Common Core Techniques

(with a hat tip to Gulag Bound)

Have you heard of the Common Core State Standards Initiative?

The entire video of some thirty-six minutes is well worth watching. If you don't have time to watch the entire video, however, please watch at least the portion from time marker 2:00 through time marker 8:00 in the video below the fold.

The Truth About Common Core

by Sam Huntington

Common Core is a global (voluntary) initiative designed to standardize educational standards in mathematics and the English Language Arts.  It sounds tame enough, so why then are (some) parents alarmed about a Common Core-Islam connection?  It is because school districts have incorporated school-sponsored programs of Islamic indoctrination, which include but are not limited to:

• Visits to mosques at taxpayer expense
• Requiring girls to wear head scarfs in the Islamic tradition
• Diminishing the Holocaust as a political scheme
• Offering allegiance to the United States in Arabic
• Adopting observances of Islamic holy days
• Introducing Islamic vocabulary to students who are barely able to speak proper English, introducing Islamic cultural studies
• Proselytizing Islam by creating pamphlets about Islam
• Reciting the Shahada, which proclaims Allah as the one true god and renounces the God of Abraham

Nincompoopery — And Worse

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

Former Canadian Idol contestant’s dinner chat moves from ice cream to ‘violent jihad’ on secret tapes, terrorism trial hears

Geraldo Attacks O’Reilly Over Racist Obama Interview: “What You Did Was Strip Him of His Majesty” (Video)

Accenture, hired to help fix HealthCare.gov, has had a series of stumbles

Breivik’s Confession and the Media’s Silence

Muslim Tries to Apply for Spousal Benefits for 12-Year-Old Wife… in Australia

The Benefits Of Good Literature

I can't say that I'm surprised that science supports something I've always contended: reading literary classics, particularly works of fiction, has benefits beyond enjoying the plot and building vocabulary.

From the Washington Post:

Why literary novels are better for you than Danielle Steel
By Science News and Reuters, Published: October 7

Reading good literature may help you socially, psychologists suggest

Think of it as the bookworm’s bonus: People who read first-rate fiction become more socially literate, at least briefly, a new study suggests.

Researchers randomly assigned nearly 700 volunteers to read excerpts of “literary” novels by recent National Book Award finalists and other celebrated authors, to read parts of fiction bestsellers, including one by Danielle Steel, or popular nonfiction books, or to not read anything. Those who read literary works then scored highest on several tests of the ability to decipher others’ motives and emotions, say David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano, psychologists at the New School for Social Research in New York.

One test asked participants to describe the thoughts or feelings of one or two individuals shown surrounded by various items in a series of images, based on written and visual clues. In another test, participants tried to match emotion words to facial expressions shown for two seconds on a computer screen.

By prompting readers to ponder characters’ motives and emotions rather than just a fast-moving plot, literary fiction recruits mind-reading skills used in daily encounters, Kidd and Castano propose in the journal Science. The researchers don’t know whether regularly reading literary fiction yields mind-reading upgrades that would last.

Will Common Core take into account these findings? Common Core emphasizes reading more nonfiction and less fiction.

Nincompoopery — And Worse

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

Dearborn: Muslim parents angry over Easter egg hunt school flyer

'Honor Diaries' screening shut down by CAIR

Local couple upset after receiving pre-marked voter registration card from Covered California [the state's ObamaCare web site]

HHS Started Obamacare Applications for Americans Without Their Knowledge or Permission

The Lorax? Really?

Last week, I conversed with a parent concerned about the education that her seventh-grade daughter is receiving in one of the "finest" public schools in one of the "finest" school districts in the United States.

The account I received was beyond disconcerting.

It was dismaying!

Nincompoopery — And Worse

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Just one link this week because the information is so extensive and includes multiple embedded links:

What are the specific details of the Common Core Initiative Standards (CCIS)?

Folks, there is no escape from what is afoot. Not only public education but also private education and homeschooling will be affected.


If this topic doesn't interest you, please scroll down to the posts published earlier this week.

