Education

A nation that destroys its systems of education, degrades its public information, guts its public libraries and turns its airwaves into vehicles for cheap, mindless amusement becomes deaf, dumb and blind. It prizes test scores above critical thinking and literacy. It celebrates rote vocational training and the singular, amoral skill of making money. It churns out stunted human products, lacking the capacity and vocabulary to challenge the assumptions and structures of the corporate state. It funnels them into a caste system of drones and systems managers. It transforms a democratic state into a feudal system of corporate masters and serfs.

Teachers, their unions under attack, are becoming as replaceable as minimum-wage employees at Burger King. We spurn real teachers—those with the capacity to inspire children to think, those who help the young discover their gifts and potential—and replace them with instructors who teach to narrow, standardized tests. These instructors obey. They teach children to obey. And that is the point. The No Child Left Behind program, modeled on the “Texas Miracle,” is a fraud. It worked no better than our deregulated financial system. But when you shut out debate these dead ideas are self-perpetuating.

Passing bubble tests celebrates and rewards a peculiar form of analytical intelligence. This kind of intelligence is prized by money managers and corporations. They don’t want employees to ask uncomfortable questions or examine existing structures and assumptions. They want them to serve the system. These tests produce men and women who are just literate and numerate enough to perform basic functions and service jobs. The tests elevate those with the financial means to prepare for them. They reward those who obey the rules, memorize the formulas and pay deference to authority. Rebels, artists, independent thinkers, eccentrics and iconoclasts—those who march to the beat of their own drum—are weeded out.

“Imagine,” said a public school teacher in New York City, who asked that I not use his name, “going to work each day knowing a great deal of what you are doing is fraudulent, knowing in no way are you preparing your students for life in an ever more brutal world, knowing that if you don’t continue along your scripted test prep course and indeed get better at it you will be out of a job. Up until very recently, the principal of a school was something like the conductor of an orchestra: a person who had deep experience and knowledge of the part and place of every member and every instrument. In the past 10 years we’ve had the emergence of both [Mayor] Mike Bloomberg’s Leadership Academy and Eli Broad’s Superintendents Academy, both created exclusively to produce instant principals and superintendents who model themselves after CEOs. How is this kind of thing even legal? How are such ‘academies’ accredited? What quality of leader needs a ‘leadership academy’? What kind of society would allow such people to run their children’s schools? The high-stakes tests may be worthless as pedagogy but they are a brilliant mechanism for undermining the school systems, instilling fear and creating a rationale for corporate takeover. There is something grotesque about the fact the education reform is being led not by educators but by financers and speculators and billionaires.”

Teachers, under assault from every direction, are fleeing the profession. Even before the “reform” blitzkrieg we were losing half of all teachers within five years after they started work—and these were people who spent years in school and many thousands of dollars to become teachers. How does the country expect to retain dignified, trained professionals under the hostility of current conditions? I suspect that the hedge fund managers behind our charter schools system—whose primary concern is certainly not with education—are delighted to replace real teachers with nonunionized, poorly trained instructors. To truly teach is to instill the values and knowledge which promote the common good and protect a society from the folly of historical amnesia. The utilitarian, corporate ideology embraced by the system of standardized tests and leadership academies has no time for the nuances and moral ambiguities inherent in a liberal arts education. Corporatism is about the cult of the self. It is about personal enrichment and profit as the sole aim of human existence. And those who do not conform are pushed aside.


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“It is extremely dispiriting to realize that you are in effect lying to these kids by insinuating that this diet of corporate reading programs and standardized tests are preparing them for anything,” said this teacher, who feared he would suffer reprisals from school administrators if they knew he was speaking out. “It is even more dispiriting to know that your livelihood depends increasingly on maintaining this lie. You have to ask yourself why are hedge fund managers suddenly so interested in the education of the urban poor? The main purpose of the testing craze is not to grade the students but to grade the teacher.”

