I just watched the "Obama at school" video that everybody was raving about a few weeks ago. It's really hard to believe that there were parents out there actively preaching against it.
What? He said, basically, "study, do your homework".
Wow. What a concept. It isn't as though almost every president (and his wife for that matter) has done this.
And, even that I'm writing this makes no sense; it's so damned basic.
you've got assholes and kids that try. You've got people that pick on people and those that get picked on, etc., etc. There are those that weak and need our strength to go forward.
That's my key to survival. I try everyday to empower people, mostly young people. I've had many failures, and at times, it deeply disheartened me. But for each person I was able to reach, I found a bit of myself in them, and thus, empowered myself to go on. I'm a social worker, have been for nearly two decades. It's a low-paying, difficult, sometimes harshly challenging career. When I was a high school student I excelled at just about every subject (except sports). I made decision in college and later in grad school that made my family quite irate, because they knew I would never drive a nice car or own the best home. At times, I must admit, it hit me hard as a brick when I realized those things would not come to me. Never-the-less, I continued to try to help people, just folks, your everyday man, woman or child.
Like Obama alluded to his his speech, I was not only challenging myself or my future, I was challenging the future.
So, with mostly democratic and liberal readers of these blogs, I accept that all of you understand where I'm coming from. But for a few, you may rave on about the "president brainwashing our kids".
Well, I know my son watch the address and, believe me, not being a fan of brainwashing, I dearly pray for an exception in the case.
It has been a very long time since I was really touched by a speech given by a politico. I have grown older and much more jaded. The last 30 years of my life have been, arguably, the most difficult period in this country's history. Excuse me to those who survived the Great Depression and WWII, but at least, in my estimate, people seemed united. The last thirty years have seen a division among our citizens, unmatched. So, this atmosphere, this zeitgeist, if you will, has formed my social and political ideologies.
When the President of the United States gives a speech (in my life-time), I have expected to be angry, ashamed, demoralized, and the list goes on. But this time, it was different. No, he did not outline the plans for a New World Order (thank God), but he was genuine, remarkable in his integrity and passionate, not about over-throwing Castro or making the stock-market soar, but about children, a class of kids like millions of others around the world. And, I hope some of it sunk in. The United States, sadly, is behind many nations that the UN rightly calls "third-world" in the quality of education our children receive.
Rightly, I think, then, I expect this president to do anything and everything to further our success in education. He stated to those children that he expected them to "do their homework and listen to their teachers". I expect, as all likely would, that he, too, do his homework and listen to the the very learned men and women who have given up their lives to join the ranks of his advisors.
__t__
Here is some information about a 34 page paper I just recently completed.
In this post, I have included the “preface” and the Table of Contents of that paper (see below).
Stefan Pasti, Founder and Outreach Coordinator
The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative
[Below is the “preface” and Table of Contents of the paper “The Twilight of One Era, and the Dawning of Another”.]
Brief Description ("Preface")
There are countless number of “things people can do in the everyday circumstances of their lives” which will contribute to peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability in their own communities and regions—and in other parts of the world. Unfortunately, many of these “things”—in the forms of actions and initiatives (solution-oriented activity)—are not quite “coming through the mist as much as they should be”. This paper—“The Twilight of One Era, and the Dawning of Another”—provides both an introduction to the potential of Community Visioning Initiatives, and an introduction to the potential of The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative. These two approaches can inspire, support, and integrate many different initiatives at the same time, and thus create “constellations” of initiatives which can bring many of the countless numbers of “things” mentioned above “through the mist” and into the light.
This paper has been written, and is being shared, at a time when more and more people are coming to the conclusion that there is a need for problem solving on a scale most of us have never known before. Even if much disagreement remains about the nature of the challenges ahead, the potential described in this paper—associated with Community Visioning Initiatives, and The IPCR Initiative—can be actualized to such a degree that significant gains can be made in many fields of activity. Thus, while we—collectively—may not know for sure what era is coming to an end, and what era is dawning, for some time yet to come, this writer believes that there are ideas and resources enough for such a dawning to occur—and this paper is an effort to provide evidence in support of that belief. Stefan PastiLeesburg, Virginia (USA)October 25, 2009
Table of Contents
IntroductionNeeded: Problem Solving on a Scale Most of Us Have Never Known BeforeThe “1000Communities2” ProposalCommunity Visioning Initiatives—maximizing “citizen participation in identifying challenges, and in solution-oriented activity”“Community Teaching and Learning Centers”—A Special Form of Community Education“Sister Community” Relationships—“… common ground associated with increasing compassion for our fellow human beings….”Education Systems in Times of CrisesCommunity Visioning Initiatives, Job Fairs, and the “Just Transition” to More Solution-Oriented EmploymentProblems That May Arise (in preparing for, and implementing, Community Visioning Initiatives)On the Importance of Preliminary SurveysThe Treasured Wisdom of Religious, Spiritual, and Moral Traditions—is it in the “tool box”?The IPCR Initiative—Creating a Multiplier Effect of a Positive NatureOpportunities for Local Newspapers to Contribute Valuable Community ServicesConcluding Comments Notes and Source References [End of Post]
I am very concerned about the continuing decline of the public education system in America. I see it as a serious threat to both our economic and political stabiity - as real a threat as anything else out there, including the bank collapses. Yet I don't see much coming out of our state or national government, or in the public conversation that addresses the real issues and problems. Here are three things happening in my district that illustrate the problems we face.
