Extremely well said. I originally majored in Biology and Statistics. Biology came easy to me because that's the field I wanted to be in, and I loved the subject. Math and calculus was interesting, but difficult for me. I always took each math class TWICE (once by audit), because it took 2 times to "get it". Let people learn by whatever method works for them. They learn faster, better, and are more highly motivated. A great teacher knows this. Unfortunately after 18 years of schooling I can count all the great teachers I have had on the fingers of one hand. In Finland (#1 in Science, #2 in math in the world re:education) , only 1 in 10 applicants into a teaching program (including becoming an elementary school teacher) are accepted. ALL Finnish teachers are requied to have a Masters degree. They are well paid, respected, and very few change professions. A new teacher is overseen by a Mentor teacher, evaluated by a peer 6 times a year, and by the principal at least 4 times a year. There seems to be very little politics in the schools, and a lot of striving to work together, improve, and meet each individual student's needs. (This was all on a CNN special today,(11/6/2011) put together by Fareed Zakharia). A Finnish educator who had visited a US classroom was appalled at the number of children in poverty in that class. We have such great monetary wealth in the US but such distorted priorities I fear we cannot help but fail.

Is it just my impression, or are most contractors owned by friends, family, relatives, etc. of Congreessmen, Senators, etc ???

You're being WAY too kind to the republicans. Small R is intentional. I am a professional (pharmacist). All job contracts are now requiring that I sign on as an "at will" employee, meaning I can be let go for any reason, or no reason at all. Guess what happened when a disc in my back "blew out"? Since I did not claim it as work related, I was fired, oops, let go, so fast it would make your head spin. I can keep "COBRA" by paying the insurance premiums my self. All I have to do is sell my home so I can pay my alimony and insurance payments. Still cheaper than paying for the surgery myself, but not much.

Privacy is the right not to disclose any information of any kind. I get enraged when people say "well if you are innocent, you have nothing to hide". It is my RIGHT to keep my life private, without explaining anything.

Good memory ! Apollo 12 landed within a few hundred meters of the surveyor lander, collected some samples for study, and returned them to earth. (Of course, it was all done in a studio using homeopathic and chiropractic special effects)

What bullshit. Privacy means the right (yes, the RIGHT) to disclose information only to those you wish to share it with. The idea that the only people wanting privacy are "wrongdoers" is idiotic. My information, and what I choose to disclose to whom is totally my business, and no one else's business. I am doing nothing wrong by anyone's standards, but the idea that I should have to dislose my private information to prove it defeats the very idea of privacy.

All your diploma are mine.... Finally, I can "study" endlessly.