We Failed This Generation

“Our Daddies won the war, then they came home to our moms
They gave 'em so much love that all us kids were born.”

They say the strongest steel is formed from the metal that has been hammered and folded the most.  If this is true the two generations that preceded the Baby Boom: The Greatest Generation, and the so called Silent Generation, were strong steel indeed.  The earliest of the Greatest Generation were born around 1901.  Their parents and grandparents were children of the Civil War.  They saw the end of the horse and the rise of the automobile.  (And we think the transition from Dial up to Broadband was a big deal).  They came of age during WWI, and were becoming adults at the start of the Great Depression.  By this time the weak and the lazy had been weeded out.  They knew hardship, they knew pain, and yet they believed in freedom.  After the attack on Pearl Harbor the whole generation went to war.  More death, more suffering, and the strong survived.  The group slightly behind them were children during the Depression, too young to go and fight, they are called the Silent Generation.  They saw and dealt with, as children all the things their older brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles went through.  They also knew hardship and pain, and loss.  They lost family during the war, they dealt with the rationing at home, they read the news reports, and watched the news at the theater.
These two generations are probably the toughest ever born in our nation.  They had inner and outer strength and they were patriotic and knew America held a special place in the world.  They were also the first generation of Americans who were wealthy enough to be able to give their kids the things they did not have as children.  Our culture became very Child-centric.  If the returning soldiers could have been warned that they needed to guard their families every day from the cultural rot that would take place in the schools and if they would have talked to their chidren about why they fought in the war and what it meant the story would be different.  But it seems many of them chose to just move on with their lives and shield their children from the evils of tyranny.  I recently heard of a man who waited 37 years to tell his family what he did in the war and what it meant to him.  He was a Silver Star recipient and knew first hand the evils of Statism.

“We all grew up on Mickey Mouse and hula hoops.
Then we all bought BMW's and brand new pick-up trucks.
And we watched John Kennedy die one afternoon.
Kids of the Baby Boom.”

But if the strongest steel comes from being forged under pressure, what does that say about the steel that never was put through the trials and heat?  Their parents seeking a better life for their kids than the ones they had gave them more than any generation of children before had ever had.  It was a time of stupendous growth in the USA.  Suburbs were born, many families had two cars, food was bought at the store, and nearly everyone had a television and a phone.  People took vacations on the new highways that were built.  Route 66 became famous.  RVs were invented.  People began to use Dishwashers, & Clothes Washers, we put a man on the moon.  It was magical.

“It was a time of new prosperity in the USA.
All us fortunate offspring never had to pay.
We had sympathy for the devil and the Rolling Stones.
Then we got a little older, we found Haggard and Jones.
A generation screaming for room.
Kids of the Baby Boom.”

The Baby Boomers, and the mini-generation behind them, the so called Generation Jones, grew up in a culture, the speed of advancement and wealth of which had never been seen before in the world.  Then we were drawn into the Vietnam Conflict and these kids were called upon to go and fight as their parents and grandparents had done.  The stated goal was to contain Communism, but the threat to our society was intangible to most and the war was fought literally from the oval office.  Many of their parents were shocked that their kids would question answering the call.  They would have never done so.  But these kids were different and most assuredly this war was different.  We won it on the battlefield and lost it in public opinion and the media.  All of this of course spawned the counterculture, the summer of love, Woodstock, “I’m OK, You’re OK”; Tuning in and Dropping out, Free Love, Open Society, the SDS & The Port Huron Statement,  The Black Panthers, & the Weather Underground. 
And the communists and socialists smiled. 
People began to fear the government instead of the other way around.  The Culture had changed, moral relativism and a turning away from core beliefs had begun.  History was seen as irrelevant at best, and untrue at worst.

“Kids of the Baby Boom,
We have freedom, we have money.
Baby Boom, here in the land of milk and honey.
Counting our chickens way too soon.
Kids of the Baby Boom.
Now we all can run computers and we all can dance.
We all have Calvin Klein written on our underpants.
And at 6 o'clock like robots we turn on the news.
And watch those third-world countries deal out more abuse.
Remember the first man on the moon.
Kids of the Baby Boom.”

The economy turned sour, the middle east began to be a concern, terrorism began its rise.  The cold war was in full swing and the Boomers and The Jones’ began having their babies.  Reagan was elected.  The economy got better, a new time of prosperity in America.  They thought they had seen hardship because of the Gas Crisis and Stagflation.  Boomers are known as being a bit self involved.  It was the generation where Sociology and Psychology really came to prominence. Self-Esteem was born as a concept. Their children grew up at the Dawn of MTV (as opposed to now, where MTV is dead; youtube taking its’ place) .  We of Generation X grew up as children of the hippies.  We lived in a very real time of fear of communist takeover and nuclear war.  Our generation was the first raised by divorced parents, where both parents worked outside the home, we were left alone much of the time.  The television and the Atari, later NES, were our baby sitters.  Computers began to be used in the home.  We grew up watching movies from the video store.  We are the so-called latch-key kids.  The drugs and the music that a lot of the kids of this generation were hooked on seemed far less fun and happy than the drugs and the music of their parents.   Schools were pressured to discontinue punishing students and parents wanted teachers to “like, quit hassling my kids, man”. 
The kids born to the X generation wanted to be friends with their kids more and more instead of being parents.  Competition began to be seen as something less than good.  Political Correctness began its’ march to prominence.  Teachers began to teach to tests.  A generation of students raised under the Great Society Welfare Boom, did their own version of “dropping out.”   We quit saying the Pledge, and Prayer was outlawed in school.  Being a Christian began to carry a stigma.
Things like “New Math” and “Small Group work” (little more than music circles themselves) took over from “Readin’, Ritin, and Rithmatic”.
Children were no longer held back for failure, indeed by the end of the Nineties, there was almost no way to actually Fail.  College began to be seen not as something to aim for, but something that was expected.  A Degree was turned from something indicating a certain level of learning to a “gimme a job” certificate.  Teachers were encouraged not to use red ink because it was hurtful to self esteem.
Gen Y went through high school, (the ones that went, and the ones that were not already being home or private schooled) under this system. 
Now, Gen Y is having children. 
A generation of kids who had little clear direction and parental guidance, who all got ribbons and trophies just for being on a team that they didn’t even try out for having kids.
But the kids aren’t stupid, they are ignorant.  They were raised believing lies and half truths peddled by the spin doctors of the liberal media, the liberal education system and the nanny state.
Thus is the state of Education in this country,  and the failure is not the kids’ failure to learn.  It is the older generations failure to teach and guide.  It is the Boomers, Jones and X’s not understanding proper role of  government and the importance of character.  It is an increasingly liberal government subsidizing birth rates, divorce, and encouraging welfare and dependency.  
We have lost our way; and we haven’t really given our kids a map.  If our society’s light goes out, it will not be their failure, but ours.

