Berkley High School in the Bay Area of California may remove advanced science labs and replace them with science remedial classes. In a time where most school districts in the nation are actively seeking to improve their science and math curriculum, Berkley wants to dumb it down. The reason? Because the board views AP Science classes as favoring white students. The reverse side of this, unspoken, is that minority students can't do advanced science programs. So rather than encouraging all students to pursue excellence, the Leftists and liberals of the Berkley High School board would remove these programs from the curriculum so that no student would be able to pursue upper level, college bound science coursework. The implication is racist in tone-that minority students are inherently incapable of doing this work. And that flies in the face of the breakdown of the students in the actual classes.
So what is the lesson of this debacle? The main lesson is that political correctness is driving curriculum in some districts to the point of lowering expectations for the overall student population. I don't know why parents are not up in arms about this action. And I don't understand why any teacher who values their subject would remain on the faculty at such a school. But the bottom line is that either you want all students to achieve and learn, or you want to handpick and dumb down classes to accommodate some ethnic spreadsheet that matters to no one outside the boundaries of administration.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Fox vs Time Warner: More Important Than You ThinkFox
For those of you who have Time Warner cable services, you have probably been made aware that negotiations between Time Warner and Fox are not going well. Many people are dismissing this as a mere business decision. It is true that Time Warner, as a subsidiary of the much larger Time, Inc, has not been doing well. But what is also true is that there is a hint of a very insidious underlying reason for Time Warner to want Fox to go away.
First, there is the rating game. Fox has been beating out some of the big network affiliates on a regular basis. But this goes farther than just ABC, NBC and CBS. Time Warner, through a variety of mergers, is also the parent company of the following networks and entities:
"...Among its subsidiaries are New Line Cinema, Time Inc., HBO, Turner Broadcasting System, The CW Television Network, TheWB.com, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Kids' WB, The CW4Kids, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears Productions, Adult Swim, CNN, DC Comics, and Warner Bros. Games...."
Please note the primarily liberal slant of many of these entities. Turner Broadcasting was the brainchild of Ted Turner-a man too liberal even for Jane Fonda. HBO has become a hotbed of liberal thought through their many in-house productions. Even more disturbing is the way liberal concepts are inserted in children's programming. If you don't believe it, just try watching one of the news shows targeting children and see what is being passed on a fact to your kids.
Even more questionable is why this cable network would deliberately try to remove one of their top stations. This is the station that carries a great deal of big college football as well as other sports. During the height of the football bowl and playoff season, why would they do this? You can point to business as usual, but this is like shooting themselves in the foot. With Time Warner already seeing a drop off in subscriptions to their service, this would only make people who watch football less likely to join. So there's really no economic reason for this as the addition of Fox would increase their desirability in the market.
In order to make this decision which would cut Time Warner's income, somebody has to be making this worth their while. I don't know if this is from private funding or from some surreptitious political scheme, but it is no secret that this White House administration has big issues with Fox. Their various childish snubs and rants leads me to think that this is a hand in glove operation worthy of only the most astute student of Machiavellian thought. In short, this is not the simple case everyone thinks it is-this is an attempt to silence Fox with a warning shot and without bringing the Fairness Doctrine into play, which would alert conservative outlets. So this is more important than it appears and you as a citizen should be concerned that this is just the first in a series of moves to stifle dissent in our nation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BH2FX20091218
First, there is the rating game. Fox has been beating out some of the big network affiliates on a regular basis. But this goes farther than just ABC, NBC and CBS. Time Warner, through a variety of mergers, is also the parent company of the following networks and entities:
"...Among its subsidiaries are New Line Cinema, Time Inc., HBO, Turner Broadcasting System, The CW Television Network, TheWB.com, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Kids' WB, The CW4Kids, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears Productions, Adult Swim, CNN, DC Comics, and Warner Bros. Games...."
Please note the primarily liberal slant of many of these entities. Turner Broadcasting was the brainchild of Ted Turner-a man too liberal even for Jane Fonda. HBO has become a hotbed of liberal thought through their many in-house productions. Even more disturbing is the way liberal concepts are inserted in children's programming. If you don't believe it, just try watching one of the news shows targeting children and see what is being passed on a fact to your kids.
Even more questionable is why this cable network would deliberately try to remove one of their top stations. This is the station that carries a great deal of big college football as well as other sports. During the height of the football bowl and playoff season, why would they do this? You can point to business as usual, but this is like shooting themselves in the foot. With Time Warner already seeing a drop off in subscriptions to their service, this would only make people who watch football less likely to join. So there's really no economic reason for this as the addition of Fox would increase their desirability in the market.
