Stupidity In Education Seems To Be A WorldWide Epidemic

via enc.na

It is no secret that I have lost all respect for the Education System in the US for a very long time. It is an issue that is so very broken that it truly needs to be wiped out and completely rebuilt from the ground up again. I am not the only one that feels this way, one of the most famous long time advocates of education reform is Dr. Bill Cosby, whom has his Doctorate in Education. A more recent well known advocate is Matt Damon; and while I do not generally support actors getting into 'politics' only cause most do not have true understandings of the 'causes' that they take up, however, in this case both Dr. Bill Cosby and Mr. Damon have knowledge of the cause they have taken up.

The shame is that EVERYONE does not take up the cause of education. For those of you that think it isn't your cause, cause you don't have children or your children are not that young or that old; the level of education of persons in a society directly determines the health, prosperity and future of the society. There are numerous studies that show that better education results in longer lives, better health, higher quality of life, more stable communities, safer communities, cleaner and more progressive communities, higher salaries and more efficient and productive employees, more innovative and inventive entrepreneur.

If you still don't see how education is EVERY ONE'S concern, let me give you what most of you consider to be the IMPORTANT facts; better education means better jobs, better jobs mean better pay, better pay means better homes, better homes mean more property taxes, healthier employees means less sick people thus lower health care costs, longer lives mean more contributions to pension funds by better paid employees thus insuring better payments to seniors. When education is a primary concern for the WHOLE society it is the WHOLE society that benefits.

If you are a 'stereo-typical white or black American' in the US you have to prove beyond any and ALL doubts that you and your child are here legally. You have to provide multiple documents for the child as well as the caretaker of the child, you have to prove not only who you are, but where you live. However, if you are an illegal, undocumented, child with no 'permanent or real' home you are welcomed with open arms and given every opportunity including extra classes to learn the languages and classes to catch the child up to grade level. These options are only available to 'real' Americans after jumping through numerous hoops and fighting every single obstacle the 'system' puts in your way. However, any parent that cannot for whatever reason jump through all these hoops and provide all the papers and PROOF of who their child is, is the one criminalized by the system for the failure of the system to provide the education to the child.

I confess that I figured that only America was so stupid as to be this insane with getting children in school. I was wrong! Serbia seems to be on the VERY SAME TRACK! It seems to lack the desire to improve the state of the Serbian society by ensuring the right to a proper education for ALL Serbian children.

There is NO child anywhere in the world that should be denied an education! EVERY CHILD deserves to have the means by which to pursue their dreams. There are enough obstacles in the world without the opportunity to have an education needing to be one of them. While I understand and appreciate some of the concerns of placing 'undocumented' children in the 'general population' what happened to regular common sense in the everyday actions of alleged intelligent educationed adults in 'authoritive' positions. What happened to the rules being a set of guidelines to provide suggested avenues or options to dealing with issues that might arise? When did the rules become EVERYTHING and the child punished in most cases for things that are not their fault at all.
The CHILD should come first ALWAYS!!!

In this age of technology we have the means to accommodate with little effort or resources many differences in teaching methods. Yet, instead of spending a little bit of money adapting to meet the needs of children we spend much more money on hindering the access by children to even the regular cookie-cutter classrooms. We expand the staff in the office to make sure that we keep as many children out of the classroom as possible and to document their leaving so that the families can be, in some cases criminally, punished for the system discriminating against and persecuting them until they feel no other option.

If you are starting to wonder about the information that you have read so far let me enlighten you some more. Education is a part of the government in most societies, as it should be so as to enable it to be accessible by ALL. That being said to keep the education of any society successful and focused on the child the society as a whole has to maintain the highest core values and thus ensure that education is a primary and properly handled institution of the government. Education is the single most important act for a healthy prosperous society. The benefits of a healthy education system overflow into every other aspect of the society. On the other hand, the lack of such a system will inflict the rest of the society adversely to the severity that the system has been neglected.

You might be thinking; how much more money do we need to throw at the system to fix it?
I would say, NONE, what needs to happen is that the system needs to be rebuilt not added too.
If you eliminate excess 'administrative' staff and excess 'paper' load then you free up resources that can be used to improve the classroom experience for the student. However, to do this we have to decide that our schools are places of REAL learning - for students to explore, experiment, question, wonder, create and not to be indoctrinated to conformity, oppressed by authority, creatively repressed and forced to be just like EVERYONE ELSE!
How do we do that? It will take your time, your commitment, your focus, your vigilance.

