The Truth on Page 34552

“The Devil is in the Details or Simply Buried on Page 34552 Federal Register/ Vol. 75, No. 116 / Thursday, June 17, 2010 / Rules and Regulations.”

Section 1251 of the Affordable Care Act contains what’s called a “grandfather” provision that, in theory, allows people to keep their existing plans if they like them. But subsequent regulations from the Obama administration interpreted that provision so narrowly as to prevent most plans from gaining this protection.Forbes

I had to verify this as a fact and it will be re-printed for your reading pleasure. So it is a fact, we have been snookered, “sham-wowed” or however you might describe this latest deception. They knew all along that this rubbish or twaddle of a “health care” act was never designed to function in the manner that it was sold. I don’t want to paraphrase or leave out any of the telling facts so I will print the words of this deception verbatim from page Page 34552 Federal Register:

“These estimates are extended through 2013 by assuming that the identical percentage of plan sponsors will relinquish
grandfathering in each year. Again, to the extent that the 2008–2009 data reflect plans that are more likely to
make frequent changes in cost sharing, this assumption will overestimate the number of plans relinquishing grandfather status in 2012 and 2013. Under this assumption, the
Departments’ mid-range estimate is that 66 percent of small employer plans and 45 percent of large employer plans will
relinquish their grandfather status by the end of 2013. The low-end estimates are for 49 percent and 34 percent of
small and large employer plans, respectively, to have relinquished grandfather status, and the high-end estimates are 80 percent and 64 percent, respectively.”

So……… on June 17, 2010 they knew that on the high side 80 percent of small business and 64 percent of large employers would relinquish their plans thus separating the American worker from his/her health care plan in the implementation year of 2013 or as we call it in “everyday language” —— NOW.

So much for “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan”.

The the Rose Garden Presidential infomercial is reminiscent of “There’s a sucker born every minute” is a phrase often credited to P. T. Barnum. And the sucker would be those who believed, against their own common sense, the American who allowed themselves to believe….

In this age of Amazon, Apple and other well working, slick and efficient computer info systems, the administration developed the technological version of the Edsel. For those “car buffs”, Ford Motor Company decided it needed another car line to compete against General Motors and in the spring of 1957, they began what was thought to be a highly successful ad campaign, “The Edsel is Coming”. But nobody could see this mystery car, just a glimpse of a hood ornament. Anyone involved with the Edsel was sworn to secrecy not to leak a word about what was being claimed to be a radically new and innovative motor car. For those who did buy an Edsel found that the car was plagued with shoddy workmanship. Many of the vehicles that showed up at the dealer showroom had notes attached to the steering wheel listing the parts not installed. It failed.

So in the end, what was done in the dark is exposed when the light is shined. The lies are being exposed but unfortunately most of this is either going to be buried by the next scandalous episode or simply ignored by those who believe the perfect smile with the beautiful dentures.

Still God is in charge:

Luke 8:17
New International Version

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”

Have a wonderful day.

America the Peaceful…. for How Long? Not Long.

America the Peaceful…. for How Long? Not Long.

While we live in relative peace , much of the world does not. In many places of America, violence abounds, with much of the violence exacerbated by the media. But as we take our morning walk, it is unlikely that we will live in fear of either being assaulted physically, verbally or touched by war of any kind.

“Peace lies at the center of being able to manage the transition, simply because peace creates the optimum environment in which the other activities that contribute to human growth can take place. In this sense, peace is a facilitator making it easier for workers to produce businesses to sell, entrepreneurs and scientists to innovate and governments to regulate.” Time

Yes, as long as people feel free to reasonably exercise their individual rights as citizens and as adults, chances of peace will be higher. People who feel coerced, lied to, used and powerless create inner conflict, not compliance —- therefore leading to violence either physically or emotionally —- in other words “lack of peace”.

So what causes this potential “lack of peace”?

Is peace also dictated by socio-economic circumstances? Most definitely. If you think of “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”, at the base, the most fundamental four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called “deficiency needs” or “d-needs”: esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs. If these “deficiency needs” are not met – with the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) need – there may not be a physical indication, but the individual will feel “anxious, angry, powerless and tense.” Maslow’s theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs.

