What Our Children Are Learning

This meme recently appeared on my Facebook feed:

I didn't know whether to be sad or angry, so I settled on both. And I figured I might as well add a few points the meme's author missed:

It's un-American to question the actions of your government. 

 

If you're strong and rich, laws don't apply to you; you can behave terribly and not suffer any consequences.

The truth is whatever you say it is, as long as you repeat it loud and long enough.

You can ignore inconvenient facts and manufacture your own as you need. 

I have three adult children, and six grandchildren ranging in age from 13 to 25. I hope that they continue to reject the despicable example set by this president and the members of his administration. And I hope that I never behave in a way that makes them think I would behave so terribly.

Have a good day. Believe in the Constitution and the law, not in the squalid and disgusting behavior of the current leadership.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Do We Need to Rethink the Right to Vote?

In the wake of the presidential election, there's been a lot of commentary on both the left and the right about what the results say about the American electorate, and what it means for the future. Much of the commentary has revolved around the simple concept of voting, the right of each citizen to express his or her opinion, which is one of the bedrock principles of our democracy. 

Our cherished right to vote is now a political football, with most Republicans advocating more limits and most Democrats favoring more rights. The Constitution, surprisingly enough, says almost nothing about voting, most of the discussion of voting rights taking place in the amendments, most importantly:

- The 14th Amendment, which sets the right to vote to "male citizens 21 years of age" (changed by Section 1 of the 26th Amendment);

 

- The 15th Amendment, which forbids denying or abridging the right to vote on the basis of "color, race, or previous condition of servitude;" 

- The 19th Amendment, which forbids denying or abridging the right to vote "on account of sex;" 

- The 24th Amendment, which forbids denying or abridging the right to vote "by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax;" and,

- The 26th Amendment, which forbids denying or abridging the right to vote to citizens over 18 "on account of age." 

Voting rights have generally been delineated and ensured by federal law, most importantly the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was readopted and strengthened in 1970, 1975, and 1982. The Supreme Court struck down parts of the act in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, allowing states to enact new and more restrictive voter identification and registration laws.

I think no one would credibly argue that every eligible US citizen has the right to vote in federal or state elections, and that laws which "deny or abridge" their freedom to do so are unconstitutional. 

They have the right to vote ... but should they?

I've been pondering this heretical question since Der Furor's return to power in the 2024 general election, for several reasons.

One reason is based on personal experience. I work as a precinct-level Election Officer (EO) here in Virginia, and as such I'm sworn to uphold all federal and state election laws. In this month's election, another EO and I were trying to register* a US citizen couple who were Vietnamese and spoke only minimal English. Usually, this is not an issue, as our ballots and related voting materials are printed in multiple languages (English, Spanish, Korean, and Vietnamese - the major languages in our county); however, these people were completely unable to understand either the voter registration forms or their provisional ballots. We had to scramble to find a Vietnamese interpreter approved by the Department of Elections and get him on the phone to help these people understand what they were doing. They eventually cast their provisional ballots.

Here's the issue: as US citizen residents of Virginia over the age of 18 and not previously convicted of a felony, these people met every legal qualification to vote. But, given that they were unable to understand either their voter registration forms or their ballots without serious linguistic assistance, should they have voted? Did they fully understand what they were signing and what the implications were? Were they ready to exercise not just their right to vote, but their (implied) duty to understand what they were voting for? Sadly, I don't think they were.

Here's another, related issue: since the election there have been voluminous reports in the news media featuring voters who were utterly uninformed about the major issues surrounding the election, in particular the state of the economy and the effect on it of each party's proposals. For instance, many voters interviewed did not know what a "tariff" is, who pays for it, and how it might affect the US economy. There was also a profound ignorance of Constitution and the structure and function of government**, as well as the US role in the international community. As US citizens over the age of 18, these people were perfectly eligible to vote. But given this lack of understanding - particularly on the structure and powers of their own government - should they have voted?

So, here's my dilemma: I absolutely believe that every US citizen has both a right and a duty to vote. Each of us depends on the smooth operation of our government and the capabilities and integrity of the individuals we elect to represent our interests. But do voters make rational decisions when they don't understand the issues? When they don't speak English - or whatever language*** - well enough to understand not just issues, but implications? When they base their votes on simple bumper-sticker arguments free of context and nuance? When they lack the education or knowledge to evaluate the potential outcomes of the votes they cast?

I think the time has come not for limits on the absolute right to vote, but on the requirements we should consider implementing to ensure that prospective voters are ready to responsibly exercise their right. Here are some of the requirements I'd like to see ...

- A test of basic citizenship knowledge. A 2018 survey showed that two-thirds of native-born American citizens can't pass the 10-question citizenship test given to those seeking to become US citizens ... they don't understand our history, how our government is organized, or other facts one might expect the averagely-informed citizen to know. In part, this is because we no longer emphasize the teaching of history or basic civics in schools†. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask a voter who is a native-born US citizen to demonstrate the same level of basic knowledge about the nation, its government, and its history that we expect of those applying for citizenship. 

- A current events test. This doesn't need to be a deep-dive into the minutiae of the news††, but rather a simple test to reveal whether or not a prospective voter is at least passingly aware of events in the world and how his or her vote might affect them.

- I'd also like to see a basic literacy test - available not just in English, but in one of the other languages most commonly spoken in this country (generally Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Chinese), but that's probably a political and social bridge too far, given our past experience with the use of literacy tests as a voter suppression tool and the damage done over the years to our public education system. I'm not quite sure how such a test would need to be designed, but it should at least indicate that the person can understand what he or she is voting for†††.

