Author: David

Over-educated Curmudgeon, Bit-Bucket Tuner and Budding Brewmeister.
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For All Those Who Think We Need to “Save” Public Schools

Fine. Save ’em. Go ahead. Here’s one thing that would help:

Freedom. Freedom from the edicts of remote educrats, politicians and “edumacators” (who generally know bupkis about actually teaching anything worthwhile).

Freedom to fail or excel exercised at the lowest possible level: first the parents, then the classroom, the school, the district. State and federal standards and requirements for the local school should be relegated to a strictly advisory role, with standardized tests used solely as a metric to allow the users of the schools to evaluate their own schools’ performance.

Schools run according to the demands of the patrons (the parents, the community that pays the bills, etc.) would either suck, excel or fall somewhere in between. The parents of schools that suck would KNOW they suck because, well, that’s what the parents wanted. If they want their kids to continue to be abused with poor education, then they can choose to do so. If they want to better their children’s education, then they’ll have the examples of schools that are better to study and emulate, if they wish.

Oh, and Freedom to Choose. Don’t like the poor quality of schooling afforded by the tastes and desires of the parents at “your” schools? You should be free to take your children to the school of your choice. (And that school should be free to bill the district or school your taxes support.)

Sure, this wouldn’t solve all the problems, but just this one small *heh* thing would place both the responsibility and authority in the hands of those to whom it properly belongs: the parents of the children in the schools (and the surrounding community, which both has needs for useful workers and a right to control how their tax dollars are spent).

I can already hear objections from some, “But what about poor communities? Won’t they need resources (tax dollars) from elsewhere in order to afford decent schools?”

No, they won’t. Parents–often single income parents making below average incomes–have been able to offer superior education at home on a shoe string. I know we did for a while. (Yes, my single income at the time wasn’t very much below the national average for a family of four, but it was below that mark, in an average-expense locale. *shrugs* We made it, despite “gummint” harassment and paying for other folks’ kids education as well. *heh*) There have been absolutely NO (that’s a big zero with the rim kicked off) credible studies linking higher education costs with effectiveness. In fact, I suspect that removing remote edicts, and the additional costs they require with only partial funding from the bureaucrappy that issued the edict, would significantly improve the cost issue for most schools, while allowing dramatically improved instruction.

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Just ONE of the Things Wrong With “Public Education” (Sadly, Often Better Known as “Prisons for Kids”)

Teachers are often required to attend “workshops” and “seminars” run by “education professionals” to maintain so-called “continuing education” credits necessary for their certifications/licenses. All too typically, such events feature know-nothing (or worse, know wrongly) educrats telling the teachers what they MUST do in their classrooms in order to be in compliance with some governmental regulation. Example: a workshop not long back featuring a remote educrat who said, “I have never taught in the classroom, but here is how you do xxxx.”

A know-nothing dictating to those who already know how to teach… but who often simply aren’t allowed to do so.

Remote educrats and the admins who enforce their edicts: F-n’ idiots.

One of the better things about rural schools is that some are often in quiet rebellion against city folks running their lives, and they’re small enough and sometimes remote enough to get away with a wee bit of foot-dragging on some of the stupider edicts. Just one reason that rural schools in general outperform many urban school systems in useful education. Review the principles of subsidiarity and accountability for reasons why this may work better in rural settings…

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Oops. By Hivemind Standards, nearly 1-in-4 North Carolinian Blacks Are Racists

It’s a fact. By Hivemind Standards “proving racism” (ANY opposition to The Zero=”racism” according to Hivemind Standards), almost 1/4 of North Carolina’s Black voters are racists.

The Zero received 95% of the “Black” vote in 2008. Recent polls place his support significantly lower in that group:

Not only that, but if you notice, a firm 20% are “self-haterz” (again, Hivemind definitions in operation), since they have come off the Dhimmicrappic Race-Baiting Plantation to declare for The Romney Android 2.X.

