I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Everyone else is asleep, then?
buck fush!
what if we had spent the 300 billion that the iraq war has cost on port security, border security, and checking all the cargo that comes into the country instead of just 5 percent of it, instead of playing "risk the board game" in the middle east? i'm tired of buck toothed jacobins who won't enlist in the military like beinart using republican talking points to attack dems for being "weak on security." peter always gets brake failure while driving past the recruiting center
I just woke up myself.
Michael Moore is fat?
One shouldn't underestimate the value of the fear = security formula. A USAToday/Gallup poll had this to say about fear.
In a national CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted between January 7-9, 39 percent of respondents said they felt a terrorist attack would likely occur inside the United States over the next several weeks, the lowest such figure since September 11, 2001. About a year earlier, that figure was 46 percent and, in March 2003 after U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq, it was at 73 percent.
"The further away from 9/11 we get, the harder it is to get people engaged," Duecker admitted.
It's a matter of maintaining a belief in something in the absence of evidence. For worse, not better, the GOP has done a good job of trying to maintain people's fear and the insane assumption that the GOP are their patriarchal protectors.
You can lecture people about probabilities, but that's a rather complicated way to reassure them of their safety. People buy lottery tickets. They don't understand probabilities. It's so much easier to pat them on the hand and say, "There, there. It's all right."
Me am so happy me am crying. Me love W because he is big man with great ideas. Me think Biden copying someone else's spine.
Me have to go. Hello!
eating light?
I wonder, if you could look back in time and see how the neocons grew up, it would look something like this...
Cup O' Joe - Blog Of The Working Man!
Likelihood that I’m going to take my cues on “national security” from those politicians and pundits: low.
Sometimes, I think pundits are conscientiously typing up words, putting them together for the sake that only the politicos read and approve of those words.
I feel like Pat Leahy after an encounter on the Senate floor with Dick Cheney when Peter Beinart writes about national security.
At least E.J. Dionne "gets it".
http://tinyurl.com/cye2r
I just noticed my previous post was a '10'.
Oh, and Joe Biden sucks sometimes too. Sucking a lot more recently than in the past, if I might add.
Love this headline.
So, can the blogosphere get some mementum going on Hillary's bill to count every vote. If not we are fucked into infinity.
I knew Biden had gone over when he started wearing pin stripes and slicking his remaining hair back like a mafia don. He's not quite there yet but my mouth wouldn't fall open if he did a Les Aspin sometime in the future.
Talking tough and strutting have proven themselves to be a pretty stupid way to conduct any kind of policy. But as anyone who was small enough or skinny enough knows it is also an indication that the bully boy is ignorant and stupid. And Americans have been kept ignorant and have been made stupid just so the ruling class can manipulate them for their own ends. Smart people don't let themselves or their country be used and so our educational system and, even worse, our "media". Since our media, always going for the bucks at the lowest level, thay have presented macho violence as sexually desireable. No matter how soft the hands, no matter how cravenly they avoided the wars they lent their big mouths to, no matter that their personal and stage lives showed a level of maturity stuck in the seventh grade, macho men have been sold as sex symbols. You can sell anything to the unsuspecting. No news to anyone but it has to be said.
Any liberal who supported Iraq on the "evidence" presented before it began was an idiot. Any liberal who supports it now after the disaster it has been, is presented as a serious person by our corporate media only to continue the fraud. They are useful idiots.
Beinart and his type by rights should be on the scarp heap of intellectual history. That they aren't is the story, not the nonsense they continue to babble.
Does anyone doubt how this debacle will end? Yet we are the ones taken to task for not having a "plan" to save our ass! Please!
Love this headline.
QL in NY
The part of the article talking about Feinstein's original intention to vote for cloture is a good example of Senators doing the wrong thing for a sensible reason. It's lucky that in her case sense prevailed.
I think a lot of the problem with Biden and others like him is that they have swallowed the entire DC line (Thus the banker look?). There is something that happens to them in that town. Not only the people in the government but the media. They can't see the forest for the fog nevermind the trees.
Don't you just want to slug the next Democrat who proposes doing the wrong thing for "comity" or some other phony conventional excuse?
The hell with hitting them with the chair.
I'm using the baseball bat.
make that in her case real sense prevailed.
See you later, got to feed the animals.
democrats don't have the killer instinct. won't take any risks. they are afraid to take a punch.
i am watching an army buddy of mine get put out of the service with a disability (head injury), he was in a vehicle accident in iraq, since it wasn't during combat operations guess what? he had to prove to his chain of command that he was injured. he was accussed of faking his injury, and since it happened outside of his (ao) area of operation the medical treatment he received cannot be proven, his chain of command needed to see the records i guess, well he made it to walter reed, and guess what? brain damage, to bad he didn't get help when he needed it, you see the army will not allow slackers, soldiers trying to get out of their third combat tour in three years, he has been home since march 2005, and he is just now getting treatment. oh by the way he voted for bush, and most likely would again if he could. forget the senate floor,and bush sleeping, lives are being ruined, they give us a death toll, but do we see the injuries, you don't need a doctor to tell your o.k. your commander can do that, besides how would it look on the report, you lost somebody due to a non-combat situation, unacceptable. since your not allowed to leave the service, after your time is up, unless you go straight to a national guard that unit would also have to be deploying to iraq, so that would make you a four time loser, and there is nothing anybody can do about.
democrats don't have the killer instinct. won't take any risks. they are afraid to take a punch.
