Real Effect: Education

Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts

Monday, December 10, 2012

Leverage In the School Systems Hits Predatory Status

No, we're not entering some sort of third-world financial hell at all. It's just your silly 'conservative' values blinding you to the truth -

In 2010, officials at the West Contra Costa School District, just east of San Francisco, were in a bind. The district needed $2.5 million to help secure a federally subsidized $25 million loan to build a badly needed elementary school.

Charles Ramsey, president of the school board, says he needed that $2.5 million upfront, but the district didn't have it.

Why would you leave $25 million on the table? You would never leave $25 million on the table.
- Charles Ramsey, school board president, West Contra Costa School District

"We'd be foolish not to take advantage of getting $25 million" when the district had to spend just $2.5 million to get it, Ramsey says. "The only way we could do it was with a [capital appreciation bond]."

Those bonds, known as CABs, are unlike typical bonds, where a school district is required to make immediate and regular payments. Instead, CABs allow districts to defer payments well into the future — by which time lots of interest has accrued.

In the West Contra Costa Schools' case, that $2.5 million bond will cost the district a whopping $34 million to repay. - Bill Lockyer, California state treasurer

Get that? This is how ~~gangsta, banksta,~~ 'modern' accounting works. In order to get back $25 mil that the people paid the Feds in the first place, the district is taking out a $2.5 mil loan that will be payed back at a 17 x 1 ration. Later...of course. But this is not the first run in that TRE readers have had with out of control school districts, nor it is Califormia's -

Lockyer is poring through a database collected by the Los Angeles Times of school districts that have recently used capital appreciation bonds. In total, districts have borrowed about $3 billion to finance new school construction, maintenance and educational materials. But the actual payback on those loans will exceed $16 billion.

Some of the bonds can be refinanced, but most cannot, Lockyer says.

Perhaps the best example of the CAB issue is suburban San Diego's Poway Unified School District, which borrowed a little more than $100 million. But "debt service will be almost $1 billion," Lockyer says. "So, over nine times amount of the borrowing. There are worse ones, but that's pretty bad."

This is the kind of insanity that I point out when liberals (and to a lesser extent, conservatives) attempt to extol the virtues of edumucation. It isn't that there is a problem with higher learning per se, merely that you don't make yourself financially insolvent in order to attain it. Given the atrocious, ahem, cost...of today's higher education, you better be able to service that loan fast in order to keep yourself afloat. Else you end up a slave to the banksta!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

School Locks Up 'Roughhouser'

Solitary confinement comes to your local school -

Concerns that schools are becoming more and more like prisons have been bolstered by the revelation that numerous school districts are using “isolation booths” to place unruly children in solitary confinement as a punishment for bad behavior.

The controversy erupted after concerned mother Ana Bate found out from her son that Mint Valley Elementary School in Longview, Washington was using a padded isolation chamber to deal with students with “behavioral disabilities”. Bate obtained photos of the isolation box and posted them on Facebook, prompting outrage and interest from local media.

The school claims the isolation box is a “therapeutic booth” and that only children with special needs and parental permission are placed inside. However, Candace Dawson told KATU.com that her son was put inside the booth without her permission.

But this is just for a short amount of time, right?

Bate’s son told his mother he was “distraught” at being forced to sit near the booth for 4 hours as a punishment for “roughhousing” on the playground. During that time, he said he saw several other children being placed inside, suggesting the use of the box is commonplace and not in extreme circumstances as the law in Oregon and Washington mandates.

