Free Republic

How’s this for noche buena? Mother, father and sister carry packed food in plastic containers and then alternate between walking and taking public transportation, seemingly off to a special mission. Just outside a building, they prop up a table with a few chairs. They set the dishes they have brought. Brother, a call center agent, is in the graveyard shift; there are no holidays in his job. But when he sees his family outside, waving at him, he puts down his headset, turns away from his computer and walks out the door of his office for a little break. Of...

One highlight of the Bush Administration has been that the first lady, Laura Bush has made literacy a pivotal part of her work with the American people. There are a lot of areas of interest that a first lady can use her power and influence to draw attention to but will Michelle Obama also make literacy an important part of her agenda? With literacy rates on the decline, and educational facilities being last on the list of priorities for many government agencies, Michelle Obama has unique opportunity to use her influence to turn the state of literacy around in the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE RUSTAMIYAH, Iraq, Dec. 10, 2008 – One hundred Iraqi women became the first class of graduates of an adult literacy course near here that officials say is a sign of more good things to come from the partnership between Iraq and the United States. The first female graduates of an adult literacy course at the Sharquia Secondary School for Girls take pictures and celebrate before a graduation ceremony at the Baghdad school, Dec. 4, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jeremy Todd  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “This is a monumental day for these women,”...

We live in two Americas. One America, now the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world. It can cope with complexity and has the intellectual tools to separate illusion from truth. The other America, which constitutes the majority, exists in a non-reality-based belief system. This America, dependent on skillfully manipulated images for information, has severed itself from the literate, print-based culture. It cannot differentiate between lies and truth. It is informed by simplistic, childish narratives and clichés. It is thrown into confusion by ambiguity, nuance and self-reflection. This divide, more than race, class or gender, more than rural or urban,...

Hezekiah 3:16 The book of Hezekiah is one of the most significant books of the Old Testament. This book is often quoted in the press, cited by bloggers, and many people refer to it in daily conversation. One of the most significant passages in the book of Hezekiah is Hezekiah 3:10-16 where the author speaks about the Antichrist and the Beast. Hezekiah 3:16 reveals that the number of the Beast is 666. Anyone who knows the Bible and reads the paragraph above will know that what is written above is a bunch of nonsense. Hezekiah does not mention the number...

HAWIJAH, Iraq, Oct. 16, 2008 – The first graduation of a pilot literacy program was held yesterday at the soccer stadium here in Iraq’s Kirkuk province. The program, which began June 15 as a pilot program for the National Literary Campaign, graduated nearly 500 students. The four-month course covered basic reading, writing and math skills for employment marketability, officials said. Students attended classes four hours a day, five days a week, for completion of the National Literary Campaign's requirements. "I have worked closely with the local government leaders and watched them develop this program, through the execution of the program,...

Link only - AP

NEW ORLEANS: Marsha Williams always hesitated when mail arrived from the government, but after Hurricane Katrina she began to fear the letters. One notice warned that her apartment building could be shut down because the landlord had not repaired storm damage. She worried: What did all the legal forms mean? Was there more paperwork she needed to send in? But at age 51, Williams was embarrassed that she could not read much more than her own name and address. "I didn't get a lot of school when I was a child. I guess they didn't have enough to go around,"...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, July 28, 2008 – Iraq is targeting more than 6 million illiterate adults through a national literacy campaign. Iraqi policemen submit applications for modified security badges, May 22, 2007, in Salman Pak, Iraq. Literacy is a requirement for members of the Iraqi security forces. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization estimates that more than 60 percent of the adult population in Iraq cannot read or write. This was not always the case, U.N. officials said. At one time, Iraq...

Can't resist it - I was raised on American culture and am all the happier for it. It formed me culturally and made me what I am. Since I come into contact with Americans professionally on a frequent basis, it's always a great pleasure to have 'common ground', so to speak. Today I started reading 'Moby-Dick' for the fifth time. And believe me, I do have an exceptional memory. But this book is so rich that you can spend a lifetime with it and still miss out on some things. The pretty pragmatic, relativistic Ishmael embarks on a boat trip...

