Recently in American Decline Category

This is the funniest story I have heard in a long time. lol!

Did your parents tell you anything useful about sex? What did you tell your kids?

It seems that parents never actually talk to their kids about sex in any kind of useful way, even the few that try. Which is why we need schools, not parents, to provide sex education.

Youth Radio

Young People and Sex: Parents, Can We Talk?

by Johanna Greenberg

Morning Edition, March 8, 2007

Listen to it here

Many young people are no longer having "the sex talk" with their parents. They're filled with information, including what they learn from TV or the Internet. But they're still interested in what Mom and Dad might have to say — however awkwardly.

Johanna Greenberg reports for Blunt Radio in Portland, Maine.

I have heard surprising little about this massive buyout offer by GM. I think this is a big deal because the main issue at stake is the cost of pensions and healthcare for retirees. I believe I heard that GM has 100,000 employees but benefits to over 300,000 retirees! Ouch.

With these people off the company balance sheet, they will join the Federal and State balance sheets. Will this finally precipitate some attention on healthcare? Maybe not since a $10B loss for a company demands change but $10B of our tax dollars is only 1 month of our occupation of Iraq... But it might be a start.

And this is sure to have an impact on the economies of the Midwest states.

They say that humans are hard-wired to notice sudden changes but have difficulty noticing slow changes.

That said, this article on "helicopter parents" shocked me. Have we changed so much that this kind of parent-child relationship seems normal? 10 phone calls a week!?

100 years ago 13-year olds went to work in the factories to support their parents and siblings. These days it seems like kids never grow up.

It is always a pleasure to hear other people say something you agree with (and already talked about), which is the case with this article on school reform.

My previous argument revolved around tenure for K-12 and the inability of principals to actually manage a school because they are not allowed to hire or fire. I dont care if it is lead by a Democrat or a Republican but I hope someone will lead real, not rhetorical, change in our ailing school system. Our kids need science and math, not prayer, if we ever hope to compete economically.

Toyota was in the paper no less than three times today.

There are times when the system is so entrenched and so lousy, incremental changes will never bring about improvements. Major structural changes are your only hope of improvement, painful as it is to do.

Speaking of entrenched and lousy, I just listened to a news story about the mayor of Los Angeles and his struggle to improve the LA Unified school system.

Forget the debate about intelligent design or sex education. The problem with public schools is the business structure of schools. If you dont change the structure of schools, the results will never change. And changing the structure will take a huge amount of political power because you will have to fight the teachers unions and the tax payers.

I live in the state of Washington, which recently tried to implement a basic skills test in high school called the WASL. Parents are fighting WASL tooth and nail. Apparently it is some sort civil rights infringement to ask students to actually learn enough in high school to pass a test.

If your kid cannot pass a basic skills test, what on earth are they going to do for a living? They will never be able to compete for the high technology jobs that China is now courting, or the manufacturing jobs that have already moved to Asia. There will always be some service and manual labor jobs in the USA but will these kids be willing to work for less money than the steady stream of illegal immigrants form Central America? I doubt it.

I just dont understand American parents who dont put a priority on hard work and achievement for their kids. While we argue about student's "rights" and blow our money on Iraq, our international competition has their eyes on the prize, are patient and willing to work for it.

Low Costs, Plentiful Talent Make China a Global Magnet for R&D

By KATHY CHEN and JASON DEAN

March 13, 2006

BEIJING -- Multinational companies, drawn by a huge and inexpensive talent pool, are pouring money into research and development in China -- a trend that promises to broaden the country's huge role in the global economy.

The total number of foreign-invested R&D centers in the country has surged to about 750 from 200 four years ago, according to China's Ministry of Commerce. And in a survey of multinationals published in September by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, China was by far the most frequently cited location for R&D expansion, well ahead of the U.S. and third-place India, China's chief rival as an emerging innovator.

Giving impetus to the R&D expansion in sectors from biotechnology to pharmaceuticals to semiconductors is China's government. Having enlisted foreign investment to transform China into a manufacturing powerhouse over the past few decades, Beijing now is mounting a campaign to strengthen domestic innovation that could help push the country into more advanced niches of the global economy.