The Value of "Stuff"

Education...In a nutshell, education is the future prosperity or destruction of this country. Yet our education system is failing. People on the left claim we don't "invest" enough of our tax dollars in education and if we simply tripled the education budget, all problems would be solved. People on the "right" claim that the real problem is the material we are using to teach with. That is a symptom, but not the root cause of the problem. The real problem with education is that we have made it a so called "right". Education is free for all and everyone gets an opportunity to attend school. Now, there are countries in Asia and Africa where families would kill to get their children just the opportunity to learn to read, meanwhile, in many inner cities the dropout rate is well over 50%. Why is that?

The answer is simple, and BHO's financial policies have demonstrated that answer perfectly. By flooding the world market with US dollars, they have become so easy to come by that they are losing their value. Money is a commodity and therefore people want it. We must make education a commodity as well and that means putting an end to the free ride education system. A child's education must be something of value in society. It must be of value to the parents as well as the children.

Question: How much value does something have in society where not only is it given away for free, but it becomes mandatory for people to take it, whether they want it or not?

The answer is none.

The solution is to make education something to fight for. Make education something to earn. Privatize the schools and allow them to compete. Give large tax incentives to low income parents of children who excel in school. Force parents to actually take the time to actually bring their children to and from the school they attend rather than sticking their children on free public bussing, after all, parenting is a responsibility, not a right. Set up different types of schools for children with different abilities. Above all, parents must have final say so in subject matter taught when it comes to moral, social and religious issues. One reason parents no longer take interest in their children's educations is that they are given no say whatsoever in what or how their children are taught. The problem with the Bush "no child left behind act" is that it should have been labelled the "no child gets ahead act" because that is how it, and the education system in general is set up. Rather than making an education system that is nothing more than a one size fits all production line, we must tailor the education system to the individual needs of individual students or the society based on individualism that we have come to love will be lost to the circular file of history.

One last thing, the same thing will happen to our healthcare system that is happening with our education system if those who want to destroy our country succeed in implementing obamahealthcaredestruction. Nobody in this country will even care about going to a doctor because it will be as tedious as the dmv and as useless as our education system.

WWRD(What Would Reagan Do) about Wisconsin?

We will get to that, but first some background on what has happened in Wisconsin.

Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin has proposed rolling back state workers’ benefits and their right to collective bargaining to help bridge Wisconsin’s budget deficits. But Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate have fled the state, leaving that chamber short of a quorum, and the state Capitol in Madison has become the site of protests against Walker’s plans. Over 40% of Madison WI public school teachers staged a “Sick Out” day in protest. 

State law prohibits public school teachers from striking. So did Wednesday's "sick-out" by Madison School District teachers constitute an illegal strike?

No, said John Matthews, Madison Teachers Inc. executive director, who called the event "a political action," not a strike.

"They're not protesting against their employers," he said. "The employer had nothing to do with this. This is trying to save public education in Wisconsin."

Madison school officials didn't respond immediately Wednesday to requests for comment.

Peter Davis, legal counsel with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, which administers the state's collective bargaining laws, declined to say whether the action — in which 40 percent of the Madison union's 2,600 members called in sick as of late Tuesday — amounted to a strike since his organization could be called on to make that judgment in any complaint against MTI.

But in general, Davis said, a strike includes any concerted work stoppage by municipal employees, any concerted interruption of operation of services, or any concerted refusal to work or perform normal duties for the purpose of enforcing demands on a municipal employer.

 

So the head of the bloodsucking union says it is not a strike But the law would seem to suggest differently.  Well as I have always said History has the answers:

On August 3, 1981 nearly 13,000 of the 17,500 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) walked off the job, hoping to disrupt the nation's transportation system to the extent that the federal government would accede to its demands for higher wages, a shorter work week, and better retirement benefits.  At a press conference in the White House Rose Garden that same day, President Reagan responded with a stern ultimatum: The strikers were to return to work within 48 hours or face termination.  As federal employees the controllers were violating the no-strike clause of their employment contracts.  In 1955 Congress had made such strikes a crime punishable by a fine or one year of incarceration -- a law upheld by the Supreme Court in 1971.  Nevertheless, 22 unauthorized strikes had occurred in recent years -- by postal workers, Government Printing Office and Library of Congress employees, and by air traffic controllers who staged "sick-outs" in 1969 and 1970.

Negotiations between PATCO and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began in February 1981.  PATCO president Robert Poli demanded an across-the-board wage increase of $10,000/yr for controllers whose pay ranged from $20,462 to $49,229; the reduction of a five-day, 40-hour work week to a four-day, 32-hour work week; and full retirement after 20 years service -- a package with a $770 million price tag. The FAA began work on a contingency plan that would go into effect if a strike occurred.

There wasn't much support for the PATCO strikers.  The public sided with the government and exhibited little sympathy for individuals whose earnings were already well above the national average.   PATCO leaders were hauled off to jail for ignoring court injunctions against a strike.  The Justice Department proceeded with indictments against 75 controllers.  Federal judges levied fines amounting to $1 million a day against the union while the strike lasted. Over 11,000 strikers received their pink slips, while 1,200 went back to work within a week's time.  Morale among the strikers was shaky. "I thought Reagan was bluffing," lamented one controller.  In October the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO.