“I cannot say for certain—not with the certainty of a Bill Gates or a Mike Bloomberg who pontificate with utter certainty over a field in which they know absolutely nothing—but more and more I suspect that a major goal of the reform campaign is to make the work of a teacher so degrading and insulting that the dignified and the truly educated teachers will simply leave while they still retain a modicum of self-respect,” he added. “In less than a decade we been stripped of autonomy and are increasingly micromanaged. Students have been given the power to fire us by failing their tests. Teachers have been likened to pigs at a trough and blamed for the economic collapse of the United States. In New York, principals have been given every incentive, both financial and in terms of control, to replace experienced teachers with 22-year-old untenured rookies. They cost less. They know nothing. They are malleable and they are vulnerable to termination.”

colonoscopy

My schedule was 10:20 am 1/3/2011.

7 days before, I stopped eating nuts, seeds, tomato, grapes,corn, popcorn, and iron supplements. They will clog up the probe.

2 days before, I stopped all solid foods and colored drinks. I drank 7-up and water. It was fine. At 6 pm, I took 3 Dulcolax tablets. Went to bathroom after 9 hours.

The day before, I mixed Gravilyte powder and a small packet of lemonade into 4 liters. I kept it at about 45F and started drinking it at 4:30. I finished half after 2.5 hours. Not too bad. I took 4 Simethicone tablets right after that. After that, went to bath room 3 times and cleaned out most of stuff.

At 3 am, I started drinking the second half. I quit at 6:20 since my appointment is at 10:20 with 16 oz. leftover. Went to bathroom 3 more time.

Driven over and changed. After a few minutes, I was in. Nurses were very nice and provide heated blankets. I was cold with 97.4F. Sedated and ready.

The Dr was rough; he stuck the thing right into it without being careful. I was able to see the procedure on the screen. They found two polyps and took them down; I was told more info will follow. Found internal hemorrhoids also.

They did stomach check also, Gastritis and Hiatal hernia was found so I need to be careful.

1/06/2011. Dr. called and prescribed three antibiotics for PYLORI bacteria in stomach. I do not want to take medicine; googled articles also mentioned that some strands of pylori are resistant to antibiotics.

Searched for remedies: brocoli, brocoli sprouts, pinenut oil, virgin coconut oil. Apple Cider Vinegar(ACV). Some even say a little bit Pylori in tummy is good to regulate acidity. I started on brocoli three days ago, 1 oz. in the morning before any food.

4/11/2011. Few weeks after exam, there was more acid reflux than usual. It is all gone now. Did the checking process damage anything?

AODAAC recovery gathering

Most of them were addicted to drugs or alcohol before. After rehab., they are all smokers. Still addicted to something. Sad.

Oxfordhouse.org - group homes for adults who pay rent.
counselingplus.com
Avery House - chrysalishouses.org
Journeys - 402 Hungerford Dr - 301-424-7961
Community Ministries of Rockville - CMRocks.org
Interfaith works - iworksmc.org

Math Puzzles

1.For a person, his childhood is 1/6 of life. Adolescence is 1/12. Marriage 1/7. A child born after 5 yrs. Child reaches half of father's age, child died. Person lived 4 more yrs. Person lived to (84).

2.I have 36 marbles. First person takes 1 then 1/7 of leftover. #2 takes 2 and 1/7 of what is left. #3 takes 3 and 1/7. ... Fair?

3.142,857 is magic. Times2, times3, ...

4.Arrange 10 coins in 5 rows and 4 coins are on each row. (Hint : star shape)

5.How do you reduce the leftover sentence to half for "A person served 4 yrs of his life sentence"?

6.35 horses divided amongst 3 people. 1/2, 1/3, 1/9. How?

7.1 person shared bread with 2. #2 provided 3 loaves and #3 provided 5. Loves wer cut into 3's and person #1 will pay 1 coin for each loaf (8 coins total). How many coins should #2 get?

8.Four 4's can make any #: 44-44, 44/44, 4/4 + 4/4, ...

9.There 7 full bottles of wine. 7 half bottles and 7 empty bottles. How 2 divide amongst 3 people so each has same amount of wine and same # of bottles?

10.3 men go and eat. At the end, each paid $10. The owner gave back a $5 and they left $2 for tips. They paid a total of $29 out, where is the last $1?

