Sorry about that ... thought he meant COUNTRY

I guess we all have a 'Home County'

Maricopa County - 4th Largest in America and home to Sheriff Joe!

Jonathan

There are three key elements regarding the issue of test scores on Florida. One, that ESOL students are being assessed in the same manner and category as native speakers after one year, that the state education czar is a consumate politician with a goal of following the governor's ill chosen austerity candidates of education and social services for the young, and the ludicrous notion of disrupting schools by sending A school principals to F schools creating a revolving door of administration.

Classroom time is minimized to provide testing drills, the results of which are directly tied to f...

Oh, I give up.

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Gravity is a harsh mistress
SAM 002
NAR 91005
"The complexity of living is eminently favored to the simplicity of not."

Have been calling that show "Dancing With the Tards" for years.
Don't forget "American Dullard (idol)"

Supposed 'reality' shows are NOTHING but INTELLECTUALLY BANKRUPT GARBAGE, but then again that describes 80+% of the US population anyway.

If one wants REALITY they should watch Sports, Nature, Hunting/Fishing, or anyother NON-FICTION programs/stations....THAT folks is reality. Financial channels are a more accurate dose of REALITY.
All of the 'reality programs' make a ton of money for networks due to next-to-nothing production costs that have all the pop star watching brain-dead drones seeing as 'must see tv'...the AVERAGE US Citizen IS now a TARD.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

Pretty much the only "reality" shows I watch are Top Shot and Mythbusters. I don't like all of the internal politics on Top Shot, but I do like to watch the challenges and what those excellent marksmen do with them. This season was a LOT of fun to watch. Of course Mythbusters pretty much explains itself. The science behind what they do is pretty fun to watch. I also watch poker shows and other sports. Not so much news any more since it's mostly all overblown.

Here in Texas they have the TAKS test, which the teachers spend (reportedly) inordinate amounts of time teaching the students how to pass and not much time on the actual subject matter of the classes. Our neighbor's daughter couldn't do basic math in HIGH SCHOOL and my wife ended up tutoring her since the teachers didn't know how to teach at her level. She graduated with excellent math scores because of that tutoring.

I'm pretty sure when I was in school the teachers made the mid-term and final exams based on what we wre supposed to be learning during the semester and the only stadardized tests were the ASVAB (military) and SATs.

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Dale Marshall, San Antonio Texas
NAR #90990
Semroc SAM #083

BAR Since 2008
Enjoying model rocketry since 1977.
The Spotted Dragon
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GH,

I think Americans have high capacities and potential, but most of it is WASTED.

Think about it: you are 16 years old, in the inner city, yet you control a criminal drug organization (gang) that has members who are violent and difficult to control, yet you are making $10's of millions of dollars a year in drug, prostitution, and gun deals... then you are killed in a 'hit' or busted and spend the next 30 years in prison ... now that talent was wasted!

One of our biggest problems is that we tend to be social creatures and desire membership in groups. As a result, we tend to fit in to the lowest common denominator and that is bad for us as a nation.

There are times when I wish I wasn't as intelligent as I think I am or would have the rest of you believe I am. If I had a 'C' note, 100 - Roman Numeral, for every time I get looks when I open my mouth and start talking, or I have someone say that I don't 'Sound black', or am told that I talk proper, I would have oh say at least $5,000.00 to $10,000.00 easy!

Its tough being a 'Stranger in a strange land'.

On that note, I have been holding back buying a Tivo due to the yearly subscription, but lately, last few years, television commercials are so dang insulting to MY intelligence, that I will buy the service and a recorder... the T.V. commercials try to sell me products as if I am a fool with no commonsense and that is insulting to myself ...

Jonathan

Yes, I am from Fulton County Illinois.

