What we need to do with our schools

This article was posted on the Providence Journal’s website

Unfortunately ProJo requires one to register in order to read content so I contacted the author, Julia Steiny and she was gracious enough to consent to my posting it here and provided me the pdf file.

See what happens when people actually start to care about those in their charge. The success rate of the Worcester Main South Community Development Corporation and Clark University project called the University Park Campus School is astounding. A promise was made that every student would graduate and go on to college. Imagine the skepticism this was greeted with, only to find that it was a kept promise, one they continue to keep.

Now what if this type of partnership were tried in some poorer performing schools. Off the top of my head I can think of at least a half dozen right here in the Providence area that could benefit from a program like this.

But as I’ve said before, the way we supposedly educate our children and young people is a crime. We don’t teach them to think, we teach them to take a test. the UPCS teaches students how to think on their feet. But this represents a direct threat to the status quo. This is precisely why politically I feel this will never fly. Let us hope that I’m wrong.

This isn’t Surprising

Seems that the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui is exposing the bureaucracy that permeats the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In this article it is said that FBI Agent Harry Samit. Apparently Samit tried to elevate his capture of Moussaoui but here is a telling quote:
“MacMahon walked Samit through e-mails and letters the agent sent seeking help from the FBI’s London, Paris and Oklahoma City officesFBI headquarters files, the CIA’s counterterrorism center, the Secret Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Federal Aviation Administration, an intelligence agency not identified publicly by name in court (possibly the National Security Agency), and the FBI’s Iran, Osama bin Laden, radical fundamentalist, and national security law units at headquarters.

If the president’s National Security Advisor didnt’t know about this, then who the hell did?

So it’s becoming clear that the Bush Administration allowed the events of 09/11/2001 to occur. I’m still on the fence as to whether they planned it, or Cheney’s group planned it.

Radiation Dangers from Traveling in Outer Space

RedOrbit has a good article on the dangers from exposure to radiation that humans face every time they journey into space. But there are some organisms on earth that can repair themselves when damaged by radioactivity.

Interestingly they are trying to figure out how to shield human beings from x-rays, cosmic rays, etc. Why not employ the mechanisms that the planet Earth – Use a magnetosphere that pretty much pushes out charged particles. We can generate huge magnetic containment bottles to contain fusion reactions. Why can’t we make one that protects a spacecraft? Any engineers want to challenge this?

H5N1 Flu Hysteria

Finally found a good article that explains the myths and hysteria regarding bird flu, otherwise known as H5N1. So far the only people to contract it are those who spend a lot of time with fowl, live fowl of course. The closest we ever come to a chicken is in the refrigerated section of the supermarket althoug I do have a place down the street from me that has live chickens that’ll be killed and plucked to order.

I love the chicken little references in the article, or how heavy handed response by bureaucracies ended up being worse than the actual events in such things as hoof and mouth disease, or SARS.

So baby don’t fear the reaper. When it’s your time it’s your time.

Corporations owe $35 billion in fines

This doesn’t surprise me at all. Just think what $35 billion could do in your community. It would for example, easily provide health care for all Rhode Islanders for a few years.

The original article is here.

Heartland Voters Not Quite Sorry for Voting Bush in for a Second Term

Oh my – these people really do have a one track mind. Seems voters in Indiana are having second thoughts about the Iraq war. Not so much for the reasons we went there, but for the fact that it is rapidly becoming a Vietnam like scenario.

Change of Heartland is on the Boston Globe’s website. But I did find this quote very telling:

Beisel said she doesn’t blame Bush because ”he can only deal with the intelligence he was given” and still supports him because she opposes abortion. But she added that plenty of her friends think ”we should get out of there and they’re probably sorry they voted for him.”

How can a person see that they’ve been lied to, believe that Bush only parroted what the intelligence community said to him, and then say they still support him because of his stance on abortion.

It’s been very clear that intelligence was fixed on policy, and not vice versa. But Bush has perfected that ‘every man’ persona on camera. But those of us in the know realize that the audiences are vetted and that the questions are rehearsed ahead of broadcast time.

Yes, Bush is a puppet. It has been obvious that Cheney, Rove and their company of neo-cons loves to mold intelligence to fit policy, policy that in essence is pulled out of their asses.

People that base their approval of the president on policy that goes after gay people, reproductive rights, etc. can’t seem to see the real goals of this administration. It isn’t about protecting anything, it’s about enrichment.

Rising Ocean Temps Mean More Severe Hurricanes

Here’s something that isn’t so surprising. Seems that increases in ocean temperatures correlate to more intense hurricanes. When you consider that a hurricane is a balancing of temperature differentials you can see how small increases in water temperature would translate into more extreme storms.

Here’s the short SA S&T article.

last.fm is the bomb

I discovered last.fm some time ago but thought I’d share my more popular tracks. Interesting

My Overall Artists:

My Overall Tracks:

Gun Nuts and Anti Gun Nuts – Finally a reasonable Analysis of the Deterent Effect

Let it be known that while I may be ultra-left liberal, I believe in our right to arm ourselves for the purposes of self protection, and to occasionally overthrow a despotic or tyrranical government.

The fact that I live in a state that prohibits concealed carry without a permit makes me mad on numerous occasions. To think that my former boss implemented the most assinine procedures for obtaining a permit infuriates me even more.

Ran across this interview with John R. Lott, writer of “More Guns, Less Crime“. Of course I had to add it to my wanted list at the PPL. He makes some very interesting points in the interview as to why we don’t hear more about crimed deterred with guns. I’ll let you read the interview for yourself and once I’ve read the book I’ll either endorse it or pan it. Based upon the interview I’m pretty sure I’ll endorse it.

Of course in other postings I’ve recommended Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Excellent book that posits that the drop in crime during the 90’s was directly attributable to free and open abortion, that community policing has very little to do with actually reducing crime while reducing the number of impoverished kids does. Granted, abortion shouldn’t be used as birth control but since the prevailing view of birth control is essence labels a woman as a slut, I have no right to say who can and cannot obtain safe abortions.

It’s All About The Money – How to Shut Down Iran

I was just talking to Keyron and he was telling me that he’s read that newspaper circulation is down over the past 10 years. Maybe that’s because I don’t just get my news from the MSM in the U.S. Maybe I look at European, Middle Eastern and other sources to try to get an idea of the spin.

In any case Raymond Learsy writes an interesting op-ed on the Huffington Post. Use the 41 billion barrels in government and commercial reserves and starve Iran of the only source of money that they have. He thinks that would be a sure fire killer of nuclear aspirations in Iran.

Sure the Chinese are the wildcard but not one that matters here. Starve her of oil and she also goes the way of the dinosaur.

But then what does any country do when they’re economically starved – go to war of course. Iran has the one resource that is the prime propelant of a war machine, and that is oil. so this could be a dangerous road.