If your children are still in 'public school', why?

want to fight homosexual feelings on religious or moral grounds and will only lead to more unregulated efforts.
Ms. Speier was joined by two people who said they underwent “gay conversion quackery” and advocates for groups that oppose such therapies, including the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“I’m telling my story to put an end to this sham,” said Jerry Spencer, 23.
He said he was forced by his conservative Catholic parents to undergo conversion therapy from age 14 to almost 20.
The therapy, which he said was like torture at times, didn

Read more: Congress implored to denounce sexual-orientation therapy - Washington Times http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/28/lawmaker-targets-gay-conversion-therapies/#ixzz2DdaOnjAV
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

In the latest attack on therapies aimed at helping gay patients who want to become heterosexual, a congresswoman from California said Wednesday that she was introducing a resolution calling on Congress to denounce the practice.
Rep. Jackie Speier, a Democrat, is proposing the resolution as two lawsuits move through federal court challenging a new California law to ban minors from receiving “sexual-orientation change efforts” under any circumstance.
In a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday, Ms. Speier said she was introducing her Stop Harming Our Kids resolution to “bring us some reality checks” about sexuality.
“Let’s get this straight,” she said. “Being gay, lesbian [or] transgender is not a disease to be cured or a mental health issue to be treated.”
Therapies aimed at helping someone go from gay to straight are “discredited” and “ineffective,” and minors should not be subjected to them, she said.
She added that she will investigate whether taxpayer funds in Medicaid or Tricare, the Pentagon’s health care system, have been used to reimburse therapists offering such counseling.
Practitioners of so-called “sexual reparative therapies” defend the practice, as do some conservative religious organizations, saying efforts to curb their work violate their right to freedom of religion and speech. Many of the most invasive practices once employed have been stopped, they say, and they argue that a blanket ban will hurt young people who want to fight homosexual feelings on religious or moral grounds and will only lead to more unregulated efforts.
Ms. Speier was joined by two people who said they underwent “gay conversion quackery” and advocates for groups that oppose such therapies, including the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“I’m telling my story to put an end to this sham,” said Jerry Spencer, 23.
He said he was forced by his conservative Catholic parents to undergo conversion therapy from age 14 to almost 20.
The therapy, which he said was like torture at times, didn’t work because “being gay is simply who we are.”
Sheldon Bruck said he underwent therapy for several weeks at Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing to escape his same-sex attractions. Instead, he said, the therapy led him to depression, anxiety and estrangement from his family, especially his mother.
Mr. Bruck is one of six plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in New Jersey against the program. The complaint, filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and colleagues, alleges that officials at the organization engaged in consumer fraud by charging people for deceptive, false and fraudulent conversion-therapy services.
In September, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed first-in-the-nation legislation to prevent minors from receiving sexual-orientation change therapy even if the children or their parents want it.
In his signing statement, Mr. Brown said the therapies “have no basis in science or medicine, and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery.”

Read more: Congress implored to denounce sexual-orientation therapy - Washington Times http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/28/lawmaker-targets-gay-conversion-therapies/#ixzz2DdaCYTFB
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Monday, September 10, 2012

Chicago Teachers Go On Strike

Following in the footsteps of Wisconsin, the IMF riots move from the fringe to the populace -

Chicago teachers began walking the picket line for the first time in 25 years Monday morning at the nation’s third largest school system, leaving parents to scramble for alternatives for their children.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel quickly blasted the strike announcement as “a strike of choice.” He repeatedly declared Sunday night: “My team is available now.” He is expected to hold a news conference Monday morning to turn up the heat more on the union and had already cancelled a fund-raising appearance later in the day.

And why are they striking?

Key disputed issues in the talks were teacher cost of living raises, additional pay for experience, job security in the face of annual school closures and staff shakeups, and a new teacher evaluation process that ties teacher ratings in part to student test score growth.

“Evaluate us on what we do, not on the lives of our children we do not control,” Lewis said Sunday, denouncing the online process by which teacher evaluators were being trained.

CTU officials contend that CPS’ offer of raises over the next four years does not fairly compensate them for the 4 percent raise they lost this past school year and the longer and “harder” school year they will face this school year, with the introduction of a tougher new curriculum.

The union also has pushed for improved working conditions, such as smaller class sizes, more libraries, air-conditioned schools, and more social workers and counselors to address the increasing needs of students surrounded by violence — all big-ticket items. CPS officials contend they are seeking a “fair” contract, with raises for teachers, but are limited by funding and the threat of a $1 billion deficit at the end of this school year.