11.Perfect number: 28 is divisible by 1,2,4,7,14. Add them up = 28. Same with 6.

12.I have 30 melons to sell at 3 for $1. You have 30 to sell at 2 for $1. Can we just sell at 5 for $2?

13.Numbers who are friends. 220 is divisible by 1,2,4,5,10,11,22,44,55,110. 284 is divisible by 1,2,4,71,142. Many factors are the same. Add up factors of 220 will = 284 and vise v.

14.6 1 8
7 5 3
2 9 4 is a majic square.

4 5 16 9
14 11 2 7
1 8 13 12
15 10 3 6 is a majic sq.

15.90 marbles. #1 will sell 50, #2 30, and #3 10. Three people need to sell them at the same prices and get the same sum. (Hint : #1 sell 49 at 7 for $1 and last marble at $3 each)

16.I have between 200 and 300 coins. Div by 3 and throw away 1 remainder. Do this 3 more times. How many did I have at the beginning? (ans: 241)

17. Three people are charged to fill a large room with things he can buy with $1. #1: hay. #2: a candle lit, light fills the room. #3: burn a piece of paper and smoke fills room.

18.8 to the 3 power is 512. 5+1+2 = 8
27 is the same.

19.There are three red cards and 2 green cards. Three people will have 1 pasted to the back and they line up from 1 to 3 and they need to guess which color they have on the back. The last person (#3) can see the colors of #1 and #2. Person #2 can see the color of #1, Person #1 can see nothing. After a while, #1 got what color he has(red). How?

20. I have 8 coins and one weights less than the rest 7 which weight the same. I have a scale and I can only use the scale twice and no weight can be used.

21. There are 5 people. 2 with black eyes and 3 with blue. People with black eyes always tell the truth and Three with blue always lie. You can ask 2 questions (to 2 people) and find out which is which?

(Hint: Question #1:What is color of your eyes to the first? The answer is in Arabic so I can not understand.

Question #2:What did the first person answer? "She said her eyes are blue"

Question #3:What is the color of the eyes of the previous 2 people? Answer: The first black and second blue eyes.

Final answer:Bla, blu, bla, blu, blu)

Funny

◎ 軍官的家
mark 是一位標準的軍人，他連自己的家中的每一個地方，都給它冠上跟軍事有關的名稱，..比如說：
廚房稱為 "後勤補給中心 "......
客廳稱為 "軍事情報站"
兒子的臥房稱為 "男兵宿舍"....
女兒的臥房稱為 "女兵宿舍" .......
有一天，有客人到

mark家，在看過上面的稱謂之後嘖嘖稱奇，
客人心想那他們夫妻的房間應該就是"
司令部"了 ........
結果，他猜錯了
....mark夫婦的房間稱為 "新兵培養中心"...

◎53719

今天上課時，教授提到call機號碼及涵意，有個女生上台舉了一個例子"53719"， 讓大家猜..............

此時台下忽然笑成一團，最後公布答案..."
我深情依舊"....教授問大家剛才笑什麼，有個變態回答
...."
我疝氣已久"...

◎有錢的秘訣

記者訪問一位富翁，問他為什麼這麼努力賺錢。
富翁：這一切都要感謝我的老婆。」
記者：「那是為什麼？」

富翁：「因為我佷好奇，我想知道，到底我要賺多少錢才夠她花。」

◎悔不當初

一對夫妻在他們結婚五十週年的慶祝會上，妻子發現到，她的丈夫眼眶中充滿著淚水，表情激動，妻子不禁感到十分感動，於是她便對她的丈夫說了：「老公，你真是個深情的男人，我好感動丈夫說了：「親愛的，妳還記不記得五十年前的那晚，我們在房間被妳老爸抓包的情景？
妻子：「當然囉.....這種事我一輩子都忘不了.......」

丈夫又說：「當時妳老爸威脅我，如果我不跟妳結婚的話，就要告我，讓我去坐五十年牢。」
妻子：「嗯.......」

丈夫：「我在想，如果當初我選擇去坐五十年牢的話，今天就是我恢復自由的日子了....」

◎千萬別帶老婆去你常去的地方...

