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Earlier this year in one of Christina School’s teacher/parent open houses, where the parent is given the child’s schedule and follows that child’s schedule room by room, block by block, a single parent anxiously anticipated seeing the child’s English teacher. This parent had been an avid reader and throughly enjoyed her English classes growing up which turned her onto literature and writing.
After all the adults had wriggled themselves into the kids seats by sucking in their loose bellies, the teacher began with “this year I will be following the Common Core Curriculum.”
She continued she had been educated in it over the summer in a number of seminars. “I don’t really agree with it but I really have no choice. I was told that this is what we are going to learn, this has achieved results, and that results, bottom line, are what we are after.”
Each day, she told us, she was to distribute the corporate-created handout and the class would then read it together, go over it for meaning and technique, and then write paragraphs at the end of each class.
Near the end of the session this parent raised her hand.
“Yes?”
“Will they be reading any literature, and if so, which historical period is it that they will be reading?”
“Umm, that’s a great question” was the response. “I hope as it gets close to the end of the year, to sometime pull out a book for extra credit if we get ourselves through the curriculum, but right now, the curriculum is so well organized that we have to follow it exactly until we get to the end. Hopefully, then, we can do something interesting. I read some good books over the summer and I would love to analyze that with the class.”
“Was it 50 Shades of Gray?”
“Ohh, I did read that. i, umm, loved that book.”
Well that was last fall…..
This January the grades came out. And I happened to be talking to this mother’s daughter…. “Oh, wow, you really dropped in English. That was your best grade last year? What’s different?
“It’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO boring.!” “Last year we were performing Romeo and Juliette, and actually writing Sonnets, poetry, Haiku’s and reading and discussing some really great stories. ”
“What is this year like?”
“We get this paper and it is sooo boring. Just like reading those things on the DST, where they have one paragraph and you have to answer questions about that paragraph.”
“What are these paragraphs about? Aren’t the topics even interesting? Like Literature? ”
“They are soooooo stupid. Here is today’s… i was sooooo bored I forgot to turn it in…. ”
===============
“Inventory” was almost here. Miguel had to count all the product on his shelves. He didn’t have time. In the morning deliveries came and had to be stocked and rotated. Once he opened his doors, he had to handle customers, and never was a time that no one was in the building. Then in the evening, he had to stay to make sure his evening shift was running smoothly. His assistant came in at five, and Miguel would wait to make sure all staff was present and accounted for, that no manpower shortages would occur, and that all equipment was working properly, before he could leave. He started every day at 5 am…”
DISCUSS THOROUGHLY
ANALYZE CORRECTLY
WRITE THE NEXT SENTENCE
VOCABULARY
inventory
deliveries
customers
assistant
accounted
manpower
shortages
properly
WHAT IS THE KEY POINT OF THIS PARAGRAPH
WHAT IS THE AUTHOR TRYING TO SAY
WRITE A 5 PARAGRAPH TEXT ON HOW YOU WOULD SOLVE MIGUEL’S PROBLEMS.
===============
From Shakespeare to this….. This is Common Core, ladies and gentlemen. This approaches the most basic, lowest common denominator level of educating students to the barest minimum. Whereas you may look into this story for additional insight and perspective as one would be prone to look to literature for the same, and if you did, you would be marked wrong.
Because the answers expected here, are not profound. Common Core is asking students who have never run a grocery store or even been employed, to fill in the last sentence of something that is entirely alien to them. None have ever taken management 101. At most, their only experience with time-management was balance two homework assignments in the same evening. The correct answer to the question asking for the key point of this paragraph, (drumroll please), is….. “Miguel doesn’t have time to do inventory”. Duh? If you had said, “Miguel needs more help”, “Miguel needs to hire more people”, “Miguel should fake inventory,” you would be wrong with a big red X. There is nothing open to interpretation here. Common Core is always right.