Reports are filtering in that the union has turned down a $400 Million Deal that included a 16% pay raise on top of an average wage of $76k per year before benefits. You poor, poor mistreated educators. If only someone would give you a raise. Of course not entering this discussion is the quality of the product produced -

I can speak to this because I used to run a company in Chicago. We had to institute a screening test for applicants as it was utterly common to have someone come in for an entry-level job, requiring nothing more than a High School education who could not read, could not write a common business letter and could not make change for a $20 without needing a calculator or computer!

That's ridiculous.

And common.

Anyone that has followed me for any period of time knows of my utter contempt for most public unions and their effect on the economy. Try asking a unionista once 'Just how much money do you think you should get?' and the answer will almost always follow the same line of thinking.

Relative.

'Uh, I need 10% more for this year.' and 'We need a working wage.' and 'It's for the children, we need more.' and 'Don't you know how hard it is?!?'

All of these responses pale in comparison to the capitalist's answer. 'How about $20 an hour?'

Note the differences. The unionista will never, ever be satisfied with his compensation because someone, somewhere will always be making more. Therefore, he must get more. It doesn't matter if the market can support it, the taxpayers should sacrifice more! It doesn't matter if the product is inferior, those lazy parents need to help more! All of their proposed solutions involve more money and blaming someone else.

Ok teachers, how do you propose that works when your State is beyond bankrupt? Your pension fund is reportedly done in 6 years and how about the fact that your credit recently was in a worse state than Portugal? You can't borrow, you can't raise taxes much without blowing your economy up and there's a limit to how much you can stiff people with bills to pay!

Of course all of this is a scam. The unionistas are being driven by the state to take on the taxpayers, the taxpayers are against the public sector and the banksters laugh all the way to the bank.

Look for the unrest to spread as the bills become harder and harder to cover with faulty paperwork. This is certainly going to be a crazy 4th quarter.

UPDATE: Just to drive home the point that the unions do not merit a pay raise, they deserve a boot out the door for these absolutely abysmal results -

Seventy-nine percent of the 8^th graders in the Chicago Public Schools are not grade-level proficient in reading, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and 80 percent are not grade-level proficient in math.

So 80% are flunking? That matches with what Denninger reported above. But what does this have to do with the strike?

...one of the major issues behind the strike is a new system Chicago plans to use for evaluating public school teachers in which student improvement on standardized tests will count for 40 percent of a teacher’s evaluation. Until now, the evaluations of Chicago public school teachers have been based on what a Chicago Sun Times editorial called a “meaningless checklist.”

I see. The payee wants accountability for their dollars coming in with a 80% failure rate and the unions response is to demand a RAISE!?!

GIVE THEM ALL THE BOOT!

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

The Futility of College Debt Bombs

"Conventional thinking" usually remains so until the model which produces the thinking is disproved in some sort of spectacular fashion. In 2000, the thought was that a person 'could not go wrong' investing in the internet or 'working with computers'. Hindsight is a harsh mistress and its revelations are often crystalline as it eventually became clear that there were such things as bad investments in the Tech Bubble. The economy subsequently crashed and the mal-investment bubble corrected somewhat. The same process repeated for the housing bubble of 2008 and countless other foolish decisions through the millenia.

The current bubble being blown in college financing reflects the same poisonous thought process that infected the other manias that blew sky high eventually. It goes roughly like this -

Education is needed to promote advances in production and general well-being. (True)
Therefore in order to grow our society, education needs to take place to create economic growth. (True)
College is an advanced form of education. (True)

Now here is where things typically begin to break down...

Therefore, all college is an investment in economic growth. (False)

Just like Pets.com and now Facebook found out, putting out just any sort of product, no matter how useful is not a guarantee of economic success. Perhaps a good question to ask is 'Is this product necessary?'. If the answer to that question is yes, then money will chase it, profits will be had and the economy will grow. However, if the answer is no, then the company will go bankrupt in short order.

