Tag Archives: History

U.S. adults fail math, reading, and problem-solving

Then adults fail to provide sufficient education for U.S. children
to succeed in an educated world.
But we can change that.
Korea and Finland did, and we can, too.

Kimberly Hefling wrote for AP Tuesday,

American adults score poorly on global test,


U.S.
In math, reading and problem-solving using technology—all
skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic
strength—American adults scored below the international
average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.

Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other
countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all
three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents
were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement
due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food expiration dates
on grocery store tags.

Too bad they didn’t test picking political candidates to elect.
Apparently at least a minority of U.S. adults failed that, too.
I would quote from the actual test, but this is what we find

at ncs.ed.gov today: Continue reading →

WWTP surveying, Norwood withdrawn, Colbert on agenda, radar, benefits, and parking @ VCC 2013-10-10



Valdosta wants to survey to prepare for moving and upgrading the

Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The City Council is awarding

retirement benefits,
and the

employee of the month is three people this month.
One rezoning has been
withdrawn
and another
is up for action
Thursday.
Plus somebody didn’t like the Valdosta Historic Preservation Commission
actually requiring preservation and is appealing
to the City Council.
It would be interesting to see what’s in that WWTP surveying and engineering
contract and which parking is being appealed, but Valdosta City Council
doesn’t publish its agenda packets online, unlike for example
Augusta,
which has the second highest high tech job growth in the country.

Here’s

the agenda.
They also have a Work Session Tuesday 8 October 2013 at 5:30 PM,
inconveniently the same time as the
Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

AGENDA

REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL

5:30 P.M., Thursday, October 10, 2013

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL

Continue reading →

Cash for Trash –Deep South Sanitation



The longer you drag on

that lawsuit,
Lowndes County Commission,
about your bogus

exclusive franchise
that benefits nobody but

ADS investors in New York City,
the more good PR local company DSS gets.
We could use

better than trash government around here.

Advertisement by Deep South Sanitation in the VDT yesterday: Continue reading →

Bloomberg discovers mandated prison beds for CCA profit

The feds also fell for CCA’s prison snakeoil; it’s not just for states like Georgia.

William Selway & Margaret Newkirk wrote for Bloomberg 24 September 2013,

Congress Mandates Jail Beds for 34,000 Immigrants as Private Prisons Profit,



Noemi Romero, who came to the U.S. illegally at age 3, was arrested
in January working at a Phoenix grocery store, where she used
someone else’s name to get the job.

Romero, a 21-year-old who likes to draw and dance, spent the next
four months behind bars, almost half of it in a cramped cell at a
1,596-bed detention center in Eloy, Arizona, run by Corrections
Corp. of America. The company, with Geo Group Inc. (GEO) and other
for-profit prison operators, holds almost two-thirds of all
immigrants detained each day in federally funded prisons as they
face deportation, U.S. data show.

Under law, taxpayers must pay Continue reading →

Mistrial in first Quitman 10 trial



The trial of Lula Smart ended in a mistrial,
reports George Boston Rhynes from the Courthouse in Brooks County.
So the first of

the Quitman 10
is going

like the Madison 9 did.

Here’s

Part 1 of 3:



George says witnesses today talked about voter intimidation
and some said they would not vote again because of this
investigation on the Quitman 10+2.
He says the GBI agent was asked how they were trained before
they were sent to Brooks County, and they had little training
in voting investigations, plus they took ballots home from
the Board of Elections, including some with no addresses
for any of the persons they were investigating.

George also reported WCTV had a camera in the courtroom,
after you may recall Continue reading →

Quitman 10+2 trial, three years late



Trials for the Quitman 10+2 have finally started.

George Boston Rhynes is covering them every day on YouTube.

The only other reporter George has seen there was

one from the Valdosta Daily Times.
George is waving a copy of the VDT

here as he discusses what the case is about:
the Quitman 10 registered enough voters that several black people
got elected to the school board in Brooks County for the first time ever.