OK so what does this mean? Simply much of the conflict that we experience will arise from man’s perceived inability to provide for the basic functions of life —- either for himself or his family. (When I say His —- I can mean male or female — whichever would be the “head” of such household).

If these lower needs are not met, we recon in the “anti-social” behavior presented in those films I posted yesterday. The “irresponsible, hyper-sexual” male (of any race) dropping his seed in any “baby-momma” and proudly proclaiming “I got 5 kids by 4 baby mommas”; the wretched women proclaiming that “someone needs to take responsibility for” the multitude of children they have produced from their wombs.

The powerlessness is also illustrated by the lines to get vouchers for “Section 8” housing. I was ashamed for them as they raced like animals to the door as it opened early for only 100 homes. I owned a real estate search service in New York. Simple thing. I was in graduate school, had a computer, got access to the internet and had a separate phone line. Investment: $250.00 First month’s profit? $8750.00. Most of it was from Section 8 searches. I am a pretty “dry eyed and unsentimental ” businesswoman, but it occurred to me that most of them paid me more to find a compatible place than I paid to start the business which paid for my college loans in a matter of two years. Thier poverty extended to the poverty of spirit and imagination so they became permanent “takers” who never learned to become “makers”. The infantilization and dependency of entire generations.

So what, Angela, they are just lazy, stupid. Somewhat, but as humans we tend to perform tasks that at pleasurable and positively enforced. For example: Almost 6 million young people are neither in school nor working, according to a study released Monday.

That’s almost 15 percent of those aged 16 to 24 who have neither desk nor job, according to The Opportunity Nation coalition, which wrote the report.

Other studies have shown that idle young adults are missing out on a window to build skills they will need later in life or use the knowledge they acquired in college. Without those experiences, they are less likely to command higher salaries and more likely to be an economic drain on their communities.

So what? They can’t find a job and “Our Prez” said they can be dependent until they are 26! Yep, they can stay on your health care until the age of 26. Why 26? Simply because that is roughly 5 years or one-half a decade! after finishing college for most people. The dependency habit will be enforced by then. And believe me, this is only a one or two generational thing because this dependency generation might never have insurance for THEIR OWN children to use until the advanced age of 26.

I always tell my kids that I am not raising children. I am raising future adults. I am tough, perhaps hardened by experience — in fact some people actually realize that Allen is the real “softie” in our family. But we stand firm on one thing.

Proverbs 22:6
King James Version (KJV)
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

We are not perfect, the kids are not perfect. But no man, woman, boy or girl of any race/color or creed ever felt good about a “hand-out” instead of a “hand-up”.

The Republican Party, Embracing the “extremists” or heading towards Manor Care…… Take your pick…

Yesterday I posted a poem entitled “The Bad Old Days” , for those people NOT enamoured with poetry it represented a puzzle of sorts —- and then the illustration included was a bit puzzling. The woman depicted is wearing the “female body armor” for the 1950’s. The tight “hourglass girdle”, garters (often made of steel) that no doubt dug into the tender flesh and the pointy brassiere. I remember that I had an aunt who wore this concoction. As a five year old, my curiosity got the best of me and I poked the tip of one of her massive horizontal pyramids, hard, and was promptly removed to the “corner” —- we did not have “time out”.

But no, the good days were not always so good. I recently read an article by David Frum entitled “A tea party exit would be a blessing for GOP”. For those of you who don’t know, David Frum was a special assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002. Hmmmm……

Lets take a look at that. What would the Republican Party look like without the so called “extremists”? Well I have one idea…… maybe an all white supper gathering at a Manor Care Assisted Living Facility for sure. (Not to put down Manor Care, they provided me with one of my first jobs in college and paid me very well —- I happen to like older people, they tend to have insight — good and bad as well as interesting stories, but I digress. )

Where would the energy come from with these “middle of the roaders”? Probably from the Democrat truck running it down in the middle of the road.

