“I would like to remind everyone out there that George Zimmerman is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
“It’s gotten pretty quiet in regard to the Trayvon Martin case now that George Zimmerman has been charged. I think that was all people wanted, was him to be brought to some kind of justice. Now, he (and Martin’s family) will get his day in court and let the chips fall where they may.”
“Let me see if I have this right: A stay-at-home mom raising five kids who is wealthy, performs hard work and has all the dignity money can buy. A woman raising five kids on welfare, alone, doesn’t perform work and has no dignity. Add food stamps and illness what do you get, a couch potato? A hard life just means you don’t have to buy your dignity.”
“My tax refund covered half my mortgage payment! Yippee!”
“‘Hunger Games’ is a look into the future of America if the Democrats regain the control of Congress.”
“Whether you turn your back on your oath of office in favor of a lobbyist pledge or turn your back on your duties to protect the president favoring the persuasion of a prostitute, the moral fiber of the U.S. government is starting to unravel. It would appear the most difficult part of public service is like being a good parent, setting a good example.”
“Alex Reese’s 4/15/12 article about funding for preschool education fails to note that academic studies on the long-term effects of preschool education show that by the third grade there is no difference in children’s test scores between those who took the preschool classes and those who didn’t. If there were long-term benefits, then arguing over funding might be useful. The article just assumes that any spending on education is helpful. Likewise, ranking states by the amount spent rather than effectiveness of the funding only plays into the hands of those who think more is always better. Sadly, it’s both foolish and wasteful.”
“129 tornados hit the Midwest this past week. Five people were killed, and dozens injured, many seriously. Fellow Americans sobbing and crying over their destroyed homes, their destroyed lives. Where is our president? Where is our First Lady? They are on 2012 “Political Junkets” preaching to the choir of fellow Democrats. Instead of costing the American taxpayer $180,000 an hour to fly around the country on Air Force One, our president should be flying to give aid and comfort to these tornado-devastated Americans.”
“To the Sunday Venter who wishes Jon Beydler not express his opinions in the Trib: I really enjoy reading Jon’s commentaries. He is always right on the money. His ideas are clear and well thought out and his observations are keen and insightful. Personally, I always check the commentaries to see if we are lucky enough to have one of his essays in print. I just wish he would throw his hat into the public arena again. He would have my whole-hearted support.”
Dale Whiting posted at 12:33 pm on Fri, Apr 20, 2012.
Quoting from the Bible, Lincoln observed that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Judging from the commentaries, we are divided. Will we stand? I'm voting for the least negative candidate, the one who has the most positive things to say about the future. And I'll be voting a straight ticket! Who ever it is, he'll need help from the legislature.
chatmandu002 posted at 12:50 pm on Fri, Apr 20, 2012.
Vent #1: Of course you are right.
Vent #2: Now that the truth is coming out things seem real quite. Kind of reminds me of the Duke hockey case.
Vent #3: NO, you are totally wrong. Money does not buy dignity, nor does being on welfare denies dignity.
Vent #4: Great, one of the 50+% that actually pays taxes. LOL
Vent #5: You know "Capital City" did kind of remind me of Washington, D.C..
Vent #6: Understand your thoughts on corruption but don't see how that reflects on being a good parent. Although being a good parent and a good example is always better.
Vent #7: Get the federal government out of the education business. Eliminate the Dept of Education and stop all student loans except for veterans.
Vent #8: Sorry tornado victims, our Campaigner-in-Chief was busy campaigning.
Vent #9: Keep it coming Jon. Your opinions make good fodder for my snarky comments. LOL
truth posted at 3:30 pm on Fri, Apr 20, 2012.
We don't have a President who started two failed war, one of the worst housing disaster, was to busy farming on his ranch ignoring the CIA warning of the pending 911 attack, yes we have come forward a lot, when all we have to complain about is a few tornado victims and that he his campaigning. Keep government out of state disasters.[sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad][sad]
Abstract01 posted at 7:54 pm on Fri, Apr 20, 2012.
Just curious about what that statistic on pre-schooling and third grade testing really means? You may assume that those who start without "pre-learning" catch up to the other students, but is that so?
Perhaps it could also mean that by third grade the natural incentive of the smartest is drained out because everybody must go at the same pace as the slowest learner (not his fault unless he isn't trying).
This could be a great argument for a new kind of segregation. Ranking the learners of similar ability into their own groups.
Before you howl that it would create a class system, think about this. There would be no grade levels, only matriculation. When a student masters mathematics (+, -, x, /), or the geographic facts required, she can progress to the next level of learning in a new setting.
Each group would have pupils in the beginning, intermediate and advanced positions. The more advanced students would have opportunity to tutor the beginner. The teacher, rather that keeping order and spending much time focused on the slower members, would need only monitor and assist those who need the professional touch.
This could be a better social integration of all students because many would need help in one phase, and be the helper in others.
Dale Whiting posted at 5:47 am on Sun, Apr 22, 2012.
Abstract01,
Back in the early 19th century before public education, families hired individual teachers to teach in locally organized school houses, one teacher per the children of perhaps several families. Even today, when home schooled, the children of one or sometimes two families are grouped together across ages, from pre-school to high school all learning individually from one another and from the leader. Bill Gates understands this process. Others are working on self paced curricula. We may be headed in this direction.
All we need is the blessing of the public schools. And that's not likely. Nor are we likely to see any blessings from college education departments. At the undergraduate level, and in many graduate level programs as well, its all about large classes, one lecturer, and mass production.
I once had a freshman level chemistry class where a pre-med student stood up to complain to the professor that she could not follow his lecture and get from it what she was supposed to learn in order to do the homework and pass his tests. As a pre-med, grades were what she appeared to be coming to class to achieve, not learning. She complained that the professor was spending much to much time on lecturing about his research, the thing that motivated him to be a chemist and too little on freshman chemistry!
He told her she was right. All through grade school, she had learned to be spoon fed, to absorb what she needed to know to achieve greatness. But now she needed to learn how to teach herself, to read and learn from books directly and not be spoon fed. Embarrassed, she sat down.
We chemistry majors applauded the professor. We were there to be exposed to educated thinking. We could read and learn the basics for ourselves. We could not learn about his passion for chemistry anywhere else.