HAWIJAH — In the month which marked the birth of the United States of America and the liberation of other nations, July 5, will be remembered in Hawijah, Iraq, as the day its country’s deputy minister of education Nehad Al-Juburi and the prime minister’s education advisor Zaid Chaid paid a historic visit to bring national attention to a pilot literacy program underway here. Five-hundred SoI members in four of the sub-districts of Hawijah, Iraq - Zaab, Abassi, Riyadh and Hawijah city - are currently participating in this program, which teaches students up to a 3rd to 4th grade reading...

this site is personal to me it seems no strings attached, their sponsors take care of it all. just click and you will help many worthwhile causes, like hunger, breast cancer, literacy and pets. really, i run firefox with adblock plus and this site has given me no malware or issues/popups. it seems legit, if i can donate a can of food a day and more, i'm sure someone here can help spread the word. i appreciate it. and i'm in no way affiliated with them or paid, this isn't spam. i'm just a news junkie with this place and...

TALLAHASSEE, FL - A report issued today by the Department of Education reveals that the expected illiteracy rate among high school graduates will decline significantly this year. This marks the first time in several decades that this benchmark has fallen in two consecutive years. The expected illiteracy rate of 32% is down from 33% last year ...

Remember shortly before Election Day 2006 when Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) suggested that if you don't get a good education, "you get stuck in Iraq" (video available here)? Well, last month, famed horror author Stephen King was speaking in front of a group of high school students at the Library of Congress, and he virtually made the exact same statement. For those that can bear it, what follows is another in a long line of liberal media members bashing the military (embedded right, h/t Terry Ann): I don't want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV,...

In my ignorance, I once held hopes of gaining entrance into a club more exclusive than any country club or nightclub. Having been educated in public schools and therefore exposed to only one form of thought, I thought this club represented intellectualism. My first exposure to intellectual thought was a shelf filled with dime store Golden Books. One of the American “ladies” had heard about the cleaning abilities of a Slovenian immigrant woman who was laid off from her job in a factory. So this lady picked my mother and me up and drove us out to her big house...

Or maybe not Because the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act imposed standards and accountability on the public schools, many conservatives were willing to support the law even though it was also a massive expansion of the federal government's role in education. It might be time for them to reconsider. On Thursday, the Department of Education announced that a key component of the measure -- the $6 billion Reading First program -- has been an utter failure.

OK everyone, it's time for my quarterly "What Are You Reading Now" post. I like to get a feel for what Freepers are reading these days. It can be anything...a best seller, a literary classic, a trashy pulp novel, a scientific journal, etc. Do not demean this thread with posts like "I'm reading this Thread right now". It became un-funny a long time ago. I'll start. I've just started "One Square Mile Of Hell: The Battle For Tarawa" by John Wukovitz. Rather than a minute by minute account of the battle, it takes a more personalized view of the battle...

FORT HUACHUCA — There is one thing Command Sgt. Maj. Gerry Wykoff is thankful for, and that is Dr. Seuss never wrote an Army Field Manual. As it is, his children’s books are full of tongue twisters, as the senior noncommissioned officer for the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca found out Monday when he read Seuss’ “The Sleep Book,” to fourth-grade students of Janet Josa’s class at General Myer Elementary School. For many young school students, the Dr. Seuss books are today’s “See Spot Run” that older generations remember from their days in the lower grades of elementary education. Nationwide,...

<p>Woops, an errant email advisory sent to House Democratic members by Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office had some unique suggested talking points for the upcoming "Read Across America" day. Basically, it said, just tell the kids and their teachers: blah, blah, blah.</p> <p>"Blah, blah, blah, blah Blah, blah, blah."</p>

What will happen to reading and writing in our time? Could the doomsayers be right? Computers, they maintain, are destroying literacy. The signs -- students' declining reading scores, the drop in leisure reading to just minutes a week, the fact that half the adult population reads no books in a year -- are all pointing to the day when a literate American culture becomes a distant memory. By contract, optimists foresee the Internet ushering in a new, vibrant participatory culture of words. Will they carry the day? Maybe neither. Let me suggest a third possibility: Literacy -- or an ensemble...