I understand that this suggestion will generate howls of outrage from both ends of the spectrum. Democrats/liberals/progressives will rage about new methods of voter suppression that will deny the vote to (mostly) black or underprivileged citizens. Republicans/conservatives/MAGAts will argue that it doesn't go far enough to "purify" voter rolls.

I think we need not just to insist on our rights, but to make sure we're able to intelligently exercise them. There's more to our rights, our government, and our role in the world than noisy defense of the Second Amendment.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

Have a good day. Enjoy both your rights and your responsibilities to the country that guarantees them. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* It's legal to register to vote on Election Day under Virginia law in appropriate circumstances. A person who registers on Election Day may cast a provisional ballot which is counted only after their registration has been approved by the Board of Elections.

** A shortcoming also found in some elected members of Congress.

*** Contrary to what many people believe, English is not the official national language of the United States, but as it is the most widely spoken, it is generally considered the de facto national tongue. Some states have designated English as their official language.

† Largely because of disagreements on how our history should be presented ("cleaned up" or "warts and all") and what the actual meaning of the Constitution is (consider the current scrum over the separation of church and state).

†† It's foolish to ask a question like "Who is the current prime minister of Zamboanga?," but it's certainly appropriate to ask a question like, "Name two major US trading partners," "who are your sitting Senators and your Representative?," or "name at least one country outside the United States where US troops are stationed."

††† Unfortunately, given that a lot of the things that we're asked to vote on (like bond issues or constitutional amendments) are written in  convoluted legal language, I'm not sure that the best-intentioned of linguistic experts will be able to design an appropriate test. 

Learning a New Language at 73

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while may recall that my undergraduate major in college was Linguistics, with a specialization in foreign languages, which required me to minor in one language and study another to the "intermediate" level. My minor language was German, in which I'm conversationally fluent; my "intermediate" language was Russian, in which I can, sadly, no longer claim anything like fluency. Nevertheless, I remain fascinated by the subject of languages and enjoy studying them, if not always learning to speak them fluently.

Back in July, Agnes and I went on a cruise vacation from Boston up the New England coast to Québec, and in preparation for our planned stay in that francophone city, we decided to learn some French* ...

I signed us up for an online French course with Babbel, which we gamely struggled through for a few weeks before deciding we were not learning very much other than such useful expressions as Il y a vache dans le jardin (there's a cow in the garden), je veux travailler dans une usine de chocolat (I want to work in a chocolate factory), and votre poulet est sur mon pied (your chicken is on my foot)**. On the advice of our daughter Yasmin, we decided to switch over to Duolingo.

We found Duolingo to be superior to Babbel for the way we learn, although Agnes had a bit of a head start on me, having studied French many years ago. We thus arrived in Canada armed with a few weeks of survival French ... only to learn that pretty much everybody in the touristy areas spoke better English than we did. Agnes got several positive comments on her accent, and I thought my accent wasn't bad either, although I was reminded of my long-suffering college Russian teacher's comment that I spoke a perfect accent without a trace of Russian.

Once back from our trip to Quebec, we decided that since we'd paid good money for the Duolingo program, we should keep up with it. Agnes has continued with French, although I decided to switch to Spanish, which seems to be more useful in present-day America***.

I think I'm making reasonable strides in basic Spanish, although there are a few things that are giving me fits:

- The grammatical gender of nouns^† is not always the same in Spanish as it is in German, which can be confusing. On the plus side, Spanish only has two grammatical genders, while German has three.

- Spanish is spoken at a rate of 570,000,000 words per minute, making it a bit difficult for a beginner to follow. Of course, German is spoken rapidly, too, but I've had a lot more years to learn to follow it.

- As in pretty much all languages, the verb to be is irregular. But Spanish gives it a twist by making you learn two different verbs which both mean to be: ser and estar. The basic rule of which one to use is this: your first guess is always wrong^††.

So ...

Yo hablo alemán, y necesito estudiar mucho, porque español es muy difícil.

If that's wrong, I'll just check with my granddaughter Leya, who is patiently trying to help me out. After all, it's commonly known that it's a lot harder to learn a language when you're 73 than when you're 17.

Schön Tag noch! Weitere Meinungen folgen.

Bilbo

* I remembered the hysterically funny essay "French for Americans" by Robert Benchley, in which I learned (among other things) that French has five vowels - a, e, i, o, and u, pronounced ong, ong, ong, ong, and ong. You can read a summary of the whole essay in this Futility Closet post.

** In fairness to Babbel, the last one was helpfully offered by our friend Kathy.

*** Much to the horror of most conservative voters.

† I have a degree in linguistics and I still have no idea why nouns need a grammatical gender ... in German, for example, you eat your meals with a knife (das Messer, neuter), fork (die Gabel, feminine), and spoon (der Löffel, masculine). Whyzat?

†† Making ser and estar the linguistic equivalent of USB connectors.

What the Next Generation is Learning

Der Furor has done almost immeasurable harm to this county in many areas: he has worked to wreck our health care system (in the middle of a pandemic); squandered the support and goodwill of our allies; enriched the rich while beggaring the middle and lower classes; and coarsened our discourse ... and all that's just for starters. The really sad part of it (aside from the fact that so many Americans who should know better are willing to forgive his excesses) is the effect his behavior and personality are having on our children and grandchildren.

I saw this meme on line the other day, and it really hits home:

What will our society look like when the last shreds of decency are gone from a generation that has learned the foul lessons of Der Furor? I certainly don't want to live in a country full of people who behave like him, but we may well do so.

Have a good day. Set a better example for your family than the fatuous, brutish, and ill-mannered ignoramus in the White House. 

More thoughts tomorrow, when we announce the Right-Cheek Ass Clown for September.

