Ian Underwood, Author at Granite Grok

The Second Law of Politics

November 7, 2023 Ian Underwood

Over the weekend, I attended the Save the Children rally at the statehouse. I made some brief remarks, which are approximated below. The envelope I’m holding here is labeled with an X. It identifies a government project, but we don’t know what it is. It’s to help some group of people, but we don’t know … Read more

George Clooney Shows the Way Forward

October 20, 2023 Ian Underwood

Recently, George Clooney and a bunch of other wealthy actors offered to pony up tens of millions of their dollars to help other, less-wealthy actors afford things like medical care, rent, and food while the Screen Actors Guild renegotiates its contract.

Don’t Give Up Before You Even Get Started

October 13, 2023 Ian Underwood

I was recently accused of ‘having a lot of good ideas that are impossible to get done’.

I’m glad that at least some people think they’re good ideas. But I’m sad that those people so often dismiss the ideas as being impossible.

The GOP is Private. It Should Act Like It.

October 11, 2023 Ian Underwood

There is a lot of talk just now about the difficulties that the GOP is having in keeping its primaries ‘closed’.

If I understand the issue correctly, the party leadership thinks that only people who have registered in advance as Republicans ought to be able to get a GOP ballot on the day of the primary.

Think statue in miniature Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Imagine, if you will…

October 9, 2023 Ian Underwood

Imagine, if you will, a government funded by user fees instead of by taxes.

Are you being defended? The defense department can send you a bill for that. Is Congress doing something for you? It can send you a bill for that.

If a Comment Drops at a Board Meeting, Does It Make a Sound?

October 8, 2023 Ian Underwood

Apparently, in Prince William County, Virginia, the school board has been looking for ways to cut down on the number of angry comments made by angry parents at their public meetings.

Freebie Markets

November 9, 2023October 7, 2023 Ian Underwood

There are people (including readers of GraniteGrok) who claim that a school choice program that is funded by taxes is a ‘free market solution’ to the problem of educating children.

Education: Some Rules for Changing the Rules

October 3, 2023 Ian Underwood

The following is an open letter to Frank Edelblut, Commissioner of Education, and Drew Cline, Chairman of the Board of Education, regarding a document that is making the rounds offering the public a chance to comment on proposed changes to the Ed Rules that govern public schools in New Hampshire. Dear Commissioner Edelblut and Chairman … Read more

By Civility, I Mean…

September 24, 2023 Ian Underwood

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recently said that while he doesn’t have a problem with differences of opinion, he feels that things have changed regarding the tone of conversations about education. In the past, he says,

Where is John Galt?

September 17, 2023 Ian Underwood

There’s a new fast food law in California. It raises the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 per hour.

Not for employees of other businesses. Just for those at fast food restaurants.

And not even all fast food restaurants. Just some of them.

Andy Sanborn – Scandal, or Normal?

September 3, 2023 Ian Underwood

It may be the case that Andy Sanborn applied for COVID relief money for a business that was not eligible for relief and lied on the application in order to get the money. If true, that would be scandalous.

Reading education sunset Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

The Granhattan Project: 95% Literacy By 2030

December 14, 2023September 2, 2023 Ian Underwood

For any enterprise to succeed, it has to take actions that will move it toward its goal. Perhaps more importantly, it has to say no to actions that won’t do that.

Crazy or Crazier? (Part 2)

August 8, 2023 Ian Underwood

Once in a while, we run across a situation where two people have opposing claims that can’t really be resolved through compromise or adjudication or mediation. We used to have a mechanism for dealing with this kind of situation: the duel. We’ve since outlawed the duel in favor of other resolution mechanisms, but it might … Read more

Occam’s Pronouns

August 5, 2023 Ian Underwood

After reading Skip’s post about xenopronouns, it occurs to me that a lot of people seem to be missing the point of pronouns. The essential function of a pronoun is to make it possible to talk about someone that you don’t know anything about, e.g., Whoever wrote this didn’t know what he was talking about, … Read more

Book books pages jonas-jacobsson-0FRJ2SCuY4k-unsplash

Banning AP Courses? As If.

August 4, 2023 Ian Underwood

Florida may have banned its public schools from teaching the AP Psychology course. That is, it may or may not be true that the course contains material that is prohibited by a recent law from inclusion in public school curricula. But this rather misses the point, I think. Or rather, a couple of important points. … Read more

SDGANH Conversation, Continued …

July 18, 2023 Ian Underwood

This is a continuation of Skip’s post, addressing Kevin Verville’s original email comments on my post and other comments made by people (whose identities will be kept private) who joined in on that thread. Thanks to everyone who did!

‘Impartial’ Means You Agree With the Government

July 17, 2023 Ian Underwood

The idea behind voir dire (which is French for jury tampering) is that a jury should be ‘impartial.’

An impartial jury is one that hasn’t already made up its mind, one that will be able to judge the facts of the case without having already pre-judged them.