Part of being a responsible adult (especially if one has a family to protect and care for) is to be mentally and physically prepared to face a wide variety of crisis and scenarios. SHTF scenarios unfold everyday across the world and have claimed the lives of countless millions. … Read More
String of violent attacks rock Iraq, killing 23
An army raid on a Sunni government protest camp in the northern town of Hawija – near Kirkuk – last week sparked a wave of violence across the country. In the latest attack two bombs went off in the town of Amara, 300 km southeast of Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding dozens more, striking a market and a place where people had gathered to look for work. Other bombs went off at markets in Diwaniyah and Kerbala, and in the Shia neighborhood of Mahmudiya, a mainly Sunni town.“I was preparing to go to work when a big explosion shook my house and broke the glass in all the windows. I ran outside, the explosion was near my house and bodies were everywhere,” Woody Jasim, a resident of Diwaniyah, told Reuters.Meanwhile in Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad, gunmen clashed with the army early on Monday, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, Reuters reports citing military sources. Also one soldier was shot dead and another was wounded by a sniper in eastern Baghdad, police say.The attacks are a violent revenge response to the Shia dominated government and army, which carried out the raid last week.The protesters were denouncing the authorities for allegedly targeting the Sunni community and were calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is a Shia.On Saturday, al-Maliki said that sectarianism is again plaguing Iraq, and in an apparent reference to Syria, said “because it began in another place in this region”. However, Dirk Adriaensens, from the charity SOS Iraq, told RT that the violence is not driven by sectarianism but by the appalling conditions in Iraq, which have now been part of everyday life for the past 10 years.“After 10 years of occupation, because we consider this to be still an occupation, there are still no basic services, people are locked up without charges, and they are tortured. Woman, children and men are being raped. That’s why the protest started by the way,” he said.He continued that unemployment was everywhere, that there is no health care, the education system has collapsed and the media have been very weak about covering the nature of these protests. … Read More
Will Teachers Unions Kill Virtual Learning?
In 2012, education technology firms ;attracted ;$1.1
billion from venture capitalists, angel investors, corporations,
and private equity—an order of magnitude more than the industry was
pulling in 2002. Startups Coursera and Udacity, which offer
high-quality online college courses to the masses, have each
received more than $20 million from investors. Big corporations are
buying their way into the industry, with Rupert Murdoch’s News
Corp. leading the way in 2010 by dropping $360 million to acquire
ed-tech firm Wireless Generation and luring education superstar
Joel Klein away from his gig as the head of New York City
schools.
But will the rush of cash translate into a radically transformed
education landscape? When this kind of money flowed into tech
companies in other sectors of the economy, we saw radical
improvements in everyday transactions, as well as some dramatic
booms and busts. Think Amazon instead of the mall, iTunes instead
of the record shop, Expedia instead of a travel agent. But also
think Pets.com and ;Full
Tilt Poker, where intense competition and bad politics
squelched what looked like good bets. There has been a flowering of
good ideas in online education, like ;hybrid
learning, in which kids still head off to school every morning
but receive the bulk of their instruction from an infinitely
patient piece of software instead of a harried, overworked teacher.
Yet education, particularly K–12, has remained mostly immune to the
improving and empowering forces of the Internet, leaving millions
of kids stuck in offline backwaters for six hours a day. Per-pupil
spending on public education has more than doubled over the past
three decades, while ;student
performance has flatlined.
As the parent of a toddler, I’d love to start banking on my
daughter’s virtual elementary school matriculation. I want more
choices than just the neighborhood public school or an exorbitantly
priced private school offering pretty much the same curriculum in
nicer facilities. Personalized learning and highly specific
feedback appeal to me as a parent. But while Wall Street’s interest
in online education may bode well for entrepreneurs and students,
bullish investors and parents would do well to listen to war
stories from weary education policy wonks.
At the university level, ;MOOCs ;and
other forms of virtual schooling are cheaper alternatives to a
wildly overpriced product. But at the K–12 level, companies looking
to break into that market have to make a choice: compete with the
traditional educational system, which parents think of as free, or
jump through the hoops required to get your product integrated into
public schools—which will mean satisfying at least 50 different
sets of standards, plus watering down, rejiggering, and generally
accommodating your product to a system that wasn’t designed for
tech-driven plugins in the first place.
Every few years, Washington goes through a spasm of education
reform. Some of the highlights include 1983’s “A Nation at Risk,”
which encapsulated the Reagan-era push to eliminate federal
involvement in public education. The Goals 2000 Act, signed by
Clinton in 1994, looked to boost graduation rates with extra
tutoring. The bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 focused
on testing and rankings and is long overdue for a makeover.