First, we are being pressured to pass students. While this is couched in terms of "making all students proficient," teachers who fail too many students are punished. We all know this, and teachers then have the choice of either bending to the pressure, compromising their own integrity; or resisiting and risking the consequent results.
While the district would deny the existence of this pressure or the reasons for it, it seems fairly clear that the recent improvements in tracking actual drop-out rates in California have given rise to pressure from the state to graduate more students - and since we know students who fall behind in credits are also most likely to drop out, the district's simplistic solution has been to fail fewer students, deserving or not. (Never mind that this is probably false cause and effect. Students who are failing are those who are disaffected in the first place, have attendance problems, have gang or family issues, etc., that are keeping them from doing well in the first place, and lowering the standards for passing more and more will do little to keep them in school.)
Meanwhile, we are also being pushed to ensure "proficiency" for all students through student interventions for those who are failing. The district began this by bringing in a consultant from a school near Chicago which has had good success with a very structured, school-wide intervention program. However, they also have almost twice the ADA money that our district has, so of course we couldn't implement the kind of intervention programs they have. (For instance, they have intervention teams that include social workers and psychologists, an intervention that is completely beyond our means.) In addition, instead of following the consultant's bottom-up development model, based on small professional learning communities given the autonomy and schedule compatabilty needed to experiment with new approaches to improving teaching and learning, the administration and district imposed a top-down model. Of course it is failing with much resulting distrust and a poisoning of the waters.
At the national level, Arnie Duncan, is pushing merit pay. Under these circumstances, what meaning does merit pay have? Moreover, I don't think he is considering the unintended consequences. Even without the added incentive of money, just the pressure to produce good scores that arises from the "hockey stick" of NCLB, I am getting students with very suspect scores. That is, I have at least four students out of my 125 whose work in class does not in any way match their supposed proficiency level on the state tests. I am hearing from the counselors that this is an increasing problem.
These are three huge and interconnected problems in our district. I want to know if they are problems in other districts in California or across the nation. What big issues do you see? What insights do you have as to the underlying causes and possible solutions for the ills of our educational system?
About The new Quebec ethic and religious culture issue.
Going against the will of the people and parents concerned, the government of Quebec requires all children in Quebec to follow a new religious and moral state curriculum! This is called the new compulsory " Ethics and religious culture curriculum" We believe this violates the law and international agreements. Parents are currently before the courts to enforce their rights. Thousands of parents are demanding respect for their rights, universal rights!
«Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.» (art. 26.3 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
«The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.» (art 18.4 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights)
Things must change here too!
We can help parents by donation through the Canadian Constitution Foundation Make sure to select the cause: Religious Freedom/Liberté religieuse - challenging Quebec's mandatory ERC/ÉCR course
Quebecers must be inspired by the will and the hope represented by Barack Obama to change things about the tyranny of the Quebec government to impose this new religion state course.
After reading up on murders of children that happened in the past two weeks alone, I am wondering how can we change this. I got several Tweets and updates from Kandi former member of the female singing group Escape. Her family has been hit with a tragedy that may have been intentional not to mention she is also remembering her brother who she lost in high school.
I got a call this morning from Phillip O'Barry Academy just as I was leaving to take my son to school and the other end the recording said "hi parents we are calling to inform you of a death of one our students" this young man died Friday 10/2/2009 due to complications from an enlarged heart, he was on the wrestling team and an honor student. My, I send his parents my condolences.
What can we do? Just recently a man was charged right here in North Carolina for kidnapping and molesting his two adopted daughters one of which was pregnant. What can we do people? Our community needs attention, our children are crying out for our affection. Then almost two weeks ago a pregnant fifteen year old was shot and killed at the bus stop waiting to go to school. Now she is gone her child left with no mother. People we got to make some major adjustments.
I think about the mother of the Chicago honor student, Kevin Miller, who was beaten and killed by four other teens and we still don't know or understand the motive. Why are our children so angry? Then just yesterday a 13 year old was shot and killed at a car wash in Queens, NY. He was also a honor student, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and now he is gone, another statistic that won't make to see 25. What can we do people? As parents, friends, teachers, mentors. We have to find a solution. We are losing our children at alarming rates, and the world just continues to move as if there is nothing wrong. Our current condition needs serious recognition.
In God We Trust! Bring him back into our schools. Allow our children to pray. Teach our children to befriend one another, teach our children to look out for one another. Change starts from within our children micmic what they see on TV, hear on the radio and what they learn at home and in school. We have the power to change this people. I challenge you all to promote positive change! Starting today!!