I went to one such luncheon last week (I normally choose a table in the back so I can slip out, but unfortunately I am usually the only 5’11” Black woman in stilettos under a certain age at these gatherings so they often catch me and return me to my seat). The guys at the table next to me were entering that comatose level of sleep. The woman across from me was enjoying a nap and the kids that came with their high school teacher were looking as though they would have rather taken a whipping. The subject of this meeting? Who knows…… the speaker was monotone. He warned against “extremism” and argued for “conservative pragmatism”. He told the crowd, now half asleep, that Chris Christie would be the next president….. to which one of the boys at the high school table “whispered” “Oh, the guy who looks like he swallowed a space ship”? They started laughing. Ah, the youth, they are so …. youthful. They don’t have a clue how this will be “rammed through”.

One could argue that George Washington was the original “insurgent extremist”, he fought against a tyrannical “mother” government (England) -and then he had the audacity to lead that “rogue government” (America). Then you have the “fringe” of colonial days —- the colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule for example…

But the most extreme of all extremists are: John Adams, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. Those “bad boyz” , what did they do?

>John Adams assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, among other “extremist” activities, this could either be considered the cornerstone of the formation of our country or a “treasonous document” of extremism. Take your pick.

>James Madison is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being instrumental in the drafting of the United States Constitution and as the key champion and author of the United States Bill of Rights. Those “meanie nasty NRA loving old Bill of Rights”, that make it possible to practice what is left of our free speech, the right to own a gun, and other “extreme stuff” such as the right to a speedy trial …… This could be considered a protection of our rights as a citizens, or rampant obstructionism. Take your pick.

>Benjamin Franklin Franklin earned the title of “The First American” for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity; as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies, then as the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation.Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment.Wiki

Franklin would have been the “big dog” so to speak of the “home-grown” terrorists. He would have been called the “extremist’s” extremist. He was a flinty obstructionist. A non-conformist. Or maybe a brilliant statesman, take your pick.

>Not mentioned is the “Head Extremist in Charge” good old Abraham Lincoln. Who, along with his “fringe boy” cohorts found a way to kill the practice of slavery while uniting the country. His Gettysburg Address of 1863 became the most quoted speech in American history. It was an iconic statement of America’s dedication to the principles of nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Another “extreme document” or an important document for our Republic. Take your pick.

These people would have been purged from the rungs of this hypothetical new party suggested by Frum, the new quiet party, who are “fiscally conservative but socially liberal” — “all about money and nothing else party”. One of the things that you realize when letting people talk or write, they reveal themselves loud and clear. Frum posits: “Some yearn for a third party representing the Michael Bloomberg center: fiscally conservative and socially liberal like the New York City mayor.”

I have never heard ANYONE “wax poetic” about having David Bloomberg as a president. But then I am not allowed in the circles that Frum travels……..

So, for those people who view disagreement as “extremism”, and wish to return to the good old “checkered pants” Republican days, remember, the world is passing you by. When you listen to the Democrat party tell you what you need to do as a Republican, that is like listening to the opposite team in a football game tell you how to score the winning touchdown.

And by the way, the advice they give is the reason why there are virtually no people of color/non-majority ethnicity representing the Republican party on the state or federal level. And virtually no women. Everytime I mention this, I get the tired old mantra “We look at the content of their character, not the color of their skin or gender”. Does this mean Blacks/Hispanics/Asians and women have no character? Its is all a matter of perspective…. isn’t it?

One man’s extremism is another’s way to the future. Where would we have been without it. Certainly not in the USA.

What not to give out a Republican Convention

Good Monday Evening!

5; 32; 23.5; 44. Numbers to Remind the Republican Party to “Keep it Classy”……

I occasionally stop at at the local establishment called Joseph’s Market on the way home. There are so many aromas, so many sumptuous foods. Actually, when I see so many types of good looking foods, I really get confused and end up buying a couple of tomatoes and some cheese. Or one slice of pizza, or both. But one thing I notice actually FLIES off of the shelves……. The rice cakes. They must be “delish” but I think I will pass. I hardly ever see men purchasing this “treat” — it is invariably a woman.