In his annual report at the National People's Congress in Beijing, which ends tomorrow, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the central government will increase spending on science and technology by nearly 20% this year. "China has entered a stage in its history where it must increase its reliance on scientific and technological advances and innovation to drive social and economic development," he said.

China's State Council, or cabinet, recently said the country would seek to boost R&D investment to 2% of gross domestic product in 2010 and 2.5% by 2020. At a news conference Friday, senior officials outlined tax breaks and other tools they plan to use to meet that target. Last year, total R&D spending in China -- not including foreign investment -- reached $29.4 billion, rising steadily from $11.13 billion in 2000, according to the government.

China faces numerous obstacles to joining the ranks of the world's innovation leaders -- beyond its weak intellectual-property protections. Research spending is still small compared with that of developed countries; the U.S., for example, spends about 2.7% of GDP on R&D, compared with 1.3% of GDP in China last year. And much of what is spent in China still comes from foreign companies: Less than a quarter of Chinese midsize and large enterprises had their own science and technology institutions in 2004. Of China's high-tech exports, valued at $218.3 billion last year, nearly 90% was produced by foreign-invested companies, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Still, the R&D trend is bolstering China's position relative to other developing countries, particularly India, which is also seeking to build its innovation abilities. India's total domestic spending on R&D rose an estimated 9.7% to $4.9 billion, or 0.77% of GDP, in the fiscal year ended March 2005, according to India's Ministry of Science and Technology.

Among China's draws, he says: the relatively low cost of hiring engineers and researchers; a huge talent pool, including five million university graduates annually (one-fifth majoring in science or engineering); and China's own huge market of 1.3 billion consumers. China offers its students abroad incentives to return once they graduate, including generous research grants and chances to run their own R&D projects.

Do you remember that TV show, Survivor? All these people living on an island with nothing to eat but rice and whatever they could catch. They all lost weight. After 40 days of the all-rice diet, that Richard Hatch guy lost a ton of weight. He went from fat to healthy looking.

Why did those people lose weight? They lost weight because they had no choice; they simply had no food to eat. No pork rinds, ice cream, soda, crackers or candy. The external environment forced them to eat less.

What is harder to do? Lose weight because some external force is keeping you from eating or using willpower to force yourself to eat less? If you look at America's ever expanding waistline, I think we can agree that willpower doesnt work so good.

Today I read this great article about our education system. Why do international kids outperform Americans? Because they work harder.

I HIGHLY recommend reading this article. The author hits the problems right on the head.

For once, blame the student

By Patrick Welsh

Wed Mar 8, 7:08 AM ET

Failure in the classroom is often tied to lack of funding, poor teachers or other ills. Here's a thought: Maybe it's the failed work ethic of todays kids. That's what I'm seeing in my school. Until reformers see this reality, little will change.

As one would expect, the middle-class American kids usually had higher SAT verbal scores than did their immigrant classmates, many of whom had only been speaking English for a few years.

What many of the American kids I taught did not have was the motivation, self-discipline or work ethic of the foreign-born kids.

Politicians and education bureaucrats can talk all they want about reform, but until the work ethic of U.S. students changes, until they are willing to put in the time and effort to master their subjects, little will change.

read it

Unlike the author, I blame the parents not the kids. Kids will do whatever is easiest. It is the parents job to force their children to do what is in their best interest. I think this process used to be called "parenting." Today it seems like every parent wants to be their kids best friend, something that used to happen only with divorced parents.

The education system is just another symptom of a larger problem: our wealth and our lack of willpower is causing us to lose touch with reality. A reality in which the world gets smaller and more competitive every year. I think this trend will continue but not for long. On the bright side, things will right themselves again when competition from Asia forces us to live on that all-rice diet whether we want to or not.

China finds oil in Saudi Arabia while gas prices rise (again), Ford shrinks and Iran tells us to stick it. Quite a Monday.

