Saturday, November 16, 2013

"Regarding schools,


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the U.S. has managed to do the most amazing thing. We once had the greatest educational system on the planet, a system that taught even the poorest among us and which brought children to levels that far surpassed many college graduates today. Consider the one-room schoolhouses of pioneering days, which taught students how to be literate, critical thinkers who then built America into a world power of agriculture, technology, medicine and science.

But once the federal government got its grimy paws involved, test scores plunged and immorality not only increased but was actively celebrated. Schools no longer were answerable to parents, either in matters of curricula or discipline. If a parent complained, he was marginalized and told he was the “only one” to have an issue. Bullies were rewarded, peer pressure became the driving behavioral force, discipline became nonexistent, and academic excellence went down the toilet. What an accomplishment!

Proof? Employers are having a hard time filling vacancies in their businesses because graduates are too ignorant to read, write and speak in an educated and civilized manner. William Ellet, an adjunct professor teaching writing at Brandeis International Business School, notes, “Recruiters and companies are saying, ‘Send us a writing sample, and if you don’t meet our standards for communication, we are not hiring you.’”

(To be fair, many parents worked hand-in-glove with this decline, unquestioningly turning over their children to the schools to raise and then browbeating teachers when Johnny failed his math test because he didn’t study. The blame runs both ways.)

I know of no other country in the civilized world – with the exception of despotic regimes – where education has been so actively and deliberately dumbed down and which seems to take pride in the production of stupid, uneducated, unaware and ignorant citizenry.

More @ WND

Thousands of Doctors Dropped by Insurer After Obamacare Funding Cuts

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UnitedHealth Group has dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company's other healthcare business.

The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.

More @ Newsmax

"Classic" in 1911

 

More @ Oleg Volk

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Video

Via Cousin Colby



The mysterious tale of a lost Revolutionary War cannon and how it was found in Alabama

Via Billy

http://imgick.al.com/home/bama-media/width620/img/tuscaloosa/photo/revolutionary-war-cannon-95b99e9eeaf946ad.jpg

One of John Burgoyne's cannons is finally back where the British general and his redcoats lost it more than 230 years ago: the Saratoga Battlefield, scene of one of American history's most important battles.

After spending the past 40 years at a museum in Alabama, the cannon has been returned to the upstate New York landmark, thanks to a chance remark four years ago - and some dogged investigative work by U.S. Army and National Park Service employees.

The rare, 555-pound artillery piece, known as a six-pounder for the weight of the ball it fired, disappeared in the early 1960s from a barn near the battlefield, officially known as the Saratoga National Historical Park.

"The long-timers here at the park had always heard about this cannon that was legendary among park staff," said Christine Valosin, the Saratoga park's curator.

More @ AL

A war veteran died with nobody to attend his funeral. What happened next was astonishing (15 Photos)

Harold Jellicoe Percival, a veteran of Bomber Command in WWII, died last month aged 99. The death notice in his local paper said that there was nobody to attend his funeral. 

Harold Jellicoe Percival, a veteran of Bomber Command in WWII, died last month aged 99. The death notice in his local paper said that there was nobody to attend his funeral.

More @ The Chive

Anti-gunners play dirty tricks in Colorado recall: Warning neighborhoods that petition gatherers may be criminals


Several weeks back as two Colorado legislators were recalled over their anti-Second Amendment votes during the most recent legislative session, WND reported recall backers charged that Chicago-style thug tactics were being used against them.

Apparently it’s happening again, according to local reports.

Not surprising, because the stakes now are higher. Earlier, when Democrat Senate President John Morse and Democrat Sen. Angela Giron were thrown out of office by voters, to be replaced by Republicans, the changes just reduced the Democrat majority.

The current recall effort, against Democratic Sen. Evie Hudak, if successful would change the balance of power and give the GOP the majority, throwing a wrench in the surging leftist agenda under Democrat Gov. John Hickenlooper and the Democrat majority in the state House.

More @ WND

B17 and the B25 Bombers over and around Arizona's Superstition Mountains and Saguaro Lake.

Via Cousin Colby


The Skyraider

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 http://www.vnafmamn.com/aircraft/VNAF_AD67.jpg
VNAF SKYRAIDER AT BIEN HOA AIR BASE (1966 - 1967)
(How well, I remember.) 



South Vietnamese Air Force A-1E (AD-5) Skyraider

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I believe I have a couple of readers who have expressed their love of the Skyraider, what was sometimes called the "Spad" back in the day. Well, sit back and enjoy. This flyby is all Skyraider and nothing but Skyraiders.

                                                               More @ Old AF Sarge

Yesteryear

Via Daily Timewaster