Friday, November 9th, 2012
We just re-elected a president and had a whole bunch of historical elections around the USA. Most would think, thank goodness election season is over for a bit. But alas I was wrong, I go to CNN.com, and what is on the breaking news page, “Looking Ahead to the 2016 Campaign” and ”Who will Run” and what I am guessing are other articles in that general nature. Seriously can’t we take a break from all this campaigning and run the freaking country? Can’t we all sit around the table and do something, anything that will put this country on a course that would be good for it? Nope, campaigns are good for tv news, print news, online news and most importantly companies. Who cares about the people and the country. I know this is just a rant, but I am frustrated with all this campaigning and would love to see some change happen.
Tags: 2012 election, Associated Press, CNN, election, government, news cycles, politics, republican, United States, USA
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Sunday, July 29th, 2012
With the latest large-scale violent attack in America, the topic of gun control is in the media again. Gun control activists are using this tragedy to make their case to tighten gun laws, while those on the other side of the issue are doing the same thing. I feel as though gun policy needs to be looked at. A person shouldn’t be able to buy ammunition for such a large weapon on the internet. But I don’t think now is the time to use personal tragedy as some sort of lesson. We should allow these families to grieve, the investigation to unfold, and to see what happened. When lawmakers jump to make laws, they are too broad, and aren’t good for the country, an example would be the library provision of the Patriot Act. We should all learn from this, but let’s learn with care diligence and forethought.
Tags: Colorado, Gun control, Gun law, Gun politics in the United States, National Rifle Association, Piers Morgan, politicial, politics, United States
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Wednesday, July 25th, 2012
In this election season one of the many things people will be looking at is education spending. How education is funded is one of the reasons why the educational system in America is the way that it is. In some places in America the educational system is the best in the world, and in some places it is the worst. Why is that? Because education is funded locally. Some people forget that America is a federal system, where funding is decided by each state. What that system does is create local control over education, and what children are taught. The more federal money a school is willing to take, the more control the federal government has over the education of those kids. Is that a good or bad thing? It would be nice to have universally mandated standards, and it would also be nice to have the same funding across the board so that we wouldn’t have these arguments of “weak” and “strong” schools. Quite frankly “math” is “math” and kids all deserve to learn it. I know in a country as large as the USA there isn’t really room for a homogenous education, but couldn’t there be something that allows for equal funding and local control? I guess that’s like saying “let’s have our cake and eat it too.” One can wish I guess. What do you think?
Tags: China, Doctor of Philosophy, Education, Education Reform, government, Pell Grant, Political, politics, Programme for International Student Assessment, United State
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Tuesday, July 24th, 2012
Elections are a time when every issue known to man becomes a topic of discussion. Things that you never really thought of as important become front page news. Education is one of those issues that becomes a big topic of discussion when it is not an election year by federal government officials and then fades into the background for another three years. Americans think of education as something that is controlled locally. That isn’t how most countries do it, if you didn’t know. Most countries control, and fund, education from the top down. Because of this education is funded more evenly across the country. What that funding does is give those governments control over what is taught. In America education is mostly funded locally with local control over what is taught. Which is better or worse? These are the sorts of questions being asked during an election, then dropped. I am curious what will come out of this.
Tags: Board of education, Education, Education Reform, Federal government of the United States, funding, Official, Political, politics, United States
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Monday, July 23rd, 2012
So one of the next great big questions for those who may or may not come to power in this next election is the US graduation rate. While the overall graduation rate in America has risen 3.5% from the numbers given in the 2001-09 study, at which the US was at a 75% graduation rate, what does this say about America or the current generation of students. We all know that in this current economy and job market for one to get any sort of job one must have credentials, and one cannot get any credentials without an education. You almost cannot become a manager at McDonalds without some sort of higher education. What can we do as a nation? Every kid knows they need an education, and yet why do they drop out? I think the biggest reason is that students are left behind. Problems in reading and math are not caught early enough, and kids are frustrated. People want “an app for that” and want it to be easy, and once they learn that life isn’t that easy they want a way out. I think there has to be another option, for kids who don’t want to go to college, and want to gain skills that could lead to a future job and career. The US needs more options than just testing kids to death.