Front Row: Linda Troutman, Lula Smart, April Proctor, Diane Thomas

Back Row: Latashia Head, Sandra Cody, Robert Dennard, Angela Bryant Nancy Dennard, and Kechia Harrison

Front page of the VDT yesterday,

Quitman 11 trial gets under way,
with no byline and no pictures, Continue reading →

Common Community Vision for Lowndes County



What do you the citizens want Lowndes County to be?
Here’s a chance to speak up, so when somebody asks where were you when
the decisions were being made, you don’t have to answer “lying on the couch
watching television.” (Thanks to Nolen Cox for that phrase.)

Corey Hull wrote on facebook today,

Help Spread the Word for the Future of Lowndes County,

My office is conducting a survey and gathering public input on
Facebook (go to

www.facebook.com/valdostalowndesmpo) about what they
want the Lowndes County Common Community Vision to be


(
www.bit.ly/LowndesCCV). So far our participation has been low. I am
calling on all of you to encourage your friends, family and
colleagues to spread the word and let us know what you think about
the future of Lowndes County and its cities.

Over the next two months there will be future opportunities for
public input so stay tuned.

Thanks for your help.

On the Southern Georgia Regional Commission’s website,

Lowndes County Common Community Vision, Continue reading →

Divest VSU of fossil fuels –petition

The

divestment movement has come to VSU,
thanks to
Danielle Jordan and
SAVE!
-jsq



Petition:

Divest Valdosta State From Fossil Fuels


To: VSU Administration and VSU Board of Trustees

We are asking Valdosta State University to:

  1. Disclose information on its investments

  2. To divest its holdings from fossil fuels within 5 years

  3. Freeze any new investments in the fossil fuel industry immediately


Why is this important?

As climate change progresses, we become more aware of the hazardous
consequences that manifest in relation to a warming planet. We
understand that in order to combat the issue, we have to alter our
daily practices. However. the lobbying power of the major fuel
companies has diminished the voices and power of individuals within
our political system. Subsequently, policy has been written to favor
the interests of the companies benefiting from the exploitation of
our environment.

We are asking Valdosta State to distance itself from this industry
and pursue alternatives, knowing that if we wish to address climate
change, a collaborative effort must be made. By joining this
movement, we can create a more ethical campus and move in the
direction of sustainability.

How fast industries can change: mobile phones and solar power

In only half a dozen years Microsoft went from laughing at the iPhone
to admitting MS had none of the mobile phone or mobile device market,
while Apple became the most valuable company in the world.
Another entrenched industry, electric power
will also change radically in only a few years,


and

solar power will win like the Internet did.

MG Siegler of Google Ventures blogged this on ParisLemon 20 September 2013,
What A Difference Six Years Makes…

Steve Ballmer, 2007:


Steve Ballmer

Right now we’re selling millions and millions and millions of phones a year. Apple is selling zero phones a year.

Steve Ballmer, a few months later:

It’s sort of a funny question. Would I trade 96% of the market for 4% of the market? (Laughter.) I want to have products that appeal to everybody.

Now we’ll get a chance to go through this again in phones and music players. There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.

Steve Ballmer, yesterday:

Mobile devices. We have almost no share.

And it wasn’t just

Steve Jobs riding Moore’s Law on an iPhone: Continue reading →

Better chance of upward mobility from Valdosta MSA than Atlanta

A child born in the bottom fifth by income around here
has a better chance of reaching the top fifth than in Atlanta.
But that’s not saying much.
And we can change this.


David Leonhardt wrote for NY Times 22 July 2013,

In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters:
A study finds the odds of rising to another income level are notably low in certain cities, like Atlanta and Charlotte, and much higher in New York and Boston.
4.3% Valdosta MSA vs. 4.0% Atlanta MSA.
But 5.9% Brunswick, 6.0% Vidalia,
and 8.8% Elijay.
That’s the highest in Georgia.

Pretty much anywhere in Florida is higher than 4.3%.

Then there’s 11.2% San Francisco, Continue reading →