Olaf glad and big
They don't seem afraid to punch out anyone on their own side who doesn't agree with their Party Line.
Witness what happened here last Monday when the Compromise was reached.
Are these grown men reverting to "wimp" name calling?
Are we still in middle school?
Y'know, all of the macho, swarthy guys in my grammar school class ended up in jail and this,it turns out, is analogous to present-day politics.
when is the draft starting? some of our boys are on there way for a fourth tour. maybe the female soldiers can replace them in combat. lets see how much training would a female soldier get? hand to hand? no machine gun? no number of rounds shot at the rifle range? nine to zero, twenty to qualify. this happens once a year. why are our woman being put in harms way? oh thats right, we are short of men.
Gosh darn it you fuddy-duddys. Time to r-r-r-ise and shine and turn that frown upside down!!!! Just mosey on over to the NYT's editorial page and glim young John Tierney's work and you'll be a cockeyed optimist in seconds.
Don't you just want to slug the next Democrat who proposes doing the wrong thing for "comity" or some other phony conventional excuse?
The sad part of this entire debacle is that there was a time when comity had its place and decorum mandated that sometimes you went along to get along. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it worked for 225 years. We are now dealing with a different breed, and the rules are what they want them to be. And if two stolen elections haven't convinced you of that, nothing will. I think our senators are beginning to realize this. Hence, we are not losing anymore.
However, until the voting issue is solved, we got nothing.
BTW - I have, since 1968 been a one issue voter: choice. But if I could, I would vote for Reid. This man just may go down in history as the savior of our Republic. I don't say that lightly as I have never indulged in hero worship.
hylander, I am still working on how I am going to be a millionaire by the time I retire. . . .
Hey QL, you in town? Interested in coming out with the kids tomorrow night? (I say kids, but I'm pretty sure you & steve simels are of an age....)
Morning all--
instead of playing "risk the board game" in the middle east?
Everyone knows that you can't win Risk by conquering Asia. You've got to start with Australia first.
By the say, I think there's a good chance that I'll be a father before the day is out. So this is just a drive by while the wife is taking a shower!
hylander,
Tierney acknowledges that 1600 Americans have died in Iraq? Well, there's a surprise!
What a Pollyannaish piece of shit. Yes, there is less war, and fewer die violently. But you know what? Any unnecessary war does and should piss people off. Sorry, Tierney. You lose.
hylander,
Where are you located? Do I know you? (I know a lot of Hylands....)
See y'all later!
Until a superr-star candidate comes along, our run-of-the-mill hopefuls had better file their chins, AND take a 15 minute walk on the beach with Billy Graham.
QL,
I'm about to become a one-issue voter myself: voting transparency. Luckily our girl Hillary is on the case, but there have to be others, no?
I know this is politics and all but that NY Times editorial thing on inner city school teacher's salaries is really bugging me. ( I am one of those, BTW)
First of all, most of the teachers I work with are much better teachers than suburban teachers. (The building where I work requires twenty years of seniority to have a seat at the table. If you have survived twenty years of doing what I am doing: you are exceptional, trust me) And this many wants - in a perfect world - to double my salary as being the best in my profession to a whole $150,000! Think about this, the very best doctors in the world would be delighted to work for 150K How about the best lawyers? The best accountants? The best salespeople? The best business administration people? We are not talking about average: we are talking about exceptional and the best this guy can come up with is $150 K that is drawn from punishing those he perceives as being less than good!
Listen, you want to help teachers: do a couple of things. Exempt inner city school teachers from all taxes. If I could just have my salary without having to pay state, federal, and local taxes: it would amount to a huge pay raise without severely hurting the economy or the government.
So where and when is this NYC meeting of Atriots?
Silly knees bent running about trying to protect against terrorist attacks when the engineers of 9/11 are sitting in the White House.
Good morning, fun seekers!
Have I missed anything?
dms,
We don't, uh, actually know yet. Sunday night, that we know, and I'd assume downtownish, since we have a large package to deliver to watertiger, which I assume she's not going to want to carry around with her. Why? You interested?
NYM
Thanks for in invite bu I will be having dinner with my own kid who I haven't seen in two years. Then we will be checking out Portland as a possible place to retire to in two years. However, I may delay retirement for six months or so to work on a campaign.
I have become a one issue voter...the candidate's IQ must be above 80.
(And their nickname cannot be "hot tub".)
Hey, steve! I'm burning CDs for you right now. I'm doing my bud Stephen Lawrenson, which I know you'll like, and the new (ulp! unreleased, as yet) White Stripes. Anything else you're burning to hear? I have the new Weezer, too....
who beinart? zat conzentration camp beinart?
NYMary:
The Sports!!!!!
But I know I promised you something
else....could it have been the
Sandy Denny/Linda Thompson "When
Will I Be Loved"?
PS:
We're gonna see you where?
NYMary:
The Records -- the cover stuff
they did as an EP with the first
album.
The Kinks "See My Friends", some
song by Spirit, etc...
They're on one of the reissues....
I'd kill for those....
So Galloway, in his apparently non-existent senate testimony, has managed to singlehandedly warp the space-time of the American political lexicon?
