Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum OT: Anybody know Taco Bell's "Canon in D?"

You guys have to read this. It's so funny, but yet, so sad. I hate to believe that America is becoming dumb like this. Our rankings in world standardized testing is declining every year, and we don't even have a good command of "our" language. Again...sad.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...9058.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

hah sounds like my peers; good, albeit depressing, read

I think there's no doubt that the real "issue" is the increased access to higher education. There is a considerable percentage of those at Universities now who would never have got there when I went to school. I don't see that as a bad think, but it does lead to a perception that there is a lower level of ability - because there is for those folks. My nephew is a case in point - took several years to get through the first two years of community college but earned a spot at FSU by doing that. Good for him, but he was in LD classes all his way through school and I know my rising sixth grader is at a higher reading level than he is.

But it still made me chuckle.

Taco Bell makes me a Cannon of D. It's not very musical, but it's expressive.

Better than Baytovin's Moonlite Snotter.

Some one once called me a "grammar nazi," but I must admit I found that quite amusing . . . and more than a bit sad. On another note, though, grammatical rules are constantly changing. One of the most "beloved" grammar rules - never end a sentence with a preposition - is no longer considered valid in many academic quarters today. I work with many young people, and although some remind me of the article, others who attended the same schools are quite literate. I do not think we can blame the educational system for their shortcomings.

Predictive text and/or spell-check may be responsible for some of it, too.

Hahaha When I came to the States (zillions of years ago) i thought how I could compete with a bunch of native speakers of English. I now realize that I was not the only one struggling with English.

I wonder about this, because spell-check has gradually taught me how to spell, where years of rigorous prep school never did. I did fine at grammar and usage, but I utterly lacked that ability to look at a word and see whether it "looked right".

But now that certain words always acquire an angry red underline when I type them, I've developed a conditioned awareness of these problematical words, and the irritating process of fiddling with them until spellcheck approves has taught me how to spell them right to begin with (well, mostly.... I'm certainly better at it than i was )

Make mine with extra hot sauce.

Hilarious, and a bit sad.

I find this thread appropriate to share a book that opened my eyes as to why things only get worse. The government doesn't want youth to learn or to become critical thinkers. That could jeopardize their agenda. They want mindless 'ABCD choice' test takers who love reality TV and partying.

If anyone is interested in reading up as to why it seems our youth keep getting dumber and dumber every generation check out this book, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America. It's a tome that shows the federal governments attack on the education system through their own documents and words. The author only adds little tid bits of information after she presents a source.
The entire text is here; http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/ Link to the PDF is on the right side of page.

I know it's long but this is a book everyone needs to read. It really opens your eyes as to what is going on in this country and why things keep getting worse. And I'm going to finish this post with a quote from the second chapter of the book:

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR.’S DIRECTOR OF CHARITY FOR THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION, Frederick
T. Gates, set up the Southern Education Board (SEB), which was later incorporated into the
General Education Board (GEB) in 1913, setting in motion “the deliberate dumbing down
of America.” The Country School of Tomorrow: Occasional Papers No. 1 (General Education
Board: New York, 1913) written by Frederick T. Gates contained a section entitled “A Vision
of the Remedy” in which he wrote the following:

Is there aught of remedy for this neglect of rural life? Let us, at least, yield ourselves to the
gratifications of a beautiful dream that there is. In our dream, we have limitless resources,
and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hand. The present
educational conventions fade from our minds; and, unhampered by tradition, we work our
own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk. We shall not try to make these
people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or of science.We are
not to raise up from among them authors, orators, poets, or men of letters. We shall not
search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians. Nor will we cherish even the humbler
ambition to raise up from among them lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen,
of whom we now have ample supply.

Straight from the snakes mouth itself.

[/quote]
I wonder about this, because spell-check has gradually taught me how to spell. [/quote]
Same here. OH! So that's how you spell that word!? LOL

I have a lot of difficulties with spelling and grammar because I'm dyslexic. I've tried and I've tried but it just doesn't sink in. What's really sad is when I was in school no one was really interesting in believing that some of us had learning disabilities and instead teachers would actually make fun of us! It was a horrible experience.

What's interesting is that I understand how someone can go through life and never see certain words written in written form. And the way people talk so fast sometimes its hard to make the distinction between something like dog eat dog and doggy dog. Plus, you often hear these sayings without anyone ever telling you what they mean.

on a final note. Taco Bell can be a musical feast. Depending on your definition of musical and your tolerance for cheat fast food.

haha, I clipped this out and stuck it on the fridge at my office.

It was a doggy-dog day, I tell you.

That was hilarious. Thanks, Cebukid.