Apparently, according to this CNET News article, 18-24 year old Americans are still hopelessly stupid… This time in geography.
I don’t find it sad that two-thirds can’t find Iraq on a map or that half can’t find New York- I find it downright pitiful and more than a touch shameful. This is the legacy that standardized testing will leave on the populace; people with limited knowledge, taught information simply to pass the FCAT or the SAT so that our government might feel its education policies have been successful, and certainly not educated to think critically or gain a rounded education.
Government isn’t the only culprit in the dumbing down of the populace, parents are as much to blame. Parents that don’t put in the time to help Dick or Jane with their homework, or parents that just don’t put enough emphasis on their children’s schooling. I certainly don’t fault the single mothers working two jobs to make ends meet, or those who acquired sub-standard educations themselves; however, that does not negate the fact that they should understand the importance of education to better their child’s lot in life.
Ultimately, we’ve taken education and the power to educate from the teachers on the front lines and have handed it to government… Old men who want to show statistically that kids are doing better (on a standardized set of skills and questions). Old men with no experience in education, only in law and the political rat race.
Call me crazy, but I don’t want a man who doesn’t read the newspaper and can’t pronounce nuclear setting the standards for my child’s education. Do you?
Clever title, eh? Really, I just wanted to congratulate Apple on beating Dell’s Market Value for the second time this year. At the close of trading today, NASDAQ reports Apple’s market value at $60.7 billion and Dell’s at $59.8 billion. Further proving that I am a fool for not buying some Apple stock when it was cheap and I had the cash.
Apple also ended the day with a higher market value on January 13, 2006… Not bad for a company with 3% market share against the mail-order PC king.
Recently, I’ve been fiddling with the site to get it to display somewhat as it should in Internet Explorer. In the past I’ve said screw that, if Internet Explorer can’t be standards compliant, I’m not going to bother. But I had a bit of free time on my hands and thought I have a go at it. And it was maddening. So I’m here once again in my attempt to push Firefox on the masses… Along with some other software you’ll probably enjoy. The best part is, it’s all free!
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Mozilla Firefox If you’re on a Winblows PC, Firefox is the best internet experience you can get… Featuring support for CSS and CSS2, along with AJAX, you can see the web the way it was meant to be seen- the standards compliant way. Still not convinced? How about tabbed browsing? You don’t have to open six windows for six sites! Or dozens of handy plugins? Try it for a week. I guarantee you’ll switch.
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Apple iTunes No computer in today’s multimedia world is complete without iTunes. Apple’s slick interface makes managing and finding your music and podcasts easy, allowing you to search and sort in a plethora of ways. Plus, you get automatically updating Smart Playlists, and convenient conversion, ripping, and burning support. Ditch Windows Media Player, you’ll be glad you did.
That should get you started… Until next time, spread the word, and keep free software alive!
Today, whilst reviewing last month’s statistics, I noticed something funny. I had hits from both FEMA and the Navy. Now the Navy is understandable, surely, when living on a base somewhere, you have much free time, and having free time, I’d want to read my blog too. But FEMA? Come on, you botched the Katrina response (with plenty of help from the administration) and now congress is trying to axe you, yet you still have time to visit my little space on the web? Shouldn’t you be out trying to figure out how to respond to the next natural disaster? I mean with all the hoopla surrounding the 100th anniversary of the San Fransisco earthquake and talk of the next ‘big one’ or the impending onset of Hurricane Season for Gulf Coast residents?
I’d like to offer my completely unsolicited suggestions to FEMA and Congress on how to be better prepared for natural disaster response.
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Staging areas shouldn’t be setup as the Hurricane is bearing down on us. We know what areas in the country are hurricane prone, so why not establish permenant staging areas with a large, secure structure containing cots, a medical clinic, and a cafeteria for evacuees (these only need to be staffed when the centers are open, thus the cost is minimal)? Additionally there should be a large on-site dry storage for non-perishable goods, bottled water, and other nessecities that can then be quickly dispatched to smaller shelters or trapped residents. There should also be room for evacuee parking as well as utility staging.
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Why the hell does everything have to go through the President? Between Iraq, Afghanistan, Medcare Prescription Drugs, lobbyists, and oil companies, the man’s plate is full. Give authority to those who can do most with it. TThe people on the ground. A politician in a helicopter flying about doesn’t know diddly about the situation on the ground.
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Give the people actual grants, not tax incentives, to upgrade their property to be earthquake or hurricane ready. People who can just afford their house and enough gas for the week can’t pay for upgrades out-of-pocket and then get a pittance back on their taxes. Facilitating these upgrades makes goverment bailouts after disasters less costly and encourages insurance companies to continue writing policies in higher risk areas.
So, if you’re from FEMA, and you find yourself here, please, get back to work. People need you. If you’re here on your lunch break, more power to you, enjoy. But whatever you do, cross the red-tape lines, screw procedure and policy, and start helping those who need it most. We’re counting on you.
Here are some more places on the net you might like, but you don’t have to take my word for it… Oh, wait, yes you do…
