unCommon Core

Approximately 2 years ago, I embarked on a research journey into the world of education.  Unfortunately, there were compatibility issues between my browser and virus software.  Losing the browser meant losing all the bookmarks I had accumulated.  I will do my best to recreate some of  it  for your reading enjoyment.

What is a Lexile?  If you click on the link, you'll find out that it's "an educational tool that uses a measure called a Lexile to match readers of all ages with books, articles and other leveled reading resources." That sounds pretty clear, right?  I'm just kidding ~ there's nothing clear about it at all.  Lexiles came about because of  "work that A. Jackson Stenner, MetaMetrics chairman and CEO, was performing for the national evaluation of Head Start, when he had to compare different programs from across the country that used different outcome measures.^[12] These different outcome measures were due to the different tests that were used to measure academic skills."  Ahhh........that makes more sense.  A. Jackson Stenner was confounded.  Thus, a company was born.  Metametrics, Inc has a few white papers that fully explains all one would ever want to not know about standardised measurement for reading.  And once they had buffaloed convinced school districts across the country to adopt their system of measurement, it was on to bigger and better things.  Ever hear of Common Core?  You can follow up on the  psychometrics of it all,  just like I did.  It'll hurt ~ don't say I didn't warn you.

So, we have administrators who are adamant that children read at their Lexile level!  Which has been determined through testing assessments.  Some administrators really like to micro-manage by continually checking testing assessment scores results and hounding teachers to let no child read a book that is 25 points lower than their Lexile score.   Or else.  (okay, I just threw that in there to make me laugh)

I've got a secret I'd like to share.  Get in close so I can whisper it to you.

Reading should be a joy, not a chore!!

What the hell is wrong with adults in education?!!  Have you forgotten what it's like to get lost in a good book?  Or laugh out loud in the middle of a page?  Or cry when you can absolutely feel the pain of the underdog?  How can you so easily get caught up in the educational buzzwords issued each year?  Differentiated instruction, my patootie!!

I still retain a vivid memory at the conclusion of high school ~ the exhilaration when I realized I would never have to read another book that wasn't of my choosing!  Always being an avid reader, I then turned into a voracious reader.  Gobbling up authors, genres, subjects of interest. Guess what?  I continued to learn.  Not in a formal or guided way.  Nope. I was done with that.  My teacher would be the world of words.  So my heart hurts for children these days.  I had choices in school that they  no longer have, and even I felt shackled.  What will today's crop of children feel on their last day of high school?  Will they feel ready for the college or careers that Common Core will supposedly prepare them for?  Will they feel relief at never reading another book as long as they live?

If your hands are tied, you are no longer an educator, but an inmate in a system that bills itself as being all about the children, when it is anything BUT.  I know and adore so many teachers.  I can only hope that some of them will take time from their busy lives to read something that may give them courage, ideas, or hope:  The Underground History of Education in America.  One could purchase the book and hold it in their hands. Or actually read it online. One chapter at a time.  Each word in the preceding sentence is a separate chapter from the book.  Just read 5 pages of any chapter and then tell me you don't want to read any more. I can accept that.  But if you read 5 pages and discover you want to read 5 more, then 5 after that, do me a favor and tell a friend about it.

I've read several articles about various teachers/groups turning their backs on Common Core.  What I find most interesting about these articles are the comments sections that follow.  I've gotten a sense that some teachers truly dislike Common Core, but are afraid to speak up for fear of losing their job.  Guess what? MANY people have that fear, MANY people have already lost their jobs, and many more people WILL lose their jobs.  That's what happens in a Depression.  I submit the story of Ann Barnhardt for inspiration. While she is not in education, she has deliberately blown up her life in order to do the right thing.  Read her letter and see if you don't agree.

It's Spring. Can I start to grow now?

For some who aren't quite sure about having a garden, I highly recommend this gardening documentary as a place to start one's information journey.  As much as I have read (and personally experienced) over the years, THIS documentary actually made me stop, ponder, and acknowledge the sense it made.  Of course, nothing is applicable to everyone all the time, so it's well worth the investment of your time to examine other resources.  There are many ideas in the world of container gardening that can be done on a small OR large scale.   I have found a plethora of ideas and suggestions in the  permaculture world.

