Cranky, your meds were working just fine last Friday. Your judgment is crystal clear. Keep feeding us the veggie goodness of your opinions no matter where you reside in the future.<div><br></div><div>Keep up the good work!</div>
<div><br></div><div>jc<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 6:00 PM, Cranky old Coot <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:lking@knob.com">lking@knob.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
My apologies Bruce I should not have dragged the red herring of a food desert in to a discussion about education. Although related it is a different topic with its own emotional buttons.<br>
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Educating children so they are equipped to function productively in the world they will be thrust into is fiscally sound management. Just like preventive health care has front loaded cost and back loaded savings, so does education.<br>
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It cost money to properly educate children and I don't care how you define "properly." A child that does not obtain a good education when they are 3,6,10,15 will not be able to contribute to society when they are 30, 40, 50. And will be a burden when they are 60, 70 and 80.<br>
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Those economics aside, without a good foundation in logic, technology and the ability to research and reason, they will not have the intellectual tools necessary to make informed decisions about everyday life in general or issues that affect the future of life on this planet.<br>
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It really is a pay now or pay later situation. If you don't educate the kids now they won't have the ability to solve/or implement the solution for future problems, what ever the answer is. Like the late night guy says 'tomorrow is just a future yesterday' and it is coming no matter what. Most cell phones have more computing power than took the first man into space. A smart phone has more capability they was taken to the moon. Just like you look back at those expensive calculators that only had 4 or 6 function, today's kids will look back at the ipad as primitive. Just like my inability to spell, if they miss the learning window to grasp the concepts, they will always struggle.<br>
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I much prefer to barrow the money now, if necessary, and pay interest on it for 20 years than to barrow the money in 20 years to support the kid, now 30, that is still having trouble making change at McDonald's. That adult is not going to be able to make an informed decision about for example, clean coal; wind power; nuclear power; oil drilling; natural gas; solar power or voting for people that will be making the decisions. That is just one example and it does not matter what you think is the correct answer. A person that does not understand the question can not make an informed decision nor contribute to the answer.<br>
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And that takes an education. Our founding fathers knew even 200 years ago that what was required was an educated populace. That answer is still the same.<br>
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To be a treky, that should be our prime directive, 'Educate the populace.' There are enough differences of opinion about what that means that enough will be close enough. Well except Kansas maybe. But democracy works there too, and they are modulating an answer.<br>
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god that makes my head heart.<div class="im"><br>
-- <br>
I'm the Cranky Old Coot's keeper, and I approve this message<br>
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Lou King<br>
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</div><a href="mailto:bruce.wernek@mindspring.com" target="_blank">bruce.wernek@mindspring.com</a> wrote, On 6/3/2011 8:52 AM:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="im">
Fiscal responsibility is sorely lacking<br>
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Bruce<br>
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</blockquote><div><div></div><div class="h5">
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