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the youth must learn within their career they choose that they have great respondsability to society.
we need to teach are youth in the school system the inportants to be an engaged citizen regarding politics. to create a true democracy the people must keep a constant surviellance on poltics, and that the peoples will is always reflected in politics we need to have social morality in the system. we need to teach them that they need to d have intelect culture and moral sense. that they are respondsable in sociey to fight against false ideas. that they must be self- apointed political guardians that they must elect leaders with these same qualities. wouldn't it be great to have ceos of corperations with social morals this is what i learned from my mentor dr. daisaku ikeda.
Most children have no idea what it means to study. Doing assigned homework is not study. The child will probably get passing grades but the child that actually reads and comprehends the material will be ready for advanced education. No TV and absolutely no video games should be allowed untill study is complete. Kids might be paid for chores, keeping their rooms picked up is not something that counts. To pay a child for good grades is total BS. Parents that pay for grades are to lazy to engage and spend a small amount of time in their responsibility in basic child development.
Why can't kids think of education as their "jobs" and be remunerated for them?
I use a point system where I teach. I also disclose in advance how many points I will or will not grant in as itemized fashion as possible. In this way, I tell them to 'grade their own papers in advance.' I must say - the whole system is much more efficient and I see dramatic increases as they catch on. My mentor taught me this. His very first question to me in fact, was 'Do you ever do anything without expecting something in return?' And me in my thick skin said in earnest - No.
It does work. Perhaps as a transition and testing period, we could use points and or plastic money - better yet- our own local currency!
Brian
Trickle down works. Don't You feel like you have been trickled on?
When Jesse "The Body" Ventura was our MN governor, he attempted to decouple education funding from property taxes. He wanted it to be tied to the state income tax, instead. I thought that was one of the most enlightened and progressive things he did. I could never understand funding education any other way.
Pawlenty immediately nullified any movement in that direction when he got in office after Ventura left.
I should point out to Thom that police, especially where their guilds can hold cities hostage, make rather considerably more than teachers. A few years ago there was a minor scandal in these parts when it was discovered that many Seattle police officers and King County deputies were making over a $100,000--some even $200,000--a year. Much of this pay came from lax rules regarding access to overtime.
Going back to Mary Jane and Rope . . . What would help California's ecomony is forcing folk who build buildings to make them solar powered AND reuse water to service lawns . . . And Building & Safety should require that remodelers do the same. Imagine if our communities, were the energy solution . . .
the problem with the trickle down theory is that the rich keep buying more buckets so there will never be an over flow
How can stations refuse to carry those marijuana ads? Before the last election, progressive stations said they hated carrying ads for prop 8, but they could not legally refuse.
'Sorry - 2 cx from last post: Medicaid (sp) and Harry Reid (not Obama) talked to Baucus re: not having to get Republican support for healthcare legislation.
my sister used to teach. subs got extra pay for inner city schools - hazard pay was the joke. that and the 'special' schools to handle difficult students got higher pay.
public schools have a hard time dropping any type of 'difficult' students. private schools can deny them access. parochial schools often limit students too. Different playing field.
Pay teachers, fire-fighters and cops ONE BUCK more than the median income of the area that they serve!!!!!! AND subsidize their living in the communities they serve.
Thom, I agree with you on almost everything and I've learned quite a bit from you but you are wrong, wrong, wrong on paying children to learn. As you pointed out yourself while arguing against yourself- children will only learn up to the test that, if they score well enough, will give them a goody. It destroys initiative, it is contrary to critical thinking, and teaches children that learning isn't worth it without a bribe. Imagine if you've paid a child to get good grades and then you stop paying them.
You mentioned that paying children to get good grades was working in a school or district, and perhaps it has- but what does that mean? Are they critical thinkers? Have they been fostered with a love of learning? Will they continue to study and explore on their own without a reward?
I would strongly encourage you to read a book by Alfie Kohn called Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes. Perhaps even have him on as a guest.
Yesterday, Tuesday, June 9, 2009, Thom asserted that Earth is a living organism. He was restating the Gaia theory of British scientist James Lovelock, Ph.D. who claims that the Earth and its biosphere make up a single living organism. (Note: Lovelock’s Ph.D is in medicine, not biology, but he’s a very bright guy and is capable of being knowledgeable in various fields.)
