SfanGoch

You're almost right. There are differences. United States - Still a constitutional republic. European Union - oligarchy. The U.S. Constitution contains 7,591 words including the 27 amendments on four pages. It is easily comprehensible and can be read by the average person in a comparatively short period of time. Quoting James Madison: “It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” The EU Constitution to the Lisbon Treaty, on the other hand, runs some 66,497 words. Including the various annexes and declarations, this total grows to 154,183. The printed two-volume version weighs around two pounds. It is ponderous, difficult to read and is chock full of impregnable technical language comprehensible only to bureaucrats. The framers of this document seemed to have had W.C. Fields in mind when they put it together: “If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with b******t.” Sometimes, less is more.

The federal government shouldn't dictate the content of the curriculum. It exerts pressure (strongarms) on the states and municipalities into following DOE guidelines by threat of withholding funds. This is known as extortion in most places. Ironic, since it's money from the states in the first place. It might be a crazy-quilt; but, that's because each state is different from another in terms of its own history and development. The federal government does not have the ability to accurately determine what is in the best interests of each state, municipality or individual. One size doesn't fit all. That's why each entity has a Board of Regents/Dept. of Education which are better equipped to make these decisions. Why did the basics of education, the three "R's" if you will, work for so many generations to produce some of the most brilliant minds and most educated people on this planet, but is considered ineffective today? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Yet, that's exactly what "they" did. "They" broke it by trying to tweak, alter and replace something that worked. Common Core isn't a tool to teach. It's test prep without actually learning the "Who, What, Where, When, Why and Hows" of anything. It's imperative to make Uncle Sugar happy with them there test scores, even if they don't accurately reflect what students really know or understand. Under Common Core standards, you can get a partial credit for a math problem. What counts is that you performed the requisite steps correctly to arrive at the wrong answer. HUH?!? S'plain that one, Loocy. Vague generalities trump specificity. Style over substance. Glossing over information and facts without thoroughly explaining them. That's why more than a few students would be hard pressed to point out either Idaho or Iowa on a map if you asked them. It's pretty hard to keep up with all 57 states, y'know.

Actually, that's the gist of it. There are more than a few large municipal educational systems which have opted out of Common Core curricula for exactly that reason. Interestingly, New York City's public school teachers aren't crazy about it either. That, in itself, says a lot. The public elementary school system here is abhorrent. When comparing public versus private/parochial school students at the same grade level, a student in a public school is academically two years behind one attending a private/parochial school. I placed my kid back into a Catholic parochial school after he completed second grade at the neighborhood public school because the curriculum just plain sucked. The students didn't have textbooks. Everything was a stapled printout; yet, this particular public school spent $17,900 for something called "Handwriting Without Tears", which was supposed to be used to teach students cursive writing. Part of the program was to have students perform interpretive dances to "celebrate" different aspects of cursive writing. Really?!? What kind of happy horsefeathers is that?!? Also, division and multiplication wouldn't be taught until fourth grade. Great. The kids can ace a video game but can't tell you what 42 divided by 6 is. Funny, I was taught that, and more, when I was in second grade. What is it about kids today that educators have deemed them unready, or incapable, of learning at the same level as in the past? The school faculty, and the parent-teacher association are "progressive" in their collective outlook and goals. Everything falls on the left hand side of the table. They were averse to listening to views or opinions which didn't toe the party line. The day following the 2008 Presidential election, my son's second grade class was given an interesting assignment. They were to write an essay titled, "Why I think Mr. Barack Obama is a great President". The guy wasn't even sworn in yet, for chrissakes! I told the teacher that, under no circumstance, will my son complete this nonsense. She's supposed to be teaching, not politically indoctrinating, children. I told her if she continued to impose her personal political ideology on the students, I'll have her license pulled. I didn't have to. The following year, she received the lowest teacher rating in the school district and was 86'ed by the superintendent. I had a number of discussions with the principal and the "parent coordinator" about the state of education and policies at the school; and, I finally told them not to send me a re-registration form because SfanGoch, Jr. wasn't returning in the fall. On the way home, I told my kid that he was going back to parochial school because if he stayed at this school any longer, he'll end up as stupid as the rest of the kids. He agreed. A woman overheard me and said. "How dare you say such a thing?!?" "Well, it's like this", I replied. "Deep down, in the back of your mind, you probably think your kid is stupid; but, you're afraid to say it because you know that he really might be."

