A study in American Sheeple... or is that lemmings

[Patriot]

Jodi Arias, Cable TV, and a Nation Fascinated by Shiny Objects
Posted: May 8, 2013 in Culture, Featured, Media
Bernard Goldberg.com


Jodi AriasThere are times, not many thankfully, when I get depressed, brought down by the sorry evidence that we live in a country fixated on shiny objects.  This is one of those times.

A jury in Phoenix has found Jodi Arias guilty of first-degree murder.  That's not what gets me down.  What I find so depressing is our collective fascination with trivia, with anything that we can follow without having to actually think.

No one ever heard of Jodi Arias until cable TV made her famous.  No one ever heard of the boyfriend she killed, you know, what's his name. The Arias murder trial tells us nothing about anything bigger than Jodi Arias.  She wasn't famous like O.J. Simpson before she was arrested.  This wasn't Bill Clinton's impeachment trial.  Those trials had implications.  The Arias trial had none.

When it became known that the jury had reached a verdict, cable news went wall-to-wall with Jodi Arias.  It would be 90 minutes before the verdict was announced in court, so anchors and pundits spent the time saying nothing – nothing that mattered anyway.  But this is a small point.  Saying nothing about Jodi Arias gets you more viewers than saying something about the national debt.

But you can't blame cable TV news, not entirely anyway, because television is a business that gives the people what they want.  And if they want Jodi, TV executives will give them Jodi for hours on end.  Hell, if she had been found not guilty they might have even given her a show.

In Phoenix, hundreds of locals dropped whatever they were doing when they heard the verdict would soon be coming down and raced to the courthouse so they could be close by when the verdict, which had no effect on them or their families, was read out loud inside the courtroom.

Why the interest?  Sex. That's it.  The trial was filled with tidbits about the sex life of Ms. Arias and the boyfriend she killed by stabbing him 27 times and cutting his throat.  Sorry, I'm wrong — it was about more than sex.  It was about sex and violence.  Of course if Jodi Arias weighed 350 pounds and had crooked teeth, we wouldn't be nearly as interested (which is another way of saying we wouldn't be interested at all, and neither would cable TV).

The Arias verdict came down on the same day the House held hearings to determine what really happened last September 11 in Benghazi and to try to find out why four Americans were killed at the U.S. consulate there.  Did then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will likely run for president in 2016, make big mistakes that led to their deaths?  Hey, who cares about insignificant crap like that?

Mike Huckabee, the Fox News host, said that the Benghazi hearings would lead to the downfall of Barack Obama, that when the facts came out Mr. Obama would not be able to finish his presidency.  That is nothing but wishful thinking masquerading as political analysis. Americans don't care about Benghazi.  Not all Americans, of course, just most Americans.

But they care about Jodi Arias because shallow people like shiny objects.  That's why they love to follow car chases on TV, even when the culprit is only some doofus who stole a piece of gum from a 7-11.  The chase can go on for hours.  They'll keep watching.  Car chases are more interesting than real news any day.

So is the life and death drama of a woman who dressed up like the librarian in glasses who lets her hair down and goes wild on New Year's Eve.  The national debt is a crisis that may some day take us all down.  But until then, we can have a grand old time following shiny objects.

Link:  http://www.bernardgoldberg.com/jodi-arias-cable-tv-and-a-nation-fascinated-by-shiny-objects/

[jarhead]

Patriot,
Bernie hit the nail on the head with his analysis.  By the way---welcome back to the forum---I was missing you.

[Ross]

And the democrats are saying the republicans are attacking the administration!

What?

Asking questions at a hearing is attacking them?

Really?

[Warph]

Great post... Bernard Goldberg: Mr. Common Sense


Neal Fox - The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America:

(This video is just a brief introduction to a very serious subject.  There are
six books listed at the end which will go much further into the subject.)

