Color-coded IDs draw support from some students, parents

Conservative parents and students in Orange County want kids to be assigned color-coded IDs based on test scores. We all know that standardized test scores tend to correlate strongly with socio-economic levels. Recent research also shows that innate ability has far less effect on the success of poor kids than it does on middle class kids. So why not just have kids go around with a name tag that shows how much their parents make?

This policy actually might discourage some kids who are working very hard. Test scores are related far more closely to socio-economic levels than to student effort. I suspect that many of the kids who support this policy don't need confidence-building. Why would a school do this? Because it's easiest to raise the scores of the above-average students, and thus raise the average score of the school, without changing the scores of the below-average students. This doesn't give us a better-educated society, it just gives us a better-educated elite.

Oct. 7, 2011
Color-coded IDs draw support from some students, parents
By FERMIN LEAL
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A group of about three dozen students at Kennedy High School arrived to campus Friday wearing their color-coded IDs to protest the Anaheim Union High School District's earlier decision to eliminate the controversial incentive program.

They said they wanted to show support for the program that assigned students color-coded ID cards and planners based on their state test scores, and required those who performed poorly to stand in a separate lunch line and awarded the others with discounts.

"Maybe it's just the conservative in me that says that it's just too bad that others didn't study or work hard enough for it," said Jason Seo, who helped organize the protest. "When I see what I do versus a person without a black card there are big differences. For one, I study a lot more than they do, so to call it 'intellectual discrimination' as some people put it, is stupid in it of itself."

The students taped, stitched and glued their cards onto clothing and backpacks to prominently show classmates, teachers, parents and administrators that they want the district to reinstate color-coded ID system.

...The program, in place Kennedy and Cypress high schools, was designed to urge students to raise scores on the California Standards Tests, but it also raised concern among parents and students who said it illegally revealed test scores and embarrassed those who didn't do well.

Anaheim Union officials announced on Thursday the district would eliminate the program after complaints from many students and parents, and after the state Department of Education called it unlawful.

...AnneMarie Conley, a UC Irvine educational psychologist who has extensively studied student motivation strategies in Orange County schools, called the system earlier this week "one of the worst ideas ever" to promote learning.

"I Can Microchip My Dog ... Why Can’t I Microchip an Illegal?"

There are lots of options once we start pretending that human beings who are different from us are somehow less worthy of respect: perhaps an old-fashioned brand burned into their skin, or a number tattooed on their arms. It seems that running in a Republican primary requires candidates to appeal to the worst attributes of likely voters.

"I Can Microchip My Dog ... Why Can’t I Microchip an Illegal?"
by Alex DiBranco
April 28, 2010

Pat Bertroche, a Republican primary candidate for Congress in Iowa, has illustrated perfectly why you don't refer to human beings as "illegals": it's dehumanizing. And once you've lost sight of someone's humanity, you feel comfortable saying and doing pretty much whatever you want to them.

At a Republican forum, where candidates vied to outdo one another with disturbing anti-immigrant rhetoric, Bertroche rose to a new high — or low — and beat his competition hands down. The Congressional hopeful said, referring to undocumented immigrants who are detained and deported, "I actually support microchipping them. I can microchip my dog so I can find it. Why can't I microchip an illegal?"...

What is it with conservative "family values" leaders and their gay escorts?

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Senate hopeful Stormy Daniels says she's found her inner Republican

Switching Teams
FOX News
April 07, 2010

...potential Senate hopeful Stormy Daniels says she's found her inner Republican.

Politico reports if the former porn star decides to run for the Senate from Louisiana, she will switch to the GOP after last week's revelation the Republican National Committee spent almost $2,000 at Voyeur, a bondage-themed nightclub in Los Angeles:

"Over time — my libertarian values regarding both money and sex— and the legal use of one for the other [are] now best espoused by the Republican party."

Sicko:The FBI arrests a northern California man for allegedly making threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over health care

AP
This undated photo provided by the San Mateo Sheriff's department shows Gregory Lee Giusti.










I'm beginning to wonder if tea partiers (or tea baggers) have any respect for American government. Apparently democracy is only acceptable to them if they get what they want. They want to flush it and create anarchy the minute their faction loses control of the apparatus of government. There seems to be no concept of a loyal opposition among many so-called Americans. It's sad that there is so little loyalty or allegiance to our government among those who oppose health care reform. It's a serious threat to our American way of life.



Man arrested for Pelosi threats called "angry"
Jaxon Van Derbeken,Jill Tucker
San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writers
April 7, 2010

The San Francisco man arrested Wednesday for allegedly threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her support for health care reform spent five years harassing a local church - until its custodian helped break the case involving Pelosi, the church's lawyer said.

