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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

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gisterme - 07:30am Jun 25, 2003 EST (# 12668 of 12690)

fredmoore - 05:02am Jun 25, 2003 EST (# 12665 of ...) http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.h5o6b1yLjfR.403042@.f28e622/14332

Ah, Fred. Am I picking on individual teachers by saying that there's nobody more valuable than a good teacher and nobody more worthless than a bad one? Would you say I'm being unfair with the good teachers or the bad ones?

If I'd like to "lay it on" to anybody, thouth, it would be hard to find an individual, fred. It's the bureaucratic organizations that insure that bad teachers have the same job security as the good ones that I'd like to lay the wood to. After all it's our kids that pay the price for that job security.

Of course those organizations in the private sector are usually headed up by former school administrators who, in my view, have largely become such as a result of the Peter Principal. "Can't make it in da classroom? Not to worry. We'll put ya's in charge! Ya' can even become head of da teacha's union...or even bettah, head of da govment education department. Dat way you can help all your fellow teachas by changing da curriculum dey haves ta teach to somepum yous coulda coped wit while yous was failin' as a teacha. Da kids'll neva know da difference!"

"...They are caught in a multi faceted vice grip..."

Oh?

"...Corporations hate them if they teach students good values..."

Huh? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I'll call BS on that claim until you can back it up. Could it be that the thing that's wrong with some corporations today is that there's a generation of bright young folks running the show who have been taught no values? I think it could.

"...Parents hate them if they discipline THEIR kids..."

That certainly hasn't always been so. Partents of today's teenager who are are the product of a 1970's - '80s public education are the first generation that were virtually without discipline in school. No wonder they don't want their kids disciplined! A discipline-free environment was easy enough for them, right? Never mind that the majority of the prison population in the US is made up of products of that environment...and if you don't watch your back you're liable to get nailed, if you don't lock your doors, you'll probably get burglarized and etc., etc. It didn't used to be that way here.

"...Parents Fear them because they could be molesters or God forbid, sensitive to children's real needs..."

Sure. Same generation; but I think what you point out only reinforces what I said just above. In my view, if parents fear teachers it's because they're not well enough educated to have the confidence they need to stand up to teachers...even when they think there might be some trouble in paradise. It's a totally wrong kind of feedback and just another way of restating the same point. It didn't used to be that way here.

gisterme - 07:33am Jun 25, 2003 EST (# 12669 of 12690)

continued...

"...The Education department and pricipals hate them because they are just employees..."

Ah, now the teachers are victims of the "Petered up" results of their own educational forerunners? Well, that may be so. I hope they realize what the cause of that is and fix it. I do have to agree with you that school administrators who have been known treat parents in such an arrogant and condescending way would likely be the ones who would treat teachers and students in the same way. I've known some of those personally...and I can say that there's a good reason why those folks are no longer in the classroom; they didn't have "the right stuff" to make it there. The crime is that they are promoted to tell other teachers how to teach instead of being sent down to the bush league. They're made principals or vice-principals when they should be in positions of less responsibility than successful teachers. Still, that can't be said of all administrators. The other problem is that administrators get paid more than teachers so that motivates the good teachers, along with the bad and the ugly to want to leave the classroom for the higher salary. A good teacher is ten times more valuable in the classroom than that same person would be as an administrator! In my view, that teacher should get paid accordingly and rewarded for staying in the classroom. Not paid to leave.

"...The Government hates them because so many are needed and that costs a packet..."

I hope you're wrong about that, Fred. That packet spent on good education is the best investement of my tax money that I can imagine. I won't vote for any candidate that doesn't convince me that "education" isn't just an overworn buzz-word being used to help them get elected. The Clintons were prime examples of that kind of politicing. They always talked about "the children" and "education" during the election campaigns but never did squat while in office. Arkansas, where Bill Clinton was governer was right around the top of the educational underacheiver list when slick Willy left the office of governer there.

"...The kids hate teachers because they are OLD and because they make them work and behave..."

I think that's not quite right, Fred. While I'll agree that kids are generally not taught to respect their elders as they used to be, I think some kids hate their teachers because they know that no matter how disrespecful they are the teachers have little authority to do anything about it. Students abuse teachers because they know they can. And I'd have to say that there are plenty of teachers today who don't even bother to try to make students behave or work. I suspect that that's because they know as well as the kids that they no longer have any authority to enforce discipline. So why bother. That's an administrative problem.

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