NCLB war for their minds

{abc news}

We hear the slogan all the time, but few actually know how it actually works. The goal of the program is to hit 100% on the proficiency level gap by the year 2014. That is a poorly distributed percentage because it automatically throws every school into a failing rate. This could be what I like to call “common sense test”. Let’s be honest “common sense” is not something that hits every student at the same time nor should they be forced into developing faster. It basically teaches there is only one right way to get to the solution and does not allow for thinking outside of the box. Also think of it as car insurance when a person selects minimum coverage, it covers a very general issue, leaving the rest up to chance. These standardized tests are creating little drone workers. Most people who were born before calculators have no problems when the cash register malfunctions, however when a say fifteen year old faces the same problem it becomes a difficult task. The more we standardize and make learning mechanical, the more unique individuals and free thinkers become retrained or possibly eliminated from the system all together.

How has the No Child Left Behind program affected your community?

Switching Pieces

{abc news}

There are a lot of changes occurring in Washington and this time the D.O.D (Department of Defense). The President is assigning CIA Director Leon Panetta to Secretary of Defense and replacing him with Gen Petraeus who is currently in stationed in Afghanistan. Director Panetta served as former President Clinton’s budget director, so it is perceived that the 400 billion dollar budget cut for defense just might actually happen. Over a twelve year period that is!

 Is government spending more time in error than trial?

Personal Information Age

{abc news}

People have been lashing out about apple and their “spy” apps lately like an angry mob. This in my opinion is a mistake. These companies pay people to figure out trends and niche markets. At what point did we ignore the personal information given out by ourselves. Just do a personal assessment that includes registration, email, social networks, and etc. Think about check-ins and Google locators, which are totally voluntary. Don’t get me wrong if a person’s phone app stores all their information for a year it’s definitely a cause for concern. My argument is pick whether its temporary or for a long period of time. Even without apps most of our electronic devices are locaters (including some Identification cards) , even helping some people out in court cases because of stored information. My analysis of it says, it’s not good or bad, it’s how it’s being used.

Are we misleading ourselves?

Dictator for your city

[msnbc]

Most people, whether they hate their city or not, like to have a place they can refer to as home. We like to relay to our family history in a town or city to the future generations. The people of Benton Harbor Michigan are being forced against the wall. They are facing the threat of being completely ejected from everything they know. A band of private investors (lawyers, contractors, etc.) are more than eager to turn a small mostly African American community into a golf course! After being sold out by their former governor, new Governor Rick Snyder raised the taxes on poor and elderly people.  City residents were surprised that elected official were fired like some cheap reality show and told the members they elected didn’t matter. This town has been declared as a failure and been appointed an emergency financial overseer who is basically a yes man to big brother. The people and the town are being treated like dogs. Even though this city has only 10,235 people, they all face the same ugly non-empathetic beast. Since birth certificates are a hot topic these days, perhaps many will not be alerted to the danger lurking by way of golf course and other investments.

Can anyone or group stop this from happening?

There is always a joke or scene from a movie people like to enact when talking about contacting 911. It’s pretty funny until a person is placed in a predicament where they receive no help. This was the case for a mother who has a special needs child of 21 years of age. Her son has additional problems with gagging and choking. When the mother called the dispatcher she was told that there was no unit available at the time. Then adding insult to injury the mother was told it could take up to a few hours. Now officials are saying the call taker could have coded the priority of the call wrong.

Even though the city of Cleveland is investigating, what addendum to the protocol would you exercise?

9 out of 10 bad guys

{abc news}

A child can’t be removed from a terrorist list, however suspected terrorist can buy guns with no problem because after all its their right. This is an argument people need to commit to because both angels are being worked! Any un-suspecting person will be appalled at this but let’s not forget about the kid I mentioned. I get an eerie feeling that he, along with any one deemed a terrorist will no longer have a right to bear arms. It starts off as the right thing and ends with protestors and people wrongly imprisoned. Let us be wise this time and at least protect ourselves before we are tricked into not having any rights. Beware of law makers who appear to be a little to righteous.

Do you believe laws make it easy for criminals because of big business?

Dragon Skin vs Kevlar

http://www.pinnaclearmor.com/body-armor/dragon-skin/

The worst battle a person can lose is the battle for common sense. Let’s examine without getting too technical. Kevlar has been used for a long time for soldiers as body amour. It protects a soldiers head, chest and back area from hand guns and some automatic weapons. This does not include knives. Dragon Skin on the other hands is flexible, covers more, weighs less and can stop various projectiles. Currently only Special Forces, tactical law enforcement and approved foreign militaries.

Why don’t our everyday soldiers have this equipment?

