Happy 4th of July (Americans only)

[M forever]

One thing I could never figure out is why they named a battleship after the capital of North Dakota...

[greg]

Canadians are the nicest people. Does anything piss them off?

you'd be nice if you were stoned all the time, too....

oh, wait..... 

[mn dave]

you'd be nice if you were stoned all the time, too....

oh, wait..... 

Except the French Canadians. They're supposed to be mean.

[karlhenning]

One thing I could never figure out is why they named a battleship after the capital of North Dakota...

North Dakota needs a little moment in the sun, too.

[greg]

Except the French Canadians. They're supposed to be mean.

i would be, too, if i were French. 

[Don]

Most Americans probably don't even know that there was a war in which the US was involved in 1812. If you would poll people about that and ask them against who that war was fought, the vast majority of people would probably say "the Russians" some would say "dunno, maybe Iraq or some shit like that" and probably less than 5% would know the correct answer.

We do a terrible job teaching history.  No big suprise, since we're also poor at teaching language arts and mathematics.  But we do great with dishonesty and deception. 

[M forever]

That's just a matter of perspective, I guess. In Germany, history is taught very thoroughly because they don't want the past to repeat itself. They want people to know and understand the past and learn from it. I have a feeling that here in the US, there is more than negligence behind the way they don't really teach all these things. I more and more get the feeling that influential forces don't want people to know and understand the past. And I am not at all into all these stupid conspiracy theories. But there does seem to be some kind of system behind this.

[knight66]

What is the likely purpose of such a system?

Mike

[M forever]

To breed an easily influenceable population, I guess.

[Bonehelm]

Which is exactly what Japan is (and has been) doing. Sixty years after the war they are still NOT admitting their war crimes done to China, Korea, and many other Asian countries. They still haven't apologized yet, but the truth is brutally and inescapably clear, of what they did. Even some WWII veterans in Japan admitted what they did was wrong and went on to give specifics on how they cut this guy up and fed it to his wife in front of the entire village, or how they burnt a 5 year old girl alive because her papa was wearing the KMT uniform. The government, however, is just a shameless bunch who actually have the guts to say that they never committed any crimes against humanity and all they did was attack and invade a country like any army from any country would.  I'm sure most of the public have no idea of the truth because the government also heavily modified their history textbooks and so people never learn about how they treated their Asian neighbors in that horrible war. Even if they do learn about it, it's about how their imperialist army trampled, stomped and took over Shanghai, the largest city and  capital of the eastern world at that time, in only three months and 13 days. If the ordinary person on the street knew about this history, I'm sure most will regret their atrocities. If they don't, then something must be wrong with them. That's like saying what the Nazis did to the Jewish and Gypsies were nothing and shouldn't be taken seriously.

But at least Germany headed to a complete opposite direction than the Japanese and had the decency to admit what they did and EDUCATE their next generations about them without making stories up. With that attitude it isn't surprising that after all these years not many victims of WWII are still angry and prejudicial about German people. But look at Japan now, thousands of Koreans and Chinese still demonstrate on the street every single time the prime minister talks about the war in public. It's quite obvious who had the manliness to correct their own mistakes and as M said, prevent the history from repeating itself, and who has absolutely no remorse and still pose a potential threat to its neighbors.

[drogulus]

To breed an easily influenceable population, I guess.

    I don't think that's it. Education is locally controlled, and in some regions not really a high priority. Many advanced countries have a highly centralized education bureaucracy, and therefore national goals and a strong sense of purpose. Here we still let the kids out for a long summer vacation to help with the harvest. As a result getting an education is something that's permitted rather than required for most children. Mostly you have to do it yourself.

[scarpia]

    I don't think that's it. Education is locally controlled, and in some regions not really a high priority. Many advanced countries have a highly centralized education bureaucracy, and therefore national goals and a strong sense of purpose. Here we still let the kids out for a long summer vacation to help with the harvest. As a result getting an education is something that's permitted rather than required for most children. Mostly you have to do it yourself.

Quite so.  The US is a strange place.   The economy of Santa Clara county, California, would probably qualify it to sit in the G8 as an independent country.  On the other hand, there are large stretches of the US that would qualify as a third world country.  People in the latter areas are mostly concerned that their children don't learn anything that would lead them to question the superstitions they were raised on.

[Don]

Quite so.  The US is a strange place.   The economy of Santa Clara county, California, would probably qualify it to sit in the G8 as an independent country.  On the other hand, there are large stretches of the US that would qualify as a third world country. 

What large stretches are you referring to?

[scarpia]

What large stretches are you referring to?

The part from West Virginia to Louisiana.

[drogulus]

   The South is the most disaffected area when it comes to a unified national standard about education and other things. Partly it's religious, and a big part is that they're only part of this country because they lost a war. Educating the whole population up to a high standard runs against local traditions that go back centuries. This has changed slowly as people have migrated south and the economy has boomed. The biggest changes have probably been the civil rights revolution and air conditioning. 