Nincompoopery — And Worse

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

Bombshell that Shocks Precisely No One: Pakistanis Knew Osama bin Laden Lived a Few Hundred Yards from Military Academy

It’s clearly now acceptable to study zombies seriously

‘Suffocating pressure’: Former ThinkProgress writer describes White House ‘censorship’

Nincompoopery

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

IRS Deliberately Chose Not to Fess Up to Scandal Before Election

Report: Energy Dept. spent $11 million per green job

Here’s what kids will read under Common Core

Education department eliminates the terms 'mother' and 'father' in favor of less gender-specific 'parent 1' and 'parent 2'

Nincompoopery — And Worse

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

Fallujah falls to Al-Qaeda, does anyone care??

News Networks Spend Twice as Much Time on Michelle Obama’s Birthday Bash Than Benghazi

Who Read 1,582-Page $1.1T Spending Bill? Congressman: 'Nobody Did'

The Benghazi Transcripts: Top Defense officials briefed Obama on ‘attack,’ not video or protest

More People Without Health Insurance Than Before Obamacare: Number Cancelled 6,286,357

‘Blow Torch Rapist’ Strikes Again In Detroit

Why The November 8 Result?

Photo from the Daily Mail

One of my Facebook finds offers the following explanation:

Dear Democrats and Liberals,

I'm noticing that a lot of you aren't graciously accepting the fact that your candidate lost. In fact, you seem to be posting even more hateful things about those of us who voted for Trump.

Some of you are apparently "triggered."  Because you are posting how "sick" you feel about the results.

"How did this happen?" you ask.

You created "us" when you attacked our freedom of speech.

You created "us" when you attacked our right to bear arms.

You created "us" when you attacked our Christian beliefs.

You created "us" when you constantly referred to us as racists.

You created "us" when you constantly called us xenophobic.

You created "us" when you told us to get on board or get out of the way.

You created "us" when you forced us to buy health care and then financially penalized us for not participating.

You created "us" when you allowed our jobs to continue to leave our country.

You created "us" when you attacked our flag.

You created "us" when you confused women's rights with feminism.

You created "us" when you began to emasculate men.

You created "us" when you decided to make our children soft.

You created "us" when you decided to vote for progressive ideals.

You created "us" when you attacked our way of life.

You created "us" when you decided to let our government get out of control.

"You" created "us" the silent majority.

And we became fed up, and we pushed back and spoke up.

And we did it with ballots, not bullets.

Additional reading from THIS BLOG POST at Ed Bonderenka's site, Not of This World:

"You were supposed to be seeing that America's children were getting a top education, but you indoctrinated them with socialist ideals and Common Core.
You're Fired!"

"You were responsible for protecting our borders and you let people invade this country,
You're Fired!"

"You were supposed to be protecting America's environment and you put Americans out of work.
You're Fired!"

"You were supposed to be fighting America's enemies and you restrained our soldiers from prosecuting the war.
You're Fired!"

"You were charged with collecting taxes and you persecuted conservatives. You're Fired!"

"You were charged with administering services to veterans and you bought artwork. You're Fired!"

Crowds

Silverfiddle Rant!

The blame for the violence at the Capitol lays squarely with those who broke the law. No doubt they were MAGA people, but I also don't discount some of that damage and breaching was done by professionals of whatever ideology. A lot of the rioters last year, the ones showing up with professional gear and training, didn't give a crap about black lives or progressive causes, they just got off on causing mayhem. There was probably a component of that Wednesday.

It is absurd to call this an insurrection.  Our press is hysterical.

Indeed, if 30K enraged, violent people, many with guns, had attacked the Capitol, it would have been a bloodbath.

I have seen a few of these situations go down, here at home and in different foreign countries.  I have also analyzed footage and studied accounts of riots, disturbances, protests, and other crowd actions.  They usually have some common components:

1. A mass of people--the vast majority of the crowd--there to voice support/protest, whatever, not equipped or intending to commit violence.

2. Mouthy blowhards or normally timid people emboldened by the crowd, issuing empty threats, not prepared to carry out what they are saying, and not realizing they are on the brink of something they don't really want.

3. A small core of troublemakers with an action plan and the tools and training to carry it out.

4. Amid the mayhem you also have joyriders, who still think this is a peaceful protest and don't know what's going on beyond their horizons, or who just happily stampede along with the crowd, not thinking of themselves as rioters and not cognizant of serious violence taking place.

This is almost universal, and it doesn't excuse those who commit criminal acts.

What say you?