Charlotte Iserbyt - The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America:

Interview from 2004.
Charlotte Iserbyt served as Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education, during the first Reagan Administration, where she first blew the whistle on a major technology initiative which would control curriculum in America's classrooms. Iserbyt is a former school board director in Camden, Maine and was co-founder and research analyst of Guardians of Education for Maine (GEM) from 1978 to 2000. She has also served in the American Red Cross on Guam and Japan during the Korean War, and in the United States Foreign Service in Belgium and in the Republic of South Africa. Iserbyt is a speaker and writer, best known for her 1985 booklet Back to Basics Reform or OBE: Skinnerian International Curriculum and her 1989 pamphlet Soviets in the Classroom: America's Latest Education Fad which covered the details of the U.S.-Soviet and Carnegie-Soviet Education Agreements which remain in effect to this day. She is a freelance writer and has had articles published in Human Events, The Washington Times, The Bangor Daily News, and included in the record of Congressional hearings.

[Ross]

Warph even the State of Kansas recently admitted they have lowered the educational standards so much over the years.
That kids going off to college don't comprehend what they read and therefore have to take remedial reading courses in college.

[Diane Amberg]

Ross, one of the reasons for that is because college has become a big business now. Students are "customers" and colleges will do whatever is needed to keep them there and paying their bills. People have been convinced that all kids should go to college, even if they aren't academically intelligent enough to do so.
When I went to UD the % of kids even trying to apply was much lower than it is now. Even from my own HS graduating class  mostly the only ones who went on to college were the ones for whom it was required.. The wanna be teachers, pre med docs, chemists, engineers and the like. The rest almost all went on for further education, but it was nursing school, business school,culinary school or apprentice programs for plumbers or electricians  Some did go to college who didn't have to but wanted a good general education; friends who were aggies and such. But they all could read or they weren't admitted, period. It is so different now. Kids who just don't have much intelligence have a very hard time because the broom sweeping jobs are gone. You can't make blanket statements though that kids can't read...some do need help, but in my day they would never have been admitted to college in the first place.  They just weren't considered to be college material. I can't speak for Kansas of course, but why do you think your educational standards have been lowered? For what purpose? Don't your kids who are having a hard time  in high school get tutoring or extra help?  If not why not? Their short comings surely aren't found until college. Kids who can't read must not be allowed to graduate high school. It cheapens the diploma for the ones who have done well.
Parents should be beating down the doors for kids to get extra help who need it,not begging for their child to have a social promotion.That just adds a weight around the kid's neck academically and it will be found out eventually. It's fraud.
All the critics and nay sayers can do as they want..it means nothing and helps nobody.

[Bullwinkle]

     Nice to have you back, Patriot.

     This reminds me of people watching a house burn , captivated by the flames, just blank stares.

[Warph]

Jeff Bliss Student Lectures Teacher on Education at Duncanville High School in Texas

Texas high school sophomore Jeff Bliss told interviewers he had dropped out of school for a year before he realized the value of his education. When he returned to high school in Duncanville, a suburb of Dallas, he landed in teacher Julie Phung's World History class. After Bliss asked a question about an upcoming standardized test, Phung's careless reply prompted him to stand and deliver a blistering indictment of uninvolved teaching and a demand for a better education that's gone viral.

[...]

We've seen recent videos of students in ninth or tenth grade attacking teachers verbally and physically. This incident shows the other side of the story: a bright student who wants to learn and a teacher who either doesn't care, or does not know how to engage and educate. The chances are that Ms. Phung, up until recently, probably did not care, or perhaps had a complete misunderstanding as to the effectiveness of her interactions with students.


[...]

To the credit of Duncanville ISD, superintendent Dr. Alfred Ray told interviewers that Bliss will not be punished, and Ms. Phung has been placed on paid administrative leave while the incident is being investigated.


[...]


