Recent Comments

1. about 13 hours ago on Gary Varvel

   aa .com .tr/en/americas/gaza-protest-crackdowns-show-split-between-university-faculties-administrations-arrested-us-professor/3207211

2. about 14 hours ago on Michael Ramirez

   “… “Given what we already know about how Covid affected students’ reading and math skills, I think it’s important to emphasize the disruption caused by the pandemic,” said Martin West, the academic dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a member of NAEP’s governing board.

   But, he said, noting that U.S. history scores fell by a similar amount between 2014 and 2018, “I think it would be a mistake to say that this is all about the pandemic and not try to identify other factors that could be affecting students’ performance.”

   While more than 100,000 students nationwide took the 2022 NAEP math and reading tests, only 7,800 eighth graders from 410 schools took the test in civics, and 8,000 eighth-graders from 410 schools took the history test — too few to provide results by state.

   Based on a scale of 300 points, the average civics score of 150 in 2022 was 2 points lower than in 2018 and equal to the score in 1998, the first year for civics using the current framework. It is 28 points below the level designating proficiency.

   Based on a scale of 500 points, the average eighth-grader’s U.S. history score was 258, a significant 5-point drop from 263 in 2018 and not significantly different from 259 in 1994, the first year the test was given. It is also 36 points below the level designating proficiency. …" — edsource .org/2023/latest-test-results-underscore-declining-knowledge-of-u-s-history-and-civics/689766

3. about 15 hours ago on Michael Ramirez

   theatlantic .com/ideas/archive/2024/04/october-7-hamas-sexual-assault/678091/

4. about 17 hours ago on Gary Varvel

   “… WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans view college campuses as far friendlier to liberals than to conservatives when it comes to free speech, with adults across the political spectrum seeing less tolerance for those on the right, according to a new poll.

   Overall, 47% of adults say liberals have “a lot” of freedom to express their views on college campuses, while just 20% said the same of conservatives, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the University of Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression.

   Republicans perceive a stronger bias on campuses against conservatives, but Democrats see a difference too — about 4 in 10 Democrats say liberals can speak their minds freely on campuses, while about 3 in 10 Democrats say conservatives can do so.

   “If you’re a Republican or lean Republican, you’re unabashedly wrong, they shut you down,” said Rhonda Baker, 60, of Goldsboro, North Carolina, who voted for former President Donald Trump and has a son in college. “If they hold a rally, it’s: ‘The MAGA’s coming through.’ It’s: ‘The KKK is coming through.’” …" — apnews .com/article/free-speech-college-campuses-0b2811fb35c9c6288b7517da7c9affd3

5. about 17 hours ago on Michael Ramirez

   “… The U.S. average score was higher than the average scores of 10 education systems and not measurably different from the average scores of 2 education systems. Only three education systems (Singapore, Norway, and Ireland) scored higher than the United States. …” — nces .ed .gov/fastfacts/

6. about 19 hours ago on Mike Luckovich

   You failed to initially divide that 81 million in half, using the Q/MAGA gut-feel principle … before counting.

7. about 19 hours ago on Gary Varvel

   Any attempt to analyze university administration policies using logic … will fail.

8. about 19 hours ago on Clay Jones

   “… The U.S. Census Bureau, in its report, 65+ in the United States: 2005, documented the following trends:

   The age group 85 and older is now the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population.The health of older Americans is improving. Still, many are disabled and suffer from chronic conditions. About 14 million people age 65 and older reported some level of disability in Census 2000, mostly linked to a high prevalence of chronic conditions such as heart disease or arthritis.The financial circumstances of older people have improved dramatically, although there are wide variations in income and wealth. In 2000, the poorest fifth of senior households had a net worth of $3,500 ($44,346 including home equity) and the wealthiest had $328,432 ($449,800 including home equity).As the United States as a whole grows more diverse, so does the population age 65 and older. In 2003, older Americans were 83 percent non-Hispanic white, 8 percent black, 6 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian. By 2030, an estimated 72 percent of older Americans will be non-Hispanic white, 11 percent Hispanic, 10 percent black and 5 percent Asian.Changes in the American family have significant implications for future aging. Divorce, for example, is on the rise. In 2003, among people in their early 60s, 12 percent of men and 16 percent of women were divorced.The increase in diversity of the older population, including the immigrant population, will likely impact the need for cultural and language services. There is a little-researched phenomenon known as “second language loss” in the older population, in which older adults find greater difficulty communicating in their adopted language and revert to their native language. Language access will be a challenge for many institutions, including the courts. …"

   — eldersandcourts .org/aging/aging-material-for-right-rail-menu-for-aging/introduction

9. about 19 hours ago on Michael Ramirez

   “… Between 1938 and 1941, there was a refugee crisis in response to Nazi Germany’s increasing antisemitic persecution and territorial expansion. Though many Americans were sympathetic to the plight of Europe’s Jews, the majority did not want to see an increase in immigration, nor did they want to see the United States become involved in World War II.

   KEY FACTS

   1 As Nazi Germany expanded territorially, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Jews, applied to immigrate to the United States. Securing a US immigration visa was difficult due to America’s national security concerns and a finite number of visas and travel options.

   2 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt took significant but limited actions to aid Jewish refugees during this period, but he was most concerned with preparing the United States for war.

   3 The American public placed little pressure on the president or on Congress to increase immigration to aid European Jews. Private relief organizations in the United States, however, assisted thousands of Jewish refugees. …"

   — encyclopedia .ushmm .org/content/en/article/the-united-states-and-the-refugee-crisis-1938-41

10. about 22 hours ago on Michael Ramirez

    “… For months, there have been protests calling into question U.S. support of Israel. Across the country, demonstrators have blocked roadways, disrupted speeches and boycotted products.…I didn’t see violence, out-of-control students or chaos on my visit. What I saw were people on either side of the argument saying exactly how they felt about the Israel-Hamas war and an Ivy League school that doesn’t know how to deal with it aside from militarization.…

    The Columbia administration’s response harkens back to its actions in 1968 during the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, when the NYPD arrested and violently removed more than 700 protesters who had seized university buildings and temporarily took a dean hostage.

    The university eventually ceded to the demands and severed ties with a Pentagon institute, but it did not change what these students endured to get their message across.

    What university administrators across the country need to realize is that time isn’t on their side. History will remember the way school officials called the police on their students.

    It’s wild to see a group of people be so committed to villainizing themselves in the eyes of their students and the general public.

    I have repeatedly said that this will be one of the top issues of the presidential election. What we’re seeing on college campuses is proof of that. It is consistent with the polling we’ve seen that shows Generation Z is sympathetic to the Palestinian struggle, and it is consistent with the surge of uncommitted votes we’ve seen in the Democratic primaries.

    It shouldn’t be surprising that this generation is mobilizing against a war that, in part, is funded by U.S. tax dollars.

    An entire generation is telling you exactly how they feel about financially supporting war, and I don’t think they’ll be backing down any time soon. …" — usatoday .com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/04/30/columbia-protests-college-encampments-gen-z-support-palestinians/73425145007