It is as important for a woman to look good to herself as well as to men. From an early age, it is hammered into a woman’s head the importance of her pulchritude. A recent study in Great Britain involving 500 girls between the ages of 11 and 17 found that the widespread lack of physical confidence has led to girls spending an average of 42 minutes a day working on their appearance, choosing outfits and applying make-up – almost as much time as they spend doing homework.More than half of the girls studied said they would be happier if they were more physically attractive.

Remember the commercial “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful”? Could you imagine a man cozying up to the camera with his lips puckered saying “Don’t hate me because I’m cute” ….. Nope.

Which brings me to another area, it is important for a woman to stay YOUNG. Especially for a woman! When a woman is asked about getting older the response will likely be “Oh, no, I don’t want to get old. No, thanks, I’d rather be dead.” The almost unanimous verdict? Some women would rather die early than get old enough so they weren’t beautiful any more. Its a pretty sensitive topic, if you ask me.

So….. no need to beleaguer this point anymore…..Women have always payed a great deal of attention to their looks. In fact a woman’s appearance can, from an early age, influence the type of day she has; the type of life she achieves.

So lets go back to the numbers: 5; 32; 23.5; 44

>Only 5 percent of the women in America are Blonde. Yet most advertisements feature blondes.

>Only 32 percent of the women in America do not qualify in the “overweight or above” category. Yet the standard for the media makes this group appear to be in the majority.

>Only 23.5 percent of women in America are between 18 and 35. You would never know this fact since this statistical group appears EVERYWHERE.

>Only 44 percent of women voted Republican in the last election.

So………. What DON’T you do when you are losing the female vote? Well …….. hmmmmmmm………. I think you don’t make folly of her “thick” thighs, her small breasts, and her lack of definition in her arms. You might risk offending MOST of the women by that little blunder. It might be the equivalent of a white person showing up in “Black Face” to a Black History gala – a little uncomfortable feeling might come over you. Among other things.

Making “hay “out of the looks of 75% of women can NOT be a winning strategy. And that bit of advice is free.. and valuable…

Time

A Thought Before Turning In:

This morning we woke up to the fact that the shut-down is still going on. It will end when it is supposed to. A man immolates himself in the near the capital as pictures show joggers frantically trying to put out the flames. The man lighted himself on fire just a few blocks from where federal agents killed Miriam Carey after a car chase from the White House to the Capitol. And Washington Navy Yard, where Aaron Alexis shot and killed 12 people last month, is just over two miles away. Chaos.

Within this chaos, we have a president and minority leader of the House vilifying members of an opposition party (Republicans) by building violent images such as “guns to the head” while referring to them as anarchists, terrorists, jihadists, extremists and insurgents. All the while denying access to elderly veterans wanting to visit the monuments that their valor, large or small helped to create.

We have a health care act that only a minority of the people wanted but still passed by one party. We have exemptions for the friends of the”Ruler” of the country, while others are made to pay. We have members of the Republican Party so afraid that people will hate them, that they are willing to admit they had no convictions to begin with. they just wanted the “big job”. And they don’t understand that hating is one thing but the same people will now loathe them because they will throw in the towel and throw their fellow Republicans under the bus.
History never loved cowards and neither do the people.

As we ponder “outreach” to “minorities”, fight one another and “try to be good”, time marches on. And it is not on our side.

I read the biography of the DeBlasio family, soon to be mayor of New York, unless something changes. You have a far left politician, married to a black woman. The wife is out and honest about it,she is a lesbian/bisexual several years his senior. Pictures showing them shaking their boootay’s in the West Indian Day Parade, celebrating and celebrated with/by members of their party form a stark contrast to the vile excoriation my husband and I (as well as other conservative Blacks) are subjected to by both the some on the right and most on the left.

As we ponder who is next in line and we fool ourselves into believing the hype, the polls, and the glossolalia telling us that we are “winning”, time marches on. The sea of change starkly represented by two races, one in New York and the other in New Jersey should become the sign post up ahead.