Bilbo

"Educational Density"

I was listening to an interesting discussion on my local NPR station the other day in which the panelists and callers were discussing the various reasons why various groups of people vote the way they do, often in clear opposition to their own interests, and at one point in the discussion, one of the panelists referred to the role of educational density in group voting.

Educational density in this context referred to the percentage in a given city, state, or other voting region of a particular group of citizens who shared a particular level of education - grade school, high school, or college - with the idea being that the relative distribution of education levels can predict how a particular group or region will vote.

As I look at present-day America, I have another possible definition of educational density. In this definition, it refers to the ossification of one's way of thinking as a result of one's level of education ... such as, these damn college-educated elitists don't understand real people, or those high-school yahoos just don't understand how the world really works.

Speaking as one of those damn college-educated elitists, I believe that a lower level of education can lead to insular thinking and a failure to recognize the critical importance of interactions among people, nations and economies. I also believe that a higher level of education can lead to a tendency to ignore the day-to-day concerns of those whose points of view come from the school of hard knocks rather than the ivy-covered walls of academe.

It's important in our current supercharged, politically angry climate to understand the role of educational density not just as a convenient (if dodgy) predictor of voting patterns, but also as a danger to clear thinking. As I've often said here before, Bilbo's First Law applies: don't let anyone else do your thinking for you.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Speaking of Language ...

Thanks to my undergraduate degree in Linguistics and my lifelong interest in foreign languages, I was drawn to an article to which my friend Mary posted a link not long ago: Meet the Linguists: the New French Government Is Packing Some Pretty Intimidating Skills. The point of the article was that not only does French president Emmanuel Macron speak perfect English*, but almost all the senior members of his government speak at least one, and often several foreign languages fluently.

I realize that the linguistic skill of the senior officials of the French government probably doesn't interest the average American, but it should ... particularly when you think about it in the context of other things in the news, such as this: With State Budget in Crisis, Many Oklahoma Schools Hold Classes Four Days a Week. When classes are held only four days a week, what are the subjects that tend to drop off the schedule? Music, art ... and foreign languages. There is ample reason to question the educational preparation of many Americans nowadays, but there's really no reason to make the situation worse.

As you probably know if you've been reading this blog for very long, I speak German ... not quite as well as I did when we were actually living in Germany, but well enough to converse on most topics with native speakers of the language. I can tell you from long experience that people in Germany were amazed to find an American who actually spoke their language beyond the stock tourist phrases seeking the location of beer, toilets, or train stations.

The ability to speak a language other than your own is a priceless asset when traveling, or when trying to understand the positions and opinions of other nations. As the "Meet the Linguists" article pointed out ...

"Where a thorough command of a language does help is when it comes to questions of cultural understanding. The linguistic skills of Macron’s ministers attest to their ability to empathise with their interlocutors and to understand their cultural, historical and social hinterland."

In an era of jingoistic "America First" attitudes, many Americans insist that there's no need to learn a foreign language ... everyone speaks English, after all, and if they don't, they should. But as America draws back like a turtle into its protective shell, there are a lot of other languages out there that are being studied as new powers arise - languages like Chinese and Russian - and languages that are being studied because of changes in the cultural makeup of nations - languages like Spanish and Arabic. You may believe in "America First," but if you want to get other nations to listen to you and take you seriously, making an effort to meet them halfway by learning their languages is not a bad idea.

Ich wünsche Euch einen recht schönen Tag. Neue Bemerkungen werden Morgen erscheinen.

Bilbo

* Better than the American president, according to some.

The Most Literate Nations

I recently ran across a reference to a 2016 study - The World's Most Literate Nations (WMLN) - conducted by Central Connecticut State University which ranks literacy rates and literate behavior in more than 60 countries around the world. Here's the chart which summarizes the results:

The first thing to note is that the United States is ranked seventh overall, behind five nordic nations and Switzerland. Seventh. First place goes to Finland.

Let that sink in for a minute.

The rankings were calculated using various literacy test results and five categories that constituted "literate behavior characteristics" - Libraries, Newspapers, Education System-Inputs, Education System-Outputs and Computer Availability. The size of each nation's population was also considered in order to establish per capita data. Here's my thinking on how the US ended up in seventh place ...

1. Libraries. Underfunded, underused, and underappreciated, libraries are among the first public services to be cut when money is short. The WMLN report ranks the United States as tied with the United Kingdom for twenty-ninth in this measure. Russia ranks 17th.

2. Newspapers. Circulation is dropping in favor of broadcast media and online outlets that can generate lots of reporting that's a mile wide and an inch deep and can drone in the background without providing context or requiring the need to read and think. The WMLN report ranks the United States twelfth in this measure ... right below Bulgaria.

3. Education System - Inputs. Our teachers are underpaid and underappreciated, and our schools are woefully underfunded and buffeted by the demands of political and religious special interests. And the Department of Education is headed by an individual who is utterly unqualified for the position. The WMLN report ranks the United States ninth in this measure ... Mexico ranks third.

4. Education System - Outputs. This measure ranks nations according to how their students perform on standardized tests of reading ability. We're tied with Germany for 12th place, and elected an unqualified, unprincipled, and churlish boor to be president. 'Nuff said.

5. Computer Availability. The WMLN study ranks nations on the percentage of homes that have a desktop or laptop computer (smart phones, tablets, and TV sets are not considered). The US ranks 23rd, behind the Slovak Republic ... perhaps because computers seem to be most often used for social media and gaming.

Seventh place overall. Why am I not surprised?

Have a good day. Read more, and think about what you read.

Come back tomorrow for another collection of Great Moments in Editing and Signage. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Of Slime Mold and Education

We live in a complicated and difficult world, whether it's in the jungles or the rain forest or the concrete canyons of the big cities. The one thing that makes it possible for us to survive and thrive in any of those environments is education.

