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Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tigard Tualatin drop out rate
TTSD has one of the lowest drop out rates in the state. Reported to be in the range of aproximately 19%.
I find this report to be of concern on many levels. A fairly high degree of almost completely avoidable
human suffering can take place within this 19%
Only in a taxpayer funded, union protected, environment
will you routinely see this level of success? or failure? looked upon as a positive by those in charge.
Some schools in the State of Oregon have drop out rates of aprox 40% to 50%.
(sure helps to explain the
state of things)
While I am sure that parents in the TTSD are glad that the drop out rate for their school
district is only aprox 20%...
A one out of five failure ratio is nothing to be standing around high
fiving ourselves about.
The potential disenfranchisement of 20% of our population at such a young age does not bode well for our state or our national society in general.
CSM
Some reports seem to
indicate that the national rate is somewhere between 9% and 16%...My humble opinion is that a drop out rate
in the 5% to 10% range is what our nation should be able to reach and sustain...failure to do so should be viewed as a mark of systemic failure.
8:38 am pdt
Saturday, May 22, 2010
O.K. again....another clarification on positon on religion
I'll say it again... I don't care what you believe, everyone has a right to believe in what they are comfortable
with, without being challenged, as long as they do not use this process to propagate policies the exclude,
spread hate/discrimination or otherwise use that process to inappropriately impact, without consent, the lives/rights of
others.
More specifically..when concerning issues of human governance, management. ..ect.
If it
cannot be measured, controlled, identified through scientific, rational processes of verifiable observation. I don't
want to hear it, see it being a part of the process, when plans are being made impacting material outcomes.
I absolutely do not want it a part of any decision making process, procedure, public scholastic activity,
government activity..period!
I find the invocation, or other instances of such invasion of process by Christian,
Muslim, Hebrew, ect just as troubling as I would if a witch doctor was called upon to shake their rattles,
with an actual expectation of reliance upon said activity helping the physical success of any human endeavour.
(This sounds far more strident and inflexible than what I actually set as personal guidelines) I have stated
this position as a governor for operational standards when you find yourself, or a process unduly being impacted
by a religious zealot/s. Pretty much play nice, or lose privileges. Don't discriminate, Don't exclude.
People who know me know I am a spiritual person, spiritual family ect.. Do I pray.. yes I do. I also
believe there can be value added or strength provided by a balanced approach to such things.
Our family
also strongly adheres to the advice given by Jesus "to beware" of those that proclaim their faith the
loudest.
I also would never introduce a religious aspect to anything requiring an actual desired physical outcome dependent upon the quality of effort, or work product, made by the humans in control of said outcome.
"exception being perhaps if I was in a fox hole, and I had a spare second.... hell, I'm human/mostly
;-)"
To do so would not be rational. no empirical data exists to indicate that to do so would provide
any measurable impact on outcome.
If you use your religious beliefs to discriminate against others,
I will do my best to stop you every chance or opportunity I get, but to be clear I will be working to stop
you regardless, you just won't get a free pass because you claim it's a part of your faith!!..it will be only
the degree of harm being caused that will provide an indication of the strength, or timing of my response.
(Some say, hey that sounds pretty aggressive... but the fact is is this is an educational process that we
have been working on for a long time. Which is eliminating power sources or safe havens for thought processes
that promote hate, intolerance, discrimination..ect.. the sad fact is we've worked our way down the list to the
point that it is now time to address failures within our religious social structures/belief patterns, and do so more aggressively than ever before.
I do believe that a persons spirituality can be a positive anchor
in helping to maintain a personal relationship between themselves and the immensity of the cosmos, but a person/s
who loses "rational" control over their spiritual lives/ beliefs can become a very dangerous person, or part of very dangerous organization/s that always without failure, will harm innocent people who are usually
just trying to get by, and enjoy the small things life has to offer us all.
Colin Stuart McCoy
Also
for your philosophical consideration...
There has been a topic of research from those dedicated to neurological
and psychological studies that has given rise to the following hypothesis...
Goes something like this....That
humans have a portion of our brain that when stimulated seems to be able to produce effects that are reported
to be "spiritual" in how they are perceived. Combine this the above referred to hypothesis...That humans, upon gaining sentience, became aware of their own mortality, that they would die...In order to compensate
for the stress and anxiety such self awareness created within humans, we fabricated a constantly evolving set
of spiritual/religious beliefs as a mechanism to cope or overcome the stress/ fear we would otherwise experience?
