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User: LordKazan

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  1. Re:The way math is structured is disconnected from on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 1

    I can vouch for that. my home town experimented with a "School of the Arts" system in one elementary school and one middle school - switching those schools 3 years after I was through them. So my senior year in HS we had these kids as freshmen. I was the student TA for the Earth Sciences teacher.

    My earth HS's earth sciences teacher was an AWESOME guy (in fact.. all the science teachers were) and were great with demonstrations, etc. All kinds of things that got most kids involved in sciences they previously considered boring. I mean our earth sciences teacher yearly took his class out to hunt for marine fossils in a spot where the task wasn't finding one, it was extracting them from the small cliff face without damaging them.

    anyway I'm off topic.

    He had a few students my senior year who were "School of the Arts" graduates. His tests were simple - 1/3 was "circle the answer", 1/3 was "short answer - one word?" (IE 'What is the name given to molten rock after it is erupted onto the surface'), 1/3 was "Short answer - one sentance".

    Several of these kids refused to do the second 2/3rds of the test.. but their parents yelled at the teacher when he failed them. I was in grading exams one day when they were yelling at them, I knew who's parents they were. I extracted their meat-head sons test from the pile, graded it (the 1/3 that was actually done), walked up to them and handed it to them. Then instructed them to kindly stop treating the best earth sciences teacher I've ever seen like he was an insect under their boots.

  2. Re:The way math is structured is disconnected from on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 2, Insightful

    so you want to teach math using base-1 ... that's... insane.

  3. Re:it's really bad on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 1

    um.. we were never able to duplicate by rote on my exams that involved proofs in college. we were given "similiar" but not "same". if you understood the materially you at least got partial credit. if you tried "rote memorization" you failed.

  4. Re:Cue the other subjects on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Read The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America

    They've staged a long and protracted anti-education war in government for 3 decades.

    http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Extremism-Christian-Right-America/dp/0972549609/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245437556&sr=8-1

  5. Re:it's really bad on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 1

    that depends on the state. if you're not in the top 10 states.. you're screwed these days. Iowa sat top 5 for a LONG time fortunately. One of our biggest exports is educated young people. Hell if it wasn't for the economy causing hiring freezes at a lot of software shops I would have been one of those exported educated young people to!

  6. Re:Cue the other subjects on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 1

    december 7th, 1941

    what's your point?

  7. Re:Several Proxies on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 2, Funny

    And Pi = 3. So says Jaysus!

  8. Re:it's really bad on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 1

    You're right when you say Bureaucrats.. No honest educational professional would be behind many of the debates (evolution baiting anyone?) we see all over the US.

    The only thing that should be done nationally is a standardized curriculum : IE All schools [public and private] in the US must teach atleast THIS to give a HS diploma. Just to make things equitable. In reality a HS diploma from my state, from the public schools in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines are worth A LOT more than an HS diploma from... say mississippi.. but they're treated the same. Same thing with public education in my home town and say.. the religious school that's science textbook had this for evolution:

    "Evolution

    There is absolutely no evidence that this ever has happened."

    that was it's entire entry.

    We need standardization, but not rote memorization like NCLB has forced many schools to implement. I graduated from high school in 2002. I had been taking standardized tests for years* and my teachers were great and not "just teaching the test" as became common after NCLB.

    * always scored top notch.. was Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) prior to HS and Iowa Test of Education Development (ITED) in HS. Always scored top... one of my friends filled in the dots in an artistic pattern.. still scored higher than some of the educational FAILdrones in our class who tried.. was pathetic.

    ================

    If we start treating education as what it is, an investment in the future national security and economic strength of our country, and spending on it accordingly we might get somewhere.

    We're failing to recruit valuable teachers these days due to 3 decades of attacks on our schools by the Christian Supremacist movement and conservatives as a whole. (Read The Fundamentals of Extremism sometime) - almost all the great teachers I had in HS went early retirement the year after I graduated because of budget cuts

  9. Re:it's really bad on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 1

    I'm excellent with logic and I had a terrible time with proofs. Both in HS geometry and in Discrete Math and Theory of Computing in my CS degree. Good proofs are a form of artistry as far as I'm concerned. They certainly can do a lot better job teaching how to do them - but some people will always be better at it.

  10. Re:Cue the other subjects on A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education · · Score: 4, Insightful

    and most of them can be traced to certain groups (*cough*fundamentalists*cough*) waging a 30 year war on public education, and people refusing to see and treat education as what it is: an investment in the future national security and economic stability of the united states.

  11. Re:Perhaps can start with Crawford, TX on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    Yes because obviously it's "incoherent" to string together a string of adjectified nouns.

    Hint: it is perfectly coherent.

  12. Re:Perhaps can start with Crawford, TX on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    then you're a misinformed fox-news and limbaugh-listening dittohead retard.

    The only people who act like Obama is "The One" are your type of people. Complete and utter partisan hack retards.

    I'm sure your issue with him is "TAX AND SPEND! TAX AND SPEND" while you were fine with Bush's "SPEND AND SPEND! WE DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR IT!" crap.