In order to make this decision which would cut Time Warner's income, somebody has to be making this worth their while. I don't know if this is from private funding or from some surreptitious political scheme, but it is no secret that this White House administration has big issues with Fox. Their various childish snubs and rants leads me to think that this is a hand in glove operation worthy of only the most astute student of Machiavellian thought. In short, this is not the simple case everyone thinks it is-this is an attempt to silence Fox with a warning shot and without bringing the Fairness Doctrine into play, which would alert conservative outlets. So this is more important than it appears and you as a citizen should be concerned that this is just the first in a series of moves to stifle dissent in our nation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BH2FX20091218
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
January 20, 2010-National Strike Day
Had enough yet? Well let me explain it to you. Right now a four member family with an income of $66,000 will pay over ten percent of their income to pay for insurance that they will not receive for FOUR YEARS. That means that middle income folks, clerical workers, teachers, firefighters, police, will be effectively getting a reduction in their take home pay. And on top of that, since the insurance doesn't take effect for four years, you will still have to pay for insurance ON TOP OF THIS TAX for four years. Are you mad yet? How about this? The bill contains language that makes it where future Congresses can never repeal it in perpetuity. That means forever. As if this Congress has proven itself infallible on anything. TARP, Cash for Clunkers and now this bad bill rushed through so that Obama won't miss his check in time for his Hawaiian vacation. Excuse me if I say I am sick of this arrogant attitude toward the American people. The rest of us are hunkering down because we don't know if we will be able to afford food and a home-so how about you take a chill pill and linger in the White House pondering the serious nature of current events. I don't believe in reincarnation, but if there was ever a reinvention of Marie Antoinette, Obama is it.
At any rate, due to this bill and this continued dismissive attitude of Congress and the administration toward the WILL OF THE PEOPLE there will be a
National Strike
January 20, 2010
Don't go to work, don't buy anything, close your doors and call in sick.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Would You Buy A Used Car From This Congress?
I've often considered that at the next to lowest levels in hell that there is a special place for two categories of congenital liars-used car salesmen and realtors. I am sure there are good and virtuous people within these ranks, but in my experience both groups encompass the sort of lying through omission that leads to lots of courtroom battles. This is why all adults should read every single word or clause or page of any contract they sign. The people that did not doing this during the heighdays of the mortgage balloons were the same ones who later defaulted using the lame excuse that "they didn't know" their payments would explode during the fifth year even though it was written in black and white on the very same contracts they had oh so willingly signed.Congress is debating healthcare. But what they are debating is NOT the bill amendment which will cause the most economic havoc. That amendment-the "managers amendment" is still being kept under wraps. What happened to transparency? What happened to honesty and representing the best that anyone regardless of their party affiliation had to offer? This was always a pale promise and once they got in office, Democrats blatantly ignored these promises. Drunk with power they have loaded up the healthcare bill with programs, paybacks and pork designed to entice unwilling moderates into voting away the freedom of millions of citizens. In doing so, they will doubly tax middle income workers such as teachers, fire fighters and police officers. They will gut Medicare and deliberately divert those dollars into petting along a resident alien population with hopes that they will someday produce the mythical permanent majority for the Democrats.
Make no mistake, this isn't about insurance reform, it is not about healthcare. How could it be when estimates say that while everyone will pay more, only half of the current uninsured will be covered? What other programs are soaking up the revenue? And what about the many millions of people employed by insurers and their ancillaries? Where will they go in an economy in which the published unemployment rate is over ten percent, but the defacto rate is closer to twenty. This is NOT an accident. In moving Americans to a dependent nation status, they must pry us away from our freedom and the best way to do that is to make it where government is the ONLY RESOURCE from which we can get life's necessities. This is no accident. It is the intentional diversion of a revenue stream from private industry, where it creates jobs, to government where it does not. Even the government jobs that have been created-since that is the only sector where job growth is evident-are fewer jobs that pay more than comparable jobs in the private sector.
This is theft plain and simple. So, would you buy a used car from this Congress????
Read more: http://www.politico.com/livepulse/1209/Wait_goes_o...
Make no mistake, this isn't about insurance reform, it is not about healthcare. How could it be when estimates say that while everyone will pay more, only half of the current uninsured will be covered? What other programs are soaking up the revenue? And what about the many millions of people employed by insurers and their ancillaries? Where will they go in an economy in which the published unemployment rate is over ten percent, but the defacto rate is closer to twenty. This is NOT an accident. In moving Americans to a dependent nation status, they must pry us away from our freedom and the best way to do that is to make it where government is the ONLY RESOURCE from which we can get life's necessities. This is no accident. It is the intentional diversion of a revenue stream from private industry, where it creates jobs, to government where it does not. Even the government jobs that have been created-since that is the only sector where job growth is evident-are fewer jobs that pay more than comparable jobs in the private sector.
This is theft plain and simple. So, would you buy a used car from this Congress????
Read more: http://www.politico.com/livepulse/1209/Wait_goes_o...
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Not Ready for Christmas
As a child, I loved Christmas. For most American kids, it's the centerpiece of the year. But then kids see the year as a procession of big events-Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, Fourth of July. There's a certain sweetness to having your world defined by celebrations.
When I was a child, I helped decorate. I tested light strings for loose bulbs, hung the ornaments and decorated the tree strand by strand with tinsel. Each present was carefully guarded and wrapped with elaborate bows and ribbons. The tree was a gaudy, homely riot of color reinforcing the happy chaos of the holiday. I remember endless trays of homemade cookies and candies shared on plates with neighbors and friends. I remember a house filled with family, chattering, telling jokes, sharing food. I remember happy. I know what it feels like. Which is why I know what is missing now.