Something for philosophical consideration.
12:14 pm pdt
Texas board of education
B.C.E. and A.C.E. vs B.C. and A.D. don't really care, don't have dog in that fight. probably would lean towards
the newer versions.
Against and concerned: about the effort to minimize civil rights era, and MLK letters/
speeches some of which came while he was in prison.
Against and concerned: about the effort to minimize
the thoughts and works of Thomas Jefferson. Both he and Dr. King were flawed humans doing their best, making much
needed efforts and positive impacts on the human condition, under very dangerous circumstances. Both would
have defended to their own personal destruction the right of the other to be seen and heard.
I would
have liked to have seen a person of Dr. King's ability giving the "Continental Congress", and Mr. Jefferson, hell
over the issue of slavery and the practical aspects of "all men/people being created equal."
Against and concerned: about the effort to minimize the importance of "Separation of Church and State".
Support: the effort to include Jefferson Davis's writings and innaugural speech.
Support: the intention
to study how organizations such as the U.N. may impact our freedoms or lifestyles in the U.S.
Support
strongly: replacing phrase "Democratic or Democracy with phrase Constitutional Republic.
CSM
10:46 am pdt
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Will Christianity bring terrorism to the streets of the U.S. ?
Will it? I believe we are "hopefully" entering into what will be essentially an age of reason.
An age of rational thought, through which we will seek real solutions to problems faced by humanity.
In the U.S. as elsewhere Church membership is in decline.
Some data shows that the only area in which church membership is growing is in the areas of the ultra conservative organizations.
These groups are
typically the least rational, the least able to accept opposing viewpoints, as well as embracing the most exclusionary
or discriminatory dogma's.
Universally when these types of organizations are threatened intellectually
or with facts, the response can be violent.
I believe that as these groups find their ability to spread hate, and discrimination, marketed under the guise of a religion, is eliminated, that violence may
be their last acts of desperation as they try to hold on to their real or imagined ability to impact our society.
Colin Stuart McCoy
and yes, the noise, and the fall out from the noise, that people like Glen
Beck make, worries me more than just a bit.
Sinclair Lewis wrote/warned: that "fascism when it
arrives in the U.S. would be wrapped in the flag, and carrying the cross."
See Texas board of education?
3:01 pm pdt
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Gulf of mexico oil spill
If the sea bed compaction ratio is solid enough? to support a cap type effort.
Heavy lift transport/drill/lift
vessels could lower concrete caps..
robotic-ally guided into place.
5/3/10 update: BP announced
yesterday a plan for a 75 ton concrete cap, capable of being plumbed to the surface for oil recovery.
5/4/10 update: BP cap now reported to be 98 tons.
All that is left is to see if theory is sound in
practice. 1st cap scheduled to be in place in the next few days.
5/9/10 update: When I first threw my
thoughts on this out here, it was not a really in depth process...I saw it as being pretty much a no brainer.
"Put a big heavy lid on the situation", for temporary relief while a permanent fix is created. I figured
if the general theory was sound, that persons with the proper professional backgrounds would see the process
was managed to optimize it's success. Now we're seeing, for a number of reasons yet to be fully understood by one
such as myself, a process in danger of failure or very serious delays. 5/15/10 update: Was BP's concrete cap
effort doomed from the start.. was it a bad idea? 1.) If it was not possible to create a "cap" capable
of sinking into/compressing the sea bed, or going deep enough into, so that oil could not force it's way
underneath and out.. then this aspect of the process should not have been considered..If it even was?? 2.)
Better design in the hybrid capping effort appears to have had plenty of room.. a.) limit free space
inside capping device. b.) design to limit or resist effects of buoyancy by/or of crystal buildups. c.) device should have been lowered into place ready to operate immediately- one step, not a two step. 3.
A device able to sever the pipeline at depth I would hope exists ??? If not, I believe a "skirt"
could have been integrated into the cap design that would have met this need if required. 4.) Update: 6/22/10
it has been reported that the blow out preventor sitting on the ocean floor is five stories tall?? Why do Co's such
as B.P. not have pre manufactured containment "domes"/cap"resources" located around the globe in several strategic locations??
1:05 pm pdt
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