A vibrant and working democracy requires an educated and informed public to work properly. People need an education that not only prepares them to succeed in daily life, but to understand their obligation to others to build a working society.

Here in America, we don't value education as much as many other cultures do. We pay our teachers the most meager wages we can get away with, ask them to buy their own equipment and supplies by ruthlessly cutting our investments in schools, insist that they navigate complex rules on what we think they ought to teach (based on our religious or cultural preferences), and rely on them to act in loco parentis ... and then condemn them when they do. And then we wonder why people do crazy things like believe in wild conspiracy theories or join cults or vote for Donald Trump.

Speaking of education, I ran across this interesting article in the Washington Post a few days ago: Slime Molds Prove You Don’t Need a Brain to Learn - or Teach - a New Trick. This is a fascinating article that describes a study which challenges the belief that a complex brain and nervous system are necessary for some level of intelligent behavior. You can read the article for yourself (it's not long), but the bottom line is this: slime mold, which is pretty much nothing more than a single-celled blob of glop, is capable not only of learning, but of passing on what has been learned to other molds. This, of course, gives hope to those who believe there is a promising future for the GOP when it grows up.

Have a good day. Never stop learning, and help your children learn, too. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

Slogans for College Majors

The fall term (or semester, or whatever) has begun on college campuses around the country, and millions of students are settling back down to the routine of classes and intensive study heavy partying. For those pursuing degrees in various disciplines, I offer these slogans I found in a truer-than-you-may-know piece online ...

Chemistry: Where alcohol is a solution.

Biochemistry: Spend four years aspiring to discover a cure for cancer and the rest of your life manufacturing shampoo.

Archaeology: If you don't know what it is, it was ceremonial.

Business Administration: You, too, can wreck the economy!

Information Technology: Let me Google that for you.

Computer Science: Because you can save money by being able to work out of your parents' basement.

Political Science: Your opinion is wrong and you hate America.

Engineering: The science of figuring out which parameters you can safely ignore.

Structural Engineering: Because architects don't understand physics.

Philosophy: Think about it.

Communications: Exciting careers in obfuscatory politics.

Linguistics: Study 17 languages; become fluent in none.

Criminal Justice: Never a job shortage!

Statistics: Support, not illumination.

Anthropology: It may get you laid but won't get you paid.

Zoology: Because you can't major in kittens.

Pre-Med: I'll switch majors in two years.

Divinity School: My God can beat up your God.

English: So you want to be a teacher.

Astrophysics: Within an order of magnitude.

Creative Writing: Job security is for wusses.

Physics: Everything you learned last semester is wrong.

Nursing: Save lives while fighting not to take your own.

Marine Biology: I wanted to play with dolphins but instead, I look at algae.

Accounting: Sell your soul for money.

Finance: Accounting was too hard.

Art History: Because you thought making art was pointless.

Graphic Design: We aren't artists, we're designers; there's a difference!

Any other suggestions? Leave a comment.

Have a good day. Study hard ... you may end up unemployed, but you'll be well-educated.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

What the Teacher Says, and What She Really Means

Now that conservative Republicans control the majorities in both houses of Congress and the majority of state governments across the country, we need to get ready for some significant changes of direction in social and governmental philosophy. One of these is the desire of state and local-level conservatives to get rid of national education standards, the belief being that the topics and skills taught and degree of education required of children should be decided at the local level and not by - God forbid! - gummint bureaucrats in Washington.

Let's face it ... teaching is a difficult and often thankless job. Teachers are underpaid and overworked, often having to purchase supplies for their classrooms from their own pockets. School budgets are the first things cut during economic downturns. Class sizes are too large for effective instruction. Parents resent honest grades and evaluations of their children (who are all well-behaved geniuses, of course) while they expect teachers to function in loco parentis ... except when they don't want them to function that way. I often wonder why people want to go into teaching as a profession, but I'm glad they do, in spite of all the obstacles we put in the way of their work.

In honor of our underappreciated, underpaid, and overworked teachers, here's a handy guide for parents to help you understand what the teacher is actually telling you during those conferences you really don't want to attend ...

Your son has a remarkable ability to gather information from his classmates.
He cheats on tests.

Karen is an endless fund of energy and viability.
She's a hyperactive windmill who can't sit still for five minutes.

Fantastic imagination! Unmatched in his capacity for blending fact with fiction. 
He's definitely one of the most creative liars I have ever met. He has a brilliant future in politics.

Margie exhibits a casual, relaxed attitude to school, indicating that high expectations don't intimidate her.
She hasn't completed a single assignment all term.

Her athletic ability is marvelous. Superior hand-eye coordination.
She hit me with a rubber band from 15 feet away.

Nick thrives on interaction with his peers. 
Your son needs to stop socializing and start working.

Your daughter's greatest asset is her demonstrative public discussions. 
The classroom lawyer. Why is it that every time I explain an assignment she creates a class argument?

John enjoys the thrill of engaging challenges with his peers. 
He's a bully.

An adventurous nature lover who rarely misses opportunities to explore new territory. 
Your daughter was caught skipping school at the park.

Unlike some students who hide their emotion, Charles is very expressive and open. 
He must have written the Whiner's Guide.

I firmly believe that her intellectual and emotional progress would be enhanced through a year's repetition of her learning environment.
She is not ready for high school and must repeat the 8th grade.

Her exuberant verbosity is awesome!
She never shuts up.

Those of you who are teachers will appreciate this. It will soar grandly above the heads of many others.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

The Skills We Ought to Have

Here's a really interesting article from Lifehacker by Melanie Pinola - The Top 10 Skills We Wish Were Taught in School, But Usually Aren't. You can read the entire list for yourself, but here are three of Ms Pinola's suggestions that I think are especially good, along with my comments and another four suggestions of my own ...

