Monday morning links

Seems to me with "standardized" testing of high schoolers, that a separate test would be superfluous.

Instead of reporting some odd ranking or score, why not give parents something useful from those standardized tests. A report stating where little Johnny or Mary is on the track to being able to enter various colleges without remedial classes.

QUOTE:

Dear Parent,

Little Johnny took the state's test. The results show that Johnny at 15 and 10th grade is on track to be able to enter Bunker Hill Community College without needing remedial education. However, if Johnny were to enroll at Mass U, he would need lots of remediation. And there is no way, no how, that Johnny could ever do MIT level work without a complete overhaul of his education.

signed,
The Mass Department of Edumedication

I bet if such a letter was the outcome of the standardized testing, two things would occur. 1. Parents would support the testing. 2. Parents would demand changes at schools that dump out a lot of community college ready grads but few average 4-year college ready grad.

#1 JK Brown on 2015-08-10 08:57 (Reply)

Social Security may be 80 from enactment, but it didn't do anything but take peoples money for the first 4 years.

Oh, and they spent that money rather than have the "the reserve fund" or is it "the lock-box", or is it the "trust fund". All scams fit to make Bernie Madoff jealous.

From Life magazine: Social Security article, 1939
[quote]The joker in this is that the Government has been spending Social Security tax money for ordinary expenses and putting its own I.O.U.'s (i.e., bonds) in the reserve fund. Thus when the time came to pay old-age annuities partly out of the interest on the bonds the money could be raised only by taxing the people a second time.

When President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act just four years ago this month, he hailed it truly as a milestone in American history. Nobody, however, regarded the Act as much more than a long first step toward its objectives, a tentative plan to be revised and expanded with experience.[/quote/]

#2 JK Brown on 2015-08-10 09:04 (Reply)

Worried about my privilege?

No way b*****s! Check it

http://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/how-privileged-are-you#.xaEKkRyyv3

You live with 43 out of 100 points of privilege.

You’re not privileged at all. You grew up with an intersectional, complicated identity, and life never let you forget it. You’ve had your fair share of struggles, and you’ve worked hard to overcome them.

Huh, and all along I thought this was just "life".

#3 DrTorch on 2015-08-10 09:37 (Reply)

I denounce myself. I am a 50 out of 100, which rates me "more privileged than most." Such a difference 7 little points make!

#3.1 Texan99 on 2015-08-10 16:26 (Reply)

I only got 33, I'm a failure

#3.2 bgarrett on 2015-08-11 07:37 (Reply)

"Social Security Facing Major Problems as It Turns 80"

The suggested "fixes" in the article are just more of the same thing that has caused SS to be in trouble. Extending the SS tax on incomes over $118K will have negative repercussions on our economy as wealthier people move toprotect their income. It is an incredily stupid idea that only a Socialist or Democrat (but I repeat myself) would think of.

Here is how you fix SS:
1. Pay SS to retires in an amount that directly relates towhat they put into the system over their lifetime. No more rewards for people who did not work or worked briefly. If you worked for 50 years and put in the max to SS then you get the max back at retirement. In other words follow the common rules of accounting and not the rules of welfare.
2. The yearly payout simply cannot exceed the yearly SS deposits. That is the definition of bankruptcy. Instead use a system similar to parimutuel betting where the total income is divided using the generally accepted rulesof accounting to be paid out tothe recipients. This means that in a good year a SS retiree might get $1200 a month and in a bad year they might get $1100 a month. The advantage is the system cannot go broke!
3. Remove everyone from the SS retirement roles who never contributed. Back when Jimmy Carter was president and Castro decided to rid Cuba of it's prisoners and disidents the Mariel boat life brought 125,000 Cubans to America. Everyone of them over the age of 62 were "given" SS benefits on our dime. This continues today. Every "immigrant" and refugee coming to this country will be eligible for SS even if they never put a penny into the system. End this. Actively search the SS roles for illegals and other unqualified recipients and remove them.
4. Separate the SSI from SS. SSI is a fraud and 90% of the people who benefit from it are frauds. It is the most defrauded welfare system in this country (and that is saying something considering how defrauded welfare is).
5. No more Congressional meddling. A few years back when the Democrats suspended SS withholding they nearly destroyed SS in one fell swoop. Was that their intent? Or are they just stupid.

#4 GoneWithTheWind on 2015-08-10 10:42 (Reply)

May I suggest this story is of interest. I'd file it under the "Amazon is Evil" category.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2015/08/booting_up_amazon_seeks_small_biz_supremacy
The Herald doesn't keep stories up (fully) for more than a day.

#5 John the River (Link) on 2015-08-10 11:36 (Reply)

"Answering the persistent question about his lack of a college degree, Walker utterly neutralized it by saying: 'I didn’t graduate from college. A lot of my friends had degrees and no job. I had a job offer with no degree.'"

Can someone help a foreigner here?

I've looked and looked and looked and I still can't find the part in your constitution where it states the president must have a college degree.

#6 JJM on 2015-08-10 16:02 (Reply)

Colleges: Seems like the kids would like to crawl into a black hole and stay there, safe from the outside world--but not safe from the administrators.

Placement tests: Uh-oh; more proof of bad HS education and teachers and students.

News FLASH!: Big Cities Held Hostage By Unions! Film at (Cancelled).

#7 Sam L. on 2015-08-10 16:31 (Reply)

considering how much rent has soared, even when adjusting for inflation, millennials are smart to live with parents. then can use the saved $ to buy a home later

#8 grey enlightenment (Link) on 2015-08-10 18:35 (Reply)

Our offsprings are pre-millenials, but did just that - stayed home until ready to buy. They also went through post-secondary schooling with minimum debt (some unavoidable) and obtained marketable degrees. All out on their own now and doing well.

#8.1 Frances on 2015-08-11 13:50 (Reply)

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Monday, August 10. 2015

Monday morning links