We support the position of Steve Lopez, LA Times columnist, re California's race to the bottom for quality public education. Over the past decade state funding for schools has declined by 42% and the effects have been devastating. The remedies are not simple but as Steve puts it: You cannot fix any of this in a state more inclined to build prisons than schools, despite projections of a huge shortage of college-educated workers by 2025. You can’t fix it when you’re the only major oil-producing state with no excise tax, and you refuse to correct the huge property tax advantage Proposition 13 extended to corporations. You can’t fix it without modest concessions from public employees, including teachers, on pensions and benefits. And you certainly can’t fix it with three competing and unimaginative tax-increase proposals — one by Gov. Jerry Brown — that would restore some school funding, but are likely to do each other in come November. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0314-lo...

"All red meat is bad for you, new study says," as in any amount you eat increases your chance of early death. We hope this will be enough for the FDA to create responsible, healthy dietary guidelines, not another colorful pictograph that incorporates top American processed food corporations, as well as drive a stake (no pun intended) through the heart of the less-than-ethical cattle industry! http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-red-meat-20...

"U.S. soldier in Afghanistan goes on a shooting rampage." If anything is surprising about this, it's that it took so long to happen. We have a culture that glorifies violence, and praises aggression as the American way to solve problems. Our educational system is completely devoid of tolerance and diversity instruction, has failed to equip students with adequate job skills, and completely down-plays the greatest of American traits, a overriding respect for the content of one's character. And then we fill the frontlines of our military, literally the faces of our nation to those countries who are at greatest ideological odds with us, with the most extreme personifications of these problems. We weren't surprised 10 years ago, and we're not surprised today. It's time we re-learned what it means to be American.

Was disappointed to see that the ipad 3 is just a slight upgrade to the previous ipad 2. It looks exactly the same and it's not even lighter... *sigh* oh Steve would you approve?

Talk about cheap commodity hardware! $35 700MHz Arm processor with 256MB memory. We'd love to build a Hadoop cluster out of a ton of those bad boys! http://www.alliedelec.com/raspberrypi/?gclid=CNrEuPbx164CFUZN4Aod-WA3cA

We need to inform the coaching staff and front office that the Lakers NEED to start playing Luke Walton. Luke is a TWO-TIME world champion with HIGH BASKETBALL IQ. He also owns a BBQ restaurant. Our voice needs to be heard. And Fisher needs more playing time as well. He's a certified BULLDOG! Run the offense through Fisher and Walton pick-and-rolls. Let's bring back Showtime!

Yesterday President Obama lambasted Republican presidential candidates for their vague, amorphous criticisms of weakness in his handling of Iran. While it's reckless, premature, and dangerous for these candidates to imply the need for war, they force the President into a sticky situation. While we support his desire for a diplomatic resolution, we do feel the President must take care to balance his political desire to point out the flaws in the Republicans' rehetoric, with the nation's strategic need to be extremely assertive with Iran. Specifically, he must craft his statements about Republicans not to signal to Iran that military force is completely out of the question. Otherwise, he can embolden Iran and ironically bring us closer to war. More: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/world/middlee...

We're not as excited about tomorrow's rumored iPad 3 announcement by Apple as we are about the AppleTV! 24/7 Siri! (If only they could make her sound like the computer from Star Trek The Next Generation!)

Part of the American Dream is what gave way to suburban sprawl. Building outward across land has allowed cities/towns to be developed with ridiculously winding roads and interconnecting highways that make dependency on traveling by vehicles necessary for convenience. Carbon emissions and wasted land space can be limited by educating the importance in a shift of American Dream ideals to building upward rather than out, living in smaller, shared space so that city-wide development facilitates traveling by means of public, mass, rapid transportation (e.g. subway system in NYC, bus system in Curitiba, Brazil). Ultimately, an end to suburban development and migration to existing major cities (without our vehicles) can significantly contribute in doing less harm to the environmentalists.

For the second consecutive year China boosted their defense budget over 10%; now topping $100 billion. Buy "made in China" and we arm a soldier. Buy "made in USA" and we give our neighbor a job.

We focus all our efforts on supply-side solutions (renewable energies, electric-powered vehicles, energy-efficient appliances), but have failed to acknowledge the root of our environmental problems...over consumption. Demand-side tactics are deemed anti-capitalistic, un-American. So rather than turning off the lights when we don't need them, we install fancy solar-panels on our roofs, and rather than catching a ride-share, we buy the hybrid Highlander.

I just noticed in the workspace for the vox, it is hinted that I use "we" instead of "I" - as Americans, we need to shed some of our individualism in this iCulture.

What is necessary for the American mindset to lose it's hubris is opening itself to listening to and encouraging the criticism of the rest of the world. But, this also applies to the Western mindset in general no matter where on this Earth it is established systematically. This world may be controlled by money for now, but ideas are the currency of the future. I believe that online we must seek out ways to dialogue with other world citizens in a more organized forum, and I feel like combining news and information items in a more collaborative, open and uncensored environmentalists is necessary. Without fear of reprisal or intervention of law enforcement. It's not about secrecy or privacy, but liability and freedom of expression. I enjoy watching http://stream.aljazeera.com/ for a slightly more global, but less hierarchical discussion of world events. This horizontal form of communication is necessary everywhere online and in the flesh. Work, school and inter-communally. Hopefully bloc vox can become one of those tools!