Take that, 1984!
steve,
check your mail. (It's waaaay too early to hijack a thread. 
)
Biden does not have Presidential aspirations. I don't know the point to his prancing, but he has been in the Senate for too long.
It is a risk/vs return issue. Being Pres. does not offer enough of a return when you consider the low risk/high reward lifesyle of a US Senator.
"Exempt inner city school teachers from all taxes."
I like it, although you are kind of buying into the "taxes=bad" frame as Lakoff would say.
NYMary/Lissedell,
Hijack the thread? Some things are just givens, you know? Preening senators? Yep. Next question . . .
Somebody say to hijack the thread??
Pliny, the problem with teaching is that our salaries are always predicated on misconceptions. If you ask people, "Should excellent inner city school teachers be paid more?" I am pretty sure you could approach 100% agreement, but that is where it ends. When it comes to actually doing something, well you have the summers off and and and.
I guess I am pretty full of myself at this point: I had a pretty good year of teaching, perhaps, my best. My state test scores improved by 34%, they finally found a test to measure a before and after snapshot of children's abilities and mine were the best in the district. So, I guess I am full of myself: but I have not had a raise in four years now. My salary is mired about 10K South of what a beginning accountant makes . . .
I like it, although you are kind of buying into the "taxes=bad" frame as Lakoff would say.
You could accomplish the same thing for the teachers by raising their pay, while maintaining a position that you're investing in the community.
This is what drives me nuts about the tax thing. The rightists have given people a target (taxes) upon which they can lay all their grief about what is essentially not making enough money. When they don't get a raise again this year, they always look to that withholding and say "this is why I can't make ends meet." It's not rational.
I can't seem to find any conservative media criticism websites that have anything on Fox News.
'have not had a raise in four years now'.
Unfortunately, I've heard that from a number of educator friends.
Leave The Teacher Behind seems to be another favorite.
DWD -- I think your proposal is fascinating. Jeez, developers and manufacturers get tax abatements all the time. Your idea could be the seed of a very powerful campaign, I think. Do you know/belong to any groups that are working on it?
Quilt Lady & NYMary -- Yes, electoral transparency is key. Here in Ohio many of us who worked on the recount have moved from supporting VVPAT e-voting to hand-marked paper ballots, hand-counted at the precinct level with video and webcams so voters can witness along with witnesses present at the count.
Ohio is working to get an amendment on the ballot to create an independent non-partisan election commission to take elections out of the hands of the Secretary of State -- infamous Blackwell in our case. Currently, the SOS appoints Board members to BOEs, so Blackwell's claim that they are bi-partisan just because both parties are equally represented is a sham.
Really, the best thing you can do is get involved in election reform issues in your state.
There was a dog and a cow and a rancher with a dream.I was in the summerhouse with T.J.and grandma. It was 2005.We were eating blood oranges.Liberals had no idea of there own hypocracy.It began to rain.
cs, not that I am aware of. The problem is that the proposal is just fraght with pitfalls. If the idea is good enough for teachers, what about military people? Firefighters? Police? and on and on.
I agree, the best way to do it is to simply raise salaries; but it ain't gonna happen. So, I take my retirement in five years and forget about it. I cannot see change happening and at this point, I am tired anyway.
But we cannot continue to try to recruit the best young people for teaching when the salaries are low and the demands on time and personal space are so high. The older teachers pretty much agree that you would have to be stupid to teach now: society does not either value or respect what we do. (If they did, there would be no need to even talk about what we are talking about.)
I first read the post title as "Strutting Ponies". Ooh, I want a Lipizzaner!
I see some professorial types are already up and blogging.
Could anyone give a little admissions advice? My nephew, looking for architecture school not too scarily big. Smart, quiet, good at sports great arts kid from on top of a western mountain (Crested Butte). Rigorous academics up there in the K - 12 school for 90 kids.
Any advice?
Liberals had no idea of there own hypocracy.
No child left behind.
I want to say I disagree about Joe Biden. His exchange with Warner during the Bolton debate was historical. Senators being senators, debating the Great Experiment. Wow. It makes me tingle just thinking about it.
People need to consider that there is a multi-level chess game being played. Just like in real war when some skirmishes are lost, even volitionally as distractions from larger aims, some pieces are sacrificed in the course of the game.
Frank, you'll never catch up.
NYMary, This is just one of those interesting things. We are getting a new reading series - a panacea I am sure - next year and I was told to throw my old books away or give them to children (to throw away.)
Now, these $40 books are a joke, but they do have several good things in them - of many many things. I told them I would not do it, I will stick them in the closet until I need something good for them to read . . . (But I am probably going to get in trouble again.)
Crested Butte
Heh, heh, you said Butte.
Any advice?
Plastics.
I got nuthin'.
Sadly none of the Centrist Dems saw Galloway wipe the floor with the Republicans. Stupid spineless fuckers deserve to lose elections.
Fux News: "Neophyte Circus Clown Opts for Republicans. 'I used to be a Democrat before I became a circus clown,' said Kit Bond, of Cole Bros. Circus. 'The Repulicans' appearance alone makes them clown-worthy. The funny-ass shit they can pull off without cracking a smile makes them top-notch deadpan artists. I mean, the way they can spout off the bullshit they do with a straight face is pure comic genius. For out-and-out buffoonery, you can't beat the GOP.' "
Please put the children first, Mr. Bond.