Republican turnover

I have an idea! Why don’t we wait till people’s emotions are at their weakest state and report some historically great strides for the U.S. Afterwards we can wait about a month or two and take it back. Is this not a tv reality series? It starts to look like the master puppeteer is pimping our existence. Simple laws protecting people, animals, and land are being overturned in a spiteful manner degrading the people who took the time to support these issues. As we move into the future the government support and basic human rights seem to be diminishing at an alarming rate. Put it this way, when a law has to be overturned protecting animals in cages, it only makes you wonder what benefit our congress has from torture. Maybe that meat crisis will be averted after all. (wink, wink)

Does anyone’s voice count anymore?

Unemployment dude

              

  Next time you go for un-employment you might want to drink a lot of water for the drug –screen that follows. States like Florida and Texas are among the states that want you to take a drug test in order to receive un-employment benefits. Now of course people on both ends people will have their opinions, however why divide a country on an issue that’s so petty. The people are getting re-heated leftovers compared to the staggering bailouts given to corporate world. Being a firm believer that art imitates life I can only confirm that the drugs are an effect of dirty picture being painted. Then again maybe we need to make more Americans criminals and declare war on them so the private sector can triumph. We can also look to our congress to be repeatedly arrested for drugs and so forth and not have to take a single test to lead this country. Double standard…..certainly.

The money you earned is yours right?

To update or not to update

[source link adobe.com]

I love Adobe software and it is widely used by everyone on the net, however they seem to always have programming issues.Its usually an authenticity problem, application, or update. An update is that ironically is chiming in as I type. It can be helpful as well as a hindrance. The latest adobe issue is that hackers were hiding behind flash file so they can view private information on people. The company released a statement saying they will revise a secure update, later this week, but actually handled the problem promptly earlier this.

Exit stage left!

[sorce code msnbc.com]

The President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh is stepping down from position in 30 days. This will be done in exchange for immunity. The people of Yemen have been using tactical but peaceful methods in order to pressure the ruler who has been in power for 32 years. Saleh is accused of widespread corruption and using lethal force to shut down opposition. The President is basically using all his hidden cards in order to see if the people will waiver. This story can take so many last minute turns so I will be monitoring to see how successful Yemen’s people are.

What do you think about the way this country is handling their political issues?

Post 9/11 education

[source link military .com]

 A lot of veterans attending college were doing so on what was called a Montgomery G.I. Bill. It basically gave the veterans a fixed rate according to their region to pay for school every month. Although it was a great opportunity many veterans were left behind after funds exhausted on their behalf.  In 2008 President Obama signed a bill called the Post 9/11 Bill allowing veterans to return to campus by allowing more funds to be awarded to active duty members serving after Sept. 10 2001. This bill however takes care of the tuition, housing allowance, and book fees.  This is definitely a step in the right direction for taking care of our service members. We can only hope that it is enough to repay the backbone of our country.

Poverty for your thoughts

It is kind of confusing when you see things like fighter jets that can break sound barriers and compare it to the standard of technology in our home. After all the Edison’s light bulb is fairly outdated, using only ten percent of the energy to cast light. The other 90% generates heat and a higher electric bill. Consumers can spend their last dollar on products that the privileged have carefully broken down to have “upgrades” over a few years span. Even our entertainment is calculated and mechanical, showing a preview of what might be, but airing something that is less than amusing. Shock value has a strong marketing potential and we love it! Honor among thieves and networks have a strong presence on our influence. Everyday people cannot say they are paying a team of researchers and scientist to figure out what we like. These are the same people who turn the cost of living green into a future project which gets delayed and more expensive by the minute. I for one am feeling more passionate about becoming an inventor for my family to be able to survive. I think our educations need to feature classes on how to survive and re-build rather than testing for something that becomes the choice of the individual student.

Are we intent of living in the past for profit?

Staph infection…no relation to Moses

It appears that one of the most prominent countries has a problem with caring about the most important thing to us all. Almost makes me want to go on a meat strike. Sure it might not kill a thousand people in the mainstream media, but what about the weak elderly person who was too weak to fight it. “Make sure it’s fully cooked” says the media, as if we all are walking around eating raw meat at will. What a ridiculous situation for us to be facing in such a troubling time. I can’t try to figure out how these infections keep making their way through these safely guarded sanitized facilities, but why attempt to understand. Hint of sarcasm….definitely.

Why don’t we have any real enforcement on our food!

Dream or Daydream

Taking a look at around more than half a century later, a person can be troubled when trying to evaluate the effect of this speech. A clear line can’t be drawn on whether it made things completely change or merely scratched the surface. The fact that he died for wanting to be treated fairly crushes the spirit of any person who seeks to speak up for freedom. The reason being is because we still live in fear of being assassinated for wanting to define freedom as something that should benefit all of us. A glacier of ice is often known for being much larger under the water, than it appears above it. No person wants to be deceived with something that looks like hope. So many parents are at a loss for words and can only tell the youth to not fight for fear of losing them.

