Baltimore

[Newman]

Driving back to civilization I heard on the radio that Baltimore had "13 high schools in which not a single student was proficient in math," proficient being an achievement level based on a standardized test. (We have settled on about three levels, "basic," akin to an F; "proficient," akin to C; and "advanced" akin to an A.)

So I look this up to find out it's old news, from 2017:

Zero Students Proficient In Math At 13 Baltimore City High Schools
Nov. 9, 2017.

Baltimore, we have a SERIOUS problem. The murders in the city are already at an all time high, and now students’ test scores show that 13 high schools in Baltimore City are not proficient in math.

After state testing was analyzed by Project Baltimore, it was found that 1/3 of high schools in Baltimore city last year had zero students proficient in math.

13 Baltimore City High Schools, zero students proficient in math
Nov. 8, 2017.

An alarming discovery coming out of City Schools. Project Baltimore analyzed 2017 state testing data and found one-third of High Schools in Baltimore, last year, had zero students proficient in math.

But that’s not all we found. In the midst of that troubling number, there are some bright spots.

Most mornings, at Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys, start the same way – with students chanting the school’s motto in the gym.

Chanting? Yeah, I've been there, heard that. James Brown used to sing, "Get up offa that thing, and dance 'till you feel better." My hunch is dancing has a better result than chanting.

“There’s an urgency about the work we’re doing,” said Jack Pannell, the school’s founder.

That urgency was born out of need.

“Nine out of ten black boys in Baltimore City are not reading at grade level,” added Pannell.

In all seriousness, this is an appalling problem. Another hunch of mine is, if anyone knew how to fix it, they would.

The best immediate solution is probably for everyone with school age children to evacuate those areas, move to places where schools have better results. Shift government assistance to facilitate the evacuation and resettle these kids, and hope it's not too late.

They say great teachers won't save a bad school; a bad school will break a great teacher. Clever and true, but it leaves the larger question unanswered.

[Newman]

Lloyd Marcus:

Baltimore black kids escape to Trump country

...I met an extremely bright, articulate 15-year-old black kid and his three younger siblings. Mary read in the local newspaper that he is the best runner in the county, receiving offers and scholarships.

His grandmother is white. She moved him and his three siblings from the Baltimore projects to live with her because their parents are drug addicts. She laid down the law to her grandson that his Baltimore thug attitude would not be tolerated in her home. Grandma's tough love parenting worked.

If you watched the Democratic presidential debates, you could conclude that everyone and everything in America is racist. In my tiny town of Trump voters, everyone appears to embrace and support the four black kids who escaped the hood of Baltimore.

Folks, I have high hopes for this kid, the runner. I see greatness in him. He has a calm spirit. He is academically solid and trains hard, running several miles every day. I gave him fatherly advice to stay focused on his dreams. He replied, "Yes sir."

It is amazing what a child can achieve once he is distanced from the destructive atmosphere of a Democrat-controlled city. Despicably, Democrats and fake news media relentlessly seek to fill black youths with victim mindsets — hate for their country and hate for Trump voters.

I trust that God will give me more opportunities to mentor my young runner. Prayerfully, I will open his eyes to the truth that he is blessed to be an American and that America is the greatest land of opportunity on the planet for all who choose to go for their dreams. I look forward to seeing my runner on team USA in the Olympics. That will be awesome!

[Norm dePlume]

Dear Leader says to look at Baltimore. Newman complies.

[Newman]

Dear Leader says to look at Baltimore. Newman complies.

That is so lame, Norm. Sheesh.

Tell you what, though. Do you know a major city that has been under uniform Democratic control in our lifetimes and has flourished? lifted its minorities into the middle class? whipped together excellent public schools and safe neighborhoods?

Maybe they're around, but you're right it's NOT what I'm seeing.

[Norm dePlume]

Baltimore has existed for centuries. It has serious problems, and those serious problems have existed for decades. I don't remember you ever expressing concern about the city of Baltimore. Certainly, you've never started a thread about Baltimore. But a couple of days after Trump started hyping Baltimore in a sidelong attack at Rep. Cummings, you start a thread about Baltimore.