Gregory Lee Giusti, 48, made at least four dozen harassing and threatening phone calls to Pelosi's homes in St. Helena and Washington as well as her husband's San Francisco office, authorities said.

The torrent of calls, they said, occurred from Feb. 6 to March 25, with Giusti telling Pelosi that if she wanted to see her home again she would vote against the pending health care reform bill.

Giusti, who was arrested at noon at his Tenderloin apartment, is scheduled to appear this morning to answer charges at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The complaint against him is sealed, said FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler.

Giusti has a history of making threats. In 2004, he was convicted of threatening to kill a conductor after being booted off a train car in San Mateo County, prosecutors said.

He was linked to the Pelosi case with the help of members of the Hamilton Square Baptist Church on Geary Boulevard...




AP sources: FBI arrests man for threatening Pelosi
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press
April 7, 2010

WASHINGTON – The FBI arrested a northern California man Wednesday for allegedly making threatening phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over health care reform, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

Charges against the man have yet to be disclosed, but they are expected to be filed in federal court in California.

Several federal officials said the man made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes in California and Washington, as well as to her husband's business office. They said he recited her home address and said if she wanted to see it again, she would not support the health care overhaul bill that since has been enacted.

One official said the man is believed to have spoken directly with Pelosi at least once...

Senator Orrin Hatch ashamed of Republican fundraising tactic

Hatch ashamed of Republican fundraising tactic
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
03/07/2010

Sen. Orrin Hatch said he is "ashamed" of a Republican National Committee presentation that called for demonizing Democrats and President Barack Obama to help raise money.

"There is no excuse for that kind of stuff," said Hatch, R-Utah, during an appearance on Meet the Press on Sunday. "It shouldn't have happened. I'm ashamed of that." ...

Senate breaks logjam to restore jobless aid

Senate breaks logjam to restore jobless aid
Andy Sullivan
Mar 3, 2010

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Highway money and jobless funds were set to flow again after the Senate ended a standoff on Tuesday that disrupted benefits for hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans.

The Senate voted 78-19 to end a logjam that had worsened the plight of the jobless and thrown thousands out of work as lawmakers bickered over the cost of programs designed to help millions of Americans weather the worst economic downturn in 70 years.

President Barack Obama was expected to sign the measure quickly into law.

The programs expired on Sunday after Republican Senator Jim Bunning prevented the Senate from renewing them on the grounds they would add to the country's $12.4 trillion debt.

As a result, 400,000 jobless people faced the imminent loss of weekly checks that help them pay the bills while they look for work, as well as subsidies that help them pay for health insurance.

Construction projects across the country shut down after 2,000 federal workers were furloughed, while doctors faced a 21 percent pay cut for patients they see under the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly.

"During these difficult economic times, supporting American workers, their families and our small businesses must be everyone's focus," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "... I'm grateful to the members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle who worked to end this roadblock to relief for America's working families."

In news conferences and floor statements, Democrats said Bunning and his fellow Republicans had taken their opposition to Democratic initiatives to a new extreme.

"Today we have a clear-cut example to show the American people what's wrong with Washington," said Democratic Senator Patty Murray...

Hannah Giles will just have to get in line: she's got plenty of competition on Fox News

See video on youtube.com.

Who says conservatives don't help the environment? These women make sure their fabric footprint is as small as possible.

Photo at left is Carrie Prejean.

Conservatives, liberals and the anterior cingulate cortex

Can you withhold your habitual response when it's necessary? Then your anterior cingulate cortex is in good working order.

When human beings find themselves at a dead end, their anterior cingulate cortex tells them that they need to change course. Or at least that's what it should do.

But in some people, this part of the brain is less sensitive, causing these individuals to ignore new information.

43 college students were hooked up to electroencephalographs and given a button to press when a computer flashed the letter M. They weren't supposed to press the button when the computer flashed W.

The computer usually showed M, so the subjects got in the habit of pressing the button. It turned out that some people just can't let go of a habit, even when the situation calls for them to change course.

Those who did best on the test had the most electrical activity in their brains when the "No Go" cues were presented, according to researcher David Amodio.

Some people, it seems, will just keep on doing the same thing, even when they are receiving information that tells them they aren't getting anywhere.

Students who had identified themselves as most liberal were the most accurate in pressing the button, and had the most electrical activity in their brains.

See articles:
Los Angeles Times
September 10, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-politics10sep10,0,5982337.story?coll=la-home-center

Chicago Tribune
September 10, 2007
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-politicalbrain_bothsep10,1,6328755.story

All this makes me wonder how it would have changed history if George W. Bush had a more sensitive anterior cingulate cortex.