#Thinkwing Radio: Mon, 10/5/2015, 9PM @KPFTHouston FM 90.1. TOPIC(s): Local Elections, ‘Common Core’, Greenhouse Gases and Nature, Turkey in Crisis, Russia In Syria, and more. GUEST: Open Forum [AUDIO]

Leave a reply

THINKWING RADIO MOVED TO MONDAYS @ 9-10 PM, BEGINNING 4/13/2015.

SHOW AUDIO: 

Link is usually posted within about 72 hours of show broadcast.

Listen live on the radio or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show (every Monday night from 9-10PM CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer and discussion partner is Egberto Willies (@EgbertoWillies).

For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

  • You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
  • An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

GUESTS: (More complete biographical info on my guests are below Source links.)

OPEN FORUM

POSSIBLE TOPICS: 

Local Elections, Syria, Turkey, Russia, NATO, Iran, Oh My! Common Core: What the heck is it?; and More.

SOURCES WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO OTHER DISCUSSION:

=======================================================

  • Voting information in Harris County can be found at http://harrisvotes.com/
  • Turkey Is in Serious Trouble: The country has seen periods of turmoil before. But this time may be different, By Soner Cagaptay, (The Atlantic) 2015, 2:07 PM ET
  • Hillary Clinton gun plan: Is it feasible? Hillary Clinton said on Monday that if elected, she would use executive action to expand background checks for gun purchases. It could be a demonstration of how to circumvent Congress by using assertive presidential power, By Peter Grier, Staff writer [Christian Science Monitor, csmonitor.com] October 5, 2015
  • Common Core: What it is and what it isn’t. I will share this significant bit from their web site that seems to debunk the claims made for the check: “While the standards set grade-specific goals, they do not define how the standards should be taught or which materials should be used to support students.” That is from http://www.corestandards.org/
      • Common Core State Standards Initiative, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
        • The Common Core State Standards Initiative is an educational initiative in the United States that details what K–12 students should know in English language arts and mathematics at the end of each grade. The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and seeks to establish consistent educational standards across the states as well as ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to enter credit-bearing courses at two- or four-year college programs or to enter the workforce.[1]
        • In the 1990s, the “Standards & Accountability Movement” began in the U.S. as states began writing standards (a) outlining what students were expected to know and to be able to do at each grade level, and (b) implementing assessments designed to measure whether students were meeting the standards.[2]
        • A 2004 report, titled Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma That Counts, found that both employers and colleges are demanding more of high school graduates than in the past.
        • The report explained that the major problem currently facing the American school system is that high school graduates were not provided with the skills and knowledge they needed to succeed in college and careers. “While students and their parents may still believe that the diploma reflects adequate preparation for the intellectual demands of adult life, in reality it falls far short of this common-sense goal.” The report said that the diploma itself lost its value because graduates could not compete successfully beyond high school, and that the solution to this problem is a common set of rigorous standards.[5]
        • Forty-two of the fifty U.S. states and the District of Columbia are members of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, with the states of Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Alaska, Nebraska, Indiana, and South Carolina not adopting the initiative at a state level.[11] Minnesota has adopted the English Language Arts standards but not the Mathematics standards.[12] Several states that initially adopted Common Core have since decided to repeal or replace it, including Indiana, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.[13]
        • States were given an incentive to adopt the Common Core Standards through the possibility of competitive federal Race to the Top
        • The Common Core State Standards have drawn support and criticism from political representatives, policy analysts, and educational commentators. Teams of academics and educators from around the United States led the development of the standards, and additional validation teams approved the final standards. The teams drew on public feedback that was solicited throughout the process and that feedback was incorporated into the standards.[44] The Common Core initiative only specifies what students should know at each grade level and describes the skills that they must acquire in order to achieve college or career readiness. Individual school districts are responsible for choosing curricula based on the standards.[44]
        • In 2012, Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution called into question whether the standards will have any effect, and said that they “have done little to equalize academic achievement within states”.[46] In response to the standards, the libertarian Cato Institute claimed that “it is not the least bit paranoid to say the federal government wants a national curriculum.”[46] Some conservatives have assailed the program as a federal “top-down” takeover of state and local education systems.[47][48] South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said her state should not “relinquish control of education to the federal government, neither should we cede it to the consensus of other states.”[47]
      • Common Core State Standards Initiative: Home
      • Read the Standards | Common Core State Standards Initiative
  • Greenhouse Gases: how important are methane and CO2 from natural sources vs the same gasses from underground hydrocarbons (i.e., oil and natural gas)?

ALSO:

TONIGHT’S GUEST: OPEN FORUM

_____________________________________________________________________

KPFT is a 501(c)3 non-profit, and it can always use your tax-deductible support.  Most of the folks who work and broadcast at KPFT are volunteers, but it still has fixed and variable expenses, and it still costs $150/hour, 24/7/365 to keep KPFT on the air.
KPFT Donation Page

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.