Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Dumbing Down of the North American Education System
Yes, indeed! We have been robbed of knowing the passion for learning and of learning, itself! If you read the text books (readers) of students even as late as the 1950s, you would see how incredibly lax the standards are in the late part of that century and the beginning of this one. Instead of real, important issues and topics and information being taught, it's now propaganda, socialization, socializing, and tiny bit of learning,
This may seem a skeptical and grim opinion, however, it is based on my own experience in the system and on many years of reading reports, watching specials and many discussions.
One issue that I saw as an important issue was the removal of The Arts as actual subjects taught in school. I'm not sure about historical schooling systems because, quite honestly, I haven't researched that to date, but I doubt, in the early twentieth century North American school taught any arts as complete subjects (although maybe they taught a bit depending on how much the particular teacher knew). When I was in my last year of high school (1998) I took co-op education. I had a placement as a Music Teacher's assistant. She was also the Computer teacher. Half way through the year, there was a mold that was growing in some of the portables (something fairly common in Ontario in the late 1990s) so a few of the classes had to move into the classrooms inside the schools. This caused us to lose the Music room and Music started to be phased out of the school's program. This type of situation was a common occurrence across the Toronto area, and maybe even Ontario and Canada. Over the next few years, Music was almost completely knocked out of public school in the area.
I started working in a program, teaching piano, inside of the Dufferin/Peel Catholic School Board in 2002. By then in the school I was working in, there was basically no music, very little art, if any, not much English(spelling, grammar) or Language Arts programs past the grade 3 level. Now, I realize that a lot of people (especially politicians) don't believe that Music or other Arts are important topics to teach in school, but many studies have demonstrated otherwise. I'm not going to get off on another rant about that issue though. My point is, school, even in the 4 years that passed between my graduating and going back to being able to see what was going on in the school system, things had changed quite a bit.
I'm sure it had changed a lot over the previous years also but that's hard to see when you're inside it and also don't have perspective away from it. Not only had a lot of subjects been shunned, but children were also treated a lot differently. They were not, it seemed, required to behave with respect or order. I'm sure they thought they were, and the teachers thought they were, but if you had showed someone who was a teacher in the 1940s, how kids and teachers behaved, they would see a complete lack of respect on both parts. That is my opinion of what I witnessed (this is generalization, of course).
But also, students were not really taught a lesson in class. Not the way I was when I was a student. They were taught maybe a 10 or 20 minute lesson, or given a note to copy down and maybe a brief discussion on the topic, and then given hours of homework to complete. Of course, this is not all the fault of the teachers. Teachers were given oodles of paperwork to do, probably a lot of it administrative. They also, most of them, had 2 or 3 other classes to teach on rotation. So they had to have time to plan that. So giving the class a note quickly and then "work time" was some of the small amount of time that they had to plan other classes or mark tests/quizzes/assignments. Not only is this approach useless, but also the quality of what is being taught is continually decreasing. It's also infiltrated with tons of unnecessary information and propaganda. Also the students have many interruptions in the year.
As Stefan mentions in the included video, summer vacation isn't really needed anymore (maybe give a couple of weeks like a small summer break) and there are tons of "Professional Developement" Days and school trips and largely meaningless assemblies. The students are in school for maybe a grand total of 6 months of real class time. This is a rough estimation.
And on top of all this, a large number of teachers, especially at the middle school and high school levels, have had the love for educating sucked out of them by years of education themselves. Only the resilient and determined teachers who have passion for educating the next generation get through that and can still make a valuable impact on their students' lives.
My opinion on homework is that it should be minimally used as review time for subjects like Arithmetic and Spelling/Grammar and maybe weekly homework in Science, History or Languages. Perhaps a couple of times a year they should have a large assignment or speech writing or science exhibit to work on and for older kids, yearly or by-yearly exams. Kids are so overwhelmed with hours of daily homework from many different classes, large assignments, projects, exams, constant expectations of studying and keeping up grades that they drown. They also are usually put in a bunch of extra-curricular or join school clubs and/or teams which add to the workload. Then they go home and have hours of homework to catch up on. How about letting kids be kids. Teach them a real lesson during class time with simple explanations of the concepts with a small exercise sheet for homework, which would take them, at most, twenty minutes to finish, and then letting them be free. We would have a much happier society if we functioned this way.
