Recent comments
ADHD: Hunter in a Farmer's World
Thom Hartmann has written a dozen books covering ADD / ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.
Join Thom for his new twice-weekly email newsletters on ADHD, whether it affects you or a member of your family.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
You joke about Manning being some big guy's bitch.
About forty years ago I was in jail for not paying a speeding ticket. There were five guys in my cell. About an hour after lights out, I was laying there, unable to sleep, when I heard one of the other guys whisper, "I get him first."
Another guy whispered, "Like hell you do- you got the last one first."
Another guy said, "Look we really should draw straws or something, to make this fair. Because I am so tired of going third."
All of them were bigger than me. And having experienced the guard's sadistic attitudes, I really doubted that they would help me if I yelled for help. I considered my choices: I could try to kill the first guy who touched me and possibly earn the other guys' respect so they would leave me alone, with the understanding that if I only injured him, he could press charges and get me sent to prison with the other guys testifying that I attacked him with no provocation, and if I killed him I would have that on my conscience and would probably get sent to prison. And even if I did fight back, I might just get the crap kicked out of me and then get raped anyway. Or I could just let it happen, with the understanding that if I let it happen once, it would surely happen again.
Akunard, it's easy to sound real macho sitting at your computer talking about Manning getting raped. I wonder how macho you would be if you were in his position.
Kend, like everyone, you are entitled to your own set of values. But I would like to hear you come right out and say, "I'm fine with spending trillions of dollars on war, but it bothers me to think that tax dollars could go to giving Manning some fifty cents apiece pills."
Why You Need Insurance for Home Loan Pre-Approval? The cheapest way to save on policy getting such coverage for home loan pre-approval, if it needs for financial company or if you are buying a new house. If you're just looking for a cheap quote on house protection, as a homeowner, for your current home, check quotes from leading homeowners insurance companies that fits your needs and budget... Horse Lorry Sales
chuckle8 ~ Thank you for clarifying that. I think I see what you are saying. "Negative" Rights are The Bill Of Rights as seen from the perspective of the 1%. They are the stumbling block that prevents total control over the 99%. No less now than it was 237 years ago... if I read you right.
However, I still have no idea what you mean when you refer to Thom mentioning negative rights.
Please forgive me. I used to listen to Thom religiously at work in the morning. Recently his show was shifted till after working hours and the best I can do is sometimes listen to his webcast at night. That works maybe two of three times a week. What he has been saying recently is not always available to me.
What is going on with this idea of "negative" rights? I must know.
Palindromedary ~ Right on, buddy!!
DAnneMarc: Thank you, DAnneMarc! Yes, I know Mr. Assange does seem, to me anyway, to have rather a slight effeminate aura...but there are a couple of females in Sweden who can attest as to Mr. Assange's heterosexuality. Might be "bi"...who knows? Really doesn't matter to me though. I am very grateful to both Mr. Assange and to Pvt. Manning. Both heroes! Both very brave and both have real convictions and a real conscience.
DAnneMarc -- The "Bill of Rights" sold the constitution because too many people feared the "tyranny of the majority (AKA the 99%)" and the "Bill of Rights" protected those rights from the majority. That plan did not work. The right to free speech was overrode for saying fire in a crowded theater and for child porn. However, I guess it is fine that consensus is better than the 67% to amend the constituton.
I am trying to keep my comments from a current blog because I do not want my opinion to influence what people think when Thom mentions negative rights.
Palindromedary ~ Thanks so much for that article by Mr. Assange. (It is still "Mr." right?) Very eye opening! Very informative.
As far as your previous post is concerned about online education I must say that I've given it some thought and I must agree with you 100%. I realize now that I have learned much more at home naked alone with a computer or a book than I ever learned in a classroom. I met more girls in classrooms, and got faster answers to my questions in classrooms (in most cases); but all the real learning I've ever achieved in my life was on my own. Perhaps Universities in the future will be obsolete--as long as elementary schools and parents can teach children to want to learn. That is probably the key obstacle to the entire learning process.
chuckle8 ~ I'm still not sure that I get it. A negative right. I don't understand the correlation between the word "negative" and what it takes to overrule it. The Bill Of Rights is basically set in stone as far as I am concerned. It was the fundamental selling point that mad ratification of the Constitution possible in the first place. It is the fundamental principle behind the sacred traditions of this country that we honor above all. These rights were never intended to be "overruled." Are you suggesting that some dialogue took place involving Obama and Hartmann where these rights were being viewed somehow in a "negative" way?
