birdog1960

there are several different possibilities. none of them put those red states in a good light. i mentioned a few above. in addition, perhaps parents that have a choice, choose not to live in the worst education states which would lead to businesses not wanting to expand there, which would lead to unemployment and poverty. in any case, the answer to the problem is a vibrant, high priority educational system and these laggard red states accomplish just the opposite. and nc seems to want to follow their lead and push into the bottom 10.. if you were going to relocate or start a new business somewhere, would the blue states at the top or the red states at the bottom have priority? you can bet that i'd be looking at the top states again. we should also be cognizant of the fact that even the top states don't match the scores of many other countries. in absolute terms, the entire us educational system is pretty unimpressive. as in health care we have this delusion of superiority. so what do the more successful countries do? are they gutting public education?

look at other elections then. 8 of the top 10 are perennially blues in national elections with virginia being purple for some time now. 8 of the bottom 10 are perennially red states. this isn't explainable by chance.

except that it is a red, blue and purple thing. look at this study on a measure of science and technology readiness: http://www.huffingto...-_n_894528.html. 9 of the top 10 states were blue states in the last presidential election. 8 out of 10 of the bottom states were red states. genetics? are dems generally inherently smarter? or might this have to do with red state policies on education. nc was 37th here. that was before the attacks on teachers got going full bore.

i have talked to some nc teachers and also some very senior higher education leaders. most agree that nc is the proxy battleground for the national attack campaign on public education being orchestrated by uber conservative think tanks... you know the ones. in nc, they're winning because the pols there are beholden and are helping them win. much less likely to happen in Virginia as this is a solidly purple state with a dem governor and a long history of respect for education (and yes, many of the progressive districts are in n Virginia - so what?). that's enlightened in my book. if valuing education very highly is elitist, then i proudly confess to being one. i don't live in n Virginia. i live in rural Virginia. and I see the myriad cultural and socioeconomic problems on a daily basis. i think we can do better. much better. that's why i generally support progressive social policies.

perhaps if either one was your equal. i think that's highly unlikely. stretch your imagination. it's difficult, i know, but a worthwhile endeavor, nonetheless. i've been stretching with this lately http://www.npr.org/2012/07/23/156366055/jill-tarter-a-scientist-searching-for-alien-life. and it didn't effect my celebration of Easter a bit.

whether you're a good person or even desire to be one is your choice. aristotle would define a good knife as one that cuts well... you? maybe the zombie fixation blunts you.

I think there's still hope...but sometimes i wonder. Happy Easter! It's a fine day today. There are many good people in the world.

Thank God there's still Virginia. Enlightenment happens slowly.

except if you're a public school teacher. then you worry about health insurance and groceries. while they try to teach kids to read and write, add and subtract and think. nc has never been a great state for public education. the repugs have succeeding in putting it now into the bottom 5 or 6. oh, and if you wanna see "prarie home companion" you'll have to travel a bit this year http://www.ticketmaster.com/a-prairie-home-companion-with-garrison-nashville-tennessee-05-10-2014/event/1B004B5FB9438FC9?artistid=835597&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=2&tm_link=artist_msg-1_1B004B5FB9438FC9.

http://www.quotesaholic.com/q/garrison-keillor_quotes/50664/

i don't know anyone employing a velvet rope with some faceless lady taking bribes for appointments nor do i ever imagine such a thing occurring. your delusions are definitely worsening. if you haven't heard, the trend is towards population based medicine. health systems are going to take on risk by providing care for all facets of a large number of insured lives. and we will all be financially and ethically motivated to provide quality outcomes at the lowest possible cost. there will certainly be conflicts e.g. specialists no longer seeing as many cases or follow ups that aren't really medically necessary ie: less will be needed.. same goes for much of the testing currently done. but large numbers of insured lives is one of the keys to success. so, no velvet rope and kickbacks for access. there will be shortages of primary care docs, no doubt. hopefully there will be a market driven supply and demand solution for that problem. you all have so much faith in that mechanism, after all. meaningful use has been very rapidly adopted. the only docs that i know that aren't certified yet or don't have plans to be soon are ready to retire.

