We are ruled by an oligarchy not only at a federal level but at the state level and city level as well. Schools are run by an elite class who can not relate to the struggles of those who pay their salaries. The compensation, vacation and benefit packages of said groups are unsustainable and out of control.
The following piece appears on American Thinker.com.
“For the bureaucrat, the world is a mere object to be manipulated by him.”
Karl Marx quotes (German political Philosopher and revolutionary, 1818-1883)
Similar Quotes.
Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.
The government ruling class by the numbers
K.E. Campbell
The ruling class continues to live high on the hog at the expense of the rest of the country -- staggering national debt, 10th Amendment and Great Recession be damned. The figures that follow are more consistent with an aristocracy, monarchy or plutocracy than our constitutional republic.
Home prices
According to the Washington Post, the Washington DC area experienced "the highest year-over-year home price gains in the nation this fall, as real estate values slumped in nearly every other metropolitan area." The article cited Standard & Poor's latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released last week. From October 2009 to October 2010, home prices dropped in 16 of the 20 metro areas studied. Of the four cities with increases, home prices in the DC area rose most: 3.7%.
From September 2010 to October 2010, home prices declined in all of the 20 markets tracked. Still, the nation's capital region enjoyed a relative advantage, tying Las Vegas for the lowest month-over-month decline, -0.2%.
Unemployment rates
In late November 2010, Forbes reported that the DC area "boasts a better than average unemployment rate of 5.9%, far below the September's 9.2% national average." That's a 44% difference. The Washington area unemployment rate, according to the Post, "has consistently remained roughly three percentage points below the national average throughout the downturn in the economy."
Income
According to Forbes, the Washington DC area was "the place with the highest median family income" in 2009. Residents there realized a 0.7% increase, on average, in household income in 2009, despite the fact that "median family incomes across the country decreased dramatically from 2008 to 2009."
According to another Forbes ranking, three of the top five, six of the top ten, and 11 of the top 25 "richest" counties in U.S. are in the Washington DC area. The top three counties on the list -- Loudoun, Fairfax, and Howard -- are all in the DC area. The rankings are based on 2008 median household income data from the Census Bureau.
The Cato Institute analyzed data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and concluded that "in 2009, the average wage for 1.95 million federal civilian workers was $81,258, which compared to an average $50,462 for the nation's 101 million private sector workers (measured in full-time equivalents)." The disparity is even greater when benefits are considered. According to Cato, "federal worker compensation averaged a whopping $123,049, which was more than double the private sector average of $61,051" in 2009.
Until the beast that is the federal government is starved or at least put on a crash diet, the swine will continue to dine finely at our expense.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
The Moral of the Story
The following funny piece appeared on the Education Intelligence Agency Blog. Be sure to visit the EIA to view the links associated with the post.
"When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children." - Albert Shanker, Former President of the American Federation of Teachers
Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.
The Ancient History of Education Labor
Rick Hess is excerpting items from his new book on his blog, and includes these interesting historical notes on differentiated pay for teachers:
In the Greek city-state of Teos, for example, elementary teachers were paid 600 drachmas for the first grade, 550 for the second, and 500 for the third. Equally noteworthy is that the Greeks also paid instructors differentially depending on the subject taught. Teosian archery and javelin teachers were the lowest-paid teachers, at 250 drachmas per year; literature teachers earned 500 to 600 drachmas; and music teachers were the highest-paid teachers, at 700 drachmas.
…Eventually, the Roman Emperor Gratian established a salary schedule throughout the empire in the fourth century CE, with pay routinely differentiated based on judgments regarding the import of various instructional roles.
These examples provide valuable insights on the history of paying teachers, but the ultimate outcomes were not so encouraging. Teos was destroyed by an earthquake and Gratian was assassinated by a rival pretending to be a supporter.
The lesson here is: If you mess with teacher pay, build your house on a solid foundation and keep your armor on.
"When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children." - Albert Shanker, Former President of the American Federation of Teachers
Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.
The Ancient History of Education Labor
Rick Hess is excerpting items from his new book on his blog, and includes these interesting historical notes on differentiated pay for teachers:
In the Greek city-state of Teos, for example, elementary teachers were paid 600 drachmas for the first grade, 550 for the second, and 500 for the third. Equally noteworthy is that the Greeks also paid instructors differentially depending on the subject taught. Teosian archery and javelin teachers were the lowest-paid teachers, at 250 drachmas per year; literature teachers earned 500 to 600 drachmas; and music teachers were the highest-paid teachers, at 700 drachmas.
…Eventually, the Roman Emperor Gratian established a salary schedule throughout the empire in the fourth century CE, with pay routinely differentiated based on judgments regarding the import of various instructional roles.
These examples provide valuable insights on the history of paying teachers, but the ultimate outcomes were not so encouraging. Teos was destroyed by an earthquake and Gratian was assassinated by a rival pretending to be a supporter.
The lesson here is: If you mess with teacher pay, build your house on a solid foundation and keep your armor on.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Who is Karl Marx? Founding Father? Some Students Think So!
