3 ways America should be more like Canada

[1958Bassman]

Still leaves them wondering - are you my guy-pal?

I'm The Dude.

 

[4StringAxe]

I'm The Dude.

"peeing on your rug"

 

[edpal]

I'm The Dude.

A 1958 BAssman Dude - I bow before your Dudeness. Well played as always

 

[1958Bassman]

A 1958 BAssman Dude - I bow before your Dudeness. Well played as always

I'll accept nothing less than bowing AND scraping.

 

[edpal]

I'll accept nothing less than bowing AND scraping.

...little girl says,"Daddy, what are those two horses doing." "Uh, the one hurt his leg and the other is helping him back to the barn." "That's how it always goes, you try to be nice to someone and they **** you!"

Fine, spit please.

 

[1958Bassman]

...little girl says,"Daddy, what are those two horses doing." "Uh, the one hurt his leg and the other is helping him back to the barn." "That's how it always goes, you try to be nice to someone and they **** you!"

Fine, spit please.

Little girl asks mommy where babies come from. Mommy says "The stork brings them". Little girl isn't buying it and she thinks for a few seconds before asking, "Then, who ****s the stork?".

 

[edpal]

 

[nukes_da_bass]

Dirty Johnny sees mom and dad um.....and says "daddy, what were you doing to mommy last night?"
"I was brushing her teeth, son" replied dad.
"Wow her teeth must be real clean- the mail man brushed her teeth three times last week!".

 

[Unrepresented]

Did I accidentally click the "Worst Joke You Know" thread?

 

[DeathFromBelow]

Did I accidentally click the "Worst Joke You Know" thread?

All threads are now "worst joke you know" threads. I blame Darth. He's a horrible, horrible little man.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

A lot of the problems in the education system come from the top- they're trying to standardize the curriculum to the extent that certain standards are met, but if this is true, I have to ask why we took the Ohio Standardized tests when I was in grade school IN THE 1960s? Fifty years later and they can't get their shyte together? They have completely revised history, don't teach most of the last century and then, there's the debacle of how they're teaching Math. The rest of the World still uses the standard formulas and symbols, but they're making it hard for an engineer to see the process of getting a result from what's supposed to be an equation.

I only have the Milwaukee Public School System to use as a point of reference for what NOT to do, but kids in schools are causing so much havoc that the teachers can't have the time to teach. Large class sizes contribute to this, as does the high number of kids who don't want to be in school, gang activity and generally bad planning. The MPS annual budget is over $1Billion and the results are abysmal.

They don't teach a lot of what the students will need and all they do is point fingers.

It really comes down to (surprise) money. I work as an educator and I can tell you there is a huge difference between teaching 35 kids vs 20. Then add a few special needs kids in there without support for them and the teacher is basically screwed in terms of getting anything meaningful accomplished. Really it comes down to how governments prioritize their spending. Maybe skim a few billion off the billions and billions of dollars spent on the military?

 

[edpal]

All threads are now "worst joke you know" threads. I blame Darth. He's a horrible, horrible little man.

YEs.
The family dog dies - little Suzy sees him lying there, legs straight up. Daddy tells her,"he was reaching up to God, he's in Heaven now."
The family cat- same.
"Daddy,daddy, we almost lost mommy today"."Really?"
"Yes, I came in from playing and she was saying "Oh God, Oh God" - it's a good thing Mr. Jenkins from next door held her down."

 

[will33]

It really comes down to (surprise) money. I work as an educator and I can tell you there is a huge difference between teaching 35 kids vs 20. Then add a few special needs kids in there without support for them and the teacher is basically screwed in terms of getting anything meaningful accomplished. Really it comes down to how governments prioritize their spending. Maybe skim a few billion off the billions and billions of dollars spent on the military?

I'm not sure it's just money, we've been throwing money at the problem for decades and it hasn't worked. It needs to be the smart application of the money.

True though, teachers are asked to handle more kids, have less authority in the classroom, have to handle more and more other "stuff" aside from teaching core subjects, etc.

Also agreed that kids aren't being prepared for the simple necessities of functioning in life. Stuff as simple as budgeting, understanding how interest works, or even balancing a bank account. Parents used to help with that sort of stuff too but many parents nowdays don't have a clue either.

Everything does cost money and if more is needed, I wouldn't have a problem taking it from other areas.

The defense budget you mentioned is one of them. National Defense really could be had rather affordably and in general doesn't make a lot of waves with the vast majority of the population, even those with otherwise very different political views. It's National Offense that gets expensive and divisive.

With regard to the US having loads of money to spend on everything, we really don't, it's an illusion. If we would just stick to taking in and spending the taxes that are collected here, our budget would be almost half of what it is. Instead, we keep printing fiat currency out of thin air and borrowing money from other countries all over the world. Our tax collection is mostly used to service that debt. That house of cards can't go on forever.

