Gerald Celente Predicts Revolution, Food Riots, Tax Rellions by 2012

A favorite reading of world history is the story of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. If history has seen fit to condemn Nero, what might it eventually say of our elected officials today?

Another dire prediction of the collapse of the U.S. bodes ill will for the future of the Republic. Without a common culture or sense of our past, experts continue to predict the U.S. will cease to be a unified national state in the very near future. To what extent does the lack of holding any state responsible for how well they imbue their students with civic and historical knowledge play a role in accelerating these predictions? FCSS has sponsored a bill in Congress for the last FOUR sessions—where it has languished without much national support—which would address the above possible national catastrophe. Clink here for more information on S659 and here , here or here for other predictions of our nation’s supposedly imminent collapse.

Former key legislators once before killed plans to have Florida students held accountable for understanding a common, unifying history of America's past by noting it is general practice to teach American history differently in various communities around the state. Rather than see a common state assessment as a means to provide a shared understanding of our national heritage, these adherents apparently believe it is more important to allow individual schools to celebrate unique views of America’s past. This is indeed a recipe for national disaster. Florida remains virtually the only southern state that refuses to hold its students accountable for historical and civic understanding. Noted historian David McCullough once commented that he more feared the consequence of the lack of understanding about America's past more than he feared Al Qaeda.

Is it any wonder that noted experts around the world are predicting our demise?
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By 2012 Trend forecaster, renowned for being accurate in the past, says that America will cease to be a developed nation within 4 years, crisis will be "worse than the great depression"

The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.

Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering what he told Fox News this week. Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
"We're going to see the end of the retail Christmas....we're going to see a fundamental shift take place....putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree," said Celente, adding that the situation would be "worse than the great depression".

"America's going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for," said Celente, noting that people's refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as "The Panic of 2008," adding that "giants (would) tumble to their deaths," which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent.

The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures. The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, "The world's middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest," and that, "The middle classes could become a revolutionary class."

In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.
"There will be a revolution in this country," he said. "It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen."

"The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop." "It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more."

"We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension."

The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente's accuracy as a trend forecaster.

"When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente."— CNN Headline News

"A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties."— The Economist

"Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right." — USA Today

"There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about."- CNBC

"Those who take their predictions seriously ... consider the Trends Research Institute."— The Wall Street Journal

"Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark ... he's one of the most accurate forecasters around." — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Mr. Celente tracks the world’s social, economic and business trends for corporate clients."— The New York Times

"Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority."— 48 Hours, CBS News

"Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing."— The Detroit News

"Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, ‘green marketing,’ and the boom in gourmet coffees."— Chicago Tribune

"The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poors of Popular Culture." — The Los Angeles Times

"If Nostradamus were alive today, he'd have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente."— New York Post

So there you have it - hardly a nutjob conspiracy theorist blowhard now is he? The price of not heeding his warnings will be far greater than the cost of preparing for the future now. Storable food and gold are two good places to make a start.

DOE Proposed Schedule for End-Of-Course Exams

This American Tradition Endangered!

Legislative Update #19 - End of Session

Emergent Design and Development
Legislative Update - May 17th 2009

The Legislative Session finally ended at approximately 2:45 pm on May 8, 2009. The budget passed, with education protected more than any other agency. The final budget approaches $66.5 Billion and was made possible through a combination of new fees and a heavy influx of Federal stimulus dollars. The budget also accounts for a decrease of 10,000 students in the 2009-2010 school year.

Of the 308 bills that we were tracking, only 29 bills, the budget, the implementing bill, and the conforming bill managed to pass both houses. These bills are now sent to the Governor for his action.

BUDGET ITEM COMPARISON ( last year’s Session, special session reductions and 2009 session)


NOTE: Instructional Materials, Transportation, the Stabilization money, and Teacher Lead are rolled from categoricals into the Base Student Allocation. Also, Bright Futures does not pay for the increase in tuition.