Of your miming they're extremely fond.
Their eyes are aglow,
As they watch your sideshow.
Should they sink in the Repuke shit-pond?
what did he do? Call out Warner for covering up for paedophiles in the military prison at Abu Ghraib?
see Sy Hersh's article...
Nah thought not. Biden is a cowardly punk.
Thanks anyway NTodd, yeah its Crusty Butt to the locals.
People need to consider that there is a multi-level chess game being played. Just like in real war when some skirmishes are lost, even volitionally as distractions from larger aims, some pieces are sacrificed in the course of the game.
Concur 100%. The Dems have been too caught up in tectics and finally are developing a strategic view. About god damned time.
DWD -- Well, my ex was a firefighter. I think it could work for police and firefighters, too. One requirement could be that to get the abatements they would have to live in the communities in which they work -- city limits, whatever. And maybe the abatements could be incremental to incentivize them somewhat.
I'm really serious, I think this is something that could be sold. First of course to the particular unions, then to the public.
I'm a Kucinich Dem when a Dem at all and have always loathed tax abatements. They robbed cities of income and massively contributed the decline in public services, infrastructure maintenance and public schools.
But to give them to those who make those schools, public services, infrastructure work? Why the hell not?
If the urban environment is more liveable, that draws enterprise, which further increases the tax base.
I think excellence in public service deserves this kind of reward.
Architecture school -- check out Cooper Union. All admitted students get a full scholarship. Very selective, naturally
thanks blaise, will do
Now, these $40 books are a joke, but they do have several good things in them - of many many things. I told them I would not do it, I will stick them in the closet until I need something good for them to read . . . (But I am probably going to get in trouble again.)
The principal in my kids' school believed very strongly in teaching a combo of phonics and whole language. When instructed to throw away the phonics books, she instructed her teachers to keep them and to continue teaching the combo. Out of six schools in the district, our scores never once failed to be the highest. When the district coordinator figured out what was happening (ten years later) she blew a gasket, and forced the principal to start teaching whole language only. The principal resigned and guess what happened?
Even a double-shot cappuccino didn't help me at coffeeblogging today. Way low energy. Prolly go sleepy time soon. Gotta rest up for Poker Night tomorrow!
No child left behind.
I know it's considered excessively clever to preen and pontificate about "foreign enemies," but how long can you cry wolf?
The Cold War was about a real enemy with real weapons who really could have used them (and so we needed ten times more). But the "War on Terror" is like the "War on Poverty," i.e., like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall (mmmmm...Jell-O!) or eradicate evil or some such nonsense. You can only maintain the fever pitch for so long before everyone gets tired of it.
The "Cold War" worked so well because it became an excuse for everything from the interstate highway system to math education to giving GE more money for bombs. A "hot war" chews up bodies, money, and families way too fast (which is why Iraq keeps getting compared to Vietnam). Having lived through both, Americans aren't as reluctant as they should be to plunge into them again, but neither are they going to do the same thing over and over again, ad infinitum. In fact, we're already reaching the point of ad nauseum.
So preening and puffing of chests is already behind the power curve. Leave that to Bush. Time to behave like adults, who settle things quietly and have the power in reserve for violence if needed (I won't give a pacifism speech here). James Bond and any character portrayed by Clint Eastwood always knew how to talk first, and punch later.
Much of the Cold War stayed cold, in fact, because of diplomacy. After WWII, the use of force was pretty much a failure, or at best (Korea) led to a standoff. Point that out a few times, and pretty soon people would start to realize Iraq isn't looking all that good.
And then the media, being the true sheeple, would have to start reporting on the "bad news."
Regarding Sen. Clinton's Count Every Vote Act: it's still bogged down in committee.
This is one of those bills that we should pressure our respective senators on so that it moves to a vote.
Diane,
*Sigh*, She is my senator.
We really do need to thank George Galloway for reintroducing us to the term "popinjay." It's one you don't hear much, outside of Gilbert & Sullivan.
Diane,
*Sigh*, She is my senator.
NYMary
(chuckle), I know. And sometimes I feel foolish writing nagging emails to my Senator, Barbara Boxer.
Feinstein I worry about, though, so I tend to nail her twice as often.
That said, I was kinda sorta directing that to the less fortunate Atriots here.
Yay, I've been namestolen by the least imaginative troll ever!
QL -- What a horror story. One of the things public schools could be doing is identifying kids' learning styles early on and organizing early grade classes so that teachers with special skills teaching to certains styles have those kids in class.
One of my daughters was an atrocious speller and fidgeted whenever I sat with her to prep for a test. At one point, in frustration, I told her to just get up and move around while I gave her words to spell. She stood up, started waving her arms, sort of dancing in place and with a bit of fumbling, began spelling the words and getting them right. It was a eureka moment -- right out of Eurythmics. Kids signal what they need to do to learn all the time . . .
I guess I am pretty full of myself at this point: I had a pretty good year of teaching, perhaps, my best. My state test scores improved by 34%, they finally found a test to measure a before and after snapshot of children's abilities and mine were the best in the district. So, I guess I am full of myself: but I have not had a raise in four years now. My salary is mired about 10K South of what a beginning accountant makes . . .