It is with this thought process in mind that we consider the following -

According to government data, compiled by the Treasury Department at the request of SmartMoney.com, the federal government is withholding money from a rapidly growing number of Social Security recipients who have fallen behind on federal student loans. From January through August 6, the government reduced the size of roughly 115,000 retirees' Social Security checks on those grounds. That's nearly double the pace of the department's enforcement in 2011; it's up from around 60,000 cases in all of 2007 and just 6 cases in 2000.

Tens of thousands of retirees have fallen behind on student loans--and the feds are coming after their Social Security benefits. SmartMoney's AnnaMaria Andriotis has details on Lunch Break.

The amount that the government withholds varies widely, though it runs up to 15%. Assuming the average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker of $1,234, that could mean a monthly haircut of almost $190. "This is going to catch an awful lot of people off guard and wreak havoc on their financial lives," says Sheryl Garrett, a financial planner in Eureka Springs, Ark.

My favorite statement as of the last few years has been 'How are you going to pay for that?'. For decades, the American answer to that has been deferment, 'I'll pay later...' Eventually that thought gives way to 'I won't have to pay ever because the growth will cover the financing.' (8% growth - 5% interest = 3% profit)
The thought that just about everyone misses is that the cost will have to be paid eventually. The government realises this and this is why they are hitting you where it hurts now.

Initially, $200 a month is not enough to sink a families finances, but soon that number will grow. And since the cost of borrowing eventually will go back up, so will the total bill.

This is why communism doesn't work. NO ONE PAYS THEIR BILLS.

This is what causes the commune to devour more and more assets, resources and eventually countries in an attempt to prop up a failing system. We've seen this in the Soviet Union, we see this today in cities across the US, and we see this in the poisoned thinking of our kinsmen when they refer to the collective when they want their 'next greatest idea EVAH!' to be implemented. In truth, it's a failed concept that prospers in the ideological cesspools seed by....wait for it....wait for it...

Colleges.

Long and short. America is selling the last of its productivity in a failing attempt to protect its economy by buying communism.

Sweet Lenin's ghost the irony is delicious.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

College Debt, Still Soaring

We are going to have some of the best edumutated dead people on the face of the planet -

The student loan market has expanded like a financial virus in the last decade. Even during the financial meltdown where credit was being restricted across all sectors of the economy, student debt kept on growing at a feverish pitch. It would be one thing if the quality of education had increased or wages were going up for college graduates but the opposite occurred. The quality of education especially at many of the for-profits is suspect at best and borders on thievery. This is where a massive expansion has occurred thanks to the financialization of our entire economy. Student debt has grown from $97 billion in 1997 to a stunning $870 billion according to conservative Fed reports to inching closer to $1 trillion this year by other measures. Higher education is definitely in a bubble and younger Americans are dealing with the brunt of this new predatory financial epidemic.

The Real Effect
"Education is our future!" is one of the misused, wrong and idiotic thought processes I have ever heard. Perpetrated primarily by overcompensated teachers and paranoid mothers, these individuals attack people verbally at local budget meetings in order to 'save the children'. Yet if one peruses the haggard laboratories that are regarded as schools, just see yesterday's article for an example, and factor in the high failure rate you are hard pressed to come up with a justification to allow these monstrosities to continue to exist. Most attempts to bring some sort of accountability to the table are largely rebuffed as being ignorant and fatalistic by the myopic self-important parasites.

Upon closer scrutiny, it turns out that this edifice of importance has grown to monstrous proportions due to several reasons:

Denial. Like most bubbles before it, most purchasers of these financialized products are now engaging in mental gymnastics in order to justify their own foolish decisions. Their arguments are often a form of bait-and-switch in which the arguer either deals with the conditions of a bygone era like 100 years ago or substitutes a program like nuclear physics for an advanced degree in dog grooming. The truth of the matter is that all markets tend to change and this market is no exception.
Conflict of interest. Like a used car salesman's 'You need this car!' pitch, there is significant amounts of tax money in play here. (Why do you think your property taxes are so high?) These individuals are heavily invested in making sure things swing their way. However the very justification given for government is to ensure that no one party can steal another person's future.
Bad math. Hard to believe isn't it? But much like our current Federal budget, these yahoos really believe that 70% of your budget can go to education. Food? Secondary. Housing? Get a real job so you can afford one! Literally the argument goes something like this - 'We want a 10% increase, but we're only getting 5%, so we took a 5% CUT.' ...crickets....
Bad arguments. The aforementioned bad math gives way to the inevitable argument of the next budget cycle...'We took a 5% cut last year, so we demand a 20% increase to make up for it this year!' Uh yeah, not going to happen. And yes, you guessed it, this equals a 15% cut in their eyes. Sigh...