BUDGET INTEREST FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS
Science Materials allocation was $3,254,969
Science Fair allocation was $43,676
Specific Appropriation 100 has $30,319,115 for technology for grants related to STEM.
The language for Supplemental Academic Instruction, now sets intensive math instruction for students in grades 3-10, who scored at level one as first priority (along with reading.)

PROGRAM COST FACTORS (compared to this year)
PROGRAM (08-09) (09-10)
Basic K-3 1.066 1.074
Basic 4-8 1.000 1.000
Basic 9-12 1.052 1.033
ESOL 1.119 1.124
ESE level 4 3.570 3.520
ESE level 5 4.970 4.854
Career Ed. 1.077 1.050

BILLS THAT FAILED BUT PROBABLY WILL RETURN NEXT YEAR

The large curriculum bills SB 2654 and HB 1293, failed to pass. Both of these bills would have increased the rigor of subjects needed by High School students, in order to receive a diploma. (Higher levels of Math and science) The bill to replace science on the high school FCAT with an end-of-the-year biology test failed. HB 543

The bill which would have required a specific semester course in civics for the middle school failed. The bill was to be named for Chief Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. HB 0013

There were also pieces of bills that failed that included; the % of funds that must be spent on the classroom, reduction to the program weights for A.P., A.I.C.E., and I.B. and the reduction in the teaching bonus for A.P., A.I.C.E., and I.B.
NEW SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN TEMPLATE
Nikolai Vitti, Chief of the Bureau of School Improvement has released to districts, a new template which will fulfill all Federal and State School Improvement Plan requirements. Districts are receiving instruction on completing the template. All schools are required to complete a school improvement plan.
The new template should reduce duplication and assist schools in defining strategies to improve student achievement.
Nickolai.vitti.@fldoe.org or (850) 245-0426

Another Argument in Favor of Teaching Content!

Our thanks to Jason Caros for bringing to our attention the work of Professor Daniel Willingham, author of Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom . FASSS has been strongly arguing for years that the work of cognitive psychology is reaffirming the contention of educational theorists like E.D. Hirsch and Robert Marzano that 'content knowledge' is vital to reading comprehension. Supervisors will remember our sharing the "Background Knowledge" powerpoints [see the training links area of this website] with former D.O.E. Chanellor Cheri Yecki and Deputy Bureau Chief Todd Clark about this very issue a few years ago. When Jason and Jack made it a point to bring out the reading titles and topics in the D.O.E. approved "Third Grade Reading Portfolio" and compared these with titles and topics from the typical third grade CORE KNOWLEDGE curriculum, Dr. Yecki could only profess that she could only 'wish for a magic wand to be able to immediately change the booklet into something more meaningful.' Urged to make the revision of the third grade portfolio a priority by including many more non-fiction readings for children, FASSS is aware that minor changes have been made, but for the most part these were superficial and the document remains an embarassement to the Department.

The influence of cognitive psychologists have indeed made considerable headway with the legislature in recent years. Florida's assessment statute was heavily amended two years ago with repeated references to the need for FCAT to assess not only 'skills' but 'content knowledge'. It appears that FASSS members who have been showcasing to other educators in their districts the arguments of Marzano and Hirsch are indeed making a difference. Add to these educational theorists the new work of Dr. Daniel T. Willingham from the U. of Virginia. His colleague, E.D. Hirsch, writes of the above work, "This readable, practical book by a distinguished cognitivescientist explains the universal roots of effective teaching and learning. With great wit and authority it practices the principles it preaches. It is the best teachers' guide I know of—a classic that belongs in the book bag of every teacher from preschool to grad school."
—E. D. Hirsch, Jr., university professor emeritus, University of Virginia

Educators now have the benefit of a powerful video that clearly illustrates the points these pundits have been making for years. Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiP-ijdxqEc .

All Social Studies educators should be familiar with their work and should share it with the school administrators in their district.