Whatever is the world coming to? opposition to The Zero=”racism” according to Hivemind Standards

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In the All Time Top Ten Best Songs…

The All Time Top Ten Best Songs of the last 300 years? Has to include the aria “Ombra mai fu” from Handel’s Serse (Xerxes). No kidding. Sure, the single best song of the 20th Century is “Nessun Dorma” (video link)–Puccini’s 1920s hit from Turandot, indisputably (no matter what some with tin ears and dulled mental capacities might think) THE “last great song written”… to date.

And ANY of Schubert’s lieder (preferably sung–at least most of them–by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau–simply and inarguably THE greatest baritone voice of the 20th Century. Just sayin’ :-))can hold down ALL the places for “best songs of the 19th Century.” Go ahead: pick any one of them. Apparently, Schubert just could NOT write a clinker of a song, never blew a clam onto manuscript paper, wrote only solid gold songs. Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart even? Yeh, some great solos. But they just didn’t seem to have Schubert’s ear for song. YMMV, but whatever you think, I’m right. *heh*

But while the 18th Century had tons of singable, memorable and even great songs, this one’s my own fav, and as hundreds of recordings of it from the 20th Century on can attest, it has an enduring appeal. I collect recordings of this song–have tons of them. I’m in awe of David Daniel’s counter-tenor performances of this song; I absolutely love Bryn Terfel’s deft treatment of the song; my fav living tenor, Placido Domingo, also sings it beautifully, as do a number of good sopranos. But Jussi Björling’s 1959 Atlanta performance before a live audience just blows me away:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex8Ja68Hc_U&feature=watch_response

The man’s talent was a one-of creative act by a God who loves music. And yeh, the video link above to “Nessun Dorma” is a Björling performance, too. Lesser performances aren’t on the same planet. Heck, the recitativo preceding the aria’s good, and usually a pleasant enough experience, but Björling singing the recitativo makes the hairs on my arms stand up and brings tears to my eyes. Really.

And “Ombra mai fu” is just a song about a (plane?) tree! Yeh, a flippin’ tree! (But hey, Nessun Dorma’s just a sort of “lullaby”–more or less. *heh*)

For All Time Top Ten Songs, nothing from pop music does it like the folks with real chops–writing and performing–can.


Frondi tenere e belle
del mio platano amato
per voi risplenda il fato.
Tuoni, lampi, e procelle
non v’oltraggino mai la cara pace,
nè giunga a profanarvi austro rapace.

(Tender and beautiful fronds
of my beloved plane tree,
let Fate smile upon you.
May thunder, lightning, and storms
never bother your dear peace,
nor may you by blowing winds be profaned.)

Ombra mai fu
di vegetabile,
cara ed amabile,
soave più.

(A shade there never was,
of any plant,
dearer and more lovely,
or more sweet.)

The only thing that might have improved on this concert performance would have been to have the strings accompaniment Handel scored. Some really subtle stuff going on in that. Listen to (Oh, go ahead and buy it! It’s just a buck) Bryn Terfel’s rendition (a third lower in pitch) for an appreciation of the stringed accompaniment. Very nice.

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Is Too Exercise!

Well, sorta.

Short story made long(er), I’ve been thinking (in a very desultory, lackadaisical, downright unserious manner) of getting a wee tad more exercise–you know, beyond my typical couch-and-desk-potato exercises with occasional bursts of yardwork. I’ve thought of building a treadmill desk for either my desktop or laptop, but… I’m reluctant to spend the $$ on just adding more unused clutter to the house.

Still… primary hard drive on most-used computer is making funky noises, so it’s powered down until I get a new hard drive in, and, yeh, looks like I’ll have to double its capacity *drat!* since 500GB hard drives are becoming less, common and I can install a 1TB drive for little over a $10-$15 upcharge. *shrugs* Why not?

But… I need another “change of pace” computer. (No, I don’t really, but I’m used to moving around to different workstations and doing different things on ’em, so… ) So…

Enter lil netbook with a real mouse and keyboard attached, sitting on the “bar” on the dining room side of the kitchen counter, right about here:

Those stools are gone–replaced them with some neat ones that have padded seats, backs and built-in pullout step stools. I’m not using seating there, anyway. By using it as a standing desk, I at least get some “exercise” benefits, and by having it there, the coffee’s handy! Sweet!

*heh*