There are a bunch of other issues on this topic I could refer to but I think I will save that for another time! :)
An old online-journal entry
Okay, here's something that's been bugging me for a bit, recently. Well, I had a student today (I teach music lessons in an extra-curricular setting) who is having a lot of trouble at school.
She is in high school and seems to have horrible luck with teachers. The thing is, that's not all that rare these days. How do the kids have any hope of doing well in life when their teachers don't care a bit about them getting through school?
No, a teacher shouldn't necessarily be expected to be completely consumed with each of his/her students each year. But yes, a teacher should care enough to get their students through the semester. It seems that teaching is just another job now. It is evident that the bad teacher's biggest concern is getting tenure so that they can do the minimum possible amount of work (if they even need to reach that landmark in their careers to be afforded that convenience) while "earning" a nice salary.
For example, this particular student has been having a really difficult time in math over the last few years. Not for lack of trying. She's gone to summer school to catch up on her first year course and over the last couple of years gone in after and before school for extra help. Was there staff support there to help her (even though they told her to come in)?
Nope: Her mother scheduled a meeting with the teacher she has this year which was canceled. Obviously an overwhelming concern on the teacher's part to make sure that this one student doesn't slip through the cracks. It makes me angry that, while, yes, there are still lots of great teachers, there seems to be a growing number of teachers who don't care, even a tiny bit, about the students, or anyone besides themselves.
I've also had a few horrible teachers in high school, but luckily for me, I did have quite a few awesome ones. It sickens me to see the complete apathy in today's society toward things that are important, and yet things like entertainment and personal amusement and appearance are at the forefront of people's priorities. I'll bet the reason those "wonderful" teachers couldn't be bothered to actually show up to help my student with her work is because they had to make sure they caught the latest episode of General Hospital. Sickening.
This is just one of the many aspects of today's society that make me angry. So I suppose I'll end my rant for tonight with this special on 20/20 about the rotting school system in the USA. Canada isn't too far behind!
She is in high school and seems to have horrible luck with teachers. The thing is, that's not all that rare these days. How do the kids have any hope of doing well in life when their teachers don't care a bit about them getting through school?
No, a teacher shouldn't necessarily be expected to be completely consumed with each of his/her students each year. But yes, a teacher should care enough to get their students through the semester. It seems that teaching is just another job now. It is evident that the bad teacher's biggest concern is getting tenure so that they can do the minimum possible amount of work (if they even need to reach that landmark in their careers to be afforded that convenience) while "earning" a nice salary.
For example, this particular student has been having a really difficult time in math over the last few years. Not for lack of trying. She's gone to summer school to catch up on her first year course and over the last couple of years gone in after and before school for extra help. Was there staff support there to help her (even though they told her to come in)?
Nope: Her mother scheduled a meeting with the teacher she has this year which was canceled. Obviously an overwhelming concern on the teacher's part to make sure that this one student doesn't slip through the cracks. It makes me angry that, while, yes, there are still lots of great teachers, there seems to be a growing number of teachers who don't care, even a tiny bit, about the students, or anyone besides themselves.
I've also had a few horrible teachers in high school, but luckily for me, I did have quite a few awesome ones. It sickens me to see the complete apathy in today's society toward things that are important, and yet things like entertainment and personal amusement and appearance are at the forefront of people's priorities. I'll bet the reason those "wonderful" teachers couldn't be bothered to actually show up to help my student with her work is because they had to make sure they caught the latest episode of General Hospital. Sickening.
This is just one of the many aspects of today's society that make me angry. So I suppose I'll end my rant for tonight with this special on 20/20 about the rotting school system in the USA. Canada isn't too far behind!
George Carlin's opinion on the freak show!
I could not agree more!
"My last question, George, is that; It seems to me you're kind of an icon for someone who can see the bad things going on but not let it... harden your heart, not let it get into you and screw up your mental state or emotional state. Do you have any advice for people on how you can still stay engaged in the world and not go insane with anger and resentment?"
