You've got to read this article about the failings of NCLB
http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2011/08/31/no-child-left-behind-a-conspiracy-against-public-education-that-too-few-called-out/
What is amazing is how hard educators have tried to meet these unrealistic expectations. It is testament to the character and ethics of the American Public School Educator. The same group who is being blamed and scapegoated by the politicians for all the failings of the public school system, in the past. These so called "failing schools" did not produce themselves. They are just a symptom of a crumbling societal infrastructure that has been infected with greed for the past 50 years.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
60 billion dollars to protect people who didn't even have chance to survive infanthood!
I just heard on NBC Nightly News that the US infant mortality rate has dropped to 41st in the world. Behind many Eastern European Countries and even Singapore. In the same broadcast it was also reported that 60 billion dollars was wasted on corruption, graft and incompetency in the Iraq and Afghanistan during the two wars. Before we were engaed in Iraq and Afghanistan, ten years ago, the US infant mortality rate was 29th in the world. Ironically, the US spends more money on pre -natal care than all but three other countries. My point here is not advocate more government spending on medical care, that's an argument for another day. Nor, am I criticizing America's war on terror. My point here is that awful lot money was spent in the past 10 years on medical care and defense and I don't know if we are any safer from terrorists and those same children we are trying to protect didn't even survive infanthood. Try to imagine if all the money we owe in the federal deficiet were actually spent properly on good prenatal care and efficient military operations and not skimmed by the middle men, politicians and all other sorts of corporate grifters that don't want to seem to pay there fair share in taxes? We have defeated a major international threat and would have had alot more children around to enjoy the protection that so many gave their life for. It defies expalnation as to why there is not more outrage at the lack of accountaabilty as to where this money went.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
American Facism a 21st Century Reality
See this article by Henry Wallace that eerily describes our current political, social and economic climate.
http://educatedrants.com/2011/03/08/the-danger-of-american-fascism/#more-61
I find the qoute below the most profound.
"The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power."
http://educatedrants.com/2011/03/08/the-danger-of-american-fascism/#more-61
I find the qoute below the most profound.
"The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power."
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Why do people not vote?
Because the two party system has failed the citizens of the US. The common man is no longer represented and the politicians do not need him to gain power. Both parties are bought and paid for by business, the military industrial complex as well liberal and conservative special interest groups that are well funded and can push their agendas.
Most recent elections have been won by candidates who had the most money and resources advertise. Much of this advertising is used to point out real or fictional flaws of the other candidates and their message. Which begs the question why would anyone vote for a candidate that they know nothing about? Because these political ads provide very little real information on what the candidate stands for or will do, we are left to make choice based on the same information we use choose commercial brand names from cars to blue jeans, slick advertising. People will respond to the must appealing message. Whether the message is the truth is of very little consequence to the candidate because unlike consumers, voters have very little recourse if the elected candidates actions do not match the campaign ads. Until the candidates term expires in two, four, or even six years. Incumbent elected officials do not fear reelection because once in office they are able to consolidate power and garner massive resources to all but guarantee another term. Term limitations at the federal, state and. local have helped with choice but as long as we only really have two political parties, elected officials tend to be able to replace themselves with clones belonging to the same political affiliation.
Many people vote, but become skeptical of the whole process, when their chosen candidate is found to be less than genuine. The political parties foster this because a large voter turn is a threat to incumbency, allowing the other party to gain power. Without any viable third party candidate to vote for the simple choice is "choose not to choose", which further divides and conquers the electorate. If this disenfranchised voter does become a none voter they will fall into the "the lesser of two evils" category. Voting for the candidate that is the least distasteful. The single voter has no real power in this political duality because while a candidate may claim that they have the best interests of the citizenry, they often only have the best interest of those entities that provide them resources to stay in power.
Most recent elections have been won by candidates who had the most money and resources advertise. Much of this advertising is used to point out real or fictional flaws of the other candidates and their message. Which begs the question why would anyone vote for a candidate that they know nothing about? Because these political ads provide very little real information on what the candidate stands for or will do, we are left to make choice based on the same information we use choose commercial brand names from cars to blue jeans, slick advertising. People will respond to the must appealing message. Whether the message is the truth is of very little consequence to the candidate because unlike consumers, voters have very little recourse if the elected candidates actions do not match the campaign ads. Until the candidates term expires in two, four, or even six years. Incumbent elected officials do not fear reelection because once in office they are able to consolidate power and garner massive resources to all but guarantee another term. Term limitations at the federal, state and. local have helped with choice but as long as we only really have two political parties, elected officials tend to be able to replace themselves with clones belonging to the same political affiliation.