DWD
I'm sick of the whole "blame the teacher" mentality. Schools don't pass the state test? Blame the teachers. School doesn't pass because of two students (this happened with a middle school just down the street from me)? Blame the teachers. Students don't learn enough? Blame the teachers.
Not to say teachers don't have a job to do, just like lawyers (My favorite phrase from the lawyer I used to work with: "They don't pay us to be wrong!" Nope, no burden there, nosirreebob!). But you think kids don't understand which side the bread is buttered on? They don't learn, hey...blame the teacher!
Why not? Everybody else does. There's a fine line between good teaching and "you didn't make it interesting enough for me!" And quite often I think that line gets erased. Always so much easier to just: blame the teacher.
I mean, they get summers off, and all those holidays.....
Diane & NYMary -- I'm not all that discouraged that Clinton's bill is bogged down because we're learning so much about what we really need to secure elections that her bill may quickly become out of date.
There's so much money behind e-voting, and it's so riddled with opportunities for fraud. I'm good with buying some time while election activists work on some of these issues in the states.
Kids signal what they need to do to learn all the time . . .
But they should all learn exactly the same way: through rote memorization in preparation for standardized testing.
Diane,
*Sigh*, She is my senator.
NYMary/Lissadell
Well, mine is John "Man/Box Turtle Love" Cornyn (I still can't believe that man was on the Texas Supreme Court!) and Kaye "Can You Still Tell I Was A Cheerleader?" Bailey Hutchison.
Count your blessings.
Yay, I've stolen the name of the most imaginative non-troll ever!
And this week I'm back in action, which will only serve to elevate the discussion.
Kids signal what they need to do to learn all the time . . .
But they should all learn exactly the same way: through rote memorization in preparation for standardized testing.
NTodd
If they can't learn information suitable for fitting into little bubbles, is our children learning?
Shorter RMJ and me:
We know what works. Diplomacy and a combo of whole language and phonics. Knowing that, we persist in doing the opposite with the easily foreseeable results. A senseless brutal war and kids who can't read.
And this week I'm back in action, which will only serve to elevate the discussion.
Alas, it didn't. I had very little to contribute. Shoulda had a second double-shot...
But they should all learn exactly the same way: through rote memorization in preparation for standardized testing.
NTodd
You just nailed it, NTodd. My sister and brother-in-law, both educators in Phoenix, refer to the bill as "No Child Left Untested."
Letter to the NYT:
To the Editor:
A great leader is one who shows people why what they want is not truly what they want. President Bush clearly sees that stem cell research is wrong. A true leader must always set the correct moral standards of his people.
Ricky Cruz?Woodside, Queens, May 26, 2005
For far too many people have moved past cult of personality and have settled in idolatry-land.
And good morning from Seattle,,,I mean, rainy Pittsburgh.
.
If they can't learn information suitable for fitting into little bubbles, is our children learning?
Indeed. We MUST prepare our kids for the lost manufacturing jobs of yesteryear!
But they should all learn exactly the same way: through rote memorization in preparation for standardized testing.
NTodd - 8:36 am
And blab school. If it was good enough for Lincoln, ...
My senators are DeWine and Voinovich, who've contributed a lot to the present mess but seem to have so rock bottom commitment to the Constitution that's forcing them to do some soul searching of late.
My rep is Bob Ney -- central to election scamming and deeply intwined with DeLay.
great story, cs
I got my daughter (atrocious spelling) a "neuropsych exam", that's an all day test and interview that costs $2000. Guess what, my blue cross covered it 100%.
With that test, I got Ortin Gillingham and Wilson tutoring for her first 3 years, and her spelling today is in the groove.
Schools aren't equipped to implement your great idea, they need the whip of "medically proven" assessment to do their jobs.
The school had told me they wouldn't recommend the test because my daughter's need wasn't any different than most kids!
So I got that together on my own.
Gimlet -- I think blab schooling is useful in some instances. It's great for helping kids recite poetry, and poetry helps develop mnemomic skill.
Alas, it didn't. I had very little to contribute. Shoulda had a second double-shot...
NTodd
switch to booze.
Indeed. We MUST prepare our kids for the lost manufacturing jobs of yesteryear!
NTodd - 8:40 am
Well duh. You just never know when those prosperous Chinese will outsource those jobs back to 'Merica
A tale of two teachers: My partner in teaching is a good teacher. She is much younger than me, and thus much more compliant to the administration and tries to do "program" the way it is prescribed. I am older and cantankerous as hell. I do it the way I want to using whateverthehell materials I can scrounge up. To the best of my knowledge, I have never done the prescribed method except where I thought it worthwhile - twice a year I think.
Jenny's kids scored an average of 3/4s of year behind my kids in improvement. Yet, she is doing it the way that they want and I am just doing what I feel like doing.
The vogues in education are usually bullshit. I do whatever the class and student need. I do not believe in one method over another. Phonics is all right, as long as it includes comprehension (after all, "hukt on fonix werkt fur me.") but phonics alone is no answer. The answer is in realizing what you are doing and making it important enough for them to want to do it.
AAAAAARRRGH!
"Two U.S. Army analysts whose work was cited as part of a key intelligence failure on Iraq have received job performance awards for the past three years, The Washington Post reported on Saturday."
el -- Very interesting. We had similar experiences with schools not responding because our kid wasn't far enough out of the norm.
