Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?

NY Times ^ | May 13, 2005 | THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

[neverdem]

The study noted that 18 percent of college-track seniors did not take a math course in their last year in high school - and that "more than a fifth (22 percent) of first-year college students require remediation in math." Just 56 percent of the students surveyed said they put a great deal of effort into schoolwork; only 43 percent said they worked harder than they had expected.

Even though 55 percent said they studied no more than three hours a week, 65 percent of those students reported getting mostly A's and B's.

"Students are getting A's and B's, but without studying much," Martha McCarthy, the Indiana University professor who headed the study, told me.

It appears we have a lot of lazy fatheads graduating high school after spending over $10,000 per student each year in many school districts. That figure came from a NY Times story, maybe five years ago. New York City was spending 11 billion dollars for 1.1 million K - 12 students per year. I remember because I called it in to Tony Snow one day when he was substituting for Rush.

[TFine80]

Maybe so, but the whole 'flat world' jive is still irritating.

[advance_copy]

Some of those "lazy fatheads graduating from high school" are now wearing a uniform and are risking their lives for us. Do not pay any attention to Thomas Freidman, the only thing he's trying to do in America is promote liberal self-loathing. Wolf in sheep's clothing, he's a hate-America firster just like the rest of the left.

Note his reference to "Skype", which is a puny Vonage wanna-be founded by Europeans who made their mark by forming a Napster wanna-be that took off only when our courts shut Napster down in 2001-2002. Napster and Vonage are both American companies.

People who know anything about American kids (twenties means "kids" to me) can tell you they are the most technically estute youngsters in the world. I'll put 'em up against anybody from China or India. Never stop believing in America.

[GianniV]

Hey Thomas - how about taking on the G-d damn New York City teachers unions? They are the ones responsible for NOT teaching our youth.

And shave that ridiculous mustache. You look like a porn star.

[Rummyfan]

Friedman knows as much about economics as he does about the Middle East! He's a fatuous blowhard who thinks a couple of Pulitzers make him a genius.

[Rummyfan]

And shave that ridiculous mustache. You look like a porn star.

LOL! Buck Nekkid?

[Wayne07]

Skype has 35 million registered users, 100 million downloads, and is free. It is an amazing application, and growing in importance. Vonage is a moneyt losing startup that replaces your telephone with a telephone.

[advance_copy]

Hey Thomas - how about taking on the G-d damn New York City teachers unions? They are the ones responsible for NOT teaching our youth.

Absolutely right. Instead, Friedman pushes for dumping more money into public schools, which the teacher's unions love.

[spinestein]

[Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?]


Goo Goo Ga Joob.

[advance_copy]

Skype only exists because our courts went after Napster. And believe me, I know this better than anybody you've ever met, the phone companies are worried about Vonage "big time".

[neverdem]

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

I don't think I pinged you to a Friedman OpEd before, IIRC, but a lousy math and science education after paying high taxes is a peeve of mine.

[paul_fromatlanta]

>>Hey Thomas - how about taking on the G-d damn New York City teachers unions? They are the ones responsible for NOT teaching our youth.

And shave that ridiculous mustache. You look like a porn star.<<

It's not just the teacher's unions - it's that we allow the teachers unions to require useless degrees in education instead of concentrating on what the teachers SATs were and where they went to college and how good of grades they got in the subjects they would be teaching... then adding some education courses.

[Wayne07]

In a contorted way, Skype may owe some of its life to napster gettign shut down, but it isn't directly related. Skype was created by the programmers who wrote Kazaa, which became popular after napster got shut down.

The telcos should worry about VOIP, but it is currently a pin prick compared to the sword to the neck that cell phones are to their residential landline business.

[paul_fromatlanta]

>>In a contorted way, Skype may owe some of its life to napster getting shut down, but it isn't directly related. Skype was created by the programmers who wrote Kazaa, which became popular after napster got shut down.

The telcos should worry about VOIP, but it is currently a pin prick compared to the sword to the neck that cell phones are to their residential landline business.<<

In our business we wouldn't even consider a hire who wasn't using VOIP and didn't have a Skype account - otherwise they are probably technically out of touch in other ways.

[Blumtoon]

For so many years, America's economy was so dominant on the world stage, so out front in so many key areas, that we fell into the habit of thinking we were competing largely against ourselves. If we fell behind in one area or another - whether it was math and science skills, broadband capacity or wireless infrastructure - we took the view that: "Oh well, we'll fix that problem when we get to it. After all, we're just competing against ourselves."

What is he talking about? It seems like all we heard in the 80's was how smart the Japanese were and how they were going to bury us economically. I agree that U.S. schools suck but it's not exactly breaking news.

[AZLiberty]

People who know anything about American kids (twenties means "kids" to me) can tell you they are the most technically estute youngsters in the world. I'll put 'em up against anybody from China or India. Never stop believing in America.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Game skills pay off in real life: Research find benefits of video games in unexpected areas. Even surgery is now best done at what amounts to a video game console. If I ever have to have my prostate removed, it's going to be with this method.

[eddie willers]

Vonage is a moneyt losing startup that replaces your telephone with a telephone.

So what do you talk through Skype?

[advance_copy]

Your history of Skype is correct, except that it is not such a contorted link. Had Napster not gone down, there would be no Skype because Kazaa was its roots. My point is that the true innovation for Kazaa and Skype was Napster and Vonage, and they're American.

The telcos worry less about cell service because they've built their own, the largest of which is Verizon. But VoIP really bugs them because they still haven't got their hands around it yet and it's still going to take them a long time. I'll spare you the whole dissertation on why that's the case.

[Bommer]

He's a fatuous blowhard who thinks a couple of Pulitzers make him a genius.

Well of course he's a genius! I mean that line! "Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio?" Freakin brilliant and original! I mean you could almost put it into a song. I'll talk to my friend, Mrs. Robinson about writing one!

[John Lenin]

Thomash, pull your head out of your rear end and look at these economics.



Look at that second chart: circulation has fallen from nearly 80% in 1970 to nearly 50% today. What's the reason? The failure to understand alternate news sources (cable TV, Internet news sources, etc). The question I have is -- will the newspaper industry change the business model that they have used forever? Or will they decline into obscurity?