

1968 – The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
When the Soviets made it into space with Sputnik, US media panicked in support of Democrats and announced education needed to be fixed in USA. New Math was born. New Math had been the belief that kids could learn math by abstract forms which adults understand. If it could be shown subtraction and division were related operations, then children could do both. Only, that is not how children learn, generally, or within the diverse expressions that learning takes. Press did not care. They praised 'forward thinking' Kennedy for panicking and successive administrations spent big on Math and Science. The result being that high schools got physics and chemistry laboratories and Math courses were tested against international standards.
A curious thing happened early in the first Reagan administration. Bad measurement which supported the media narrative of falling education standards resulted in $billions of dollars going to new science facilities and stricter math standards. Only, a rates illusion obscured the fact that standards had risen.
We need to be blind to race, but racists insist on racist discrimination so as to measure inequity. The idea of addressing inequity through any other measure than race, or gender, doesn't seem to register on those racists. So standards were reported over all, and by ethnic subgroups Black, Hispanic, White, Asian, Indigenous and other. Over all standards had fallen, but every single subgroup had improved. Even 'other.' We may never know the specific measures which addressed the needs of 'other' students best. It is probably wrong that we don't do it more. I believe I could measure and address the shortfall if only I were paid better than Gore, Clinton, Obama, Fauci, Biden, Pelosi, Warren etc etc.
The reason for the illusion is to do with the math rule of never adding rates of unlike measures. Black and hispanic students had improved, but their populations were rising from a lower base than Asian and White students, and the number of Black and Hispanic students had increased disproportionately. So even though every subgroup had improved, because there were more of students who were from back grounds which had had lower achievement, the over all results fell. It was not a complete loss. The needs of 'other' students were met better than any Democrat administration has managed since.
https://conservativeweasel.blogspot.com/2021/09/15th-sept-review-of-historical-and.html
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle...
David Daniel Ball calls himself the Conservative Voice.
I'm a teacher with three decades experience teaching math to high school kids.I also work with first graders and kids in between first grade and high school. I know the legends of why Hypatia's dad is remembered through his contribution to Math theory. And I know the legend of why followers of Godel had thought he had disproved God's existence.
I'm not a preacher, but I am a Christian who has written over 28 books all of which include some reference to my faith. Twelve blog books on world history and current affairs, detailing world events , births and marriages on each day of the year, organised by month. Twelve books on the background to and history of Bible Quotes. One Bible quote per day for a year. An intro to a science fiction series I'm planning, post apocalyptic cyber punk. An autobiography with short story collections.
I'm known in Australia for my failure as a whistleblower over the negligence death of a school boy. ...
The Ballad of David Ball
[Verse 1]
In New York City, '67, a child was born so bold,
David Ball, with dreams afire, where Sesame Street was told.
His father shaped young minds at Columbia's hall so grand,
Till the '70s called them homeward to Sydney's distant land.
[Chorus]
Oh, sing of David Ball, with a heart both strong and true,
From classroom tales to whistle’s call, his spirit breaking through.
With pen in hand and faith so deep, he writes through joy and pain,
A voice for justice, loud and clear, in every sweet refrain.
[Verse 2]
Self-taught he read by Sydney's shore, with numbers as his guide,
A math teacher in the tough schools, where hope and youth ...
This is edited to correct obvious mistakes
David Daniel Ball (born January 10, 1967, in New York City) is an Australian writer, conservative blogger, political activist, and former high school mathematics teacher. As the younger brother of cognitive scientist John Samuel Ball, David has carved a distinct path in education, advocacy, and self-publishing, often focusing on social justice, child protection, history, and Christian devotionals. His life story intertwines family intellectual heritage with personal campaigns against institutional failures in child welfare.
David was born in Manhattan during his father Samuel Ball's (1933–2009) tenure as an educational psychologist at Teachers College, Columbia University. Samuel, an Australian academic, contributed to early evaluations of Sesame Street through his work at the Educational Testing Service (ETS), assessing the show's impact on children's learning from 1963 onward. The family, including elder brother John (born 1963 in Iowa), relocated to ...
I invite you with: "Right now, let's respond by seeking Him first. If you're carrying worries, lay them down at His feet. Raise your hands, pray silently, or come forward for prayer as we declare His kingdom priority in our lives." This encourages active faith application, tying back to Matthew 6:33's promise.
https://storiesthatheal.blogspot.com/2016/09/bible-quote-sep-28th-matthew-633.html
Verse 1
In the whisper of the wind, You call my name
Beyond the worries of this world, Your kingdom reigns
Like lilies in the field, clothed in Your grace
I lift my eyes to You, in this sacred place
Chorus
Seek first Your kingdom, oh Lord
And Your righteousness, forevermore
All these things will be added, in Your perfect time
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word from Your throne
We seek You first, we seek You first
Verse 2
From ancient words You spoke, in the mountaintop light
You taught us not to fear, in the dead of night
Your promise echoes through the ages, ...