Fruit for Thought: the Intersection of Education, Culture, and Performance

I believe the GOP and their loyal followers - who refuse to send their children to school for fear they might listen to President Obama’s “Stay in School” message - are not only ignorant, lacking mental acuity, but they are part of the problem and the reason this country is in shambles. If you object to his message and his philosophy that perfectly fine, but please, please be prepared to share your own solutions. Otherwise, in the words of elementary school teachers around the country with absent students, " if you do not have anything construct to say, be quiet ." Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is one of the guilty parties who he stepped up to criticize President Obama for targeting the classroom by saying it “is no place to show a video address from Obama.” Interesting. Well, Gov. Pawlenty, what do you say to Laura Bush who supports President Obama saying, “There’s a place for the president of the United States to…encourage schoolchildren” and what about those thousands o...

I vowed I would stay out of it. Since everyone took sides on February 9 – namely the side of the attacked, condemning the attacker – I felt I did not need to say anything. Instead, I kept my mouth shut. While I sat back and took it all in, celebrity after celebrity after celebrity after celebrity quickly ran to the defense of Rihanna and saw her as the “victim” while labeling Chris Brown as the “bad guy.” I waited to see how many celebrities would be peer-pressured into saying something one way or another. Waited to see which personality would be next to bash Chris Brown . To see how emotions influenced people to rush to judgments without getting the entire story and hearing all sides. So I waited and my opportunity presented itself when Larry King was given the first Chris Brown interview . In has knack for pushing the issue, Larry King tried to get Chris Brown to tell what happened for the sake of his audience who wanted to know the truth from the mouths of the parties involved....

The draft has come and gone. All the hype about potential players has died down and teams are preparing to debut these rookies in hopes that their presence will help the team. Well, all except one. The Timberwolves are still licking their wounds after Ricky Rubio (their 5th pick) decided he needed a couple more years in Spain to prepare for the NBA . Maybe, in this Post-NBA Age Rule Era , Rubio thinks it is too complicated for a 19-year old European to make that big of a transition right now. This news just adds to the continuing disappointment the NBA has experienced since the anticlimactic, five-game NBA Finals. Everyone expected or at least hoped for the Lakers and Magic to go seven games especially after both Conference Finals Series went six. And kudos to Nike (three Kobe-centric commercials featuring an at home Lebron) and Vitamin Water ( Dwight Howard debating with himself over who he think is better) for doing a decent job recovering from their botched campaigns. The ensuing ...