Issue 685 Library College September 24, 2015

So we all know colleges are expensive, even community colleges for some people.  As such, why don't we use the library to provide free education?  Here is the idea.

Library College:  At a library you can educate yourself for free.  The only thing you cannot get is the certification for a degree.  Yes there are certification tests to demonstrate your knowledge, but people still favor the college degrees in business due to colleges being promoted as the place to learn and advance in the business world.   As such, let us change that.  Libraries offer an array of books which can be used as course material to educate a person on a subject, so why not make those books into a curriculum.  Select a subject, then have a student read from a list of books on that particular subject.  If the material has to be separated because you need prerequisite knowledge, then give a list of books per prerequisites that must be read.   Have this core set of books and material be read and then test them via a free electronic test. Then after the test, the next set of books are read, and then another test is able to be taken which will also build upon the knowledge of the previous test and reading material.  If the material crosses subjects or professional types like European government, European history, European culture, European art etc., then the books can be read and those questions for those subjects can be integrated into the tests.  

How the testing would work is that you would log onto an online free account where you will click off each book in the curriculum you have read.  Mind you, there are numerous books on the same subject and thus the list of books does not have to be completed, and the system will say when you have read the minimum number of books needed to take each test. If you have yet to read the full course load, you will be taking a mini-quiz that tests you on only what you have learned thus far (this serves to show that you are reading the material).  If you fail a quiz or a test, you can re-take them as many times as it takes.  Also, each test will always build upon the previous ones so that you are constantly being tested on the knowledge you have acquired.  This can take the form of repeating questions from a previous quiz/test or integrating that knowledge into questions based on the new material. At the end of each test or specified number of tests you will receive free certification that you are qualified for a degree of equivalent value.  This means that if you qualify for an associate’s degree based on what you have learned, the system will award that to you.  You can achieve multiple associates, bachelors or potentially masters degrees.  Tests themselves will be multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching and other questions that do not require a non-computer to grade.  So no essays.  As such, your writing skills will not be tested. 

To fund this, publishers can add books into the appropriate reading curriculum via a small fee.  This also allows electronic books to be used as well, with publishers or even the authors providing the electronic copy for use, with ads to pay the authors or publishers for providing them based on the books popularity with regard to it being used as part of the material.  Advertisers can buy ads in the margins to pay for the site as well.  If a particular ad caters to what is being studied, then ads for that will be cheaper, and thus ads that do not relate to that subject will pay more (though all will be priced on web popularity of each electronic page).  Donations are also an acceptable form of money to keep the site running as well, but most of the courses will use books and other reading material that is either donated or where the copyrights have expired to ensure this program never becomes a fee for service site.

There will be a social network portion of the site where people can pose questions on the material they are reading.  People can then answer each other and grade each other on how useful their answers to each other were. Users can also post tips to each other on which books are easier to understand or ways to approach the material (the students can review the books or the other material in the comments section in a similar fashion to amazon's buyer review section).  It will also be set up so that discussions of the subject matter can occur to further stimulate learning.  Also, people can use show their progress publically if they so choose, where people can see their tests and their answers.  This also serves as a form of learning and does not become counterproductive for you can only take each test after you certify you have read the books via the quizzes (if it is an electronic copy of a book, the course will also log how long it takes for you to read each page and give tips on how to improve reading time or get more time out of the reading based on how well you did on the quizzes).  All of this creates a digital learning environment for students who cannot afford or do not have time to go to a traditional brick and mortar school (though hopefully this will sponsor meet ups at the libraries for likeminded students).

Conclusion:  This is a way to provide an alternative to colleges while propping up libraries.  It also gets people the education they desire at their own pace and in their own timing which benefits them.  The only reason why a writing element is not added is due to that costing money for people to grade the essays.  So if you are not good with multiple choice, word choice or fill in the blank type exams, you may struggle.  Also, multiple questions will be used to test the same knowledge and will be randomized to make sure that no two tests are the same.  This ensures that people taking a test multiple times are suitably challenged on the subject matter.  Obviously, this system caters toward history based lessons, people who study folklore, some math type courses that require reading and logic and anything that does not require writing or lab work.  Though it is possible that digital lab work can be done via interactive programming which will also grade on safety and procedure. Of course such systems will be developed over time as the curriculums are developed expanded and more subjects added.  The idea is simple, create a free learning environment for students or people who want to learn.  What can be wrong with that?  

Issue 684 You're allowed to insult people September 23, 2015

Ok, you are wondering probably how I can say you are allowed to insult people.  That it hurts others.  That the recipient receives emotional pain.  People may consider your statements racist.  Um, you are forgetting the first amendment and its responsibilities.

