The Pooh Symbol
When future anthropologists study America in the 21st century and its rapid decline, they will no doubt better understand its code of values (or lack thereof) by examining the symbols and ideas that captured the spirit of the time – the things that we held dear.
In every generation, there are icons that sum up its core values – not official ones, but symbols that really mean something to people: Rosie the Riveter, the American flag, Elvis Presley, the motorcycle jacket, the defeatist “peace sign” and now the tyrannical “Coexist” bumper sticker. There are symbols that sum up the zeitgeist of a time, a generation.
The popular emoticon found on phones today, of a happily smiling pile of excrement, is just that. It best exemplifies the low state of the world, of the culture, and of America itself in the age of the primitive. It signifies America’s rapid decay in the wake of the left’s decades-long war on Americanism, freedom and individual rights. The absence of morality – and by morality, I […]
Paul Krugman
Credit: Businessweek
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The world economy appears to be stumbling. For a while, things seemed to be looking up, and there was talk about green shoots of recovery. But now growth is stalling, and the specter of deflation looms.
If this story sounds familiar, it should; it has played out repeatedly since 2008. As in previous episodes, the worst news is coming from Europe, but this time there is also a clear slowdown in emerging markets — and there are even warning signs in the United States, despite pretty good job growth at the moment.
Why does this keep happening? After all, the events that brought on the Great Recession — the housing bust, the banking crisis — took place a long time ago. Why can’t we escape their legacy?
The proximate answer lies in a series of policy mistakes: Austerity when economies needed stimulus, paranoia about inflation when the real risk is deflation, and […]
Credit: Shutterstock
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) will back legislation from lobbyists connected to Walmart that would open the door for private contractors to take over management of local school districts, the Arkansas Times reported.
The bill, HB 1733, was introduced by state Rep. Bruce Cozart (R), and was written by Walton Family Foundation lobbyists. Cozart is also chair of the state House Education Committee. The bill was sent to the committee for review on Friday, and needs 11 votes to advance to a vote on the floor.
According to the Times, the bill would establish an “achievement school district” that could include any school district found to be under “academic distress.”
The state education commissioner would then have the ability to “directly operate or contract with one or more not-for-profit entities” to run the district for a 3-5 year period. Individual schools would also be eligible for transitioning to a privatized system, with the rest of that school’s former district potentially responsible for paying for […]
The demographics of North Carolina are radically changing.
Credit: johnedwinmason.typepad.com
DURHAM — Dramatic demographic shifts are in store for North Carolina schools, according to a report presented during Thursday’s State Board of Education Meeting.
James H. Johnson from the Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School presented a report to the board on the changing face of the population in North Carolina and its impact on the school system.
“It’s our challenge…to figure out how to deal with this issue,” he told the board.
He noted that in 2011, the immigrant population in the country was 40.4 million, a 5.2 million increase from 2005. Almost 47 percent of the foreign born population in 2011 was Hispanic, which is a dramatic shift. Before 1965, immigrants to the country were visibly similar to the American population and had an easier time assimilating. In a sense, he said, they were invisible. But since 1965, the immigrant population has become what […]
The change in Russian attitude of the U.S> from 1990 to 2015
Credit: The Washington Post
MOSCOW — Thought the Soviet Union was anti-American? Try today’s Russia.
After a year in which furious rhetoric has been pumped across Russian airwaves, anger toward the United States is at its worst since opinion polls began tracking it. From ordinary street vendors all the way up to the Kremlin, a wave of anti-U.S. bile has swept the country, surpassing any time since the Stalin era, observers say.
The indignation peaked after the assassination of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, as conspiracy theories started to swirl — just a few hours after he was killed — that his death was a CIA plot to discredit Russia. (On Sunday, Russia charged two men from Chechnya, and detained three others, in connection with Nemtsov’s killing.)
There are drives to exchange Western-branded clothing for Russia’s red, blue and white. Efforts to replace Coke with Russian-made soft […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
