COVID-19

[taxi1]

Looks like he visited the best public school in Finland and tried to compare it to the worst public school in the states (metal detectors, facilities in disrepair, etc). It's not all doom and gloom at every public school.

Interesting to read that Finland spends around $13,865 per pupil (as of 2014) meanwhile Baltimore spends around $16,184 per pupil (3rd highest in the country) and yet Baltimore manages to be the worst district in the state of MD (the wealthiest state).

I live in a place with great public schools, so I won't disagree.

If they've found a way to blow off homework and standardized testing and still churn out excellence, it's worth stealing their best ideas. The interesting thing is they cite us as an inspiration for those best ideas. Go figure.

Back to COVID, we were in-person in the Fall until the wave hit, and in fact they were unable to staff the open schools due to the numbers of ill and quarantined among the staff so they had to go remote.

The new variant of COVID from the UK appears to be more contagious for the K-12 ages then the plain old Mk1 Mod0 virus, which will complicate things for the Spring.

 

[nittany03]

Looks like he visited the best public school in Finland and tried to compare it to the worst public school in the states (metal detectors, facilities in disrepair, etc). It's not all doom and gloom at every public school.

Standard for his MO, and that’s the problem. Moore is to the left as James O’Keefe is to the right. Whether they’re right or wrong on any given policy issue, they’re still both dishonest peddlers of political agitprop regardless.

 

[ABMD]

Standard for his MO, and that’s the problem. Moore is to the left as James O’Keefe is to the right. Whether they’re right or wrong on any given policy issue, they’re still both dishonest peddlers of political agitprop regardless.

Oh, I know. I believe I've never watched a single one of his propaganda films.

minor threadjack, back to spending money on education, why is it the cities spend the most, but have the worst results? Is it the educators, students/ home-life, parents (or lack thereof). Throwing more money at education isn't going to fix it.

 

[scoolbubba]

Is it the educators, students/ home-life, parents (or lack thereof).

Yes.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

Oh, I know. I believe I've never watched a single one of his propaganda films.

minor threadjack, back to spending money on education, why is it the cities spend the most, but have the worst results? Is it the educators, students/ home-life, parents (or lack thereof). Throwing more money at education isn't going to fix it.

What schoolbubba said. Plus the simple fact that cities are typically expensive to begin with. The basic fact though is that ones potential is largely decided at birth. A caring, supportive, engaged, competent family can raise the ceiling a bit, but not as dramatically as the reverse can lower it.

 

[BigRed389]

Wuhan scientist 'welcomes' visit over lab leak claim - BBC News

A top Chinese scientist addresses claims the coronavirus leaked from her lab in the city of Wuhan.

www.bbc.com

Decent article from BBC on the background of virology research. Gets to the point much better.

 

[Jim123]

Wuhan scientist 'welcomes' visit over lab leak claim - BBC News

A top Chinese scientist addresses claims the coronavirus leaked from her lab in the city of Wuhan.

www.bbc.com

Decent article from BBC on the background of virology research. Gets to the point much better.

It's more than just a decent article- and thank you for the link!

It has decent background on the virology research, as you said, the what and why as well as the collaboration (who).

The article is also insightful for the passive-aggressive games the regime is playing with the foreign press. Yes, it's their sovereign country so they can do as they please with foreign press. This is the same regime that denies the Tiananmen Square Massacre ever happened, let's not lose sight of that.

 

[Spekkio]

If they've found a way to blow off homework and standardized testing and still churn out excellence, it's worth stealing their best ideas.

Finnish students have both HW and standardized tests.

 

[taxi1]

Finnish students have both HW and standardized tests.

The article doesn’t actually support that assertion with any facts.

 

[Spekkio]

The article doesn’t actually support that assertion with any facts.

The article links to the official Finnish educational standards page, which talks specifically about the importance of formal, standardized assessments.

The idea that students can go to school and never have to do HW to reinforce learning and never have to take examinations to determine if they meet minimum standards yet score the best on some multi-national standardized examination should make anyone throw the BS flag because it's contrary to hundreds of years of educational research. The fact that Michael Moore made a video about it just means you don't even have to go that far.

 

[taxi1]

The article links to the official Finnish educational standards page, which talks specifically about the importance of formal, standardized assessments.

No it doesn’t. In fact it says the opposite of standardized.

Read the last section on assessment carefully.

 

[picklesuit]

Got my second dose today. Waited four hours, three of that outside in the rain and 35 degree wintery mix we are getting.

Worth it.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

I got offered the vaccine yesterday, seems stupid the Navy is vaccinating young healthy people while people actually at risk wait

 

[taxi1]

I got offered the vaccine yesterday, seems stupid the Navy is vaccinating young healthy people while people actually at risk wait

Drifting the topic...I doubt you're a potential superspreader, but there's interesting arguments to be made to vaccinate the out-and-about people too, at least the superspreader types. The typical victims (old people) are at the ends of the social networks. You interrupt the nodes in the middle of the mesh, you interrupt the spread.

It's essentially what we did on our counter-terror stuff. where it was ideology instead of a virus. Find the nodes and eliminate them.

We should be offering free vaccinations at lady's night at Hooters. Maybe church bingo.

 

[picklesuit]

I got offered the vaccine yesterday, seems stupid the Navy is vaccinating young healthy people while people actually at risk wait

The difference is we have to maintain a deployable force capable of exigent operations and a defined battle rhythm. Grandma and Grandpa dying, while sad, does not have the global implications a carrier getting stuck in Guam or a unit being unable to deploy has.

We are more important than the average American, thus the reason we are at the head of the line.