In 2005-2008 when most of the first round of hybrids were being purchased, there were tax rebates that defrayed some of the additional cost of buying a hybrid instead of a traditional gasoline-only car. Since those subsidies have expired, the price of a hybrid car has effectively gone up by $1200-1500, which is a decent amount of money when you're car-shopping in the new-small-car range.
Consider also that there was a lot more money in pockets leading up to 2008, and lenders were practically throwing it at people if they so much as made eye contact. I saw loads ads for 0.9% or 1.9% car loans on a new car back then. That, in combination with the tax incentives, made it much cheaper to buy a new car, including hybrids. Now, interest rates on car loans are higher and money is tighter; the $3,000 premium on buying a hybrid is a bigger bite to chew.
Also, "returning to the market" in 2011? The real greenies are going to drive that hybrid car they bought in 2007 until 2020; at which point they'll probably be lining to buy electric.
Arguably, anyone can enlist, but I doubt that many people list "Private" or "Specialist" for titles. However, if you put in the time and effort to make Sergeant, you can probably hang on to that. Likewise for COs, attaining the rank of Captain or Major is a pretty serious accomplishment.
How do the students end up as part of that lottery? Do they just select every child in a given school district, and pull names, or do parents have to sign them up? If it's the latter, then you have Involved Parents, which is one of the biggest indicators of academic success. Anyone whose parents care enough (and know enough) to sign them up for the charter school lottery already have a leg up on their peers whose parents aren't as involved or knowledgeable.
ADHD didn't exist then, either. They used to let children go run around outside for half an hour in the middle of the day, and when they came back, they'd be able to focus well enough to write down their homework assignments. Now there is no running around, so they have to offload that focus to the parents.
Having dealt with several generations of VCR interfaces, I'd have to say you have a point. Once they progressed to the on-screen-menus era, things weren't so bad (but still bizarre). However, the days when the only feedback you had was from the six-digits with separators and five status indicator LEDs on the front (and for some reason, there were only five buttons to go with those) were really fun. If you managed to record the show you meant to, even if the first 38 seconds were clipped off, you felt like you'd accomplished something.
A friend of mine once pointed out that there's no reason to coddle the gifted children; they're bright, they'll succeed regardless. Public education exists to lift up the lower end of the "giftedness" spectrum.
My counter-argument would be that they'll succeed, but at what? That would depend a lot more on their parents than their schools.
There is another factor in the paper messages handed to children; it helps them practice follow-through, and it provides an opportunity for discussion/interaction about school. The children have practice actually delivering a message (and for many children, remembering to deliver a message, etc. is something that takes practice) and the parents receive the message while the child is present, and can ask about it. That's much more concrete for the child (hand paper, parent looks at it, discuss field trip OR hand paper knowing it's about detention or poor marks, parent reads it, discussion ensues) than if the parent receives an e-mail sometime in the middle of the afternoon, reads it on his or her phone, and then forgets about it.
I think you missed Actually's point: if he (or she) has no children, why is he paying to fund the public schools? The generally accepted answer is that society as a whole is better off if everyone has an opportunity to become educated, and so it's worthwhile to fund schools as well as fire departments, police, etc.
If someone has two children, and chooses to send those children to a private school, he or she derives the same benefit (as does all of society) as someone who has no children at all. Why should someone who pays to send their children to a private school get (another!) tax break for having children?
Those are all poor examples; there have always been, and probably (hopefully?) always will be singular examples of stunning genius. But those are the exception, and they don't indicate the quality of education available to the general public.
Let's compare these schools on level ground, shall we? No good reason for the difference in performance? Those charter and private schools have the biggest advantage of all; they are able to choose their students, either directly (entrance exams for every private school in my region) or indirectly (the children in charter schools are the children whose parents cared enough to push them there). If the public schools were allowed to do the same, they'd be performing fantastically! But they can't. they're required to try to teach all of the uninterested, unmotivated children whose uninvolved parents wouldn't be able to check the e-mailed messages from the teachers in the first place, because they don't have the training or skills to work a better job than Taco Bell (or similar).