Click the links below to follow some of the stories on the killings I mentioned;
http://globalgrind.com/content/1041313/UPDATE-Kevins-Family-Needs-Our-Support-For-His-Funeral/
http://hellobeautiful.com/your-world/exclusive-kandi-speaks-on-death-of-fiance-aj/
http://globalgrind.com/content/1034001/Minister-Farrakhan-On-Derrion-quotA-Special-Young-Manquot/
http://globalgrind.com/content/1022209/LITTLEMISSDIVASWORLD-Chicago-Teen-Derrion-Albert/
http://globalgrind.com/content/1035225/He-Has-A-Name-KevinMiller-13-Year-Old-Shot-In-Head/
PORT ST. LUCIE – The Iduka Corporation Board of Directors invites the public to come out to meet the mayor and enjoy a cup of coffee at the Grand Opening of Iduka’s Thrift Store on Thursday, September 24. Mayor Patricia Christensen is scheduled to cut the ribbon to officially open the store at 10:00 a.m. Several Chamber of Commerce representatives will also attend the event. The Iduka Thrift Store is located in the Town Centre Plaza, 10073 S. Federal Highway (US 1) in Port St. Lucie. Proceeds from thrift store sales will help provide microloans for needy students.
Iduka, a non-profit organization headquartered on the Treasure Coast, is dedicated to helping college students attain higher education through micro-lending. The Iduka Thrift Store will help bridge the financial gap of needed money sources to fund the organization’s microloan program.
Shoppers are encouraged to check out the affordable, gently used clothing, furniture, appliances, and electronics and more available at the Iduka Thrift Store, 10073 Federal Highway, in the Town Centre Plaza where Aegis Workforce, Bealls, Staples, China Garden Buffet, and Liberty Medical are located.
The store provides an important retail service to the Port St. Lucie Community and other outlying neighborhoods on the Treasure Coast. Donors and volunteers are actively being recruited. Anyone interested in donating items or volunteering at the Iduka Thrift Store should call 772-335-9030 or send an email to iduka.thriftstore@gmail.com. Visit Iduka’s Web site atwww.iduka.org to learn more about the organization and how to get involved with their mission.
Iduka Corporation is a non-profit organization with a 501©(3) tax-exempt status. Its mission is to promote college affordability by connecting students with lenders, schools, and community service organizations through an Internet based micro loan program. The goal is to provide students and their family one more financial tool to help them in their pursuit of higher education. Iduka makes this possible by offering an innovative plan secured in a Web-based micro-lending system that connects students with lenders, and incorporates, whenever possible, student volunteerism as a mean for students to pay back their loans.
iduka.info@gmail.com
www.iduka.org
www.facebook.com/iduka.microloans
772-335-9030
Now that I've heard President Obama's speech to schoolchildren,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iqsxCWjCvI
I'm even more disappointed in the furor that caused school districts (including my own) to not air it live. Why? Because it was more inspiring than I thought it would be. Interestingly enough, it was a speech any conservative, any Republican president, would have been proud to give. It was about personal responsibility. It gave compelling reasons why school is relevant. And it was clearly effective. How much more could one ask from a speech?
In my quest to continue to understand why my school district did not air this speech on September 8th, I've researched precedent and spoke to those in my school district who were willing to speak about this, a total of one person. All of the letters I wrote, the inquiries I made, only one person from the school called me and it wasn't even the individual who wrote the letter to the parents announcing the banning of the speech.
Because I don't want to publicly express who that person was who did call me, because I did not indicate to them that I would be publicizing their comments, I will use that shadowy press term I've always wanted to use: It was "a very highly placed source." Oooooohhhhhhh.
My source indicated that they could not yet give an official response to my letter I sent to the superintendent, because apparently, there is going to be some official more general reiteration of the district's stance down the road. This confused me a bit in that I thought they already had a stance iterated.
My source did want to assure me that "the District's decision to not air the President's speech live was not politically motivated", though their own letter explaining why they would not air the speech said, "the airing of this speech has already become a very politically charged topic in the press and a significant concern for many of our parents."
I explained that I never made a claim that the board itself was casting a political statement by not airing the speech, but instead, bowing to pressure from constituents who had a political or personal agenda against the President of the United States. Furthermore, I explained, as I explained in my letter, that there were a whole host of other reasons this was poor judgement to not air the speech. Not the least of which is that it would be good for children to hear and not airing it broke with precedent as many other presidents made similar speeches in the past to much less resistance.
While there was some typical partisan dissent in the past, it never elevated itself to the wackyness of the current fervor (child indoctrination claims, brainwashing) nor the wholesale deletion of the event from school agendas. Though to that point, I challenge my board: I cannot definitively find record of my school district airing the Reagan and the George H.W. speeches, but I find no record they didn't either. I would be interested in a public statement from the board indicating what did happen on October 1, 1991 when George H.W. Bush gave the speech and in the 1980's when Ronald Reagan gave his speech. It might prove enlightening, it could even make their case that this is precedent for this school district to not air such speeches (precedent I would still disagree with).