STOP CRYING WOLF

The US news machine is so full of hype that they make the stereo typical damsel in distress look like a cool calm collected independent modern woman. It is utterly insane the amount of foul crying that they have been doing recently.

"RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!again"

"ISRAEL MUST DEFEND ITSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!still"

"I.S. IS THE GREATEST THREAT TO THE US EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!made by us"

"RACISM GROWS: WHITE COP SHOOTS BLACK YOUNG MAN!!!!!!!!!again"

I do not know what is sadder; the fact that MSM acts like the corner whore or that the public eats it up like the starving John. All the news does these days is have OPINION panels that cheer their side and never once say anything for real change or truly say anything that will unite and solve the issue.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MEDIA:

1) Send REAL journalists (if there are any left) to locations around the world (like Donbas) to get the real story!
2) Ask the US to PROVE that active Russian troops are inside Ukraine! Ask for the PROOF that US claims it has about MH17!
3) Ask why the US is supporting an ILLEGAL government killing its own people! Ask how many US Troops are on the ground there helping the ILLEGAL government kill their own!
4) Ask how the INTEL community saw MH17 fall from the sky, but didn't see I.S. take over half of Iraq and third of Syria!
5) How are members of I.S. able to use US military equipment that the US taxpayers spent millions on and US military spent years training the Iraq Forces and they still couldn't use it to defend themselves and their citizens!
6) Why can't ISRAEL abide by the 1967 borders if they wont abide by the 1949 ones!!!
7) Where is ALL the outrage NATIONALLY over all the BLACK ON BLACK deaths in inner city gang and drug violence?
8) Where is the condemnation by 'Civil Rights' Leaders over the looters high-jacking the protests and detracting from Freedom of Speech and Assembly?
9) Where are the attacks on both parties for not doing their jobs and serving the public?
10) Seek facts and truth and report what is REALLY happening not just spin Press Releases!

Military Police State Murders Communities

via businessinsider.com

It is an oxymoron to use the term Militarized Police! The military is to defend the citizens of the nation and the borders of the nation from organized, armed aggression on the level of some entity that has organized command structure and is probably supported in part or whole by an outside body. The military is to be the defense of the citizens against even its own national level government if need be.
On the other hand the police are to keep the peace in the communities that they serve. That is why they were called peace officers originally. They were to be men that were deemed fair and just and honorable. They were trusted by the persons of a specific location to protect the persons, property and interests of that community. They were to ensure that the spirit of the law was applied appropriately in all instances. They were the first contact with the justice system and it was intended that in most cases they be the only contact one had.

Seeing on TV the 'old' shows where peace officers did a lot of just talking to parties involved in a situation and then sending them on their separate ways was not just for TV it reflected the reality of life in that period. Yes, those same 'old' TV shows would also show the peace officers ready to use force in extreme situations, but never as a first response. When they approached an incident they seemed to assess it and enter with confidence but not arrogance. They spoke with those involved with a calm authoritative tone but not barking orders and yelling. Their job was keeping the peace and they knew it and valued it. Most importantly they were men of and from and in the community.

How can you be a truly effective and trusted peace officer of a people that you do not respect enough to be a member of their community. When you drive two or more towns/cities away for your 'job' as a peace officer and spend your shift trying to keep peace with people that do not know you, so they cannot respect you cause you are truly not part of their community, it does not matter how well intended your motives are you will fail more often than you will succeed. This is a primary reason that elected officials have to reside in the community/district that they represent the conclusion being that it is their community too and they will do what is best for THEIR community. It should be a more obvious need when it comes to those public servants, peace officers and teachers that have a more direct impact on the daily health of a community. When this is not the case as with most communities in this nation, especially poorer ones, there is a division. Those public servants are seen as outsiders not as part of the community. Thus to increase your success rate you have to go from being a peace officer helping the community live in the spirit of the law to being a police officer enforcing the letter of the law!

