The Political Discussion Thread

[Nirude]

And what sort of education system do they follow?
Private school?
Steiner?
Freinet?
Home-school?

I went to a public school - learned 4 different languages - Dutch, French, English & German (5th was Latin, and 6th Spanish) in the Belgian School System. There is no EU school system -- education is country-bound.

I'm saying you are far more likely to encounter a political activist masquerading as a teacher in the EU/US than anywhere else. You may not think it damaging, but it is - ultimately effecting that child's choices/decisions throughout their life. “Give me just one generation of youth, and I'll transform the whole world.”

And we haven't even got to the point of what they actually teach these days.. that's maybe worse than the teachers themselves.. nah, probably about the same.

Regarding multiple languages, I was mainly referring to the fact when you grow up in the UK/US, you are far more likely to only speak English. I know it's far different on the continent.

[Womble]

how much of a threat is hezbola anyway?
how powerful are hezbola & hamas compared to, say, Isis? considering the means isis has hamas & hezbolah come off more as paupers compared to them (that's assuming they even endure & isis doesn't wipe them out in the near future)

Hezbollah has an arsenal of over 130 000 rockets, which is more than all of the NATO states combined if we exclude the USA. These missiles are aimed at a country that is slightly larger than New Jersey but smaller than Lake Michigan. They have guided anti-tank and anti-ship missiles, a network of underground fortifications integrated into civilian villages, and whatever else Iran can provide. So yeah, they're a threat alright.

ISIS is actually not that powerful militarily. Its main power is in its ability to recruit cannon fodder from both the local and the global Islamic extremist pool. They're strong against fellow Sunni Muslims whom they can divide and demoralize, but they perform poorly against organized and determined non-Sunni Muslim military forces such as the Kurds even when those are outnumbered and outgunned, and their military equipment is basically scavenged from Iraqi and Syrian military deserters.

[Nirude]

ISIS is actually not that powerful militarily. Its main power is in its ability to recruit cannon fodder from both the local and the global Islamic extremist pool. They're strong against fellow Sunni Muslims whom they can divide and demoralize, but they perform poorly against organized and determined non-Sunni Muslim military forces such as the Kurds even when those are outnumbered and outgunned, and their military equipment is basically scavenged from Iraqi and Syrian military deserters.

ISIS is nothing more than a conversation point, really. It's not a real "stable" movement of any kind. They're in it for the money and to show the world how "bad ass" they can be, they recruit through demonstrating strength. They just don't realize how stale their crap is getting. I think right now their preferred method of execution is getting a huge fat guy with a massive sword that looks like it's from a video game to cut people's heads off, have to wonder what they will come up with next..

[Annoyed]

It's interesting that America spends a LOT more money on education(25% more) but scores much lower on things like mathmathics, reading and science performance, and things like low education levels. (as i earlier said, seems like Belgium is similar in level to the Netherlands)


EDIT:
It's not entirely clear to me what the proper conclusion from this is, other than that there doesn't seem to be a direct link in spending per student and actual performance.

A great deal of the money spent on education in the US winds up in the pockets of the people who operate the schools, teachers, administration, etc. thanks to to their powerful unions. Take a detailed look at school financing in any heavily Democratic area, such as New York sometime.
Combine that with the drivel that they're passing off as education and it's no surprise that the US schools are falling behind other nations.

[Nirude]

Combine that with the drivel that they're passing off as education and it's no surprise that the US schools are falling behind other nations.

I'm sure someone is thinking "Drivel? What drivel?", have fun answering that It's also worth noting how they're constantly changing the standards to make it seem the students are more clever than they really are.

Here's another example of a failed school in UK, these schools come up in the news about once a week now. If everyone is speaking a different language, you don't magically learn all of them, you just learn nothing and stop talking: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-migrants.html

[SoulReaver]

Hezbollah has an arsenal of over 130 000 rockets, which is more than all of the NATO states combined if we exclude the USA. These missiles are aimed at a country that is slightly larger than New Jersey but smaller than Lake Michigan. They have guided anti-tank and anti-ship missiles, a network of underground fortifications integrated into civilian villages, and whatever else Iran can provide. So yeah, they're a threat alright.

ISIS is actually not that powerful militarily. Its main power is in its ability to recruit cannon fodder from both the local and the global Islamic extremist pool. They're strong against fellow Sunni Muslims whom they can divide and demoralize, but they perform poorly against organized and determined non-Sunni Muslim military forces such as the Kurds even when those are outnumbered and outgunned, and their military equipment is basically scavenged from Iraqi and Syrian military deserters.

despite their colossal financial clout? with the many billions they have - they're wealthy enough to make hollywood-styled propaganda films - you'd expect a military force that dwarfs anything hezbola & all the other islamist groups combined could afford

[Annoyed]

I'm sure someone is thinking "Drivel? What drivel?", have fun answering that It's also worth noting how they're constantly changing the standards to make it seem the students are more clever than they really are.

