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Message 1394037 - Posted: 24 Jul 2013, 1:01:47 UTC
Last modified: 24 Jul 2013, 1:06:57 UTC

Or should this thread be called "Believable or Unbelievable?"!


Only 1 in 5 Americans believe in pure evolution – and that's an upswing

Double that number want creationism or intelligent design taught in public schools...


Texas school strikes devil's bargain, drops RFID student tracking

CCTV replaces 'Mark of Satan'

The Texas school that expelled a student for refusing to comply with its plan to track pupils with RFID tags has dropped the scheme, saying it just doesn't work. ...

... Teachers spent too much time trying to physically track down students marked as missing by the RFID system, so instead students would be put under enhanced camera surveillance, he explained.

"We're very confident we can still maintain a safe and secure school because of the 200 cameras that are installed at John Jay High School and the 100 that are installed at Jones Middle School," he said. "Plus we are upgrading those surveillance systems to high-definition and more sophisticated cameras. So there will be a surveillance-camera umbrella around both schools."...



The cult of churches rulze over all! Amen?! (Hey... Ain't that some 6000-year-old Egyptian god? Amen!)

Are schools for schooling or instead are they some sort of depravity of voyeurism or penitence?


How can American education be so woefully bad?!

Only in America?
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Message 1394065 - Posted: 24 Jul 2013, 3:04:17 UTC - in response to Message 1394037.  

I think that to be fair the question that was posed leads to the conclusion that 21% of Americans are atheists. This is higher than i would have guessed.

The churches are teaching the bible's form of creation so that young people and uneducated, irrational people would tend to believe the biblical version. Very sad in this the third Millenium. A high percentage of Americans are church goers--not so in England I suppose.
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Message 1394066 - Posted: 24 Jul 2013, 3:15:03 UTC - in response to Message 1394065.  

I think that to be fair the question that was posed leads to the conclusion that 21% of Americans are atheists. This is higher than i would have guessed.

The churches are teaching the bible's form of creation so that young people and uneducated, irrational people would tend to believe the biblical version. Very sad in this the third Millenium. A high percentage of Americans are church goers--not so in England I suppose.

Quite, the biblical education of America will be its downfall. It will have taught away all science and engineering thinking. Without science and industry we will return to an agrarian hunter gather lifestyle.


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Message 1394083 - Posted: 24 Jul 2013, 4:19:34 UTC - in response to Message 1394066.  

I think that to be fair the question that was posed leads to the conclusion that 21% of Americans are atheists. This is higher than i would have guessed.

The churches are teaching the bible's form of creation so that young people and uneducated, irrational people would tend to believe the biblical version. Very sad in this the third Millenium. A high percentage of Americans are church goers--not so in England I suppose.

Quite, the biblical education of America will be its downfall. It will have taught away all science and engineering thinking. Without science and industry we will return to an agrarian hunter gather lifestyle.


Not only that, But here in NY the state is mandating that More test be given. and a certain percentage of all students must pass it or the school gets a bad grade,The end result is teachers teach the test and students dont get a well rounded education.

The state seems to think that all high school grads must be able to go on to college.
[/quote]

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Message 1394086 - Posted: 24 Jul 2013, 4:23:15 UTC - in response to Message 1394083.  

Not only that, But here in NY the state is mandating that More test be given. and a certain percentage of all students must pass it or the school gets a bad grade,The end result is teachers teach the test and students dont get a well rounded education.

The state seems to think that all high school grads must be able to go on to college.


This is a huge issue for us in the neighboring areas too, James. A few retired teachers in my area have been recommending kids refuse the test--however the teachers pay the price as they are graded based on how well the kids do on them.

BESIDES...the tests are taking so much time that they can't do the material they need to teach. My brother says that his students were tested on things that weren't even mentioned in the prep material he was given to teach them.


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Message 1394091 - Posted: 24 Jul 2013, 5:17:04 UTC - in response to Message 1394083.  

The state seems to think that all high school grads must be able to go on to college.

That is what the parents and the PTA and preaching to the local school board, so that is what they implement. Unfortunately for the 50% or so of kids who don't belong in college they don't get shop class any more, so they can't do any trade when they get out, except the drug trade.

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Message 1394104 - Posted: 24 Jul 2013, 6:17:19 UTC - in response to Message 1394086.  
Last modified: 24 Jul 2013, 6:18:45 UTC

My brother says that his students were tested on things that weren't even mentioned in the prep material he was given to teach them.