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Tags: Labour economics, McDonalds, Political, politics, presidental race, United States
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Saturday, July 21st, 2012
Higher education in the United States is extremely high. While most in Europe have their university tuitions subsidised by tax money, in America the cost of education seems to be rising and rising at a substantial rate. This past march thousands of protesters were in California fighting for lower tuitions, and a millionaire tax hike to pay for it. The protesters argue that a university education is a right that everyone should be able to afford. Now is that true. Is a university education a right or a privilege? I don’t believe that a university education is a right. Honestly I find that to be self-indulgent to think that. We have the right to life and liberty, but not to a university education. I feel as though this mentality is devaluing university educations, and making them worth less that they were 30 years ago. Maybe that’s unpopular to think, but I feel as though we as a society have become to indulgent and believe that we should be given too much by the government. I know this may sound strange to say, as a person with high student loan debt. I loved my university experience, but maybe if people wouldn’t constantly have given me free money I would have not left university with such a large amount of debt.
Tags: California, Colleges and Universities, Education, Education Reform, Higher Education, Organizations, Political, politics, Russell Group, United States
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Friday, July 20th, 2012
Race to the Top, No Child Left Behind, all of these are buzzwords that those in the media have heard about education, and in the end they are different programs designed to improve America’s educational system. The question is whether or not top down educational funding is a good idea, and whether or not this competitiveness based reward system works. I do know that America’s educational system needs improving. The biggest issue is that we place all students in the same schools with the same standards, and for some reason believe that every student is going to perform the same. Then the idea of testing into performance based schools seems “un-American.” and there isn’t really much that can change. I don’t know what is better or worst, it’s just hard to figure out.
Tags: Barack Obama, Education, No Child Left Behind, No Child Left Behind Act, politics, Race to the Top, teacher, United States, United States Department of Education
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Friday, July 20th, 2012
What’s the story with immigration reform? It seems to me that immigration reform becomes an issue during election year, and then all we hear is local politicians speaking about a need for change during non election years. Why is it this way. Firstly most are considering Hispanics to be a swing voting group. Not swing is in, they may vote for Romney, but swing as in they may or may not vote at all. While immigration reform is something that needs to be discussed by the federal government, it only seems to be a topic of discussion during an election year. Illegal immigration can drain a state bank account, because if you are not paying taxes you aren’t paying into the government, and you aren’t paying for the facilities that you are using. While immigration reform is usually seen as a race issue, in reality it’s all about money, just like elections.
Tags: Arizona, Barack Obama, Immigration, immigration reform, Mitt Romney, Political, politics, Romney, United States, Voting
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012
Vouchers, while a dirty word in politics, it’s exactly what Romney wants to do. If it looks like a voucher and smells like a voucher, it’s a voucher, just like Chief Justice Roberts said the HealthCare Mandate is a tax. Anyway, what is it exactly that Romney wants to do? He wants to bring a more business-like model into education, giving parents to ability to “choose with their feet” where their child goes to school. Honestly that doesn’t seem horrible, I have been in Bulgaria for the last two years, and parents have that right here, and it works. Schools compete for the students, and want to hire the best teachers and have the best afterschool programs, at least in the area I worked in. Are their problems with this model in America, yes, big ones. In Bulgaria there are specialized schools, not all schools are ment for the same kind of student. I could see problems with overcrowding, wich would lead to lower educational quality, and the fact is that this idea isn’t tested. How do we know this would make education better? Should we always blame the teacher? Where is the student’s responsibility? Let me know what you think.
Tags: Bobby Jindal, Bulgaria, Education, Mitt Romney, Political, politics, Private school, Romney, United States, Voucher
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012
If we listen to the president and his opponent we have two very different pictures of the situation in Venezuela and its democratically elected leader Hugo Chavez. Hugo Chavez is a Socialist. Oh my goodness I have said that damn dirty word socialist. That word is what leaders in America use to win elections, especially if they are Republican leaders. Is he dangerous, yes and no. Chavez himself isn’t dangerous, while yes there are still revolutionary elements in the country and the party it isn’t him, its his ambition. He isn’t willing to play by the rules that America and the western powers say he has to play by. He will invite oil barrens to his house, speak to people who some may call terrorists, and work with organizations, that aren’t very reputable. Why? As Jay-Z would say, “it’s all about the Benjamins.” He wants a power base, and the way to get that in most Latin American countries is to have the money to provide. The people in Venezuela like Chavez, because he has kept his promises to them, and has worked for them. Sometimes I wonder if this man has made a deal with the devil, and that it may blow up in his face.
Tags: Caracas, Chavez, Hugo Chávez, Jay-Z, Latin America, Political, politics, United States, Venezuela
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