My source also interestingly said that the superintendent had final power re this decision and that the board supported it. Really? The superintendent has final say? Now, I'm no expert here, but I thought in most municipalities that the board is elected and the board had hiring and firing power over the superintendent. Doesn't that give the board final say? How could the person being hired have final say over the person hiring them?
So I looked up some past cases. Here's an excerpt from a legal case in Harrisburg, PA concerning a curricula decision regarding "intelligent design."
HARRISBURG, Pa. - The school board, not teachers, should decide what belongs in the public-school curriculum, said the assistant superintendent of a school district being sued over whether "intelligent design" belongs in science classes.
The Dover Area School Board decided in October 2004 to require students to hear a statement about intelligent design before ninth-grade biology lessons on evolution. Teachers were opposed to the statement, which says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact" and has inexplicable "gaps," and which refers students to the textbook "Of Pandas and People" for more information.
The board has final say on such curriculum decisions, Michael Baksa, the assistant superintendent, testified Thursday during the landmark federal trial. "Once the board makes a decision, whether you agree with the decision or not, it's your responsibility to implement it," he said.
Well, that's interesting. If Illinois law re school boards is like Pennsylvania law, then the board should have made the decision about whether to air this speech, not the superintendent.
My source also indicated that the "grade level" of this speech (apparently graded by Microsoft according to my source, who I wasn't aware was in the grading of speeches business) was at "7th grade" and therefore inappropriate (or not understandable) for other grades (below I assume). I tried to wrap my head around this and carry it to it's logical conclusion. One would have to either have the sitting president create 12 different speeches to accommodate each of the grades and in addition, due to curricula concerns my source had, also coordinate with the board (or the superintendent) to correlate the speech to existing curricula mapping of our school district or not give the speech.
Clearly, when one tries to carry this to it's logical conclusion, it simply isn't logical. This speech cannot be measured as though it's part of standard curricula. It's not meant to be and it cannot be judged in that way. It's an historic event. It's an inspirational speech given by our President to help our children and our society. It's simply much ado about nothing to be against airing it live or otherwise. To somehow say that down the road the board (or the superintendent?) will review the speech and then they might air pieces of it "not live"is simply missing the point, besides smacking of censorship. Airing the speech preferentially later would be like airing the moon landing only after review. Yes, I hear the criticism already, "this is not the moon landing." But the speech was historic (first black president, remember?). It's also helpful for our educational system. The point, quite simply, is that it should not have been "banned" because t was meant to inspire kids and who could argue with that?
And there was another issue the source had with my argument. They said the speech wasn't "banned" but they didn't offer an alternative adjective. Then what was it? Temporarily banned? Forbidden but not really? Ban means to forbid something. If you later then allow it, you lift the ban. This is simply semantics to say it wasn't banned. It was clearly forbidden to be aired live. So the live broadcast was banned. Simple as that. This argument over minutia is one of the issues, as it's trying to create rationale through loophole. When things are wrong, we tend to use fine print to make them seem right and that is wrong.
So what did I do with my six-year old that evening of the speech? We watched the speech in bed as his bedtime story. Contrary to concerns about this being above my son's ability to comprehend, he understood quite a bit of the speech thank you. My son, to be fair, wandered at points, he asked questions, he did all of the things we all do when listening to speeches (or reading long blogs). But he got a lot out of it. Though not as much as he would have, had he been with the entire school sitting together in an auditorium. There's a reason we have movie theaters. There's simply something more important about an event when it's shared.
I would hope that the world sees that sharing, tolerance and togetherness, is what we need more of, and divisiveness, hatred and prejudice, is what we need less of.
Second of all, surely we all agree that this is a positive message and one that our students desperately need to hear. Is anyone suggesting our kids should not do well in school or that they should drop out?
I think his critics need to get a grip on themselves quickly because it is now becoming a question of either intelligence or hatred. At this point, it is hard to tell if they are ignorant when it comes to the facts or if their hatred has simply blinded them to the truth. It has been said that ignorance is bliss but that is not the case. Ignorance is simply ignorance. Bliss requires knowledge of and appreciation for your circumstances thereby ruling out ignorance. FYI, ignorance is not a good look.
According to a news article, the President’s critics seem to have a problem with the questions on the study guide that has been provided to assist in a discussion session to follow his speech. Questions such as “What do you think the President is trying to say to you?” Where is the offense? If the President is the one who gave the speech, isn't it legitimate to ask, “What is the President trying to say”? This is simply getting ridiculous. Instead of making intelligent points, they are grasping at straws and making themselves look less than intelligent. Much less.
Our country is falling behind other countries and our children need encouragement from every quarter and President Obama’s critics want to play politics! You know what? President Obama is not perfect. If he makes a mistake, he should be called on it but this petty straw grasping does not reflect well on his critics at all.
