Author Archives: db128945

People are crazy. In the video above a disturbing picture is shown on how people react to someone in a painful situation. An Actor plays an act of being sick and lays on the ground in a populated area in London. There he scream for help for 20 minutes straight begging for help. No one stops by and helps the young gentleman on the ground. Only after 20 minutes does he finally get up off the ground, but without any help. Why did no one stop and ask him what was wrong?

The bystander effect is an extremely interesting concept. Isn’t it human nature to help someone who’s in need? One would sure think so. In the latter half of the video, two more examples are shown. One of which is of a woman actor who pretends to be in pain. She is dressed casually and also lays on the ground asking for help. This time a man walks up to her asking if she needs help, but only after four minutes of laying down on the concrete. I believe he goes out to help her only because she’s a woman.

The third and final example in the video is of the same male actor as before, but this time he is dressed as a business man, and wears a suit. Here it takes six seconds for someone to help him! Only because he was dressed as a business man! The person who comes and helps him even addresses him as sir.

This video is scary and actually shows how very strange human psyche and people really are. Are people really that shallow that they would only help someone of a higher social class or status?

Something to think about.

By David Bassin

In the video above, a talk is held by professionals and leaders in the field of education discussing the reasons behind America’s failing education system and ways to fix the problem. The panel includes talk show host Charlie Rose from PBS, John L. Hennessy, president of Stanford University, Cory A. Booker mayor of Newark, Reed Hastings, an active educational philanthropist, Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academ, Kim Smith, co-founder of Bellwether Education, and Claude M. Steele, dean of education at Stanford University.

In the first half of the roundtable, the panelists discuss the problems and the reasons behind the problems in education in America. Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark New Jersey says an that one of the most important factors that play in the continuing failure of  American Education is the lack of attention and the lack of protest by the regular populace. American’s believe that if they could just get their own kids to great institutions like Stanford they could get by, and let the other people around them fall down into the spiral of horrible education. Cory Booker says that it is because Americans continue to ignore the issue, that it persists. In fact, this country is inter-dependent and that if we continue to follow this pattern of ” oh, all I have to do is get my own kids through school, and we’ll be fine” then our country is doomed and destined to fail.

Another major issue is the horrible pay and the lack of tools supplied to educators. We expect our teachers to do so much with so very little.

The panelists all say that there is no magic bullet for education, but a possible solution would be highly technological charter schools which focus on individualized learning. Projects like Khan Academy show that learning at an individual pace could help boost children’s performance, and help kids master the science before they are introduced into a new subject.

The only way America will continue being a strong nation is if we are all educated and are able to compete with the rest of the world. It is therefore, our duty to help one another, and help change the education system in America for the better.

by david bassin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkS2uEqaL5s

Some people think,  that just getting a job is easy. For a qualified, young college graduate, it may be. But if you’re 55 or older, and unemployed, it’s really not that easy. The issue of unemployed isn’t isn’t a black and white. There are people who are unemployed for many months, and the longer they stay jobless, the harder it is for them to find work. There are many factors that come into play.

Isn’t it crazy, that some companies refuse to hire the unemployed? When they look for workers, they only ask for people who are already employed?

Lost on Long Island is a documentary explaining the troubles of four families, and linking them to the grand issue of unemployment. It’s a must-watch documentary about folks who live in Long Island, going through difficult times.

Many conservative politicians and radio talk show hosts believe that Americans on unemployment are lazy. They are completely wrong. There are Americans that spend twelve hours a day, looking work, while these very same talk show hosts work little hours, and get paid in the six digit figures.

People are bouncing paycheck to paycheck trying to survive out there in the wild, and to say that they are lazy, and that they aren’t looking for work, is just a lie. Either thepeople who believe these americans are lazy are themselves ignorant, or they are just spewing their propaganda to the masses for their own benefit.

Interestingly, There are laws set in place to combat worker discrimination, but in reality, it still exists. For some jobs, if you are fifty five, and highly qualified, they’d much rather have a younger, less experienced worker, than you. Companies would much rather hire confident, young worker, rather than highly qualified experienced professional.

The saddest part of it all, is that some of these Americans have been working all their lives, and paying into system. The very system, which is failing them now.

by david bassin