We had the same daughter who had spelling problems tested on our own, too -- a couple of years before my eureka moment. We were told two interesting things: one, that she had an aural quirk that effected how she heard, and thus articulated, certain sounds. The one we noticed most was that she pronounced "bagel" as "bag'l" (with the "a" as in "sack"). The testing she received indicated that she actually heard the "a" surrounded by hard consonants that way. The psychologist said ti would go away over time and it did.
The second thing we were told was that she manifested something more typically akin to a "male learning pattern" -- i.e., she was developing phyiscal skills in advance of intellectual ones, to some minor degree.
I'm not sure to this day what I think about that assessment, but her intellectual performance did improve when a physical component was added. Singing, adding music and rhythm always helped her, too.
switch to booze.
Shows how much you know. Booze is for blogging, coffee is for coffeeblogging (i.e., podcasting). Duh.
Two U.S. Army analysts whose work was cited as part of a key intelligence failure on Iraq have received job performance awards for the past three years
No intelligence failures left behind.
watertiger,
They did the same thing in Catch-22.
"I won this medal for killing fish."
Typing Phonies
Can anybody point to a Biden transcript where Biden says "Democrats are big wimps", or something similiar? How about a transcript where Biden says "The decision to go to war was the right one", or something similiar? I'm not an expert researcher, but I looked pretty hard, I can't find any.
Without some backup you are just typing phonies.
And why do liberal whackos keep insisting that beinart speaks for dems/liberals?
NTodd's Stalker - how come you don't copy and paste stuff like this:
While I cannot listen to all of NTodd's podcasts, I have greatly enjoyed the one's I've heard. He's got a wonderful voice. When I hear him, I'm transported magically to a land where art and music are fully funded in school and football teams have to hold constant bakesales, to a land where intellegence is honored and questioning the status quo is a valued contribution to society, to a land where interesting, intellegent guys who are easy on the eyes gather to offer their wisdom and opinion on just about everything. Huzzah for podcasting.
Or maybe you could transcribe some of my podcasts and paste that instead. Now THAT would be clever.
*That's* what I'm doing wrong!
Will Diet Coke work just as well?
Will Diet Coke work just as well? -
Only with liberal amounts of rum/whiskey applied, yes.
watertiger -- I wonder what the awards looked like. Little bronze lawn jockeys, perhaps?
Gee, NTodd, *I* vote for your podcasts.....
Actually, Blogger doesn't seem to allow them, which is annoying. If I could get space on another sever, I could just link to it, but right now I've got about three languishing. Luckily, mine aren't time-sensitive or anything.
And someday you can explain to me the mystery of the RSS feed.
No intelligence failures left behind.
It's certainly that era: we've got a huge one occupying the white house.
Too easy? I'm not applying myself. Maybe if I knew someone was measuring my snark on some standardized scale. I've always been good at bubble-filling.
watertiger -- I wonder what the awards looked like. Little bronze lawn jockeys, perhaps?
Probably annual subscriptions to Maxim.
NYMary,
I'll have a package for you guys, too. drop me a line and let me know when you want to make the hand-off.
Packages? Hand-offs? What kind of illicit operation are you freaks running here anyway?!
Well, I saw Sith yesterday and I enjoyed it a lot. My only problem with it being that a force sensitive should know when they are being lied to.
Gee, NTodd, *I* vote for your podcasts.....
And I appreciate it! But I'm greedy, and now I want glowing reviews from people who think I'm dreamy. I mean, in lieu of a pony.
If I could get space on another sever, I could just link to it, but right now I've got about three languishing.
Check out BlogMatrix.
And someday you can explain to me the mystery of the RSS feed.
Drop me an e-mail with your specific or general questions and I'll glady muddy the waters further!
The vogues in education are usually bullshit. I do whatever the class and student need. I do not believe in one method over another. Phonics is all right, as long as it includes comprehension
THANK YOU! The latest "vogue" in education is indeed often bullshit. One fad after another without common sense added has not improved education standards one bit. I like and appreciate your approach.
My only problem with it being that a force sensitive should know when they are being lied to.
Well, depends on how strong with the Force the other person is.
OT(!?)--This is Rumor Control is going offline today to regroup and refers readers through summer to its sponsor, Alliance for security:
http://www.thisisrumorcontrol.org/
http://www.allianceforsecurity.org/call
TIRC just did two interviews with former members of Tiger Force unit, the elite force unit whose atrocities the Toledo Blade investigated in its Pulitzer Prize winning series last year. If you get a chance, go read the related posts and leave a farewell thanks to the folks over there. Great site.
NPR is carrying water for Judicial Watch, the king of the adnoids saying that the case against Hilary Clinton, universally declared innocent of being involved even before David Rosen was found innocent, in the matter of "the fundraising scandal".
Seems the "liberal" DC whores are still cooking up "Clinton Scandals".
Any mention mention of Judicial Watch which isn't accompanied with the disclaimer that it is a uniformly unsuccessful, right-wing, hack organization is a lie by ommission.
Peter Overby is hereby declared an unreliable source.
Well, depends on how strong with the Force the other person is.
Um...guys...
RW, 'kay?