有一天阿男的老婆吵著要他帶她去牛肉場他不肯，推說沒有去過。

但是他老婆還是堅持要去，阿男只好帶她去了。

在買票時，賣票的老先生看到阿男，興奮的說：「阿男，又來啦！」

阿男的老婆聽了有點不高興，但是決定看看再說，就走了進去。

這時，有個人忽然站起來說：「阿男，早知道你會來，快快快，幫你留了好位子呢！」

阿男的老婆聽了更不高興了，心想原來自己被騙了。但是家醜不可外揚，先忍忍吧！

看著脫衣舞孃一件一件的脫光光，只剩一件小褲褲。

脫衣舞孃笑著邊脫邊說：「這一件小褲褲要給誰呢？」
全場的人忽然一同說：「給阿男的。」

這時，可憐的阿男已經無地自容，而他的老婆也快忍不住了。
於是他們兩個便坐上計程車要回家。

在路上，阿男的老婆已經忍不住了，破口大罵。

這時，計程車司機說話了：「阿男ㄚ！你今天帶的妞比較兇唷！」

◎減肥篇

路上，老李碰到老朱，於是就閒聊了一下：
「聽說你老婆為了減肥，到騎馬俱樂部去運動了？」老李問道。
「是啊！他參加騎馬俱樂部已經快一個禮拜了」
「怎麼樣？成果如何？」
「很不錯啊！那匹馬瘦了快 二十公斤 了！」

◎寫信篇

一位精神病患正在寫信被醫師看到了，醫師問他：「你要寫給誰啊？」
病患回答：「我在寫給我自己。」

醫師頗覺好奇的又問道：「那你對自己寫了些什麼？」
「我怎麼知道？我又還沒收到信，神經病！！」

◎把真話說得這麼'婉轉'

小強從醫學院畢業後分配到某醫院。第一天上班，主治醫師對他說：'116病房的xxx患者得的是晚期肝癌，他只能活六個月了，你去病房對他說一下病情。'

帶著初次上班的興奮，小強跑到病房大聲宣布：'xxx患者，你只能活六個月啦！'

患者接受不了打擊，當場驚嚇而死。

事後，主治醫師狠狠地批評了小強，並教導他說：'我們作為醫生，不能那樣大聲地叫喊，尤其不能對患者直接說出實情。

114病房的xxx患者只能活一個月了，你再去通知一下！'

