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May 24, 2012

Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Clifford D. May: What Iran's Rulers Want
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
Kimberly Lankford: Switching Medicare Advantage Plans Mid-Year
Bryan McIver, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Understanding hyperthyroidism and its variety of treatment options
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: Baghdad talks highlight Western naivete
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Lisa Gerstner: 4 Money-Etiquette Questions Answered
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Art Markman, Ph.D.: Get smart: How to bulk up your creativity muscles
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
David S. Cloud and Kathleen Hennessey: Obama changes mind on Pakistan invite to NATO summit --- and then gets dissed by country's president
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
Environmental Nutrition editors: The lowdown on a low-acid diet
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
James K. Glassman: 5 Stock Picks Among Online Retailers
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Caroline B. Glick: Embracing dangerous delusions and not our friends
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Janet Bodnar: How to Teach Kids to Handle Credit Cards
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Mary Beth Franklin: Retirement Savings Tips for New Grads
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
Chelsea Sheasley: Social media: Is it too feminine?
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Jackson Holahan: The Aleppo Codex
Jonathan Tobin : Iran Declares Victory in Nuclear Talks
Anne Kates Smith: 7 Stocks That Let You Sleep Tight
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Dennis Prager: God and Man at (and for) Liberty
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Get the facts on palm sugar sweetening
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Richard Simon: Purple Hearts for domestic terror victims?
Nando Pelusi, Ph.D.: The privacy paradox: Surrounded by strangers, we risk isolation, anxiety
Chris Farrell: Investing Lessons from the Great Recession
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
Tiffany O'Callaghan: New hormone mimics effects of exercise without the sweat
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Rabbi B. Shafier: Why happiness will always be elusive
Charles Krauthammer: Echoes of '67: Israel unites
Howard LaFranchi: With G8 snub, US-Putin 'reset' off to stumbling start
Jeremy J. Siegel: Investors, Relax About Rising Interest Rates
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Clifford D. May: The Real Palestinian Refugee Problem
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Harvard Health Letters: Palliative care: Underused therapy yields surprising benefits
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
Rachel L. Sheedy and Susan B. Garland : Make the Right Moves to Boost Benefits
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
John Rosemond: Parents, stop destroying the American male
Valerie J. Nelson: Maurice Sendak, author of 'Where the Wild Things Are,' dies at 83
Bob Frick: Angst Over Annuities
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Why did my blood pressure suddenly shoot up?
Lisa Gerstner: Lower the Rate on All Your Loans
The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : Springtime soba with miso sauce offers a coloful mix of fresh textures and flavors
May 8, 2012
Edmund Sanders: Netanyahu suddenly cancels new elections, forms unity government
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: Farewell to European superstate
Anne Kates Smith: 4 Stocks That Mimic Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway
Gaia Vince and Clare Wilson The Rise of Miniature Medical Robots: Fantasy Fast Becoming Reality
Paul Takahashi, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Never suffer night leg cramps
Jessica L. Anderson: Extended-Warranty Warning
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate National Chocolate Chip Day with the Best Cookie Ever (Includes techniques)
May 7, 2012
Mark Clayton: Homeland Security warns major cyber attack aimed at gas pipeline industry underway
Angus Roxburgh: Putin Decoded: World view of a Russian feeling dissed
Kimberly Lankford: Navigate a Course for Long-Term Care
Kevin McCormally How to Adjust Your Tax Withholding
Celeste Robb-Nicholson, M.D.: Harvard Health Letters: How do you treat a Baker's cyst?
Joanne Capano: Healthy Snacks for Children: The Choices May Surprise You
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: Classic Creamy Spinach Dip with a Fraction of the Calories and Fat
May 4, 2012
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Holy 'trivialities'
Jonathan Tobin: Bibi v. Barak will be no contest this time around
Steven Goldberg: Blue Chip Stocks On Sale Worldwide
Art Pine Slow Productivity Growth a Blessing --- For Now
Sue Hubbard, M.D. : The Kid's Doctor: Are Kids Too Wired?
Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D: Foods that are good for your smile
Amy Paturel, M.S., M.P.H.: Eating Well: Foods that are good for your smile
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Strawberry rhubarb parfaits are elegant yet simple to assemble
May 3, 2012
Michael Freund: Who's Afraid of the Messiah?
Clifford D. May: The Foggiest War
Susan B. Garland: Insurance to Cover Old Old Age
Steven Goldberg 6 Reasons to Bet on a Big Bull Market
Harvard Health Letters: Treating prostate cancer --- no rush to judgment
Larry Gordon: Harvard, MIT partner to offer free online courses
Naomi Nix : Man gets free trip to Chicago after postcard sent by mother in 1957 finally reaches him
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Intensely Italian vegetable frittata is a seriously simple standby


Jewish World Review

No Child Left --- To the Left

By Ron Hart


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It was a lovely day recently in Atlanta. The school kids were out playing in Piedmont Park, and some were diving for murder weapons in the park's lake. It was a scene Normal Rockwell might have painted.