You are beginning to see the problem here. Common Core went to employers to find out what was missing in the education pieces in what they were receiving. My guess one of them was a manager.. To “him”, this is a big dilemma: no time to do inventory because of all ones regular duties. To “him”, overcoming this problem was the biggest challenge in his early career. I’m sure he means well when he puts this problem down for all to consider. To “him”, the subtleness of Marc Anthony’s speech in Julius Caesar is completely lost. After all, it is irrelevant to his world, which consists of putting product on a shelf and selling it to neighborhood customers.
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is the reason today I fight so hard for democracy, and understand why democracy and autocratic competence are always in opposition… It was when i was in this little child’s grade that I read that and then stood in front of my class as did everyone else, and recite….“Friends, Romans, Countrymen. Lend my your ears.” (I always wanted to hand out plastic Mr. Potato ears to the entire class and have us all throw them at the first person who got up to recite….)
We are creating a nation of shelf stockers who will never think past “first let me put up this can, then next, I’ll put up that can, and then I’ll put up another can.” Right now I can hear Steve Martin saying “that person hates cans!”
America needs shelf stockers. But I think society is made better when those shelf stockers do what they have to do to make a living, and then go home and write their novel….
Just as Budweiser got watered down to broaden its appeal to non beer drinkers who would balk at a Dogfish IPA 90. Just as television dumbed down it’s comedy so even the most stupid would still tune in just to see tits and ass; just as newspapers write on a 8th grade level to sell more papers to those who can understand what they are discussing, …. the success we currently see on Common Core taught class tests, is simply there because no un-watered-down knowledge is required. The tests are created so simple that everyone will pass. If of course, they are given the “right” code and “know” the “prompts” for the “correct” answer to each question that will be asked…..
We are not educating America. We are turning off America from really learning….
“But you do so well on taking the tests,” I said!
“Oh, the final exams are only 10% of the grade. The classwork is the other 90%. And I’m pretty good on tests. I can tell which is the right answer by reading how they ask and how they offer the answer, even if I have no idea of what they are talking about. ”
Wow. I had no idea it was this bad.
So, guys. what are we going to do about it?
This is post number 2000.
The only real significance is it is 150 posts more than where Tommywonk stopped exactly one year and fifteen days ago…
If some future historian looks back, I can only guess they may kindly make some note of the quality of thought that underlies these efforts, but my guess, is no one will ever notice…
Irregardless, as long as the urge to put thoughts down for others continues, we will go on. As usual, with no goal, no direction, and no ulterior motive. Probably upon reflection, my biggest surprise, right here, right now … is that I still enjoy it so much, and can’t wait to jot my thoughts down, click the button, and send them off to where ever cyberspace and the vast internet ocean, lets them drift….
For each of you who have become regular over the years, … thank you friend…
Raise top marginal rate to 40%.
Remove all existing tax credits for corporations. Keep current corporate rate at 35%….
Hire 35,000 additional accountants for the IRS….. Just do it.$35,000,000,000.
Allow dollar for dollar, a one time tax credit over these next two years, for every dollar spent on new construction here within the boundaries of the United States. A small business making $60 million this year, .. times the corporate rate of 35% stands to pay $21 million in corporate Federal Income tax. But with the “kavips deduction”, it instead decides to build 4 new locations with a start up cost of $5 million each…. and pay NO FEDERAL TAXES that year.
Those four new locations, each pump $5 million into their respective economies, which as it changes hands, gets taxed over and over and over again. If each unit has sales over $2 million, at a 30% payroll cost, they over the course of a year, pump an additional $660,000 into each local economy… As that $660,000 changes hands, it gets taxed over and over and over again as well….
So what do we have?
Whereas we had no investment under Republican Tax plans, (all that free money was going to Chinese investment since they worked for $1 a day), now under the kavipsian tax plan, we have in the first year, $21 million invested domestically, and a combined $2.6 million each year in brand new jobs, flowing out through the economy……
That $2.6 million if all in one state with a top rate of 5%, puts $131,000 into the state treasury that was not already there. At 2.5%, it puts $65,000 back into local government…..