I do, however, have to give our President credit for his incredible ability to stay above the mess. I hope in a similar situation I could react the same but as agitated as I feel now on the sidelines, I don’t think I would handle it as brilliantly as he does.
I should not continue to be surprised at the low level tactics of his critics, yet I am. I am disappointed as well. See, having been born post slavery, it has always baffled my mind that this great country I live in could have such a period of shame in its history. Yet, as each day passes and the hatred becomes more blatant, my mind becomes less baffled.
A speech on the importance of education is now a BAD thing? The President is being criticized for sending out questions to get students thinking about the speech he just made? Not comments, mind you, but questions? So, the students should listen to his speech and then what? Not discuss, not think about it ever again? Not question the message they just heard? I think it is a sign of strength that President Obama didn't just expect to give a speech and have students mindlessly swallow it whole. Instead he chose to spark discussion with the students about the value of education and the wisdom of staying in school. He chose to get them thinking and talking.
Show me the downside! It’s wrong? Really?
I’ll tell you what’s wrong. What's wrong is that it is 2009 and this conversation is historic in that it has never been done quite this way.
When graduation rates dropped, this should have been done!
When the achievement gap widened, this should have been done!
When other countries began to surpass us, this should have been done!
If you want to point fingers, let’s at least point them in the right direction!
I am more than ready for people to stop politicking, roll up their sleeves and get to work! Let’s get to the hard work of getting us back on track! Our situation is entirely too serious for us to still be playing politics! Let’s get to the hard work of getting our kids to see the value of education, what it means for their future and for the future of our country.
It’s time for some people to wake up! Instead of worrying about us drinking the Kool-Aid, I sincerely wish they would start smelling the coffee!!
I am disappointed that my child won’t be hearing President Obama’s address to students with her fellow students on Tuesday AM. I would think that any President, Republican or Democrat , taking his time to address American students with a positive message about the value of education merits a change in schedule and routine. President Obama is a shining example of what you can achieve when you work hard in school. What a missed educational opportunity for teachers and administrators to discuss not only his message, but the American political process and what it means to be a citizen in a Democracy. By speaking directly to students, any public leader, regardless of political affiliation, contributes to their self esteem, since such an address sends the message that our children are important and valued members of our society.
Thank you ,
I received a thoughtful reply from the school administrator who agreed with me but said that they were so inundated by parents protesting that they would have had to get signed permission slips for kids to view the speech - is this happening only in Red States? I think that the protestors are just so much more vocal then those who support and want their children to hear his speech in schools. So if you have a child and your district is in the uproar mine is, let your principal no that you want your child to hear the speech!
This was received from my local school district. See next post for my response.
Lincolnshire-Prairie View School District 103
Administration Offices
1370 Riverwoods Road • Lincolnshire, Il 60069
847/295-4030 • FAX 847/295-9196
http://www.district103.k12.il.us
September 4, 2009
Dear Parents and Guardians,
As you may know, President Obama plans to present a White House address
directly to children on September 8, 2009, at 11:00 a.m. Central Standard Time, which
is during our regular school day. The airing of this speech has already become a very
politically charged topic in the press and a significant concern for many of our parents.
The U.S. Department of Education has sent out suggested classroom activities and
promoted a student video contest with $1,000 prizes.
We have a responsibility as educators to determine what information will be
included in our curriculum. Since we have not had an opportunity to review the text of
President Obama’s speech to determine age appropriateness, ties to our curriculum,
and usefulness as an instructional tool, we will not be showing President Obama’s
speech in classrooms on September 8. We will record the speech for teachers so
that they have an opportunity to review the content to determine potential usefulness of
the speech, or portions of it, as an educational tool.
This approach will also give you, as a parent, the opportunity to make the
decision on whether or not to have your child view the speech with you at home.
Sincerely,
Larry Fleming, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Larry K. Fleming, Ed.D.
The President of United States Mr.Obama, will be speaking to the children of America on Sep 8th, to tune in and listen is your right, to hear to what he has to say is our privilege, his advise on the importance of Education ....Yes, He cares! His request to the youth across the country to stay in school is his Vision for the future of this country. To improve our education system is his responsibility.
If our Children remain in Schools and are educated, why do we have to out source Brain?
If there is a cost for our tuition today, there's a price for our Brain tomorrow!
There is a reason why the brain wave comes from India today, its because they stayed in school when they had to. They saw the value and need for Education. Their President Dr.Abdul kalam spoke to them about the need for Education and the impact is deep and intense. They are thankful for his advise.
Ignorance is Bliss, but let that not dieter you, from listening to what our President has to say.
Education is the life line to the future of this country. Lets not forget "Today's Youth", are "Tomorrows Dream", of this nation.
An out cry for change and only this govt can make a difference. bec we have a smart and sensible president. We need a smart & intelligible leader to change this course, who but you Mr.President Obama?