Many people vote, but become skeptical of the whole process, when their chosen candidate is found to be less than genuine. The political parties foster this because a large voter turn is a threat to incumbency, allowing the other party to gain power. Without any viable third party candidate to vote for the simple choice is "choose not to choose", which further divides and conquers the electorate. If this disenfranchised voter does become a none voter they will fall into the "the lesser of two evils" category. Voting for the candidate that is the least distasteful. The single voter has no real power in this political duality because while a candidate may claim that they have the best interests of the citizenry, they often only have the best interest of those entities that provide them resources to stay in power.
Why today's parents are more cautious when sending their children out to play?
Why can't my kids play by themselves in our neighborhood the way I did when I was a kid?
Webb Smith, Amateur Philosopher
Parents in today's society are much more fearful of the hazards that are outside our doors. The reasons for this fear is twofold. The first reason is mass media proliferation. The second is the breakdown of internal societal authorities like the church, schools and organizations that closely regulated and controlled behaviors of individuals.
Over then past 25 years or so news media effect on the societies' psyche has increased exponentially. Today's parents are much more cautious than their parent's generation, when deciding on how much unsupervised activities they allow their children to engage in, outside the home. This abundance of mass media has brought to light several heinous crimes like kidnapping and murder etc. against children playing outside their home unsupervised. These crimes, of course, happened in past but parents were not as informed about their occurrence. This lack of information allowed parents to feel more secure and be less cautious when granting their children freedom to play in thhe neighborhood.
Today, there probably isn't a larger number of sociopaths that would perpetrate these heinous crimes on children. However, with the breakdown of traditional societal structures these dangerous individuals are no longer kept in check, leading to the occurrence of greater numbers of these crimes. Presumably, past generations of sociopathsm and criminals may have been influenced by the moral teaching of the church, more fearful of the criminal justice system and quite posibly more fearful of societal organizations like a white collar criminal syndicate. These structures were more able to inflict punishment for transgressions perpretrated, especially on children. This punishment may have lead some to keep themselves in check. If they didn't the societal structures could inflict harsh consequences. It possible that an organization like a crime syndicate might have been empowered to dispose of any individual who might have committed these especially brutal crimes against the most vulnerable of society.
In summation there is not more sociopaths in today's society, just more information about about their crimes. Though the number of these individuals hasn't increased in the past 50 years, it possible that the number of crimes committed has increased due to the decrease in societal reguators. It is these two factors that have made this generation of parents cautious and protective when it comes to alowing their children autonomy while playing outside the home.
Webb Smith, Amateur Philosopher
Parents in today's society are much more fearful of the hazards that are outside our doors. The reasons for this fear is twofold. The first reason is mass media proliferation. The second is the breakdown of internal societal authorities like the church, schools and organizations that closely regulated and controlled behaviors of individuals.
Over then past 25 years or so news media effect on the societies' psyche has increased exponentially. Today's parents are much more cautious than their parent's generation, when deciding on how much unsupervised activities they allow their children to engage in, outside the home. This abundance of mass media has brought to light several heinous crimes like kidnapping and murder etc. against children playing outside their home unsupervised. These crimes, of course, happened in past but parents were not as informed about their occurrence. This lack of information allowed parents to feel more secure and be less cautious when granting their children freedom to play in thhe neighborhood.
Today, there probably isn't a larger number of sociopaths that would perpetrate these heinous crimes on children. However, with the breakdown of traditional societal structures these dangerous individuals are no longer kept in check, leading to the occurrence of greater numbers of these crimes. Presumably, past generations of sociopathsm and criminals may have been influenced by the moral teaching of the church, more fearful of the criminal justice system and quite posibly more fearful of societal organizations like a white collar criminal syndicate. These structures were more able to inflict punishment for transgressions perpretrated, especially on children. This punishment may have lead some to keep themselves in check. If they didn't the societal structures could inflict harsh consequences. It possible that an organization like a crime syndicate might have been empowered to dispose of any individual who might have committed these especially brutal crimes against the most vulnerable of society.
In summation there is not more sociopaths in today's society, just more information about about their crimes. Though the number of these individuals hasn't increased in the past 50 years, it possible that the number of crimes committed has increased due to the decrease in societal reguators. It is these two factors that have made this generation of parents cautious and protective when it comes to alowing their children autonomy while playing outside the home.
What is "Why that's the way it is"?
What is "Why"? This blog is way for its author to express,document, and preserve answers to questions that the author asked over the course of the last several years. The answers are based essentially on opinions, research, experiences and other tidbits of knowledge and information the author has picked up on this journey of life. The answers are based the author's understanding of the questions and they may not be scientifically proven or foolproof and will often be onlyopinions. They are simply answers, from the author's perception of reality and what is seen through his lense as the human condition and the world we live in. The questions can will be but are not limited to politics, economics, history, psychology, sociology, and any other question that begs for an answer that helps the author explain why that the way it is. While this blog was developed for the author to explain the compelling questions that have puzzled him over the years. He would not be intellectually honest if he did not more than welcome comments and differing opinions and answers. So I invite all who are interested in answering why to join and try to make some sense world we live in.
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