I've been entertaining a visiting mother (mine) here at Trailheadquarters, so blogging has been light. There have been a number of items I've wanted to share, and very little time to share them, so I thought I'd herd them into a big link blob.
So the existence of a half-grizzly, half-polar bear has been confirmed. Unfortunately, this was confirmed by DNA tests only after the bear was killed by some trophy-hunting tool who paid $50,000 to shoot it.
A column from Jon Katz that's more than two months old, but that I just found the other day, called "Nice Ass!" about his donkeys. I love this guy's stories about his farm animals. Don't miss it.
In yet another sign that our country is totally ill-prepared to compete in this century's global marketplace, check out this article about how geographically illiterate our young adults are. Fully half could not find New York on a map of the U.S. Moreover:
Told they could escape an approaching hurricane by evacuating to the northwest, only two-thirds could indicate which way northwest is on a map. [Come on. Are they serious?]
Perhaps even more worrisome is the finding that few U.S. young adults seem to care.
Fewer than three in ten think it's absolutely necessary to know where countries in the news are located. Only 14 percent believe speaking another language fluently is a necessary skill.****This geographic ineptitude was further emphasized when young Americans were asked questions on how the United States fits into the wider world.
Three in ten respondents put the U.S. population between one and two billion (it's just under 300 million, according the U.S. Census Bureau). Seventy-four percent said English is the most commonly spoken native language in the world (it's Mandarin Chinese).
As you all know, I've just returned from China, and I've seen our competition. We're screwed if we don't get serious about our education, people.
Have a nice evening.
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