According to journalist Haynes Johnson, the decisive manner in which Reagan handled the PATCO strike convinced many Americans that he was "the kind of leader the country longed for and thought it had lost: a strong president" -- in sharp contrast to the widely-held view that Reagan's predecessor, Jimmy Carter, had been too indecisive.  Reagan stressed that he derived no satisfaction from sacking the controllers.  He pointed out that he was the first president to be a lifetime member of the AFL-CIO.  And he was aware that PATCO had been one of the few unions to support his presidential bid.  "I supported unions and the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively," he wrote in his memoirs, " but no president could tolerate an illegal strike by Federal employees."

SO…

I think Walker is doing the right thing, and likely not being tough enough.  I am not a lawyer, but what about passing a temporary executive order allowing vouchers so parents could send their children to private schools?  Take the money from the school system and let the parents use it to educate their kids elsewhere. 

This has nothing to do with “Saving Public Education”  this is simple union thuggery.  As for the lawmakers who refuse to return, subpoena’s should be issued and they should be forcibly brought back to the capitol.  Not sure about Wisconsin but that is legal at the federal level.

-KOOK

The Difference between Sympathy and Empathy

 Closing Guantánamo Fades as a Priority - NYTimes.com

The above linked article from the NYT discusses how support for the plan to close the prison at Gitmo went from having a slight majority of support on inauguration day, to nearly 60% majority for keeping it open by March.  Certainly the failed bombing attempt in Times Square has increased the support for keeping terrorists off our soil and stirring up the anger levels again.  But I believe there is more to it than that.

The Moonbat plan was to close camp Xray and move all the prisoners to some civilian prison on US soil.  Several Liberal Lawmakers made political hay out of the plan by saying that they would be glad to house the terrorists in their states.

I think that is where things began to falter for the hope’n’change crowd.  It went from theory to reality.

“close gitmo!, no military tribunals!, civil rights!”  “close gitmo!, no military tribunals!, civil rights!” “Bush  Lied, people died!”

 

  “We are bringing them to your city”

 

 

“close gitmo!, no military trib….no…wait, what?  near my home and my children? In my community?  No, I want Gitmo closed but I don’t want them in my backyard.”

There is the real break in the mental processes that separates logical, pragmatic, realistic, liberty loving, constitutional libertarian thought from  impassioned, emotional, irrational, illogical moonbat ‘thought’. 

When the argument for closing Xray went from some theoretical exercise where the terrorists would be housed out of sight and out of mind, and the libtards could feel that they were being morally superior and all goody- goody, safe in the knowledge that Khaled Sheikh Muhammed was being treated with Kid gloves, but far far away from them; to theoretically being held within 30 miles of their homes with underpaid and undermotivated civilian guards the whole thought experiment was made real.

This is something I have expressed before.  When any of the Liberals pet issues is put into a perspective where it would actually affect them, the tune suddenly changes.  They move from Sympathy to Empathy.   Sympathy for the perceived situation, to empathy with how actually being in the situation feels.

Other cases in point:  Many are against hunting, feeling as though it is animal cruelty.  In several cities suburban hunting permits for deer are issued to well qualified archers.  There is usually the obligatory protest of people wanting to “live with Nature” until a deer runs into the side of their Hummer H3 and dents it all up.  Then there is the chorus of “kill bambi” which reinforces what farmers and ranchers have known all along, Man and Animal can coexist, as long as both sides are controlled.  Fact: Deer are hard on crops, fences, and automobiles and until the Sympathy for Deer becomes Empathy with someone who has had the beejesus scared out of them and cost them a few thousand bucks in auto repairs by a suicidal deer, it is not “real” to some people.   

Take Arizona and the illegal immigration debate as an example; it is very easy for a senator from a northeastern state, or someone who lives in a gated community far removed from the border to denounce what the citizens of Arizona have been clamoring to have for years.  Arizona needs to secure the border it shares with a foreign country because there is a serious crime wave going on down there and no one but Arizonans are going to do anything about it.  Arizona has no hope to stop the crime wave if they cannot control the free movement of foreigners back and forth across their border.   Now, if one of Nancy Pelosi’s grandkids was kidnapped by a foreign invader from mexico, do you not think that immigration reform would suddenly find its way onto the House Calendar?  It is like the old west in southern Arizona now, with the criminal element coming into the state to commit its’ crimes and then hightailing it back across the border, like Pancho Villa or something.

I remember when I was younger there was a huge debate in Missouri regarding “bussing”.  Many rural and suburban schools were predominately White, and many inner city schools were predominately Black.  This was obviously (to democrats) a problem.  In support of this was the fact that inner city schools performed more poorly than those of the suburbs.  Now, I firmly believe that the real source of the problem is not Race, but one of culture. There is nothing inherently inferior about anyone’s skin color or ethnicity. 

But I can take any child and ignore them, never teach them right from wrong, show them that might always makes right, that society “owes them something”, and turn them into the perfect weapon of self destruction. 

The solution was to spend huge amounts of taxpayer money on “bus-ing”  white kids to inner city schools and black kids to Suburban schools.  I would have argued that the lower test scores and higher dropout rates in the cities was not related to race at all and would have probably spent the money on some sort of job creation, community outreach, and parenting classes for families in those areas where performance was suffering.  But that is not what happened, does anyone care to guess or remember the result?  Performance of both types of schools went down, violence went up, and parents got angry.   Once the feral kids who were (un)raised by people succored from the government teat were introduced into schools where more parents took an active role in their children’s education everyone suffered.  The issue was not because some kids were black and some were white,  it was because a majority in one group were effectively tutored in how to be a productive member of society, and a majority of the other group were raised as though in the wild.  This whole issue went from being a sympathetic thought experiment in forced diversity, to an empathetic real world experience of what happens when children who have never been taught how to behave in society mix with less violent ones who were raised by people who believe that you can socially engineer the demographics of a city. 