then again, about 5 million more humans would would now be insured if not for a thinly veiled, malevolent conspiracy: http://www.salon.com..._for_the_party/. didn't someone say in one of the threads that "let them die" was inconsistent with most american's morals? that post was wrong, at least for nearly half the electorate.

a nice summation: http://www.salon.com/2014/04/17/fox_news_demented_poster_boy_why_angry_rancher_cliven_bundy_is_no_patriot/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

wonder how the good ole boys in nc would feel if the satanists sued to erect a devil statue on public ground like they're doing in oklahoma. sounds like a fine place to stir another pot. i think this suit puts the whole issue in context. overt religious symbolism and public property shouldn't mix. oh, and the teacher issue; i read where almost 10% of teachers in wake county resigned or didn't renew their contracts this year. somehow i don't think that's an impressive statistic for potential new businesses looking for an educated work force.http://khon2.com/2014/04/18/600-teachers-quit-in-wake-county-north-carolina/

i have no idea what is meant by a flying spagetti monster. i support Catholic charities. There are probably more Catholic US charity hospitals and patients cared for through them than from any other single charitable group in the country. but they are not enough. does that make it irrational for me to support gov't funded healthcare or other safety net social programs? NO. because the charitable programs aren't able to provide services to the level of care to a large cohort of the population that i would describe as minimally adequate for myself....you know,do unto others...the most effective way to ensure that happening is through gov't programs and taxes. charities aren't getting it done.

let me interpret it for you: for all the bluster about charity meeting peoples needs in the us, it doesn't. not even close. perhaps it makes the charitable givers feel better and is a talking point but it isn't materially, nearly enough.

did you actually read that 1st article. it's not very supportive of your position. it is of mine. i'll check out the second link later...can't wait.

with Easter approaching, i find it interesting to reflect on the passage "whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren..." and the coincident fact that so many conservatives, especially far right conservatives, identify themselves as fundamentalist and evangelical Christians (i'd assume very few here do, but still...). it seems the meaning of "literal" regarding reading of religious documents is, in fact, open to interpretation. it's also interesting that the seemingly more secular american political party seems to take this idea to heart with actions promoting it as a core tenet.

really? where's the evidence that the aca has redistributed wealth overall? the data i've seen shows an ever smaller portion of that wealth going to the bottom 20% and an ever larger one to the top .1. i 'm assuming that you are also equating health care with wealth. ponder that for a while. do you suppose the poor in the UK and canada are richer than the poor in the US, simply because they have national health insurance? there are many other factors involved in making that comparison but they generally live longer which certainly has value.

because redistribution is the faulty premise on which all the other crappy (and generally false) conclusions are based..except the crap about exploitation. that's generally true.

the answer is yes. versus clinton. and clinton wins. can we stop this redistribution bs. the only recent redistribution is more at the top, less at the bottom and middle. show me something that says different.

the truth is that doctors have lost control of medicine. the suits have it. just like just about everywhere else. saw a graph at a booth sponsored by physicians for a national health plan at a conference today. it mapped the nearly flat growth in doctors versus the exponential rise in healthcare administrators over the last 10 years. lots of added quality, cost efficiency and value there just like the financial markets... what the world needs now is more middlemen.

deductive reasoning. you should try it. you mean like the lending institution that bought the hft co? you think much of this isn't incestuous. of course it is. it has to be when such a huge amount of money is concentrated in such few hands.

wow, you noticed that. i felt it needn't be bolded. but lets get to brass tacks: an hft guru started a company that sold for 700mm. i've linked some data on what the top .01% is worth. it's less than 700mm to get in the club. yahoo finance is a, well, finance site. people interested in finance go there. people interested in finance often invest. 10% of investors are responsible for 80% of the investments (another data point i linked). it costs roughly 20mm to produce a hyper fast hft computer (another data point i linked to). that's a great deal of money. either a lot of people with a little money invested or a few with a lot did. i say the odds favor the latter. show me why i'm wrong.