Time marches on. The train has left the station and we did not get on board. We must strike a balance, take a stand, practice loyalty, find a unifying set of ideals and stand together or the party will disappear and eventually so will the Republic.

“You are fortunate to have your misfortunes.”

“You are fortunate to have your misfortunes.”

I had a discussion with a co-worker this morning who spoke about his daughter’s friends and how one of them received a BMW 7 series for his 16th birthday. My eldest daughter attended an exclusive private school also, her friends drove Mercedes, Hummers, and BMW’s — all tricked out. Her best friend at the time received a Mercedes 450 SL two seater sports car along with her PERMIT in the 10th grade. I got a lot of blow-back because I told my daughter that I don’t know the Jones family so I have no desire to keep up with them. (smile) I have another story to tell…..about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a young person “not lucky” to have any of these luxury cars but instead is making her own “luck”. And for that, she might be the luckiest of all:

A wise man visited Portland Oregon last month. His name is Justice Clarence Thomas.

“You are fortunate to have your misfortunes.” These were the words that he told to a young woman by the name of Dakota Garza. And no, she is not a Republican, she is a registered Democrat.

Life is never as cut and dry as party lines appear to be, sometimes we forget this fact when the words of violence and vilification tend to be the norm in our political arena. But I digress. They both, Thomas and Garza grew up in hard times. Thomas, who has written about his early life, was abandoned by his father and grew up in a life of poverty in Pin Point Georgia.

Garza’s father died of a drug overdose when she was 2. She and her mother were homeless by the time she was 8. Garza does not have a relationship with her mother.

By her senior year of high school, Garza lived alone in an apartment and worked at Old Navy to support herself. She earned a 3.5 grade point average and could not afford college until she won a $20,000 Horatio Alger Association scholarship and a trip to the organization’s 2011 conference in Washington D.C.

That is where she met her guardian angel in the form of one Clarence Thomas. She invited him to eat at her table, he first declined but changed his mind. She told him about representing herself in court at the age of 16 to emancipate herself from her errant mother – she could not afford a lawyer but knew she had to save herself. She wanted a chance for herself and sometimes we have to let go of toxic relationships in order to move on to better things.

After lunch, Thomas gave Garza his phone number and email address. He told her to contact him if she ever needed anything.

She emailed him after the luncheon, thanking him and writing of her intention to attend the University of Portland. She told him that she wanted to attend Portland because it had the area’s best nursing school. Garza wants to help people and as a result of her tough times growing up, she wanted to make sure that she had a career in which she would have a good chance of steady employment. For those who grow up insecure in their means, security is a must.

Calls were made by Justice Thomas, himself, to make sure that between his association, scholarships and the like, Garza was able to make up whatever shortfall she might have financially. They worked out a deal to cover Garza’s tuition for all four years. Thomas also introduced Garza to a family for whom she nannies to pay for other expenses.

Justice Thomas, a humble man who gained a reputation among legal scholars as perhaps the most conservative justice of the last century: He once wrote that the Constitution gives states a right to establish an official religion, and that teenagers have no right to free speech. He’s compared affirmative action to slavery and segregation, and he is right.

Justice Thomas, who has been excoriated by misguided and uninformed Blacks and Whites alike as an “Uncle Tom”,(as well as other ugly things) has been the one to reach across the aisle to give a “hand up” rather than and “hand out” to a younger generational soulmate who was “fortunate to have her misfortunes.”

Fly high Dakota Garza.

Has the “Shining City on a Hill” been Fundamentally Changed?

Has the “Shining City on a Hill” been Fundamentally Changed?

President Obama declared defiantly Tuesday that his signature health-care law is “here to stay” and urged Republicans to abandon what he called a right-wing “ideological crusade” to derail it, saying they have the ability to “reopen the government” following a shutdown that took effect at midnight.

I watched with ambivalence the President of the United States “scapegoat” the Republican Party over and over for the past 4 1/2/ years but this was the final movement into stirring “mob hatred”. It was a fearful sight for those who are weak and faint of heart but I truly believe that somehow Right — and I don’t mean an ideology but “Right” in the sense of a “RIGHTEOUS” heart and hand will prevail.

Politics rely upon the spoken word reaching a needful heart or spirit. In turn this needful spirit will be stirred up enough to buy the words of the politician and move them to vote for him/her. In the case of Barack Obama, he appealed to all sides for various reasons. For the Black and Brown people he WAS/IS a symbol of “Hope and Change” For all of the times they felt marginalized, he was vindication, he was a hope for a better day and the change from the old days.

In the prologue to the second of his autobiographies, “The Audacity of Hope,” Barack Obama said: “I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.” He was a blank slate that appealed to the need for “cool”, the need for someone other than the old brown or white haired patrician who never had to worry about money, the was the “guilt eraser” for the liberal white — of either party, he was light-brown enough (a point that was salivated over by Harry Reid) enough to appeal to the Hispanics, he made the ladies swoon with his support for abortion ( remember the statement if his daughters “make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”) , he made Black women worship him for his adoration for his Black wife. He was the Black Romeo of their dreams. And to Black men he was DA Man. Tables were finally turned. This not all he was but just a smidgen or taste of the phenomenon. To many he was/is their God.

Heck, he made Chris Matthews have something going on up his leg.

We watched him read, from his teleprompter, and we thought that by moving his head back and forth he was being sincere. But I maintain this, he never lied about his intent to “fundamentally change” America. America has been “fundamentally changed”. So, what does the word “fundamental” mean? It is a central or primary rule or principle on which something is based.

So, what is our central and primary rule? What forms the core of our beliefs as a nation? Why the Constitution of course. And the fundamental change has been occurring over the past 41/2 years with lightening precision. The First Amendment to the Constitution concerning Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion have been challenged by the Administration. Under the guise of Political Correctness the correct speech is prescribed by one side.
The Second Amendment regarding the right of people of the United States to keep and bear arms is challenged at any turn. Any tragedy is merit enough to call for the surrender of your private gun.

In the fundamental change, the will of the few will prevail by the strategy of divide and conquer. Government bodies such as the Justice Department and the IRS instruct Black Churches how to engage in political activity while maintaining their tax status.

This fundamental change is so strong that we cannot comprehend what our “lying eyes” are telling us. That unemployment is still high and getting higher, that food stamps and dependency are being shoved down our throats……. That we are giving up.

A Health Care Law is passed by the one party dominant in both houses, and called “bipartisan”. Passed onto the general public with misleading numbers and percentages that confound the average, with promises of “helping the middle class” , “helping the poor”, all while exempting friends and enablers and lining the pockets of many. Americans are optimistic people who will eat the poison covered with sugar. I hope the sugar will prevail as the bitterness of broken promises become clear. He is right, it is a done deal, in as much as the health care we might have enjoyed in the past is “done”.

And finally, the mob is instructed to hate. Repeated messages piped in by the President day and night, afternoon and evening regarding how much of a demon the conservatives — in particular the Tea Party is. Isolation and scapegoating, hmmmm Where have we heard of that tactic before……….. Government shutdown that lasts for a short time to stand up for what is right, makes us quake in our boots. A man who stands for 21 hours is criticized by those who fear losing their “seat”.

And he does have help coming from the most unlikely sources….. elderly women such as Maxine Waters screeching that “The tea party can go straight to hell!”. Well I have a better one for her:

Romans 2:6-8

6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
And another elderly lawmaker from Maryland ,salivating while spewing the word “Teabagger” to describe people who simply believe differently than she does. Does she even know what she speaks of?

So, we get back to our President. He who now speaks of the Armed Forces and “My Military” — he assured them that He will make sure that they do not suffer. Oh. Boy. Are we ever going to get back to the country that Nathan Hale so Proudly stated as his last words: “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
Or have we become too “fundamentally changed” to ever be the “the shining city on the hill” ?

Common Core Math

The emphasis will be upon “increasing the child’s critical thinking skills” by teaching them the “why” of the problems before stressing “how”. “More is expected of the students,” one article declares. “While they still have to memorize or have fluency in key math functions and do the math with speed and accuracy, they will have to demonstrate a deeper understanding of key concepts before moving on.”

In other words: “ It’s not enough for a student to be able to divide one fraction by another. He or she must also “use the relationship between multiplication and division to explain that (2/3) ÷ (3/4) = 8/9, because 3/4 of 8/9 is 2/3.”

Bottom line: “This approach not only complicates the simplest of math problems; it also leads to delays. Under the Common Core Standards, students will not learn traditional methods of adding and subtracting double and triple digit numbers until fourth grade. (Currently, most schools teach these skills two years earlier.) The standard method for two and three digit multiplication is delayed until fifth grade; the standard method for long division until sixth. In the meantime, the students learn alternative strategies that are far less efficient, but that presumably help them “understand” the conceptual underpinnings.” The Atlantic

As I have said before, setting a bar for instruction is a most important thing, however, your children have a finite amount of time in school. I wonder if this method has been tested adequately to endure that delayed instruction will increase their ability to understand mathematical concepts? I truly doubt it.

Another little piece. I have an exchange student from China living with my family. Her parents send her little pamphlets of “practice problems” in use by her old school to keep her proficient at mathematics. It consists of problems done in repetition with increasing difficulty. When she came to live with us last year, I asked her if she had already taken Geometry. She told me that she did, in her 10th year. It was not until a few weeks after that that I realized she was speaking of when she was 10 years old. Yes, the beginnings of geometry taught at 10 years old in China.

So, if the standard method for two and three digit multiplication is delayed until the fifth grade, — the average American child will be 10 – 11 years old learning early elementary concepts in mathematics.

My, unless I am incorrect, and believe me I hope I am…… With the Common Core Curriculum, children will be behind in math and ahead in the reading of racy material for English class. Or ……very talented teachers will have to augment… I really think this first batch of children are going to be the guinea pigs. Do we really want that?

Are We Going to Remain Number 1!

Good Sunday Morning!

“We’re number 1!” “YEAH” “We’re number 1”

On the world stage, yes we as the mighty America have become smaller. Not so small yet, but there is still time. The confusion and lack of direction on the domestic stage is bolstered by legions of special interest actors and “handlers” that make any of the bungles and bad and poorly thought out policy such as the financial boondoggle known widely as “Obamacare” come to fruition.

On the international stage Obama has not been quite so lucky — at least with the sober leaders of other countries, who tend not to be excited or “weak kneed” about his “dazzling” smile (I concur with them), his eloquent teleprompter, nor his ability to say “um” more than 30 times in a 5 minute speech.

Part of it could be could be the language and cultural barriers — “um” may not be as cute in the international arena.

And seriously, he is up against some really seasoned leaders. Let’s take for example Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani is fluent in Persian, English and Arabic. As for his background — both in the arena of education, politics and and the military this very cool customer has shown that he has a demeanor of steel. The we have the much spoken about Vladimir Putin. Former KGB, fluent in several languages, hardened. Well, you get the picture, they are not impressed. But quietly in our own hearts we watch the President stride in 30 – 45 minutes late for a state dinner, walking the distance like he was striding the “cat walk” at Fashion Week in New York. Smiling and waving, the only thing left for him to do is stop, suck in his cheeks, put his hands on his hips and pirouet for the crowd.

But America is still the greatest nation on this earth. Exceptional, yes indeed. Perhaps that is why we feel as though we have nothing to prove, we are on the “auto-pilot” of greatness. So we take our eyes off the ball, elections are boring, football on the other hand is interesting —- we shoot people at football games over “our team”, we beat them up. At baseball games, middle aged women fight 10 year olds for a ball and then get a “high-five” from friends. I hope she did the “victory” lap around her neighborhood and gets a banner as the “old lady” who beat the kid out of a baseball.

We wait with “bated breath” while the erstwhile president fills out his “brackets” for the Final Four basketball tournament. Over one thousand headlines are produced during that time analyzing his “picks”. America becomes the Alpha Beta Delta frat house party. We are drunk with adoration for our “homie”, yo, yo, yo. Because “we be number 1”. Right, yeah….

