Private schools give a name, not an education

Why on Earth would a parent in their right minds send their kid to secondary private school in Northern Delaware without even TRYING to get into a selective school unless it was for religious reasons? Why would you plop down $20,000 when you could just get a free education here at a school such as Cab or Newark Charter? Is is really that you get a better education there, or is it just for the prestigous name of "Tower Hill" or "Wilmington Friends"? The first disadvantage is that the child has many, many more rights at a public school (in fact they are protected by the constitution), and it is much harder to kicked out at a private school. Also, public schools are much more diverse (and I speak as an attendee at both), not only racially, but (obviously) socioeconomically. As one of the few middle-class kids at a private school, I felt quite out-of-place in a private elementary school when I was part of a financial aid program to allow low and middle-income families to attend the school. I was often picked on (especially in 4th and 5th grade) because I didn't have the fancy stuff that they had. I had always wondered (not in a racist way) why there were so few minority students at my school when there were more minorities than white people at my preschool and in my neighborhood (which was about 50-50) and why no one in my neighborhood was a snob. In fact, I once asked my mom to send me to my neighborhood school, which my mom explained to me was extremely bad and dangerous. This is understandable if the ELEMENTARY school is dangerous, but once there's secondary school, you should try to get your kid into a good public school before plopping down exorbitant amounts of money to send your kid to private school.

75% of Americans unfit for military service...uh huh. Right.

Why is the military, of all organizations, so strict about its standards. I mean, in the Army, which is the most lenient of all the services, won't allow the bottom 31th percentile (in terms of intelligence) aren't allowed to join. Anyone who is overweight isn't allowed either. Another caveat is that you have to have a high school diploma (in almost all cases, not even a GED) to join. What is up with that? Do they not teach you how to pull a freaking trigger until 12th grade? In addition, anyone who has a criminal record beyond one misdemeanor or 6 major traffic tickets or virtually any drug use is disqualified. Also, the standards have ridiculously high medical standards. Anyone who has or has had ADD, asthma (past the 13th birthday), depression, a severe food allergy, sleepwalking, eating disorders, just to name a few of the most ridiculous disqualifications from enlistment. This is not only turning down tons of brave men and women willing to serve our country, but it turns away opportunities for many urban youth who have often have little opportunity. Studies have shown that urban youth, particularly those in poor or working-class neighborhoods, are disproportionally affected by obesity, in addition to conditions which affect the respiratory system, such as asthma and hayfever (which is disqualifying if not controlled by medication) due to pollutants in the air, which do not allow the immune system to develop. Also, people of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be disqualified in all areas (with the possible exception of poor rural folk who are less susceptible to certain diseases and obesity). This puts the military at a crossroads. Upper-middle-class kids, who have little reason to join (due to their many opportunities), tend to be the kids who meet the military's medical standards, whereas poor and working-class kids, who often want to join due to a lack of opportunity, are often disqualified. This only leaves the middle-class kids, the number of whom are shrinking fast, who often have just enough opportunities to be unwilling to join, although this is often not the case. If the military's only recruitable and willing kids are the middle class, there will likely be less "suggestions" from those who are "well-educated" (due to their privileged background, and there will be less diversity, socioeconomic and racial, due to a lack of poor and working-class kids (except for those who come from rural areas). Note to military: if you ever want to meet recruiting goals after we're out of this recession, loosen your standards.

South Korean taxi drivers...allowed to watch TV while driving?

Apparently, South Korean drivers are allowed to watch TV in their cabs while driving. The traffic in Seoul is so torturous, that cabbies have installed TVs in their cabs to beat the boredom. TV use was implicated in over 200 accidents last year. Three people were killed and 351 injured in said accidents. Despite this, a STUPID judge overturned a $507 fine. Why on earth should a cabbie be allowed to put OTHER PEOPLES' LIVES on the line because he's bored from traffic? If any cabbie is so impulsive and impatient, even in the worst traffic known to man, then he deserves to be unemployed. I wish for all people to have a good-paying job, but I would rather have an unemployed person than a dead person.