V.T. XXVIII - Education and the 2012 election

    This post is a summary of two reports: 1) ¨Education and the 2012 election.¨   Published at Huffingtonpost.com at 4 Nov 2011. Written by Gaston Caperton. And    2) ¨Education to play significant role in 2012 elections.¨  Published at Theepochtimes.com   at 9 Feb 2012. Written by Shar Adams.

    For decades, americans have been searching for a president who could put the school system on his or her back, make education the government`s top priority. Unfortunately, every four years it seems like a new issue comes along that pushes education to the back ( economy, terrorism, health care ).

    Will 2012 be different? It is soon to tell. But for education advocates like myself, this election is a unique opportunity to seize the public dialogue and steer it toward a serious conversation. The reality is that education plays a role in many of the key issues that will decide 2012 presidential race. How can we put more americans back to work? Education. How can we lower our long-term debt? Education. How can we become energy independent? Education.

    Education can be the silver bullet if we invest the necessary time and the resources. Unfortunately, both are becoming scarce. As the U.S. continues to plummet in the global education standings, we can not afford to continue wringing our hands.

    We have a lot of big questions when it comes to education, questions about the role of the federal government, the nature of the curriculum and the integration of technology.

    While jobs and the economy are headliner issues for most americans, education will likely play a significant  role in elections this year, according to a recent research for a forum for education.

    With long-term unemployment a reality in many communities. Americans increasingly see the relationship between education and the economy. The research  indicated education had move up on par with health care and the national debt as an issue of concern.

     David Winston, president of the D.C. research company says, ¨ people are beginning to realize that one of the outcomes of having an education system that is not producing what it needs is that you are seeing skilled work going overseas because other countries have better labor pools and have really skilled workers.¨

     The forum followed of the research touched on a range of key education issues this year, ranging from the  reauthorization of the ¨ No Child Left Behind¨ act to raising the dropout age to 18. The new goal of the NCLB act is to have 100% of students reaching proficiency in mathematics and reading by 2014.

     The Obama administration has proposed changes to NCLB act : to grant schools flexibility, to teach with creativity, and to replace teachers who are not helping kids` learn.

     

     Steer - direct or guide.

     Wringing - very wet or  to wash.

     Outcome - result or consequence.

     Pool - a supply of people for use when needed.

     Dropout - stop participating or attending.

     

V.T.XXVII - Human Rights Day

  This post is a summary of two reports: 1) ¨Secretary-general`s message for human rights day.¨  at UN.org and   2) ¨Message from secretary Hillary Clinton. at Humanrights.gov. Both published at human rights day, 10 December, 2011.

  Human rights belong to every one of us without exception. But unless we know them, unless we demand they be respected, and unless we defend our rights, and the rights of others, to exercise them, they will be just words in a decade-old document.

  The importance of human rights has been underlined over and over again this year. Across the globe, people mobilized to demand justice, dignity, equality, participation. The rights enshrined in the UDHR.

   Many of these peaceful demonstrators persevered despite being met with violence and further repression. In some countries, the struggle continues, in others, important concessions were gained or dictators were toppled as the will of the people prevailed.

   Many of the people seeking their legitimate aspirations were linked through social media. Gone are the days when repressive governments could totally control the flow of information. Government must not block access to the internet and various forms of social media as a way to prevent criticism and public debate.

   We know there is still too much repression in our world, still too much impunity, still too many people for whom rights are not yet a reality.

   On December 10, 1948, world leaders gathered and pledged to uphold and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people. This promise recognized that human beings are, by virtue of their birth, endowed with certain inalienable rights.

  63 years later, we hear this call for freedom and dignity echoed in the streets, squares and neighborhoods of middle east, north Africa, and beyond. It is up to people of each nation to create the governments and societies that reflect their aspirations, and craft the constitutions and build the foundations that will protect their human rights and freedoms and it is up to the people of every nation to guard their budding democracies against those who would seek to hijack freedom.

  The violence we have witnessed this year against people exercising their universal rights to free expression, assembly and association remind us of the distance that exist between the values inscribed in the UDHR and the realities for many people around the world.

   It is an obligation of every government to guarantee the rights of all citizens. We will stand with those who defend human rights against opression wherever it occurs, and support those working toward a more peaceful world.

  Endowed - have something as a natural characteristic.

  Budding - showing signs of promise.

  Hijack - take over something and use it for a different purpose.

  Pledge - solemnly promise to do something.

   

E-Democracy

    This text was published at Wikipedia. This is a summary and the title is above.

    E-democracy is concerned with the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to  engage citizens, support the democratic decision-making processes and strengthen representative democracy. Democratic actors and sectors in this context include governments,  elected officials,  the media,  political organizations  and  citizens.   E-democracy aims for broader and more active citizen  participation  enabled by the internet.

    There has been a significant growth in e-democracy in the last four years. Public and private sector provide an avenue to citizen engagement while offering access to transparent information that citizens have come to expect.