Washington can’t make up its mind about education, which means the
industry faces a significant amount of political risk. If pols turn
against online education, pushing into an area so thoroughly
dominated by public institutions may become even trickier. And laws
designed to shoulder online ed companies out of the public sector
could easily spill into the private side of the equation, creating
a hostile regulatory environment or overly specific standards for
state-certified graduation.
At the state level, a mishmash of laws and regulations means
that battles to make room for online schooling will have to be
fought over and over. Long-standing rules requiring that students
sit in desks looking at a teacher for a certain number of hours a
day—so-called seat time and line of sight requirements—could kill
online learning in the cradle. Requirements for specific
teacher-student ratios are tough to translate in a world where a
single school day might have a student chatting with a friendly
avatar online, getting tech support from an in-person teacher’s
aide, and emailing with a subject-specific tutor, all while having
her tests graded by a team of data-center workers in India.
In states where online education has made headway, often via
laws that make room for charter schools, local and state teachers
unions have filed lawsuits and pushed legislation to place strict
caps on charter school enrollment, ;close
virtual schools altogether, and—in a rather spectacular display
of purposeful obtuseness about how the Internet works—to
limit enrollment to students who live in the district ;in
which the online school is based.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican, has been the most
prominent political backer of online education. Bush founded the
advocacy group Digital Learning Now with another former governor,
Democrat Bob Wise of West Virginia. Despite this bipartisan
partnership, in 2011 the liberal ;Mother
Jones ;gazed
across the landscape ;and spotted Machiavellian GOP
politics at work:
“[T]he online-education push is also part of a larger agenda
that closely aligns with the GOP’s national strategy: It siphons
money from public institutions into for-profit companies. … And it
undercuts public employees, their unions, and the Democratic base.
In the guise of a technocratic policy initiative, it delivers a
political trifecta—and a big windfall for Bush’s corporate
backers.”
That narrative isn’t wrong. The GOP isn’t fond of teachers
unions, and undermining their power is certainly a nice bonus. And
small-government types, which many Republicans profess to be, would
prefer to see public institutions step back when private players
can do as well or better. But both sides have ideology and cash at
stake. The National Education Association ;spent ;$24
million in the 2012 political campaign cycle and another $6 million
on lobbying that year. Virtually all of that money went to
Democrats, who are well aware the NEA is not welcoming online
education companies with open arms. (Exact wording from the NEA’s
website: “There also should be an absolute prohibition against
the granting of charters for the purpose of home-schooling,
including online charter schools that seek to provide
home-schooling over the Internet.”)
Online learning faces many of the same obstacles that charter
schools do. It also has to overcome the same legitimate concerns
about how to assess quality of a product offered by largely
untested companies. Skeptics are right to note that many, perhaps
most, of the online education providers out there won’t survive the
decade—competition is intense, the technologies are new and
changing rapidly, and not everyone can be a winner. Someone will be
the Pets.com of the ed-tech boom. That prospect is alarming to the
traditional school bureaucracy, which tends to make contracts with
vendors that span years or decades. They’re not set up to contract
with firms offering services for a monthly fee that can be canceled
at any time. And parents are rightly concerned about the long-term
value of a degree from Pets.edu.
That’s why online education is already making the most headway
scooping up kids who are already lost to the system—dropouts who
looking to get those last few credits, home-schoolers, kids with
disabilities that make normal school attendance difficult, and
students whose extraordinary abilities make normal school
attendance impossibly boring. People with little to lose are the
ripest market right now. Parents demonstrate their willingness to
pay for a higher-quality alternative to what’s being offered for
free, even parents who are in the most dire circumstances. (See:
Kenya, where ;vast
numbers of poor parents pay for private school, despite a
universal public schooling entitlement.)
Truly amazing new products have transformative power. And
competing with free isn’t impossible. But online education
entrepreneurs looking to break into the K–12 market will have to do
much more to come up with a product that’s a little better than
what’s already out there. They have to come up with something truly
new and mind-blowing, because to survive they’re going to have to
short-circuit, bypass, or rewire the entire education bureaucracy.