That is part of the "drivel". They have been listening to professional do-nothings tell them that they can't risk damaging the child's ego for a long time now. Schools are eliminating any kind of academic competition so that there are no winners and losers.
These do-nothings haven't figured out that if you teach the competitive ability out of a child, you are creating a child that cannot stand on its own two feet in a free society.

[garhkal]

I'm saying you are far more likely to encounter a political activist masquerading as a teacher in the EU/US than anywhere else. You may not think it damaging, but it is - ultimately effecting that child's choices/decisions throughout their life. “Give me just one generation of youth, and I'll transform the whole world.”

And we haven't even got to the point of what they actually teach these days.. that's maybe worse than the teachers themselves.. nah, probably about the same.

ANd because the DoE and teacher's unions have such sway, its hard as heck for parents to rectify a bad teacher..

A great deal of the money spent on education in the US winds up in the pockets of the people who operate the schools, teachers, administration, etc. thanks to to their powerful unions. Take a detailed look at school financing in any heavily Democratic area, such as New York sometime.
Combine that with the drivel that they're passing off as education and it's no surprise that the US schools are falling behind other nations.

Plus a lot goes for
Building maintenance,
Teacher pay
Union dues
Administrators and other 'support staff
Football/basketball/baseball coaches and gear etc.
Heck some schools i have heard of GIVE OUT every student an Ipad, so they can 'do homework'.
Sorry, but practically EVERY kid these days has their own Ipad/celphone/laptop at home they CAN USE to do that homework.. and what ever happened to doing homework via Pencil and paper??

[Coco Pops]

Of course it's a distraction. Lots of other things and issues going on in the world (collapsing economies, people getting killed, biases being pushed, etc.), but too many in the USA have tunnel vision focus. Same stuff happening in hollywood/Tv propaganda stuff. Just yesterday I read comments from a famous rapper complaining about how children are being indoctrinated into various political views thru Tv programs, including cartoons. Now, when a rapper complains about cartoons, there is something wrong somewhere.

Focus on the distractions and stay there, or be subtle in approach until everyone distracted is so immersed in nonsense that the real problematic stuff happening won't have any hope of being turned back to normalcy (whatever that might be). So, when the real problems pop up, it'll be a massive surprise -- to which no one actually trying to look is able to figure out what those problems might be. Don't watch what the right hands are doing while the left hands are doing something else... something to that effect.

And that is exactly why I said what I said. There are stories like this around all over the place and they serve as distractions so while the public focuses on this or some other issue, things like bad legislation or bills can be passed when no one is looking.

[Womble]

despite their colossal financial clout? with the many billions they have - they're wealthy enough to make hollywood-styled propaganda films - you'd expect a military force that dwarfs anything hezbola & all the other islamist groups combined could afford

Anyone can make Hollywood-styled propaganda films these days. All you need is a DSLR and a laptop with editing software.

Nobody actually knows how much money Hezbollah makes because they're too smart to advertise their "colossal financial clout". They get about $200 million a year from Iran. They make a huge amount of money from drug trade in South Asia and South America. They run hashish plantations in Lebanon's Bekaa valley, they make money from human trafficking between Mexico and USA, they get generous donations from Shi'ite Lebanese businessmen worldwide (the Lebanese diaspora is quite large).

[SGalisa]

This whole Clinton email server thingy sounds like a great distraction from other issues. Surely it's not the most important thing people are worried about /s

Of course it's a distraction. Lots of other things and issues going on in the world (collapsing economies, people getting killed, biases being pushed, etc.), but too many in the USA have tunnel vision focus...

It's meaning is Hillary Clinton, the most likely next President of the USA, cannot be trusted with a government job. I'd say it's pretty worrying.

The reason a LOT of people are continually harping on it, is cause it shows just how crooked and lying she is.. And that IT alone proves she is unfit to serve as POTUS.

Yeah, many eyes are focused on Hillary Clinton and her emails..
Focus is off the rest of the political spectrum. So what better way to pass regulations and bills, while under the radar, so to speak and away from public focus, because Hillary is the *issue*..?

Not many people are disputing that Hillary's emails are not an issue or a major one, but it seems most likely that unless people are so brainwashed against Trump -- Hillary will be elected regardless of her emails/server "scandal".

A week or so ago, Elizabeth Warren finally showed up on the national scene, stating that she may be on Hillary's VP choice list. Well, that explains a lot right there.. Rumors of the past were saying that Elizabeth Warren might be running as a USA presidential candidate, but backed off. And why not.. ALL attention went to Hillary Clinton instead. So, if there was anything about Elizabeth Warren that the GOP or opposing sides didn't like, by the time Elizabeth came into focus, there wouldn't be much time to fuss about her faults too. Perfect timing.

