Comments on: Chicken Soup For The Teachers Soul

By: barker13

barker13 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:29:25 +0000

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By: barker13

barker13 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:43:46 +0000

Nope... got through the two posts below and now I'm blocked again.

Has anyone else ever run into such a buggy "commercial" site?

Webmaster: You obviously pay attention to the comments section (since you're prone to remove posts willy-nilly); what's the deal...???

BILL

By: barker13

barker13 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:34:45 +0000

In any case… if there has to be such a thing as government economic policy, it seems like a no brainer to me that reviving the fabled American manufacturing base should be a – perhaps the – main governmental policy of both Democratic and Republican politicians. BILL

By: barker13

barker13 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:32:39 +0000

Re: Sinz54; 3/27/2009, 2:06 PM

"...The problem is that there aren't enough jobs as plumbers and electricians to make up for the loss of manufacturing jobs."

* OK... let's try this one paragraph at a time...

Agreed. We need to resuscitate American manufacturing via revising tax policy (lowering corporate taxes, which btw, wouldn't even exist in a perfect world... but that's another debate) and targeted trade policies that serve concrete U.S. interests first and ideological theory second. Folks... even those of you who would go down with the "USS Free Trade," let me ask... as contingency planning, shouldn't our economic policies include plans for WINNING a trade war (should one erupt) just as in the bowels of the Pentagon there are plans to win a war against... er... Canada. (*SHRUG*)

(Oh... and as an aside, since you mentioned shoe factories... aren't New Balance sneakers still made mainly in America?)

BILL

By: barker13

barker13 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:14:26 +0000

This is sure a buggy site.

Once again... for whatever reason... the site just won't let me post a reply I just penned to Franco/Sinz/InSight.

As evidenced by the McCain campaign... "moderate" Republicanism has a distinct tendency towards... er... INCOMPETENCE.

FIX YOU WEBSITE, WEBMASTER!!!

BILL

By: insightdeluxe2

insightdeluxe2 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:07:52 +0000

Whoa, fellas! You all are throwing darts at me, some personal! I don't remember getting personal...

Anyway...I am responding to the premise of the book: Educating America's young to for the reality of the 21st century. Sinz' and Barker's and Franco's posts do not. They only attack or point out personal anecdotes or demonstrate a misunderstanding of education and its purpose. It's about education!! How do we educate the young particularly the urban young.

We all need to understand that the urban youth do not exist on some island. they are us. they vote. they pay taxes. they consume. they are us. For too long this country has marginalized urban youth, labelling urban culture as valueless and primitive and alienating urban values/aesthetics. Think about it. We call people in this country who aren't Euro (males) "minority." Yes, there are fewer in population, but only in America. It is the Euro who is the real global minority. It is their values/aesthetic and culture that is given the most value and prominence in the melting pot of america, and it is this obstacle of insignificance that many urban youth struggle against psychologically and culturally. Shakespeare is important. the Italian Renassaince was important. But, where is the urban voice in our society? BET? SportsCenter? I ask you all to consider this as a reality that hinders youth from embracing education or American values. It can be a cop out I admit and issues of parenting and self-discipline/determination are key, but we can't dismiss this. (please read the miseducation of the black child by Hare and hare)

As an educator, I see the value of some of Murray's premise that education isn't a one-size-fits-all thing and that fundamentals are key. but, isn't this the Bell Curve guy? Wasn't his premise there that Blacks lack the intellectual capacity to succeed in a traditional, Western-style educational system? Grain of salt w/this dude. but his premise in his latest book pretty much reflects my earlier stated mission of education. It must fit reality! (that was what the example of japan was meant to demnonstrate) But, the question remains, how do we educate all of America's children?? Solutions not attacks or insults!! Solutions!

"Radical Black Militant?" That's a compliment where I come from! A response to the legacy of forced labor, gov't sanctioned terror and segregation, and cultural marginalization/genocide can never be radical enough (see haki madhubuti) Sinz, that dude on the NYC subway is the hate that hate created!! the African will never be fully American. Don't get me started...

I gotta go, but i leave all my friends here w/a suggestion to lift conservatives out of their self-created exile. i suggest you all take a look at what conservatives in the UK are embracing. They call it Conservative Progressivism which attempts to localize power to communities rather than individuals. Power is decentralized but focused not at the single individual but at the community. there's more to it, but it makes sense and seems to be last best hope for conservatives in America...but the question is what would Reagan do?

By: ChristianMiller

ChristianMiller — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:00:16 +0000

sinz, Kids in the inner-city are for the most part not lacking in intelligence at all in my opinion. It isn’t just a matter of IQ’s It is a matter of personality and orientation. Lots of people who are working class have higher IQ’s than college educated people. Some of the stupidest people I know have degrees, and today a degree is not an indicator of either knowledge or intelligence. Some people like to work outside, or with their hands, or solve problems. I have often been very impressed with auto mechanics and many other non-degreed people (I don’t have a degree myself, and I am not in the least ashamed of this fact) Moreover, white collar jobs often don’t require much intelligence or even much education other than getting past the HR Department – whose members are usually THE dumbest and most incompetent people in any organization themselves.

By: sinz54

sinz54 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:08:05 +0000

insightdeluxe2 claims: “Who is the last young, Black male to interview the President or the Prime Minister of China on national TV? It’s only middle. aged white males. Urban children have to combat this public and corporate marginilization of their values and realities.”I’ve got news for you: Urban black children aren’t going to grow up to interview anybody, if they cannot speak and write in grammatically correct English sentences. Their “values and realities” are going to take a back seat to such more practical matters as subject and predicate.

By: sinz54

sinz54 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:06:17 +0000

Franco: The problem is that there aren't enough jobs as plumbers and electricians to make up for the loss of manufacturing jobs.

In my parents' day, a decent fellow with decent muscles and a work ethic could get a decent job in a factory, even if he wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. My own dad worked as a factory worker in a shoe factory, back when America still had shoe factories. And he and his wife--my mom--saved enough money to send me to college (with the help of a partial scholarship).

But the automation of American manufacturing, and the replacement of much of it by competition from overseas, has sharply limited opportunities in this country for the half of Americans with below-average I.Q.'s.

For blacks who finally escaped de jure segregation only in the 1960s, this has closed a major door to them that used to be the way that Americans entered the middle class.

By: sinz54

sinz54 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:02:33 +0000

barker13: From my reading of the posts by InsightDelux2 (not just in this discussion thread but in other discussion threads on this blog), he appears to be a radical black militant (or sympathizer of such), who believes that the way for blacks to get ahead is to overturn alleged white dominance. He has stated that should be one of the major goals in the 21st century, in fact.

I grew up in New York City, and I got to meet plenty of folks like InsightDelux2. They strutted down the street with angry scowls and chips on their shoulders, all the time--which any psychologist worth his salt will tell you is a sure sign of terrible insecurity. Just saying "Good morning!" to them was enough to provoke an angry response.