It’s interesting that at one point in the program Thom gave his optimistic opinion that humanity is going to successfully emerge from our current crises but talked about Lovelock’s projection that the majority of humanity will perish due to the destabilization of Earth’s climate. I have to wonder who Thom believes, James Lovelock or Thom Hartman.
One thing Thom didn’t mention is that Lovelock is a big advocate of nuclear power. In fact, he declared that the only hope for avoiding the devastation of global warming is to turn to nuclear power. He’s a member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy.
But getting back to Lovelock’s Gaia theory, well received in environmental and spiritual circles, it hasn’t faired as well in the scientific community, although it has gained some support in the four decades since Lovelock proposed it. But it is far from being the accepted or dominant theory on the nature of this planet. However, the Gaia theory has stimulated conversation about Earth as an interconnected system.
As for me, call me old fashioned, but I take the view (who cares what view I take) that living organisms have certain characteristics. This isn’t my view; this is what the science of biology says. Earth doesn’t have all the characteristics of a living organism as defined by biology.
One of the characteristics of a living organism that Earth seems to lack is “reproduction”, meaning the reproduction of nearly identical living organisms. Earth has blown out the birthday candles some 5 billion times by now and hasn’t produced an offspring. This is truly heartbreaking to her parents, who so wanted a grandchild.
Another characteristic is movement. Earth definitely moves. But it moves in the same manner as the other planets. It orbits around the Sun because the mass of the Sun curves the space that Earth exists in and moves through. Are all the planets living organisms, and since other celestial objects (e.g., stars, meteors, asteroids, galaxies) move according the same laws of nature, are they living organisms too?
Part of the Gaia theory is that Earth and its biosphere form a self-regulating system. I guess that’s a matter of perspective. If you were a dinosaur, Earth didn’t regulate itself very well. In fact, it’s estimated that from the first appearance of living organisms on this planet, some 95% of all living species have gone extinct. These extinctions are largely due to climatic changes that, from the point of view of the critters that went extinct, were the failure of the Earth to maintain a stable self-regulating environment. Don’t forget, the dinosaurs roamed the Earth for around 165 million years, and unlike humans, they weren’t really responsible for the climatic changes that did them in.
In my opinion, Earth is an inanimate space object on which the conditions for life to exist developed. The kind of life that existed at various times in Earth’s history depended on a variety of conditions on the planet at any particular time. Those conditions include the living organisms that had evolved already. When those conditions change, existing forms of living organisms die out and new forms have the opportunity to exploit the new environment.
I wouldn’t call a rock that had a bush growing out of it and some insects living on it a living organism. I feel the same about a planet that supports various forms of life.
I think that a good part of the appeal that the Gaia theory for Thom is spiritual. The Gaia theory makes a scientific argument for a belief that Thom is probably prone to hold whether the Gaia theory existed or not.
For the record, while I am doubtful about the Gaia theory, I fear that Lovelock may very well be right about challenges the human race is facing. We are facing many crises. We are facing economic, political and environmental challenges on a worldwide scale. In each of these areas, there are powerful interests that see it in their short-term interests to maintain the status quo and oppose remedies. They’re more concerned with their short-term interests than they are about the future of humanity and other species on this flying rock.
If a public option will kill the private insurance industry, then wont adequately funding the public schools kill the private school industry, because it will be superfluous? It is the same argument. I think the conservatives are contradicting themselves.
what happen to the tricle down theory? it looks like it didn't work. can we finaly put reagan to rest.
Interesting things happening re: health-care reform in today's news.
1) V.P. Biden just announced agreement with a number of major hospitals in the U.S. in which the hospitals will cut $155 billion from their bills to Medicare and Medicade over 10 years.
2) Pres. Obama told Max Baucus not to worry about getting any Republicans to sign on to any healthcare reform legislation (!)
Thom, this legislative "soup" gets thicker and thicker. I think you're onto something. There seems to be a lot of misdirection by Obama and his administration so they can get their real agenda passed (I hope.) I just keep thinking about Obama's mother, dying of cancer, without health insurance. That HAS to be a searing life lesson and motivation for Obama to get a real public option.