And I appreciate it! But I'm greedy, and now I want glowing reviews from people who think I'm dreamy. I mean, in lieu of a pony.
Hahahahaha. Jeepers H. Christmas! Me me me me me me AND a pony? With or without sparkles?
saying that the case against Hillary Clinton is not over
I'm taking too much allergy medication these days.
Some gutless companies to boycott, perhaps?
(Career third? How magnanimous of them!)
"Mary Kay
Cosmetics-peddling giant Mary Kay is pulling out of a planned ad buy on Desperate Housewives following criticism from a conservative Christian group.
The American Family Association doesn't explicitly mention the hit ABC dramedy on its Website, afa.net, but, in a post, the group's leader, Donald E. Wildmon, questions how Mary Kay, whose company philosophy is "God first, family second and career third," could buy into a show that he says promotes infidelity, seduction and promiscuity.
Wildmon's minions apparently got the ear of the Dallas-based makeup mavens--one of the largest purveyors of cosmetic and skin-care products in the world. The Associated Press quotes a Mary Kay corporate spokesperson saying the company has rejiggered its advertising plan for this summer and fall, partially as a result of calls from concerned employees and Mary Kay customers, and "will not have Desperate Housewives in that mix."
This is not the first time the American Family Association and its Website, which bills itself as "America's Largest Pro-Family Action Site," has gone on the offensive against Desperate Housewives.
Last year, Lowe's, Tyson Foods and Kellogg's were among the advertisers who reportedly pulled their ad dollars from Housewives after receiving emails, letters and phone calls from angry AFA members."
RW, 'kay?
(scratches head cluelessly)
Well, I guess Anakin's head was way too messed up to know better...
Well, an educational morning. Now I know what a Podcast is - good job NTodd.
(Sorry, fresh out of ponies)
What does Dobson and Company have against sex?
RW, 'kay?
I can't levitate shit with my mind in the RW. Boooooring.
Me me me me me me AND a pony? With or without sparkles?
Sparkles, please.
Now I know what a Podcast is - good job NTodd.
Glad I could help. All part of the immense, as-yet-untapped value I bring to the blogosphere.
Aren't we going to have a party like last Saturday?
Real World.
As opposed to "IC" - In Costume.
EPT,
I'm so sick of NPR I could spit. Hacktacular. They keep smootching up to right wing extremist groups like AEI and Judicial Watch and wonder why they now anger the left even more than the right. Fuck them.
Terry C
Would the "christians" rather have Victoria's Secret ads on at that time? Personally I would, not that I like that cheap girl stuff but that naughty underware is less likely to give you skin problems and eye infections.
I still have not noticed any protests by "christians" of Enzyte ads or ads with race car drivers telling men to "get in the driver's seat" with Viagra.
Given the news yesterday it would appear that it really can make you go blind. But why would they bother in that case?
As opposed to "IC" - In Costume.
watertiger - that is the real world here in New Orleans...
Dobson, Wildmon....these dried up old farts are all the same.
EPT: They just don't like women being in charge of sexual situations!
Peter Overby is hereby declared an unreliable source.
I guess that leaves us with the two Iras.
as the Poor Man never ceases to remind us: Michael Moore is fat.
Michael can lose weight.
Whereas, Bush and his supporters will ALWAYS be idiots.
Nah, everybody else got to blahblah blah last week about Sith, this is my time to do so.
bigvic, I wish that public radio stations would band together and start a competing network based in several smaller cities without a history of producing drooling robots for the corporate oligarchy.
These days there isn't any reason everyone has to be in the same physical location.
Washington DC is an unreliable source for news. New York somewhat less unreliable but any place in which a reporter or commentator (who I'd get rid of, for a start) can be seduced by the possiblity of being in with the in crowd is not likely to lead to good reporting.
NTodd with his podcasts leads the way.
Swarthmore? Can't listen but I can guess.
I think the blindness was really caused by masterbation after some Viagra users were turned away by the misses
Blak,
I tease because I care.
EPT - interesting thoughts. I think you'd be hardpressed to have the NPR split happen soon, but it could evolve over time. NPR stations (disclosure: my wife works for Vermont Public Radio) are just starting to get into podcasting (they've been streaming audio for a while), and they're feeling their way in the new media stuff like everybody else. Basically these shops, progressive or not, still run very much like corporate America. Change takes time.
As a side note, I know that internal politics plays an important role. There are certain top people at local stations who are absolutely enamoured with the new CPB head and the direction NPR has taken. Others in management disagree. How those differences resolve themselves, as well as technological and funding issues, will dictate what happens.
Ricky C's letter to the NYT is better auf Deutsch;
"Ein großer Führer ist einer, wer Leuten zeigt, warum was sie wünschen, nicht wirklich ist, was sie wünschen. Präsident Bush sieht offenbar, daß Stammzelleforschung falsch ist. Ein zutreffender Führer muß die korrekten moralischen Standards seiner Leute immer einstellen."
For crying out loud! I gave up trying to understand these sentences. How about a little energy spent making your thoughts intelligible?
Blak,
I tease because I care.
watertiger
Ferrets and showers again, eh?
Even the trolls aren't living up to their full potential. I propose a system of accountability to ensure our trolls is learning.
For crying out loud! I gave up trying to understand these sentences. How about a little energy spent making your thoughts intelligible?