Good luck with that. ;
This article originally
appeared at Slate on April 9, 2013. … Read More
April Fools’ fly-by: Four asteroids flash past Earth in one day
The largest is 4034 Vishnu, which is 800 meters across – the length of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai – though much greater in mass. In comparison, the Tunguska meteorite that devastated hundreds of miles of Siberian wilderness when it landed in 1908 was estimated to be no bigger than 100 meters. The asteroid that may have led to the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago may have been up to 10 kilometers across.But 4034 Vushnu – which was discovered in 1986 – will pass nearly 23 million kilometers from the Earth’s surface. The closest of the four, EN 89, will be just over 5 million kilometers away from the planet. The asteroid was only discovered a fortnight ago.Although in everyday terms, the asteroids, ancient cosmic bodies that did not form into planets, will be a distance away, they are still classed as Close Approaches by astronomers. In total several hundred of them happen each year, but it is unusual for so many passes to happen over the course of one day.The closest large asteroid to pass Earth this year was the 50-meter DA14, which flew 27,600 kilometers from the surface in February. Remarkably on the same day, an asteroid of up to 20-meters penetrated the atmosphere and exploded over Chelyabinsk in Siberia.On average, asteroids of that size enter the atmosphere every 10 years. Those such as the Yucatan meteor that may have ended the Mesozoic Era, are expected to impact the Earth once every 20 million years.While, the paths of many asteroids can be charted centuries ahead (and could even be destroyed if they head for the Earth) many, like the Chelyabinsk Meteor, are not detected until they enter the atmosphere – rendering the planet potentially vulnerable to impacts millions of times more powerful than the worst nuclear explosions.But, some are taking a more positive attitude to asteroids. Earlier this year, Astrorank, a company that evaluates the make-up of asteroids in view of future space mining operations, said that 4034 Vishnu – which is composed largely of platinum and nickel-iron – is worth around $40 trillion dollars, more than half of the world’s gross national product last year. … Read More
EPA lets pesticides on the market untested
You probably wouldn’t expect to find pesticides in your toothpaste or your gym socks, but they might be in there all the same. And the vast majority of those pesticides have made it into everyday products without adequate oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s because they’ve been approved through a bureaucratic loophole known as “conditional registration,” which means they haven’t been fully tested to ensure that they pose no threat to human health or the environment, as required by U.S. law.Most of us think of pesticides as the chemicals that get sprayed on weeds or used to kill rodents and bugs, but they’re actually found in everything from cosmetics to food containers, as well as antimicrobial textiles (such as the exercise shirt you might have worn to the gym this morning). By killing bacteria and other microorganisms, pesticides can help clothes resist stains or help containers keep food fresh longer. But some have also proven to cause health concerns in humans, kill trees, birds, bees, and fish, or do other unintended harm to the environment.Continue Reading… … Read More
Cyprus Bank Raid RAISED to 20% on Rich and Pensions Nationalized on Poor
Taking advantage of the populist outrage against the initial plan to raid everyone’s bank accounts to pay for private bank failures, the autocrats decided they would raid up to 20% from wealthy depositors with over €100,000 at the Bank of Cyprus and 4% at other banks. … Read More
Syria conflict may spin out of control, 2 years on
Negotiations between the opposition and the Syrian PresidentBashar Assad’s regime along with pressure from the internationalcommunity have so far failed to resolve the conflict peacefully. In February the Syrian government expressed its readiness tonegotiate “with anyone who wants dialogue”, including armedgroups. The opposition remains divided with rebel fighters refusingto talk until President Assad steps down and leaders of the armyand security forces are put on trial.Syria has been torn apart by violence with the UN estimatingmore than 70,000 people being killed and over 2 million internallydisplaced in the two-year uprising against the government of BasharAssad.The conflict has also caused immense economic damage alreadyestimated at US$80 billion, according to former deputy premier foreconomic affairs under President Bashar Assad, Abdullah Dardari.“Economics alone can fragment Syria if we go on like this,”Dardari told the Reuters.While Syria’s deficit is estimated to reach US$10 billion in2013, a jump from US$3 billion in 2012, SANA reported.Syria differs from other Arab Spring revolts, as Bashar Assad didnot step down within weeks, like the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.Nor did his regime fall within months, like Colonel Gaddafi’s inLibya.Syrian opposition has gone beyond just demonstration andclashes, making killing by both sides an everyday reality with eachblaming the other for the atrocities.Amnesty International has warned that Syrian rebels haveincreasingly resorted to torture and the summary execution ofsoldiers, suspected informants, pro-government militias andcaptured or kidnapped civilians.