Why are the teachers and the students being given prep material for the tests? If you really want to test the teaching, the preparation for the test is the teaching!

There is a curriculum statement saying by the end of grade X the student will have learned A, B, C, D ... Make the test so it measures the depth and breadth of knowledge the student has of A, B, C, D ... Since the idea is to measure the teaching, you give the test before the semester and after the semester and compare not total scores but John's score at the start to John's score at the end, same with Sally and Ted ...

Then you can break the scores down by class period. You may find that first, second, fourth the fifth period did well, but third period didn't. Was that because it was after lunch? Or was this because Joe Discipline was in third period and was sent to the deans office a dozen times?

You might find that there is a part of C that was well covered in Mr. Jones class but the rest of C was glossed over. What does this say? It may say Mr. Jones has a problem teaching C or it may say Mr. Jones got the class really excited about that part and they spent a bit much time on it. But you look at some of Mr. Jones other periods and see a more level breadth ...

If the students are progressing that is what matters. When you find teachers who are more than two standard deviations away from the mean, those are the ones that need a close look. Good, bad, lucky, unlucky, too much sick leave and substitutes?

Finally I don't expect a school it the ghetto to have total scores as high as a school in the suburbs. But it isn't the total score we are interested in. It is the change in score from the start to the end of the semester that matters.

So say in subject D ghetto school measures Mr. Thomas's pupils 20 at the start and 70 at the end. Suburb school measures Miss Smith's pupils 70 at the start an 90 at the end. Which is the better teacher? You can't make that kind of comparison. But you could make a comparison of Mr. Thomas to the average of other ghetto school classrooms and Miss Smith to other suburb schools. Or the school board swaps Thomas and Smith's schools and next year finds Thomas taking 70's to 80's and Smith taking 20's to 80's. Now you can compare them apples to apples. In the mean time however Ghetto school expands and has Mrs. White teaching D and her class of 20's ends at 95's.

Getting results from this testing of teachers isn't possible in one semester if you want to compare them person to person. Also you have to normalize the data to the socioeconomic factors of the pupils. But is can find those who you need to either can or get into a different situation where they can shine.
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Message 1394125 - Posted: 24 Jul 2013, 8:38:37 UTC

The Smart Ones are Politicians, Lobbyists, Leaders Of Industry, Professionals and Crime Bosses. The Smart Ones are The Ones Leading Humanity To Extinction.

So, Everyone should become Educated Enough to Be A Smart One.

ROTFLMAO.

All Only In Hustlin'Hussein'sPeacefulWorld

Bound For IT IT.

May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!
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Message 1394280 - Posted: 24 Jul 2013, 17:05:56 UTC - in response to Message 1394128.  

The Smart Ones are Politicians, Lobbyists, Leaders Of Industry,Professionals and Crime Bosses. The Smart Ones are The Ones Leading Humanity To Extinction.
So, Everyone should become Educated Enough to Be A Smart One.
ROTFLMAO.
All Only In Hustlin'Hussein'sPeacefulWorld
Bound For IT IT.

Now now B.E.N. i can see how years of talking to your plants and watering the cats could leave you somewhat jaded.
If by Crime Bosses you mean Religious Leaders well you may have a point.

Even if Obama accomplishes nothing, the fact that you have an African-American President is Hope You Should Believe In.

'Even if Obama accomplishes nothing'.....

Well, he's well on his way to THAT goal. If nothing else.
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 1421218 - Posted: 28 Sep 2013, 1:15:23 UTC - in response to Message 1394280.  

'Even if Obama accomplishes nothing'.....

Well, he's well on his way to THAT goal. If nothing else.

Well, with such unbelievable politics such as this abomination:


US House Republicans: 'End net neutrality or no debt ceiling deal'

Republicans in the US House of Representatives are reportedly including blockage of net neutrality among their laundry list of demands...


Unbelievable!

What next?... Start rationing or perverse charges for water, electricity, road use: All depending on your American neighborhood and how you all voted in the last political rounds? (Sounds just like the depravity in Zimbabwe...)


Only in the USA?!
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Message 1421240 - Posted: 28 Sep 2013, 2:58:57 UTC

Hardly only in America. How many people in the third world believe in evolution, or even have a chance to learn about it? Or to learn about anything?

