I Just Finished Reading........

Book Review: The Shame of the Nation

Jonathan Kozol has written what I can only describe as a "sobering" account of the state of our public education system.  Clearly the subtitle of the book "The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America" is - in fact, the essence of his revelations. 

What struck me from the beginning of this book is how he is able to use "real" people in very "real" situations to show us exactly what is going on out there in the classrooms in every one of our cities.  We are introduced early on to a child named "Pineapple".  Throughout out the book Kozol comes back to her in order to put a face to a particular issue or incident that he writes about.  It is impossible to read this book and not continually shake your head in disbelief at what is being passed off as "education" in inner city schools.  Schools, by the way, that are only miles away from lily-white suburban schools in middle class neighborhoods.

If there was ever a question about the success or failure of the "No Child Left Behind" legislation, the answer can be found in the pages of this book.  Inner city schools are factories for mind-numbing, not mind expanding teaching methods.  Teaching methods whose only purpose is to somehow train inner city kids to take the mastery tests.  The scores on these mastery tests determine which schools stay open and which are shut down.  They determine which teachers stay and which ones go.  In the meantime, real learning is pushed aside.  Principles, teachers and students are brainwashed into thinking that highly regulated, monitored and sterile teaching scripts are truly the way to educate anyone.

Kozol gives us example after example of teaching methods that are completely acceptable in an inner city school, but would NEVER be allowed to happen in a predominately white suburban school.  He shows us how demeaning and degrading these methods are by assuming that every child in an inner city school is inferior to those in higher income suburban schools.  Teachers are following highly scripted lesson plans and being taught student control and discipline techniques that would be considered offensive by anyone who happened to walk into a classroom and see it in practice.

The gap between the haves and the have-nots is truly getting bigger by the day.  For a country so intent on educating its population and being the land of the free where everyone is "equal", there is definitely a disconnect between what we say and what we do as a nation.  No Child Left Behind really means No "Middle Class White Child" Left Behind.  The fact of the matter is that we are leaving an entire low income, inner city class of children behind.  The level of segregation in inner city schools today makes the 1950's look like the good old days. 

Kozol is right - we should be ashamed of ourselves for letting this happen.

CT Forum

Last night (Wed. April 5) The CT Forum sponsored "A Conversation Between Thomas Friedman and Malcolm Gladwell". 

First - if you have a chance to check out the CT Forum website, please do.  This is an organization that has been sponsoring these types of programs since 1992.  Guests over the years have included Walter Cronkite, Al Franken, Henry Kissinger, Norman Swarzkopf and Spike Lee just to name a very few.  The program previous to last nights was an evening with Colin McEnroe (not my cup of tea), Jennifer Weiner (grew up in Simsbury - first novel "Good In Bed" , second novel an international bestseller made into a movie - "In Her Shoes" starring Cameron Diaz), Joyce Carol Oates ("We Were the Mulvaneys", "Blonde", "The Falls") and one of the greatest writers of my generation Kurt Vonnegut! The Forum's last "A Conversation With..." program featured Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt ("Angela's Ashes") and Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison ("Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination").

Anyway..... Last nights program was at times excellent and at others frankly awful. I did not think that the moderator, Rita Braver (CBS News), did a very good job.  I was however, fascinated by the level of intellect of Friedman and Gladwell.  These guys are SMART!!  And witty, and sincere and genuine.  In spite of Braver's inability to engage Gladwell in really meaningful dialogue, he did manage to make some observations and share some stories about himself that were remarkable.  Tom Friedman actually was able to give me a viable perspective on the Iraq war that I had not previously considered.  He has remained a very vocal supporter of the war, while at the same time a very strong critic of the Bush administration for how they "botched" (his word) the entire thing.  He is perhaps the only supporter of the war that I can actually agree with, a little bit anyway.

Malcolm Gladwell allowed us to see him as a very down-to-earth guy who has a unique ability to see things differently than most of us.  Anyone who has read "The Tipping Point" or "Blink" know what I am talking about.  His insight in the Dialo shooting at the end of "Blink" is extraordinary.  Braver allowed the conversation to focus too much on the Iraq war, and Gladwell is definitely not a supporter.  I would have loved to hear his thoughts on the issue of immigration and illegal aliens, but Braver never asked the question.