The long and short of this inevitably becomes that just like housing before it, prices go through the roof. And just like housing, it too shall pop in time. And then we can behold the shrill cries of the teachers as they beg the broken, destitute government to prop up their shattered delusions of grandeur.

Is this how we should treat our children?

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Schools Banning Forming "Best Friends"

Hot on the heals of tag bans, hugging bans and other forms of inanity, comes the 'best friend' ban -

TEACHERS are banning schoolkids from having best pals — so they don't get upset by fall-outs.

Instead, the primary pupils are being encouraged to play in large groups.

Educational psychologist Gaynor Sbuttoni said the policy has been used at schools in Kingston, South West London, and Surrey.

She added: "I have noticed that teachers tell children they shouldn't have a best friend and that everyone should play together.

"They are doing it because they want to save the child the pain of splitting up from their best friend. But it is natural for some children to want a best friend. If they break up, they have to feel the pain because they're learning to deal with it."

Russell Hobby, of the National Association of Head Teachers, confirmed some schools were adopting best-friend bans.

The Real Effect
Is there really any doubt that these are no longer "educational centers" and are swiftly becoming de facto "reprogramming centers"? The longer these institutions continue to be state run without forced competition, the worse this will get.

Here's the money sentence regarding educators intents with ~~your children~~ their students -

They are doing it because they want to save the child the pain of splitting up from their best friend.

The mad scientists in the lab coats are at it again, except this time, they believe your children are fair game for their experiments.But in part, we are all to blame because we not only encourage, we venerate this "change the world" nonsense. Any prepubescent individual that disagrees with someone and wants to "fix the world" is given the reigns of power in an attempt to "make a better world". This madness is on display everywhere from Sesame Street to our local "See something, say something" campaigns.

This creates an environment that breeds hordes of people that think it's normal to wage a form of war against your neighbor and his progeny because you dislike his brand of deodorant. Combine this with instant information via Social Networking and you have an armed populace that feels that it has a duty to fix everyone's outlook. The ultimate conclusion of this is not the MLK "I have a dream" speech, but a Orwellian nightmare where one is castigated for simply not wanting to discuss your choice of breakfast this morning.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

SWAT Team Enforces DoE Raid On Wrong Person

The state knows no limits -

A father was dragged from his home and handcuffed in front of his children by a SWAT team looking for his estranged wife - to collect her unpaid student loans.

A stunned Kenneth Wright had his front door kicked in by the raiding party at 6 am yesterday before being dragged onto his front porch, handcuffed and led to a police car with his three children.

He says he was then detained for six hours while officers looked for his wife - who no longer lives at the house.

Mr Wright was later told by Stockton police that the order to send in the SWAT team came from The U.S. Department of Education who were looking for his estranged wife to collect defaulted loan payments.

The Real Effect

America has become infatuated with power and authority and subsequently fails to define and restrain it properly. I like to use the analogy of a librarian usurping authority because most individuals are familiar with what a librarian does and the extent of her limited authority.

Let's assume that the librarian is hired by the town board to have control over the local branch of the town library. She is empowered, by the town board to oversee that particular library and assess fines to patrons of the library that use the services they provide.

At this point, we should note the extent and limitations of her powers/authority:

She has the power to levy fines, but not to forcibly collect them.(She cannot raid your bank account)
She has control over her branch, but if another branch opens, she cannot control the branch unless authorized to.
Despite the overwhelming evil of a local corporation stealing from its clients, she has no authority to raid the facility and "set things right" no matter how much it drives her batty.