The following piece appeared on the Education Week BLOG. Be sure to visit the Education Week Blog to see the links associated with this story. People actually wonder why I call them "Taxpayer Funded Socialist Indoctrination Centers."
"Wherever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to insure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery." - Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister (1874)
Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.
Karl Marx, Founding Father? Survey Shows Knowledge Gaps
By Erik Robelen on December 16, 2010 9:48 AM
It's not exactly news that many Americans are a bit weak in their knowledge of civics and history, but new survey results help put the situation in sharp relief.
The most striking finding was that nearly half of U.S. adults identified a phrase popularized by Karl Marx—"from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"—as coming from one of America's founding documents.
Of the 42 percent of respondents who incorrectly identified the phrase, the most common response was that it could be found in the Bill of Rights. That's from a December survey commissioned by the nonprofit Bill of Rights Institute.
"It is imperative that Americans understand how vital the Bill of Rights is to the future of our country," Jason Ross, a vice president at the Bill of Rights Institute, said in a press release unveiling the new survey data. "With a better understanding of our founding documents, Americans can see how much our experiment in self-government depends on the ideas of the Founders and why America has been an example of freedom up to this point."
In other results from the survey, 55 percent of Americans did not recognize that "education" is not a First Amendment right and only one in five correctly identified the 10th Amendment as the one that reserves powers to the states and the people.
The survey comes as the Bill of Rights Institute this week launched a new initiative to educate Americans about the freedoms embodied in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. As part of the undertaking, the organization has developed a new website focused on the text of the first 10 amendments, landmark Supreme Court cases and decisions based on those amendments, and various games and resources for students and educators.
The new survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Bill of Rights Institute from Dec. 1-3, 2010, among 2,159 adults ages 18 and older.
For those who may need a refresher course, here's a copy of the Bill of Rights.
"Wherever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to insure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery." - Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister (1874)
Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.
Karl Marx, Founding Father? Survey Shows Knowledge Gaps
By Erik Robelen on December 16, 2010 9:48 AM
It's not exactly news that many Americans are a bit weak in their knowledge of civics and history, but new survey results help put the situation in sharp relief.
The most striking finding was that nearly half of U.S. adults identified a phrase popularized by Karl Marx—"from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"—as coming from one of America's founding documents.
Of the 42 percent of respondents who incorrectly identified the phrase, the most common response was that it could be found in the Bill of Rights. That's from a December survey commissioned by the nonprofit Bill of Rights Institute.
"It is imperative that Americans understand how vital the Bill of Rights is to the future of our country," Jason Ross, a vice president at the Bill of Rights Institute, said in a press release unveiling the new survey data. "With a better understanding of our founding documents, Americans can see how much our experiment in self-government depends on the ideas of the Founders and why America has been an example of freedom up to this point."
In other results from the survey, 55 percent of Americans did not recognize that "education" is not a First Amendment right and only one in five correctly identified the 10th Amendment as the one that reserves powers to the states and the people.
The survey comes as the Bill of Rights Institute this week launched a new initiative to educate Americans about the freedoms embodied in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. As part of the undertaking, the organization has developed a new website focused on the text of the first 10 amendments, landmark Supreme Court cases and decisions based on those amendments, and various games and resources for students and educators.
The new survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Bill of Rights Institute from Dec. 1-3, 2010, among 2,159 adults ages 18 and older.
For those who may need a refresher course, here's a copy of the Bill of Rights.
Who is Karl Marx? Founding Father? Some Students Think So!
The following piece appeared on the Education Week BLOG. Be sure to visit the Education Week Blog to see the links associated with this story. People actually wonder why I call them "Taxpayer Funded Socialist Indoctrination Centers."
"Wherever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to insure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery." - Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister (1874)
Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.
Karl Marx, Founding Father? Survey Shows Knowledge Gaps
By Erik Robelen on December 16, 2010 9:48 AM
It's not exactly news that many Americans are a bit weak in their knowledge of civics and history, but new survey results help put the situation in sharp relief.
The most striking finding was that nearly half of U.S. adults identified a phrase popularized by Karl Marx—"from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"—as coming from one of America's founding documents.
Of the 42 percent of respondents who incorrectly identified the phrase, the most common response was that it could be found in the Bill of Rights. That's from a December survey commissioned by the nonprofit Bill of Rights Institute.
"It is imperative that Americans understand how vital the Bill of Rights is to the future of our country," Jason Ross, a vice president at the Bill of Rights Institute, said in a press release unveiling the new survey data. "With a better understanding of our founding documents, Americans can see how much our experiment in self-government depends on the ideas of the Founders and why America has been an example of freedom up to this point."
In other results from the survey, 55 percent of Americans did not recognize that "education" is not a First Amendment right and only one in five correctly identified the 10th Amendment as the one that reserves powers to the states and the people.
The survey comes as the Bill of Rights Institute this week launched a new initiative to educate Americans about the freedoms embodied in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. As part of the undertaking, the organization has developed a new website focused on the text of the first 10 amendments, landmark Supreme Court cases and decisions based on those amendments, and various games and resources for students and educators.
