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Almost, at least.
Source. You’re the top! You’re the Coliseum, You’re the top! You’re the Louvre Museum. You’re a melody from a symphony by Strauss You’re a Bendel bonneti, A Shakespeare’s sonnet, You’re Mickey Mouse. You’re the Nile, You’re the Tower of Pisa, You’re the smile on the Mona Lisa [...] More on that Obama “plea” (The WP‘s words, not mine) for $50 billion. It’s to avoid “massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters” don’t you know. And, it’s …a great example of the “Washington Monument Syndrome.” This refers to the bureaucratic practice of threatening to close down the most popular and vital programs in response [...] …but you knew that already. Some numbers, just to clear away the fog: The Department of Education was created as a straight political payoff to the teacher’s unions by President Jimmy Carter (in return for their 1976 endorsement). According to the National Center for Education Statistics, DE’s original budget, in 1980, was $13.1 billion (in [...] Weekend reading: I got a-plenty of friends who’ve taken all they could get and were honest in figurin’ they had it comin’ to them. They’ve paid taxes for years and seen other people take the benefits. Now at least they’re gettin’ a little of it back. That’s the whole point, though, that’s what’s wrong. There [...] Click on pig to get to the 2009 Piglet Book Here’s a 1949. Quite a machine! The famous song is about a 1952 model. Here’s a YT video. Lyrics here. Here’s another beautiful black machine: Quite a machine too! I GB on board, 160GB HD, 11.6″ screen, 3 # Available at Amazon for $419 — one third the price of the MacBooks pushed [...] Alone among the governors, the governor of South Carolina says no to the “stimulus” as presently constituted. He’s rejected $700 million in federal education stimulus money. Why? He has rightfully made the case that it makes no sense to spend this one-time stimulus money on the creation of new jobs and new programs [...] Some folks say that stimulus money is just like crack cocaine; one little taste and you’re hooked. Both are dangerous. Some Maine legislators have been careful to point out that the stimulus money needs to be used carefully, and for one-time uses only. Unfortunately, this thin red line, between one-time and long-time, is [...] Our new President gave his first major education speech today and revealed a bold new initiative of 21st century ideas to meet the challenges of a global economy. Identify at least three cliches in the preceding sentence. There were two and a half major ideas presented: charter schools. merit pay, and longer days & longer [...] There was a WW2-era (and later) catchphrase, common in my youth, but rarely heard today, “all quiet on the western front.” Yes I know the Remarque novel of WW1, a used-to-be high-school English standby; I’m speaking more of the phrase’s adoption in everyday speech. Here’s an extract from the Wikipedia article on the novel: The [...] State education commissioner in D.C. (PPH, Wednesday, 2/25, 5:10 pm) “Gendron is expected back in Maine by Thursday afternoon, when she’ll deliver a report [and large bags of money!- ed.] to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee at 3 p.m.” One of the keys to beating the house in blackjack is knowing when to double down. In their vote for the (so-called) Stimulus Package, our Congresspeople have doubled down on education*; Arne Duncan gets to try to beat the house (For Education Chief, Stimulus Means Power, Money and Risk, NYTimes, 2/17/09). Mr. Duncan must develop [...] I don’t quite know how “stimulus” translates into money for education, specifically, money for certain programs, but I guess I’m thick that way! In any case, the floodgates are opening. Hope you’re ready! You can get the drift of things from Trimmed Bill Still Offers Vast Sums for Education (NYT, 2/9): The Obama administration and [...] Like 64% or so of Americans, if the latest polls are to be believed, I can’t feel very good about this strange swamp thang called the stimulus. I won’t regale you with my reasoning. But wherever you might stand on the stimulus, isn’t it fascinating to see who comes forward during the arguments, and with [...] The head of a national teachers union — the other one, the AFT (American Federation of Teachers) — gave a significant speech the other day. The aspect of her speech that got the most attention (NYTimes article, HuffPo post) was a new receptiveness to merit pay for teachers and a willingness to discuss the future [...] |
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