In today's age, Americans view authority as being all-encompassing and pervasive. For instance, the Executive branch of the U.S. government has long run amuck via shoddily defined Departments of which the Department of Education is one. (The U.S government should have just about as much authority to have an educational department as one on the proper branding of shoes.) Yet America refuses to recognize any limits on authority because somewhere once there was an official decree. What is infinitely less important to people is whether or not said law was actually legal.

For instance, in our above example of the librarian, she could argue that with the opening of a new local branch, that under her sworn duty as a protector of the people's books, that not only does she think she should be in charge of said branch, but that she is compelled to take up such a role by virtue of her previous duty. What most people miss in this is that her authority was given to her by another and is not unlimited, else what is to prohibit her from setting up local checkpoints with her shiny new GTOs acquired by the Department of Book Enforcement and Revenue Generation. (Of course such things are necessary, why if such a Department didn't exist we would have Tanks In the Streets what with people trying to figure out just how to return their books and all that.)

Such is the nature of authority. It tends to continue until challenged, most times forcefully. Back to the raid.

As Vox points out in his column today -

1. Why is the U.S. Department of Education permitted to issue warrants or call SWAT teams?
2. Why would the SWAT team assault an individual who is not responsible for the debts?
3. Upon which specific date was America pronounced dead?

This leads us to our logical conclusions. Unchecked authority will continue to run wild until it runs smack dab into the jurisdiction of another tyrant. It is usually at this point that cordial diplomacy gives way to war. (Funny how these petty thugs always tend to end up fighting.) It is doubtless that countless hours and swaths of rain forest will be dedicated to convincing the people that not only is such a war is just, what with historical precedent and all that, but that rest assured the god of the Departments is On Their Side.

Monday, May 23, 2011

TSA Expands Into Schools

And we wonder why homeschooling is exploding around the country -

Last week it was announced that TSA goons would conduct a grope-down of students during prom night at a Santa Fe high school. The TSA promised to move from airports into the New Mexico high school after two girls said security personnel groped them and a federal judge ruled the TSA should conduct pat-downs at dances or graduations.

See the KOAT video here.

The judge’s ruling indicates the federal government and the TSA believe they should be conducting searches. The TSA has moved from airports to train and bus stations. TSA boss Napolitano has said she envisions the agency ultimately groping citizens at malls and hotels.

The Real Effect
What's funny is not a lot of people argue with me much anymore when I state that the US is becoming a police state. The argument ends up focusing on whether or not such a move is necessary. Needless to say, the cattle car tracks don't stop here folks, rather they end much further down the line in a location quite similar to Germany circa 1943.

Monday, May 16, 2011

College Conspiracy

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Detroit to Shutter Its Schools?

I love to argue with individuals which claim there is no consequences to obscene levels of government spending -

Detroit Public Schools would close nearly half of its schools in the next two years, and increase high school class sizes to 62 by the following year, under a deficit-reduction plan filed with the state.

The plan, part of a monthly update Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb gives the Department of Education, was filed late Monday to provide insight into Bobb's progress in his attempt to slash a $327 million deficit in the district to zero over the next several years. Under it, the district would slim down from 142 schools now to 72 during 2012-13.

Bobb has said school closures, bigger classes and other measures would be needed if he cannot get help from lawmakers to restructure finances in the state's largest school district.

DPS considered but declined to file for bankruptcy in 2009. In the past year, debt in the district has increased by more than $100 million, brought on by a mix of revenue declines in property taxes, reduced state aid, declining enrollment and an unplanned staffing surge this past fall.

Wow, that's pretty brutal. Think the unions have learned their lessons yet? Nope...

Keith Johnson, president of the teachers union, said the proposed class size increases won't work and will never happen.

"I will never agree to any class-size increases," Johnson said. "These increases are antithetical to learning. Secondly, our classrooms aren't even built to accommodate those numbers.

Oh, but wait there's more.

District officials said they are pursuing "renaissance" legislation to free up $400 million in future tobacco settlement funds that could help mend DPS' deficit and those of 40 other districts statewide. In return, the districts would make dramatic reforms based on the federal Race to the Top initiative, such as eliminating teacher seniority.