A big part of the issue with ‘pay to learn’ is that the school system is still not teaching "money". Kids grow up into adults that money is traded for stuff BUT have ZERO knowledge how to use it as a tool. This prepares kids to be stop-gap wage slaves chasing pieces of little green paper; not masters of their destinies.
The problem is that vouchers are 3 parts. 1 part student, 1 part teacher, 1 part school. 2 parts go with student. 1 part gets 'lost'. So vouchers are a way to cut funding for public education.
I paid my son for grades because 'school' was his 'job'. I paid him for goals and assists when he played hockey. I told him misspelling showed young on internet which made him spell better and read dictionaries.
Sometimes, bribery is the best way to encourage good action.
I told him to be good for nothing. I told him to follow the golden rule. I totally understood that it was a matter of working with who he is, not making him what I wanted.
I love him! And let him know! That is the best thing you can do for a child.
Although Mary Jane and rope may help . . . What will save California's ecomony is returning the progressive tax system put in place by the Progressive Republicans in the early 1900s and doffing the sales tax war against the poor and middle class.
Goldman Sachs Admits Its Software Can "Manipulate Markets in Unfair Ways”
Goldman Sachs says that its program trading software can be used to manipulate markets:
The bank has raised the possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets in unfair ways.
Given that Goldman obviously knows how to use its own program - which it paid many millions for - isn't that a virtual admission that Goldman has been manipulating markets?
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/
ttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_6d.tyNe1KQ
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/business/07goldman.html?_r=3&ref=business
I have been thinking about how SCOTUS is dealing with Corporate people... they are creating rules that set up a "Seperate but equal" standing regarding Corporate people and Human People.
The Supreme Court is creating what the rest of the country is trying to stop, and has been trying to stop for generations...
Listening to the guy from the Cato Institute yesterday reminds one why it is difficult to reason with a right-winger; they reduce every argument to whatever lowest common denominator is handy, which has the unfortunate effect of making “sense” to people who prefer not to do their own thinking. The basic “argument” is the law of the jungle, the pursuit of self-interest in an environment with only minimal controls. Doesn’t everyone like that? Unfortunately, the human mind is as complex as it is roguish, and left to its own devices chaos is the natural result without certain restraints, like government and civilization. The price to keep him or her safe from him or herself involves taxation, but in addition to safety people expect conveniences like roads, bridges and damns which they obviously cannot provide without a major pooling of resources. It is interesting to note that there was a time when 12 percent of the federal budget was devoted to infrastructure; now it is less than 3 percent. The stimulus package, which many people believe is top-heavy in infrastructure funding, barely increases that percentage at a time when much of the country’s infrastructure—especially its aging damns— is on the verge of catastrophic collapse. But as always, people have to die in large numbers before politicians have the will to over-rule their corporate handlers. This is why we can’t leave the “thinking” to the Cato Institute or others of their ilk.
Thom mentioned something about the theory concerning an environmental condition called Gaia, which amused me insofar as the author’s theory that people will start migrating northwards due to global warming; this might be the initial reaction, but those in more southern climes would be smarter to stay put and wait it out. While an actual Ice Age may depend more on the Earth’s tilt and change in orbit, the addition of massive amounts of fresh water will cause changes in ocean currents, and eventually cooler temperatures.
Thom also posited yesterday his theory concerning population control. It should be noted that in all life, the number of off-spring is generally high because few young survive to adulthood. This is true in all human cultures until relatively recently; advanced medicine and comfortable living—not “advances” in social mores—have allowed for the decrease in the need to bear many children, as well allowing an increase in personal narcissism. Women in third world countries have more children for the same reasons that most life does—because life expectancies are low and infant mortality is high, although increased access to medical care and drugs has started to change that equation.
In regard to paying students to "succeed," maybe just changing the atmosphere will help. Why do boys in this country, especially African-American, have decreasing high school graduation and college entry rates in relation to girls? Because boys are viewed as threatening, and girls are thus given special support? I wonder if Thom is of the same opinion as a Seattle Times editorial—that we should be somewhat concerned about this, but we shouldn’t do anything to remedy it if means it will “hurt” girls, whatever that means.