Copies of transcripts are always required when enrolling in institutions of higher learning and are often required when applying for certain jobs. Candidates for public office often make their transcripts available to the public.
But those kinds of education records may someday be a thing of the past. And "someday" may already be here.
If you don't have schoolchildren, you may not realize how "digital" schools are becoming. School systems are in a mad dash to get laptop computers, iPads and tablets, and other electronic devices into the hands of all the kids. Often with funding from Uncle Sam.
Some schools even give students their own laptops and encourage them to use them at home for all kinds of activities.
It seems like decades ago when schools started letting children use calculators in class. That's probably why so many young adults today have difficulty doing simple math in everyday life. I know of college students who can't tell time on a standard watch, only on digital ones.
On the face of it, we assume that educators want children to be as well-versed in the electronic age as possible, that's why they start them so young.
But there may be a more sinister motive. Whereas the old transcripts used to include only major information like classes, grades, honors, and degrees, the new records contain every keystroke, every click of the mouse, every word written, test question answered (correctly or incorrectly), and every website visited -- and who knows what else! And since the NSA has proven that there's no limit to the amount of information that can be harvested and stored -- forever -- this information will stay on the child's record forever. It really will be a "permanent record."
Add to this the information kept by the school administration about each student's life outside the classroom, such as guidance counseling, extracurricular activities, even cafeteria payments and transportation arrangements, and each student record becomes a gold mine of information about that child.
And the Department of Education has changed the guidelines to allow private companies and government agencies access to these records without obtaining student consent.
I guess you can see where this is headed. And it's more alarming than just the fact that the school districts may sell information about their students to advertisers. This vast new data mine will allow the government to chart each student's maturing process with computer algorithms that can identify "tendencies," among other things. Psychologists are probably already working on tests that will enable computer programs to determine each child's tendency toward anti-social behavior, like terrorism.
Big Brother will not be a human being watching over our children's every keystroke, but a network of government computers programmed to spot trouble BEFORE it happens. And if a student is part of the "subversive element" in our society, namely, those who believe in and act according to God's Word, the government will have its eyes and ears on them at all times.
Just think how valuable this information will be in the hands of the Antichrist.
I've often said that during Jesus Christ's ministry on earth, his disciple Peter only opened his mouth to change feet. That sort of describes Secretary of State John Kerry, too.
I'm not certain if Kerry's missteps arise from his arrogance, his naivete, his lack of skill at the job, or his flawed understanding of the world and the importance of his words. For whatever reason, a John Kerry comment has caused another uproar.
In speaking "off the record" to the Trilateral Commission, Secretary Kerry suggested that if Israel doesn't allow the establishment of a Palestinian state, it could end up either being "an apartheid state with second-class citizens... or ...a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state."
Unfortunately for Kerry, but fortunately for Israel and those who support her, his comments were recorded and reported by a journalist.
The fact that a world leader of his stature would even imply that Israel is on the road to apartheid tells me that either he does not understand what apartheid is or he's duplicitous enough to use it as a club to bludgeon Israel into submission. Considering some of the other ill-starred and ill-timed comments Kerry has made, I think it's probably a little of both.
Jimmy Carter tried the same tactic once and lost much of the little credibility he had left.
Apartheid is a cruel system of oppression and violence that a ruthless minority uses to cling to power. It involves the denial of basic rights, the sequestration of majority populations to strictly controlled areas, and the suppression of education, opportunities, and liberties for the majority.
South Africa was the poster child for apartheid.
Israel bears no resemblance to South Africa. More than 1.5 million Arabs live in Israel and enjoy full Israeli citizenship. They sit in the Knesset. They sit on the Supreme Court. They study side by side with Jews in Israel's universities. They start and own businesses. They work in entertainment and in the professional fields. They even serve in the Israeli Defense Forces.
The Israeli Declaration of Independence welcomed, even encouraged, all Arabs in the land to join the Jews in "the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions."
Contrast that to the Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza who want their own state, but insist that it be Jew-free. That's not just apartheid, that's "ethnic-cleansing," a practice that is forbidden by the rest of the world. NATO has even invaded countries to end ethnic-cleansing (though never when it's the Muslims doing the ethnic-cleansing).
The checkpoints and barricades between the Palestinian-controlled "West Bank" and Gaza and the rest of Israel exist because those are the areas from which terrorist attacks against the Jews are launched. The checkpoints are an effort to prevent those attacks. Unfortunately, checkpoints couldn't limit the 10,000 rocket and missile attacks launched against Israel from Gaza in the last few years.
As I've often said, the Palestinians could have peace in a day if they but laid down their arms of aggression. But they refuse to do so. Even though it's in their own best interest. They could exchange their rocket-propelled grenade launchers for a ballot and become a part of the thriving economy that is Israel. And that is what many of the rank-and-file Palestinians secretly crave.
But it's as if they have hardened their hearts, like Pharaoh of old. (Exodus 10:20)
When you add to Secretary Kerry's recent remark the fact that he's made other public statements that appear to tacitly approve Palestinian violence, encourage the increasing isolation of Israel, and promote continued efforts to de-legitimize the Israeli state, it could be argued that he may not actually believe that the Jews have a special connection to the land of Israel.
In fact, we now know this to be true. This week, in a speech to U.S. State Department staff in Africa, Kerry scoffed at people who believe that others should "live by their interpretation of something that was written down a thousand plus, two thousand years ago. That's not the way I think most people want to live."
I'm hurt. It's apparent from that statement that Mr. Kerry does not regularly watch "The Hal Lindsey Report." Those of us who believe in the inerrancy of Scripture and the accuracy of Bible prophecy are evidently not living the way he thinks "most people want to live."
And he's probably right -- for once.
God Bless,
Hal Lindsey
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