Study Skills. Nobody seems to know how to study any more. I think this is probably a function of two things: the general decline in reading, and the advent of the Google search that makes research too easy and too limited. We're growing generations that have no idea how to study and do research to find and interpret facts (see Critical Thinking, below).

Basic Money Management. Well, hell, Congress could use this, too. Not many people know how to construct a budget, balance a checkbook, or even figure out the tip on a restaurant check. I'm certainly no math genius, but I'm glad that my parents gave me early lessons in how to do enough math to keep my finances in relative order*.

Basic Self Defense. This is a good one. As a skinny, bookish fellow in grade school and high school, I had more than my share of trouble with bullies, and I could have used some good self-defense training. I finally got it when I took karate lessons in my 50's. I would still probably get my ass kicked in a bar fight, but the other guy would know he'd worked for it.

And now, four of my own suggestions for skills that ought to be taught in school:

Critical Thinking. People nowadays tend to believe utterly ridiculous stuff. Lots of them swallow the bilge pumped out by Faux News whole, without ever bothering to ask even the simplest questions that would help them separate truth from wildly slanted opinion. Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit and the basics of logic ought to be part of every high school and college curriculum.

Good Manners and Behavior. It seems that to a lot of young - and even older - people nowadays, good manners are considered a sign of weakness or servility. It's more important in many circles to build "street cred" than it is to treat other people decently. "Please" and "thank you" - the magic words my parents drilled into us and I try to drill into my grandchildren - come few and far between. The Golden Rule has gotten pretty badly oxidized, and our schools ought to help polish it up again.

Effective Writing Skills. I enjoy writing and I like to think I'm pretty good at it. But there are a lot of people out there who either slept through their English classes or just never bothered to take them. I'm appalled at least twice a day by the miserable quality of writing I encounter, even from people who supposedly have baccalaureate or postgraduate degrees. I think our schools should invest a lot more time teaching people to write coherent sentences and paragraphs and recognize when the spell-checker is leading them astray.

And finally ...

Public Speaking. It's said that most people are terrified of speaking in front of an audience. But public speaking doesn't have to be done in front of an auditorium full of people ... it can be done in a small group when you need to convince others to do something, or of the righteousness of your position. I enjoy public speaking more than most, but you don't have to like it as much as I do ... you just have to have the basic skills and self-confidence to speak clearly and convincingly (see Critical Thinking, above) in public. Unless you're in a debate club, our schools don't seem to teach public speaking skills any more.

So, Dear Readers, those are my ideas on what our schools ought to be teaching. I recognize that there are a lot of people advocating a lot of "feel-good" subjects they believe ought to be squeezed into our school curricula, but I think the ones I've mentioned above are more important than many, many others. How about you? What things do you think our schools ought to be teaching that they aren't now. Leave a comment.

Have a good day. Speak and write well, and remember the Golden Rule. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Of course, Congress and the business community are ever conspiring to keep my budget out of whack by means of taxes and the constant hiking of prices and fees to "cover the cost of doing business." Wouldn't it be nice if we could arbitrarily hike our paychecks to "cover the cost of everyone else doing business?"

Electrical Dreams and Grammatical Reality

Many years ago when I was a young whippersnapper growing up in Pittsburgh*, I wanted to be a scientist. I loved the imagery of laboratories with colored liquids bubbling in strange glass vessels, of sparks climbing jacob's ladders or zipping from van de Graaf generators, of the whole arcane mystique of science. I eventually matriculated** at Penn State University, where (much to my father's pride) I began my quest to become a chemical engineer.

But then my scholarship crashed on the jagged reefs of differential and integral calculus, sinking all my dreams of cackling hysterically in my vast mountaintop laboratory ...

And I ended up with a degree in Linguistics, having traded laboratory glassware and electrical displays for (much to my father's dismay) the arcane mysteries of German grammar and acoustic phonetics***.

Sigh.

I thought about this today when I ran across this wonderful sendup of the impossibly complex electrical diagrams that I was never able to understand ...

... and I decided that German grammar and the Cyrillic alphabet weren't so bad after all.

So, Dear Readers, did you realize your dreams? Are you still working on them? Want to share? Leave a comment, and let's see where we're all going together.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* As opposed to an old curmudgeon grouching along in Springfield.

** But I had to stop, because I heard I'd go blind if I kept it up.

*** I can now refer to a raspberry as an elongated bilateral labial fricative.

Is D.C. the Best-Educated Big City in America?

If, like me, you spend a lot of time shaking your head at the ludicrous antics of Congress in general and many of its individual members in particular*, you may be surprised at this article from the October 10^th issue of the Washington Post - Study: D.C. Is the Best-Educated Big City in America.

Yes, Dear Readers, as counterintuitive as it may often seem, the population of the Washington, DC metro area is - according to a study conducted for First 5 LA - better educated than the population of any other city in America of comparable size. While DC public schools are not considered to be very good, the metro area benefits from the presence of suburbs with excellent school systems and from a large population of highly-educated employees of the federal government and the many corporations and think tanks that are headquartered in the area.

I know from personal experience that there are a lot of really brilliant people working in the government and the vast array of organizations and businesses that support it. I marvel every day at the quality of the people with whom I am privileged to work and with whom I can exchange ideas. But I also know from routine experience that "level of education" does not always equal "level of practical, applied smarts." A look at our hopelessly dysfuctional Congress and at the corruption-ridden DC city government clearly shows that.

Education, when not leavened by common sense and practical applicability, not only is not very useful, but can be downright dangerous. The sage who first said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing knew whereof he spoke.

