A study released by a subgroup-interdepartmental thingy from the Department of Education said today that one of every three people in the District of Columbia is functionally illiterate.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated that this was yet more evidence that the Bush Administration lied in the build-up to the war in Iraq.
Categories: stuff in my head
A study released by a subgroup-interdepartmental thingy from the Department of Education said today that one of every three people in the District of Columbia is functionally illiterate.
The study was based on a survey of cab drivers within the District.
Categories: stuff in my head
A study released by a subgroup-interdepartmental thingy from the Department of Education said today that one of every three people in the District of Columbia is functionally illiterate.
A study by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms stated that one in two people in the District has suffered serious brain damage from drinking in the presence of lobbyists.
Categories: stuff in my head
A study released by a subgroup-interdepartmental thingy from the Department of Education said today that one of every three people in the District of Columbia is functionally illiterate.
The study further stated that majority of the other 2/3 of the District is just dysfunctional.
Categories: stuff in my head
I heard something yesterday that gave me a new perspective on the civil portion of the conflict in Iraq.
Think about families where there is abuse or addiction that goes untreated for a generation or two. When we see addiction, we almost expect that there was addiction in one of the parents – not always a fair assumption, certainly; but it is what one expects to see. Likewise with physical or emotional abuse; those that are abused often become abusers, at least in higher proportion than those that become abusers without some stimulus in the home.
Now take that and apply it at a national level.
Say, for instance, that you grew up in a country where you were not allowed to make a lot of choices because the central government made all the choices for you. Odds are good that, if that government were to suddenly change in style, most of the citizens would have no idea what was going on, and might even long for a return to “the good old days.” Need a specific example? Take a closer look at the new Russia; Putin is the new czar.
Or suppose you grew up in a country where people were taken off the streets and brutalized for any apparent dissent with the government, a place where the government held its position by brute force; with the removal of that leadership, those who have some basic leadership skills truly might not understand that they could apply what they know about leadership minus the aspects of brutality. You would expect to see people trying to assert their influence strictly by force. And when the people grow weary of the violence, they will, likely, want a strong central government – though most will not long for the return of the tyrant. Thus goeth Iraq.
How about here at home? We have had generations brought up here feeding at the public trough, and learning that they need do very little (except to vote for the handout party) in order to keep the slop coming. When legal immigrants come here, they come ready to work, ready to contribute. It takes a generation or two of surrendering one’s will to the great nanny before they are infected with the Great American Malaise, then they too will expect handouts. When, from time to time, people wake up enough to realize that they are existing rather than living, they throw out the bums…but then they miss their slop.
We are becoming a nation of emotional cripples, all too willing to be coddled into total dependence on others.
| How sweet it were, hearing the downward stream, | |
| With half-shut eyes ever to seem | |
| Falling asleep in a half-dream!
Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Lotus-Eaters |
Categories: on being politically incorrect · stuff in my head
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