Education for Massnet: Why Americans (and Humans) Need Math

I was at the local Firestone dealership getting my tires rotated and balanced.  This process once took quite some time, but with modern tools it takes just a few minutes.  What happens if the person reading the computer printout is a complete and total idiot?

Mechanic:  Sir, your wheels need to be adjusted.  the reading on your car say your wheel are out of spec.  It's point fifteen  (0.15).  That's really bad.  I'm surprised you can drive at all.  (He hands me the printout on a sheet of paper.)

I look at the sheet of paper and notice the acceptable range to be point one (0.1) to point two (0.2).

Me: Wait a minute! How is zero point one five greater than point two?

Mechanic:  It's fifteen sir, that's obviously greater than two.

Me: No, It's not!  It's right in the middle.  (I check the other ranges, and they are fine.)

Mechanic: I can get this done to point one.

Right then I have images flash through my mind of him realigning my tires over and over again.  The Machine taking hours, because reading of 0.11, 0.14, and 0.19 are all greater than 0.2.

Me: That's fine just give me my car.

Bottom Line

Math is for everyone.  Period.  Math should be taught in every grade K-12.  K-3 should be drilling with math facts, number, set theory, additions tables, subtraction table, multiplication table, and division table. Remember those 100 question speed quizzes?  One hundred math question in 10 minutes.  1+3 =? 9+7=?  10/2 =?,  4*8 =? Drill. Drill. Drill.  Yeah, it was a pain, but it increases computation speed and helps with all the higher math as well.  256 *16 = ?  Yeah, there are these things call calculators and computer, but if you don't know the basic how do you even know your calculator is giving the right answer?  Drilling and flash cards really work.

Obviously, this will not help our friend the mechanic.  He should have learned decimal and factions in the 4th or 5th grade.  I sure he was one of those kids who said, "Why do I need to know this?" (Because you are going to mess up someone car and they will die in a horrible car accident!)

Ok, I'm vaguely pissed. Technowitch went out for Cheer-leading this year. Last night she earned her second High School Letter for Cheering at basketball. She earned her first letter in the fall cheering at football. I will take nothing away from her. Cheering is hard work, and some of those girls aren't the easiest to get off the ground and fly.

This is more about the awarding of letters and me being bitter about my own High School experience. At the TWO high schools I went to in Two different states, you could only letter as an athlete (Football, Basketball, Track, and Wrestling). You could not get a letter in Band, Theater, Academic teams (Math, Science, and Debate). I'm not sure about all the girl's activity. I think you could letter in Girl's basketball, track, Cheerleader, and Drill Team. However, don't quote me on that.

 Our athletic teams had shitty years except for the Girl's basketball. They boy's got cream during the state tournaments, but they all got letters. I was on The Academic team, Band and Theater. We kicked ass at State Competitions. We came in first for One-Act plays; Wowed the judges at State Marching; And destroy academic team from school twice our sized. We got shit! One of the Schools refused to recognize us after we Won State Competition for Theater. This is even after the advising teachers asked if we could get letters for bring home competition ribbons for the school. Awards the school had NOT seen for over 10 years! The administration said, "Nope, letters are for Athletes only." Well, FUCK YOU!

And you wonder why academic achievement is going down the tubes in American? Simple, no one prizes intelligence in this country. Throw a football? Here have a 120 million dollar contract plus a $29 million dollar signing bonus: Joe Flacco. What! Have President that knows why the windows of an airplane don't open? Why! That's just crazy liberals trying to ruin this great country. Lord I hope the people of China, India, Japan, and whoever else values intelligence give us a good sound butt-fucking we deserve. Anything to get us off our collective idiot asses!

I'm going to try really hard to do at least one post a month! Yes, It's a new year. Yes, the world ends in 2012, but by GOD I'm going to get 12 posts in my blog before the end comes.

Does this sound like anyone you know?

Excerpt: Power Girl #8

Russian Scientists Working on Plan to Deflect Asteroids

Russia 'plans to stop asteroid'

Does anyone believe this crock of crap?!?!

Russia plan to save the world in 2036!!!!

Since when has any government thought or even planned 26 years ahead, the Chinese and Japanese are the exception of course. I give you the One-Child Policy in China, and the High-Tech industrial might that is Japan. (Aside: Do any of you remember when Japan was truning out cheap plastic and porcelian crap?)

This is all just some snow job for Russia to do what ever they want in space and then take credit for an event that would not have happened in the first place.

If the Russian really thought there was even a remote possibility that this would reall happen, they would be screaming to high heaven. When has Russia ever, ever spent million upon million of rubles on something altruistic? NEVER! So why would they start do doing it now?