Please simply state what you wish to imply. Right now, to me, it sounds like you are implying that both Obama and Hartmann are expressing subversive opinions about our Constitution. If so, I would be most interested in hearing exactly what was said by both--especially, Obama.
If you need more time to dig up such info I might suggest we simply move this conversation to a more current blog so that others may benefit from it. That way you can take your time.
Google and the NSA: Who’s holding the ‘shit-bag’ now?
by Julian Assange
August 24th, 2013
http://thestringer.com.au/google-and-the-nsa-whos-holding-the-shit-bag-now/
latriestina, your post above is appreciated and reveals yet another terrrible flaw in our so-called educational system - getting professorial work done cheap. The intern program for this profession and most others serves the korporate world nicely in providing little to no cost labor. It should be outlawed - it's akin to the old child labor shenanigans.
The other flaw in our so-called higher education system, is cost. How apparent it is, that this system is predicated on harvesting money and not yielding a decent crop of higher educated citizens.
How much rot and decay can occur to a system before it is totally useless?
The goal should be to make higher learning affordable -- not trying another patch job to cover the high cost. Maybe the next generation will have to attend inexpensive universities in foregn countries (China to the rescue again?). Maybe Walmart should start a university system?
I don't see the Obama plan doing much at all. It's completely voluntary and requires nothing of the colleges. I doubt if Harvard or Yale will suffer from receiving a lower bang-for-the-buck rating than, say, Kent State if that were to happen.
DAnneMarc -- I assume not many people read Thom's blog after 48 hours. We are probably the only people now in the discussion; especially the discussion about negative rights. First, I would like to say I think the discussion of negative rights is a very positive thing. The reason I think this is because it illuminates, in neon lights, are most fundamental right from which all the liberty in the constitution flows. That fundamental right is that all laws that apply to us, the 99%, are derived democratically from us, the 99%. A right can then be viewed as negative if it takes more than a majority to overrule, like everything in the "Bill of Rights".
My current search for Thom and Obama talking about negative rights has led me to two places to study. Obama talked about them in 2001 interview with Chicago Public Radio. The right wing was all over that interview, and IMO not understanding a thing he said. Based on a comment on Thom's blog on Nov 24, 2010, by another RWNJ, I think Thom's radio show on Nov 22, 2010 must have talked about negative rights. I downloaded from the White Rose society, but I have not had time to listen to it yet.
The federal government gave out more than $40 billion for research and development (R&D) to universities across the country in fiscal 2011.
A few of the top schools received a disproportionate share of the government’s spending on grants for R&D. Of all 896 schools that received federal money for R&D, approximately 20% of those funds went to just 10 universities, according to a study by the National Science Foundation.
1. Johns Hopkins University
> Total federal R&D grant money: $1.88 billion
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 87.8%
> 2012 endowment: $2.59 billion
> $609 million from DOD--$202 million from NASA
----------------
2. 2. University of Washington, Seattle
> Total federal R&D grant money: $949 million
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 82.9%
> 2012 endowment: $2.11 billion
------------------------
3. University of Michigan
> Total federal R&D grant money: $820 million
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 64.1%
> 2012 endowment: $7.69 billion
---------------------
4. University of Pennsylvania
> Total federal R&D grant money: $707 million
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 79.8%
> 2012 endowment: $6.75 billion
--------------------
5. University of Pittsburgh
> Total federal R&D grant money: $662 million
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 73.7%
> 2012 endowment: $2.62 billion
-----------------
6. Stanford University
> Total federal R&D grant money: $656 million
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 72.3%
> 2012 endowment: $17.04 billion
---------------------
7. Columbia University
> Total federal R&D grant money: $645 million
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 73.4%
> 2012 endowment: $7.65 billion
------------------
8. University of California, San Diego
> Total federal R&D grant money: $637 million
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 63.1%
> 2012 endowment: $371 million
---------------
9. University of Wisconsin, Madison
> Total federal R&D grant money: $594 million
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 53.4%
> 2012 endowment: $1.81 billion
-------------
10. Duke University
> Total federal R&D grant money: $585 million
> Pct. R&D spending from government: 57.3%
> 2012 endowment: $5.56 billion
----------------
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/04/25/universities-getting-the-...
