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The separation of school and state – Wendy McElroy Prior to the spread of public education in the early 1900s, literacy rates in America were amazingly high. A much-quoted estimate comes from a book written in 1812 at the behest of Thomas Jefferson. The French statesman Pierre Samuel DuPont de Nemours, who emigrated to America, declared of young Americans, “Not more than four in a thousand are unable to write legibly, even neatly.” Other sources also attest to high literacy rates prior to the 1900s, a literacy that arose largely from homeschooling….Moreover, nations that actively encourage apprenticeship programs such as Germany and Switzerland enjoy very high literacy. Clearly, public schools are not a necessary path to that social goal….My purpose is not to dispute with parents who send their children to public schools. I believe the system is a brutal failure, but parents must decide for themselves. I advocate extending alternatives far beyond the typical private versus public school debate, and even beyond homeschooling.  Apprenticeships, experiments like Montessori and the School of Living, self-guided education, mentoring ... The cost of public education is not measured in tax dollars alone. A universe of educational possibilities has been obstructed by the attempt to enforce a government monopoly over how, where, when, and what children learn. http://www.independent.org/tii/news/040225McElroy.html

How to improve education in Texas (and elsewhere) Good schools scattered across the country are closing the achievement gap. The best inner-city public schools are charter schools, free from many rules and regulations that so often frustrate fine principals and teachers. They greatly increase instructional time. Principals have authority and autonomy to manage their budgets, salaries, hire fabulous teachers and show the door to those who don't work out. ..They focus relentlessly on core academic subjects. They provide safe, orderly environments. They work hard to instill the "desire, discipline and dedication'' that enable disadvantaged youth to climb the American ladder of opportunity.  http://www.citizenactionnetwork.org/HalfEmpty.htm

Old is new again – the election year outsourcing debate Manufacturing jobs have been fleeing this country for decades. The shift of employment out of manufacturing in the United States, however, has led neither to rampant unemployment nor a declining standard of living. …(It is important to note that the decline in manufacturing jobs is not simply due to a “transfer” of jobs to other countries. It is, more profoundly and irreversibly, due to automation and resultant productivity increases. In short, we can make more goods with less labor. Manufacturing jobs are in global decline. The number of jobs in manufacturing has decreased in recent years not only in the United States, but also in places such as China and Brazil.) Americans, including those temporarily hurt by outsourcing, need to keep their own economic situation in perspective. New Republic writer Gregg Easterbrook in his recent book, The Progress Paradox, calculates that even poor Americans have a better material living standard than 99.4 percent of the estimated 80 billion people who have ever lived.

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=184

The passion of the choices we fact – Barry Bright http://www.willowtown.com/freekentucky/columns04/passion.html

Gary Aldrich urges Kerry to release his FBI file http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/3/2/224024.shtml

Marriage Issue – Political Hot Potato? http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37450

Bush and Kerry both members of Skull and Bones Society at Yale -- Skull and Bones is a social and political network like no other. With all its ritual and macabre relics, it was founded in 1832 as a new world version of secret student societies that were common in Germany at the time. Since then it has chosen or ‘tapped' only 15 senior students a year, who become patriarchs when they graduate - lifetime members of the ultimate old boys' club. http://infowars.com/print/Secret_societies/alex_vid_kbsab.htm

Northern Kentucky poised to end emissions testing http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/02/20/loc_vehicletesting.html

Memos reveal unethical efforts to control judicial appointments - More than 3,000 memoranda that have not been revealed are currently under lock and key with the Sergeant-at-Arms’ office. A recent complaint filed with the Senate Ethics Committee by Manuel Miranda, a former Counsel to Majority Leader Bill Frist who has read the unpublished memoranda, suggests the documents "evidence public corruption by elected officials and staff of the United States Senate … includ[ing] evidence of the direct influencing of the Senate's advice and consent role by the promise of campaign funding and election support in the last mid-term election." http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/legislative_issues/federal_issues/hot_issues_in_congress/confirmation_

watch/judiciary_memoranda.htm

Ten worst government programs http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=3209

States consider privatizing their universities The furthest reaching proposals--in Colorado and South Carolina-- would privatize public universities and colleges: freeing the state from financing the fast-rising costs of higher education and allowing colleges and universities to set their own tuition rates. http://www.citizenactionnetwork.org/UniversitiesFreed.htm

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