Comments for Waking Ideas

Comment on Oblivion (2013 film) - Review by Dan O.

Dan O. — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:05:22 +0000

This film probably had some great potential, as it must have made a great sales pitch to the studio, but it just didn’t go anywhere like it could have. Good review Danny.

Comment on The Day And Time To End Public Education Is Today, Right Now by Danny Nicolas

Danny Nicolas — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:50:05 +0000

The results matter. If the "high school diploma" is just a piece of paper and the vast majority of "graduates" need to relearn basic skills, then the system has failed. Guess what, that is what is happening. 80% graduating but failing to learn basic skills is a systemic failure. The teachers and administration clamor and beg for additional taxes to be levied, debt is piled on, and money to be poured down upon them. Large buildings are built and filled with the latest technology. Yet the students continue to fail. It would be insane to continue to pour ever increasing amounts of money into a failing education system. No amount of money can 'cure' a broken system when it retains the idiots at the top who have purposely brought in the poison. No amount of money paid to continue a failing system will result in success. As the author of the linked article points out, anything is better than what is occurring now. "Anything -- including literally nothing more than paying for libraries and letting those kids who want to learn sit in them and read -- is better than what we have now." This isn't about teachers. There are many great teachers desperately want to teach, but the system does not allow them to actually teach, for that is clearly not the point. Just because your children, and even I, have succeeded despite being passed through a failed system, does not mean we should continue to heave heavier boulders upon our backs. Just because we're part of that 20% doesn't mean the system should continue to waste the time and effort of 80% of the students. Keeping a system that fails to actually provide basic skills to 80% of their students isn't just educational malpractice - it is immoral. It would be more than just irresponsible to continue it, it would be evil. Shut it down.

Comment on The Day And Time To End Public Education Is Today, Right Now by liberalteacher

liberalteacher — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:17:30 +0000

Unbelievable! Generalizations without proof or evidence. Look at the census data for the last 100 years. 78% graduate with a high school diploma, 3 million students a year graduate from college. These are facts. At the turn of the 19th century, only 4% received a high school diploma and about 1% of the total above graduated from college. The only failure public education has had is in educating high need students. I thought conservatives believe in personal responsibility! You seem to no longer believe that maybe someone's personal lifestyle might play a role in the difficulty public schools have in educating high need students. I want to see if one can educate a child who comes from a single parent who is on welfare, takes narcotics, and is totally illiterate. Let us see how easy it is to educate a child who was never read to, malnourished, and has had no stimulation. Let us see how easy it is to educate a child who may have been born with alcohol fetal syndrome, possibly ingested lead paint, or was born addicted to crack/cocaine. But no, only the teacher matters, nothing else. By the way, my two kids are products of decent public schools containing experienced and dedicated teachers. One graduated from Cornell University and is a math teacher while the other will be graduating from SUNY Buffalo with a 3.983 average. I guess that constitutes educational malpractice. By the way, in the 1980s there were two Supreme Court cases pertaining to educational malpractice by public school teachers. In both, the Court ruled that so many factors play into ones education that you cannot never pinpoint or blame a single individual for a student's lack of progress.

Comment on Waking Ideas Official Contest: Win A Free PSN Download Code For the original Crysis by Here is the PS4 Sizzle reel for your viewing pleasure | Waking Ideas

Here is the PS4 Sizzle reel for your viewing pleasure | Waking Ideas — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 03:05:58 +0000