What makes that interesting, the price for the PE? That's a nice set. I have a $125 PE set for a $56 M1A2 Abrams SEP. It all comes down to how much detail one wishes to include in a build. BTW, there's almost a half pound of stuff (26 PE frets, 178 brass and aluminum and resin parts) packed in the box. I wish this kind of AM was available for 1/25 cars and truck kits.

Get off at BQE Exit 33 and make a left onto McGuinness Blvd.

Ty Po

Welcome to George Orwell's world. Colleges and universities are no longer places where students are encouraged to freely discuss and debate ideas and voice their opinions. It's all about indoctrination and group think. Anyone who disagrees with the program is silenced by accusations of insensitivity, bigotry, racism and other such abuse. Freedom of speech and thought, in schools and elsewhere, are defended as long as what one says or thinks is in line with what is deemed politically correct. Otherwise, Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform and sit down.

This might help.

If I, or anyone else, even attempted to hand mindless floof like that in when I was in high school, my old, Nehru jacket wearing, overtly Socialist-leaning Regional Studies teacher Mr. Mendelsohn would have beaten us to death. Never mind what Nike Zeus Zacharias, one of my English teachers, would have done. He was small in stature; but, he projected a huge and menacing presence in the classroom. Too bad that kind of educator isn't around today.

Wisdom is the ability to think and act using experience, knowledge, understanding, common sense and insight. Without any of the latter five, one cannot possess the former. There's no such thing as a wise man who knows or understands nothing.. Common Core is a curriculum straight out of Kafka. Einstein did all right with "old" arithmetic. So did Robert Goddard, Charles Ranlett Flint, Arno Allan Penzias and Richard Schwartz.

It isn't. If you bothered to check the photo link, you'd see that isn't the case:

There is no such thing as individual responsibility anymore. "I" is only used when taking credit, or looking for recognition, for perceived accomplishments, sort of like the guy in the Prevnar 13 commercial who does one push up, walks away with a smug, self-satisfied smirk on his face and looks around to see if anybody noticed. Whatever failure or shortcoming is inevitably blamed on the enigmatic "they" or "them".

Odd. Contact Alclad and ask them if there's a solution. Gold Titanium is supposed to have a noticeable, but not solid, pale gold color. Check out the photo.

No swearing? What happens if he's called to take the stand as a hostile witness?

I find using det cord wrapped around a loaf of bread and an M60 fuse igniter a real time saver. Not only is the bread sliced; but, each slice is toasted to golden brown perfection.

No, you're right. That's about how much is spent. The motto of the NYC Public School system is, "Third Grade, the best four years of my life."

I was a concierge at Trump Tower (1985-92) during the time Spielberg owned an apartment there. One day. I brought up "Duel". I asked him the same question about the tanker. His response: "You watch too many movies." So, I replied, "If I didn't, you wouldn't be living here." "Joe, you might be right; but, if you didn't, you would have saved enough money to be able to instead." BTW, he was a nice guy but a lousy tipper. He used to give us fruit baskets for Christmas.

Looks fantastic, Bil! Roman Red is the perfect choice.

My friend Richy bought a new '89 GSE for around $6200. A week after driving it off the lot, the muffler fell off. About a month later, the ball joint on the right side broke while driving on the Northern State Parkway in Long Island. The best happened around a year later. He was in the drive-thru at the Mickey D's in our neighborhood. The dash started smoking and caught fire. Never even had the chance to pick up his order.

A pile of junk by any other name is still a pile of junk. Although, Vauxhall Terrible Car is a catchy name.

That there is an exact scale model. Those are the hallmark features of the actual car.

ACK! This period was the nadir of the American automotive industry. Thanks again for another entertaining and informative review. The kit has as many parts as the real car. better motor, too. I'd like the box so I can store spare parts.

Russian-Shmussian. Still a nice kit pick up.

There are approximately 7.5 billion people currently residing on this planet. Divide that by a million and........ah, go ahead and do the math.

Dont'cha know everybody's a winner? "Yay! You're the second winner! Here's your participation award!" Second winner? Third winner?BULLFMEEP! There's only one winner in a race. Second is first in a long line of losers. Don't like the way it sounds, Junior? Get used to it. It's known as reality. Second best is the doormat which the winners wipe their feet on as they move forward. If we tell you that you're one-in-a million, that doesn't mean you're special. There are 7500 others just like you. What?!? You want us to cover your tuition at NYU for the next nine years so you can get an English Lit or Fine Arts degree?!? BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! You know something, kid? You aren't the brightest bulb around; but, you sure are funny.