Social security: I often wondered in the two decades I have worked & contributed to this plan called "Social Security", If we call our selves capitalist why are we in a govt prog to save for our future. I can understand a 401k, pension, provident fund etc. but why Social Security, sounds so Russian. The govt is in no better position than any other investor who has lost money in the stock market, bonds etc. Like any other citizen who is in deep waters with their investments, so is the govt today. The trouble has been brewing for quite some years. Perhaps Social Security money has been used for war... Well the glitter of the up market is done with, the invested money ....gone. The Social Security system was truly created for one to invest and to realize its benefits in ones retirement. As time went by Social Security money was being paid by one and was being realized by senior retires, bec their money was spent by the govt. Today my question is why should we invest Social Security money knowing for sure we are not going to see any in another 10yrs. not 2037, I feel this money will be depleted by 2016, at the rate at which we are spending. It wasn't in Economic Times but Vanity Fair had published awareness figures like $14 billion per month spent on Iraq war & $5 Trillion was our deficit in the year 2007. That was an alarm we should have woken up to.Today our deficit is growing $9.6 trillion and ticking.
The govt is making small changes with hope the economy will turn around. It may well turn around, but not too long and too strong. We have to stop the unemployment rate from increasing and work towards creating long term permanent employment. This is only the result of what actions we took for an easy way out to make money, by shipping out our manufacturing to China & other countries, 20 yrs back. Then slowly many sectors were being totally outsourced: Petroleum, steel, technical services, our admin call centers, research, development, technology, production of agriculture,storage of vital information,even our pay roll, automobile we drive, furniture we sit on, clothes we wear, to the souvenirs of this country we treasure and the food we eat. 20 years later,today the result a whole generation is hurt, financially and educationally, A rich country, today much depleted of everything only because of our unwise decisions & reckless spending.20 yrs back no one realized the impact all that would have on a generation of American kids & us today.
The recession we are facing is only the preliminary impact we are experiencing today. How did one think we can have employment & education here and it will survive, if we are paying overseas for all our goods and services. We were for the past decade, surviving on other countries excess dollar invested in this country & merely trading foreign goods, strengthening others economy. The inevitable happened, no circulation of healthy dollar with in the country which led for the longest time to the weakest dollar and the greed artificially elevated inflation. The result economic and fiscal implosion. I am reminded & forced to compare of the first Krakatau's Prelude the largest eruptions in historic times. A mere warning, the real stupendous paroxysmal eruption, a series of cataclysmic explosions happened few months later, it collapsed the island beneath the sea.Just the same the biggest economic explosion is yet to come if we do not change our course or ways, if not it will spell devastation.
Suggestions :
1)Social Security: Effective 2010 Jan 1st, discontinue the prog of Social Security, if you have the interest of the future American generation at heart.a)People who have paid into the prog so far see if it can be paid in some small way, with the premium put away, a plan similar to pension.b)The govt should not touch the money for war or any other govt purpose.c)The prog should be discontinued if the govt can not find a way to do justice to serve the people. Why have a prog which is going to be a failure.
2) Cut budgets on war: If the federal is spending 60cents to a $1, we need to wake up. This country is spending beyond its limits. Osama Bin Laden is one man, has he drained the treasury of this huge and the most powerful country on earth. Is he successful or are we not doing the right thing? The republicans sold Ice cubes to the Eskimos, made Americans believe there was weapons of mass destruction in Iraq for 2 terms. At what cost did we terminate Saddam? I thought the target was Osama. Are the Democrats unable to sell a Ulu to the Eskimos?History does repeat itself, In 1960, did France not demand for payment of its debt in gold rather than its dollar.( when America had unwisely printed money for the Vietnam war & to fund its social prog's) 40yrs later we have not learned our lesson a wrong war in Iraq and a drained economy with weak dollar. Lets not drag it to Afghanistan. Send a special force to finish him(Osama). No need for a war , we do not have the resources, that's a fact.
3)Employment: We have to bring our jobs back to this country. Until then there is no moksha for USA. The CARS for clunkers is a great prog. but a very short term plan. Let us have effective 5years & 10 years plans.a) Bring back manufacturing to this country (composition by sector-Industries GDP is 19.6% 2008est), give incentives for manufactures in this country.We are aware dept. of commerce is putting tariff on smaller industries on various products, not sufficient lets focus on the largest Industry a $500Billion Automobile Industry.Lets reestablish & revive the American automobile brand & production Industry.b)Foreign car companies can export parts and raw materials to USA- but not fully completed cars. Why should we have a Japanese made cars "Toyota" leading in car sales in this country, whose economy are we pampering? why are we proud of it? It's time we begin assembly lines not only for American made cars but also foreign brand cars. Cost of foreign cars will also rise due to domestic productions, The money is in circulation within the country, creation of jobs which will reduce the unemployment growth and this will increase the purchase of power of individuals. c)America has to wake up to support local industries and manufacturing units so any automobile imported in finished product form, the tax imposed is heavy and costly-make it 380% now people will have to buy local cars & the money will be in circulation with in the country.
