The Doggy Diaries... gone to the dogs!

Mathematics Over the Last 50 Years

Although this was received in an email and is intended to be a joke, I think it aptly describes what has happened to our educational system over the last 50-60 years.

Last week I purchased a hamburger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies while looking at the screen on her register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried.

Why do I tell you this? Because the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s is startling.

Teaching Math In 1950
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1960
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1970
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

Teaching Math In 1980
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math In 1990
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong
answers.)

Teaching Math In 2005
Un hachero vende una carretada de madera para $100! El costo de la produccisn es $80.

If you don't believe that this is the direction our public education system is heading, then I suggest you read up on recent news that the Dallas Independent School District is requiring some school administrators to be fluent in Spanish or be terminated.

This little email joke points out, yet again, why groups such as ProEnglish and U.S. English are so very important today.

New Citizens to Speak English in the Country Down-Under

According to The Australian, Dr. Sharman Stone, a government backbencher in Australia, believes new Australians should have a proper command of English before they can become Australian citizens.

Dr. Stone is calling for a re-examination of how people applying for citizenship are tested and the eligibility requirements to become a citizen.

As an MP, she said she had often witnessed new citizens being coached so they could recite the pledge of allegiance in adequate English.

"The candidate has little capacity to speak or understand English and there has been no testing of their understanding of the rights and liberties or laws of the country which they have just pledged to respect, uphold and obey," Dr. Stone said in a statement.

I have no idea how far Dr. Stone will fare in achieving such a noble and logical goal, but I certainly hope it becomes law.

Now, if only we could get people in the U.S. to believe that new American citizens should speak English. How much would our country benefit by simply having a unified language? As it turns out, an organization here in the states called U.S. English, Inc. is "dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States." Please visit the U.S. English, Inc. website to learn more about their efforts and join their fight to preserving the unifying role of the English language here in America. I hope all my readers will consider paying the very modest $10.00 membership fee to join the U.S. English organization.

If you do join, kindly send me an email so I can express my gratitude to you right here on The Doggy Diaries!

H/T: California Conservative

ABC to Broadcast in Spanish

In an attempt to grab bigger market share, ABC is pandering to Spanish-speakers in the U.S. by broadcasting their ENTIRE primetime programming lineup in Spanish.

ABC announced Thursday it will make all of its primetime entertainment programs, including hits “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives,” available in Spanish starting this season, ...

Good gawd. What in the world is this country coming to? I, for one, do not believe that we should be pandering to people living in America who do not learn English. Whether you are too lazy to learn English, don't care to learn English, don't want to learn English, are too old/young/fat/skinny/tall/short to learn English, feel that you shouldn't have to learn English and therefore refuse to learn English -- I don't care what the excuse. If you are living in the U.S., you should learn English. Period. It is the language of business and success in this country. You don't want to learn English? Fine. Then go back to whatever country you came from and continue speaking your native tongue.

Have you ever noticed that when one company in a particular industry tries something new to gain market share, the other companies jump on the bandwagon pretty darn quickly (perhaps for fear of missing the boat and missing out on some new marketing ploy)? A recent example of this is the GM employee pricing program. If you recall, GM started it earlier this year, but it didn't take long for Ford and Daimler-Chrysler to add their own employee pricing programs. With that in mind, I'll leave you to draw your own conclusion about this next statement ...

ABC, using both dubbing and closed captioning, will be the first of the major English-language broadcasters to provide its full primetime entertainment lineup in Spanish.

It saddens me that we are losing our national identity. I firmly believe that part of a nation's identity comes from it's language as much as it comes from it's culture. Our American culture is already being watered down by the politically-correct, multiculturalists who believe that almost every other culture in the world is superior to the American culture, and who therefore encourage new immigrants (legal and illegal) to this country to hold on to their own culture without adopting American culture. Now we're losing our language at an ever-increasing, alarming rate.

The number and severity of attacks on our American culture, our American way of life, and the English language in this country seem to be growing at an exponential rate. Folks, we are losing our national identity, and with it, we are losing control of our country at the hands of the politically-correct, multiculturalist diversity-worshippers. They have brought us to the point where there are so many people in this country speaking a language other than English that businesses feel a need to tap that non-English-speaking population by marketing to them in their mother tongue.