Text 15051, 121 rader
Skriven 2007-05-30 08:07:33 av lizardgirl (1464.babylon5)
  Kommentar till text 14934 av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated (1347.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: OT: a proposal for increasing teachers' salaries
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lizardgirl" <gab...@comcast.net> wrote in message


news:1180110023.302250.122410@z28g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> On May 24, 6:54 pm, "Carl" <cengm...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>>> Not being difficult, I'm just curious...

>> see how you are :^)

>I meant to write "Not *trying* to be difficult..." :)

either way I am content.

>>>.......what official capacity does the CSO have?

>> amend that to quasi-official.  its perception.  we go to a foreign
>> land.  we dress nice, play nice, eat with forks,  use the potty all be
>> ourselves, makes the rest of us look good.
>So then it's okay to tax federally rather than at the state level because a
>group dresses nice, eats with forks and can use the potty by themselves?

Sorry no, that particular leap in logic (cutting every tourist a check
when they book thier ticket abroad) belongs to you.  While I
understand how you could come to that 'conclusion' (especially if you
pack light and leave early) it's not where I was headed.   Go anywhere
in the world really and stories of the ugly American are legendary.
What organizations like the CSO do when they travel is offer an
opportunity to connect with others, enjoying time spent together in
mutual appreciation of music.  The hope is that this mutual
appreciation will extend to the musicians and the country they hale
from.  Its global PR and I don't have a problem with the feds paying
for part of it at that level.

 (snipping examples)

> Stopping with examples now :)

oh, good.  I was getting hungry :^)

None of these examples really gets to the heart of the matter.  i
don't think it's enough to question why is my tax dollar spent on X.
as big as the national expenditures fon 'pork' is, it's still a
relatively small amount given the entire tax collected.

better to ask, Why do we pay federal taxes?  What is the ultimate
benefit of being part of a republic?  Or are we actually better off
going it alone, as independent states?  'pork' is a political failing;
Our particular form of government was crafted by people who believed
government was, at best, a necessary evil.  They took great pains to
ensure the 'weak' would have just as many rights/protections under the
law as the 'strong.'  Lots of folks moan about gridlock on capital
hill.  Gridlock doesn't bother me much.  I think the framers erred on
the side of caution (inaction) because they believed it was better to
do nothing then to act inappropriately.  What gridlock shows me is
that politics (not the need/desire to govern) is being checked.
What's missing in Washington is the voice of the people.  Special
interests (with the help of career politicians) have twisted the
voting process.  If the framers could pop in for a look today they
would be appalled, I think, by how the lack of term limits (something
they hadn't thought necessary) has stagnated the flow of governance -
for the people, by the people and all that.

<snip>

>> in principle i don't disagree.  every year we get a break down of the
>> test results for the entire school district.  last year for math our
>> district scored in the 87 percentile at the elementary level (k-5),
>> dropped to the 72 percentile in middle school and dropped again in
>> high school to the 53 percentile.  this could mean a lot of things.
>> one of which is that by high school kids know enough about who they
>> are and what they want to be that math ain't all that important to
>> them.
>> i'm all for teaching kids how to think.  but once we've done
>> that ...
> At what point do you feel that's been accomplished?

I don't know, but whatever benchmark we use should go hand in hand
with accountability.  We don't have enough rituals in American
culture.  There is no age of ascension really.  You can drive at 16,
you can drop out of high school at 16, get married at 18 (younger with
*parental* consent), also die for your country at 18, but you can't
drink until your 21, you can also remain a 'dependent' on your parents
insurance (if they have any) as a 'student' until 24 I think it is.
To many mixed messages. When do we become adults, officially, in this
country?

>> shouldn't we allow them to opt out of a standardized requirement
>> they disagree with?

>Let's take that a bit farther.  When I went to college, I went in
>as a Chemical Engineering student.  Using your reasoning, why should
>I have had to pay thousands of dollars on out of state tuition to pay for
>the various liberal arts courses that were required when I knew I wasn't
>Interested in them?  I'd already read a great deal of Shakespeare.  I've
>been to museums around the world.  Why shouldn't I have been able
>to opt out?

I think you should have been allowed to opt out.
I think for kids who are going into college with a major in mind, a
tailored, rather then a general, curriculum serves them better.

>As to the "greater good," I reserve the right to challenge each item for
>proof.
>You could claim it is in the "Greater good" to take every penny Bill Gates
>has and divide it equally among the people in Portland.  Then you could
>say that his body should be strung up and beaten in order to make those
>that hate him because he's wealthy feel better and improve the "national
>psyche."

And 'you'd' be wrong.  bill makes a lot of money on which he pays a
lot of taxes; some of which will find it's way to the good people of
Portland courtesy of their friendly neighborhood congressman.
Personally I wouldn't string him up, I'd tie him down.  Not because I
hate him for being wealthy, but because I think all men consequence
should be bound at the feet of women who appreciate their unique
talents. Builds character, keeps them honest.

lg
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