Nine Shift

Wisconsin: The Future is Now

Julie and I decided not to travel this year. We don't want to miss 2012. 

You don't get a lot of chances to see a whole year of history being made.  Last year was one such year. This year, 2012, is another. 

We are no longer futurists.  While we will continue to predict the big changes, our main work is we now explain the present. And being in Wisconsin, we get to both explain and participate in history.

John Nichols, in his 'history' book Uprising about the Wisconsin protests and recall efforts of last year, agrees, writing, "...you realize that you are not waiting for the future anymore. You are in it."   Don't miss 2012, it is another historic year.

Wisconsin Recall Protests: The Rumors

One of the fun things about being so close to the Wisconsin Recall Protests is you get the gossip.

So here's the rumors right now.

1.That the FBI is after Gov. Scott Walker.
  Walker has publicly set up a legal defense fund. In no case in our history has someone set up a legal defense fund and not been indicted. 

2.That he might resign.
In a speech this week Walker said his wife might like him to get out of politics and get back into the private sector.  Never mind that Walker has never been in the private sector. He has been a public servant working for the government for all but a few months of his work career. 

But the whole wife-family ("spend more time with the family") excuse for leaving an uncomfortable work situation is giving rise to rumors he might resign just before being recalled.

 

Why Rick Santorum Dislikes College

The reason Rick Santorum dislikes college is because a high school degree was enough for success in the Industrial Age of the last century, while today people need a college degree in the new Knowledge Society. 

Today most people have a high school degree, and that's not enough for a good wage and sustaining a family.  And they know it.  Adding insult to injury is the situation where these high school educated taxpayers are being asked to pay taxes to support college educated government employees.

Santorum and other Tea Party advocates want to return to the "good old days" of the Industrial Age, the age of cheap gas, cars, factory jobs, and high school degrees.  They are fighting this century, the century of trains, telework, universal health care, knowledge jobs - - and college educations.

Here's a Jay Leno joke after Santorum lost a primary state contest: "I think Rick Santorum learned soething yesterday. He learned that electoral college is not for everyone. Not everyone needs to go to the electoral college."      Funny if you have a college degree, not so if you don't. 

Americans are so far behind: Part II

So here's the answers to yesterday's posting.

1.The opposition to the high speed train comes not from car people, no one wants cars. The opposition comes from people who just want the regular current train service.  This is trains vs. trains, not cars vs. trains.

2.The people proposing the high speed train are from the conservative business oriented government, people who want business people to save 10 minutes per trip, and don't mind spending more money.

3.The opposition says the high speed train will cause more environmental damage than the current regular train.

Here's the good one:  what they call regular train service  -  - Americans would call "high speed." 

Teenagers are not known for liking stuff. But they like trains !   NineShift photo of train line into Minneapolis.

Americans are so far behind

Americans are so far behind.
We not only don't get the news. But now we cannot understand it. 

Here's my favorite recent BBC headline:  "Growing opposition over proposed high speed train."

If you are like me, and most other Americans, you would assume:

1.The opposition wants cars, not trains.
2.The train supporters are what Americans call "liberal,"  not conservative.
3.The train supporters think the train is more environmentally friendly.

You would be wrong on all 3 counts, plus one more misconception. Stayed tuned for the answers tomorrow.

Wisconsin Protests: Recall Update

From the heart of the struggle against the Tea Party and in favor of the 21st Century, an update.

In tiny River Falls, pop 12,500,  a Friday night Vigil kicked off the next phase of the Recall effort. Seven other Wisconsin cities had vigils, followed by a rally in Madison the next day.

The same night, River Falls opened up a new office for The Awareness Project (TAP) of Western Wisconsin, which will engage in educational efforts.  The office and volunteers (all volunteer staff) supported by local donations.  This is history in the making folks.  The 21st century vs. the 20th Century; Gen Y vs. Tea Party.  You don't want to miss 2012. 

Why America is So Polarized

American politics is so polarized today because society is waging an internal war between the last century and this century.

A war between the Industrial Age and the Knowledge Society. Between cars and trains. Between factories and knowledge workers.  Between a high school degree and a college degree.

We have not seen such polarizations since - - 100 years ago.  The 100 year parallel continues in every way. 100 years ago America was also waging an internal war between the previous century and the 20th century.

University of Georgia professor Dr. Keith Poole tracks polarization at his website voteview.com

Check out more graphs on political polarization in America here.

In the graph below, the political polarization line is the highest since 100 years ago.

Teacher Accountability Coming

       Big news last week as the New York City public schools published rankings of its 18,000 teachers. A huge step forward for teacher accountability.

Here's the deal:
1.Student learning can be measured with frequent and varied assessments.
2.Yes, the current testing is in a primitive stage, with wide margins of error. But that will improve.
3.Teachers should be evaluated on how well they help students learn.
4.Teachers consistently in the bottom 5% of all teachers should be let go.
5.Teachers consistently in the top 5% of all teachers should share their techniques with other teachers.

In New York City around 600 teachers were found to be consistently in the bottom 5% and about the same number consistently in the top 5%.

The student learning measure is value added assessment, which means it only measures the learning gained, or lossed, during a given year. 

 

 

 

Are airplanes Republican or Democrat?

Are airplanes Republican or Democrat? Until 2010, transportation was bi-partisan.

But after the 2010 mid-term elections, Republicans declared that trains were Democrat transportation.  So obviously we can surmise that cars are Republican. Who knew?

But that raises a new question:  are airplanes Republican or Democrat?  This frequent flier needs to know. 

Marriage Crisis: Can't Girls do the Math?

Why can't girls do the marriage math? 

Earlier, we pointed out that since girls are 66% of college graduates, that only 1 out of every 2 college educated women can have a college educated husband.

But now, here's more bad news for Gen Y women.  When you get married, you also acquire legal liability for your husband's college loans and debt.  Why Gen Y women don't support gender equality in education is something I do not understand.  Maybe you can help me out?

Stunning photo by my brilliant co-author Julie Coates