Ace-Garageguy

Just a point I'd like to make again and reinforce...I didn't start this thread to make fun of people. I started it because there are some very real problems facing this country many of us love, and they are all SOLVABLE with some effort. But before they can be solved, they have to be identified and acknowledged. A good, solid, BASIC education providing the ability to read and comprehend, write coherently, and use arithmetic well enough to be independent of a calculator should still be considered as rightfully owed to ALL children. But if you read what's out there, that's NOT what they're getting. Is a model car forum the best place to address this? Well, maybe not the BEST, but certainly appropriate, because this hobby crosses all age and ethnic and even many national boundaries...without any need for politically-correct sensitivity enforcement. We're united by our interest, and as artists and craftsmen. We have to observe, think critically, develop manual and intellectual skills, and be continuing-learners to do what we all do and enjoy. Those of us who are Americans are probably proud of that fact, even though it's just a lucky accident for most of us to have been born here. But to continue to live in a country that merits a sense of national pride, it's time to DO something about the apparent steady decay of what it means to be "American". There was a time in the not too distant past when the concepts of "American know how" and "American ingenuity" were common, but we seem (to me) to be heading down a road that ignores those particular values, and will inevitably result in this country becoming a second-string player, dependent on other parts of the world for our survival. Solid, simple basic education and a healthy respect for hard work, including dirty work, can turn this trend around. It's not too late.

You have a point. Sweeping generalizations aren't fair to the people who aren't defined by the generalization, but included in it. Unfortunately, incompetence IS becoming the norm. I have a friend who's a dealership lead tech and shop manager. He's an old fossil like me, and he knows his stuff. He's been unable to find competent technical staff among the younger people who are willing to work for what the dealership is willing to pay. His is a very common complaint within the industry now. So the problem is really two-fold. Dealerships are wanting to get labor for cheap, and the starting pay is so poor there's no incentive for young people to put in the effort to get a good automotive technical grounding...especially since most of the schools don't offer any auto-shop classes any more. Yes, there ARE some young kids who are wizard mechanics. I just don't know any right now, and since I'm in the biz and exposed to a lot of different parts of it, they can't be all that common.

Do-da-do-da-do-da-do-da. Hmmm...that doesn't sound quite right. Maybe it's do-da-do-da-do-da-do-da. Still not right. How about do-da-do-da-do-da-do-da. Yeah, that's it!

We may be running afoul of ethnic-diversity-and-sensitivity training protocols here...

Oh...wouldn't it be "where"? All the references I've read use the word "where" to indicate a place. I'm not sure you quite know "were" you're going with this.

Well dude, up to this point I've politely ignored all of your MULTIPLE syntax and spelling errors. You REALLY want to call me on a typo?

Sigh.

Ummm...Rob...those are the body paint colors; only 9 R3 cars were made. And...ummm...the "original locations" shown above weren't assembly plants, but the towns where the cars were originally delivered. Studebaker only had plants in South Bend, Indiana, and Hamilton, Ontario (Canada(. http://www.theavanti.net/paint_colors.html ...and...ummm...in a race-car, the engine can be any damm color the car or engine builder likes.

I'm seeing it now. Here you go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ7EYsYEzjQ

Joe, I clicked your "Kafka" link. It's beyond belief...but I was very pleased to note that hypothetical "math situations" used ethnically inclusive names like Faiza and Roberto. Who needs to know how to add, as long as we ensure our ignorant graduates respect ethnic diversity. Please, everyone LOOK at what is going on here... http://www.nationalreview.com/article/373840/ten-dumbest-common-core-problems-alec-torres

There's a "subtle but grand Canyon-sized difference" between thinking and critical-thinking. You can think "I'm cold", but without critical-thinking, drawing on accumulated knowledge of why you're cold and how you go about using a blanket, making a fire, or closing the frigging window, you're going to stay cold.

So, if reading and math are the highest priorities on the Common Core list, why is the implementation failing to turn out masses of graduates who can write coherently, read at a better-than-sixth-grade level, and make change without looking at the computer prompt? http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/01/03/expert-most-us-college-freshmen-read-at-7th-grade-level/ http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/math_learning_software_and_other_technology_are_hurting_education_.html http://disdblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/sheils_johnnycantwrite.pdf http://www.nbcnews.com/business/why-johnny-cant-write-why-employers-are-mad-2D11577444

Absolutely positively 100% correct.

Applied common sense and critical-thinking, using a toolbox full of knowledge, is the most direct method of achieving wisdom.

Absolutely.