The western world needs to get over feeling sorry for itself. Yes, there are dumb people here. But there are also people who may be the only solution to many of the problems the world faces.

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Message 1421249 - Posted: 28 Sep 2013, 3:18:44 UTC - in response to Message 1394280.  


'Even if Obama accomplishes nothing'.....

Well, he's well on his way to THAT goal. If nothing else.


Do I have to post a list of what the man has accomplished?
Are you really that much of a numbskull to believe Obama has done nothing?

Notice that I didn't CALL you a numbskull, but simply asked if you were one.

I do not fight fascists because I think I can win.
I fight them because they are fascists.
Chris Hedges

A riot is the language of the unheard. -Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Message 1421414 - Posted: 28 Sep 2013, 14:16:18 UTC - in response to Message 1421365.  

Where?
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Message 1421415 - Posted: 28 Sep 2013, 14:19:11 UTC - in response to Message 1421365.  

Wot? you buying? Mine's a pint :)
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Message 1422874 - Posted: 2 Oct 2013, 1:32:13 UTC
Last modified: 2 Oct 2013, 1:32:48 UTC

Unbelievable.


US.gov - including NASA et al - quits the internet. Is the UN running it now?

The US government has disappeared from the internet after a hard core of Republican party lawmakers forced the superpower's state agencies to shut down over a budget dispute.

The House of Representatives refused to agree a budget that would keep cash flowing to public departments, meaning that the entire government was forced to shutter itself...



So who/what/how now keeps the space station flying and the internet running and the world policed and spied upon?...


Only in the Great U. S. of A...
(US as in unserviceable?...)

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Message 1423192 - Posted: 2 Oct 2013, 18:29:23 UTC - in response to Message 1422874.  

It seems that the Libertarians are getting exactly what they want from government. Nothing


In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
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Message 1424259 - Posted: 4 Oct 2013, 23:45:23 UTC - in response to Message 1422874.  

So who/what/how now keeps the space station flying and the internet running and the world policed and spied upon?...
Martin


Please tell me you are joking. Governments don't keep the ISS flying, or the Internet running. As for the spying, surely that is an "essential service".

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Message 1424281 - Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 0:44:04 UTC - in response to Message 1424259.  
Last modified: 5 Oct 2013, 0:44:57 UTC

So who/what/how now keeps the space station flying and the internet running and the world policed and spied upon?...
Martin


Please tell me you are joking. Governments don't keep the ISS flying, or the Internet running. As for the spying, surely that is an "essential service".

Nope. Are you?

Admittedly, this does all sound like some sort of joke. Except that it isn't. Real people and real lives depend on all this silliness. Those hiding in the rotunda appear to be far far too removed from reality and far too insulated from reality. Sorry, but not even the supercilious "Law Makers" can stop the world while they play their silly games of God.

There is a great hidden value in maintaining continuity. Break that continuity for the sake of a little funding silliness or even just with the political uncertainty, and you will be paying dire costs of loss for decades to come.

Once you lose personnel or even just their feeling of value and security, and once you lose equipment, getting that back to the previous tried and trusted working readiness is disproportionately expensive. You may as well just start again from scratch.


I just hope that at least NASA is not yet even more too badly dented from this...

Stupid?

This is all looking good for the World Stupid thread...

Only in the USA?!
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Message 1424342 - Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 2:33:39 UTC

Martin, I assume you are very young, or very forgetful.

Take a look here. Key quote: "This is the 12th shutdown since 1981." Perhaps you recall civilization collapsing in ruins on those 12 occasions. I missed it myself.

I lived through all of them, while working in various high tech / high dollar global industries. My only personal recollection of any ill effects of any US government shut down was in the late 1970s, when I was not able to visit the zoo in Honolulu. It was awful, for several minutes.

This is not really news. This is simple political jockeying within the US, with no significant impact on the world, or even on the US in the long run. The press always makes major events of these to sell ads.

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Message 1424358 - Posted: 5 Oct 2013, 3:06:09 UTC - in response to Message 1424342.  

That's not entirely true Bill. What we are currently experiencing is a partial-shutdown to only essential services before a full shutdown occurs. In every US Government partial-shutdown of the past, Congress has been able to agree to raising the spending, if even to only punt the issues down the road a little so they can argue some more.

The worst fear is a full government shutdown, triggering a first-ever US default on our debt. As so many economies and currencies are intrinsically tied to the US system, it is believed that our default will have dire effects on the entire world economy.
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