This reminds me of a very interesting talk I once heard by General Al Gray, the crusty former Commandant of the Marine Corps. In it, he said that he liked to use the "7-11 Test" for ideas presented to him ... that is, if he thought a proposed idea would make sense to an average person buying a coffee or a Big Gulp at the local 7-11, it probably had merit.

I think Congress would be wise to use some form of General Gray's 7-11 test, rather than relying on "unbiased studies" done by well-educated policy wonks at obscurely-named organizations with hidden agendas, or on telephone surveys of carefully-selected people designed to produce a desired result.

A good education is a gift to be treasured, and a truly well-educated person is one who understands how little he really knows.

And by that yardstick, there aren't very many well-educated persons in DC.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* I'm thinking about Republican Representative Paul Broun of Georgia - a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, no less - who recently said, "All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and Big Bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell." I think we're in trouble.

Language Problems

Every once in a while, I feel a burning urge to somehow put to use that degree in Linguistics I earned all those years ago. This time, it started with two articles that recently caught my attention ... the first was from yesterday's Washington Post, under the headline "Fairfax Schools System Faces Growing Budget Challenge As More Students Need ESOL Classes;" the other was this story from NPR which aired last Saturday: "Some Georgia Schools Make Mandarin Mandatory."

Here in Fairfax County, Virginia, which is a relatively affluent area, the well-regarded school system is facing the same sort of budget problems that are plaguing school systems across the country ... but with a bit of a twist: so many foreign families are moving to the area and enrolling their children in the public schools that budgets for training in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) are mushrooming, to the detriment of other subjects. According to the article,

"This year, about 31,500 students are projected to enroll in ESOL, representing 17 percent [emphasis is mine] of the total county student population and an increase of nearly one-third from last year."

The problem is compounded by the fact that ESOL teaching is mandated by the federal government, but the law prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for it. As a result, money that could be used to pay for vital education for all students in reading, math, science, and - yes - civics must be siphoned off to help teach foreign students the basic English they need to master everything else.

I strongly believe in education for all, but this is just wrong.

The other story strikes me as a classic example of a wonderful idea that makes no sense in current conditions.

The superintendent of public schools in Bibb County, Georgia (the area surrounding the city of Macon) has instituted a requirement for the teaching of Mandarin Chinese to every student from pre-Kindergarten through 12^th grade. The superintendent, Romain Dallemand, says,

"Students who are in elementary school today, by 2050 they'll be at the pinnacle of their career. They will live in a world where China and India will have 50 percent of the world GDP. They will live in a world where, if they cannot function successfully in the Asian culture, they will pay a heavy price."

In itself, this is not a bad idea. I firmly believe in the importance of learning a foreign language - more than one, if possible - and China is definitely a growing economic, military, and political power with which we must be able to communicate effectively. But at a time when schools are overrun with students who cannot function in English, it seems silly to mandate the teaching of a supremely difficult language like Mandarin, important though it may be.

The GOP made a lot of noise during its convention about the importance of education. But when the party's program is based largely on cutting taxes - which, oddly enough, pay for public education - it makes one doubt the sincerity of their belief in education. But then, this is the party that ignores basic science and includes loud fringe groups that insist on teaching "creation science."

Education has always been important, but in the 21st century, it's more important than ever. We need to prepare our students with strong basic skills in math, science, critical thinking, and - yes - foreign languages. But if limited funds must be spent simply to teach basic English to students who exclusively speak another language at home, we will continue to fall behind other nations which recognize the importance of a well-rounded education.

If we don't spend money on elementary, secondary, and higher education, we'll find that there will be plenty of jobs for our young people in the future ... offering fries and dessert with the burgers ordered by the foreigners who prize education and are willing to make the necessary investment in it.

Have a good day. Learn a foreign language, but learn other things, too. And support the people who teach your children.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

What the Teacher Meant to Say ...

I've written often enough in this space about the sad state of American education, and the lack of respect we show both for education in general and the hard-working teachers we rely upon to pack knowledge into our children's heads. The anti-intellectualism of people in this country - especially on the far right - is shocking, and bodes ill for the future.

Teachers are tremendously important to our children and, thus, to our future. Unfortunately, because Little Johnny/Jane is a perfect creature incapable of doing wrong, teachers can't always tell parents what they really need to know. Here are a few examples of the sorts of things teachers say during those parent-teacher conferences ... and what they would say if they weren't afraid of being sued ...

Your son has a remarkable ability to gather needed information from his classmates.

He was caught cheating on a test.

Karen is an endless fund of energy and viability.

The hyperactive monster can't sit still for five minutes.

Fantastic imagination! Unmatched in his capacity for blending fact with fiction.

He's definitely one of the biggest liars I have ever met ... the kid's got a brilliant future in politics.

Margie exhibits a casual, relaxed attitude to school, indicating that high expectations don't intimidate her.

She hasn't turned in a single assignment all term.

Her athletic ability is marvelous, and she exhibits superior hand-eye coordination.

The little creep stung me with a rubber band from 15 feet away.

Nick thrives on interaction with his peers.

Your son needs to stop socializing and start working.

Your daughter's greatest asset is her demonstrative public discussions.

Classroom lawyer! Why is it that every time I explain an assignment she creates a class argument?

Johnny enjoys the thrill of engaging challenges with his peers.

He's a bully.

An adventurous nature lover who rarely misses opportunities to explore new territory.

Your daughter was caught skipping school at the fishing pond.

Unlike some students who hide their emotions, Charles is very expressive and open.

He must have written Whining for Dummies.

I firmly believe that her intellectual and emotional progress would be enhanced through a year's repetition of her learning environment.