Additionally, every teacher I have ever known works a full year and then some, they just have to cram it into the nine months of the obsolete American School Year. Teachers (the decent ones) work 60-70 hours a week, except for "school vacations" during which they work about 20-30.
True, but if you happen to have other business in the area, NH makes it really easy to pick up some booze on your way through. The "NH State Liquor Stores" are right off all the major interstates; it's like a rest area with a liquor store instead of a McDonald's, and that liquor store is the size of an average supermarket.
That's an interesting distinction, especially because (as best I can tell from the gadgets I've seen) a Kindle (a regular one, not one of the new active screen ones) is only ever really "on" when you're turning a page. The rest of the time it's basically as electrically present as your digital watch.
While it's amusing to think that Yao Ming would have the same problem on those flights as you, I think they just adjust the planes to deal with the average Chinese person. It's the same reason I had to duck to get on the subways in Seoul (all the doors are 185cm tall).
I can just imagine the lawsuit of the big telecoms against whatever organization was going to provide municipal wifi coverage by enfranchising the homeless, or even better, against the homeless themselves.
Where I work, we have concerns regarding PHI. When HIPPA is involved, Google is strictly prohibited (at least according to our legal department). So, for that matter, is DropBox.
I think the parent's point was that the print version of the book should already have been copyedited and proofread, and so that effort shouldn't need to be duplicated. I agree, though; proofreaders are very important.
Sucks for the guy who actually owns the car. A significant amount of the no-license no-insurance driving in the US is done in borrowed, shared, or stolen vehicles.
I've been told by friends who have traveled to and lived in Germany that in general, citations are given for actual unsafe driving (e.g., tailgating, unsignalled lane changes, cutting people off, etc.) rather than speed. I think that makes a lot more sense than the system we use in the US, but it also depends on active policing, and can't be done easily by mechanized means (e.g., radar guns, traffic cameras, etc.).
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In 2005-2008 when most of the first round of hybrids were being purchased, there were tax rebates that defrayed some of the additional cost of buying a hybrid instead of a traditional gasoline-only car. Since those subsidies have expired, the price of a hybrid car has effectively gone up by $1200-1500, which is a decent amount of money when you're car-shopping in the new-small-car range.
Consider also that there was a lot more money in pockets leading up to 2008, and lenders were practically throwing it at people if they so much as made eye contact. I saw loads ads for 0.9% or 1.9% car loans on a new car back then. That, in combination with the tax incentives, made it much cheaper to buy a new car, including hybrids. Now, interest rates on car loans are higher and money is tighter; the $3,000 premium on buying a hybrid is a bigger bite to chew.
Also, "returning to the market" in 2011? The real greenies are going to drive that hybrid car they bought in 2007 until 2020; at which point they'll probably be lining to buy electric.
Arguably, anyone can enlist, but I doubt that many people list "Private" or "Specialist" for titles. However, if you put in the time and effort to make Sergeant, you can probably hang on to that. Likewise for COs, attaining the rank of Captain or Major is a pretty serious accomplishment.
But, Newt knows all about the sanctity of marriage! He's been married three times!
He's learning to keep track of things. This is an important skill.
How do the students end up as part of that lottery? Do they just select every child in a given school district, and pull names, or do parents have to sign them up? If it's the latter, then you have Involved Parents, which is one of the biggest indicators of academic success. Anyone whose parents care enough (and know enough) to sign them up for the charter school lottery already have a leg up on their peers whose parents aren't as involved or knowledgeable.
ADHD didn't exist then, either. They used to let children go run around outside for half an hour in the middle of the day, and when they came back, they'd be able to focus well enough to write down their homework assignments. Now there is no running around, so they have to offload that focus to the parents.
Having dealt with several generations of VCR interfaces, I'd have to say you have a point. Once they progressed to the on-screen-menus era, things weren't so bad (but still bizarre). However, the days when the only feedback you had was from the six-digits with separators and five status indicator LEDs on the front (and for some reason, there were only five buttons to go with those) were really fun. If you managed to record the show you meant to, even if the first 38 seconds were clipped off, you felt like you'd accomplished something.
A friend of mine once pointed out that there's no reason to coddle the gifted children; they're bright, they'll succeed regardless. Public education exists to lift up the lower end of the "giftedness" spectrum.