----------------
Where does the money go? Whose pockets are lined with taxpayer money? Top paid University administrators and all of those fat cat CEOs and stock-holders who provide goods and services to the Universities for everything from R&D to toilet paper, ie: test tubes, depleted uranium samples, chemicals to develop better Agent Orange, Napalm, White Phosphorus bombs, and better nuclear bombs. The universities use that money to develop the latest spyware that the government uses to spy spy on us all. And then the government even farms that task out to other corporations to do much of the dirty work. Then there are the innovations in medicine that are then gobbled up by private corporations that turn around and patent them and then charge an arm and a leg for things our taxpayers largely funded to begin with.
It's a racket! DOD, HHS, DOE, NSF, NASA are all the largest providers of tax-payer money to the Universities. And what do the taxpayers get in return...they get spied on...sons and daughters get sent off to some illegal and contrived war being exposed to Agent Orange and Depleted Uranium, or other exotic carcinogens first developed in the universities. "Killing is our business...and business is good!"
And, as if all that money isn't enough, they rip off students for a life-time of debt...a nifty way of forcing indentured servitude among their newly educated masses. They'll be smart enough to create a better nuke or chemical weapon or spyware but most will merely be slaves owing their allegiances to a crooked and evil system that murders masses of innocent civilians for no good reason.
Just as there is a revolving door between government and the private sector..there is a revolving door between those running the educational system and the private sector.
About the only thing that you can get for free is watching the token "community service" lectures and even then they are hoping you will think better of them and make a contribution. If you aren't taking advantage of this free service then you are really losing out.
No matter how much money you pump into a crooked organization of greedy, wealthy, capitalist fat cats...they'll always want a lot more. They'll continue to squeeze and will never be satisfied.
Palin, you nailed it about me. It is hard for me to understand some of the things on this blog. I believe the only helping hand you have is at the end of your arm. The sooner you except that the better off you will be. Not to be confused with lending a hand up to those who need it.
Where I have a problem with education is the cost. Where the hell does all of that money go. My neighbour, a teacher told me she makes $88,000 a year. The kids are in school 204 days, about 6 hours a day. That is over $70,00 / Hr. with benefits well over a $100.00\hr. I don't have a problem with that as that is what I have to pay a good employee. She said problem is only 60% of the school boards employees are in the class room. Know one seems to know what the 40% do. How is it that the private schools that have a third of the staff, do such a better job? The answer is simple, they don't have the 40% out of the classroom.
When someone like me on the right challenges the education system, we are called all kinds of names and told to shut up and pay. That will fix everything. More of my "fair share". Maybe we should start looking into where all the money goes. I will bet when you find out how much is wasted you to will start bitching.
Any "institution of higher learning" that can afford to pay ANYONE working for it, more than $150,000 per year should recieve NO taxpayer support.
I feel a lot more people need to read this, very good info! . . . . . . Ahwatukee real estate
DAnneMarc: some of those on-line lectures are very good...the professor speaks clearly...uses good audio/visual aids...and repeats the questions the students ask so that the video is clear and easy to understand. But other professors mumble, talk way too fast while slurring and mumbling, often there is an echo or lots of extraneous noise that makes it impossible to understand what is being said. Sometimes the professor scribbles some undecipherable chalk scratches on the blackboard that hasn't been cleaned very well. Sometimes student interaction is helpful...other times it is a hindrance...being in a room full of students can often be distracting as well. That cute girl sitting in front of you may send you off into a fantasy world that may prevent you from comprehending what the professor is saying. There are pros and cons to sitting in a classroom. I can sit naked behind my computer at home and not have to worry about someone scrutinizing me. And as the videos rarely ever pans the students there is no distraction there. Finding a really great lecture is a treasure. And it is free! It works for me...but may not be the best thing for someone who needs to get a job...tis true! But for those who can't afford it and can't get a student loan...it is better than hanging out in the streets looking for trouble.