That truth was evident during the unrest in Ferguson last week. When the overwhelmed, police officers of the Ferguson Police Force tried to handle the situation they had no option, in their mind for success, other than to make sure their understanding of the letter of the law be enforced strictly and swiftly. That led to even more unrest, however, when the State Troopers were brought in under the command of a man whom had grown up in the community there was less unrest. That fact was cause the members of the community could look at that Officer and say he is one of us, he is from here, he knows and understands us.

via Concord Monitor

But there is more to it than simply having the peace officers of a community be from the community. That is a huge start though. Next, it is important for the community to be proactive in being part of the spirit of the law of the community as well. The health of a community depends on ALL members of the community participating in all the activities of the community. The healthiest communities are the ones where there is NO them and us, but EVERYONE is US! The members of the community have to engage the public servants as well, not violently or only when something happens, but every day. If you have a concern about something on your block stop the patrol officer and talk to him about it, learn what they can and can't do about it, ask how can WE fix it. Go into the schools and ask how you can help. Say hello to your neighbors. Speak to the shop keepers. Suggest ways that churches or sports teams or civic groups can assist those that can't, for what ever reason, help themselves. Most important DO NOT be afraid to be the good example in your own neighborhood!

Other's Acts Should NEVER Change Your Morals

"But the crimes of one side do not justify those of the other." Those words need to be hung on the walls of every government building in every city, especially those government buildings that supposedly protect and defend the masses. Once again just reading the headlines it is so evident that we lose more of our humanity everyday and blame those we injury, oppress, persecute as being at fault. Maybe my point of view is skewed cause I did not have siblings so I could not use the age old "it was their fault", "they started it", "but they did ____ to me." If I did something I was responsible for my actions period, end of story! However, in situations where I was with others, like classrooms or friends' or family's (cousins) homes I did experience paying a larger 'fine' cause I was quick to own up to my part of any 'bad thing'. But NEVER did that change my moral that I and I alone was responsible for my actions. Even if someone does something to me, it is still ALL ME that dictates how I react.

So what has happened? Several things have happened. First as I have stated several times previously, society has lost its moral core. We now focus on Our Rep not on our character, we are only worried about our image, what other people think about us. The real problem is that we have shifted from wanting people to base their thoughts of us on our actions, instead we want our images to be our measure one based on the clothing brands we wear, the cars we drive, the houses we live in. We act one way and expect others to treat us better, we show NO respect, self or other-wise but demand respect from EVERYONE. For a white person to use the N word it is a crime, yet blacks use that vulgar word in everyday language and the lyrics of their songs and the lines of the media. If the word is wrong (and I think it is a vulgar disgusting word) then it is ALWAYS wrong, not just when it isn't used by you. If you have no more respect for yourself than to use a word that you claim is SO offensive than why are you surprised that white people offend you with your word? If you want respect for yourself then respect yourself!

Scott Olson Arrest via commondreams.org

How we act and survive as a society is directly related to how we act and survive as individuals. And that is clearly seen in how we allow media and government to use double standards and keep us divided. EVERY violent death of an unarmed person should be a HUGE outrage by all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or gender. It should NEVER be a black or white suspect, just as it should NEVER be a black or white victim. It should ALWAYS be a violent suspect and an unarmed victim! The focus should be on the facts of the crime not on the 'drama of division' forced down our throats by 'the man' to keep us from uniting and rising up.

Does this mean that I think racism isn't an issue? Of course I know that racism is an issue, but it is a created issue to benefit government and media. Poor people face the same issues no matter what color their skin is. Hungry people don't fare better or worse cause of ethnicity. Homeless people do not find better shelter based on religion. As long as you focus on what makes us different, instead of remembering that we are all people, we all love, we all grow, we all bleed and we all die, those whom benefit from our division win. And as long as you expect government to change your heart you will be heartless. There is absolutely NO incentive for government to EVER create a unified public. A unified public is a powerful public and threatens the establishment. That is not conspiracy theory that is human nature, it is not human nature to give up power for the improvement of your fellow man!

