Americans are getting dumber

Unfortunately it's a fact that Americans are getting dumber by the day. Children are hardly able to spell correctly, need a calculator to add up simple figures, don't know the capital of their own state, have no clue when the Second World War happened, et cetera.

So how come the USA has some of the brightest scientists in the world? HB1. In other words: most 'American' scientists are not from America but 'imported' thanks to HB1, the special visa for bright minds. The problem? They are starting to return to their home countries, leaving the United States of America.

Yes, science proves it: people ARE getting dumber:

When your child hurts you...

Words from a friend: When your child hurts you, don't take revenge. Don't be snide, don't be sarcastic, don't put them down. Don't be cruel. The hurt will last a lifetime. You are not their equal in all respects. There is no "an eye for an eye" in parenting. 

You are the one they look up to. We are supposed to teach them, support them, and correct them, and most of all, love them. 

Not crush them or beat them into submission, nor fight bitter feuds with them. We are the ones that set the example. We are the ones who have the power to de-escalate whilst still teaching valuable lessons. We are also the ones who have the power to kill the spark of joy and innocence that keeps them going. 

I know a child can say things or act in ways that can stab through the deepest core of your soul. We do not retalliate. We find a way to teach them that their behaviour was wrong and hurtful. 

Every child makes mistakes and every parent makes mistakes. We all lose our cool sometimes, too. 

We are all learning.

Who owns Fox News?

74% Of Americans say they trust Fox News 'because the media outlet represents the real American values'. Appart from the questions 'What are those real American Values?' it's interesting to know who actually pulls the strings of anchors like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. Take a moment to guess who owns this 'Real American Company' before you scroll down for the answer.

(If you can't watch the video: Fox News is one of the largest (next to Russia Today, the Russion state propaganda machine) mainstream media companies in the world. The owners are a foreign family and the money comes from (mostly foreign) investors)

Mayor at the time, Rudy Guiliani, turned down 10 million dollars from Alwaleed Bin Talal to help rebuld 'Ground Zero' at New York, after the 9/11 attacks 'because an Arab can never be a true American patriot'. Well, he wás the second owner of your most trusted TV-channel. Until he sold his shares in Fox in 2017. If you wonder why so much on Fox News is repeated in the English tabloid The Sun, well, they are basically the same company. 

So, what do you think of the fact that a few of the most dominant media outlets are run by just one single (and foreign) family?

Politics and elections

A lot of people just seem to talk without thinking. Politicians are no exception to this 'trend'. Especially when there are elections coming up, politicians are ready to say whatever they think the potential voters want them to say. When confronted with reality (like the question: 'So, how are you going to pay for that plan?') you get interviews like this one:



Also: politicians love to contradict themselves so they're always on both sides of the issue at hand. Take sustainability. UKIP (Britisch right wing party) wants to get rid of windmilss ánd invest more in sustainable energy:

What's privacy?

'What's privacy?', our (grand)children will ask us. And we won't know the answer. What can we tell them? The people sworn to protect our private data did so by collection our private data and used it for personal gain. Yeah. Nobody controls the people who are in control. So they can do as they please. And what do people do when they know they can do as they please without suffering consequences? They do as they please.

As they did in England:

https://www.privacyinternational.org/node/853

https://privacyinternational.org/sites/default/files/21%20Secret%20Intelligence%20Service%20user%20Comms%202011%20to%202014_0.PDF

The (government) services themselves admit that in most cases they had absolutely no reason whatsoever to tap someone's phone, check their e-mails, ask for medical records, find out where people go on holiday, et cetera.

As a matter of fact: often the officials used their power to check on an ex-partner, send a birthday card to a highshool sweetheart they could only find by checking the secret government database, find out if a potential partner has a history of STD's...and so on.

And let me ask you: if you really care about your privacy, why do you publicly post all this data about yourself on Facebook?