If one is contemplating backyard chickens, you can just bet there are TONS of suggestions on how to build or buy whatever your heart desires. Who knew there was so much to learn about eggs?   They've even figured out how to keep chicken poo out of their water.   This was my education in how to process chickens by Joel Salatin.

Does it sound tempting to build a smoker and give meat an unmistakable flavor?  Have you gone paleo or decided that you'd like to limit your contact with fluoride?  A 14:41 Youtube video comparing water filtration systems.  This is the solution I chose for everyday use.  And a little use of toothpowder further reduces the fluoride from your body.

At one time, people were actually encouraged to do some things for themselves.

Times sure have changed, eh?

We really can make a difference in our own lives. One seed at a time.

Have you entered the Twilight Zone?

We need better educated children if they are going to compete in the global market.
Headlines like that are pounded into our heads every day.  Do you ever ask yourself "why"?  A short article discussing manufacturing in America does NOT list "higher education" as a reason why factories relocated to southern states in the '80's and other countries after NAFTA was signed into law.   What would be a good reason companies relocated?  If you guessed highly educated workers cheap labor, you would win the prize.  The garment industry is well known for their use of sweatshops and child labor.  What might not be as well known is the myriad of tales regarding the electronics industry.  iCrap  manufacturer  Foxconn is one company that has received a lot of scrutiny. And there are others.

So, if Americans want to compete in the global market, we need to become more like third world countries?  Apparently so, since that's where our jobs have gone.  I'd like to say it's important that we be able to compete with China, but I'd have to say we already are.

I'm beginning to think a few things aren't adding up. Maybe you can help me out with this one:
   Our education system has been reformed from No Child Left Behind to Common Core, which will educate the children in a manner never before tried  to allow them to compete, after college graduation, for jobs that don't exist.  Explain to me how any of that makes sense. And factor in jobs that will surely never come back + increases in automation.

There's a competition, alright.  For finite resources on a finite planet.  It was an old coot who helped me figure that one out.  Amazing how one is able to learn without the foundation of  the CC curriculum to guide the way.

It all starts with baby steps.



                                                                           

Aw man ~ is it time to wake up already?!

While it has been many a month since I  last posted, rest assured those months have not been wasted.  I simply did a total information immersion. If it could be read, listened to, or watched, I did.  And I also did something else:  took precious time to let things swirl about my gray matter  until order settled the chaos.  If I were to write about all I've learned, it would be less like a simple blog posting and more like a PhD dissertation.  Boring!  If I want anyone to read this, I have to keep it interesting, fresh, and above all else, SHORT.  Because we have devolved to becoming humans interested in only what we can learn in 30 seconds or less. You can safely bet the farm that THAT has been by design.  How does it feel knowing you are being manipulated?  Is it enough to know I'm telling you the truth ~ or must you go down the same path I did? Trust, but verify?  I get it.  Let me provide just a few links to help you get started........if you dare.

To Read:
Edward Bernays
"a republic, if you can keep it"
Operation Mockingbird
Operation Northwoods
No longer theories, but facts.

To Watch:
JFK - Secrecy is repugnant
Promoting democracy ~ the American way!     (This is disturbing. Very. But is also necessary to be aware of.)
How language masks the truth.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts
Hmmm........I tried to link in 4 more videos. Amazingly enough, they have "poofed".
Be that as it may, you may bookmark the following for later viewing entertainment.
Eustace Mullins

"Wait. These links are all over the place!  Where is the "order" that came from the chaos?"  Good question, Grasshopper.  It would be possible to list links neatly organized by topic.  There will be a day for that, but this is not that day.  Just keep in mind what Conan O'Brien pointed out and know that it goes on and on and on some more

This could be the day when you begin a personal awakening and decide that staying wrapped in the normalcy bias blanket is no longer as cozy as it seemed.
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Yes we can!