My counter-argument would be that they'll succeed, but at what? That would depend a lot more on their parents than their schools.
There is another factor in the paper messages handed to children; it helps them practice follow-through, and it provides an opportunity for discussion/interaction about school. The children have practice actually delivering a message (and for many children, remembering to deliver a message, etc. is something that takes practice) and the parents receive the message while the child is present, and can ask about it. That's much more concrete for the child (hand paper, parent looks at it, discuss field trip OR hand paper knowing it's about detention or poor marks, parent reads it, discussion ensues) than if the parent receives an e-mail sometime in the middle of the afternoon, reads it on his or her phone, and then forgets about it.
I think you missed Actually's point: if he (or she) has no children, why is he paying to fund the public schools? The generally accepted answer is that society as a whole is better off if everyone has an opportunity to become educated, and so it's worthwhile to fund schools as well as fire departments, police, etc.
If someone has two children, and chooses to send those children to a private school, he or she derives the same benefit (as does all of society) as someone who has no children at all. Why should someone who pays to send their children to a private school get (another!) tax break for having children?
Those are all poor examples; there have always been, and probably (hopefully?) always will be singular examples of stunning genius. But those are the exception, and they don't indicate the quality of education available to the general public.
Let's compare these schools on level ground, shall we? No good reason for the difference in performance? Those charter and private schools have the biggest advantage of all; they are able to choose their students, either directly (entrance exams for every private school in my region) or indirectly (the children in charter schools are the children whose parents cared enough to push them there). If the public schools were allowed to do the same, they'd be performing fantastically! But they can't. they're required to try to teach all of the uninterested, unmotivated children whose uninvolved parents wouldn't be able to check the e-mailed messages from the teachers in the first place, because they don't have the training or skills to work a better job than Taco Bell (or similar).
Additionally, every teacher I have ever known works a full year and then some, they just have to cram it into the nine months of the obsolete American School Year. Teachers (the decent ones) work 60-70 hours a week, except for "school vacations" during which they work about 20-30.
True, but if you happen to have other business in the area, NH makes it really easy to pick up some booze on your way through. The "NH State Liquor Stores" are right off all the major interstates; it's like a rest area with a liquor store instead of a McDonald's, and that liquor store is the size of an average supermarket.
That's an interesting distinction, especially because (as best I can tell from the gadgets I've seen) a Kindle (a regular one, not one of the new active screen ones) is only ever really "on" when you're turning a page. The rest of the time it's basically as electrically present as your digital watch.
Those planes are for midgets.
While it's amusing to think that Yao Ming would have the same problem on those flights as you, I think they just adjust the planes to deal with the average Chinese person. It's the same reason I had to duck to get on the subways in Seoul (all the doors are 185cm tall).
Most sodas make me want to puke, too. Not sure it is the caffeine that's the problem, though.
Congratulations, you've just made everyone's taxes way more complicated!
I can just imagine the lawsuit of the big telecoms against whatever organization was going to provide municipal wifi coverage by enfranchising the homeless, or even better, against the homeless themselves.
I love America.
Where I work, we have concerns regarding PHI. When HIPPA is involved, Google is strictly prohibited (at least according to our legal department). So, for that matter, is DropBox.
I think the parent's point was that the print version of the book should already have been copyedited and proofread, and so that effort shouldn't need to be duplicated. I agree, though; proofreaders are very important.
the car gets crushed.
Sucks for the guy who actually owns the car. A significant amount of the no-license no-insurance driving in the US is done in borrowed, shared, or stolen vehicles.
I've been told by friends who have traveled to and lived in Germany that in general, citations are given for actual unsafe driving (e.g., tailgating, unsignalled lane changes, cutting people off, etc.) rather than speed. I think that makes a lot more sense than the system we use in the US, but it also depends on active policing, and can't be done easily by mechanized means (e.g., radar guns, traffic cameras, etc.).
I agree. Engineers are the most terrible human beings. Except for all the other kinds.
The government already takes away freedoms in the name of the War On Terror.
At least the environment is a potentially worthwhile cause?
Only if someone has the backing to stand up against such religions. Otherwise, what's to stop them?