[Don]

The part from West Virginia to Louisiana.

That's not a third-world area, just quite earthy.

[DavidRoss]

SAT scores by State 2007
1 Iowa 1,807
2 Illinois 1,793
3 Minnesota 1,776
4 Missouri 1,775
5 Wisconsin 1,760
6 South Dakota 1,758
7 Kansas 1,742
7 North Dakota 1,742
9 Nebraska 1,726
10 Tennessee 1,711
11 Arkansas 1,709
12 Oklahoma 1,708
13 Michigan 1,700
14 Louisiana 1,699
15 Kentucky 1,685
16 Wyoming 1,680
17 Mississippi 1,677
18 Colorado 1,674
19 Alabama 1,673
20 Utah 1,658
21 New Mexico 1,641
22 Montana 1,603
23 Ohio 1,600
24 Idaho 1,599
25 Washington 1,567
26 New Hampshire 1,554
27 Oregon 1,550
28 Arizona 1,546
28 Massachusetts 1,546
30 Vermont 1,542
31 Connecticut 1,533
32 West Virginia 1,528
33 Alaska 1,527
34 Virginia 1,520
35 California 1,513
36 New Jersey 1,499
37 Maryland 1,498
38 Indiana 1,487
39 Nevada 1,486
39 North Carolina 1,486
39 Rhode Island 1,486
42 Texas 1,481
43 Delaware 1,479
44 New York 1,478
45 Pennsylvania 1,474
46 Florida 1,472
46 Georgia 1,472
48 Hawaii 1,463
49 South Carolina 1,459
50 Maine 1,388

[DavidRoss]

State SAT Participation rate% 
Maine                     100               
Massachusetts         89           
New York           89               
Conn.                     84               
New Hampshire         83             
New Jersey           82               
Pennsylvania           75               
Virginia              73                   
Delaware            72               
North Carolina         71               
Maryland            70                 
Georgia             69                 
Rhode Island           68               
Vermont             67                 
Florida               65                   
Indiana              62                   
South Carolina            62               
Hawaii                      61                   
Oregon                     54               
Washington            53               
Texas                      52                 
California               49                   
Alaska                      48                   
Nevada                     41                 
Arizona              32                   
Montana             28                 
Ohio                       27                   
Colorado              24                 
Idaho                       19                 
Tennessee             13               
New Mexico             12               
Kentucky              10               
Alabama              9               
Michigan              9                 
Minnesota             9               
Illinois                 8                   
Kansas                     8                 
Wyoming           8               
Louisiana             7                 
Missouri              6                 
Nebraska            6               
Oklahoma            6             
Utah                       6                 
Wisconsin             6               
Arkansas             5               
Iowa                      4                 
Mississippi              4                 
North Dakota           4             
South Dakota          3           

[DavidRoss]

Public High School Graduation Rates by State, 2002-03 School Year      
Source: EPE Research Center (http://www.edweek.org/rc/index.html)      

Rank   State   Graduation Rate
43   Alabama   60.7
39   Alaska   63.6
31   Arizona   70.0
28   Arkansas   71.8
29   California   71.0
25   Colorado   72.5
6   Connecticut   79.3
44   Delaware   60.7
46   District of Columbia   58.9
47   Florida   57.5
49   Georgia   56.3
38   Hawaii   63.7
9   Idaho   77.8
14   Illinois   76.3
23   Indiana   73.0
3   Iowa   82.5
16   Kansas   75.0
32   Kentucky   69.7
45   Louisiana   60.6
21   Maine   74.0
20   Maryland   74.4
27   Massachusetts   72.1
36   Michigan   66.4
8   Minnesota   79.0
42   Mississippi   60.8
18   Missouri   74.7
15   Montana   75.8
10   Nebraska   77.8
50   Nevada   55.9
11   New Hampshire   77.7
1   New Jersey   84.5
48   New Mexico   56.7
40   New York   62.5
37   North Carolina   66.2
2   North Dakota   83.1
13   Ohio   76.5
30   Oklahoma   71.0
33   Oregon   69.0
7   Pennsylvania   79.1
26   Rhode Island   72.3
51   South Carolina   52.5
19   South Dakota   74.5
41   Tennessee   62.2
35   Texas   66.8
12   Utah   76.7
4   Vermont   81.2
17   Virginia   74.9
34   Washington   68.2
24   West Virginia   72.8
5   Wisconsin   80.6
22   Wyoming   74.0
   U.S.   69.6

[Gurn Blanston]

Are you making a point here, Dave?

Our new state motto: "Texas - We're Smarter than Maine!"   



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Listening to:
St George VCs - Nishizaki Köln CO / Müller-Brühl - Saint-Georges Concerto in A for Violin Op 5 #2 1st mvmt