One more short example:  Two years ago there was a huge sympathetic outpouring of support for a little known Freshman Senator from Illinois to become The President of the United States.  He promised Hope, and Change.  People said, “just give him a chance.”  The sentiment was one of sympathy for his message, and the historic nature of  half black man as president.  Now that we have moved into an empathetic situation of dealing with he and his friends’ policies more and more people agree with those of us who said that he had no executive experience, had questionable judgment in choosing friends and associates, and no more cared about the rights of  the oppressed or the economic opportunities of the poor than any other Despotic ruler throughout history, irrespective of his genetics.  Popular sentiment is now changing.  But that is ok, society forgets these lessons every two generations or so.

-KOOK

My 2 Cents, POTUS, TOTUS, States Rights, Education, The Whole Stinking Mess.

 

Okay folks, if you have not seen the photo yet, it is everywhere.  Yes, yes, it is true.  The POTUS needs TOTUS to stay on message when talking to 11 year olds.  Those on the defense point out that the press was there too, well sure it was, he wouldn’t go into a PUBLIC school if there wasn’t a PR Opportunity to be had. And Clifton at Another Black Conservative is right on the money as usual.  Big O has no substance, he is a product of a machine in a way we have not seen since the bad old robber baron days.  At any rate I want to comment on one part of the story.  For other commentary please read any of the fine sources at the bottom of the post, or many others that are out there.

What I want to focus on is the State’s Rights issue here, as well as the quality education that our kiddos deserve.  It really is easy to understand and see things for what they are when you understand what the broader goal for the left is.  They always say it is for the children, but clearly it is not.  If money was the solution to why we are ‘sucking hind teat’ among the nations of the world for education, don't you think by now that we would have fixed it?  Money is NOT THE ISSUE and MORE will not fix it.  The issue IS the federal standards.  I come from a long line of teachers. Two grandparents, an Aunt, and Uncle, 5 Cousins, and more, all teachers.  From IL, TN, MO, and TX, they all sing the same tune.

This started when I was a youngster.  We all did the achievement tests, I do not remember when I was in Elementary School spending time learning the test, but by the time several administrations policies had taken their toll and High School rolled around, we were spending weeks specifically practicing for the test.  Well, I gotta ask the obvious question, are we training kids to take tests or to THINK?  Obviously we are training them to put little black dots in little circles on paper…push the button KOKO get a bannaner…

Here is the reality of all the crappy federal regulations that have happened starting in the Sixties.  Step 1. The IRS takes money out of the hands of producers that could be spent locally and sends it to Washington. Step 2. The Fed sets an arbitrary performance standard for curriculum across this nation from Maine to Hawaii, and Alaska to Key West.  Encompassing all the flavors of the rainbow and cultures that we possess.  Step 3. States are set to compete for the dollars by meeting these standards.  Step 4. Individual school districts, beholden to the Federal and States for the dollars removed from individuals and businesses in their districts, must compete amongst themselves for the dollars apportioned to the states.  Step 5.  Through entitlement programs, and the general moral decay of our society, along with the rampant PC and lack of discipline applied to our children, parents do not parent, and children are increasingly apathetic towards learning. Step 6. Teachers, needing their careers, and under pressure from their administration for results, begin to teach little Johnny and Little Susie how to answer test questions, similar to monkeys in some sociology experiment, instead of how to use their BRAINS.  Step 7: as performance standards outstrip the children’s actual ability to remember and regurgitate infonuggets schools resort to really ridiculous ways of propping up their scores in a downward spiral of ignorance. Throw in laughable standards for a teaching certificate, Teachers unions, and Smarmy politicians and voila, a McDollar Menu Education  on a Filet Mignon budget.

We do not let teachers teach, and we do not provide a basis for our children’s future, because we have turned teaching into a race for federal hog slop.  And it goes without saying that Obama’s plan will hasten the further degeneration of the actual quality of children’s education further.  Why?  Because we should not try to teach all the kids in this nation the same thing on the same day at the same hour.  That is what makes things meaningless. Even making the State’s Rights argument doesn’t go far enough.  I feel strongly, and logic supports me, that curriculum should be decided on a district by district level.  I would settle for State by State, but even in Missouri there are wide cultural variances regarding not only what, but how kids should be taught.  One size never ever fits all, and in this case, most lose out.

Some of the greatest minds in history were self educated, or educated in one room schoolhouses.  We do not need 20 million dollar high schools with laboratories rivaling that of pharmaceutical research companies, and gymnasiums that look like something from ESPN.  We need to teach the three R’s , Readin, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmatic.   I have done posts previously that demonstrate from the local level that our schools are horrible, the local one here averages something like 20 hours a week of potential instructional time to Jr. High kids.  What they are learning in 7th grade I learned in 5th, what I learned in 5th my parents learned in 4th.  I was taught Phonics and Greek and Latin root words and taught to look at context. When I see a word I have not encountered I can make a reasonable guess at how it is pronounced and probably its’ general meaning.  Children today are taught words by rote memorization and “sight words” nonsense hogwash garbage.  We still teach math all wrong to kids, my grandparents can do as much math in their heads as I can do with a calculator and forget giving me a pencil it is a waste of time. When I was a kid in Texas we learned Texas history, and when I moved to Missouri, we learned Missouri history.  When I got to High School I learned World History, up to the Vietnam War. Guess what, forty years since Vietnam, and kids learn up to the Vietnam War.  The color of the houses of the natives to the Indian Subcontinent are not as relevant to our kids as what happened since Vietnam, yet, that is part of the curriculum.  And yellow, if you are wondering, all the houses were yellow, and they all disappeared and no one knows why.  Riveting isn’t it? 

If we focused on teaching people how to THINK and then Inspired them to do so and gave them direction we would be way better off than trying to cram useless facts into their head without giving them any context.  This is how the Ignorance is spread folks.  This is why kids worship Che.  This is why we are losing.  If we win the battle on Healthcare, and that is a big IF, then we will have to win Immigration on our terms to turn the tide.  Then, in order to actually win, Education reform is the battlefield we will win it on, and it will take two generations, or we are pretty much shot as far as I see it.  Local People, teaching their Kids, at the Local level, lessons that are relevant to them.  Let’s teach our kids to Read. To Learn. To Question, and to THINK. 