https://www.cs50.net/lectures
Palindromedary ~ Bravo for you! Your situation seems attainable; yet, unjustly unfair. However, it doesn't even come close to addressing the situation of today's student. Online courses have there place. Yet, personal interaction with other students and teachers are a critical factor in most courses. The ability to ask questions as well as have them answered benefit not only the individual; but, the entire class as well. Online courses cheat the individual from the group consensus. All expense aside, when we discuss education we need to think of it as the most important investment we can make as a society and not cut corners in any way. You can cut corners when you talk about defense, foreign aid, weapons research and development, and so on; but, when you talk about cutting corners on education you talk about sacrificing the future of our species.
On the other hand, if the above items take precedence over education perhaps you are right in concluding that we should cut corners on education. Certainly our species does not deserve an opportunity to survive. You are doing the Darwinist a big favor.
I know very little about mental illness. I suffered for about 6 months from manic depression as an adolescent. From what I've learned almost everyone has at some point in their life. It almost cost me my life. It was the most painful and disruptive condition I have ever experienced. It was so profound that I selected psychology as an elective in both high school and college. As a result I have undergone extensive official learning about sexual identity disorder. As I understand, it is a very painful condition that is well beyond the control of the person suffering from it. I can't say for sure whether or not if it is the responsibility of society or the individual for paying to treat this disorder. However, it is my personal experience that I believe that manic depression is the responsibility of the society to treat. It is as much a life threatening condition as cancer.
With that, I cannot honestly say that I believe sexual identity disorder is not also the responsibility of the society to treat. As the Declaration of Independence states, everyone is entitled to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In that case, treatment of sexual identity disorder is implied to be covered by the general welfare intent of our countries foundation. Moreover, it is required by human decency and human compassion. How can we as a people allow our fellow citizens and human beings to suffer needlessly and still consider ourselves civilized?
Bradley Manning is an exception. He/She has earned his/her treatment as an American Hero. However, after careful thought I have concluded that anyone in such mental turmoil should be eligible for public assistance. If not so, then why have a suicide hot line that is publicly funded. It is our duty as a civilized society to offer any assistance necessary to ensure every citizen has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Trivial cases aside. We as a people are only as good as we treat the least amongst us. Bradley/Chelsea Manning has shown that fact to us in a most spectacular way.
If the hand of God is visible in anything we do it certainly shows in the fact that this brave soul has the name, MANning. What better way to appeal to people that the transsexual is an oppressed, yet important and acceptable part of their society then to orchestrate the heroic outing of someone named MANning who really is a female. Hmmmm? Go figure!
DAnneMarc: Perhaps I didn't come across very clearly...I wasn't trying to say that making lots of money was important. Actually, just the opposite. I was just trying to say that just because one obtained a diploma does not mean that they really know, necessarily, anything of value...unless it was to help secure a job.
There are so many "well-rounding" subjects..lectures from University professors..that many Colleges and Universities make available for free on the internet and that people would do well to take advantage of these. The only things one would be missing are labs, mandatory assignments, tests, and something called "presence"...most of all: a whopping debt-strapping student loan (unless one is rich enough to pay cash). They can be "well-rounded" for free and not go into debt for much of their lives. The diploma racket is just about as bad as the real estate racket. You are made to believe that you cannot succeed unless you get that degree just as you have been made to believe that you had better buy a house now because you won't be able to buy later. How many people fell for that trap? Lots!!
I don't ever intend to make any money from the knowledge I gain from the lectures and tutorials that I watch...I'd have to pay much more than most people in taxes just because I am retired. If you make something like over $14k above what you get for SS, then the government takes something like 50% of what you earn over $14K right off the bat. So there is really no incentive for me to make any money....unless I made lots and lots of money and wanted to buy very expensive things. And I really don't want anything very expensive anyway.