The Real Effect
Notice the gimmicks and games going on here? Detroit is looking at bankruptcy and even has an Emergency Financial Manager and yet the attitude of 'No concessions, it's for the children!' prevails? They are even going so far as to look at raiding special funds in order to plug the holes. Who doesn't think this will ultimately end up in even more draconian legislation outlawing more behaviors (of course with a huge financial penalty involved) in the name of safety?

This is why socialism, fascism and ultimately tyranny repeatedly fail. Despite their insistence to the contrary, these systems have no reliable method by which they can gauge the effectiveness or viability of a given system without systematically destroying innovation. Given, you can push, prod and cajole for a time, but inevitably the system finds a way around it. Eventually, the state will criminalize this behavior as well.

All you municipalities around the country, take notice now. This level of austerity IS coming to your area, Detroit is just years ahead of the rest of us.

You want to fix it? Implement the following:

Eliminate egregious taxation such as

Property Tax
Income Tax

Seize unowned/abandoned land and hold an auction to give it to the cheapest local bidder
Eliminate the interfering bureaucracy (Health codes, land use, registrations, etc...)
Ensure the courts are giving priority to cases of civil rights and property law. All other misc. cases such as 'traffic violations' unless violating the previous rights should be summarily dismissed.

An area that does this will become a bastion of freedom first and a beacon of economic prosperity later.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Lifetime Servitude - The Real Cost of a College Education in the UK

Most people never even think about college education from an investment standpoint -

Government estimates show that their new university fees system is unsustainable, and that students will spend their whole working lives paying back the cost of a degree.

It is thought that only one in four will be able to pay back the full cost of their education show internal government figures, seen by the Independent on Sunday.

Ministers believe most graduates will spend their whole working lives making monthly payments simply covering their loans and interest, but never settling their debts.

According to a briefing note from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) only 25% of graduates will repay “at least 100 per cent of the original value of their loans in PV [present value] terms”.

Their ‘best case scenario’ sees a maximum of half of university leavers settling their debts, and 60% will never pay in full.

Labour have now questioned the sustainability of the new system, with shadow universities minister Gareth Thomas saying, “The Government’s figures look more and more questionable.

“When even they think such a high number of students will not be able to repay their loans in full, it underlines just how unfair and unsustainable it is trebling student fees.”

The Real Effect
Now, this is not to say that all college degrees are worthless, just most of them. What is actually needed is productive innovation and creativity not "education" or at the least what constitutes a modern education.

Think for a moment, if America, several hundred years ago could innovate and design its way out of poverty and lead the world into an industrial revolution, what is preventing us from doing it again? Namely our lack of liberty to make it so.

It's quite alright those because bankrupt systems inevitably reap the seeds that have previously sown in foolishness. This bloodshed will create the soil for new, vibrant institutions which will offer a competitive advantage to those who actually want it.

But what actually stymies me is the fact that so many students not only want the inferior product that is offered in the system, but that they think they can't live without it. Sorry kids, your grandparents made do, so can you.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

A Good Reason to Homeschool

Friday, January 29, 2010

Americans sign petition to repeal the First Amendment

Deliberate Dumbing Down of the World

Friday, February 02, 2007

Mandated Vaccines - Texas Home of the Free?

The following is from the Associated Press -

Gov. Rick Perry ordered Friday that schoolgirls in Texas must be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, making Texas the first state to require the shots.
The girls will have to get Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer.

Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass laws in state legislatures across the country mandating it Gardasil vaccine for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.