Same place an FBI agent once said on the Tonight Show, the best place in the U.S.A. to get away with murder.
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I learned a long time ago how to talk down to people who had no idea what I was talking about. My IQ is about 20 points short of genius, and I have always said; "Either their scale is wrong or that last 20 points means a lot." Because I don't feel that smart...
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Half of Florida high school students fail reading test

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/half-flori...-232516894.html

But on a positive note, I bet over 90% would know the answers to the following questions:

1) Is Snookie pregnant

2) Who won the last American Idol

3) Will Jay Lo be leaving American Idol

4) Is Obama the coolest most HIP president America has ever had

5) Will Kim Kardashian's show be renewed

6) What is Kanye West's newest rap hit

7) Did Chyna (ex-WWF star, he-she) collapse at a p o r n convention in Miami

I bet if you tested Florida high school students on the above questions, they would score A+++ all around! OH, the above was pouched from that pillar of intelligence site: tmz.com

What a joke we have become ... I know I know, I'm the fool. I just don't get it! Being popular and fitting in, is INFINITELY more important than turning off the TV and opening a book. Its far more important to know the latest dance moves or the latest piercings or the latest tattoo design ... we are witnessing the slow motion death of a nation and not a thing can be done to stop it.

Cheers, Florida is just a reflection of California as is Nebraska as is New York as is New Mexico as is Ohio as is Michigan as is Wyoming as is Oregon as is ...

Jonathan

P.s. Please don't kill the messenger I realize that we all want to live in an utopian world, and anything that 'rocks' the boat is to be admonished and ridiculed, but please don't hate the 'playa' ... instead hate the game.

One of the things I liked about England (during the 80's) was their educational TV. They had high school and college level classes on for everyone.
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What a load of cow feces. You're not a messenger. You're an opinionated buffoon with an apparent need to denigrate things you personally don't like. Every time you expectorate one of your nonsense diatribes you try to hide behind the phoney "don't kill the messenger" statement like it's some kind of impervious shield. At least GH doesn't bother trying to hide his personal prejudices.

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Peter Olivola
(polivola@gmail.com)

OK, and where is my original statement wrong?

Please point out what was incorrect... this is why America is going down the toilet. We no longer have a majority population of people who think rationally any more.

Its all about 'FEELING' and ignoring the 800 lb gorilla in the front room.

All of us, each and every one of us shares in the the responsibility of our shared failure.

What was that axiom, oh yes, 'We are only as strong as our weakest member', and we have some very weak members in this society.

Look Peter, I understand your position. You are angry, embarrassed, and fighting yourself. How, let me explain:

By your own admission, you are from the 50's/60's generation. Your kind paved the way for the ills that we have today. The BIG LIE of the 50's/60's was freedom for all (freedom is just another word for nothing else to lose... wow was she correct on that). The baby boomers had all the answers. They saw war as the wrong thing to do (I wonder if war against Hitler was also the wrong thing to do?).

The policies, laws, and social changes have corrupted this nation and sent it into a death spiral for which it likely isn't going to pull out of. I would feel guilty also if I were in your shoes.

So instead of dealing with your failures and accepting them, you attack people who you know are correct. Oh my delivery system may need a lot of polishing, but where am I incorrect? The test scores speak for themselves. If you drive into certain neighborhoods around America, chances are you won't make it out alive; much like my grandparents experiences back in the 30's onward ... now the shoe is on the other foot.

I guess I hit a nerve with you; the truth nerve. e.g., that old joke that blacks have tails ... its funny for people were confusing our ***** for tails Now if you say that blacks on average make terrible parents ... OUCH there is truth to that unfortunately. See lies are laughable, but truths are not.

Liberal, left thinking is successfully DESTROYING this nation in the year 2012. Back in the 1950's, right-wing McCarthyism was destroying this nation. Think if it like a pendulum: as the pendulum swings to one extreme, we all suffer. Currently, that extreme is to the left. We have a federal government that is practicing socialism, fascism (through TARP, bailouts, and health care now controls GM, banks, and other corporate entities), and communism as it sees itself as the central control for America. Where have I misspoken on this? Where is my logic and facts flawed?

No Peter I'm right, and it pains people like you that a) I am correct, and b) I dare mention the 'King has no clothes' <-- Kipling reference. See what happens when you let people like me think for ourselves? See what happens Peter?

Look, I have no need to call you names, for you are a reflection of the system that is FAILING In America... truth hurts doesn't it, truth hurts

Jonathan