UN School Gaza via Marco Longari AFP/Gettty Images

This perversion of our true nature, to be social caring creatures that care for each other extends across the globe. Just look at how we choose what is good or bad in another country and how we think we should or shouldn't intervene. In Israel we support the bombing of schools and other 'safe' places cause supposedly Hamas has built tunnels under these 'safe' places to use them as shields, but instead of sticking to their claimed moral superiority the government of Israel justifies their uncaring murder of children, civilians and the elderly, 'because Hamas made us do it'. But in the same breath, Hamas is a savage terrorist group that is inhumane for shelling civilian targets in Israel. The basis for this WHOLE conflict was the alleged abduction and murder of 3 teenage Jewish settlers by Hamas, which there was NEVER an actual POLICE investigation into what happened to the boys nor any charges or arrest (legitimate that is) nor any trail, but the 'war' is completely morally correct and totally supported by the US government. Side note here, almost 10% of our elected members of Congress (both houses) are both US and Israeli citizens.....CONFLICT OF INTERESTS!!! Another side note, no other country has any citizens sitting in the US Congress, matter of fact it is still ILLEGAL to hold dual citizenship in the US. But those with Israeli citizenship not only are never questioned they are allowed high government positions and sometimes serve in positions both in the US and Israel!

Ukraine Separatist via businessinsider.com.au

In Ukraine the US government supported the illegal change of government in February of this year, and have not only supported but repeatedly praised the 'restrained and measured use of force' of the 'Anti-Terrorist Operations' in the East of the country. If the US government considers a military incursion into regions (think states) of dissent (think protests) then how can you be surprised at all by what is going on in Ferguson. The US government openly calls those that do not support the government 'Russian terrorists', why, cause ethnically they have more Russian aspects, including speaking Russian, imagine what the US government reaction would be if the citizens of Texas to California finally got upset and protested and wanted to leave the US over the failure of the federal government to solve the border issue....It would be military action against Mexican and Central American terrorists!!! Yet, the citizens of said states would be well within their Constitutional rights! Better yet, just who do you think would come to the aid of said states? If you do not think that Mexico might get involved then you do not understand politics on even a basic level. It is very natural for a country to be concerned about destabilization on its borders; think about it this way, you live in a very nice neighborhood and a house goes up for sale, the new owners do not keep their yard 'neat' and they have older cars just sitting in the drive and they are regularly arguing loudly and throwing things and just all around bad neighbors......are you not going to do something to try to either get them to move or change their ways and be more in line with the rest of the block? That is how regional politics works too...it is keeping the block safe and pretty!

The bottom line if we want real change as the song goes "We have to start with the man in the mirror," but in addition to that, we have to demand that media (start there cause they are focused on money) stop playing the race card as they are not us, the regular people on the street, they don't know us and they don't care about us. We need to decry any foul committed against any person with the same passion as if it was against ourselves. We need to together nurture each other so that we have the security in each other to take the time to be pro-active in our communities and hold authority accountable all the time not just when they REALLY upset us, but also to work with them (most of the little guys, like the beat patrolmen are not the enemy they are as much victims of the establishment as we are) when they get it right. No matter how bad the incident we have to find some way to work together against the media (mainstream) and government (highest levels) and the best way is to work with and unite with alternative little media and the 'foot soldiers' of our community.

If we do this we have a very high likely hood of creating a society that our children will thrive in and be happy in! Isn't that result worth it?!?!

UPS Trumps NSA

What can BROWN do for you? 

We have all heard the slogan from the UPS ads trying to encourage us to use the shipping company for ALL our logistical needs. UPS seems to be the shipper of choice with most companies that have online services and thus have to deliver products nation wide or farther. As many others, I have had UPS knock on my door more times than I can count.

Ignored warnings:
A few years ago there was some bad press with statements and even videos about drivers with UPS (and FedX also) throwing packages over fences and other not so professional deliveries. It seemed that both companies cleaned up their act. That being said I can personally attest to the fact that customers are not their first priority, nor do they have 100% completion of their shipping promises. Couple Christmases ago we ordered a gift that we paid to be guaranteed delivered by Christmas Eve. The tracking site said that Christmas Eve morning the package was on the truck and 'out for delivery'..... yet the delivery NEVER came on Christmas Eve, it did however come the day after. No apologies, no excuses, nothing on how it got put on the truck yet never delivered.

Present day......