If the corporation choses to do the same for a second year… then, those amounts get doubled!
Now, here’s the beauty of the kavipsian tax plan…. Imagine, every business, corporate or private, doing this exact same scenario simultaneously…
Ironically, by raising the rate on the amount of taxes we take from the wealthy and/or corporations, but allow them to deduct dollar for dollar what they spend that year on physical capital (something that gets built) we force businesses to choose between giving the Federal Government more of their money…. or keeping it themselves.
We all benefit when they keep it .. themselves…
Mandate it keeps enough cash reserves to cover the liabilities that may fail.
Gee, that was real hard to figure out…..
Definition: Where American spending was brought up to the level where it should be, without the necessary revenue to support it.
(As evidenced by 154,000 private sector jobs being created in July.)
The problem is not with spending. The problem is the lack of taxing of the top 1%. The spending seems to be doing its job.
(Right click for full image)
At first they said there is no global warming……. When that became impossible to defend, they said that global warming data was made up… When that became impossible to defend, they said there was no correlation between carbon dioxide and global warming, When that became impossible to defend… they said it volcanoes caused all the carbon dioxide. When volcanoes stopped erupting and the warming symptoms continued, they said the earth naturally warms all by itself…. When that became impossible to defend, they conceded that perhaps people were the cause of global warming, but it was not their use of Exxon-Mobile, Chevron, Shell-Texaco, BP, or Gasprom that caused it… When that became impossible to defend, they said today, there were more open pussies than in the past…
CRI might be on to something… In 1850, there were 1.171 billion people on this planet…. This year we will approach 7 billion (did we already hit? No, August 26, 2011)… Which means there are 5.83 billion more humans than in 1850; or roughly, 2.91 billion more women with open pussies heating up the planet today….
Damn, women! Cross your legs! The ice is melting!
Photo courtesy of Softpedia.com {right click for full view}
While all eyes were focused on the fake news event of galactic proportions… ie, Camping’s prediction, real shattering events in the world of science were actually taking place… which stretched out to the extreme may one day, like Star Trek and Star Wars, send men at warp speed to distant galaxies…
Antimatter… the opposite of matter, was found and held for 16.6 minutes…. That is plenty of time to bring another hydrogen atom damn smack into it… Creating, something magnificent…creating results bordering on what we don’t know yet ….
Trust numbers, not people… Math predicted their existence, and even though no one quite new how to find them, most accepted them on mathematical evidence… In my lifetime, and yours, this great event took place…. and went unnoticed for several weeks, because the world was ending….. not…
Praise be to mankind, who has grasped the inner workings of matter itself… Praise be to Europeans, … who did not kill their super collider as did America’s numbskull republicans…..
Courtesy of Department of Defense
What? There’s an election this Saturday? Where’s the press, where’s the mud-flinging, where’s the 30 or longer comment sessions, where’s the Hare’s Corner postal staff? Where’s WDEL, where’s the News Journal? What 3 days left? How many of you without looking, know who is running?
Hats off to David Anderson….At least one of us was not asleep at the wheel…..I have to shake my head and say no wonder politics in Delaware is so messed up when a special election can come and go and Delaware’s watchdogs do not even lift an eyelid.
Yeah, I knew it was coming and had in the back of my mind to look into it, but……..3 days from now? Hopefully I’ll do better next time…..Of course there are myriads of excuses…….Lots….
For one, KHN will become a new acronym commonly seen on these pages. That is because the number of keystrokes required to type out “Karen Hartley-Nagle” damages the nerve tissue in both of one’s hands. She, by coincidence, threw her hat onto MIke Castle’s head (it was a 3 pointer shot by the way) by announcing her candidacy yesterday, which was echoed by DWA, Dana, Soapbox Matt, and acknowledged by Del Lib. (Is it just me or do all those posts say the same thing?) At least Nancy’s was somewhat different.