Insult away:  People need to stop worrying about insulting people.  They need to stop worrying about being politically correct.  But a college in New Hampshire made a list of banned words to fit the politically correct themes they believe in.  As such the word "rich" are people of wealth.  Senior is people of age.  But all this violates free speech.  Senior and rich are innocent words that are a describer, they are not designed to be hateful in the least.  However, our notions of sensibilities has changed to say that they are insulting.  I say they are not.  It is not calling a black person the "N" word, or a Spanish person the "S" word. These words like senior, rich or poor are not designed to be derogatory.  Even then, you're calling someone an idiot or a moron for doing something dumb is ok.  Saying your friend is a dummy and him calling you an ass as per your regular greeting to each other is insulting, but it's ok.  Insulting someone you do not know who happens to be six feet tall, bulging muscles and a face only a mother can love is also ok, though you suffer the consequences of being punched in the face.  Speech already has consequences socially, yet laws and codes of conduct try to ban them.  Last I checked, no law can restrict speech as per the first Amendment.  And if you do not like what is being said, you are under no obligation to listen as per your first amendment rights.

Conclusion:  If we follow this trend, every word used as a describer can potentially insult someone.  But insults are not something that we should concern ourselves with.  It is simple speech which has its meanings change only when we the people change those meanings.  So if you stop changing the meaning of senior, poor, low income, and the like and instead set a specific definition to describe people under specific or varied circumstances, then they are not insults, they become just words.  It does not stop the prideful from being hurt by a descriptor they do not like, but it is up to them to take it that way, not yours.  You should not be afraid to speak, yet changing meanings and claiming that a word can demean someone so much is just silly. If you think it is insulting, then do not say it, but do not force it on others.  People are already responsible for what they say due to social consequences.  What need do you have to punish someone who is already admonished publicly for saying something stupid in the first place (if what they said is dumb to begin with). You can speak freely.  Resist political correctness as your freedom of speech says you can.

Issue 683 Illegals and Businesses September 22, 2015

Apparently illegal immigrants put pressure on businesses.  What is that about?

Illegals and their pressure: Immigrants are unskilled labor.  We know this due to their lack of vocational training for most jobs, and their economic status in their home country.  As such they compete with our own unskilled and low skilled labor pool.  This means that these immigrants are cheaper to hire as their skills necessitate lower pay.  Additionally, they do not pay into Social Security (unless they have a fake number), and they do not pay taxes (unless they have been registered as an illegal that can stay for whatever reason).  As such, government also places pressure on businesses to care for immigrants and register them as illegals so that they receive tax breaks and thus channel money from the federal government into the State and local governments.  So our own low skilled population cannot get a job because they could and would be paid a higher wage than an illegal.  If you include the issue of competition and trying to get ahead business wise, this becomes a recipe for disaster for American workers.

Conclusion:  Immigration is a big deal.  Illegals coming over the border are actually taking jobs that would otherwise be filled by lower skilled members of the American citizenry.  As such, the illegals coming across the border must be halted.  Then a policy put in place to deal with current illegals in the United States.  But many of our laws already do this, but are not followed due to lack of enforcement.  So is there anything that can be done?  At this moment, I do not think there is as the Latin American community is a voting block and most politicians and the President do not want to risk losing their vote.

Issue 682 Iran and Nukes September 21, 2015

The Iran nuke deal that is being pushed by the current administration is in my opinion a bad idea.  Here is why.

Why it is a bad idea:  The goal of the deal is to make sure that Iran does not produce nuclear weapons to attack its neighbors like Israel or its Sunni Muslim neighbors like Saudi Arabia.  But like most deal with this nation in the past, the deal is an effort to stall for time.  Iran under the Ayatollahs has a history of taking advantage of the United States and is set to get money out of this deal as well as technological knowledge to their benefit.  In the mean time they can comply very easily with the deal for they never needed to refine the nuclear material themselves, as they can buy already refined or partially refined material, or use other forms of material that can be used to make the bomb.

Additionally, the current President of Iran is not the man he appears to be.  Presidents in Iran are selected by the Ayatollahs for being acceptable religiously, and in this case for wanting Israel dead.  Yes that is right, a radical Muslim cleric, the one with the real power in Iran, chose the current president of Iran to be 1 of 6 potential presidents.  The current Iranian leader is a former member of their security council, which is responsible for designing plans to remove Israel off the map, countering U.S. forces and strengthening Iran's control of the region.  Iran's current President is not a man of peace.  He is a man chosen for his appeal to western policy makers to fool them into lowering their guard.

Conclusion:  This deal is not going to work.  Iran is run by radical Muslims from the Iranian revolution.  This theocracy wants all non-Shiite Muslims dead.  What should be done is the continuing of pressure via sanctions until the nuclear facilities are dismantled and replaced.  Also, the only technology Iran should get is nuclear teach that cannot result in a bomb, and they should not get any money from the United States.  Simple, clean cut, effective.  Not some pandering policy which is hoping that Iran is sincere.

Issue 681 Eugenics: Supports racism September 18, 2015

Again we shall talk about eugenics to finish up the week.  In this case, I will discuss with you my readers on how this fake science supported racism.  Let us begin.