Ford Posts 19% Profit Rise, Unveils Restructuring Plan

A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP

January 23, 2006

Ford Motor Co., the No. 2 U.S. auto maker, said Monday that it will cut 25,000 to 30,000 jobs and idle 14 facilities by 2012 as part of a restructuring designed to reverse a $1.6 billion loss last year in its North American operations.

The cuts represent 20% to 25% of Ford's North American work force of 122,000 people. Ford has approximately 87,000 hourly workers and 35,000 salaried workers in the region.

The plant closings, which affect seven assembly plants, will eliminate capacity of 1.2 million vehicles. Ford currently can build 4.5 million vehicles a year in North America using 43 parts, stamping and assembly plants.

China Will Strike An Energy Deal With the Saudis

By SHAI OSTER Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

January 23, 2006

BEIJING -- China and Saudi Arabia are expected to sign a wide-ranging agreement today on energy cooperation amid Beijing's quest to secure more energy resources vital to fuel its fast-growing economy.

China, the world's second-biggest consumer of oil, has been seeking to tighten economic and political partnerships with its major oil suppliers across Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. Its quest has taken on added urgency since 2004, when the country's oil demand surged about 15%, helping underpin the biggest rise in international oil prices in a generation.

China's oil imports from Saudi Arabia have roughly doubled in recent years, from 12.5 million tons in 2002 to 22 million tons for the first 11 months of 2005.

West Talks Tough With Iran, Treads Lightly

U.S., Europe Seek a Security Council Role, But Too Much Pressure Could Backfire

By CARLA ANNE ROBBINS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

January 23, 2006

WASHINGTON -- As U.S. and European officials press to have Iran brought before the United Nations Security Council, they are also promising that Tehran won't face serious punishment there -- for quite a while.

Iran has few friends left after deciding to resume efforts to enrich uranium, a process that could advance it a big step closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon. But there are reasons the move toward international penalties might not be swift. As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' second-largest producer, Iran has considerable economic leverage. It also may benefit from the "Iraq effect." There is widespread anxiety that any U.N. action -- unless carefully constrained -- could open the door for another U.S.-led war.

There's Little Margin for Error

Fuel Pressures Keep Prospects For Economic Growth in Limbo As Investors Begin to Seek Cover

By E.S. BROWNING Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

January 23, 2006

Now, with oil back near $70 a barrel, Mr. Herrmann is beginning to hunker down again. So are a lot of other investors. That helps explain why the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 213.32 points Friday for its biggest one-day percentage decline since 2003. With the current bull market now more than three years old, the question is whether the economy can improve enough to get people like Mr. Herrmann to feel good enough to start buying stocks again.

"We don't have much margin for error," Mr. Herrmann says. "We can't afford to lose two million barrels a day being exported out of Iran."

What worries him is that the problems weighing on the economy "won't go away real soon." It isn't just that expensive oil serves as a tax on consumers and businesses alike. Interest rates have been rising as well, and the two together are damping growth. "I don't think $70 oil translates into a huge economic problem," he says. "But who says it can't go to $80? Who says it can't go to $90?"

A confident white principal from the Suburbs thinks he is going to turn a troubled school around by getting the (mostly Black) teachers to teach harder. "All these kids need for discipline is better lessons." My arse. I am astonished to see that even principals blame the teachers. There may be a lot of bad teachers in the country but i can guarantee you that there are more bad parents.

Principal Struggles to Fix Inner-city School

The News Hour with Jm Lehrer

A principal in Virginia's Turn Around Specialist Program faces extreme challenges trying to reform an inner-city school in Richmond on the state's warning list.

See honey, it' so hard after all to find a gift for the man who has everything...

Oh brother. Our infatuation with 'plastic' surgery is out of control.

These past few years I have really been noticing changes around me.

On one hand, I see parents and schools increasingly coddling students such that "school" today barely resemble the "school" of my youth 25 years ago.

On the other hand, it is getting harder and harder to find and keep a job that pays well. This article talks about the latter hand.

On one hand this article is just an example of Microsoft pumping out another mediocre product.

The bigger picture however is one in which our children are "learning computers" but not really learning to think. Computers are tools and tools dont replace knowing what to do in the first place.