Clipmarks | phatmommy's 'freedom' clips

Wastewater Monitored For Drug Presence

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 02:31:39 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: File this under "It won't be long until the government puts a tap on your sewage pipe and monitors everything you consume."

Clip Source: www.waterandwastewater.com

A team of researchers has developed an automated monitoring method that makes it possible to detect traces of drugs, from cocaine to caffeine, in municipal wastewater and monitor the patterns of drug use in entire communities.

The analysis can detect the presence of a long list of illicit drugs, from methamphetamine to Ecstasy and other markers of human presence such as caffeine and cotinine, a break-down product of nicotine from cigarette smoke. Although wastewater is often tested for contaminants after it is treated as a measure of potential environmental impact, this new approach tests sewage as it enters a wastewater treatment plant, before it is treated, to get a profile of the drugs being used in the community.

Tags: freedom, government, privacy

The Fallacy of Public Schooling

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 03:03:22 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: Read this article!!

Clip Source: www.fee.org

When parents send a child to a tax-funded school, they sacrifice their autonomy to alien interests. The state has goals of its own that are distinct from those of parents. Parents are able to economize by availing themselves of a “free” school, but the bargain is Faustian. The child is subjected to indoctrination outside parental control. The price of tax-funded schooling is that parents give up their children to become instruments of the state.

Instead it is clear whose interests are being advanced. Fifty-four years ago the writer in Young America was moved to emphasize in italics that era’s apparently high tax rates. Since then the average tax burden has doubled. Yet, as one of my acquaintances has commented, “Americans today are in a stupor.” In other words, the tax-supported school system has triumphed. Americans are behaving exactly the way those who govern desire them to behave.

Tags: children, education, freedom, homeschooling, parenting, school

Our Public Schooling System is Antiquated

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:43:36 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy

Clip Source: www.steve-olson.com

But why do we need to keep this system? Our current government schooling system causes this problem. It’s designed so 20% rise to the top and the rest fall out to the factory floor. We have an antiquated system designed to supply labor to an industrial economy that doesn’t exist anymore.

Test taking is the most valuable skill you can posses in school

The most valuable skill you can possess is the ability to acquire useful knowledge and apply it to solve real problems. Once you own this skill, you have all the education you’ll ever need.

Tags: education, freedom, homeschooling, learning, school

Socialization?

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 04:58:52 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: This is a great comment to a super post. When people ask homeschoolers about "socialization," they may not realize that school socialization is really indoctrination. Homeschoolers have no problem learning to be sociable (interacting with other people), but they often do not fit the "mold" of good little cogs of the state. This trait may make them seem like misfits. But the issue is not that they are socially inept, it's that they are individuals.

Clip Source: gottsegnet.blogspot.com

All that said, I see a quantum shift approaching in education.. with such easy access to information today, institutional schooling is quietly shifting from government-provided education, to government-sponsored day care with educational activities provided. But if you want to be the best of the best, you'll still need to resource yourself through tutors, family, and para-school activities. If you can't afford those privileges, you're stuck in the big warm safety-net of indoctrination.

Tags: education, freedom, school, homeschooling

Imagine the benefits of privatizing schooling!

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:10:28 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: When discussing separation of school and state, many argue, "What about the poor?" The poor, in fact, would benefit the MOST from privatizing education.

Clip Source: www.honestedu.org

Imagine the possibilities of returning $316 billion to taxpayers as part of separating school and state! Currently only 12 percent of America's school-aged children attend independent, parochial, or home schools.[8] Making this market eight times larger would spur educational innovation as entrepreneurs chased those dollars. Educational opportunities would expand tremendously for everyone — especially the poor. The quantity and quality of educational opportunities would increase dramatically.

Tags: education, freedom, school

Separate School and State

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:37:58 GMT

clipped by: phatmommy
clipper's remarks: I think this is the only true answer to education reform.

Clip Source: jewishworldreview.com

Once Americans may have agreed on what children should be taught, but that day is long gone. On any number of fundamental issues, parents today are sharply divided, and there is no way a government-run, one-curriculum-fits-all education system can satisfy all sides. The only way to end the political battles over schooling is to depoliticize the schools. And the only way to do that is to separate school and state.

Tags: education, school, freedom