Huh?
watertiger, check your mail.
NTodd, If I understood what an RSS feed does, I might know if I need one.
OT but passing strange.
Mrs DWD who reads PEOPLE says that a lady with one arm, who just had a baby, recommended her doctor husband for one of the most beautiful people. Geez, is that otter?
How about settling down and not whinging?
Jeeze, it's Saturday morning. Don't get into a rhubarb so fast.
I propose a system of accountability to ensure our trolls is learning.
Thers has proposed a contest in June.
Ah, perhaps I should take chill pills before I post in the morning, my apologies.
Washington DC is an unreliable source for news. New York somewhat less unreliable but any place in which a reporter or commentator (who I'd get rid of, for a start) can be seduced by the possiblity of being in with the in crowd is not likely to lead to good reporting.
Word! They could all finish each other's sentences. Hell, I could, they are so predictable. Our current media sucks and I can't wait for the overdue reform.
Afflicting the comfortable
"Back when the press was investigating Bill Clinton, conservatives were eager to believe every negative report about the incumbent. Some even pushed totally false claims, including the loony allegation that Clinton aide Vince Foster was somehow murdered by Clinton's apparatchiks when, in fact, Foster committed suicide. Every journalist who went after Clinton was "courageous." Anyone who opposed his impeachment or questioned even false allegations was "an apologist."
We now know that the conservatives' admiration for a crusading and investigative press carried an expiration date of Jan. 20, 2001.
When the press fails, it should be called on the carpet. But when the press confronts a politically motivated campaign of intimidation, its obligation is to resist -- and to keep reporting.
I wish EJ Dionne had a set of balls...
I'm proud to have triggered that candidate for the trollie. The vital troll is certainly worthy of legend. 
NTodd, If I understood what an RSS feed does, I might know if I need one.
You've got mail.
Thanks, NTodd.
Oh, and unrumpled sheets.
Geez, is that otter?
Hard to think who else it might be - I mean, that's a nice collection of singularities....
"God first, family second and career third," could buy into a show that he says promotes infidelity, seduction and promiscuity.
OMG, I'm sick to farking death of these insane clowns. WTF did they think "Desperate Housewives" would be about? Desperately seeking Bibles? Desperate for new meatloaf recipes? Jeebus.
Desperate for new meatloaf recipes?
Well, who isn't?
With that test, I got Ortin Gillingham and Wilson tutoring for her first 3 years, and her spelling today is in the groove.
el,
Good for you. Decoding/encoding difficulties have a greater chance of being corrected with early intervention. You did absolutely the right thing by getting an outside evaluation, when the school turned you down.
LD students often present as "average" when, if provided services, they'd be above average students.
The ideal reading program provlides a balanced approach to reading with strong phonics and reading comprehension.
I'm a Wilson certified teacher - also trained in Orton Gillingham. Barbara Wilson based her system on the Orton Gillingham program.
I used it first in the classroom, as a second grade teacher - and for the past two years as and LD Specialist. It is a fantastic program with incredible results.
This sounds like an ad for "Wilson", but it happens to be my number one passion right now - (yes, politics is another one). Kids can learn to read. I have seen so many tough cases over the years - both as a classroom teacher and as a special ed teacher - beleive me - Wilson works miracles.
It doesn't work overnight, but I see a lot of progress during the school year.
believe
Portia,
Not me: I am a teacher certified in literature and living.
My sister and brother-in-law, both educators in Phoenix, refer to the bill as "No Child Left Untested."
Mornin folks, Where I live we don't believe you can fattin a hog by weighin it.
WoodyGuthriesGuitar -- I see a bit of movement in the press, if not yet throwing down the gauntlet, at least hints of slipping it off. What do you think?
Hi DWD,
I always come late to the thread. Did yu see my post yesterday for you about using the song, "Teaching Peace" for your next Memorial Day Program?
9/11 didn't happen because Bush was asleep-- you need to wake up yourself. The Bush administration made 9/11 happen to suit their geopolitical needs.
It's as clear as anything if you open your eyes.
as the Poor Man never ceases to remind us: Michael Moore is fat.
That does seem to be the main attack of both the right wing and the MSM on Michael Moore. I heard Cokie Roberts express similar sentiments not to long ago about Moore. It was like she was saying that because Moore isn't blow-dried, caked with makeup, and aerobisized to perfection, he's not as credible as the talking head set. I like the fact that Moore is a slob. The truth is it adds to his credibility, because he looks like the people he is speaking for.
Cokie is a fat head.
"I like the fact that Moore is a slob. The truth is it adds to his credibility, because he looks like the people he is speaking for.
Paul"
Agree!
"9/11 didn't happen because Bush was asleep-- you need to wake up yourself. The Bush administration made 9/11 happen to suit their geopolitical needs.
It's as clear as anything if you open your eyes.
Alex"
Alex, I've said since Day One that those bastards were behind 9-11.
So, wait. Let me get this straight.
- Being a blowhard gets power,
- we want to be in power,
= ergo, we need to be blowards,
- Biden, et al are wastes of flesh,
- we should stand on principal that Iraq was a bad idea,
- ???
- Profit!
Um, am I missing something here? I'm really not following the point.
Biden a "popinjay" -- I've always figured him for a mountebank, but why not both? Works for me.
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