That's quite a coincidence.

[Frostbit]

That is so lame, Norm. Sheesh.

Tell you what, though. Do you know a major city that has been under uniform Democratic control in our lifetimes and has flourished? lifted its minorities into the middle class? whipped together excellent public schools and safe neighborhoods?

Maybe they're around, but you're right it's NOT what I'm seeing.

He will dodge answering that. Who's running Portland these days?

[Novaheart]

Baltimore has existed for centuries. It has serious problems, and those serious problems have existed for decades. I don't remember you ever expressing concern about the city of Baltimore. Certainly, you've never started a thread about Baltimore. But a couple of days after Trump started hyping Baltimore in a sidelong attack at Rep. Cummings, you start a thread about Baltimore.

That's quite a coincidence.

7 decades to be precise. It was still livable in the late 40's.

[Novaheart]

........if anyone knew how to fix it, they would.

I'd like to see a study which compares kids who learned to read at home before 1st grade and those who can't read in 8th grade.

[Novaheart]

Baltimore has existed for centuries. It has serious problems, and those serious problems have existed for decades. I don't remember you ever expressing concern about the city of Baltimore. Certainly, you've never started a thread about Baltimore. But a couple of days after Trump started hyping Baltimore in a sidelong attack at Rep. Cummings, you start a thread about Baltimore.

That's quite a coincidence.

It's a given. People don't talk much about it because Detroit and Philadelphia hog the category.

[Norm dePlume]

That is so lame, Norm. Sheesh.

Tell you what, though. Do you know a major city that has been under uniform Democratic control in our lifetimes and has flourished? lifted its minorities into the middle class? whipped together excellent public schools and safe neighborhoods?

Maybe they're around, but you're right it's NOT what I'm seeing.

He will dodge answering that. Who's running Portland these days?

Pittsburgh. Consider your bullshit challenge called, and go back to worshipping Dear Leader.

[Newman]

Baltimore has existed for centuries. It has serious problems, and those serious problems have existed for decades. I don't remember you ever expressing concern about the city of Baltimore. Certainly, you've never started a thread about Baltimore. But a couple of days after Trump started hyping Baltimore in a sidelong attack at Rep. Cummings, you start a thread about Baltimore.

That's quite a coincidence.

I'm reacting to the news cycle. Same as talking about, oh I don't know, WMD back in the day. Now I don't even recognize the acronym (Weapons of Mass Destruction).

Baltimore, The City With Space to Destroy, has been in the news for a while, of course.

Pittsburgh. Consider your bullshit challenge called, and go back to worshipping Dear Leader.

There was no "bullshit" in my challenge, and I think you picked a good response.

Pittsburgh's a major city, run by Democrats since the Great Depression, sank with the Rust Belt and especially with the loss of its iconic industry, lost population (still is, in fact, but much less); in recent years it's widely praised as rebounding, attracting cool businesses and the like, and making various "best cities" lists.

Pittsburgh Ranked Among Nation's Best Big Cities: Study

The study says Pittsburgh is particularly good when it comes to job opportunities.

Pittsburgh Shows the Way to a Rust Belt Rebound
Feb., 2018.

...The common story is that Pittsburgh revived itself by becoming a university-centered technology hub, like Austin, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; or San Diego -- the industries of tomorrow replacing those of yesterday. Carnegie Mellon University, ranked 25th in the nation, has cooperated closely with industry and government to help revive the town. The school’s Robotics Institute, founded in 1979, and its National Robotics Engineering Center, which helps commercialize technologies invented on campus, have given the former Steel City a new reputation as Robot Town. The self-driving car industry has flocked to Pittsburgh, which now boasts a large Google campus and was the site of an Uber Technologies Inc. autonomous vehicle pilot program. Pittsburgh also has a growing startup scene, with incubators like AlphaLab that help shepherd university graduates into the business world.