Even as a young wife and mother, the joy was still there. I carefully spent money on things that would make my husband and children happy. We made gingerbread houses, decorated cookies, made angels with glitter and glue. I recall the "Bike Christmas" where all three kids got bikes. Not fancy bikes, not bikes with pedigrees and special accoutrement, but bikes with bells and streamers. Bikes meant for going, not for showing. I remember hiding toys in the closet. There were countless Christmas Eves spent assembling toys or wrapping gifts as "White Christmas" played in the background. There were friends and eggnog, cookies and laughter. There was still joy. I know what joy feels like, so I know what is missing now.
Now my children are young adults, with their own homes. They work as much as they can because even with a college degree there are no jobs that pay much. My son and daughter and her boyfriend actually share a house because they cannot make rent on their own. I despair that they are so desperate to survive. I don't remember feeling so desperate when I was their ages. I don't understand how things could go so wrong. I wish I could comfort them, make the path easier, because I don't remember it being so hard.
We did the right things. We paid our bills, paid our taxes. We saved for college for our kids, although when the time came they still had to work nearly full time to pay their way. We went to church, although the rules seem to be changing to make church more of a political arm than a spiritual release. We did what we were supposed to do, yet it seems that we are the ones who are being expected to surrender the most. In the past seven years it appears we are in a downward spiral. Perhaps part of it has to do with my Dad dying of a massive coronary on Christmas Day 2002. Perhaps it has to do with the increased responsibility that has been pushed on me by necessity. Perhaps it is because I am the main breadwinner and that my time is diminished and that I seem to be slowing disappearing. I am simply not the person I used to be. I look at old pictures and wonder where she's gone.
I go through the motions. I put up the tree. I put lights outside. I have even baked some cookies. But I am not ready. There's a dull aching emptiness inside. There's no hope, no joy, no happiness. I put on a mask of perky attitude hoping nobody will look too closely. I pick an angel from the Salvation Army tree at the mall, something I wish more people would do. I contribute food to the food bank, clothes to the community group and pet food to the local shelter. But it seems that in my quest to be Lady Bountiful, I am left behind. I know what Christmas feels like so I know what is missing. Please, how do I find my way back. I want to go home.
I am not ready for Christmas.
When I was a child, I helped decorate. I tested light strings for loose bulbs, hung the ornaments and decorated the tree strand by strand with tinsel. Each present was carefully guarded and wrapped with elaborate bows and ribbons. The tree was a gaudy, homely riot of color reinforcing the happy chaos of the holiday. I remember endless trays of homemade cookies and candies shared on plates with neighbors and friends. I remember a house filled with family, chattering, telling jokes, sharing food. I remember happy. I know what it feels like. Which is why I know what is missing now.
Even as a young wife and mother, the joy was still there. I carefully spent money on things that would make my husband and children happy. We made gingerbread houses, decorated cookies, made angels with glitter and glue. I recall the "Bike Christmas" where all three kids got bikes. Not fancy bikes, not bikes with pedigrees and special accoutrement, but bikes with bells and streamers. Bikes meant for going, not for showing. I remember hiding toys in the closet. There were countless Christmas Eves spent assembling toys or wrapping gifts as "White Christmas" played in the background. There were friends and eggnog, cookies and laughter. There was still joy. I know what joy feels like, so I know what is missing now.
Now my children are young adults, with their own homes. They work as much as they can because even with a college degree there are no jobs that pay much. My son and daughter and her boyfriend actually share a house because they cannot make rent on their own. I despair that they are so desperate to survive. I don't remember feeling so desperate when I was their ages. I don't understand how things could go so wrong. I wish I could comfort them, make the path easier, because I don't remember it being so hard.
We did the right things. We paid our bills, paid our taxes. We saved for college for our kids, although when the time came they still had to work nearly full time to pay their way. We went to church, although the rules seem to be changing to make church more of a political arm than a spiritual release. We did what we were supposed to do, yet it seems that we are the ones who are being expected to surrender the most. In the past seven years it appears we are in a downward spiral. Perhaps part of it has to do with my Dad dying of a massive coronary on Christmas Day 2002. Perhaps it has to do with the increased responsibility that has been pushed on me by necessity. Perhaps it is because I am the main breadwinner and that my time is diminished and that I seem to be slowing disappearing. I am simply not the person I used to be. I look at old pictures and wonder where she's gone.
I go through the motions. I put up the tree. I put lights outside. I have even baked some cookies. But I am not ready. There's a dull aching emptiness inside. There's no hope, no joy, no happiness. I put on a mask of perky attitude hoping nobody will look too closely. I pick an angel from the Salvation Army tree at the mall, something I wish more people would do. I contribute food to the food bank, clothes to the community group and pet food to the local shelter. But it seems that in my quest to be Lady Bountiful, I am left behind. I know what Christmas feels like so I know what is missing. Please, how do I find my way back. I want to go home.
I am not ready for Christmas.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
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