Photo h/t Left Coast Rebel

via: Another Black Conservative

Via: Gateway Pundit

Via: The Reihl World View

-KOOK

Do Schools Even Try?

All I want to know is, what is the point anymore with the schools?  When I was a kid, which was not so terribly long ago, we got out on real holidays and for severe snow and ice.  That was it.  I seem to remember maybe getting out early for parent-teacher conferences.  When a kid in my class had a birthday, we had a little birthday party.  On Valentines we played games.  There was about one field trip and two school assemblies a year.  We were out for Spring Break and for Summer Break and Christmas and New Years. We got a long weekend at Thanksgiving. I have no National Statistics, only my own anecdotal observations based on what my niece tells me, and things like the school calendar.  

I count 200 weekdays in the school schedule.  Subtract 10 days of Xmas = 190 days.  Subtract Three days Thanksgiving= 187.  Subtract 3 Federal Holidays= 184. Subtract four days Spring Break =180. Subtract 3 Teacher Work Days =177.  They are missing almost a month of regular school time.  There are 12 early out days, in which class periods are 31 minutes.  Days with activities receive shorter class periods as well.  A normal “period” is now only 47 minutes.  That is three minutes shorter than when I was in school.    According to my math, and only estimating the number of “activity schedule days” kids get an average of 26 hours of class time a week, while they are in supposedly in school an actual 35 hours a week. By the time the bell rings, the teacher walks in, takes roll, etc, how much actual class time do you think these kids get?  They have effectively shortened the school week to 4 days.  No wonder our kids are learning less.  Forget quality of instruction, that is getting the cart before the horse, they first have to BE there long enough or often enough to actually learn something.

 

 

 

 

-Kook

So Where Do I stand on the issues?

My partner in crime asked Where do you Stand on issues the other day, and it is a great question. I started to answer just to clarify MY positions and it got too long for the comment section.


When I started this blog I would have to say I thought I was what commonly passes for Republican these days. The more I have discussed and aired my thoughts here and studied and read, the more I realize I am Constitutionally Libertarian. So in a nutshell here is my stance on the issues:
Fiscal Policy - Leave us alone. Free Market Capitalism is the way, the truth, and the light when it comes to fiscal policy. The government is the problem not the solution. Audit the Fed, Get rid of the Fed.

Freedom of speech - this means freedom of all speech even that which we disagree with and do not like or that which makes us uncomfortable. This means Fox news and even MSNBC news.



Freedom of Religion- not freedom from, even those ideologies that we do not agree with , as long as those people believing those ideologies can live peaceably with us and not blow up our planes, trains, automobiles, and buildings, or Kill our kids. Free to choose any religion, even none, realizing that this nation was founded on strong Judeo Christian traditions.



Second Amendment - Leave us Alone. It is plainly said in the constitution and there is a reason why. I have perfect gun control thank you: the ability to hit the target, and a good two hand weaver stance.


Abortion- LIFE, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Duh. I do not know exactly where life begins, but in lieu of knowing I will side with Life. It is totally illogical to be pro-abortion and anti-KFC


Taxes - will never be low enough.


Entitlements - breed cultures of dependency and need to be slowly and methodically scaled back and controlled. OASDI will not be there when I need it anyway, start letting me pay for my ancestors as well as save for MY future.


Anthropogenic Climate Change - Good story, right up there with Hansel and Gretel and the Three Little Pigs. All three are to get children and mental midgets to do something someone else wants them to do.




Wars- IF...IF, they are important enough to fight, fight hard, win decisively and come home quickly. Strike fear into the enemies heart and break his will to wage war and you won't have as many people trying to start stuff with you.


UN - keep them here and keep an eye on them, but never take them seriously.




Immigration - I am for all the LEGAL immigration we can stand. I am in favor of making it easier to obtain work authorization. But the line forms over there and no cutting, the rest of you go back the the end of the line, cross our border illegally again and we will shoot you.


Education - leave my damn kid alone, you can't run the post office, DMV, balance a checkbook, read a bill, tell the truth, obey the law, or pay your taxes. Leave my Kid alone. Vouchers are a good idea, let parents vote with their feet, and their school tax dollars. Then the schools that PERFORM will SUCCEED.


Unions- there was a time, fifty years ago, when Unions were a good thing. Now they are just PACs and Criminal Organizations that feed off of hard working people like a tick. They need to go the way of the dodo.



Healthcare - Leave me alone. Tort Reform, Entitlement reform, EMS reform, less insurance restrictions. That would help healthcare. What the Fed wants to do is not about healthcare or health insurance but about consolidating control and power.


Energy, for heaven’s sake drill here, drill now. All the Cars running on wishful thinking is not going to happen this decade or probably in the next two. So let's quit running ourselves into bankruptcy and prevent our economy grinding to a halt. Let's stop funding those entities which do not have our best interests at heart. Let's create some jobs in this country. No Smart grid, that is just like Government Healthcare, a joke and lever of control. Build some Nuclear power plants, they are good enough for China and France, why are they not good enough for us?
-Kook

American Exceptionalism – Back to Basics Recap

I did a series of posts this week that have received some fairly high praise. It all started with The Story of Stuff, A disgusting little propaganda piece cooked up by TidesAcornSEIUApolloSoros’ propaganda machine and shown to school children in many places.  Sorry to say it is pretty popular.   It hits pretty much all of my buttons: Nanny statism, Eco weenieism, Subversion of our Youth, and Anti Capitalism. Take a good dose of that and add to it the Obama "American Apology" World Tour.  Throw in a little bit of "America is a downright mean country" and you pretty much get where I am coming from with these posts. 