Perhaps that has something to do with our education system not teaching kids financial responsibility. The entire nation operates like an 18 year old with a credit card.

 

[Jim Campbell]

I'm not sure it's just money, we've been throwing money at the problem for decades and it hasn't worked. It needs to be the smart application of the money.

True though, teachers are asked to handle more kids, have less authority in the classroom, have to handle more and more other "stuff" aside from teaching core subjects, etc.

Also agreed that kids aren't being prepared for the simple necessities of functioning in life. Stuff as simple as budgeting, understanding how interest works, or even balancing a bank account. Parents used to help with that sort of stuff too but many parents nowdays don't have a clue either.

Everything does cost money and if more is needed, I wouldn't have a problem taking it from other areas.

The defense budget you mentioned is one of them. National Defense really could be had rather affordably and in general doesn't make a lot of waves with the vast majority of the population, even those with otherwise very different political views. It's National Offense that gets expensive and divisive.

With regard to the US having loads of money to spend on everything, we really don't, it's an illusion. If we would just stick to taking in and spending the taxes that are collected here, our budget would be almost half of what it is. Instead, we keep printing fiat currency out of thin air and borrowing money from other countries all over the world. Our tax collection is mostly used to service that debt. That house of cards can't go on forever.

Perhaps that has something to do with our education system not teaching kids financial responsibility. The entire nation operates like an 18 year old with a credit card.

perhaps the folks that print the flat currency and borrow all that foreign money prefer that most don't grasp the concept.....back in the 50's/60's it was believed that an educated populace would be necessary to run things.....and for a while that was true....these days about 10% are all that is required.....the rest can busy themselves with tv,sports,dope,booze,jail...more people here are upset about the win loss records of local sports teams than are concerned with how much public money is handed to the team owners,or paid to build stadiums

 

[will33]

perhaps the folks that print the flat currency and borrow all that foreign money prefer that most don't grasp the concept.....back in the 50's/60's it was believed that an educated populace would be necessary to run things.....and for a while that was true....these days about 10% are all that is required.....the rest can busy themselves with tv,sports,dope,booze,jail...more people here are upset about the win loss records of local sports teams than are concerned with how much public money is handed to the team owners,or paid to build stadiums

Indeed.

It'd take a while to dig up all the documents, links, etc., but this goes all the way back to the founding of our educational system, with respect to public education, high school. In the end, the idea was founded that people should have enough education to function, be good "worker bees" for the industrialists, and support themselves with enough comfort so as not to complain or revolt, but not enough to threaten the positions of those already at the top.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

I agree with the *prudent application* of money spent on education. A lower ratio of students per teacher AND a sound philosophy of education would go a long way.

Three things are always mentioned as the fundamentals of a good education system:

1. attracting good quality people to teach (requires a decent salary)
2. class size
3. class composition

Teaching is a very stressful, difficult job with a myriad of challenges educators face every day.

 

[Jim Campbell]

Indeed.

It'd take a while to dig up all the documents, links, etc., but this goes all the way back to the founding of our educational system, with respect to public education, high school. In the end, the idea was founded that people should have enough education to function, be good "worker bees" for the industrialists, and support themselves with enough comfort so as not to complain or revolt, but not enough to threaten the positions of those already at the top.

I agree with the *prudent application* of money spent on education. A lower ratio of students per teacher AND a sound philosophy of education would go a long way.

Three things are always mentioned as the fundamentals of a good education system:

1. attracting good quality people to teach (requires a decent salary)
2. class size
3. class composition

Teaching is a very stressful, difficult job with a myriad of challenges educators face every day.

so what social spending would you be willing to give up to make that happen..you can't have it all.......college students here think that free bus passes should be paid by taxpayers....

 

[Unrepresented]

so what social spending would you be willing to give up to make that happen..you can't have it all.......college students here think that free bus passes should be paid by taxpayers....

I'm open to closing tax loopholes and cutting military spending. That should easily pay for all the bus passes you'd need.

 

[will33]

I'd be cool with moving to a simple flat income tax or a consumption tax (national sales tax), and that's all the tax, period. No loopholes, no playing favorites, no social engineering via the tax code, no nothing.

 

[1958Bassman]

It really comes down to (surprise) money. I work as an educator and I can tell you there is a huge difference between teaching 35 kids vs 20. Then add a few special needs kids in there without support for them and the teacher is basically screwed in terms of getting anything meaningful accomplished. Really it comes down to how governments prioritize their spending. Maybe skim a few billion off the billions and billions of dollars spent on the military?

I just read that they spent $454M on ads for Obamacare- That would help quite a few school systems. It would feed a lot of people, too.