Two points, Brian. Being a critic of nuclear energy is fine if you're INFORMED. Do you know that France makes over 80% of her electricity with nuclear plants, and that they're safe and clean for the most part? Nuclear power isn't bad. It's stupid and careless people implementing nuclear power that cause the problems. And cars have probably killed and maimed far more people than can be attributed to nuclear energy...including both A-bombs dropped in war. You just might try tapping into some of that useless accumulated knowledge you so disdain BEFORE making blanket statements about nuclear. By your logic, we should ban cars as a "scourge on life". Nah. let's somehow make it less likely that stupid and distracted people DRIVE cars. Second point...another fallacy in your arguments above is that, as (possibly too obliquely for mass consumption) posited in the OP and subsequent posts, the "3 Rs" are NOT being taught much any more, and have been replaced by a "feel-good' curriculum that strives to make kids feel all warm and politically-correctly-fuzzy at the expense of under-emphasized useful skills...like reading comprehension, knowledge of how to use arithmetic, and the ability to write and communicate in their own native language.

Kinda looks that way, doesn't it? That would sure explain a lot.

I wouldn't say I'm a fan of anyone's, but I DO agree with much of her Objectivist philosophy. When I first read her at 18, i thought to myself "holy cow...this is the way things SHOULD be..." She was a voice of logic and reason. I also DISAGREE with some of her philosophy. But Atlas Shrugged, misinterpreted by many, hated and called "elitist" by many, makes a LOT of very valid points about what's wrong with how things work...like political cronyism...and is in large part an accurate predictor of what's happening in the world today. I somewhat prefer her Fountainhead, which is about a gifted architect who works in obscurity much of his life because he refuses to design regurgitated pablum based on "classical' architecture to satisfy clients who don't want anything original and new. Her non-fiction work like the Romantic Manifesto, about artistic philosophy, is worth the time.

Accumulated knowledge is of little value? REALLY? You certainly seem to make free use of the accumulated knowledge of board members here. I'll remember that "accumulated knowledge is of little value" in your opinion next time you ask a question I just happen to have accumulated the knowledge to accurately answer. The A-bomb was seen to be a means-to-an-end, in order to put a quick finish to a global conflict...and the good guys thought the bad guys were a lot closer to perfecting and employing it. Developing and dropping the bomb was seen at the time as a way to save much of the human race from tyranny, and a vastly prolonged war. You, and many other way-after-the-fact-critics may not like it, but I'd like to know what YOU would have done differently. Asked the mean men nicely to put down their guns? A great deal of what the ignorant generations now take for granted technologically is a direct result of follow-on R&D after the A-bomb program, the space-program, etc. Without all that prior accumulated knowledge, all the fancy smart-toys wouldn't exist. Accumulated knowledge is one of the primary tools one employs when one engages in critical-thinking. Wisdom is knowing HOW to apply knowledge, not a substitute for it. Granted, not knowing (or apparently caring) that the Earth tracks around the sun won't make you a better citizen-voter per se, but as I stated earlier, it's symptomatic of widespread and simply irresponsible ignorance of just about everything except popular culture. But I agree with you 100% on one point... " it took a lot of stupid ppl to get us to this point in our history".

Well, I know this a pretty old-fashioned concept, but whatever happened to the idea that before you start breeding, it might be good to establish a stable home environment for children to be born into, and to make damm sure the income was there to care for and educate them...BEFORE having them? Oh, sorry...that sounds WAY to much like taking personal responsibility for your actions and being an adult.

I'm an old fossil. I don't have a problem with change, and I've been an early-adopter of several new technologies...when those new technologies were BETTER than what went before. I was, frankly, disappointed that the "semantic web" has taken so long to finally (almost) get here, that CAD took so long to develop (and wasn't really worth the effort until the tech matured to its present capabilities), that fully-functional AI is still on the far horizon, and that speech-recognition is just now becoming reliable enough to be actually useful for everyone who wants it. What I DO have a problem with is change-for-the-sake-of-change, especially when implemented by short-sighted bean counters, or that's just done because everybody-else-is-doing-it.

Understanding the world we live in and how it works is required to be an engaged participant and to have any valid opinions concerning ANYTHING...including who you vote for, and WHY. NOTE: This isn't anything political. No parties or individuals or policies (other than whatever passes for educational policy now) have been mentioned or alluded to.

Only two I'm after at the moment are a virgin AMT '59 Buick hardtop, and a '60 falcon.

Nice save. Netting those skirts off can be a real bear when some kid used half a tube of glue.

Pretty bizarre. I've seen this kit before...you've done a nice job with it. Do you mind if I ask what you paid, and where you found it?