I do not believe the problem with public education has anything to do with money; so much money is spent on education and there is rampant waste of taxpayer money on useless programs that do not emphasize core skills.  Schools are often no longer about learning and have become a place to babysit the kids during the day.  

I see a larger social deterioration that is unraveling the public education system: kids from single parent homes that do not foster learning, a spoiled society that does not value hard work due to the largesse of decades of a prosperous economy, schools that place greater emphasis on social conditioning/learning to put condoms on bananas over core math/writing/reading/history skills, unruliness and lack of respect for authority that is highly disruptive to a system that is supposed to foster learning, slackening standards so all can get a worthless degree, and finally, a public monopoly on education that has no competition to really force itself to improve or use resources most efficiently (ie, one must pluck down thousands for a private education if the local system is a sorry chip or else they are stuck there).  

Education starts in the home.  If parents (and yes I say parents because the single-parent homes that have become the norm most often have ser problems that distract from learning) set a high expectation for their kids and do not accept mediocity, the result is more kids that do well.  If one comes from a home that does make a serious attempt to cultivate education, no amount of money is gonna get that kid a great education.  

Don\'t tell me we need more money when kids in China/India are able to learn skills many years ahead of us with a fraction of the money we have to allocate per pupil.  Their priority is education of skills that will yield great careers.  

and so it goes....

Since I had become quiet crestfallen after what happened in montreal last night, I decided to watch some wrestling for a bit of a lighter fair.

After figuring out that if you want to beat someone in the WWE you have to hurt their lower back, Barak taped a campaign/promo for one fighter (though I forget the guys name) and Hillary taped the same thing for the other guy.

Those had to be, by far and away, the two best campagin adds I\'ve seen all year.

Please someone find them on youtube.

i say they just do a cage match to the death to decide who gets the nomination

Hillary\'s ego is too large to admit that she doesn\'t have the majority of the democratic country backing her.  I think that Obama has the best chance of beating McCain.

Post North Carolina/Indinia Discusions:

1.) Clinton should conceed (Why/Why not?)

...That\'s pretty much it.

Though, of interesting side-point; Rv. Wright contraversy vs McCain courting radical christian right, why is the former getting more attention?

VPs?

I think that the ideal rebuplican ticket would be McCain/Rommney, however, if/when Obama gets the nomination, McCain/That indian governer might be a possibilty for the whole "diversity" thing.*

As for the democrats, I hear the governer of nevada is a possibility for obama, but I would not be surprised if obama and hillary joined froce.

*diversity thing: making a point of obama, hillary, or that governer being the first "anything" is, in my opinion, not in the interest of equality. Making a point of the differences emphises the point that they are there. Who was the first blonde hair president? The first with green eyes? No one knows, because it doesn\'t matter; just like any of the differences mentioned today don\'t matter.

McCain/ C. Rice

I\'d vote for that one.