The Failure of Secondary and Post-Secondary Education: Just Grab a Dang Parachute

Secondary and post-secondary education is failing us. A growing number of critics have realized that the skills and knowledge young adults of my generation are equipped with in high schools and liberal arts colleges have little correlation to real-life jobs. We find that no one will hire us, and if we get a job, little of what we learned in school prepared us to do that job.

Granola Part 2: Health Calculus

For a recipe see Granola Part 1.
Generally I think granola is a health breakfast choice. Oats are a whole grain. They will give you fiber and nutrients. From there it gets a little more complicated.

Even if you’re trying to lose weight, its a good idea to get plenty of calories in the morning. I’ve read eating when you wake up tells your body its time to start burning calories. It also prevents you from getting hungry mid-day and snacking from the vending machine or gas station. More specifically, its a good idea to get some protein and healthy (unsaturated) fat  in the morning, because calories from protein and fat will keep you fuller longer that carbohydrates. Go for nuts and seeds. 

Granola Part 1: "Granola, So Easy!"

Why is granola so expensive? I don’t know. Its cheap and easy to make. Several years ago a friend named Robin made this “ratio” for me by scanning several recipes and finding the common denominators.

Everyone's a Winner- The Self-Esteem Parenting Model

The Self-Esteem Parenting Model is one common parenting strategy that has been nearly universal among middle-class families from at least the 1980s to the present. The model assumes that a high self-esteem is essential for a child’s success and that parents should promote and defend their child’s self-esteem as often as possible. Parents frequently tell their children that they are smart and great. They praise every half-hearted crayon scribble their child produces. Competition is avoided. Four-year-old soccer games are not scored, and whatever the game is, there are never any losers.

The Crappy Toy Dilemma

I cringe when I walk into a child care facility or child’s bedroom and see a field of mismatched, broken, dismantled toys scatted about the room. A Playschool truck missing a wheel. A naked Barbie. A few Monopoly dollars. This scene is caused by what I call the Crappy Toy Dilemma.

The Crappy Toy Dilemma is a catch 22. We buy children toys that are poorly made from low quality material, usually plastic, because we anticipate them being lost or broken. But children loose and break toys because we do do not teach them how to take better care for them because we know their just cheap plastic.

Farming with Oxen

I just read an article in the New York times about farming with oxen. Apparently its coming back into use on a few farms. Farmers claim that, largely due to rising fuel prices, it is cheaper to farm with animals than tractors. Oxen are fueled by grass, a renewable resource. Plus you get the added benefits of the oxen hoofs aerating the ground, and oxen droppings fertilizing it. Isn’t it convenient how these little cycles work?

Some experts predict an oil crisis. A sudden crisis seems less likely than continuous decline in availability until prices are so high that it becomes cheaper to replace the burning of fossil fuels with other methods of transportation and production. Oh wait. Thats whats happening here.

Language Evolution and the Brain

The brain is extremely interesting. We know so little about how it works and its capabilities.  How does it store memories or newly acquired information?  How do we learn language, the ability that distinguishes humans from all other life? An article in the Economist last week discussed two new studies about the evolutionary origins of language.