Where were you when you heard John Lennon had been shot?  What were you doing when you became aware of the 9-11 attacks?   There are big events that happen and we lock them in our memories along with what we were doing and who we were with.  Today is one such day.  Today is the day we all started working for the "Company".  We are no longer citizens of America, but are servants to serve the whim and will of........the Company.

Early mining towns were run by the Company.  The wages you earned were spent in the Company store or paid for Company-provided lodging and meals.  Funny thing about the Company store was ~ their prices.  It was in the Company's best interests to keep workers broke.  In effect, they were able to achieve a sort of slavery because darn few people were able to buy their "freedom".  Who could save up enough after paying for clothes, food, and shelter with prices set high for just that reason?

George Carlin, Ron Paul, and Frank Zappa  have had a little to say about  the merger of big business and government.  Who would ever listen to them  ~ a comedian, an elderly politician, and a musician? Except they haven't been the only ones trying to awaken America.  Unfortunately, not many listen and even fewer hear.

As a child, I was raised to not see getting money from the government as a good thing.  The system we paid into was only to be used in times of extreme need and should be gotten off of as quickly as possibly.   My parents never really put into words why being on the dole was bad.  I vaguely recall something about, "then They own you" being said and maybe I later added my own twist about self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and basic decency to the mix.   I knew I never wanted to become a bon-bon nibbling, afternoon soap watching parasite of society.  I wasn't smart enough to discover the cure for cancer, but I could produce and contribute in meaningful ways.  Or so I hoped.

These days, I find myself wondering exactly what it is that I produce, whom do I produce it for, and where exactly do my contributions go?  When I plant a garden, I know it will produce vegetables to feed my family and we are the sole beneficiaries of the effort expended.  I joyously share the bounty with friends and neighbors.......even going so far as to plant some things I would never eat, but do because there is someone I know who will gobble it right up.  And it comes down to:  doing something like that is my choice.  No one tells me this is what I have to do.  I might become downright crabby and resentful if others could dictate what I had to plant in my little garden!

But I can easily become crabby and resentful about where my tax contributions go.  I am given no say in the matter.  "Haven't you voted? Isn't that your 'say' in the matter?"  Casting a vote shouldn't be akin to handing someone a blank check and telling them to fill in whatever amount they deem is necessary and I'll just work till it's paid off.  Would you really hand over a blank check to someone you don't know and think they have your best interests at heart?  If you truly would do so, there are a couple of bridges I'd like to sell to you ~ just trust me on this.

As future Queen of America, I feel it is my duty to solemnly present information for you to digest and act upon as you will.  Here goes..........

We are in a depression. 
And I'm not talking about the kind that can be handled by taking any of a number of pills.  The BLS provides numbers that politicians and talking heads love to ramble on about.   Hundreds of thousands were losing their jobs every month.  Jobs sent overseas to maximize profits while minimizing costs. Don't you find it perhaps a bit of a stretch of the truth that unemployment numbers are reported as going up?  Surely you have witnessed in your own community the closing of businesses/plants that used to employ tens, hundreds, if not thousands, of people.  Have there been new businesses coming into these closed factories?  Are new plants being built?  Trust what you can see with your own eyes and verify by asking within the community.  "Payroll numbers are up for the month of _________."  Don't take that at face value.  Adding a twice a week, 3 hour per shift employee now isn't the same as the 40 hour a week worker that was laid off.

It's not a depression if we don't see soup lines!
It IS a depression.  Just because food stamps and 99 weeks of unemployment hide the fact doesn't make it less so.  Isn't it clever how those safety nets put into place after the last Depression help cover up what the truth is now?  

It's not a depression!  I still have a job!
It IS a depression.  And you have a job.  Today.  Maybe even next week.  Possibly into next year.  Can YOU guarantee how long this job will be there?   Do you feel the same sense of job security your grandparents and parents felt?  Unless you are Grand Poohbah of the Universe, a deep belief in YOUR job security probably means your head is buried too far in the sand.

It's not a depression! Politicians and talking heads all say  the recession is over and the recovery is working!
It IS a depression and you ARE being lied to.  Repeatedly.  After all, who wants to be known as the one who let the dead cat out of the bag?  That would be like declaring the Emperor has no clothes!     TARP,  Quantitative Easing (uno and dos),   and  the Too Big to Fail classification are cancerous tumors of accepted speech.  They shouldn't come out of the common person's mouth without them feeling a bit like they just threw up a little.  Market manipulation by HFT's is NOT a sign of growth.  It is a sign of market manipulation and further highlights that regulations and regulators are doing ZIP!  Except helping a few get exceeding, excessively wealthy.  

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So I leave you with a few thoughts.  A few months ago a co-worker asked me what I thought the straw would be that breaks the camel's back.  To paraphrase my response, "I don't think the straw will be the same for everyone.  Will it be when a worker decides he/she's tired of their efforts supporting 30 others?  Will it be when someone wakes up and realizes America has been turned into a 3rd world country?  Who knows?  YOU will know it for yourself." 
I've suggested reading/watching  material before and will do so again.  Read. Watch.   Learn.  Pray.    Plan.

This really laid out what was in my mind in a way I couldn't put into words.  The short video within the article is worth 10 minutes of your life that you will never get back.  I promise.

A bit of history that shows how little things have changed.  A bit longer read than the first suggestion and no following video.

A relatively simple explanation of inflation.  One thing to keep in mind is that the costs of food and energy are NOT figured into any percentage of inflation.  I believe I read those were dropped during Nixon's presidency.

A 20 minute commencement speech given by Dr. Michael Burry.  He's calling it like he sees it.

I can't help it ~ this makes me chuckle. 

A government who, with the Supreme Court's blessing, can tax everyone into healthcare, is a government who can tax you into buying a home if you aren't already doing so..........or perhaps a GM car..........or Facebook stock for your IRA.  There's really no end to what the Company can force on you.  They own you.  The Supreme Court told them so.

16 Tons

I do so wish it were easier for people to leave comments without having to sign in!

With a huff and a puff

Many years ago, I happened to see a remarkable sight ~ an amazing collection of wind turbines in northern California.  What I never expected to see was an amazing collection of turbines in Iroquois County.  (and I'm using the word amazing very loosely)

Last year I was gently encouraged by a co-worker to educate myself about wind farms in general.  How could I refuse?  One of the first things I did was type wind farm scams into Google.  And what followed was an education!  In a blur of clicking, reading, clicking, and reading, one thing became clear ~ wind farms benefit the companies subsidized by our elected government.  Period. 

At some point over the past several years I must have read that parts of Europe were investing heavily in wind farms, so that's where I headed first.  Came across a blog with a decidedly different name, The Devil's Kitchen.  Read that blog and headed on to a short story in the The Telegraph.  Watts Up With That? and the accompanying comments consumed a few minutes worth of time.   (the comments section of most anything I read online is usually the best)

 Throughout Illinois, hundreds (if not thousands) of land owners have signed leases with various wind energy companies.  The leases are kept on record at the court house and may be viewed by one and all.  The contracts signed once a turbine(s) will actually go up on a site have these pesky confidentiality clauses in them.  And those are definitely NOT kept at the court house for anyone to peruse.  Because something so good for all of America must be cloaked in secrecy.  

I spent some time this summer at the court house.  Looking at leases.  While I wasn't able to go through all of them, one thing soon became clear:  many of the signed leases were owned by people not living in the county........some didn't even live in the state.  "Well, they own it.  They can do what they want with it."  I'll go along with that ~ to an extent. 

Power produced by turbines can't be stored for use at a later time.  Use it right away or lose it.  Wind conditions have to be favorable for the turbines to produce power.  According to the US Department of Energy, Iroquois County is in a marginal wind zone.  That puts it one step above poor.  So, it's imperative that these turbines be erected to make use of our marginal wind?  And what happens when the wind is less than marginal for a day, week, or month?  Here comes the really funny part:  coal-powered plants still have to run all the time because they can't rely on turbines to provide power when needed.  Kind of kooky how that works, huh?

Another thing the wind companies don't like to bring up too soon is the fact that there is no infrastructure to get the power from point A to point B.  As you drive in the rural Sheldon area, notice how many farms have turbines on them and how many don't.  The ones that refused the wind company largess by signing a lease may still end up losing valued land.  For the lines needed to get power from point A to point B.  And they won't be given a choice ~ that's where eminent domain enters the picture. 

Farm owners are paid for use of their land.  They receive the money from wind energy companies.  Who, in turn, receive their money from the US government.  That's YOU.  These aren't companies who so strongly believe in their product that they actually went out and found venture capitalists to fund them.  Well, they tried.  Turns out there isn't a good return on this particular investment.   Luckily for them, our government doesn't ask  before spending the money they take from us.  Just ask Solyndra.

In my fairy-tale world as Queen for a Year, I would mandate that everyone shower with heated unicorn tears and dry off with the air generated by millions of fluttering butterfly wings.  In my real world vision, my name wouldn't be on this wind farm IOU and neither would yours.  It's just one more thing to put on the To Be Paid By Future Generations list.  Landowners have sold their souls for a few government trinkets and we all get to pay for it, in the words of Buzz Lightyear, "to infinity and beyond!"  One of these days, the turbines might actually produce enough wind to blow down the house of cards that our country has become.

By the light of the silvery moon.....

How many times over the course of your adult life have you found yourself signing your name to a multi-page document, then leaning over towards your spouse/significant other whisper, "Sweetie, let's just read all this stuff at home.  There's plenty of time to find out what all that gobbledygook says later."?  I'm going to take a guess:   5.     Was I close?

That is exactly what your elected congress does each and every time they vote.  "Oh no they don't!!  They care about me and take the time to review each bill carefully.  Because they only want the best for me."  When was the last time somebody you voted for called up just to see how life is treating you?  Let me take another guess:   0.   Did I get it right this time?

Sometimes, you can believe what a politician says.  Barack Obama   And sometimes, you can't. Bill Clinton    But what happens if a person tells a lie long enough?  Do they convince themself it is true?  Or is it what's behind curtain #2? 

I choose to believe a politician is lying if his/her lips are moving and anything resembling, "to help the American people" comes forth.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  It's my responsibility to adjust the bs-meter after the first time.  "But everyone deserves a second chance!"   Sure they do.  However, once they've lied to me, I get to set the terms of the second chance.  See how simple that is?  An important factor to consider in defining parameters for a second chance is:  the scope of the first lie.  Sort of a "who" and "what" was affected by the lie.  A  lie that perhaps takes 5 minutes out of my life to resolve may result in a week's grounding for the unlucky off-spring.  And after those 7 painfully long days are finished, said off-spring is free to embark on her second chance ~ with full knowledge of what the next consequence will be for future infractions of truth.  A lie that requires you and I to pay and pay and pay for the rest of our lives, well.........you begin to see how the scope matters.  And sometimes, the scope of a lie is so huge, the one uttering it should under no circumstances ever be given a second chance to do it again on such a grand scale.  Every politician who voted for Obamacare should be impeached.  Or given a spin on the Exile/Head in a Basket wheel.  There is much to be gained (not for you) by its passage and there is much to be lost (that's where you come in).  They could have a second chance at being elected again, but until I saw how they handle a catch pole, I'm not too sure I'd even vote for them if they were running for Dog Catcher.

I don't claim to have the answers for your life.  Some days I wonder if I have them for my own.  But the one thing I know with every fiber of my being is that we have a better understanding of what impacts our lives than  any knucklehead in congress does.  If you want to provide healthcare for many, please do.  And find as many like-minded people as you can.  Just don't ask the rest of us to pick up the perpetual tab. 

Of course, this is just my opinion.  And as Mom used to say, "Opinions are like assholes........everybody's got one."   (yes, she was a laugh a minute)    Consider yourself mooned.