America is an exceptional nation. Exceptional in all recorded history. So, read these posts, not because I am a particularly great writer (I know I am not), or because I know something others do not, I just find out when I do not know. But because this information needs to be shared, read these posts and if you like them or any part of them, use them. It is not as though these ideas are new, they are not, and few ideas are;  but they are vitally important to understand.  They are vitally Important for our Children to understand. Many of you may not remember that cartoon pictured above. But it is/was emblematic of this whole problem.  In the early 90’s this show ran for a few seasons.  Captain Planet and the Planeteers.  I was in Jr. High.  I knew it was crap then. This is about when the subversion of our kids began in earnest.  Children of the 60’s were having their kids, kids who are now in their early twenties. That is a post for another time…
Back To Basics Part I -Exceptionalism not Imperialism
Back To Basics - Part II - Exceptional Science
Back To Basics Part III - Exceptional Economy
Back To Basics Part IV - Exceptional Culture
Read the Script to the Story of Stuff Here
-KOOK

Back to Basics

Read the Other Posts in this Series: Back To Basics I: American Exceptionalism; Back to Basics II: Science, Back To Basics III: The Economy, Back to Basics IV: Culture; Back to Basics V: Recap; and the drivel that inspired me to action: The Story of Stuff

It has become very clear in the last few months that We know something that many of our children are no longer being taught and many of our elected officials have either misunderstood, or perverted in some way. We know that this country of ours is special and is a force for good in the world. We are blessed to live here. Two things have really driven this widespread lack of understanding home to me lately. First, during the presidential campaign I clearly remember American Exceptionalism being bandied about a lot. The fact that this was debatable outside of some far extreme fringe subculture of this society was incomprehensible to me. Second, the more recent stark lesson in just how fundamentally screwed up some of our children’s school lessons have become; specifically The Story of Stuff. So I am going to do a series of posts to correct this notion that America is a bad place and has hurt this world. First I want to make one point very clear:
Patriotism
a devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national
loyalty.
I am not arguing patriotism here. Every citizen of every country should love their country and see it as a place with a unique position in history. I am not talking about mere nationalism. I am talking about this country being unique in the annals of all recorded history. This country is different from all others before it and is uniquely different than every other country of the past and present.

ex·cep·tion·al·ism (k-spsh-n-lzm) n.
1. The condition of being exceptional or unique.
2. The theory or belief that something, especially a nation, does not
conform to a pattern or norm.

What is a nation?
Nation 3. A people who share common customs, origins, history, and frequently
language; a nationality.
What customs and values makes a nation unique? In what ways does a nation distinguish itself? Military Might? Scientific Advancement? A Powerful economy? Cultural Prevalence?

England, Italy(Rome), France, Spain, Russia, Japan, and Germany have all had a lot of military might in the past, what makes the US special with regards to the military? All of the previous countries have conquered other nations and had colonies on new lands. This is the definition of an empire; imperialism. But the United States has (with one near exception) only fought wars to free people not to enslave or assimilate them.

At the end of WWII, only two military powers of any consequence
remained: the United States, and the Soviet Union, and while the Soviets had a large army, They virtually had no navy, and their air force was nonexistent. Not to mention they were starving. Whereas, the United States possessed, intact, the most awesome kick ass Navy the world had ever seen (hell yeah), much larger and more advanced than that of the Mighty British navy that had helped the Brits establish an empire not rivaled since before the time of Christ. We possessed the largest and most advanced air force of any nation. We, alone, had the atomic bomb and the will to use it. (for better or for worse, we had the power to destroy the planet. )

What did we do with this awesome power? Did we do as Conan would have had us to do? “to drive our defeated enemies before us and to hear the lamentations of their women and children” as we settled their lands? No. We did what NO other country in history who has destroyed its enemies has EVER done. We departed the field of battle, returned home, scrapped our military, literally turning our war machine into construction materials, and then returned to the defeated lands and rebuilt the nations that we had just laid waste to. As Colin Powell has been quoted as saying, the only thing we asked for was the space to bury our dead. AND …WE, WE PAID for the rebuilding effort! And in all the time since then despite what many of the Hollywood crowd have implied, nor what many of the hippies and radicals have proclaimed as fact, we have never been imperial.

empire 1. a. A political unit having an extensive territory or comprising a number of territories or nations and ruled by a single supreme authority.3. Imperial or imperialistic sovereignty, domination, or control:

This is why Spain France and Britain colonized North America. First the lure of GOLD and then the lure of trees, furs, food, etc. This is a key charge of The Story of Stuff: that we have gotten rich by taking wealth and resources of the third world countries. So, is the US an Empire? Well, where are our colonies? Psst, there aren’t any. We have a handful of very small territories that stay that way of their choosing, and also repeatedly vote not to become states. We do have military bases all around the globe, but far from as we see in movies from back in the knight in shining armor days, our armies do not pillage an area, nor do we make other nations pay tribute to us, no declaring our right to prima nocte, but rather we pump vast amounts of money into those other economies. Other nations appreciate the income that military bases produce, and the protection they provide. A little known fact is that if the EU had to provide for its defense they would not be able to afford Socialism. Free trade (Capitalism) is the economic and moral antithesis of imperialism.

But you may say what our “wars for oil.” We have destroyed Iraq twice in the last 20 years and we did it both times in a matter of days. So stop and think, here is what a “war for oil” would look like: First the SEALS would HALO jump right down on the pumping stations and tank farms and in about an hour would secure the oil fields. Then we’d place an armored perimeter around the oil fields using M1A1’s, Bradley’s, and artillery. Lastly, using convoys protected by high flying air superiority fighters, and low flying Apache helicopters we would transport OUR oil to a secure port where it would be pumped onto US tankers and escorted out of the region by a Carrier Battle Group. Who would begin to oppose us? We had them, and what did we do in ‘91 when Saddam had set them on fire and they were ours for the taking…?

In all our Imperial Glory We put out the fires and then we came home.
Not much of an empire…I would call that decidedly Anti-Imperial. No country ever in history has done that. That is unique. That’s exceptional.

