Literacy in the United States

Days ago I decided to look up statistics about the literacy rate in the United States. I wrote a post about literacy earlier this year. That book was written in the 80s, but literacy has not improved. If anything, it has worsened. That is really worrying. I want to relearn Excel, since I feel like I've forgotten how to use it. And I have some weak areas. So I find stats from 2003 and even 1994. Can I find anything more recent? No. And that really got me thinking. Has there been a record of literacy since No Child Left Behind was enacted? I'm looking and looking, but I haven't found anything. Ok so today, I find something in CIA Factbook. It's not as specific as I want. I was looking at literacy by state, as well as estimated population. But in CIA Factbook, it averages literacy in the United States. But get this, there's a note that says that literacy was recorded from individuals 15 and upwards. The percentage was 99%. Umm...really? How many people took the survey? What walks of life did they come from? It doesn't say. That's a great percentage, but I can't believe that. I want to believe it, but I know that a lot of people 15 and younger or even in their 20s, are hooked on Nintendo Wii, Grand Theft Auto, or some other video stuff that has them hooked. With all those distractions, who wants to pick up a book and read? I like to read, but some would call me odd. I didn't grow up playing nintendo or always watching TV. I watched some TV, but mostly I liked to play outside or run around the house (sometimes getting into trouble lol). I was a very active kid, until the 5th grade when I started getting more serious about studying.

Where are the statistics? Can I find some from 2005 or 2008? Or did Bush disallow that? I don't really know. And I'll keep looking. I might have to give up. Or since it's just Excel practice, I'll make up percentages. We'll see. I'm usually good at finding information online. It has me perplexed. By the way, I'm reading Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. It's my second time and I am nearing the end of the tome. It's a heavy, dark book but it really gets you thinking. Even if you kill for a good cause and the person you kill is like an ogre, is it justified? The protagonist thinks so, but later...I think he changes his mind. It's guilt that really torments his mind and soul. Actually, Rodion reminds me of a person I know. They're anti-social, they think a lot, very nervous type, but they're intelligent and can be charming. I'm mildly anti-social, but when I need to be, I can mingle. But I can't say I love mingling. Lol, and I digress. Must be an artsy fartsy thing.

In other news, the drama is over. Whew! It's scary. I want to stay above it as much as I can. I want to have fun and learn. I don't want a messy, complicated relationship. I'm not into dating either. If I find him, I find him. If not, I can "try it on my own", as Whitney Houston sings.

There's a lot of weird stuff going on in SL. Like last night until this afternoon, I was ghosting. I found a fix, but it ain't easy. I'll try it next time. Apparently, there is no fix for ghosting...no way to prevent it. If you go into a parcel and you check about land and it doesn't look right, you must get out quick. Or if you can't move, but you can turn and stuff, you have to log out right away and log back in. That should work. Those are if you catch it in time. If not...clear cache, log in from a different location (Bonifacio works for me, near Morris), or you just try to keep pressing enter and slip in when the server is busy letting other users in, so she sneak past, so to speak. It makes sense. So much to learn.

Here's the Whitney Houston video. It is one of my latest favorites, besides Free Loop which I posted in an earlier post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA9mmz508Ro&ob=av2e