Equally important this week, especially yesterday, was Delaware’s blogosphere’s innermost feelings on …….pizza….Particularly Grotto’s and the knowledge they were taking on a little pizza shop in Beaverbrook, because the name “Grottina” was too close to “Grotto’s”. I guess to “Big” Don (Grotto’s head), the size of the cave, does matter. Anyone willing to read up on an empty stomach, beware…….Not only did it take up most of an afternoon of discussion on WDEL, but you can read about it here, and here…….If you don’t love pizza, take the advice of Grottina proprietor Jean Luc and: “Forget about it!”
Other weekend news was the letter sent to Kowalko and all, by Delmarva Power in response to what was truthfully said about their recalcitrance to engage into options of working with Blue Water Wind…..Nancy has a copy of “the letter” and John’s response. Everyone needs to read that exchange, for the same reason that before stepping on a Copperhead, one should listen for the “hiss…”. John does not need to really concern himself about the accusations Delmarva is implying….All the evidence on the PSC’s website directly supports it, for all to read…..Yeah, Delmarva is doing everything possible not to negotiate with Blue Water Wind….even to the point of spending all summer negotiating and in the last hour, putting an asterisk next to every position previously agreed upon and stating that those clauses with asterisks were not agreed to by Delmarva.(page 5)….How low is that. Yes ladies and gentlemen, that was the tactic used by those who supply our power………So John’s letter should not be the real news, The real news should be why Delmarva Power is still allowed to remain a part of the negotiations between Blue Water Wind and the State….Delmarva had their chance….As this letter to John shows, when it comes to including them into negotiations, the State of Delaware should say…..”forget about it.”
Other news: the case of the missing funds, and as we found out yesterday, the missing “fink“. (Now that was low) But missing money is just that. Missing. And attention needs to be paid as to whether someone was being paid to look the other way as the foxes took it upon themselves to march into the henhouse….That is the L–ink where all of this comes together. Can anyone say “Grand Jury with Subpoena Power?”
So what else happened this past weekend? FSP is recycling pieces from July. That is a correct synopsis of that blog this weekend; they really don’t have much to say….Compared to blogs on the other side who cannot keep up with the news as it flies out of Washington….The times they are a changing.….Perhaps one can compare the malaise affecting Americans today to that hopelessness and despondency that Reagan often alluded to when discussing the presidency before him. Only today it is much worse…..Don’t take my word for it…it is right here on FSP.
This comment just sort of jumped out at me: “Frank, I had a feeling Fred Flintstone didn’t have a flying car.” Great discussions are to be had on the other side of the aisle.
Dana has a new look…Is everyone going red? Is this the new trend nationwide? Matt’s Soapbox has morphed as well, no doubt due to his cross posting on Down With Absolutes.
Kilroy has the take on Education. Being involved with the Republican party of course he has some baggage to contend with in dealing with Delaware’s http://www.protackforgovernor.com/. On the other hand, the rest of us are in search of quality and really do not care about Strine’s aggrivations…So for Kilroy to grudgingly publish Protack’s policies of education, shows that something is up this time…We have real issues coming to the forefront. Although there may arise some concerns for “lack of local control” of education, perhaps considering our current state of education, we should consider this option as perhaps the removal of local impediments to the betterment of education. I at at least took notice with the consolidation of school districts. It’s a new, bold idea; sort of the type we will need if we move forward into the future. All that Delaware has previously received, was a pap smear and french fries.
Speaking of Protack, DWA has his health care plan here.
Once again we have real solutions, and not some fancy words that sound good until one explores what they really mean……Perhaps it just takes a candidate who really has to try harder to come up with the proper perspective in dealing with these heady issues..
Elsewhere?
Mike’s Musings mulls about the passage of time. He speaks of the changes surrounding his home town this time. Both Nancy and Judd have points to add on the wisdom of setting moratoriums upon unplanned development. Pile on the rules and regulation.
From Shirley’s exploration of what it means to be a Libertarian, we get this nugget, among a few: If the only way you can tell a left winger from a right winger is by which one of their hands is in which one of your pockets, you might be a Libertarian. It is worth the laugh to read the whole thing. But equally important to a main topic of local discussion, is whether anonymous postings have a place on the internet. Most recently, the continuous conversation was carried here.