John Stossel        ✔ @FBNStossel 
.@Real_Jeff_Bliss Good to see you standing up for your education! Would love to hear more ...
Stossel - 1:30 PM - 9 May 2013


From Dallas News, Jim Mitchell: Jeff Bliss' video rant speaks uncomfortable truths about teachers and students:
The most interesting story in today's paper is Duncanville student Jeff Bliss' impromptu criticism of his high school teacher. The rant/criticism, which has gone viral, speaks some uncomfortable truths about teachers and students.

Let's start with teachers. Bliss said the teacher didn't teach. If we're all honest about this, we know teachers like these exist. In grade school, in high school in college. These are the ones who need to find another profession and are the reason there is so much of an emphasis on getting rid of bad teachers. Students know quality when they see it, Good teachers invest themselves in the material and in the students. Given Bliss' background — he is a guy trying to make up for lost time — I can understand why he's frustrated with a teacher who seems more interested in passing out work than taking the time to actually find out whether students are mastering the material, and if not, why not.

Now on to students. I can't imagine ever challenging a teacher like that. I remember having far more good teachers than bad ones, but I also know that some of the good ones were the most demanding. Yes, I've dealt with unrealistic deadlines for term papers and other class assignments, but I bucked up and hustled the best I could to met those deadlines. It was expected and I tried to meet these expectations. And I did everything I could to learn the material. Not doing so would hurt only one person — me.

[Diane Amberg]

 Knowing his past school history I'd like to know what section of history he was in.   Bet it wasn't honors. His attitude stunk and was very disrespectful, no matter what the problem...that's not how to solve something in a classroom setting. He's an adult after all.  Just glad he didn't pull out a gun.
 I'd love to know what question he asked about the upcoming standard test. We were are never allowed to see the tests before hand or answer any questions other than what they would be allowed to use as writing instruments, pen or machine score or regular pencil and the date, time and place it would be given. If he asked about content or specific answers, I  couldn't have answered him either. The whole thing should have been handled outside the classroom in front of a witness. I think he would have been better off going to adult night school...an 18 year old sophomore? HMMMM.
Of course soon all the tests will be by computer.

[Ross]

Knowing his past school history I'd like to know what section of history he was in.   Bet it wasn't honors.

There is no way of knowing if he was in honors, so the point is moot.

His attitude stunk and was very disrespectful, no matter what the problem...that's not how to slove something in a classroom setting. He's an adult after all.  Just glad he didn't pull out a gun.

Why insert gun violence into the equation, when there was none? Didn't the teacher show disrespect for the whole class by swearing?
His attitude stunk, why because he spoke the truth? It was not him that used profanity, but the teacher that used profanity wasn't it? He returned to school to learn, did the teacher return to school to teach each and every day? Why else would this have even taken place?

The remarks about his age show a lack of knowledge of what happens in school? I graduated at 18. Remember, the time at which a student can start kindergarten is based on their birth month. My twin brother graduated high school at 19. My twin was held back a year in the first grade due to a serious speech problem that was no fault of his own. Many other children are held back for lots of reason. So, where is your compassion for school children wanting to learn?

  I'd love to know what question he asked about the upcoming standard test. We were are never allowed to see the tests before hand or answer any questions other than what they would be allowed to use as writing instruments, pen or machine score or regular pencil and the date, time and place it would be given.

Why can't you accept the story for what is there?
It has been reported by the news media plenty of times that a lot of today's teachers teach to the tests. These are not your times. Cheating in major colleges has been reported by the news media as well. But my error, that is not part of the story either is it?

If he asked about content or specific answers, I  couldn't have answered him either. The whole thing should have been handled outside the classroom in front of a witness. I think he would have been better off going to adult night school...an 18 year old sophomore? HMMMM.

What even makes you think he asked about test questions?
Why should the whole thing have been handled out of the class room? There were plenty of witnesses a whole class room full and a video. 
Oh, I think, I understand secrecy.

There really is no reason for an 18 year old to go to night school, except perhaps that he shamed the teacher for not teaching.