I was enjoying a nice breakfast at Chick-fil-a, the only restaurant where the staff and the food look the same as in the commercials. They have free papers there, which is still too high a price to pay for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I took a peek to see if the AJC was running its weekly rehash of the Emmitt Till story. Or perhaps the paper would employ its exhaustive investigative liberal journalistic skills proving that a man serving life in prison might have been wrongly convicted of 2 of his 86 murders. It's what the AJC does, which is why no one reads it anymore.

The AJC was reporting on a story which first broke in 2009 about a massive, ongoing, cheating scandal in the Atlanta Public School System. Gloria Love of the Northside Neighbor wrote that a "report found 178 educators, including 38 principals, participated in cheating during the administration of the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests." In short, for years teachers were changing test answers for their students to make them look better.

If teachers are doing the cheating for the kids now, how will the kids ever learn to cheat for themselves when they grow up?

There have been reports of test changing "parties," where teachers met to correct the answers on their students' tests. Even more troubling, this practice was so pervasive that teachers who did not go along would be bullied by the system and forced to cheat. The report said there was "a culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation." Good teachers, and there are many of them, were bullied by their leaders to conform to something not good for the students. In short, the teachers union, the sole province of the left, was doing its job.

For this fine work, Superintendent Beverly Hall, the darling of the edu-crat world, received the National Superintendent of the Year award. She has since resigned, got a similar job and was recently spotted vacationing at a posh Maui resort.

Obama delivers grandiose speeches on not taking the low road and cheating in schools; his words, written by someone else, would resonate better if he did not read them from a teleprompter hidden in front of him. Obama says he wants to train thousands more math teachers. Perhaps they could help him better understand what his $4 trillion in deficit spending -- so far -- means for the country. Sadly, the kids already good in math and the metric system (converting ounces to grams and back) are making great money right now in our school system.

In the great documentary Waiting for Superman, even liberals agree that the monopoly held by the unions and government schools is a problem. Vouchers or school choice are torpedoed at each turn by the teachers unions and their beholden politicians.

For the past ten years, we have spent 32 percent above the rate of inflation on education, with bad results. If the Atlanta situation is as pervasive as I imagine, even the results we do have may be fraudulent.

In government-run education, there is no consumer choice and no competition; no one is held accountable for the results. I would like to say "You get what you pay for," but we do not even get that. No amount of good money after bad will improve the situation unless we break the monopoly control of the government and the teachers unions.

Money is not the answer. I could teach math scratching in the dirt with a stick. My poor hometown did all it could to teach kids with the money it had. I am pretty sure my high school football coaches saved the school money by teaching driver education and sex education in the same car. We did what we could.

Atlanta's embarrassment confirms what we know: we cannot take small corrective measures with a education system that is fundamentally flawed. As Albert Einstein wrote, the definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. And, as these kids will learn, Einstein was a smart man who made lots of money with his bagel stores.

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JWR contributor Ron Hart grew up in Tennessee and began writing a column for his hometown paper in 2002. He attended The University of Memphis and the Institute for Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown University. Ron graduated Magna Cum Laude and was elected student government president. Upon getting his MBA, he went to work for Goldman Sachs. He was appointed to the Tennessee Board of Regents by then Governor Lamar Alexander and is now a private investor. He appears on CNN and has been quoted in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.



Previously:

Dems' debt ceiling demagoguery

Golf Summit --- I Like Spike(s)

Nancy Pelosi Finally Demands a Weiner Probe

The porkulus political payback project

Schwarzenegger, please!

An ILL Wind for Business --- Boeing, Boeing Gone?

Osama's 72 Virgins --- and Obama's 72 Versions

Bin Laden was taken out by seals and now sleeps with the fishes

Trump: Got 99 problems, but rich ain't one

Why you should see the ‘Atlas Shrugged’ movie

Why The Donald trumps the Bamster

O-Bomb-A

Mid-East Megalomaniacal Despots on the Run

Truther or Dare

Facebook ‘Un-friends’ Our Increasingly Regulation-burdened Capital Markets

Egyptians Unfriend Mubarak

Hold 'em liable --- the colleges, that is

Follow your Hart in a look back at 2010

GOP wins in showdown

WikiLeaks --- Danger or Disinfectant?

The Angle of the Rangel

Where We Let Terrorists Really Hurt Us

Time to starve the spending beast

The TSA: We Do Chicken Right!

A Red Wave

No Juan Left Behind at NPR

Capitalism in Time Saves Mine

The Broader Picture of What These Elections Mean

Dem-moralized: ‘Dead Fish’ taken to the trash cant

Ships Passing in the Night

Obamanomics continue to add up . . . for Republicans

She had Tiger by the tail: If Elin did not get Tiger's money, Obama would have


© 2010 Ron Hart

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