Even if some attention did drop down on Elizabeth Warren, Hillary would be the Presidential candidate, but maybe all E.W. needed was to have Hillary get into power first, then take over within a few months or a few weeks, should Hillary suddenly step down. Then, by default or whatever it's called, E.W. would automatically become our official USA "President".

There was even a comment someone made to Hillary about suggesting Obama to take over a Supreme Court justice role, to which Hillary would take that under "advisement". Most likely Obama might end up in some sort of United Nations role, instead, if he doesn't go abroad on a preaching (agendas, etc.) circuit for paid speeches. Afterall, he did buy (or invest in) a D.C. $5 million dollar (approximate pricetag) house, all paid for thru Taxpayers' expenses.. and surely post presidency, Obama, won't be foregoing a security detail team, or scholastic ed for his daughters, too, which is also expected to be paid for by us the Taxpayers.

[Gatefan1976]

Exactly. I can clean MY pc up, using all sorts of tools/software, but since i have used the internet to send so much, the ISP for me would have (or should) copies of everything i send.
Plus the ISP of whom they are sent TO should also have copies..

The thorn in the side of the "30k missing emails"
Actually knowing how stuff works.
The ISP has copies, the receiver has copies, the receivers data banks have copies, but yes, when Hillary deleted hers, they all failed..............
EXPECTO DISSAPERUM!!!
yeah........

No one is defending -what she did-, it was dodgy as all get out, but the whole narrative being pushed by people like FOX is predicated on one simple fact, it's viewers (and most are older), simply don't know how this stuff works, but it is "the enemy" and facts just don't matter.
This is why FOX viewers are consistently the most ill informed people.

The reason a LOT of people are continually harping on it, is cause it shows just how crooked and lying she is.. And that IT alone proves she is unfit to serve as POTUS.

She lies about some things, perhaps 20% of what she says is lies according to fact checkers, and again, no one is surprised. Trump sits at around 40, let me restate that, 40% on not just lies, but utter BS, and 60% of what comes out is "just lies of some form". How can ANYONE be worried about 20% liar in comparison to 60% liar?
THAT is what is mind bending.
"She tells lies, so she can't be trusted"
"He tells lies at 3 times the rate"
"But she lies"
ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!

[Falcon Horus]

I'm saying you are far more likely to encounter a political activist masquerading as a teacher in the EU/US than anywhere else. You may not think it damaging, but it is - ultimately effecting that child's choices/decisions throughout their life. “Give me just one generation of youth, and I'll transform the whole world.”

I know a lot of teachers - both in primary school and highschool - and you're talking bias. The only bias they have is to their school (be it state funded or catholic school, or privately funded). Everything else, that which deals with what they learn is set in guidelines from the department of education, which is more or less in constant flux, trying to keep up with the changes in the world.

Regarding multiple languages, I was mainly referring to the fact when you grow up in the UK/US, you are far more likely to only speak English. I know it's far different on the continent.

Which is a shame... knowing more than one language can be a big plus.
Belgians don't really have a choice in the matter, though, seeing as how both French and Dutch are the official languages so knowing both is pretty much a must.

Different Departments of Education:

USA
Our mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

UK
The Department for Education is responsible for education and children’s services in England. We work to achieve a highly educated society in which opportunity is equal for children and young people, no matter what their background or family circumstances.

Australia

Flanders

New York

[Annoyed]

I know a lot of teachers - both in primary school and highschool - and you're talking bias. The only bias they have is to their school (be it state funded or catholic school, or privately funded). Everything else, that which deals with what they learn is set in guidelines from the department of education, which is more or less in constant flux, trying to keep up with the changes in the world.

Perhaps things are that way in Belgium. If so, cool.

But that is NOT the case in the US. US public schools are very actively pushing a far left agenda. Look at the article I cited. Or look up any number of similar instances.

[Annoyed]

The thorn in the side of the "30k missing emails"
Actually knowing how stuff works.
The ISP has copies, the receiver has copies, the receivers data banks have copies, but yes, when Hillary deleted hers, they all failed..............
EXPECTO DISSAPERUM!!!
yeah........

Yes, knowing how things work can be a big help.
Did you not read an earlier post of mine on the topic?

ISP's don't record all traffic that they carry. The expressly don't want to, because they want to maintain common carrier status to protect themselves from being blamed for anything that might be illegal in the data people send through them.

If I, Hillary Clinton or anybody else sets up a mail server and sends mail through that, the ISP doesn't even see it as email, it's just traffic as far as they're concerned. Sure, if you are sending through the ISP's mail servers, as most home users do, sure, they may very well have copies. But that doesn't apply if you're running your own private mail server.