Tech hubs can’t be built without smart workers, and universities alone aren’t sufficient to attract them. This typically involves creating things that smart young people like, such as an art scene, fashionable neighborhoods and a lively downtown. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, funded by foundations created by the industrial titans of yesteryear, has been helpful for creating these.

Pittsburgh has also been welcoming to immigrants, who have helped the city maintain its tax base. And, just like every successful city in the country, it has become more diverse, with a big increase in its Asian population.

So all the typical ingredients of the modern American urban success story are there -- an educated and diverse workforce, a great university, and close cooperation between the public, private, nonprofit and academic sectors. Another factor may be financial -- after a crisis in 2003, the city cut costs dramatically. Although painful in the short run, that probably eased the looming burden of tax hikes, making businesses and workers more comfortable moving to the region.

Boldface added.

The Bloomberg writer makes no mention of fracking, but others do, and I'm guessing the recent fracking boom may have something to do with Pittsburgh's rebound as well. Here's a map of the fracking activity in the fabled regions of western and northern PA:




A Fracking-Driven Industrial Boom Renews Pollution Concerns in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is a city on the upswing, rebounding this century from its rustbelt past by developing more innovative sectors such as health care, education, and technology. Uber is testing its self-driving cars in Pittsburgh. Carnegie Mellon University is home to a world-renowned Robotics Institute. And the city made an aggressive bid for Amazon’s HQ2, which the mayor viewed as key to moving the Steel City beyond its roots in heavy industry.

Progress toward a cleaner, post-industrial future is not linear, however.

Wait... "post-industrial"?

Now, Pittsburgh and the surrounding area are embracing a new wave of industry tied to the fracking boom in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Nothing better embodies this surge than a massive, $6 billion ethane cracker currently being built 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh by Shell Chemical Appalachia, a subsidiary of the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. The facility will process huge quantities of natural gas and natural gas liquids from the prolific Marcellus and Utica shales and turn them into the building blocks of plastic. The plastic pellets produced by “cracking” ethane molecules will then be sold to manufacturers producing consumer and industrial products such as plastic bags, packaging, automotive parts, and furniture.

When it comes online in 2021, Shell’s ethane cracker will also add significantly to air pollution in western Pennsylvania, becoming the region’s largest source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are harmful gases emitted by solids or liquids, including combusted fossil fuels. The facility will also emit substantial amounts of nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), fine particulate matter, and other hazardous air pollutants, the Clean Air Council says. All of these have been linked to an increased risk of respiratory problems such as asthma, as well as to cardiovascular effects and a heightened risk of cancer.

The Democrats may oppose fracking (Gov. Cuomo slammed the lid on that stuff in neighboring NY, for example) but local politicians aren't on board.

Environmental groups, along with some local residents, have fought the ethane cracker. But local and state political leaders are almost uniformly supportive of the project, regardless of party affiliation.

“Employment in western Pennsylvania has never been better,” says Ken Broadbent, business manager at Steamfitters Local 449, noting that construction at Shell’s ethane cracker will eventually provide jobs for 1,500 steamfitters, some of whom will make more than $100,000 a year. “I’ve never seen this many jobs for construction workers in western Pennsylvania, and I’ve been a steamfitter for 45 years. Natural gas is going to be bigger than the steel industry back 30 or 40 years ago. There’s 50 years to 100 years of natural gas in this tri-state region. This thing is not going away.”

Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has hailed Shell’s ethane cracker as the “biggest private-sector investment in Pennsylvania since World War II” and touted the prospect of a transformation of western Pennsylvania as a fracking-driven energy “hub,” with the cracker just the first in a series of petrochemical projects. Executives and industry analysts refer to Shell’s ethane cracker as an “anchor” project around which new infrastructure would be built — the associated pipelines, compressor stations, gas processing facilities, and a new ethane storage facility.

Here's the money line:

Pittsburgh’s work on combatting [sic] climate change through 2030 would be negated by this single Shell plant.

Darn it. Maybe when Andy Lang recommended we move our people to higher ground he had Pittsburgh in mind.