這回，小強面帶微笑地走進病房，在xxx患者的耳邊輕聲說道：

〝你猜猜這個月誰會死？〞

老師和偷書的小孩

那是在十年前的一天，

當這位老師正利用中午休息時間，在家裡睡覺時，

突然間，電話鈴響了，她接過來一聽，

裡面卻傳出一個陌生粗暴的聲音說：

「你家的小孩偷書，現在被我們抓住了，你快來啊！」

在話筒裡還傳出一個小女孩的哭鬧聲，和旁邊人的喝叱聲。

她回頭眺望著一邊正在看電視的唯一女兒，心中立即就明白過來。



肯定是有一位小女孩，因為偷書被售貨員抓住了，

而又不肯讓家裡人知道，所以，胡編了一個電話號碼，

才踫巧打到這裡。

她當然可以放下電話不理，甚至也可以斥責對方，

因為這件事，和她沒有任何關係。

但自己是老師，說不定她就是自己的學生呢？

透過電話，她隱約可以設想出，

那個一念之差的小女孩，

一定非常驚慌害怕，正面臨著也許是人生中最可怕的境地。

猶豫了片刻之後，她的腦海裡突然冒出了一個念頭，

對了，就這樣做。

於是，她問清了書店的地址之後，就趕了過去。

正如她預料的那樣，

在書店裡站立著一位滿臉淚跡的小女孩，

而旁邊的大人們，正惡狠狠的大聲斥責著。

她一下衝上去，將那個可憐的小女孩摟在懷裡，

轉身對旁邊的售貨員說道：「有什麼跟我說吧，不要嚇著孩子。」

在售貨員不情願的嘀咕聲中，她交清了幾十元罰款，

才領著這個小女孩，走出了書店，

並看清楚了那張被淚水與驚恐，弄得一塌糊塗的臉。

她笑了起來，將小女孩領到家中，好好清理了一下，

什麼都沒有問，就讓小女孩離開了，

臨走時，她還特意叮囑道，如果你要看書，就到阿姨這裡來，

裡面有好多書呢。

驚魂未定的小女孩，深深的看了一眼，

便飛一般的跑走了，便再也沒有出現。

時間如流水匆匆而過，

不知不覺間，十年的光陰，一晃而過，

她早已忘記了這件事，依舊住在這裡，過著平靜安祥的生活。

有一天的中午，門外響起了一陣敲門聲。

當她打房門後，看到了一位年輕漂亮的陌生女孩，

露著滿臉的笑容，手中還捧著一大堆禮物。

「妳找誰？」

她疑惑的問道，但女孩卻激動的說出一大堆話。

好不容易，她才從那個陌生女孩的敘述中，

恍然發現，原來她就是當年偷書的那個小女孩，

十年之後，已經順利從大學畢業，現在還特意來看望自己。

這個年輕女孩眼睛裡泛著淚光，輕聲說道﹕

「雖然我至今都不明白，

您為什麼願意冒充我媽媽，解救了我，

但我總覺得，這十年來，一直都想喊您一聲～媽媽！」

老師的眼睛裡，也開始糊模起來，她有些好奇的問道﹕

「如果那天我不幫妳，會發生怎樣的結果？」

女孩的臉上，立即變得陰沉下來，輕輕搖著頭說道：

「我說不清楚，也許就會去做傻事，甚至是去死。」

老師的心中猛然一顫，開始暗暗慶幸。

自己當年在一念之間所做出的決定，

竟然可以如此影響到一個人的一生。

望著女孩臉上幸福的笑容，她也一起笑了起來。

逃避.不一定躲的過

面對.不一定最難受

孤單.不一定不快樂

得到.不一定能長久

失去.不一定不再有

轉身.不一定是軟弱

看看現在的自己的生活條件，

再回想十年後的自己

也許你現在所做的決定

可以影響你的一生

七十七層樓 , good life

關於幸福，每個時代都有不同的符號，
但幸福的感動卻始終如一。
成功，不在於自己擁有多少財富，
而在於有多少 {成全別人的能力}
七十七層樓 98.09.06

老公公、老婆婆的兒女都成家立業了，各自擁有小家庭。於是老公公、老婆婆把舊房子賣了，搬到公寓大樓去住。

老公公、老婆婆選擇最高的第七十七樓，因為高，景觀好，從窗子就可以俯瞰整個城市。同一層樓還住著幾戶人家，其中有一對年輕的夫婦。

有一個星期天，大樓突然停電，電梯故障，必須隔天才能找人維修。許多住戶紛紛去住旅館，或找朋友家借宿。

老公公、老婆婆恰巧從公園散步回來，在樓下遇到剛從購物中心回來的年輕夫婦。考慮之後，他們兩家都決定不外宿，要爬樓梯上去。

於是四個人一起去爬樓梯。走到五樓的時候，老公公、老婆婆的動作實在太慢，年輕夫婦不耐煩起來，於是向老公公、老婆婆含笑道別：「您們慢慢走，我們先上去！」年輕夫婦一口氣往上衝，到了第十樓，覺得手上的購物袋實在太重了，於是決定把它們放在梯間，待明天再下來拿。

減輕了重量，這對年輕夫婦又開始往上衝到二十樓，呼呼氣喘得實在難受，年輕的太太開始抱怨：「怎麼發生這種事？剛才實在應該決定去住旅館的，爬什麼樓梯？都是你說什麼一定要回家。」

先生也爬得很累，心情不好，便回嘴說：「這怎麼能怪我？你老是這樣喜歡責東怪西，你這脾氣不改，以後實在很難相處。」太太聽了更生氣，「什麼叫做以後很難相處？你想離婚是嗎？」於是兩人一路吵，一路氣沖沖地往上爬。