    That and the "bail out" - which was started by Bush (crappily) and continued by Obama (reluctantly, but not so crappily) and the other option - no bail out - had much more dire results for the economy.

    But some people fail to recognize that your choices can be "Shit" and "Shittier" - always think there is a "non-shit" options.

    Yeah that non-shit option is called ENFORCE FUCKING ANTITRUST AND BANKING REGULATIONS.... something that Raygun, Bush the Elder, Clinton and Bush the Younger all refused to do.

  13. Re:Seems like a good idea on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    Yes.. totally a straw man... when i neglected to leave off the >10m because it should be OBVIOUS that the same analysis puts the Laffer curve's peak even higher for them.

    If they're saving they're not investing, that's the definition of SAVING. And saying "investment stimulates the economy" is long disproven supply-side (voodoo) economics.

    And yes the overhead of government handling takes some out of that. it still stimulates the economy more.

    we're in a consumer based capitalist system, not a mercantilist (supply-side) system or some voodoo laissez-faire "the invisible hand" crap.

  14. Re:Fantastic on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    most common definition i've ever heard was four conseq. quarters of negative GDP growth. we've had.... 6 or 7.

  15. Re:Fantastic on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    As Ironica points out FDIC and unemployement insurance help. however "drastically lower foodprices".. nope food prices are harming a great many people as they doubled to tripled during the high energy prices and the companies have refused to crank them back down "because we don't want to just have to raise them again in the future".

    it is still technically a depression. not all depressions are the Great Depression.. hence why its called The Great Depression.

    it's not as severe because a) some vestiges of our post-Great Depression protections [FDIC, Unemployemtn] still functioned
    B) government prevented the companies from collapsing dragging the rest of the economy with them

  16. Re:Perhaps can start with Crawford, TX on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    even a batshiat crazy person is right once in a while

  17. Re:Seems like a good idea on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the much lauded (by your side of the argument) laffer curve disagrees with you.

    they only cut spending AFTER a certain point.

    according to the best analysis we could increase the tax rate on 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 a year earners to 60% before even the slightest hint of "belt tightening" would occur.

    the economic science just doesn't agree with those people who, like you, confuse laissez-faire with being a form of capitalism

  18. Re:Really a Shame on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 0

    "all life-time welfare recipients" is kinda confusing, let me reword

    Less than 1% of people who at any point in there life receive welfare are on it longer than 6 months.

    the former wording makes sense to someone use to discussing this (i worked on software for tracking recipients).

  19. Re:Really a Shame on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    There are significant portions of the population whose entire aspirations in life involve getting qualified for either General Relief or Social Security Insurance payments.

    Citation needed.

    Less than 1% of all life-time welfare recipients are on it longer than 6 months.

    Social Security is for OLD PEOPLE (and it was never intended to be primary retirement income, but an insurance program for those who's private pensions went belly up)

    Disability is only given to those who's doctors will swear under oath that they're unable to work.

    Your Schtick.. it's old and worn.

  20. Re:Fantastic on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    If they parks are paying for themselves (most likely) then shutting them down is just plain stupid. But then again you have a movie star known for having big muscles as a governor.

  21. Re:Fantastic on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    except it is very much like a depression - a protracted long term period of negative GDP growth, high unemployment, and other economic problems. This is worse than a recession, but it's not as bad as the Great Depression. The severity of this one has been mitigated by the much maligned "bailouts". That being said it will still be at least 2 years of negative GDP growth, possibly three.

    It however is not hitting the entire population across the board, nor is it hitting every state the same. While the state I live in (Iowa) definantly has felt it, we're by-and-large status quo. Our exports (food stuffs, educated youth) are still needed in a recession/depression as well as much of our commercial exports (banking, insurance).

    I would be one of those educated youth fleeing the state if it wasn't for the depression we're in having dried up my job offers out west.

  22. Re:Seems like a good idea on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    your statement is simplified to the point of it being incorrect.

    The government taking money from people who would spend it and giving it to other people who would spend it doesn't stimulate the economy.
    The government taking money from people who would save it and giving it to other people who would spend it, does stimulate the economy.

    The group that spends tends to be the ones that have less wealth.
    the Group that saves tends to be the ones that have more than they can utilize.

  23. Re:Nothing good can come of this... on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    The residences they're removing are VACANT

  24. Re:Perhaps can start with Crawford, TX on US Plans To Bulldoze 50 Shrinking Cities · · Score: 1

    Don't confuse Cindy Sheehan for a liberal, she's just a crazy woman who also happened to be a rather upset mother.

    Furthermore don't let crazy people distract you from the fact that Bush was a complete and total F@#$ up

  25. Re:Vietnamese Agent Orange vs. Iranian Despot on Iran Moves To End "Facebook Revolution" · · Score: 1

    Don't confuse tolerance and approval.

    One can disapprove of stupid backwards stoneage religious crap and still tolerate it so long as it is kept to themselves and not forced into government.

    (you hear that Christian Taliban? GTF Away from our government)