Anyway, Pittsburgh is on the upswing, even if not conforming to progressive orthodoxy. The schools need work, but that's a universal problem.

I'd say danger is on the horizon, though:

Pittsburgh officials launch a 50-year transit vision plan

...To complete the 2070 Transportation Vision Plan, DOMI wants input from Pittsburghers, and they don’t want people to think small when submitting ideas.

“This could be manifested in the form of restored streetcar transit, re-emphasis on bicycling and walking, gondolas (aerial trams) where once there were inclines, and water taxis, among others,” notes the plan.

But maybe, as George Gershwin (and Ira) put it, they'll call the whole thing off. Table it, at least:

DOMI will also be tabling at a series of public events where people can engage with staff about the 2070 vision plan.

[Norm dePlume]

I'm reacting to the news cycle.

You're responding to right-wing media, which is following Dear Leader's lead. And that makes you a follower. I think you probably understand this, but I'm frequently surprised at how much people manage to avoid understanding. And, if you don't understand, that makes you a mindless follower (which is the very best kind of follower).

You hear a story on the radio; you look it up; you find out it's old news; you are aware that Trump has been tweeting about Baltimore; and you absolutely refuse to connect the dots. It's impressive.

[Newman]

I'd like to see a study which compares kids who learned to read at home before 1st grade and those who can't read in 8th grade.

I posted this thread in the education forum because I was aghast at the bankruptcy of the Baltimore school system.

1/3 of high schools in Baltimore city last year had zero students proficient in math.

Zero. And a handful of high schools had zero kids proficient in math or English.

That's not a normal distribution curve.

Look, even if you're Lester Maddox and you think colored folk (he's being polite in this reference) are more stupider than white folks, you still don't get zero. Thirteen high schools is a lot of zeroes.

For whatever reason(s) these kids are rejecting the academic experience schools intend for them to absorb.

[Michele]

He will dodge answering that. Who's running Portland these days?

Antifa?

[Newman]

You're responding to right-wing media, which is following Dear Leader's lead. And that makes you a follower. I think you probably understand this, but I'm frequently surprised at how much people manage to avoid understanding. And, if you don't understand, that makes you a mindless follower (which is the very best kind of follower).

You hear a story on the radio; you look it up; you find out it's old news; you are aware that Trump has been tweeting about Baltimore; and you absolutely refuse to connect the dots. It's impressive.

And there you go, curling up in your angry walnut shell again. It's likely to be a very long year ahead.

I'd label myself a practical conservative, as opposed to a doctrinaire or "movement" conservative. I'm partisan in this split electorate, but I'll fight behind the best available general, including Mitt Romney, when he was. Early on here I compared Trump to Ulysses Grant, and I'm not the only one to do so.

That has little to do with following the news cycles. Trump dominates the news for a lot of reasons, including ratings. His habit is to whack whatever mole he sees, and here Cummings is much like John McCain, a hero of legend, rather enervated, who launched an ill-considered haymaker at the president. I hope Cummings doesn't become the shriveled curmudgeon McCain did. I don't think he will.

The focus was on AOC and so-called concentration camps for a while; maybe next week we'll be talking about El Paso, though my guess is that too will be Trump's fault by then.

But news in the broader media concerns larger issues such as trade policy that always involve political leadership. I probably cite CNN as much as I cite Fox News, but the same issues are covered by both. (As sepulchral as CNN is on TV, their online reporting is excellent.) Otherwise it's a niche issue. My interest in the trial of Oberlin College is a niche issue for me, for example.

Dots are everywhere. Don't worry about them. They stick to your shoes, attach to your clothes like little burrs in the tall grass. But they're harmless.

Politically, the focus on "the Squad," Baltimore, and the Democratic debate has been a struggle to brand the Democratic Party—or not—in advance of next year's campaign. The standings of the individual candidates are largely inconsequential at the moment. And btw it has moved the spotlight well off the nascent impeachment drive in the House, in my opinion. But those aren't dots to connect. They're more like wads of double-stick tape.