I hate it when salespeople lie. It makes me want to start kicking their ass.

I at the Verizon Store in the Coral Ridge Mall paying my bill. (Full disclosure: Yes, I've been a Verizon customer for many years now, and I'm happy with the coverage area and that's about it. In the past 18 months I've gone through 5 Blackberry curves, three of those in the last six months.)

I overhear this conversion between a Verizon Salesman and a Potential Customer.

Customer: "I have a Verizon account and I'd like the add my daughter to my service. She would daughter would like an iPhone. Do you have anything like that?"

VZ Salesman: "Yes we do, it's a Blackberry Curve!"

(Lie number 1: The Blackberry Curve is nothing like an Iphone. As much as Verizon wishes it were true, it's not even close.)

I choke at this point and say and tell the clerk helping me that's so not true. She shrugs.

Customer: "She has seen that (The Blackberry), but she really likes the Iphone and thinks it's cool."

VZ Salesman: "This does everything the iPhone does and more. It's has an Apps Store just like the iPhone. Beside the iPhone doesn't have a camera."

(Bullshit! I almost scream across the room. I really wish I could have gotten the woman's name because she needed truthful information right now. The last statement was full full of lies and half-truths it just pissed me off.)

(Lie #2 (not direct but implied) The iPhone and the Blackberry Curve both have a GPS unit. The verizon version of the Blackberry Curve have the GPS disabled. This makes the VZ customer purchase the VZ Maps app to get the same functionality the iPhone has. That's $10-$20 a month extra.)

(Lie #3 (Half-truth) The Blackberry World App store is nothing like Apple's iTune store, but it is a store. Apple apps run from free to $40, withthe average price being $1-$3 per applications. Blackberry's apps run from free - $70, with the average price being about $5-$6 per application. Blackberry most common apps start pricing at $4.99, where Apple's are at 99 cents. I have used the Blackberry store and It's a pain in the ass to navigate and not nearly as polished as the iTunes store.)

(Lie #4 (Half-truth) The 1st gen model of the iPhone lack a camera, however it is now standard on all current models. If this woman got an iPhone, it wouldn't be a used two year old model.)

I could go on, but the main point is the VZ Salesman was a Douchebag. I had to leave before I really blew my top.

If the Blackberry is so good, why is Verizon desperate to get their hands on an agreement with Apple? Rumor has it that Verizon will get the iPhone late 2010 or early 2011. I just hope they don't fucked the iPhone with all the hamstring cutting they did to the Blackberry Curve.

If it weren't for Verizon better coverage in Eastern Iowa, I would so drop my plan and get something with an iPhone!

Space #3 - Itunes and DVD
Right now I'm in the middle of doing a full backup of my Itunes Library. Maxine (my 2ghz G4) is telling me I need about 16 DVDs! There has got to be a better way of transferring my library from one computer to another. You would think the people at Apple would let me do a direct backup and restore to a different computer.

Ladies here is something you may or may not know. ALL MALES FIGHT. I not sure if this is true for women, but for men I'm sure you don't know how deep the well goes. Males constantly test each other, not always with physical combat but with games and little challenges everyday. I mention this because I can see this get out of hand all the time. I think the Alpha Dog mentality is too deeply ingrained to be ignore. It happens everywhere, from shuffling in the elevator, trying to get on the highway, or playing video games in the mall. Male are constant trying to figure out who is top dog, and those lies they tell you in school are full of shit. "It's all about how you play" "It doesn't matter who wins" "We are just all here for fun." "Winning isn't everything"

Bullshit! WINNING IS EVERYTHING! That does mean you need to kill your opponent, but be serious in everything. Not all contest are fork in the road, but you need to realize which contest are important. This doesn't mean piss off your boos, nor does it mean you need to be a doormat. Use your head. However it is very relevant to group dynamics.

During these little matches the rules of fairness and decency go out the window. Like Kasparov being kicked under the table and a world class chess match. The only opponent he ever played that had Honor was a machine. The rest spent time trying the distract him from play by kicking him. I don't remember any chess lesson that told me to kick someone. Winning is the only goal. If Kasparov ever lost to these people , you would have never heard about it. Success washes everything clean. Winning is everything and it doesn't matter how you get there. Take Kobe Bryant, Barry Bonds, and a host of thousands.

Not everything is a World Class Chess meet, Super Bowl, or NBA playoff. I'm talking about those little contest that happen everyday. If you lose them you are stuck into the loser pile of life.