4)Vital Jobs: Bring back research & development & call centers back, that's our only salvation. Our countries unemployment rate is 9.7% and the fact is 17.8% are below poverty level (54.2million people)(Source:US bureau of labor statistics), Creation of jobs, a way to stabilize & retain a well balanced & sound economy. It will take time to grow but the next generation will be thankful for the change of our actions.
5)Technology:
a)Minimum wage is not an issue here esp in IT industry, because an average employee in an information technology industry makes $50k to $60k if employed in this country, be it an American resident or an individual from another country with work permit and when outsourced from other countries its about $20k to $30k.
b)The next question arises, what %age of computer lit people are available in this country. Well my question is what %age of computer lit are unemployed in this country. Well We got to give first preference to Citizens & Permanent Residents, this will certainly reduce in the incoming employees on work permit.
c)Tax, out sourcing of IT Industry after all IT is a great %age of the service industry which is 79.2% (2008est GDP). The treasury department could find a huge gold mine considering IT industry represents a higher %age of the service industry segment.
6)Money: Track American money invested in other tax heaven countries & bust them, Good job on the UBS Zurich based, Swiss bank. Well that was possible because they made the mistake of opening their banks on the US soil(UBS Bank USA) . Way to go Mr.President. I think its time to put sanctions on tax haven countries, who are helping people launder money & avoid taxes, countries such as Switzerland.
7)Education:Shutting schools & reducing budget on education, Increasing school tuition is not the way to go. we are just making our next mistake which is going to reflect 20yrs from now. In October 2000, some 3.8 million young adults were not enrolled in a high school program and had not completed high school. These youths accounted for 10.9 percent of the 34.6 million, 16- through 24-year-olds in the United States in 2000. This is the status drop out rates over the last decade, between 347,000 and 544,000 10th- through 12th-grade students left school each year without successfully completing a high school program. In the year 2008 it was 1.2 million.
If the United States‘s likely dropouts from the Class of 2006 had graduated, the nation could have saved more than $17 billion in Medicaid and expenditures for uninsured health care over the course of those young people‘s lifetimes.
Increasing the graduation rate and college matriculation of male students in the United States by just 5 percent could lead to combined savings and revenue of almost $8 billion each year by reducing crime-related costs.(Source:National Center for Education Statistics (NCES))
The country has not seen a straight forward, honest & sincere President as you, since Abraham Lincoln. Mr.Clinton was a true gift to this country, We need more than one good President.Time for some real action, Change is powerful, more so if its for the better.The real solid growth in any economy is manufacturing, it is the life line of any country. Let us not worry about high cost of labor in this country, when you make the other alternative of import difficult by raising taxes then automatically our cost is of no issue. It is time to be self sufficient and reliable on our selves. I would love to see good ole "Made in USA"!
Have you seen the latest inanity of the GOP rightists and their pet mainstream media puppets? here is the link:
http://news.aol.com/article/the-point-obama-school-speech/654754?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl1|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-point-obama-school-speech%2F654754
According to this it is a "socialist agenda" to tell school kids that they should exercise responsibility and work hard for the good of themselves and of the country. Apparently, GOPers are incensed about the idea of kids being asked to help President Obama, sensing some fascist/authoritarian dictatorship no doubt on the lines of Hitler's Fuehrerprinzip. How come they never felt the same when they were demanding total loyalty to our heroic Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush, after 9/11, and attacking any criticism of the regime as treason? Hypocrisy is too good a word for what Republicans are perpetrating at the moment. Let us hope the American people sees through this cynicism.
Steve Lohr, in a recent New York Times article, reports that a "Study Finds that Online Education Beats the Classroom," and as I read the article, I was reminded how little people understand what teachers do. For example, one line reads, "The real promise of online education, experts say, is providing learning experiences that are more tailored to individual students than is possible in classrooms."
The interesting thing is that these "learning experiences" seem to magically appear at the press of a few buttons.
Of course, I know that behind that "electronic curtain" is a teacher responding to students needs. That is what we do, that is what we've always done, and that is what we will continue to do.
Lohr also points out, "This hardly means that we’ll be saying good-bye to classrooms. But the report does suggest that online education could be set to expand sharply over the next few years, as evidence mounts of its value."
No one who has been teaching for the last twenty years will be surprised to hear this. Most of us teach online as well as "face-to-face," and we usually combine the two by either providing online support for face-to-face classes or requiring face-to-face meetings for our online classes.
The reason: Because online instruction is a very effective tool. I used boldface because I want to emphasize that it is a tool -- and like any tool, it's effectiveness depends on the skills of the person wielding the tool.
The secret is, teachers do know how to use the tool and tend to use it very effectively. Yet, for some strange reason, we are often not included in the visions of the future being created.
One of my colleagues recently said that we need to convince out leaders to depend more on "the collective wisdom of the practitioners."
Wouldn't that be nice?
Port St. Lucie, August 12, 2009 – Press Release
Port St. Lucie, FL - On Saturday, August 29, Iduka Corporation will hold its inaugural “Little Black Dress Party for College Affordability” event in Port St. Lucie to bring members of the community together to show support for college students with varying financial needs. The event will take place in Saint Lucie West at Elements Martini Bar, 2096 NW Courtyard Circle, Port St. Lucie, FL 34986.