"Become a spectator. That’s what I am. I have found that over the last 20 to 30 years, somewhere in that span, between 20 and 30 years ago, I began to pull away from having a stake in any of this. I don’t really have an emotional stake in the outcome anymore, in terms of my caring. I don’t really give a fuck, when you get right down to it. I don’t care what happens to my species because I think this species has squandered great gifts, namely and especially, the gift of this mind we have, the brain/mind which is able to distinguish between subject and object as a starter and is able to do a lot of abstract things that should have led us better places. And the opposable thumb and walking erect and that whole package. We should certainly have done better than to embrace superstitious, religious belief that rules us and leads us. And the pursuit of goods and profit and territory and power. That’s what we turned into and I think the same is true of this culture. I have also found myself pulling away from this culture and not caring about the outcome because I think the same thing is true. This culture, the country, the American country was given great gifts. It developed great gifts on its own at the beginning and I think we squandered these ideals, these noble purposes and ideals that we began with. And we went off the track because of the prosperity, primarily. We were always infected with the religious thing. That was always there underneath everything. But the prosperity lead to greed and possessiveness and wanting to own things and have them for their own sake. And now the American people, politically, have been bought off ...completely silenced and bought off by gizmos and toys and that’s a line from the con show. And it’s just a shame. So I pulled away emotionally and I said, "You know what, fuck ‘em. Let ‘em do what they wanna do and I’m gonna enjoy this shit as a spectator." And I look at it as a show. It’s a big circus. It’s a big parade or whatever metaphor you want to use. I think of it as a freak show. I like to say this. "When you’re born into this world you’re given a ticket to the freak show. When you’re born in America, you’re given a front row seat." And man, I’m sitting there and I have my notebook out and I’m enjoying the show and I wish I could live a thousand years to watch this all develop. The rise of Russia, the rise of China, the Islamization of Europe, the decline of the white race. It’s going to be an amazing story as it develops and I just wish I could see it all. I’m 70 now. I’ll probably live between 90 and 100 I think and I’ll get to see some of it but it is an interesting, exciting thing to watch if you can detach yourself emotionally. And that’s the end of that.
"That’s the best way to swallow all that stuff and believe it and still walk down the street singin' a happy tune"
"That’s right, there’s no anger in it, see? There’s no anger, there’s no emotional state."
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Infowars.com - be informed and inform others!!
Disclaimer: I do not agree completely with Alex Jones. I do find him to be a fear monger a lot of the time - but I do honestly believe he has some worthwhile discussions and topics.
http://www.infowars.com
http://www.infowars.com
Facebook and Google are not what they appear to be!
http://www.infowars.com/facebook-google-are-cia-fronts/
HenryMakow.com
February 17, 2011
There used to be a saying: ”No one makes a name for himself without giving something up”
As a youngster, I was awed by people who ”made it to the top” by creating and innovating corporations, technologies, or simply establishing themselves through sports, music, entertainment, etc. thus becoming millionaires.
Now as I have grown older, I realize how illusory this paradigm really is. I came to the conclusion that if you want to reach the ”top’,’ you have to give up your soul.
Take Mark Zuckerberg for example. He is one of the most ”successful entrepreneurs” in the last decade. Having made a fortune through his Facebook empire, he reaches more than 500 million people worldwide. It seems like a fairytale. A student creates a new interface to connect the people throughout the world. Well, it sounds great doesn’t it? It would, if we were true.
Here is a good video that demonstrates that Facebook was indirectly funded by the CIA with the goal of learning and storing everything there is to know about you. Why? To monitor and ultimately control.
Again, the people have been totally duped by the Facebook-mania and can only see what they are told to see. As my friends say: ”It is to connect people and share information”. In the wake of the recent crisis in Egypt, we might add that Facebook has become not just a data-mining operation, but also a soft power proxy for crisis-creation.
Let’s look at headlines that should cast no doubt about the true character of CIAbook:
Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over -
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg says privacy is no longer a ‘social norm’
Facebook – the CIA conspiracy
The Face of Facebook - (Pay particular notice to the IMs that got leaked and confirmed to be true by the New Yorker)
Facebook & Social Media: A Convenient Cover For Spying -
US spies invest in internet monitoring technology – Quoted from this article: ”In an attempt to sift through the blizzard of information, the investment arm of the CIA, In-Q-Tel, has invested in a software firm that monitors social media.”