Palindromedary ~ You forget that there is more to an education than the simple ability to amass a fortune. Why do you think we have "electives" mandatory in education. It is because we want to build well rounded graduates. We want an informed populace and electorate. There is much more to education than simply making money. Drug dealers make plenty of money without any education. So does the Mafia. What we need as a people are citizens who are well informed, well intentioned, and well able to participate in our society to better our society. We already have a plethora of high wage earners and it is doing the vast majority of our citizens more harm than good. We need to broaden what we expect from our students or shorten what we expect from our species. Your choice.
historywriter: St.Paul-Minneapolis...nice place...been there several times on business...in fact the last time I was there was just before that I-35W bridge over the Mississippi collapsed. I guess tax dollars didn't go so far as to tackle the infrastructure there. Glad I wasn't on that bridge then...I had driven over it a number of times. I really liked Mall Of America...even saw the cast of Veronica Mars...Kristen Bell...once..back in 2004 I think it was. The only other mall I've been in that was bigger was the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. West Edmonton Mall is tied at #13 with the Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emirates and Mall of America is #19 of the largest malls in the world. China's got two of the largest in the world.
--------
News flash!!! Ballmer Quits, Instantly Makes (Almost) $1 Billion
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2013/08/23/ballmer-quits-instantl...
If you really want an education that costs next to nothing...you really don't have an excuse because the internet has all kinds of educational material... from reading material to YouTube tutorials to University lectures from a wide variety of Colleges and Universities...all free for viewing. The only thing you don't get is the diploma which is, perhaps, necessary for most people to convince a prospective employer that they have been properly educated to do the job. But really, a diploma, while it may represent a certain amount of evidence of being able to pass the right tests does not mean that people have retained that knowledge or ability to think or can do the jobs they were hired to do. Everyone, future employees and future employers, seems to have bought into the diploma racket...and they get soaked big bucks for that ticket.
Of course, even if you don't go to College or a University and get all your education on-line...for virtually "free" ... you still have to pay for the monthly ISP fees and computer hardware and/or software. And that is very minimal compared to what you have to pay for a diploma. You can educate yourself, with the help of the internet, and use that to your advantage. Start your own business and you will be the boss...for example.
How many people have gone to the MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, or many other fine University websites to watch the many different lectures that are all free. A person could end up knowing a heck of a lot more than any college grad...all for free.
Many Colleges or Universities are nothing but factories that produce automaton wage slaves anyway..just another cog in the machinery. Perhaps the Ivy League schools, that only rich people can go to, teach their students how to effectively steal from other people by becoming a CEO or find a top sinecure position in the government. Many colleges don't even get you to think outside the box...they want to mold you into "team players" not upstart rebels who'd just as soon frag* their CEOs (figuratively speaking, of course).
Lots of people who don't even go to college, or even finish high school for that matter, are very successful...it all depends on how motivated and determined they are. And most of those people are self-motivating...they don't need someone to motivate them. They don't need someone to hold their hand or push or encourage them.
Kend, even though I disagree with him a lot of the time, seems to be one of those who has succeeded through determination and motivation. He didn't wait around for some social program to pick him up by the bootstraps...he picked himself up. I can understand, I think, why he can feel that...if he had the determination and drive with no one offering social assistance then why should anyone else just get handed assistance.
But I think that the point is missed that, since the Reagan Revolution, there was a shift in the ability of those who had the drive to amass way more than their fair share by getting big tax breaks and legislation that favored the wealthy. The result was that the wealthy were able to maximize, by leaps and bounds, their wealth by shipping jobs overseas, and by using various deceitful practices in the financial sector. They began to take away benefits and wages and pressured the remaining employees, that they didn't lay off, to work doubly hard. They have gone from determined and highly motivated to outright crooks and criminals who have managed to steal and are unwilling to give back.
------
*frag--a term used during the Vietnam war to describe a soldier murdering his own officer (say with a fragmentation device...ie: a grenade) before that worthless piece of sh!t put the soldier in a dangerous and precarious situation where they would be killed by the enemy.
Looked to me like their contention was that California schools were basically free before Reagan's governorship. There's no reason to cry misinformation, because their claim has nothing to do with your experience in Minnesota.