“[Rebel fighters] are summarily killing people with achilling sense of impunity, and the death toll continues to rise asmore towns and villages come under the control of armed oppositiongroups,” Amnesty said.In a separate report, Amnesty accused government forces oframping up indiscriminate air and artillery attacks on civilianpopulations in recent months.Others say the conflict is being fuelled from theoutside.“It is part of America’s and western strategy to destroySyria by Syrians and by Arabs and this they are doingsuccessfully”, International law professor Daoud Khairallahtold RT.Paris and London announced in March that they will call for anearly unscheduled EU meeting on the Syrian arms embargo, whichneeds to be renewed every three months, in order to lift the ban.The two nations want the next review to be held this month, ratherthan in May. If the EU does not end the embargo, the two nationsmay still arm the Syrian rebels, France hinted.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded that plans toarm the Syrian rebels would violate international law. Russia hasremained firm that any kind of foreign intervention will only makethe conflict worse.The EU imposed the arms embargo, and other sanctions, againstSyria in May 2011, following two months of conflict in thecountry.RT contributor Afshin Rattansi believes that the Westernstrategy will eventually backfire if they arm rebels in Syria. Andthat those who wanted to see the fall of the regime may witness thecountry’s fall instead.“It is sad that these countries [the UK and France] can thinkof arming these Islamists because the blowback will bephenomenal”, Rattansi said.The US expresses increasing concern when it comes to armingSyrian rebels, despite the fact that it recently announced that itwill provide the opposition forces with US$60 million in aid.Secretary of State John Kerry took a clear stance at the end ofFebruary stating that Washington will not provide weapons toopposition fighters fearing that the weapons may fall into thehands of Jihadists.However, there have been media reports of some countriesoffering military support to Syrian rebels.According to Reuters sources, Turkey is directing the rebel fightagainst Bashar Assad, after setting up a secret base on its borderwith Syria, with help from Qatar and Saudi Arabia who allegedlysupply weapons to anti-Assad fighters. Also, foreigninstructors are reportedly training Syrian rebels in modern warfarein Jordan. The military training focuses on the use of anti-tankweaponry, der Spiegel recently reported, citing what it said wereparticipants and organizers. American, British and Frenchinstructors are reportedly taking part.Diverse Syria, in piecesSyria is a predominantly a Sunni country, but it is also home toother Muslim denominations, among them the Alawites, an offshoot ofShia Islam, Christians and other religious minorities.For centuries Syria has been known for its many ethnic andreligious groups living in peace and harmony. Now some warn that itcan be used to destroy Syria.One of the significant blows to diversity in Syria was dealt torelations between the country’s Sunni majority and the rulingAlawite minority to which President Bashar Assad belongs.“Some of the opposition fighters are trying to make theconflict sectarian. But it is not about one sect fighting theother”, local journalist Abdullah Mawazini told RT.Hearing about sectarian intolerance is something new for Syria,argues researcher Gabriel Cablo.“We feel this pressure for months now – especially from Gulfcountries – trying to drag us to this perilous Shia-Sunni game.It’s a big threat because it tears society from theinside.”Palestinian refugees in Syria who found a new home there amidthe Israeli-Palestinian conflict were caught in the fighting, theircamps attacked. This drove a wedge between the two Arab peoples,previously on friendly terms.“They wanted to both weaken the regime and spread despairamong Palestinians. It’s clear – desperate and destabilized societyis a weak one”, says member of People’s Front for Liberation ofPalestine, Anwar Raja.Some 600,000 Palestinians currently live in Syria, according to thePalestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.The Kurdish population in Syria’s north-east were also affectedand the Kurdish-Syrian peaceful coexistence has beenthreatened. “Syrian Kurds want to be integrated into Syrian society, haverights and be respected. We’ve never been treated like that. But ofcourse when violence targets us – it cannot not affectrelations”, member of Syrian Kurdish Initiative Ismail IbrahimShaouish told RT.Many Kurds from Aleppo fled the hostilities by moving north, toKurd-populated areas that are relatively safe. Even those partsfeel the impact of the crisis, however: a village that used to behome to some 10,000 residents currently accommodates five timesthat number.Making things more complicated are the surrounding regional andneighboring states that flood Syrian borders with fighters, weaponsand extremist ideology, allowing for the presence of radicalIslamic groups including Al-Qaeda, working in Syria under thefaçade of the al-Nusra front, argues RT’s contributor DannyMakki.“Foreign radical fighters are what the Syrian governmentclearly fears the most, their presence; thought to number thousandsis encouraged by regional powers such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia,making it a state-on-state clash which is being waged on Syriansoil,” he said. … Read More
