Negative reactions

There are pro's and con's to having the New York Times as your home page. Reading the headlines keeps me informed as to national and global events. Reading the headlines also makes me completely flabbergasted sometimes. Forgive me for using my blog to bitch about some of these things.

Over the weekend I read how the No Child Left Behind Act is causing some schools to focus curriculum merely on reading and math, while letting other subjects, such as history and science fall by the wayside. I find a major fault with this not only because NCLB is the number one reason why I ceased to continue in the education program at U-D, and not only because I earned a degree in history. But I find fault with it because it limits the education that children receive and in turn, makes them hate learning. History is vital to understanding events on any level (international, national, state, local, etc). Without history, we would be unable to compare the Iraqi War to Vietnam; safely predict the growth of an area based on its past; and relate to our ancestor's feelings when similar circumstances encompass our own surroundings. I am not proficient in science by any means, but it is also a vital part of the K-12 education, and without it, Americans falter while others seek to take advantage of our weakness. To say the American education system sucks is an understatement. How much longer will this downward spiral continue before we are pushed aside and our most prestigious positions are held by green card carriers? No Child Left Behind was the original idea of Laura Bush, who is the most absent First Lady since the days of Mimi Eisenhower. She is safely hiding in the bunker with our vice president while her husband absent-mindedly reaks even more havoc on the schools in this country.

I also read about how the state of Florida is considering passing a bill that requires high school students to declare a major so they can have a more focused plan. What the shit is this? These are KIDS of all but 14 years of age. High school is a time to expand horizons and take many different subjects so you can make an educated decision as to what you might want to do. Schools in Europe are like this and kids have to decide early on which career path they might want to undertake. But as you have just read above, America is no where near this kind of decision.

I have no idea what state the country would be in if the White House was hit on September 11th. It's a frightening thought to ponder for very long. Zacarias Moussaoui admitted that was his "mission" on 9-11-01. I understand that there are many people who hate Americans for being selfish, spoiled bastards. I just don't understand how there are people that have so much hatred inside of themselves that they have to seek ways to destruct entire countries and ways of life trying to prove it. And I really don't understand lying, no matter what the motive behind it, religious or otherwise: "Mr. Moussaoui said there were times when a Muslim can lie without being immoral: to reconcile Muslims, to answer 'yes' when a wife asks, 'Am I beautiful?' and to carry out jihad."