Nihilists of The World Unite: Wikileaks Is The “Cognitive Infiltration” Operation Demanded by Cass Sunstein -
TIME Mag Person of the Year 2010 - This link is just a mere reminder of past history and the perversion of ”honoring”those who don’t deserve it. Would you like to share this front cover with Hitler, Stalin, Kissinger, etc.? I sure wouldn’t. Obviously Zuckerberg has done something ”great”. Just my 2 cents about this garbage.
GOOGLE
Google has come under scrutiny over its attempt to eliminate competing search engines and block ”controversial” sites and people, but the biggest controversy came over its alleged ties to the CIA and NSA.
Google founders Sergey M. Brin and Lawrence E. Page are portrayed as average folks, Stanford University students, who teamed up to create a ”superior search engine”. Their attempt to do just that turned out to be so successful that they started to get funding from big players, for example Sun Microsystems. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Brin#Search_engine_development)
It can be assumed that the CIA and NSA funded them as well. As in the above example of Facebook, don’t forget the Google scandal connected to China last year, where Google simply evaded censorship laws by moving to Hong Kong.
The CIA might have used Google as a soft power proxy in China as well for destabilization operations. Here are a few issues that made the news regarding Google:
Tarpley: US Gov uses Google proxy to attack China – (Vid)
Google-NSA collaboration draws alarm -
YouTube’s Parent Google is a Corporate Member of the Council on Foreign Relations -
Ex-Agent: CIA Seed Money Helped Launch Google -
The Google-NSA Alliance: Questions and Answers -
CONCLUSION
I admit I have Facebook. I am not particularly happy about it, but it does facilitate being connected with friends from other places. I try to keep a low profile. Don’t reveal anything or don’t click on trivial buttons, for example the ”Likes”.
Use alternatives to make contact if you can, e.g. email or other messengers. If you have Facebook, you have probably realized how people have literally sold their lives over to it.
Every time I see people revealing things to the finest detail, they don’t think about any consequences, or let’s say, they are not smart enough to care. The scientific dictatorship has done a ”good” job in brainwashing and manipulating the masses. Don’t be fooled by the deceit. The mainstream media has been very reluctant to cover the disturbing Google/Facebook ties as it would expose important assets for the Big Brother machine and its secret use to destabilize.
Zuckerberg or the Google founders would never have gotten the publicity, wealth and success without a CIA or NSA connection. To elaborate on the opening quote, I assume they have been initiated into the Illuminati Order and sold their soul.
—
Sandeep Parwaga is a 22 yr old Indian student who currently lives in the UK.
Facebook & Google are CIA Fronts
Sandeep ParwagaHenryMakow.com
February 17, 2011
There used to be a saying: ”No one makes a name for himself without giving something up”
As a youngster, I was awed by people who ”made it to the top” by creating and innovating corporations, technologies, or simply establishing themselves through sports, music, entertainment, etc. thus becoming millionaires.
Now as I have grown older, I realize how illusory this paradigm really is. I came to the conclusion that if you want to reach the ”top’,’ you have to give up your soul.
Take Mark Zuckerberg for example. He is one of the most ”successful entrepreneurs” in the last decade. Having made a fortune through his Facebook empire, he reaches more than 500 million people worldwide. It seems like a fairytale. A student creates a new interface to connect the people throughout the world. Well, it sounds great doesn’t it? It would, if we were true.
Here is a good video that demonstrates that Facebook was indirectly funded by the CIA with the goal of learning and storing everything there is to know about you. Why? To monitor and ultimately control.
Again, the people have been totally duped by the Facebook-mania and can only see what they are told to see. As my friends say: ”It is to connect people and share information”. In the wake of the recent crisis in Egypt, we might add that Facebook has become not just a data-mining operation, but also a soft power proxy for crisis-creation.
Let’s look at headlines that should cast no doubt about the true character of CIAbook:
Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over -
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg says privacy is no longer a ‘social norm’
Facebook – the CIA conspiracy
The Face of Facebook - (Pay particular notice to the IMs that got leaked and confirmed to be true by the New Yorker)
Facebook & Social Media: A Convenient Cover For Spying -
US spies invest in internet monitoring technology – Quoted from this article: ”In an attempt to sift through the blizzard of information, the investment arm of the CIA, In-Q-Tel, has invested in a software firm that monitors social media.”