Online registration is available at http://www.iduka.citymax.com/events1.html. Pre-registered participants will pay $5 at the door, all other attendees without RSVP will pay $10 donation for entry. The event will begin at 6:00 p.m. Drink specials and finger food will be served until 10:00 p.m. Ladies in black dresses are eligible to win prizes! Ladies get one free drink. Please register early, as space is limited!
Iduka Corporation is a non-profit organization that has a pending application for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Our mission is to promote college affordability by connecting students with lenders, schools, and community service organizations through an Internet based micro-loan program.
Our goal is to provide students and their families one more financial tool to help them in their pursuit of higher education. We make this possible by offering an innovative plan based in a Web-based micro-lending system that connects students with lenders, and incorporates, whenever possible, student volunteerism as a mean for students to pay back their loans.
Media contact:
Darlene Craddock
darlene.craddock@iduka.org
772-284-6455
www.iduka.citymax.com
We as a nation, at this moment in time, face severe circumstances. Systems vital to the stability and continous growth of the nation, such as education, health care, social and political policies are rapidly deteriorating. This deterioration stems not from the lack of human capital, no this decaying process has been generated by collective members of our U.S. Congress, who are determined to place negative, illogical road blocks in the way of progress.
One must question the motives of individuals who without good, sound reason, have vowed to oppose progress that with hard work and commitment can ensure an inclusive healthy, educated nation as a whole. More importantly it has the potential to ensure a nation of healthy, educated human beings.
Reason based on logic reveals, at this time the nation needs healthy citizens. Given that millions of individuals are currently unemployed, new ideas must be explored, training for new occupations must be developed, implementation of new work standards and policies must be constructed to meet the new 21st century way of work. How can this be accomplished if the majority of our nations citizens are in bad health? This nation is not self maintained, it can not repair nor rebuild itself, it was build by hardworking members of society, by the way of forced labor without pay. So is it logical to believe that, the most powerful nation in the world has the power to rebuilt itself.
Reason based on logic reveals, not only must citizens be healthy, but they must also be well educated. How can a nation hold pride in having the finest educational institutions in the world, but refuse to have highly education individuals that understand their purpose for teaching, is to prepare all children, to become future productive citizens of the nation. These are just some of the issues that are of vital importance to the U.S. This nation must faced racial ideologies, "just for us" social and policial policies, the negative effects of it's ethnic imaging, the list continues. But for now let's focus on the most pressing issues of health care and education, maybe by correcting these social inaccuracy the remainding social barriers won't be as difficult to face and destroy.
TUESDAY, JULY 14TH, 2009 AT 5:52 PM
Investing in Education: The American Graduation Initiative Posted by Katherine Brandon
As part of his effort to build a stronger foundation that will allow us to lead in the global economy, the President announced today a historic initiative to strengthen our nation’s community colleges, and called for five million additional graduates by 2020. Speaking at Macomb Community College in Michigan, the President stressed the importance of education to America’s prosperity: But we also have to ensure that we're educating and preparing our people for the new jobs of the 21st century. We've got to prepare our people with the skills they need to compete in this global economy. (Applause.) Time and again, when we placed our bet for the future on education, we have prospered as a result -- by tapping the incredible innovative and generative potential of a skilled American workforce. That's what happened when President Lincoln signed into law legislation creating the land grant colleges, which not only transformed higher education, but also our entire economy. That's what took place when President Roosevelt signed the GI Bill which helped educate a generation, and ushered in an era of unprecedented prosperity. That was the foundation for the American middle class. (President Barack Obama greets the crowd at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich., Tuesday, July 14, 2009. Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) Yesterday, we told you about the Council of Economic Advisers’ report about the future of the U.S. labor market. The report described a shift towards jobs that require greater analytical and interactive skills, and the benefits of higher education. It is expected that jobs requiring at least an associate degree will grow twice as fast as jobs requiring only a high school education. The President understands that education is fundamental to reviving our economy and strengthening our workforce, which is why he is committed to increasing graduation rates, and has asked every American to commit to at least one year of higher education: But today I'm announcing the most significant down payment yet on reaching the goal of having the highest college graduation rate of any nation in the world. We're going to achieve this in the next 10 years. (Applause.) And it's called the American Graduation Initiative. It will reform and strengthen community colleges like this one from coast to coast so they get the resources that students and schools need -- and the results workers and businesses demand. Through this plan, we seek to help an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates in the next decade -- 5 million. (Applause.) You may remember Dr. Biden recently spoke about the critical role of community colleges in our higher education system. Community colleges are rapidly growing, and are needed now more than ever to keep America competitive. The American Graduation Initiative will build on the strengths of community colleges and launch new initiatives and reforms that will increase their effectiveness and impact by figuring out what works and what doesn't, modernize facilities, increase graduation rates, and expand and create new online learning opportunities.
