It is no news that the American educational system, in general, has been in trouble. The average American student is known to show poorer test score, higher dropout rate, and lower literacy rate compared to the global benchmark. Recently, Louis Menand wrote an opinion on the New Yorker regarding abolishing homework in schools. Does homework give kids with rich and smart parents an unfair advantage by receiving help from them? The answer to that question really depends on which direction the American people want their educational system to go as Menand points out:

I thought about trying to write something serious here today, but, I just couldn't. I'm sitting in the sun crushing beers and I just can't bring myself to think about something serious like what the hell is going on in Europe or any other financial news. What I was thinking about, though, is What is your go to food/beer/event on July 4th?

Some people crush the lake in boats and other simply sit in their backyard with the family and enjoy life without work for a day. What say you guys, especially those that live in large cities. Do you leave for the day? Something that always made me wonder. Anyway, Happy July 4th to everyone and hope you drink plenty of Budweiser and Hot Dogs. Oh, and let's all hope Joey Chestnut sets another record on Coney Island today.

Maybe this topic is not appropriate for WSO as The Street is known for attracting workaholics. Still I have to ask the question, do you guys really want to be working well into your 70's?

According to this Economist article that is precisely the sort of decision many of you will eventually have to make. With dwindling populations in the West and the need to prop up the ponzi planet of state funded pensions, Europe is allegedly looking at a retirement age of 70 by the year 2040, with America at a purported smidgen lower.

Andy note: "Blast from the past - Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from Sep. 2010. If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

Yesterday's conversation about who is rich was so interesting that I thought I'd take today to explore who is poor, and what it means to be poor in America these days. Just so we're all operating with the same figures, here is the latest U.S. poverty index. The data concludes that the poverty line for 2010 is an annual income of $22,000 for a family of four. A greater number of Americans live below the poverty line now than at any time in the 51-year history of U.S. poverty statistics (but not the greatest percentage).

We touched on this yesterday, and I commented (admittedly with little frame of reference) that $22,000 seemed pretty high, especially in relation to the $50,000 median U.S. family income rate. So I did some research and found some pretty fascinating facts about what it means to be "poor" in America.

Andy note: "Blast from the past - Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from Sep. 2010 . If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

Who is rich? This is the perennial question in any progressive tax scheme. Where you draw the line makes a big difference to a lot of people. With the sun about to set on the Bush tax cuts, the debate is raging online, and I wanted to find out what you guys think. First, the preliminaries:

Those people making $250,000 a year or more seem to be the targeted income level to be considered "rich" in America. But they'd be the first to tell you that they're not. Two recent news pieces have the debate raging. The first was written by a Chicago law professor. I guess it was so incendiary that the original piece was taken down, but you get the gist from the above link. Even at $455,000, the good prof is barely making ends meet.

September 11th.

Worthy of it's own paragraph and place in American history. On par with Pearl Harbor, Gettysburgh and the Constitutional Convention...perhaps in time...above them all.

A day which we paid verbal attention but never adequately addressed. Having traveled much of the world I find that we Americans are a unique subgroup of the human race. We have experienced so many blessings and been served with so many gifts that we and we alone are compelled to go to extraordinary lengths to suppress our own losses and tragedies. Not surprisingly it has taken a year short of decade for much of that anger and frustration to pour out.

With the economy trudging and sludging along, every self appointed expert has rushed to judgment and prophecy. Now, the press is even reporting on how they're not at fault . Comedy has a way of taking the strangest form. But let's take a step back and think about metaphysics.

The word affluence comes from the root word "affluere", meaning "to flow to". The actual word affluence means "to flow in abundance". In reality, money is just a symbol of the life energy we exchange with life on a daily basis. A way to keep score, some would say.

If America was a fine maiden, one as pretty as our nation is strong, would she now be in the twilight of her career? At 234 years of age, her face would no doubt show signs of ageing. She’d be slightly bruised and scratched up from a couple of recent cat fights – she doesn’t let shit slide, this America - but all in all, still in good fighting shape. Newly-formed bags under her eyes could be attributed to a bit of a recent rough patch; depression and anxiety prone, she struggles to maintain balance in a rapidly changing world. Problems she’s got a-plenty, from the financial to the medical. One amorphous black mass in particular, a mole of sorts, could really use a looking-at.