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n2doc
n2doc's Journal
n2doc's Journal
December 7, 2012
I'm really wondering about something
For over 30 years we have been cutting taxes on the rich, with only a few bumps. Yet I don't remember in all that time any increases in entitlements (meaning lower retirement age, better health care coverage, lower medicare costs). Instead, so -called 'entitlements always get the axe too. Even SS has had its enrollment age raised, and has perpetually been increased at a lower rate than the overall inflation rate, and our payroll tax increases. So WHY IN THE HELL DO PEOPLE EQUATE TAX INCREASES ON THE RICH WITH "ENTITLEMENT" CUTS???????
I'll support going back to 1968 income tax rates (last time we got a real increase in 'entitlements' if they want to equate the two.
December 6, 2012
These macro images of snow flakes were snapped by Russian photographer Andrew Osokin. They really capture the delicate beauty and complexity of snowflakes, to such an extent that it's difficult to believe they're actually real. They are. If you like 'em, you can see hundreds more of Andrew's images over on his LensArt website.
more
http://gizmodo.com/5966165/youll-never-believe-these-stunning-photos-of-snow-are-real/gallery/1
Pretty pics of snowflakes
These macro images of snow flakes were snapped by Russian photographer Andrew Osokin. They really capture the delicate beauty and complexity of snowflakes, to such an extent that it's difficult to believe they're actually real. They are. If you like 'em, you can see hundreds more of Andrew's images over on his LensArt website.
more
http://gizmodo.com/5966165/youll-never-believe-these-stunning-photos-of-snow-are-real/gallery/1
December 6, 2012
After half a century, America's efforts to end segregation seem to be winding down. In the years after Brown v. Board of Education, 755 school districts were under desegregation orders. A new Stanford study reports that as of 2009, that number had dropped to as few as 268.
The study is the first to take a comprehensive look at whether court-ordered busing successfully ended the legacy of Jim Crow in public education, and it suggests a mission that is far from accomplished. On average, those districts that stopped forcing schools to mix students by race have seen a gradual but steady--and significant--return of racial isolation, especially at the elementary level.
It's unclear what effect school "re-segregation" will have on minority achievement, though a large body of research suggests it certainly won't help efforts to improve test scores, graduation rates, and college entry levels for blacks and Hispanics, a growing share of the American population. But the retreat from desegregation also suggests the policy had significant flaws, problems current education reformers should pay attention to.
The hope behind desegregation was that it would bring together white and black children to learn with, and from, each other, and end the disparities that blacks suffered under legal segregation like hand-me-down textbooks, decrepit buildings, lower-paid teachers, and, of course, lagging achievement. In the three decades following Brown v. Board of Education, courts ordered districts to create elaborate student assignment plans (often dependent on forced busing) to mix black, Hispanic, and white students together in the same schools. Most school boards complied reluctantly, and parents in places like Boston reacted violently.
more
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/12/new-rise-segregated-schools/4084/#
The New Rise of Segregated Schools
After half a century, America's efforts to end segregation seem to be winding down. In the years after Brown v. Board of Education, 755 school districts were under desegregation orders. A new Stanford study reports that as of 2009, that number had dropped to as few as 268.
The study is the first to take a comprehensive look at whether court-ordered busing successfully ended the legacy of Jim Crow in public education, and it suggests a mission that is far from accomplished. On average, those districts that stopped forcing schools to mix students by race have seen a gradual but steady--and significant--return of racial isolation, especially at the elementary level.
It's unclear what effect school "re-segregation" will have on minority achievement, though a large body of research suggests it certainly won't help efforts to improve test scores, graduation rates, and college entry levels for blacks and Hispanics, a growing share of the American population. But the retreat from desegregation also suggests the policy had significant flaws, problems current education reformers should pay attention to.
The hope behind desegregation was that it would bring together white and black children to learn with, and from, each other, and end the disparities that blacks suffered under legal segregation like hand-me-down textbooks, decrepit buildings, lower-paid teachers, and, of course, lagging achievement. In the three decades following Brown v. Board of Education, courts ordered districts to create elaborate student assignment plans (often dependent on forced busing) to mix black, Hispanic, and white students together in the same schools. Most school boards complied reluctantly, and parents in places like Boston reacted violently.
more
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/12/new-rise-segregated-schools/4084/#
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Number of posts: 47,953
