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Energy independence isn't the only issue; even if we get the clean coal and other newer energies the demand for electricity is far outpacing the growth in the industry. Just because you build a generating station doesn't mean you have the infrastructure of transmission. We will need to build the grid by 20% in the next decade; for every five substations there will need to be another one, for every five transmission lines there will need to be another one...
While striving to make the education system equal they HAVE lowered the bar significantly...it looks much better if everyone passes the test than if only 20% of the students do.
It's called NCLB..No Child Left Behind. Little did we know it meant to lower the standards to the lowest common denominator so that No Child was Left Behind.
Did you see the school teacher in Baltimore, MD who was attacked and beaten by a student on O'Reilly tonight? Thanks to liberals, teachers cannot do anything to defend themselves, kids who verbally assault teachers are not expelled, so their egos won't get hurt....
I did see that; it was disgusting. On top of that, people were suggesting that the teacher was to blame. Even worse, other kids cheered.
at that level though, who would ever go into politics except the already rich?
That is correct. When you look at the makeup if our higher level politicians, most of them are lawyers by trade. They are in the best position to be flexible with their time, and are in the best position to use a $1 a year job to influence agendas that will give them incredible wealth.
For those that live in a democracy, they should look first to themselves as responsible for their institutions of government. Ours is a democratic republic - a representative form of government - and if you will not stand for elected office and serve, then give your support to one who will serve the public interest. The least one can do is cast an informed vote: for what value is the franchise but its exercise? Indeed, it is a fundamental failure of democratic principle when elections are determined by apathy and ignorance. Second, we must make our representatives accountable under the law. America was founded as a nation of laws and not men. However, the law can be both used and abused by men; and so it is the duty and responsibility of every citizen to oversee those who make and enforce the laws and administer justice, lest our democratic institutions be made a tyranny over us. It is fitting that, in a democracy, the people should have the government they deserve.
Ultimately it most certainly lies in our hands as I am of the opinion that in the constructs of our government, that the people and the government are a reflection of each other and are in fact one in the same.
However, I would also add that there is a certain element of social engineering or public opinion guidance taking place within the media and also by corporate interests after all, they are merely glorified marketers. So along with the publics natural inclinations, there is a fair amount of external and directed influence also being exerted upon the population, even if they are not aware of it.
I suggest it would be a healthy thing for each American to ask themselves, what would be easier to manage, an entire large population of well educated, aware, and actively participating in the government and social process or one that is apathetic, indifferent, uneducated, unmotivated, and malleable? From a top down approach I would imagine that latter.
As many previous discussions relating to this, many ask what it would take to change this and what would be required to get people off their duffs and engaged. The only thing I can think of is difficult times or suffering. It is only in times of discomfort that people wish to change, after all, who wants to change things when times are good and plenty, even if they were corrupted?
It's called NCLB..No Child Left Behind. Little did we know it meant to lower the standards to the lowest common denominator so that No Child was Left Behind.
The problem is not with NCLB, the intent of which was to force schools into providing at least a minimally adequate education. One problem is with how schools have responded to NCLB. There's nothing in NCLB that requires schools to focus on the lowest common denominator, so why do schools do so? Why are schools unwilling to focus targeted, intensive instruction on their struggling students to raise their achievement - without holding everyone else back to those very low levels?
The other problem is that student achievement is actually much lower than indicated in our public schools' NCLB reports. States are allowed to construct their own NCLB tests and set their own 'passing' scores. This has resulted in manipulations that make it look like schools are performing well, when in reality the majority of students in many states are far below acceptable levels of proficiency. In some cases, there's as much as a 70 percentage point difference in proficiency levels between state achievement tests and the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) tests.
The article has been updated to include Bush's proposal to require schools to include NAEP results on their NCLB report cards so that parents can see if their state's public schools have been manipulating their standards tests and passing scores to deliberately mislead the public into thinking that their children are getting a better education than they actually are.
I look around me and what I see are people better feed and in nicer housing than when I was younger.But I also see people spending their money on flashy things;kind of like the beads they gave the indians in so many stories.I see more and more people who no longer know how to survive unless lead by the nose by government.People are volunteering to lose their independnce and freedoms to government because they want a advantage from government.But still it;'s the best place to be born and not be classified into a certain class at bitrth still.
The 24/7 news media play a gloom and doom game with all of us. Bad times equals high ratings for newspapers and news media outlets. There is way too much information being put out right now. Too much info is bad info. Imagine if they had 24/7 news back in the 1800s, you would of thought it was doomsday and the world was ending. Things in America are fine. People aren't starving. People have clothing.
The problems America face are inflation and a failing public school system.
If you want real problems, take a trip to China, Europe, Africa and many many other foreign places. There you will find true problems.
Great post! It's very sad when people have the privilige of living in the greatest country in the world, that affords the greatest opportunities for those willing to just work for it, listen to negative, "the sky is falling" news and believe it. The news media and the puppetmaster politicians play up the class envy angle which makes everyone believe that they don't have anything and are dirt poor. Throw in the failing public school system because that's how you control today's young minds when they get older. They all need the government to HELP them. They are not trained to be self sufficient. If people sit around listening to the crap that the news media puts out they do exactly what they do now; think the worst and complain that no one is helping them. Socialism is what is being bred and is what America is about to receive in a big way if Americans don't start waking up.
The Country needs to be rebuilt from the foundation up. The first brick in the foundation is the educational system. By the time most people graduate they cannot even think logicaly, they do not understand how money works, or even math for that matter, they do not understand the concepts that this country was founded on, or what made it great.
Agree wholeheartedly. When I recently purchased a small pack of brads for 99cents, the young clerk said the total came to $1.78. I said "This can not be right". He repied "It's sales tax".
There was no conception that a six percent tax on $0.99 cannot be $1.78. He also said "But that's what the calculator says."
I have a retired friend who worked for a bank. He said very few people in the bank understand the concept of compound iinterest. They could not figure it out if the computer went dead.
The other problem is that student achievement is actually much lower than indicated in our public schools' NCLB reports. States are allowed to construct their own NCLB tests and set their own 'passing' scores. This has resulted in manipulations that make it look like schools are performing well, when in reality the majority of students in many states are far below acceptable levels of proficiency. In some cases, there's as much as a 70 percentage point difference in proficiency levels between state achievement tests and the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) tests.
The article has been updated to include Bush's proposal to require schools to include NAEP results on their NCLB report cards so that parents can see if their state's public schools have been manipulating their standards tests and passing scores to deliberately mislead the public into thinking that their children are getting a better education than they actually are.
If you want to see your state's reported NCLB proficiency level vs. the NAEP proficiency level (to see if your public schools are providing an adequate education), check here: NAEP Researchcenter - NAEP and State Equivalent Percent Table
For each grade level, the first column lists the percentage of students scoring as proficient (meets or exceeds state standards) on the state test; the second column lists the percentage of students scoring as proficient on the NAEP (National test).
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