吵到第四十幾樓，爬得實在太累了，連吵架的力氣都沒有了。先生於是自顧自地繼續爬，不回頭等太太；太太也生悶氣，不理會先生，休息一下再往上爬。終於，先生先到了七十七樓。他正鬆一口氣準備開門，卻左尋右覓找不到鑰匙。仔細回想，剛剛購物完開車回家，是他提重物，由太太鎖車門的，鑰匙應該在她那裡。「真倒楣，還非等她不可。」

於是無可奈何等著太太上來，也顧不得兩人正在吵架冷戰中。太太好不容易上來了，看到先生等在家門口，翻著白眼沒好氣地說：「還不趕快開門？你不累，我可累壞了！」先生也沒好氣地回答：「鑰匙在你那裡呀，要不，我才不等你！」太太伸手在口袋中摸找，突然失聲叫起來：「糟糕，鑰匙放在購物袋裡了！」而他們把購物袋擱在第十樓。兩人臉色發白，你看我，我看你，頹坐在地上，腦筋一片空白。

過沒多久，樓梯響起了腳步聲，耳邊傳來老公公、老婆婆愉快的說笑聲。終於，老公公、老婆婆也爬上七十七樓來了。看到躺在地上面無血色的年輕夫婦，老公公、老婆婆嚇了一跳，問明原因，趕緊開了自己的家門，讓這對年輕夫婦進來休息，喝口水，吃點東西，甚至打地鋪過夜。年輕夫婦很快地恢復了元氣。年輕太太很好奇地問老公公、老婆婆：「你們走得並不慢啊，而且好像不很累，精神還依舊保持得很好呢！」年輕先生也湊過來說：「是呀！你們真不簡單！

你們是怎樣辦到的？」老公公笑了起來，說：「都是老婆婆的功勞，她出的主意真好。」老婆婆也深情地望一望老公公，說：「還是他的記憶力好，什麼事都記得清清楚楚，很多事我都忘了呢！」

原來，在爬到第五樓和年輕夫婦分手後，老婆婆思索著：「我們平常參加登山健行活動，都是一邊走一邊聊天說笑，所以，走很久都未覺得累。現在爬七十七層樓，也要這樣才不會累。」於是老婆婆邀老公公說：「我們來玩回憶遊戲，數算這一生上帝給我們的恩典，數算一年爬一層樓。」

老公公說：「好，我先說。我永遠記得第一次碰到你的那晚，你是晚會的主持人，美麗極了。碰到你，是那年上帝給我的恩典。」

老婆婆說：「嗯，你那時被同學拉來參加我們的晚會，還傻愣愣的。但後來我做學校的功課，你的指導幫了我很大的忙。有你幫忙，是那年上帝給我的恩典。」就這樣，老公公、老婆婆一邊數一邊爬樓梯，回憶就像流水般不斷湧出。

爬到第二十幾層樓時，數算到他們的結婚；爬到三十幾樓時，數算到三個孩子相繼出世；爬到四十幾樓時，老公公升職加薪、老婆婆理財致富；爬到五十幾樓時，三個孩子相繼結婚；爬到六十幾樓時，上帝醫治了他們的病痛；上了七十幾樓，幾個活潑可愛的小孫子出世，為他們帶來許多歡樂。

老婆婆正數到：「那年還是你有眼光，毫不猶豫地買下這間公寓。」發現兩人已經爬上第七十七層樓了。

老公公正想接著說：「今年碰到停電，我們兩老活到這把年紀，居然還身體硬朗得可以爬樓梯上來。」這時，就看到那對年輕夫婦了。

年輕夫婦聽完老公公、老婆婆的敘述，慚愧地低下頭。太太說：「我知道我們為什麼會那麼累了。不是身體累，是吵架吵得心累。」 先生點點頭，頑皮地對太太說：「我們一定要向老公公、老婆婆學習，我要馬上數算今天上帝給我們的恩典，就是你把鑰匙忘在樓下了。因為要不是你忘了鑰匙，我們就聽不到這樣寶貴的教訓了。」