Hulver's site || Comments || Well, that was a complete and utter waste of my time

Oh come on. by nightflameblue (4.00 / 1) #2 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 10:46:40 AM EST

Don't tell me you've never bullshitted your way through a business meeting.

I liked how Bush's entrance was like the entrance of a star football player into a frat house, complete with rubbing the bald guy's head and talking like this: "Hey buddy, how's it goin'!"

Gotta say, his "no child left behind is working" bullshit about unnerved me. Lowering the bar and then proclaiming success when our kids still look pretty stupid in comparison with any other developed nation? Yeah, good idea.

And we all know why he didn't give a blow-by-blow account of where we are in Iraq. Nobody's going to carry their failures on a banner. Not even our moronic president.

No Child... by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #3 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 10:57:10 AM EST

Commentary from The Atlantic.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
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What, you expect me to read? by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #4 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 11:04:13 AM EST

I've been frustrated with the educational system since I was participating in it. People who genuinely want to learn are discouraged because they'll bury their peers, and people who don't give a crap about learning are the ones setting the pace. The very title "No Child Left Behind" reinforces that image and then they bring it home by coming right out and saying that we're getting better test scores. Let's try to ignore that we did that by changing the meter, not by increasing actual educational value.

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I was lucky, I went to public schools by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #7 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 11:11:22 AM EST

Fairfax County Public Schools. Better than most private schools. All the parents are well educated, involved, and rich. Middle-class, anyway. So lots of money, and lots of motivation. Also very multi-cultural, especially these days, so none of that creationism BS.

Even back in the early 80's, when I was there, you could take enough AP courses to test out of your first year of college. I know a guy who tested out of his freshman year at Chicago.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
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: I was both lucky and unlucky. by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #8 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 11:15:54 AM EST

I went to the highest rated school system in my state. While that meant we got some damn good funding, it also meant the touchy-feelies were in charge much of the time. People who failed weren't seen as people who failed, but as pet projects for educators, while people who were frustrated with the slow pace were told to slow the fuck down and stop making everybody else feel bad about how stupid they were.
We're now stuck in a permanent rut of allowing the touchy-feelies to make important education decisions. Cut those bastards out of the decision making process and let them do what they do best, coddle the people who can't cut it. Some people are gonna suck at school. You don't need to lower the bar to make them feel better, you need to accept that it's gonna happen and that life blows. Otherwise we're gonna be a nation of morons created by our need to make everybody shiny-happy feel good.

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See, that's why I'm unelectable by lm (2.00 / 0) #5 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 11:06:12 AM EST

I have no problem saying `It's my fault. I screwed the pooch.''

There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
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Yep. by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #6 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 11:11:01 AM EST

Also why we have no accountability in any level of public office. Because if you ever say, "oops, my fault," nobody says, "hey, that was big of him," and everybody says, "HOLY SHIT! HE MADE A MISTAKE! BURN THE HEATHEN!"

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otoh by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #11 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 11:38:05 AM EST

There is such a thing as too much forgiveness of 'error' in public office which leads to the same lack of accountability.

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But only on unimportant matters like tax dollars by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #12 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 11:39:30 AM EST

spent and the like. Important stuff, like who's sleeping with who and how often? That shit is NEVER forgiven.

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I dunno, Marion Barry got re-elected. by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #13 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 12:21:25 PM EST

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}
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: Wasn't that just drug related though? by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #14 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 12:32:58 PM EST

I mean, who among his constituents would honestly be able to say they weren't going down that path?

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Sadly by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #9 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 11:26:42 AM EST

That is tantamount to saying "I hereby retire from politics".
----
_{ウセーバラケダ}
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: From memory of how Carter looked by wumpus (2.00 / 0) #16 Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 06:51:57 PM EST

before and after the presidency, I think his announcement of retiring (called "the malaise speech" by the ignorant) was a good thing.
Too good a man for the oval office.
Wumpus

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