The Real Effect

This is a brazen attempt to erode individual liberty and promote governmental sovereignty.
This will at a bare minimum, remove one reason for women not to engage in promiscuous behavior. This will result in an increase in the disease in the long term (10 - 50 years) not a decrease. As more women participate in the behavior, the efficacy will not be enough to stem the increase of increased sexual behavior that will give rise to the disease. In addition there will be additional unseen side-effects that will only be seen years later, perhaps as increases in other forms of cancer in women
This demonstrates the increased governmental control through the Trojan horse of public schooling.
Notice that the vaccine is new? Yet Texas is making a state mandate on an unproven vaccine.
The federal government approved Gardasil in June, and a government advisory panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they are likely to be sexually active.
This is a classic example of a corporation lobbying behavior for all in order to sell a product.
The New Jersey-based drug company could generate billions in sales if Gardasil _ at $360 for the three-shot regimen _ were made mandatory across the country.
Women in Government is little more than a front group to promote legislation.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Racine Property Taxes Stay Up

Unknown to me today the Racine Journal Times had a front page splash stating "The Journal Times urges a Yes vote". This to me raises a critical issue.

Why wait until the morning of the vote to splash the editorial staff's (and presumably most of the newspaper's) opinion?

Despite repeated assurances by members of the staff as to the paper's objectivity, I believe the answer to this is blatantly obvious and despicable. The "No" vote had been making waves lately and the tide of public support was beginning to shift in their favor. By posting the story on the front page on the day of the vote, RJT could sway last minute undecideds by bringing up arguments that the opposition seemingly had no answer for.

Now to make myself clear, this is well within the Journal's right to publish such a paper and I support them in that but at least ditch the supposed 'we leave the bias at home' routine and be upfront with those that support your efforts. But with headlines like "Voters file into Winslow school; goodbye, Winslow" how can a city expect a supposedly "unbiased" reporting on the issue?

Referendum Watch 2005

As you may of may not know, the county of Racine is holding a referendum to determine whether or not to exceed the budget for one year by $6.45 million dollars. Interesting huh?
Well the real news has become believe it or not, turnout. With reports of up to 50% turnout is some locations the people will be well represented, no matter the result.

Click here for updates on the results.

Update (8:30) - Round 1 goes to the "Yes" vote with 2% of the vote in, with 176 voting yes and 129 voting no.
Update 2 (8:40) - Round 2 goes to the "Yes" vote with 18% of the vote in, with 2096 voting yes and 1366 voting no.
Update 3 (8:45) - Round 3 goes to the "Yes" vote with 45% of the vote in, with 7660 voting yes and 5677 voting no.
Update 4 (9:00) - Round 4 goes to the "Yes" vote with 65% of the vote in, with 11,371 voting yes and 8506 voting no.
Update 5 (9:15) - Round 5 goes to the "Yes" vote with 74% of the vote in, with 12,493 voting yes and 9608 voting no.
Update 6 (9:30) - Round 6 goes to the "Yes" vote with 90% of the vote in, with 14,802 voting yes and 11297 voting no.
Final Results (9:40) Yes wins with 16,407 votes to No at 12,666

Real Effect Quotes

Syria - It appears that the road to Iran lies through Syria. The US will try to draw in Hezbollah through "regime change". (Q1)
- The Real Effect - January 1, 2012

Start of the Asiatic war (Late Q3 - Q4) - With the US being over committed, it can't back up its positions in other countries, the East sees this and starts moving. Fires break out faster then they can be put out.
- The Real Effect - January 1, 2012

This is not a recession, it is a depression. And a massive one at that. We are not at the bottom, we are on gaining momentum for the next plunge down. If you thought the last drop was bad, this one is going to strike fear into the hearts of men everywhere.
- The Real Effect - June 15, 2009

Look for Roberts to hold a conservative line for a while, disarming most arguments against his nomination. Then when key arguments come to SCOTUS, I believe he will suddenly become a Sandra Day and hand us over to the globalists.
- The Real Effect - August 23, 2005

Western Europe contracts massively, putting extraordinary pressure on the Euro. But the call out of Belgium isn't about revoking the Euro, rather about the preservation of the European Union and the need to 'pull together'. I would expect that we could begin to see propaganda calling for a United Europe in the face of "x" (economic crisis, terror, war). Ultimately in the endgame, foreign creditors feel the massive pinch as they try to protect their investments, but the lack of a favorable response by the people will lead to war with the far east, but not yet.
- The Real Effect - January 1, 2011