Spelling

Donald Trump’s Ignorance Of Science, History, Geography, Spelling, Math, Reading: Just Like His Poorly Educated Base!

Ronald 4 Comments

Donald Trump has proved himself to be totally ignorant of so many fields of knowledge.

He is ignorant of science, and of the dangers presented by climate change and global warming.

He is ignorant of history, displaying his total lack of basic historical facts.

He is ignorant of basic geography, and could not point out nations or states on a map of the world.

He cannot spell, making constant mistakes on Twitter. It is true that anyone can misspell occasionally, and that typos can occur, but it happens so often that it demonstrates that he cannot spell, or if he does, he has no concern about how his blunders in spelling appear to readers of his Twitter account. He has no concern to correct himself, or admit shortcomings in spelling.

He has no concern about math, and what kind of increased costs his Mexico Wall proposal and vastly increased defense spending request would do to the budget.

He has no interest in reading, and lacks concentration power to stick to anything he reads, the reason why he wishes all memos to him to be one page, so he has never read the text of any healthcare bill conjured up by Congress to destroy ObamaCare.

He has no concern about details about anything, just wishing to add a notch to his so called “accomplishments” list, which now after eight months is one name–Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch–but by a smaller vote margin of 55-45, the least of anyone in the 20th or 21st century, except for Justice Clarence Thomas, who was confirmed in 1991 by a vote of 52-48.

What is truly sad is that Donald Trump’s gaps of knowledge are shared by a large portion of his poorly educated base, who hate universities, professors, and intellectuals, because they revel in their own inferiority and ignorance.

This is a definite long term crisis for America, the ignorance and lack of appreciation of education and knowledge, by a substantial percentage of the masses, who would rather follow an ignorant billionaire, and hang on his every word, rather than use reason and evaluation in their daily lives.

National Spelling Bee Champion Brings Up Issue Of Our Educational System NOT Teaching Spelling As Important Skill!

Ronald 4 Comments

It was thrilling to see 13 year old Arvind Mahankali of Bayside, New York, win the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC on Thursday evening.

His accomplishment, and the fact that he had competed three earlier years and been in the Top Ten all three times, is something to honor and admire, as much as any athlete doing well in any team or individual sport.

But does such an accomplishment get the kind of attention it deserves, as compared to sports? Of course not, and in that, there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

It is not “cool” to be smart, to be intellectual, to have academic skills, and it might very well be that this talented young man, for all that he has accomplished, might face bullying or taunting, as not being “masculine” enough, because his accomplishment is in that lost art, spelling.

But it is not just spelling; it is also history; it is also science; it is also geography; it is also poetry; it is also ANY intellectual area of knowledge!

And in that fact, we have a long range problem. And it is in the loss of economic growth, competition with other nations, and in the future of our children.

Why is not spelling emphasized in the school system, and why is it allowed that young people, including many of my own students in the past and present, cannot spell, and do not see that weakness as a big deal they need to work on?

Why is it that ignorance is seen as bliss, and that we have people in Congress who display their ignorance regularly, showing their lack of knowledge or acceptance of science, of truth really in any area of learning, and in fact, wish to cut expenditures and investment in education and in teachers?

And as wonderful as it was to see boys and girls of South Asian heritage being the top ten finalists, why is it that white Anglos of European heritage, and Hispanics-Latinos and African American young people did not end up competing with these kids from South Asia, and often in the past, from East Asia as well?

Could it be the role of parents, emphasizing spelling and history and science and geography and poetry and other fields of learning at home, and could it be also the fact that education is the way that past generations of immigrants and their descendants succeeded in America?

We, as a nation, need to look within ourselves, and work to promote the levels of excellence that these children of South Asian heritage demonstrated, putting the rest of us to shame!

Ultimately, we must praise and give honors and attention more to academic excellence than our worship of sports, as good as it is to promote that field of human endeavor!

Conservatives, Republicans, And Basic Knowledge: Science, Mathematics, History, Economics, Spelling And Grammar, World Diplomacy

Ronald 1 Comment

Many Republicans and conservatives, whether in Congress, the news media, think tanks, or just ordinary citizens, have a real and fundamental problem with basic knowledge. It makes one wonder where they were when they were young, and supposedly being educated, and the indications that they have learned nothing new as adults.

Consider the field of Science, with many of the Republicans and conservatives believing in creationism, the BIble theory of creation, that claims the earth is maybe 10,000 years old at the most, and that dinosaurs walked with man, with a Creationist Museum open to the public in Kentucky, near the border with Cincinnati, Ohio. There is complete denial of Charles Darwin, to the point of total craziness.

Also, there is the failure of these people to accept that there is global warming and climate change, despite so much evidence that there is a problem, and refusal to plan for the future on the basis that we are facing a long range threat, with Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma being the political leader of the “deniers”.

But also, many Republicans and conservatives seem to have their own version of the process of pregnancy and what is a rape, as for instance, defeated Senate nominees Todd Akin and Richard Mouroick.

But let’s move on from Science to Mathematics, and we are talking here about basic math, arithmetic, not geometry, trigonometry, or calculus. Many members of the GOP, including Paul Ryan, claim a magical system of numbers to come up with their budget plans, but as Joe Biden said to Paul Ryan in the Vice Presidential debate, it does not add up!

Then we move on to history, and the image that America is the greatest nation in history, and has never made a mistake, never needs to apologize, has no faults or shortcomings that anyone needs to learn about. And our exceptionalism is enough to wave in the faces of all nations around the world. Why should we teach or learn about slavery, mass murder of native Americans, discrimination against Jews and Catholics and other immigrants, the exploitation of labor by corporations, the destruction of our environment, the corruption of many politicians over our history, the war crimes committed by our troops in many wars, and so on? NO, that is unpatriotic, and instead we must sanitize all historical learning!

And the field of economics is another area of believing that the best system is NO regulation, and the promotion of Adam Smith’s Laissez Faire economics, expressed in the Wealth Of Nations, and if there is poverty or other human suffering, that is the way it was intended by God, so the promotion of Social Darwinism, the one time Darwin is utilized by these KNOW NOTHINGS!

Spelling and grammar do not matter, as many Tea Party radicals who hold rallies show their total ignorance of all subject matter, and cannot express themselves appropriately, and in a respectable manner! They march with signs that are misspelled, as with the Secession signs now being brandished by many of these characters, who are upset with the Obama victory last week!

World Diplomacy, the whole idea of trying to relate to other countries in a respectful manner, is also insignificant to many, who believe the answer is to BOMB everyone you do not agree with, throw our weight around, and not give a damn about how the world perceives us!

This ignorance and stupidity is totally unacceptable, and the Republican Party and the conservative movement needs to purge itself, or go into the dustbin of history!