Tom Friedman's "The World Is Flat" is, as I've pointed out in a previous post, a must read.  It's very easy to get on the Lou Dobbs, "what about middle class America?" bandwagon.  However, as a card carying member of that middle class, he's just a bit over the top, albeit the opposite of "W".  Friedman could have weighed in on the immigration issue as well, but he never got the chance.  He did make the point several times that "globalization" is going to happen with or without us.  Specifically, he said: "It (the global economy) is going to happen.  The only question is - will it happen with us or to us?"  He also made an observation that I thought was very true of the U.S. as a nation.  Despite how we are viewed by other countries (unfavorably for the most part), and despite the problems that we are facing in the U.S., there are still extremely great things going on in this country everyday.  He referenced some groundbreaking work on "green" technology taking place at North Carolina A&T.  He's an optimist and his optimism allows him to see the positive things that are going on, rather than causing him to focus on the negative.

After an intermission the two authors took questions from the audience.  The audience, by the way, included a sold out Bushnell and a simulcast at the also sold out Wallace Stevens Theater at The Hartford.  I was extremely disappointed at the questions that were chosen by who knows who!  Judging from the crowd, I was sure that there would be some engaging questions.  Instead, we were treated to a couple of "Malcolm, you're so cute, do you have a girlfriend and what do you think about love?" questions and some other, actually forgetable questions.  I was sitting in front of a number of obviously very intelligent college students whom I'm sure turned in some thought provoking questions.  They were never asked.  Sadly, most of the good stuff was over by intermission.

Was it worth it?  Absolutely.  Could it have been better?  Absolutely.

Book Review: Freakonomics

"Freakonomics", by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, is a must read for any business student.  Where else can you find theories about the legitimacy of Sumo wrestling, elementary standardized test cheating (by the teachers!) or the answer to the question "why do drug dealers live with their mommas?"  This guys sees something that doesn't look quite right, goes out and finds a bunch of real live "hard" data about it, and comes up with an incredibly plausible explanation that would not otherwise be readily perceived. 

Here's what Malcolm Gladwell says about Levitt:  "Steven Levitt has the most interesting mind in America, and reading Freakonomics is like going for a leisurely walk with him on a sunny summer day, as he waves his fingers in the air and turns everything you once thought to be true inside out. Prepare to be dazzled."

If you've heard anything at all about this book, you would have heard about his very controversial explanation regarding the sudden, rapid and steep drop in the crime rate in New York City.  If your answer is Rudy Guilianni getting tough as a prosecutor, or the new and improved policing techniques employed by the NYPD, think again!  If you don't know the answer, I won't give it away here.  But I'll give you a hint - Norma McCorvey.

If you think that you want to know which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool, or what motivates those that shirk their responsibility to the "honor system office bagel vendor", or why a prostitute is more likely to be paid better than an architect, get this book.  If you think Gladwell is an interesting guy, Levitt is exactly what you're looking for next!

Book Review: Nothing's Sacred

This book was one that I listened to with my wife and another couple on a recent trip to one of our favorite destinations - Stowe, Vermont.  It's about a twelve hour audio book and we got to listen to about 6 plus hours of it on the way up and back.  I have to say, that it seemed like the ride up and back took absolutely no time at all!  Lewis Black is hilarious.  If you've had the chance to see him on The Daily Show, you'll know exactly what it sounds like to listen to him read this book.  I almost drove off the road several times I was laughing so hard!! 

"Nothing's Sacred" is mostly a biography interspersed with his commentary on everything from Judaism, the Kennedy assasination and family to getting into college, Yale Drama School, his adventures in New Haven and job at Toad's Place, and his career as a playwright.  Simon & Schuster describe the book as "a collection of rants against stupidity and authority, which oftentimes go hand in hand."