Nihilists of The World Unite: Wikileaks Is The “Cognitive Infiltration” Operation Demanded by Cass Sunstein -
TIME Mag Person of the Year 2010 - This link is just a mere reminder of past history and the perversion of ”honoring”those who don’t deserve it. Would you like to share this front cover with Hitler, Stalin, Kissinger, etc.? I sure wouldn’t. Obviously Zuckerberg has done something ”great”. Just my 2 cents about this garbage.
Google has come under scrutiny over its attempt to eliminate competing search engines and block ”controversial” sites and people, but the biggest controversy came over its alleged ties to the CIA and NSA.
Google founders Sergey M. Brin and Lawrence E. Page are portrayed as average folks, Stanford University students, who teamed up to create a ”superior search engine”. Their attempt to do just that turned out to be so successful that they started to get funding from big players, for example Sun Microsystems. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Brin#Search_engine_development)
It can be assumed that the CIA and NSA funded them as well. As in the above example of Facebook, don’t forget the Google scandal connected to China last year, where Google simply evaded censorship laws by moving to Hong Kong.
The CIA might have used Google as a soft power proxy in China as well for destabilization operations. Here are a few issues that made the news regarding Google:
Tarpley: US Gov uses Google proxy to attack China – (Vid)
Google-NSA collaboration draws alarm -
YouTube’s Parent Google is a Corporate Member of the Council on Foreign Relations -
Ex-Agent: CIA Seed Money Helped Launch Google -
The Google-NSA Alliance: Questions and Answers -
CONCLUSION
I admit I have Facebook. I am not particularly happy about it, but it does facilitate being connected with friends from other places. I try to keep a low profile. Don’t reveal anything or don’t click on trivial buttons, for example the ”Likes”.
Use alternatives to make contact if you can, e.g. email or other messengers. If you have Facebook, you have probably realized how people have literally sold their lives over to it.
Every time I see people revealing things to the finest detail, they don’t think about any consequences, or let’s say, they are not smart enough to care. The scientific dictatorship has done a ”good” job in brainwashing and manipulating the masses. Don’t be fooled by the deceit. The mainstream media has been very reluctant to cover the disturbing Google/Facebook ties as it would expose important assets for the Big Brother machine and its secret use to destabilize.
Zuckerberg or the Google founders would never have gotten the publicity, wealth and success without a CIA or NSA connection. To elaborate on the opening quote, I assume they have been initiated into the Illuminati Order and sold their soul.
—
Sandeep Parwaga is a 22 yr old Indian student who currently lives in the UK.
Friday, February 25, 2011
This is for the younger generation and everyone else!
I hope that at least a few people read this. Has anyone looked around lately at current affairs on the news (no, I'm not talking about Lebron James picking a team or Lindsay Lohan going to jail)? I'm talking about rising tax rates, mortgage collapse, G20 summits making new ridiculous policies and States/Provinces/Countries/Families going broke. It is insane. The state of the world is in shambles and all we care about are celebrities and the newest gadget to spend our hard earned money on. The newest hit on the radio, the newest trendy book or obsession with a popular movie. We, generally, as a culture, don't have any real values, role models or heroes anymore. It's all about "what thing/status can I get right now." or "who can I impress with my thing/status." And I know that there are a lot of people this doesn't apply to and those are the kinds of people who I hope read this. However society is barely concerned anymore with pursuing a real hobby or talent, gaining knowledge in a particular or many field(s).
This is not just opinion. I look around and it really makes me sad to see how people behave because they think that's the only way they can behave. There are so many different aspects of our society I could address here that if I did, it would take me about 10 pages worth of text to discuss.
If this is something that you understand and agree with, please, do yourself a favour and start reading more, watching more documentaries (there are lots of ways to download/order online/rent/buy movies that are hard or impossible to find in the mainstream which have vital information that is not what a lot of people want you to know), watch less television shows in general - except for shows which are educational - because generally, television does NOTHING for your brain!
A list, off the top of my head of movies which are filled to the brim with extremely important information:
Food Inc
The Future of Food
Fat Head
Nursery University
Pregnant in America
Generation Rx
I.O.U.S.A.