Part two tomorrow…

Read the Other Posts in this Series: Back To Basics I: American Exceptionalism; Back to Basics II: Science, Back To Basics III: The Economy, Back to Basics IV: Culture; Back to Basics V: Recap; and the drivel that inspired me to action: The Story of Stuff

-KOOK

The story of stuff

Let's conduct a little thought experiment shall we? I briefly toyed with the idea of going through this script line by line but it would be too long to hold a readers attention. So, read it yourself and then you tell me why it is unthinkable for this to be lauded as a great lesson to teach to our children. The new York Slimes has given this crap its seal of approval as a wonderful way for our kids to learn about many issues important to today.
Read the script and then post a comment or send me an email why this is wrong. Best comment gets it's own post here and at conservative blog central. Click the link to read the file:
The Story of Stuff annotad unabridged script.

Back To Basics Part I -Exceptionalism not Imperialism

Back To Basics - Part II - Exceptional Science
Back To Basics Part III - Exceptional Economy
Back To Basics Part IV - Exceptional Culture
Back to Basics V Recap

Read the Script to the Story of Stuff Here



Ps. The story, video, book, and website for this "educational material" is funded by the Tides Foundation. Friends of Apollo and Acorn.

Simple solutions for simple minds

Maybe I am beginning to understand the allure of the Obama pResidency. Everything he asks us to do is so easy. First, we had to vote for him (early and often) and if we did that then he would have his organized muscle give us coffee and cigarettes and sometimes even a few bucks. If, after voting for him he actually won the white house, then if you were a sheeple, you could believe that he would make your car payment and/or fill your tank. He actually came close to fulfilling the car payment part with the Hybrids for Hoopties*, I mean, Cash for Clunkers bill. One could even imagine that Obama would remodel your kitchen if that is what one wanted to believe. Then, we learned that saving the environment** was as simple as airing up your tires and changing your light bulbs. What could be more simple than that? Now we are learning that avoiding The Plaugue of our Time (tm) more commonly known as Swine Flu or H1N1 Virus*** is as no-brainer easy as washing our hands.**** I could probably go on with more examples but I think these are enough to say that these are simple "solutions" for simple minds. Obama tries to make it easy; tries to sell his base on the idea that they are changing the world one tiny insignificant action at a time. All the while he is busy at work turning this nation into the Orwellian utopia he has longed dreamed of

* this is what Van Jones called his original proposal for the program (not to beat a dead commie)
** if you believe the environment needs saving or that we could do so if we tried.
*** if you are inclined to believe this "pandemic" will 'pan' out the way they are warning it will
****handwashing does prevent the spread of disease but for the POTUS to do a Public service message on basic hygiene is pretty silly and frankly beneath the office. Next he wil be asking children to say their prayers and eat their vitamins so that they can grow up big and strong and be part of the O-corps.

This public service message brought to you by the letter O and the number 0

Obama: Simple Solutions for Simple Minds

-KOOK
via iPhone

How Close to Communism Are We?

From Blackandgoldfan on The Right Stuff: How Close to Communism Are We? This is a great post and since I have been so busy with work, the new housemate, travel, and DC prep I have not been able to do my own research for a post of my own. As usual my comments in Blue, BNGfan’s words in gold

In the recent debate over socialized medicine, those of us who believe in liberty and the power of the free market system have been labeled "Communists" for speaking out against a massive power grab on the part of the government. The left also rejoices calling us Nazis and Fascists, and that demonstrates a massive ignorance on their part. All are statist political views and all are way to the left of where I (and most of the bloggers) stand. But do we really understand what constitutes a Communist nation? I, for one, really didn't understand EXACTLY what that meant: until now. And it scares the crap out of me. What we are headed for may not be communism but it is some sort of Statism, Fascist, Nazi, Communist, Socialist. And it scaring the crap out of me is what started this blog.
My perception of Communism was limited to my experiences growing up as a teenager in the 80's when the Soviet Union exemplified Communism. We knew that people waited for hours for bread and other basic necessities and that the media was controlled by the State. Little did I know that now, in my adult years, my beloved country is on the brink of becoming a symbol of everything the Founding Fathers abhorred.
In 1848, Karl Marx published The Communist Manifesto, which gave specific criteria outlining what Communism is and what it takes for a country to be considered Communist. The following is a list of what are considered the ten "planks" of Communism. As you read them, think about what we've seen transpire since January.