    The massive spread of free information through the internet has become a central networking for our world, encouraging freedom and human progress through social and economic development, the internet can be used as a tool for democracy in promoting basic human rights.

    The internet provides a distinctive structure of opportunities that has the potential to renew interest in civic engagement and participation, this could include three distinct dimensions: political knowledge, political trust, and political participation.

    The internet allows citizens to become more knowledgeable about government issues, and the interactivity allow for news forms of communication with government, elected officials, and public servants. ICT are merely means to an end and not normative by their nature. They are tools that may be deployed to achieve certain goals, and these goals may even be contradictory ( both coercive control and participation can be fostered by digital tech ). While many celebrate the internet as a tool for democracy, it should not be forgotten that the earlier visions of an informatization-state were rather frightening, such as the one told by  George Orwell in 1984. While tech can be used for the good and bad, certain institutional framework conditions may either support or hamper the use of eletronic means for the benefit of democratic processes.

    If the internet is to become a new democratic tool, through which people can participate in and influence the democratic process, it is vital that everyone who wants irrespective of age, gender, profession or geographical location has the access to it and the skills to use.

    The government must be in a position to guarantee that online communications are secure and that they do not violate people`s privacy.

    Internet is a two way street. It enables citizens to get and post information about politics and it allows those politicians to get advice from the people in larger numbers. This collective decision making gives more power to the citizens. This creates a more productive society that can handle problems faster and more efficiently.

Vol.T.XXVI - Brazil, country of the future.

   This post is a summary of two reports: 1) ¨Fresh look for author, and for land he lauded¨. Published at NYTimes.com at November,21,2011. And written by Simon Romero.   2) ¨Brazil complete 70 years-old as country of the future.¨ Published at Economia.IG.com.br at January,28,2011. And written by Patrick Cruz.

   When the viennese-born writer Stefan Zweig moved in 1941 to the Petrópolis, nestled in the mountains near Rio de Janeiro, he was one of world`s most translated author, renowned for his taut novellas exploring passion, obsession and despair. But after Mr. Zweig, despondent over the advances of the nazis, took his own life here at the age 60 in a suicide pact with his wife, he became known in his adopted country for creating one of most hackneyed phrases ever associated with Brazil: ¨country of the future¨.

   Derived from the title of his 1941 book praising Latin America largest country. The phrase got expanded and recycled ad nauseam as a refrain, ¨Brazil, country of the future, and always will be¨ used to cassualy dismiss a nation long plagued by high inflation and entrenched corruption.

    The house where Mr.Zweig took his own life is set to reopen soon as a museum, meanwhile brazilian writers and historians have been reflecting on the significance of ¨land of the future¨, and some of the political intrigue surrounding its publication 70 years ago.

    In a recent televised discussion of Zweig, Alcino Leite, editor of Publifolha, compared his importance in Brazil to that in the United States of Alexis Tocqueville, the french thinker who wrote about american concepts of liberty and equality in ¨Democracy in America¨.

     ¨We had Stefan Zweig,¨ said, Mr. Alcino, ¨who left us this book advocating tolerance, comprehension, an indictment in favor of peace, written during world war II.¨ Mr. Zweig`s reappraisal in Brazil, coincides with renewed crisis in Europe, and with a new wave of portuguese emigration to Brazil, but this time of unemployed professionals, some of those seeking opportunity may even know that Mr.Zweig remain highly esteemed in parts of Europe, especially in France, where his books are still widely available. Strangely, Mr. Zweig`s book was fiercely criticized in Brazil shortly after his publication. Critics laid waste to the writer with vehemence, opening him to insinuation that he was paid by the authoritarian regime of Getulio Vargas to write the book. But the author of numerous best sellers had little need for Brazil`s financial support.

     In 1941, Brazil had a little more of 40 millions of inhabitants and 56% of them were illiterate. The coffee was a third of exports, and a third of the children were out of school, but nothing of this diminished the optimism of Stefan Zweig, a renowned writer, published in that year ¨Brazil, country of the future¨, book that gave  to Brazil a surname. The book is a exercise of excitement and jingoism. He said,¨I was fascinated not only by the unique combination of sea and mountain, but also for a new species of civilization¨. And thus follows the text, between descriptions of the vastness of the territory, the possibilities of rich soils ( for agriculture and mining ) and the mild and unarmed spirit of the people.

      Although it is a collection of praise, the book is not without a critical sense, Zweig notes that public health was the Achilles heel of the country, and the poverty in the countryside, in faraway places from the cities is another misfortune attested for him.

    Laud - praise highly

    Taut -  tense

    Ad nauseam - an annoying excessive extent

    Despondent - in low spirits from loss of hope

    Hackneyed - unoriginal and used too often

    Entrench - so firmly established that change is difficult

    Achilles heel - a weak point

    Jingoism - excessive pride in your country

    illiterate - unable to read or/and write