The new survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Bill of Rights Institute from Dec. 1-3, 2010, among 2,159 adults ages 18 and older.
For those who may need a refresher course, here's a copy of the Bill of Rights.
"Wherever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to insure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery." - Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister (1874)
Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.
Karl Marx, Founding Father? Survey Shows Knowledge Gaps
By Erik Robelen on December 16, 2010 9:48 AM
It's not exactly news that many Americans are a bit weak in their knowledge of civics and history, but new survey results help put the situation in sharp relief.
The most striking finding was that nearly half of U.S. adults identified a phrase popularized by Karl Marx—"from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"—as coming from one of America's founding documents.
Of the 42 percent of respondents who incorrectly identified the phrase, the most common response was that it could be found in the Bill of Rights. That's from a December survey commissioned by the nonprofit Bill of Rights Institute.
"It is imperative that Americans understand how vital the Bill of Rights is to the future of our country," Jason Ross, a vice president at the Bill of Rights Institute, said in a press release unveiling the new survey data. "With a better understanding of our founding documents, Americans can see how much our experiment in self-government depends on the ideas of the Founders and why America has been an example of freedom up to this point."
In other results from the survey, 55 percent of Americans did not recognize that "education" is not a First Amendment right and only one in five correctly identified the 10th Amendment as the one that reserves powers to the states and the people.
The survey comes as the Bill of Rights Institute this week launched a new initiative to educate Americans about the freedoms embodied in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. As part of the undertaking, the organization has developed a new website focused on the text of the first 10 amendments, landmark Supreme Court cases and decisions based on those amendments, and various games and resources for students and educators.
The new survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Bill of Rights Institute from Dec. 1-3, 2010, among 2,159 adults ages 18 and older.
For those who may need a refresher course, here's a copy of the Bill of Rights.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
If you are a Homeschooler and Love Freedom.....
If you are a Homeschooler and Love Freedom.....Don't move to New Hampshire.
Republicans made big gains in both the House and the Senate in New Hampshire in November 2010, but that does not mean homeschoolers will finally see homeschooling freedom in New Hampshire. We have to remember homeschoolers did not have homeschooling freedom when republicans were in control. There is no one to blame but homeschoolers themselves. Homeschoolers have allowed the HEC to exist; their very existence is detrimentally to homeschooling freedom.
The other foes of homeschooling freedom are the members of HEC, Chris Hamilton and Abby Lawrence. These two fought against the bill that would have abolished the HEC. The other foe to homeschoolers in New Hampshire is the Home School Legal Defense Association; they have yet to put a true homeschooling freedom bill on the table. In fact why is HSDLA an out of State organization even involved with any homeschooling bill, if it is not a freedom bill? The more restrictive the homeschool Bill the more homeschoolers need the HSLDA. To me it appears they are drumming up business for themselves.
Twenty-four states in the United States of America have homeschooling freedom. There is no reason why New Hampshire homeschoolers should not have freedom as well. We need to stop those who have a vested interest in strict homeschool laws from interfering with those of us who would like to educate our children without the interferences of a failing State education system.
"A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another; and as the mould in which it casts them is that which pleases the dominant power in the government, whether this be a monarch, an aristocracy, or a majority of the existing generation; in proportion as it is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by a natural tendency to one over the body." - John Stuart Mill
Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.
Republicans made big gains in both the House and the Senate in New Hampshire in November 2010, but that does not mean homeschoolers will finally see homeschooling freedom in New Hampshire. We have to remember homeschoolers did not have homeschooling freedom when republicans were in control. There is no one to blame but homeschoolers themselves. Homeschoolers have allowed the HEC to exist; their very existence is detrimentally to homeschooling freedom.
The other foes of homeschooling freedom are the members of HEC, Chris Hamilton and Abby Lawrence. These two fought against the bill that would have abolished the HEC. The other foe to homeschoolers in New Hampshire is the Home School Legal Defense Association; they have yet to put a true homeschooling freedom bill on the table. In fact why is HSDLA an out of State organization even involved with any homeschooling bill, if it is not a freedom bill? The more restrictive the homeschool Bill the more homeschoolers need the HSLDA. To me it appears they are drumming up business for themselves.
Twenty-four states in the United States of America have homeschooling freedom. There is no reason why New Hampshire homeschoolers should not have freedom as well. We need to stop those who have a vested interest in strict homeschool laws from interfering with those of us who would like to educate our children without the interferences of a failing State education system.
"A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another; and as the mould in which it casts them is that which pleases the dominant power in the government, whether this be a monarch, an aristocracy, or a majority of the existing generation; in proportion as it is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by a natural tendency to one over the body." - John Stuart Mill
Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.
Friday, July 30, 2010
The Michael Letters - Heaven's Answer to Screwtape
Fans of Glenn Beck and The Screwtape Letters will love The Michael Letters.
Available on Amazon and Create Space.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Jim Peschke's Book Now Available for Purchase
The above photo is the back cover without the ISBN.
Jim's book now available for sale on Create Space.
Cathy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)