1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rents of land to public purposes -- I'm no expert, but for some reason, the terms "zoning laws" and "eminent domain" come to mind. The federal government already owns a huge percentage of land in this country and just this year CA was considering selling its’ state parks to the Federal Government.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax -- Remember this one on April 15. We are taxed on everything from vices to merely existing. What's that? There is no such tax? Oh, yes there is. It's called the per capita tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance -- When a loved one passes and you inherit their property, you pay a tax on it despite the fact that the taxes on that property have already been paid. If you don't pay it, the government will take it. By making the "death tax" onerous, it could potentially ensure that the government gets the deceased's estate.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels -- This one could come down to interpretation of words. Who's to say that a "rebel" isn't one of us bloggers or the average American who doesn't agree with the government? And how many times has the IRS been used against political enemies? If necessary, Google "Billy Dale" or "Clinton Travelgate." I contend that it is the express Function of the IRS to be used as a weapon to intimidate and control people.
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly -- The Federal Reserve is a PRIVATE banking entity regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), another privately-owned entity. All local banks are members of the Fed system, which practices fractional reserve banking and sets the standards that the government follows like blind sheep. Bank Bailout anyone?
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transportation in the hands of the State -- One only has to look to the recent legislation introduced by Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) to know that control of communication is a real possibility. Couple that with the capitulation of the MSM and you've got state-run media. With regard to transportation, any trucker will tell you about all the restrictions placed on them depending upon the load. At the very least, there's the DOT. The government has taken complete control over who can drive and who can't through the licensing process. Sounds centralized to me! Amtrak Subisidies, Auto Industry Bailout, FAA getting more and more intrusive, the clarion call for a Passenger bill of rights? The recent huge focus on small aircraft crashes? It is coming.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan -- Department of Agriculture regulations regarding what can and cannot be used in farming would, in my opinion, fall under this heading. Little bit of trivia, FDR was the mastermind of the perversion of the USDA into a group that controlled farmers. Between the USDA and the Conservation Departments, BLM, and the like, Farmers are generally told what to grow and how much. The Govt. also controls prices through subsidies to either reward or punish. Farmers are de facto employees of the Government.
8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for farming. -- Affirmative Action and Obamacorps, anyone? How many times have we heard the call from 1600 for America's youth to volunteer, especially in the "green" industry? And all Affirmative Action does is take away the right of an employer to hire the best of the best regardless of skin color. It's forced integration and reverse discrimination. WPA and CCC were the predecessors of Americorps and whatever “Army” Chairman Zero was talking about.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries, gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equitable distribution of the population over the country. -- For now, we do have the Tenth Amendment to protect states from the federal government overreaching its powers. Without it, I'm almost certain this administration would have already erased state borders, creating one huge state. Population redistribution has already been done. A recent ruling in Federal Court dictates that Section 8 housing MUST be built in the predominantly affluent area of Westchester County, New York. Hope the Clintons enjoy living in the small microcosm of the world that they've wanted to create for years. Look at what the census is doing for the “gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country” in this post of mine they are much farther along in this regard than many would realize. Combination of Manufacturing with Agricultural Industries?…Not exactly sure what this means but I can tell you that the days of the independent farmer are all but over. Tyson, BP, Cargill, and many other “Agribusinesses” dominate.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production. -- Those of us who don't send our kids to private schools have no option other than government-run indoctrination centers. Homeschooling, you say? While parents have the option of homeschooling their most precious gifts from God, the government still has a hand in it. In most states, students are still required to take government-created standardized tests. And Heaven forbid we teach the kids of today about work. No wonder the vast majority have NO work ethic whatsoever and a complete disregard for any structure within a business. Half of them don't care about being on time or doing the very best job they can. Just ask anyone who has worked with them in the fast food industry as I have. Look what happened to the DC voucher system.

Now that you may have a more clear understanding of what Communism truly is, only one question remains: To what lengths will you go to to defend the sanctity of the principles put on paper by the Founders?
We now know our enemy, and he took office January 20, 2009.

The only thing I will add is that there is still time to book your flight to DC on 9/12.

Education - not indoctrination

Education. We spend more money per student in this country for education than any other country in the world and we still fall below most other major nations in the world by virtually any standard that can be used. I postulate that money is not the issue and more money is not the answer. I could go on and on and on about what I think is wrong with our education system in this country. And someday I might get inspired to do so…but for now I am just going to throw a few one line ideas out there:
1. parents no longer parent
2. Teachers no longer know or are trained how to teach
Some teachers have no interest in TEACHING they want to indoctrinate and there is a difference

We have lost the ability to teach the fundamentals because of all kinds of wacky new age ideas. Teaching a kid to read, write, perform basic math functions, and understand the basics of the world around them has not changed since…oh I don’t know…the time of the GREEKS. Let’s do what they did. Heck, let’s go back to what we did when we taught kids something. Then skip all that stuff that doesn’t matter. By the 8th grade a kid should be able to read the newspaper (not that there is anything worthwhile there), balance a bank statement, figure percentages, make change, explain some basic scientific principles, and tell you the basic timeline of US history. My kid does not really need to know about the ancient civilizations in India. Not really relevant to anyone unless they are moving to India. I want my kids to know why our country was started, why we fought and died in several wars, the ideas that kept us free and made us strong, and how our government works (or is supposed to). They should be able to identify the 50 states on a map, especially the one they live in. High school should teach things like, computers, speech and debate, higher mathematics ( we really need to update how this is taught though), World History through the context of how we got to where we are, not from the beginning of time, chemistry, biology, physics. Music, PE, and Art in there too. But why do we teach the same stuff in High school that we teach in JR HIGH, and the same stuff in college that we teach in HS? Everything should be a building block. And if you flunk out…well I am sorry to say, but Johnny may not be the next Nobel prize winner. We should identify people’s basic predispositions and work toward preparing them for a career that they can be good at. If you show a strong ability to be an Architect and you think that you would like being an architect then that is what school should teach you to become…along with Civics, and History. But if you are destined to be a truck driver, let’s make sure you can read and write, read a map, keep a checkbook, stuff like that, but let’s not waste time trying to teach a person who will never use it…calculus. That is just silly. This is not to say that I believe in social Darwinism I do not. I just think that all we do when we declare “no child left behind” is to slow down the whole group to where no one excels. Everyone is not going to be an A student. Some are going to be F students. It is the way of the world. If that were not true we would all have the brains of Stephen Hawking and the athletic prowess of Santonio Holmes. I wish I did, but I do not. Earlier i asked the hypothetical question: why do we teach kids the same thing in High School that we teach kids in Jr. High? Well, ponder this little quote from the US senate committee on education with me for a moment: "we believe that education is one of the principal causes of discontent of late years manifesting itself among the laboring classes"

yeah, read it again...i will wait. Let's review it together now. The United States Senate Committee on Education...senators we have elected...said... that...one of the main reasons...that the working class...is unhappy later in life...is because of education. no, I promise that is the quote and no they didnt mean that a Lack of education. If you read it in the context of the report what they are saying is that when you learn too much it causes discontent because you understand that things are broken. Still don't believe me? well let's go back to the early days of public education. Here is what the education board said back then: "We shall not search for...great artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors,preachers, politicians,or statesmen all of whom we have an ample supply of. the task we set before ourselves is very simple, we will organize children and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way." let that sink in and make of it what you will. I think this lends proof to my thought i have had for quitwe a while. in this country as good as we are. As many things as we have invented and with our standard of living and the amount of money we spend the ONLY logical explanation is that they dont WANT to teach our kids. they are really getting the result they want. I mean that is what they SAID. I didn't make it up.