Racial support:  When eugenics was being implemented it used the ideas of Karl Marx that one race was superior to another.  Marx advocated that blacks and Hispanics were lesser peoples and eugenics which was born from progressivism which is the descendant of Marxism sought to prove that and then some.  It went so far that head measurements with the size of the cranial cavity were used to define intelligence.  This further extended to other groups as well such as gays, and Jews as seen in Nazi Germany with respect to their extermination policies which were using eugenics as their basis.  But, before all that, there was George Bernard Shaw and Margaret Sanger.  Shaw was a Fabian Socialist who believed in these principles of one race or even sets of people being above another.  It was his idea first for the gas chambers to cleanse undesirables which Hitler used.  Margaret Sanger on the other hand did not invent Planned Parenthood out of the idea of women's reproductive rights, but instead to cleanse the undesirables.  When she established her clinics they were almost all in black communities, and she tried to enlist black preachers into convincing their congregations into getting abortions.  In short voluntary genocide.  This racism of the idea of one group was superior to another played into Americans fears and woes with respect to anti-immigration groups, KKK and later neo-Nazi groups, and the disrespect for people of skin colors other than white for years.  As you can see, the damage done continues to this day with the continued existence of groups like the KKK.  This evil spread to Islam and fit in with ancient anger against Jews in the middle east (Islamic governments during WWII supported Hitler and his final extermination ideas).  It was even deeply rooted in the Cuban revolution where Chee, and Castro believed that blacks were nothing but degenerates.  We even have selective abortions based on if the child has a disability or their sex, again based on eugenics principles where women were inferior to men and needed the backing of this fake science to perpetuate this lie.

Conclusion:  Wherever there is racism, and science supporting it, wherever selective breeding of humanity is, eugenics has played a role.  Even assisted suicide and ideas of euthanizing the elderly potentially are partially influenced by eugenics legacy.  Now even population control groups are reviving ideas from the eugenics movement in the form of euthanasia and forced sterilization.  This legacy can be quashed in time, but it is going to take a lot of time to do so.

Issue 680 Eugenics: Superhumans September 17, 2015

Eugenics, if you read yesterday's issue is a really bad idea.  It sought to cleanse the unfit from society to strengthen the human race.  But some would seek to go a step further.

Supermen:  The eugenics principles advocates that races or peoples were superior to other races or peoples and would breed forth the idea that a race of supermen could be developed.  As such, Hitler used this science to put forth that by Aryans breeding with other Aryans would not only purify the "race" but create superior men and even soldiers.  This would later spawn the idea of selective breeding by scientists to create superior breeds, but in this case with dogs.  In other words selective breeding to bring about certain traits in animals and even in plants is a result of the eugenics movement.  It can even be argued that genetic manipulation and the study of animal traits to bring forth superior food that can grow in harsh climates, and animals that can perform specific tasks come from a basis in eugenics.  In fact, while this fake science would be used as an excuse to cause mass murder in Europe during WWII, it would pave the way for new types of food stock that would aid in solving issues of world hunger.  This selective breeding and manipulation can potentially create supermen, such as superior athletes that do not need steroids to enhance muscles, or perfect bodies for a particular sport.  This genetic alteration idea comes from sciences while perhaps based on the same ideas of eugenics are not eugenics.

Conclusion: Eugenics is evil, but the evil that bore it resulted in a few good things such as better food crops to aid in fighting world hunger.  Its selective breeding idea and now with the addition of genetic manipulation can mean a lot for the world.  Genetically modified crops can survive drought, dog breeds specifically designed to find lost victims on mountains or sniff out bombs, even breeding a domesticated shark is another potential here.  I will not praise eugenics (as you will see in tomorrow's issue), but what we took out of it that was potentially good was for the betterment of mankind.

Issue 679 Eugenics:Death Panels September 16, 2015

Eugenics is a pseudoscience.  It is based on cleansing the population of those seen as undesirables, while strengthening the human race.  Today I am going to go over why this fake science should never be followed.

What is Eugenics:  Eugenics came out of the progressive socialist movements of the late 19th and early 20th century.  It was based on the Marxist ideals that spawned progressivism were some races and peoples were genetically superior and thus meant to rule over them.  But in the 1930s, this pseudoscience in the United States would be taken to its most logical "peaceful" solution.  In the historical background of the book "Unbroken" it gives a nice little list of those who were targeted by this evil fake science.  Those the fake science sought to cleanse were: The feebleminded, insane, criminals, women who had sex out of wedlock (considered a mental illness at the time), orphans, the disabled, the poor, the homeless, epileptics, masturbators, the blind, the deaf, alcoholics, and girls whose genitals exceeded certain measurements.   As to how they would cleanse these groups, the methods varied, but euthanasia was encouraged, and in mental hospitals euthanasia was carried out on patients, or they were killed through lethal neglect or even outright murder.  Some patients at an Illinois hospital were dosed with milk from cows infected by tuberculosis, with the belief that the undesirables would perish (4 in 10 of these patients would die) (Unbroken page 11).  Forced sterilization was also popular by State governments with some 20,000 being sterilized by the State of California alone.

Conclusion:  As you can see, eugenics is a bad science that seeks to kill or remove thousands from the gene pool to gain a superior human race.  Thankfully, this fake "science" has become seen as backwards, but its legacy is still here.