<iframe width="640" height="360" src="

?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

when I see all the obvious errors some posters make.

in the educational level of people who are graduated from high school, and to a lesser degree from college. I noticed a sharp drop starting about 20-30 years ago. Too many people cannot read, write, or speak English beyond what I consider a 6th or 8th grade level. Is it too much to expect people to speak a sentence without saying the word "like" multiple times? It is shocking how poor spelling skills are for most people. Even people's names are embarrassing mishmash of random letters these days. And finding someone that has a passing command of rhetoric is damn near impossible--even for college graduates.

Because of poor English skills, I have usually made a 'no' determination within 30 seconds of initial contact (either phone or written) for about 80% of job applicants.

Try Craigslist lately -- notice all the great items "for sell."

Drive around your neighborhood and you're bound to find at least one "Grage Sale" flyer.

I even noticed an old TV with a "FRE" cardboard sign.

It's an exquisite form of torture for those of us who were educated with certain expectations as to our proficiency in using and spelling our native language correctly 99% of the time -- 'cuz evn us grammer Nazis screw up now and then.

Highland Park is a small city adjacent to Detroit, about three square miles that were once a center of innovation.

...It was in this little city that they met students, younger and older, who couldn't read. The lawsuit says these students were “denied the instruction necessary to attain basic literacy skills."

Plaintiffs are identified only by their initials in the lawsuit, and none was willing to talk with CNN. The ACLU included a series of short letters schoolchildren wrote to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, just a few sentences that sometimes complained about the lack of books and working bathrooms.

One letter from a fourth-grader reads:

"This is what I what to do when I what grow up at Bussness lady And can you give my a favorite By helping me to work my way up to keep up Jobs."

In another, a Highland Park seventh-grader spelled his name incorrectly, the ACLU said. He wrote:

"You can make the school gooder by getting people that will do the Jod that is pay for get a football tame for the Kinds mybe a baksball tamoe get a Other Jamtacher for the School get a lot of tacher."

http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/09/can-lawsuit-charter-takeover-save-highland-park-michigan-schools/?hpt=hp_c1

So depressing. What chance do kids in this situation have to finish high school (if they do) as anything but barely functional illiterates doomed to fail in this economy?

Sorry, not a subject for Lounge discussion.

Their faces fall when I present prospective members with a standard contract to join the gym, and they struggle to fill in their addresses and phone numbers. Should take less than three minutes to complete, 10 to read the fine print. To make the sale, I often have to do the paper work for new members, then presenting it for a signature. The most surprising thing is this trend is NOT exclusive to the very young, it crosses all age groups.

some errors I see made by Facebook friends of mine make me cringe:

"is that your cat norma. or is it bills."

"We was going to go but didnt."

"My kids don't like washing their hands before eating and they ask why should I, it don't taste no badder and i say thats not the point."