Keep in mind, this guy can cross the "wierdo - sicko" line with the same gusto as George Carlin.  We'd be riding along listening and laughing and then he'd come up with a line that caused us to collectively hold our breath as we all thought quietly to ourselves "this is one sick f__k!"  Again, if you have the technology (a.k.a. iPod or other mp3 device), I highly recommend getting this as an audio book.  You can't beat listening to this author read his own material.  It's the perfect audio book to listen to when you just want to forget about a bad day and laugh your ass off!

Book Review: The World Is Flat

This book is absolutely fascinating!  I know that there is a hesitance on the part of those who think that Thomas Friedman is a liberal, left-wing, journalist out to make the Republicans look bad.  Check your politics at the dustcover.  If you want to make it about U.S. politics, you're completely missing the point.

This book is full of very factual information that anyone can research and verify with a few clicks of the mouse on the web.  The fact is, the world is catching up to us and we better recognize it and get our collective sh*t together before we miss the train leaving the station!

There is so much at stake for our children and their children.  The Indian economy is exploding.  The Chinese economy is exploding.  Toyota is set to overtake General Motors as the largest car manufacturer on the planet.  Former soviet bloc countries are churning out students that have an absolute thirst for knowledge and success.  I was absolutely amazed at the facts and figures Friedman discovered in his research. 

Outsourcing is not going to go away.  It's going to grow, and grow and grow.  Eventually, what U.S. companies were able to get cheap, will become less and less cheap.  And, technology is not only causing jobs to move overseas.  They're moving around right here in the U.S.  Did you know that all of Jet Blue's reservation agents work from home?  Mostly nice, mature ladies in Utah?  Did you know that some McDonald's drive-thru's are taking your order via an internet connection?  You're not talking to Martina at the first window.  You're order is routed via a call center to the guy/gal who puts the burger together and then gives it to the person who ultimately hands it to you and takes your money.

Major banks are outsourcing their entire "back-office" operations to India.  Yes, you've encountered people on the end of the phone from a call center who can barely speak the language and can't help you.  That's a very minuscule piece of what is going overseas.  It's the big stuff that is going - and will keep going.  We all want low prices for everything.  This is how companies are making that happen.

If you're in high school or if you have kids in high school - MAKE THEM READ THIS BOOK!  If you're fresh out of college and starting a career - READ THIS BOOK!!  If you're thirty or forty-something and want to make the right decisions on how best to keep yourself marketable and employed thru to retirement - READ THIS BOOK!!!  Yes, he gets "preachee" towards the end of the book.  Yes, he gets up on his soapbox.  OK.  So what.  It's his book.  To ignore the valid information that he presents because you don't like his politics would be foolish, unless you are the parents of high school students, in which case it would be irresponsible!

Really.  Read it.  It's important........

Book Review: When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?

I loaded up this book via Audible.com along with a number of others and headed off to the Republica Dominicana for eight days of sun, fun, alcohol, food and relaxation (not necessarily in that order!).

Needless to say, it took me three days to get to it.  As it happened, I needed the third day to lie on the beach in a semi-fetal position after the first two full days of partying.  So, there I was, minding my own business, when I pushed the play button.  From that point on I couldn't stop laughing, smiling, chuckling, roaring, etc., etc., etc.

If you're a Carlin fan, this is classic George.  At the very beginning he gives you his signature, stream-of-consciousness, rhyming, alliterative (is that a word?) unending description of himself.  From that point on it's a great ride.  It never ceases to amaze me how he can jump from one topic to another without skipping a beat.  And, you have to be prepared for the completely weird stuff that he thinks of.  Stephen King can't hold a candle to Carlin's warped mind.

As I said at the beginning, I "listened" to this book (read by Carlin himself) as opposed to reading the book.  For me, it's the only way to fly, or walk, or drive.  Outside of textbooks, I haven't "read" a book in over two years, thanks to Audible.

So, if you want to pick up some thoroughly enjoyable "light" reading, "When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?" is the way to go!

Book Review: Blink!

It was interesting to see a picture of Malcolm Gladwell, the author of "Blink!".  I've been listening to the audio version of the book.  It's fascinating, but I would never have been able to pick the author out of a line-up!