Regretfully, we believe that she is not ready for high school and must repeat the 8th grade.

Her exuberant verbosity is awesome!

Does this child ever shut up?

Teachers. What would we do without them?

Have a good first day of spring ... more thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

Rule, Digital Britannia!

You more than likely have seen one of the many stories in print, on the air, and online over the past few days, reporting the decision to stop printing the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica in hard copy ...

and transition to an all-digital format.

Our family was one of the many that owned a copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Our parents bought it while I was in high school to replace our older, already well-outdated World Book Encyclopedia ... now also available online. It came in about 20 volumes, weighed a ton, and came with a nice, polished wood two-shelf bookcase on which to display the majestic tomes that just oozed gravitas as they awaited each request to share the accumulated knowledge of the centuries. It also came with a number of research request credits, which allowed us to submit questions to the "EB" staff, and receive detailed, annotated reports in reply ... a real godsend for struggling students in the days before Google, Wikipedia, and other online plagiarism research tools.

The Encyclopedia Britannica was more than just the ultimate pre-Internet research tool ... it was a symbol that the family which owned it was one that valued knowledge and education, as my family surely did. It sat proudly in its polished wood bookcase in the hallway, ready to be consulted each time we walked from living room to bedroom ... or bathroom (I come from a long and distinguished line of bathroom readers).

Many are lamenting the decision of the EB publishers to go all-digital, but I think it was the right move. Given the pace at which new knowledge is accumulating nowadays (except, of course, in the Know-Nothing Republican party), a hard-copy encyclopedia is out of date almost as soon as it rolls off the press. It makes sense to publish such a reference digitally, allowing for easy and frequent updates. It also saves space in those narrow hallways and weight during relocations. On the minus side, of course, it deprives us of the joy of paging randomly through the nearly-endless pages of small print and illustrations, stopping whenever something interesting catches our eye.

Oh, well...

As you well know, Dear Readers, I'm a traditionalist when it comes to books. For all their weight and bulk, I love hard-copy books that rest comfortably in my hand. I have an iPad with several digital reading programs on it, which is handy for commuting and travel, but it will never replace the sheer joy of a real, ink-on-paper book.

Except for the exceptions like encyclopedias.

So, farewell to the traditional Encyclopedia Britannica, and hello to its digital grandchild. I'm sure we'll get along just fine. At least, until the power goes out.

Have a good day, whether hard-copy or digitally, and be here tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday.

More thoughts then.

Bilbo

P.S. - if you visit the Encyclopedia Britannica website, you will notice the tag line on the header: "Facts Matter." This is, obviously, not applicable during the presidential campaign season. Or, in Disneyland-on-the-Potomac, at pretty much any other time.

B.

The Education We Need

Since we live in a time when decisions on important topics are made on the basis of half-baked bumper sticker slogans rather than careful thought and consideration of the consequences, we must prepare to face the problems that will inevitably result. Signed a "no taxes, ever" pledge? Okay, now we don't have enough money to run the government. What do we cut? I know: education! Who needs schools and libraries and programs for children, anyhow? All those teachers and administrators are overpaid and the kids can get all the education they need from memorizing the Bible/Koran/etc. Kids shouldn't waste their lives hanging around libraries reading books ... they need to get jobs and learn to support themselves.

Good luck with that, ass clowns.

So, how do we cope with our crumbling education structure ... one in which we produce fewer college graduates each year than the Chinese produce engineers?

How about night school seminars for men and women ...

Seminars for Men (Taught by Unemployed Women):

Course 001 - Combating Stupidity
Course 002 - You Can Do Housework
Course 003 - PMS: Learn When to Keep Your Mouth Shut
Course 004 - How to Fill an Ice Cube Tray
Course 005 - We Do Not Want Sleazy Underthings for Christmas
Course 006 - Advanced Laundry Techniques (Formerly - Don't Wash My Silks)
Course 007 - Understanding the Female Response When You Come Home Drunk at 4:00 a.m.
Course 008 - Parenting: It Doesn't End With Conception
Course 009 - Staying Awake After Sex (classwork only - no lab)
Course 010 - Honest: You Don't Look Like Brad Pitt, Especially Naked

Seminars for Women (Taught by Unemployed Men):

Course 101 - The Truth About ESP (formerly - No, We Can’t Read Your Mind)
Course 102 - Decorating Your Bathroom With Wet Pantyhose
Course 103 - Sex Can Be Fun
Course 104 - You CAN Shop Alone
Course 105 - Logical Thinking and How to Avoid It
Course 106 - Time Management: Dressing for an Evening Out in Under Three Hours
Course 107 - Auto Maintenance 101: Filling the Gas Tank
Course 108 - The Telephone: Overcoming Your Dependency
Course 109 - Honest: You Don’t Look Like Scarlett Johansson, Especially Naked
Course 110 - Real Women Like Sex

Have a good day. Study hard. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

P.S. - If you think this is funny, consider that Rick Perry said in last night's debate that he'd eliminate three government agencies if elected ... one of which was the Department of Education. The second was the Department of Commerce, and he couldn't name the third. The man needs Course 001.

B.

Post Office, RIP (... almost)

Along with all the other parts of the economy that are going belly-up, we now have one of the nation's most venerable institutions - the Post Office.

For many reasons - economic, managerial, and political - the US Postal Service is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. This article by Phillip Rubio discusses why the Postal Service remains a necessary part of American life, tying people together, offering an employment bridge by which people could aspire to reach what's left of the middle class, and providing essential communications service to some of the nation's most remote and underserved locations.

As you might suspect, I have some thoughts on the subject.