I recently ordered some shipments from companies online, I was not given a choice about shipping company, so the orders were shipped UPS. At this point I had NO issues with that arrangement. However, my hours can be some what irregular, so I decided that I would take old advice from UPS from the holiday to have a "MyUPS" profile and then could schedule drop offs or electronically sign for deliveries and give permission for package drop off if I'm not home.

Sounds like a great idea, right???? I thought so too. So, when I saw that packages were on their way and scheduled to arrive when I wasn't sure I would be home, I clicked to sign up for a profile. I provided my name and address and email and expected an email for verification. I got a 'Welcome to MyUPS' email but nothing about verifying my account, back to the site tab to see what it would say, it showed step 2, verification...cool, I'm almost set......WTF!!!!!

Complete and total shock!! Absolute disbelief!! How? Where? Are you kidding me?!?!?!

MyUPS verification is 3 'security' questions, doesn't sound that bad, does it, lots of sites let you chose security questions for verification if you lose your password, and on those sites you pick the questions and then TYPE in your answer. That is not how UPS works......

UPS has either compiled or paid for access to some database somewhere that claims to have information apparently on EVERY person in the USA! Comprehensive information, information that is vast and goes back decades into a person's life. Information that you have NOT given to them or given them permission to maintain on you!

There is absolutely NO sense of morality or presence of anything resembling ethics in the Board Room of UPS. Without any regard to a persons right to privacy or welfare, UPS randomly and without any conscious of damage they might do to their customers violates individuals' right to privacy by asking questions that names names of third persons that may or may not be related to you that you according to their data has or had some 'relationship' with you in the past.

Did their Legal Department even look at this policy/procedure before it was implemented? If their access and irresponsible use of basically what appears to be complete and comprehensive histories every 'American', maybe even every person on the planet, or at least in EVERY country that UPS does business, isn't illegal, it should be and at least is totally cruel and callous.

Let me give generic examples, ones that UPS' Legal team should have presented from the start;

Question 1: In what state did you and XXXX XXXXX last reside together
                         your are then provided with multiple choice answers
Question 2: In what city did you and XXXX XXXXX (same name as question 1) last reside together
                         again you are provided with multiple choice answers
Question 3: In what month was ZZZZZ ZZZZZ born
                       yes, more multiple choice answers

Now those of you who have never had any bad experiences or relationships and are lucky enough to have had a fairy tale rainbow life might think so what is the big deal.........

What if you were in the most perfect relationship and XXXXX was that person and some awful tragedy ended their life and you were devastated. You spent years in therapy and moved to a new place and have finally accepted the loss and moved forward....... Until you won't be home to receive a delivery from UPS!
SLAM, UPS wants you to relieve that loss just to get your package!

What if you were in an abusive relationship and XXXXX was that abuser and now 10+ years later when you finally don't wake up from nightmares, don't jump every time the phone rings or someone knocks at the door and you feel like a normal regular person.......But you need to schedule a delivery!
NOPE, UPS has just thrown that nightmare right back in your face!

What if your uncle/aunt, who is ZZZZZ, was the person that raised you after your parents death and was the most dear person in your life and they died last year and you are still grieving and you need UPS to leave a box on the porch.....
ONLY IF, you tell UPS when their birthday is!

What if you were molested by a family member, someone you never had any legal or credit interactions with EVER and that is ZZZZZ? Where is UPS' compassion that you spent years in therapy and moved 3000 miles away and started over again just to have them ask you when that jerk's birthday is?
SORRY, NOT! UPS doesn't care about that they have to verify for delivery!

ALL this just to know that package will be delivered between 2 and 5 instead of on Monday.
ALL this just to ask UPS to leave the package at the door.
ALL this to just electronically sign for a package.

And on top of the mental duress that UPS willingly and knowingly puts it customers under, their information in their data base is not 100% accurate, so if you actually 'man-up' to their abuse your answer about where you lived last might not be their 'right' answer and then what? Does UPS expect you to strip your life history bare just to receive a box???
Yet, UPS lets anyone who answers the door at an address take a package and or sign whatever name for package, WITHOUT verification!!!

Suffice it to say, I will NEVER willingly do business with UPS ever again. I might also change which online businesses I conduct other business with if they cannot offer me other options rather than UPS. Don't worry UPS, I will tell those companies that I drop that they were dropped cause they conduct business with YOU!

As of now, UPS is declared persona non grada in my business!