And what use to be Delaware’s Voice of Libertarianism and is now one of three, The Digital Federalist keeps up with Ron Paul and Hugo Chevez. Quite a coupling.
Other issues involving comments, are the realization that we were lied to about Iran, the same as we were about Iraq. (I am shocked, shocked that their is lying going on around Dick Cheney’s administration!) Obviously this important news had to wait until a heart attack to sneak out into the public realm…….And to think there are still some people left on this planet who still make fun of Gore………Try looking in the mirror……..But don’t be too harsh on yourselves, for even the Washington Post has lost it’s credibility. So it is not…. “just a Republican thing”. Tommywonk puts their smear Obama campaign into proper perspective.
Nancy carries the local angle on who….who….who from Delaware, was ready to launch nukes into the heartland of Iran…”Rah Rah Leiberman! Sis Boom Bah.” (not to drop a hint of course.)
Nancy and Kilroy both clue us in on the up and coming town meetings to cover the open government within Delaware’s legislative halls…..To all who read this, this is perhaps one meeting that all should attend, for the very reason it is now time for citizens of this state to take back their government……At least consider voting for these few who put principle above their own power……..
Nancy found some dirt on Huckabee, which I didn’t think was possible. He still reminds me of a blue Hanna-Barbara Cartoon character.
And since one of the principle reasons I do all of this is to start trouble, I would be remiss if I left out these three posts,all of which comment than none of these three guys, made a comment upon them in their blog? But then, I understand that neither is talking to each other….WTF…..That’s the whole reason there IS an internet, fellas, ….that and Al Gore…….
I think Duffy has what they need ………. some fine Benny Lava… Is it just me or is that John Carney before he shaved doing the lead role?
Oh yeah, there is an election this Saturday.
Here is my breakdown of tomorrow’s vote. It is an educated guess, no voter or candidate should take it seriously, but I raced to post it before polls opened, so that I could see if I did better tomorrow than on my March Madness Brackets. To my understanding, it is the only pre- election poll conducted in the 41st.
| Hastings |
Bullock | Burton | Write In | Total | ||
| 01 of 41 | 399 | 549 | 147 | 16 |
1,111 | |
| 02 OF 41 |
318 | 383 | 106 | 28 | 835 | |
| 03 OF 41 | 426 | 315 | 158 | 38 | 935 | |
| 04 OF 41 | 307 | 236 | 163 | 31 | 737 | |
| 05 OF 41 | 648 | 529 | 226 | 56 | 1459 | |
| 06 OF 41 | 305 | 285 | 109 | 27 | 726 | |
| 07 OF 41 | 886 | 729 | 317 | 91 | 2023 | |
| 08 OF 41 | 779 | 901 | 149 | 74 | 1903 | |
| 09 OF 41 | 193 | 176 | 92 | 16 | 477 | |
| Total | 4261 | 4103 | 1467 | 375 | 10206 |
Prognosis: Atkins’s end run will have been irrelevant.
Bullock lost a “sure thing” by supporting NRG.
Update: The results are in:
| Hastings | Bullock | Burton | Write In | Total | ||
| 01 OF 41 | 262 | 185 | 14 | 144 | 605 | |
| 02 OF 41 | 223 | 163 | 20 | 83 | 489 | |
| 03 OF 41 | 121 | 130 | 6 | 31 | 288 | |
| 04 OF 41 | 182 | 189 | 11 | 89 | 471 | |
| 05 OF 41 | 277 | 256 | 28 | 86 | 647 | |
| 06 OF 41 | 123 | 116 | 28 | 41 | 308 | |
| 07 OF 41 | 298 | 244 | 49 | 48 | 639 | |
| 08 OF 41 | 237 | 251 | 57 | 27 | 572 | |
| 09 OF 41 | 47 | 42 | 7 | 7 | 103 | |
| 1770 | 1576 | 220 | 556 | 4122 | ||
| 11 others |
Residents living in Millsboro have got it made! No matter who wins the election this Saturday, they will have an outstanding representative to finish out the term vacated by the resigned John Atkins.