One reason the Postal Service is on the ropes is the decline in the writing of personal letters. In a world of e-mail, text messaging, and ubiquitous cell phones, who needs to invest the time and energy needed to sit down and compose a real letter? Those of you with whom I have corresponded by snail mail know that I love to write long and chatty letters ... but even I suffer from the simple fact that writing that kind of letter takes time that I don't always have any more. And it isn't just a matter of time - because our schools no longer teach people to actually compose and write, many of those younger than my generation actually have no real idea of how to write a letter - personal or official. I could tell you horror stories about the abysmal level of writing skill I have seen from people who have college degrees hanging on their walls, but it's just too depressing.

Another reason the Postal Service is in trouble is that it is a major provider of entry- and lower-level government jobs ... the sort of jobs that are in the crosshairs of economic conservatives who would cut government at every level to the absolute bone and shift many services now provided by government agencies to the private sector. If you don't think the Postal Service will be gutted, if not demolished, under a Republican administration, you're more optimistic than I am.

The Post Office is one of the original agencies of the federal government, founded on July 26, 1775 by the nation's first Postmaster General - Benjamin Franklin. It represents many things and has many problems, but I think it is one of the most important and iconic agencies of the government, providing services that touch every one of us. The US Postal Service's 2001 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations contained this variation on the classic (if unofficial) post office motto: neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds.

Sadly, it isn't rain, or heat, or gloom, or winds that have brought the post office to the edge of ruin. It's politics, economic pressures, and the decline in writing.

And that's a real shame.

Want a hand-written personal letter? Send your snail mail address to bilbo_the_blogger (at symbol) yahoo (dot) com, and I'll send you one. It may be one of the only ones you ever get. Offer not available to Mike, who still owes me replies to the letters I've already written to him. So there.

Have a good day. Write something. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

The Wrong Cuts

Just like individuals and families, communities everywhere are looking for ways to tighten their belts and live in a new era of shrinking budgets and investments looted by the financial mismanagement industry. The anti-tax movement has limited the ability of governments at all levels to raise operating funds, leaving only two options: cut back on services, or borrow the money they need to operate. This is today's unfortunate reality: everybody wants services, nobody wants to pay for them, and repeated borrowing to compensate for lost income just mortgages the future.

Some budget cuts are worse than others, though.

CNN is reporting that the school superintendent in Kansas City, Missouri, has put forward a plan to close nearly half of the city's schools because of a perfect storm of rising costs and declining numbers of students.

As you might expect, those affected by the school closures - both parents and students - are angrily arguing against the measures. School closings and consolidations are hard on students who must adapt to new school communities and on parents who must adapt to new schedules and teaching staffs. No one likes the school closings, but what do you do? Economically, it doesn't make sense to keep schools with low attendance open, and there is only so much belt-tightening that can be done to save money - after you've cut bus transportation, eliminated music and art classes, cut sports and other after-school programs, put off buying new books, and laid off teachers and staff, what's left?

There are a lot of problems with our schools, even without the added pressures of budget cuts. Congressionally-mandated (read unfunded) requirements, linguistic or physical accommodations for various groups, and social promotion of students who can't advance academically all sap energy and funds from the essential purpose of schools: to prepare our children to live in the Big Bad World. Many of our schools produce students who can't read or perform basic math skills, and I can tell you from personal experience that lots of people with high school (and even college) diplomas can't write decent English sentences. The condition of our government and the deplorable turnout rates for elections can probably be traced to the fact that we don't teach Civics classes any more. Standards are down at the same time that the need for a good basic education is up.

If budgets must be cut, slashing funding for our schools is the equivalent of starving farmers eating their seed corn. It's time to invest in the things that really matter. It's time to save the schools instead of spending money on feel-good programs that don't benefit all our children.

Have a good day. Hang in there...Cartoon Saturday is coming. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Reading More, Reading Less

The National Endowment for the Arts has been surveying the reading habits of Americans since 1982, and the news has been consistently dismal. According to the NEA's surveys, the percentage of American adults who report that they do "literary" reading (novels, short stories, poems, or plays) has declined every year. Five years ago, the survey results were so yucky the NEA went so far as to title its annual survey "Reading at Risk."

Happily though, this year's results show an increase in respondents who claim to have done some "literary" reading during the survey period: from 46.7% of responding adults in 2002 to 50.2% in 2008. But paradoxically, the same survey shows that the percentage of American adults who read any book not required for work or school during the survey period continued to decline, falling from 56.6% in 2002 to 54.3% in 2008.

Eh?

You can read the full story here.

Nobody seems to be able to explain these contradictory results, although the NEA claims partial credit for calling attention to the decline of reading, prompting teachers and librarians to put additional emphasis on recreational reading.

The actual rise in reading rates came entirely from prose fiction (thrillers, mysteries, science fiction, romance, etc), as opposed to the other forms of so-called "literary" reading (nonfiction, poetry, plays, etc). This implies, of course, that the reading is primarily recreational, rather than directed toward self-improvement or education. Is this a bad thing, or is it better that people are reading at all?

If you read my post on what I read in 2008, you know that my interests are pretty wide-ranging. I can't imagine anyone not wanting to read whatever they can get their hands on.

Perhaps the issue is, as the article suggests, that more people are doing their reading online. That's possible, but somehow I can't imagine curling up in front of the fire with a good laptop. I need a real book with pages that rustle as you turn them. They're such an improvement on the old cunieform tablets Mike and Gilahi and I grew up with, dontcha know. And Andrea, bless her heart, has invited me to join her reading circle on GoodReads.com, so there's hope out there for us readers.

Go out and read something. If you want recommendations, check my earlier blog post or just ask. Reading expands your mind and informs you about the world around you.

And God knows we need all the information we can get nowadays.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo