Bush wants to close FAA facilities like the base closure initiative from the Reagan era...

One of the ways to be a "strong country" is to have an educational
system that produces enlightened citizens.

I agree totally. And those who benefit from education are not
necessarily the ones receiving it. We all benefit from having everyone
else be educated.

Public education is thus a reasonable function of government (as are
public libraries). The rub is getting whoever is doing it to actually
do a good job, and that entails deciding what the "job" is. Alas,
(primary and secondary school) education has come to replace parenting,
and that is a Bad Thing.

Neither government nor the private sector has a monopoly on Bad Things.
It's up to each of us to fight them, but even we disagree on what is
Good and what is Bad.

Jose
--
Humans are pack animals. Above all things, they have a deep need to
follow something, be it a leader, a creed, or a mob. Whosoever fully
understands this holds the world in his hands.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On Sun, 04 Mar 2007 14:17:33 GMT, Jose
wrote in :

One of the ways to be a "strong country" is to have an educational
system that produces enlightened citizens.

I agree totally. And those who benefit from education are not
necessarily the ones receiving it. We all benefit from having everyone
else be educated.

The entire world benefits from an educated populace.

Public education is thus a reasonable function of government (as are
public libraries).

If the (democratic) government is to continue to exist, it MUST
educate its citizens. It's way beyond an option. Unfortunately, it
takes an educated populace to appreciate this.

The rub is getting whoever is doing it to actually do a good job,

In my opinion, the rub is making the populace appreciate the
importance of education in the long term survival of their country,
and demanding that the government tax them adequately to fund quality
education.

and that entails deciding what the "job" is.

It also entails paying teachers a wage commensurate with the vital
service they perform, reducing class-size to a reasonable limit (ten
pupils seems to be the absolute maximum to me), and providing an
educational environment worthy of the high ideals taught in the
classrooms.

How has the Bush administration's, indeed Congress', record on
education been over the last decade?

Alas, (primary and secondary school) education has come to replace parenting,
and that is a Bad Thing.

This is a result of the proliferation of divorce, and globalization.
When the US found itself financially besieged by Japan in the '70s, a
movement began to get women out of the home (where they civilized
their children, guided their development, and disciplined them), and
into the workplace. While that did make our nation more productive
and thus competitive in the world marketplace, it reduced the
upbringing of our progeny to almost nonexistent in single-parent
homes. And the vital role mothers played in raising their children
was left unfulfilled. Schools lack the authority, and the church is
too cloaked in superstition and self-serving dogma to effectively
civilize our children. It is the traditional role of mothers, and
they should be coaxed back into fulfilling that role if we are to
progress as a nation.


Neither government nor the private sector has a monopoly on Bad Things.
It's up to each of us to fight them, but even we disagree on what is
Good and what is Bad.


I think there is little question, that the US$3-billion per week being
squandered on Iraq could absolutely revolutionize education in this
country. Unfortunately, it's going to require future generations to
pay the bill, and that won't leave much for education.

We the people MUST start thinking for ourselves, and demand our
government and those who make governmental decisions choose an
intelligent course.

Alas, the newly empowered Congress can't seem to see beyond partisan
politics and a meaningless resolution, instead of doing anything
meaningful. Oh well....

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

On Sun, 4 Mar 2007 02:05:27 -0700, "Matt Barrow"
wrote in
:

The best accountability is profits and losses, and thodse have to be over
the long term.

Oh, you mean like the private contractor (headed by a former
Halliburton executive) who was granted the contract to run Walter Reed
Hospital. They replaced 300 federal employees with 60 private
employees, and you can see how wonderfully that worked out. :-(

A contractor is only obligated to do what the contract says.
This sounds more like the case of a poorly written contract.
Can you cite a source for the Halliburton contract?

On Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:46:06 -0500, john smith wrote
in :

Can you cite a source for the Halliburton contract?

No. I don't believe there was a Walter Reed Hospital. contract
awarded to Halliburton.

If you were truly interested in this topic, you'd Google it yourself.
However, here is a link that mentions the contract being awarded to
IAP Worldwide Services which is apparently run by a former Halliburton
official:


http://www.democraticunderground.com...ess=389x328133
The memorandum “describes how the Army’s decision to privatize
support services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was causing an
exodus of ‘highly skilled and experienced personnel,’” the
committee’s letter states. “According to multiple sources, the
decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed led to a
precipitous drop in support personnel at Walter Reed.”

The letter said Walter Reed also awarded a five-year, $120-million
contract to IAP Worldwide Services, which is run by Al Neffgen, a
former senior Halliburton official.

They also found that more than 300 federal employees providing
facilities management services at Walter Reed had drooped to fewer
than 60 by Feb. 3, 2007, the day before IAP took over facilities
management. IAP replaced the remaining 60 employees with only 50
private workers.

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

On Sun, 04 Mar 2007 14:17:33 GMT, Jose
wrote in :

One of the ways to be a "strong country" is to have an educational
system that produces enlightened citizens.

I agree totally. And those who benefit from education are not
necessarily the ones receiving it. We all benefit from having everyone
else be educated.

The entire world benefits from an educated populace.

Does anyone remember the West Wing episode where the Sam Seaborn
character wrote an opposition memo on education? Remember what he said
about Education as the silver bullet?



How has the Bush administration's, indeed Congress', record on
education been over the last decade?

indeed, and how about the previous administrations and congresses?

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

Is it better to have Congress mismanaging things or a private contractor
mismanaging things?

Ask the patients at Walter Reed.

You don't think Congress excels at mismanagement?

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

Does anyone remember the West Wing episode where the Sam Seaborn
character wrote an opposition memo on education? Remember what he said
about Education as the silver bullet?

No. The first several seasons of West Wing were excellent, but I don't
have television, and eventually I stopped having my sister record them
for me. What did he say?

Jose
--
Humans are pack animals. Above all things, they have a deep need to
follow something, be it a leader, a creed, or a mob. Whosoever fully
understands this holds the world in his hands.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

In article ,
Jose wrote:

Does anyone remember the West Wing episode where the Sam Seaborn
character wrote an opposition memo on education? Remember what he said
about Education as the silver bullet?

No. The first several seasons of West Wing were excellent, but I don't
have television, and eventually I stopped having my sister record them
for me. What did he say?

be patient. In the next few days I'll find the episode and summarize....

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

Which incompetent fraud do you recommend be designated to exercise this
common sense?

Jay Honeck wrote:

From NASA, to the toll roads, to the levees in New Orleans, to the
lowliest parking garage, our gummint is laced with incompetence, lard,
and fraud. It is incredibly refreshing to read that *someone* is
actually suggesting that we close and consolidate some the FAA's
facilities.

The only thing I find disgusting is that the FAA has become so
politicized that no one feels strong enough to simply order
consolidation based on common sense. Instead, they feel they must
take the "safe" way out by using a "commission" to "suggest" what
facilities should be closed. As if any competent administrator
couldn't figure it out in a matter of weeks.

In article ,
Bob Noel wrote:

Does anyone remember the West Wing episode where the Sam Seaborn
character wrote an opposition memo on education? Remember what he said
about Education as the silver bullet?

No. The first several seasons of West Wing were excellent, but I don't
have television, and eventually I stopped having my sister record them
for me. What did he say?

be patient. In the next few days I'll find the episode and summarize....

It took longer than I thought to find the episode...

(in the next-to-last episode of seacon 1) Sam Seaborn says:

Education is the silver bullet
Education is everything
We don't need little changes
We need gigantic monumental changes
Schools should be palaces
The competition for the best teachers should be fierce
They should be making six-figure saliers
Schools should be incredibly expensive for the Government
and absolutely free of charge to its citizens, just like National Defense
That's my position

I just haven't figured out how to do it yet...

--
Bob Noel
(gave up looking for a particular sig the lawyer will hate)