Meanwhile, we elect a conference of old men to decipher and fight for our rights. People who can still remember using rotary telephones, people to whom the term “wacka … whtever” means something. And they get bamboozled. And we get a new health care law that is going to leave the economy in a shambles and our health care in a tizzy. For a while. At least.
If that were the only thing, but it is not.

And the problem with being the team in first place, and we should know that from all the sports we watch, other teams vie for that position. So we as team America better watch our sides as they have already declared us as “not exceptional”. And they don’t seem impressed.

A Note about the West Family

A Personal Note before Retiring for the Evening.

It was 6 months ago that I decided to start this page. One of the reasons I started this Page was that I love to write and I am a voracious reader. As a former professor, researcher, and teacher I absolutely LOVE the hunt for interesting as well as provocative material. I read and I ENJOY your comments. It has been and I hope it will continue to be a delightful andragogical learning experience. I learn from you and hopefully you learn something from me. A wonderful give and take. And believe me sometimes the “hunt” can be a daunting experience in today’s “journalistically empty” environment. Instead of worthwhile stories, you find a plethora of idiocy about people’s personal lives (gossip) and all around foolishness.

Therefore, when I share links to stories, you will find that I use a small circle of trusted venues. Anything odd, I will check to make sure that it is factual and correct.

Well, for the millionth time I have come across something that is not factual. In FACT, this has turned out to be a hurtful smear. You see, in the era of the news as propaganda, even the television news becomes a vehicle for political agendas. And I want to clear the record because it is about my husband and myself —- two subjects that I know well.

>First and foremost, my husband has decided to take on a lesser role at PJ Media. He has other aspirations for his life. And guess what? He is allowed to do so. He is a free man. And he is a “grown-up”.

>Second, I left the Board of Trustees with Florida Atlantic University after 2 years because I have other obligations —- most notably I have a business that keeps me monumentally busy, I am a mother and I have other activities that I wanted to get back to. I am allowed to do that. I am a free woman. And I am a “grown-up”.

>Neither one of those movements required that he (my husband) be “fired” or my being “bounced” or “fired”. We just moved on. That is part of life, you do one thing and then it leads to something else. We are allowed to do this and we have this right. We value our freedom as “gown-ups”.

But I suppose the most outlandish innuendo made was that my husband is anti-semitic. This foolishness, similar to the screech of “racism” or “homophobia” has become the mantra for ruining lives and families particularly in South Florida. My daughter happens to be a young Black woman who is a member of a traditionally Jewish sorority, their goals and the caliber of young women appealed to her. She is a “grown-up” and she is free. AND , if you ask me, that represents PROGRESS. We, as Black people, no longer have to cluster in ALL Black environments, we don’t have to think alike, we don’t have to vote alike. Progress occurs when emancipation is not only physical, but mentally and intellectually, as well.

In addition, my husband and I are supporting a Jewish IDF soldier through university studies —— the full 4 years —- fully paid, “full ride”. A Black family with humble roots making this leap — now THATS progress….

We reject any charge of antisemitism, it is not in our DNA and never will be. We also reject any charges of racism, homophobia, islamophobia, agoraphobia, misogyny (hatred of women), misandry (hatred of men), sexism, atheism , anarchism and any other “phobia” or “ism” that anyone might find or make up.

We are a multi-racial, multi-faith, multicultural family with friends of the same type of mind. We just require that you bring your “thinking cap” to our get-togethers because the discussions are usually lively, intelligent and interesting. In other words, come packing a brain, not gossip and foolishness.

In closing for this evening……… It has been a great 6 months. I am so impressed with the civility that our little Page has garnered. It is almost like a cozy place to express ideas without the name calling, attacks and vitriol. And without the posturing of false intellectualism. How wonderful that the Ph.D.’s and the high school graduates , each with something to say , can express their minds without fear or hesitation……..What a breath of “fresh conservative air”. And I sincerely thank all of you for teaching me. I have enjoyed it an hope to reach out to all of you tomorrow.

Angela

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