It is ironic that this election falls on Cinquo de Mayo, or May 5th in English. Residents of the 41st will be celebrating their “freedom” in two languages that day.
Politics in this small town is far removed from either the state or national trauma. In Millsboro, it is about the person running, not the party he represents. No bloggers tearing each other apart down there. Everyone gets along quite well, and the candidate still wave at each other when they drive past.There is even a rumor that they just might, if the weather is good, have a BBQ somewhere in the middle of all three of their houses. This would not be hard, for all three of them live within a two block area of the same development.
The only real difference between these candidates is that the Democratic, Lynn Bullock, is supportive of NRG’s energy plan, and the Republican Greg Hastings and Independent John Burton, both support Blue Water Winds proposal, (along with 94 percent of Delawareans).
If the name of a local entrepreneurial activity is any indication of the winner, then it may be possible that the Blue Water Grill, on Main Street, may portend good things for the Republican.
This race is a classic toss up; there are too many variables in flux to get a read……….
Lynn Bullock, the Democrat has been given a hard time by some Blue Water Wind supporters. But if the truth were known that his father was head of the NRG plant since “the war”, and it was he who was responsible for hiring many of the unemployed returning soldiers when they returned home, then one can understand and appreciate some of the personal motives for his decision. I for one would be loathe to go against my father’s legacy, and all it stood for.
However there are many in Millsboro who do not like the proximity of the plant to their neighborhood. The high rate of cancer has put many holes in what once was a tight knit community. They remember when NRG was forced to buy up all the land surrounding the plant, because pot ash and other toxic chemicals kept falling out of the sky……….The Blue Water plan appeals to this crowd, as do the candidates Greg Hastings and John Burton.
According to WGMD in a recent debate, Lynn Bullock, the Democrat, seems more concerned about NRG than anything else. His classic line was, “Let me clarify my clarification.”
The Independent candidate, John Burton, spoke about enforcing the laws we already have on the books, instead of spending time creating new ones, while the Republican, Greg Hastings, believes we have to “stand firm” on getting the current plant cleaned up, and spoke about solar power and “other options” for energy,
Will there be a Republican backlash against the party for its initial support of the previous candidate who resigned last month? If so it will be split between the Democratic and Independent candidates. And considering the choice candidate they have in Greg Hastings, it is unlikely that he will be punished for his party.
Many thought that the independent candidate had the best showing when they appeared together last week. Some residents were surprisingly impressed. He should pull votes from both parties.
And then there is John Atkins. His threat is over rated. Although his signs are ubiquitous around the town, it was hard to find anyone willing to vote for him. They still like him, and many think he got a raw deal, but to vote for him………nah, he had his run. It is time for someone new.”
Despite the prevalence of signs, only one residence could be found to display them on its property. Whereas Hastings, Burton, and Bullock signs are posted in front of every other house………
Not to mention, no drive to educate voters on how to navigate the complicated voting machine write-in process, has yet, at this late date, taken place. Those voters who may wish to say good bye to John, by one last vote for Atkins, may become too frustrated once the curtain is drawn, and spontaneously cast their vote for their second choice candidate.
However there is one area of concern. Approximately 51 % of those assisting the election got their jobs through Atkins. Voter fraud is always possible. It would be wise for each party to load every polling place with challengers and poll watchers, to insure no hanky-panky takes place. Seacrets do not mix well with politics…….. Doing so would leave fake absentee ballots as his only recourse……….
Voters of the 41st have a golden opportunity to vote for their representative without the distractions of a national or state campaign. In the quiet of this small town, home of two stop lights and a revolutionary oak tree, each citizen will have the time to consider all the options in detail, something the rest of us should envy. Whoever wins on Saturday, (at this point too close to call), will give Millsboro a great representative. They are all good men.
kavips 