Monopoly Men
Capitalism; A Love Story
Crumb (about a cartoonist who drew some controversial strips)
Crips and Bloods; Made in America
American Drug War
The Corporation
The End of America
The End of Suburbia
The Great Global Warming Swindle
Starsuckers
Witch Hunt
Sir, No Sir!
The Yes Men Fix the World
ANY of Bill Hicks' stand up Routines
ANY of George Carlin's stand up Routines
This is a small list compared to the wonderful movies out there which show you a different side of reality than Hollywood. Even some Hollywood movies are great. And no, there is absolutely nothing wrong with watching a feel good comedy or a thriller or drama or horror or mystery or anything, as long as you can learn something from it or it makes you think about something. Stop mindlessly following trends and fads. Don't think you need to fit in. You are a valuable person who probably has something, even if it's something tiny, to contribute to society. Start thinking for yourself. Don't just accept something that someone tells you or that you hear/see. Use logic and dissect the information from the source. I used to be a person who thought I had no direction in life and that I had absolutely no purpose. I was convinced that I was just meant to tread through life watching hours of TV a day or waste time staring into space or waste time going shopping and buying things I didn't need and had no use for. I honestly thought i was stupid and that i had no voice and nothing of value to contribute to mankind. But then I realized, I am - and so, probably, are you - a smart person with a powerful brain and strong spirit with lots of potential. I just had to realize that potential (and I still have a lot to work on in that field) and the world of possibilities of what i could contribute and accomplish was endless.
Now maybe I sound like a crazy ranting psycho, but really, look within yourself and if you're honest, maybe I'm right? I think so anyway.
This is not just opinion. I look around and it really makes me sad to see how people behave because they think that's the only way they can behave. There are so many different aspects of our society I could address here that if I did, it would take me about 10 pages worth of text to discuss.
If this is something that you understand and agree with, please, do yourself a favour and start reading more, watching more documentaries (there are lots of ways to download/order online/rent/buy movies that are hard or impossible to find in the mainstream which have vital information that is not what a lot of people want you to know), watch less television shows in general - except for shows which are educational - because generally, television does NOTHING for your brain!
A list, off the top of my head of movies which are filled to the brim with extremely important information:
Food Inc
The Future of Food
Fat Head
Nursery University
Pregnant in America
Generation Rx
I.O.U.S.A.
Monopoly Men
Capitalism; A Love Story
Crumb (about a cartoonist who drew some controversial strips)
Crips and Bloods; Made in America
Dreams with Sharp Teeth (about an author named Harlan Ellison - A science fiction author who also contributed Babylon 5, Twilight Zone and The Sixth Sense)
Bush's BrainAmerican Drug War
The Corporation
The End of America
The End of Suburbia
The Great Global Warming Swindle
Starsuckers
Witch Hunt
Sir, No Sir!
The Yes Men Fix the World
ANY of Bill Hicks' stand up Routines
ANY of George Carlin's stand up Routines
This is a small list compared to the wonderful movies out there which show you a different side of reality than Hollywood. Even some Hollywood movies are great. And no, there is absolutely nothing wrong with watching a feel good comedy or a thriller or drama or horror or mystery or anything, as long as you can learn something from it or it makes you think about something. Stop mindlessly following trends and fads. Don't think you need to fit in. You are a valuable person who probably has something, even if it's something tiny, to contribute to society. Start thinking for yourself. Don't just accept something that someone tells you or that you hear/see. Use logic and dissect the information from the source. I used to be a person who thought I had no direction in life and that I had absolutely no purpose. I was convinced that I was just meant to tread through life watching hours of TV a day or waste time staring into space or waste time going shopping and buying things I didn't need and had no use for. I honestly thought i was stupid and that i had no voice and nothing of value to contribute to mankind. But then I realized, I am - and so, probably, are you - a smart person with a powerful brain and strong spirit with lots of potential. I just had to realize that potential (and I still have a lot to work on in that field) and the world of possibilities of what i could contribute and accomplish was endless.
Now maybe I sound like a crazy ranting psycho, but really, look within yourself and if you're honest, maybe I'm right? I think so anyway.
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