Letter to Jeb Bush's 'Foundation for Florida's Future'

April 30, 2009 DRAFT LETTER

Kristy Cambell
Communications DirectorFoundation for Florida’s Future
kristy@afloridapromise.org

http://www.foundationforfloridasfuture.org/who_we_are.php?sub_page_id=25


Dear Ms. Cambell,

In what way, if any, does the Foundation for Florida’s Future have a role for ensuring that students in Florida’s public schools will be given the requisite skills for historical knowledge and citizenship that will enable them to lead productive lives as participants in the democratic process? Civics, History, Social Studies (whatever we wish to call it) represents a majority of what is commonly referred to as Florida’s Required Instruction Act (FS1003.42), but by statute it is not even required to be taken into consideration when a student is being promoted from one grade to the next at the elementary grades. (A former Florida Chancellor of Public Schools supported adding social studies to the state’s Student Progression Law and despite unanimous approval one year by the Florida House of Representatives and the entire Senate Education Committee, this bill also somehow ‘died’.)
For over 22 years social studies educators have REQUESTED accountability from the state for the efforts they make in classrooms each day. Repeated attempts to introduce legislation to address this need seem to be stalled almost every year.
Over two-thirds of approximately 1700 elementary teachers across Florida admit they teach civics and history less than 2 hours per week. They must wonder why teach it at all, of it’s not even needing to be considered for grade promotion. Florida is only one of two southern states not assessing social studies in any way at some grade level. We have been told by former key legislators that because subjects like American History are taught in a widely different manner in many different areas of the state depending upon local needs and demographics that it would be very difficult to assess Social Studies in Florida. I personally believe that if the legislature as a whole believed this, it would be a recipe for state and national disaster. Already our former adversaries are almost gleefully predicting the dismemberment of the United States in 2010.
Numerous reports abound about the lack of knowledge our students have about their own nation’s history and its governmental and economic system. I need not list them all here. Our state has been criticized in the by national leaders in the Congressional House and Senate for its shortsightedness. Having lobbied for over one generation for the state to live up to its civic responsibility, I would be very interested in what how Foundation is planning to address this crisis. I would be most delighted to see some literature from the Foundation or your plan for how our state may reverse this dangerous course.

Sincerely,

Jack Bovee
Legislative Chair, Florida Association of Social Studies Supervisors and the Florida Council for the Social Studies

Florida Statutes Pertaining to Social Studies

FS 1003.4156 Middle School Promotion. This statute now requires “Three middle school or higher courses in social studies, one semester of which must include the study of state and federal government and civics education.”

FS 1003.42 Commonly called the “required instruction statute” this is a time-honored list of content knowledge with all school districts and schools must teach to children in enrolled in public school. This statute pertains primarily to Social Studies. You will search in vain for any mention of Reading, Science or Math content knowledge.

FS 1003.421 Commonly called the “Celebrate Freedom Week Law” this law establishes the last full week of September of each year as a time where all students must recite daily several key sentence from the Declaration of Independence. Moreover, each school district must ensure teachers must provide “at least 3 hours of appropriate instruction in each social studies class, as determined by each school district, which instruction shall include an in-depth study of the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence.

FS 1003.43 General Requirements for Graduation. Specifies the number of social studies credits and what specific courses students must successfully complete to earn a diploma.

FS 1003.44 Patriotic Programs, Rules Allows school districts to adopt rules which require teachers and students to participate in programs of a patriotic nature, specifying how the Pledge to Allegiance is to be conducted and how documents of a religious nature may be used with students. It also describes an exemption process.
FS 1003.45 Permitting the Study of the Bible and religion; permitting brief meditation period

FS 1003.45 Permitting the Study of the Bible and religion; permitting brief meditation period

FS 1008.22 Florida’s Assessment Statute

FS 1008.25 Public school student progression; remedial instruction; reporting requirements. This law s repeatedly specifies that student performance in reading, writing, mathematics and science must be taken into consideration when a student is being considered for promotion from one grade level to the next.