze kind of half-joking story.  But apparently it's for real.  This thing about Disney's army of commando kitties is for serious.  Good Lord! ... Ryan, I'll never doubt you again.