What should we say to our children when they start questioning the authority, which has been placed upon them so that they only succeed so far?

Has name brand lost its ability to hit high markup?

“Most people think that creating a website is a simple task that only takes a few days.  In actuality it can take over 3 months to complete a website. Every individual page has to be created and designed.  Any professional designer will tell you that it could take months depending on the type of site you need. The process of designing a website is a tedious one.”

Graphic designer for AI of Pittsburgh

When making a statement like this most people who are avid internet users will immediately reject this idea. However the goal of this post is to get the readers to pay attention to word play. Websites seem to be more for high powered corporations in these present times and wordpress/blogs are the cost effective alternatives. An individual or small business owner can set up a page or site and pay for a masking feature that gives you a url with the name of your company followed by a dot com free of the original sites name. This gives you the appearance of an official website. You can do this and have hosting for a year all for under 30$ compared to an official website which can cost well over a couple thousand dollars. Most independent graphic designers can take on free lance jobs through business owners and set up one of the many sites including flash for a few hundred. One thing that can be said is that people will use the lingo and over charge so make sure you know the difference so you don’t expect more than you paid for either. Turnaround time for these sites can be a few weeks or a few days which makes it all the more popular.

Shut down or Bluff?

It seems that the threat of a shutdown was averted last week. After making some of my own observations I determined it was more educational then it was a crisis. Yes the conditions are right however it seems convenient in a time where the people’s approval of their government might be easily changed. The media coverage on it was less than informative reporting that both republican and democrats could not agree on the reason they were disagreeing. President Obama addressed the nation conforming there will not be a shutdown. What do you think this event will do for his image after some time and is it possible this was slightly exaggerated to pacify the public for now?

Trump on the rise!

{source link cnn.com}

Donald Trump is known as one of the wealthiest men in America there is no argument about his ability to make great business decisions. The Trump brand ranges in many things from hotels to TV reality shows. Keeping this in mind let’s look at Trump’s latest surrounding controversy. He is stating that President Barrack Obama cannot physically supply a birth certificate from Hawaii because he was actually born in Kenya. Then he goes on to mention the statement from the president’s Grand-mother where it was also mentioned during a translated interview. He then points out that the Obama campaign did place a document online however it was not a birth certificate but a certificate of live birth. Now I would love to believe that the “Donald” is a pure hearted man but I cannot believe that he would pass up a chance to rile up so called “conspiracy theorist” or anyone for that matter so he can be portrayed as an American hero right before running for presidency.

Any thoughts?

“To Protect and Sex”

{source H.N NEWS}

Let’s discuss the story of two NYC cops who responded a call made by a cab driver about a woman who was too drunk to make it out of his cab. When the police men arrived at some point in the night they took turns sexually assaulting the woman. Video surveillance outside of the building shows the officers coming in and out of the building and even shows one keeping a look out while the events took place. Now aside from all of this, since it would be an issue of whether it was consensual sex or not, the victim has also presented a recorded conversation between her and one of the officers. The recording has the officer telling the woman he wore a condom while it happened. As children we are taught to look to law enforcement for help , but the echoes of a community are screaming for justice. How can we look past something like this then be expected to turn the other cheek. We cannot the answer has to lie in the selection process.

Are you and your community living in fear of law enforcement and if so what requirements can be imposed to screen for abusive law enforcement?

Dollars on the Decline

{source Russia Today News}

Billionaires have a powerful influence over world government when it comes to advice about what to do with money. People like George Soros are urging government to reform the way we are going with our financial future. This could mean the dollar would no longer be the reserve currency around the world and the euro can easily take its place. It would implement a different global standard causing leaders to work together on the world’s monetary system. As we see more and more talk in the news about the value of globalization and the Euro emerging as the more valuable currency back-up plan, it’s a matter of jumping ship.

We can only ask when is the inevitable going to happen?

Joining the wave will keep the lights on!

{sorce link http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5167812.ece}

Fossil fuels and nuclear power are efficient forms of supplying electricity and are used worldwide as energy sources. These forms of fuel are toxic to the environment and often can go into the billions in clean up costs, if say a chemical spill or nuclear accident occurs. A man by the name of Alvin Smith has created a device called a Searaser that uses tidal energy from the ocean to provide a safer more cost effective energy alternate. One of these devices can power up to 1720 homes producing energy up to 30% cheaper compared to nuclear energy. The fact alone that the green house gas would be eliminated makes it all sound like a wonderful idea.

The question is what potential problems could a device like this face when it has to challenge mother nature?