Day: May 25, 2005

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More Prisons for Kids

This ought to be at least a weekly gig
 
Lotsa resources all over the web, with people a lot smarter and better-informed than I deal with the problems of so-called public education in the U.S. of A.  One resource that has some of the brightest thinkers around—some teachers, some ordinary joes and some folks that are smarter than you and me put together—approaching this topic from time to time is Jerry Pournelle’s Chaos Manor in Perspective Current Mail pages.  Here’s a (very) brief portion of one of Dr. Pournelle’s responses to a correspondant:
 
“Credentialism” is insane. I was once asked to be President of a local junior college to help get it back on an academic track. I thought I could do it, but it turns out I do not have an “administrative credential” and thus I am not qualified to be president of a junior college in California. I should thank God for that since it would have been a very bad thing for me to do, but the madness of the credential process remains. Air Force sergeants who have taught meteorology and math to young men and women for 20 years are not “qualified” to teach high school science, while imbeciles with no idea of science or teaching a “qualified” by sitting through some lamebrain courses that anyone could pass without attending the course.—Current Mail, Monday 05/23/05
Just pop over to Jerry Pournelle’s site and do an onsite search for “education,” “public schools,” “teachers,” etc. Be prepared for some reading.
 
And after perusing Dr. Pournelle’s site for a while, ask yourself what could drive a teacher to write an essay like the one described here.  Sure, I’ve known a lot of incompetent (and even some downright stupid) public school teachers, but most of them do their best to teach the children who are their charges. And many of them are bright, competent people who must endure administrators who are mostly dolts, poltroons, incompetents and bullies to boot, while attempting to civilize little hellions who have been ruined by excrebly bad or nonexistant parenting.
 
Our schools are worse than just bad curricula, bad teaching, *spit* politicians *spit*, hellions and well-schooled idiots and their “parents,” and venal administrators who are dumber than rocks (but crafty politicos) all added together and minmastered to carefully devised, stupid homogeneity.
 
The sum is far worse than its parts, I’m afraid.
 
I’m glad my youngest nephew is being homeschooled.  He’s far too bright to be subjected to the lobotomy-by-millimeters factories that are our public schools.
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I don’t think Harvey’s such a Bad Example…

For your weekly dose (OK, most think I need a daily dose) of blogaid, head to Harvey’s Bad Example
 
Today’s blog etiquette post by Harvey is but one of many examples of how I should behave when I blog and post on other folks’ blogs. And his Blogging Tips (upper righthand sidebar) section is one I consider a must read (I simply must read the rst of it… when I get a Round Tuit—cos everything I’ve read there so far has helped me).
 
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Followup to the “Swirly Tutorial”

 
And why not?  Covering the Madcap Jolly Jokers* at Newsweak would bring out the kinder, gentler side of anyone. Newsweek’s Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman’s prank** of giving an interview to Al Jizzeera*** stating that, regardless of his magazine’s retraction, he could take no stand on whether military interrogators had or had not engaged in desecration of the Koran**** at Gitmo is yet another example of a wry sense of humor taken amiss*****, I fear.
 
See Dan’s generous, kind and gentle treatment****** of this jolly joker*.
 
Money quote from Daniel “Coulda happened; I’ll make sure I leave that impression” Klaidman:
“… we did not have the information that we needed to make the assertion that we did in this item – that this had happened… We have heard the allegations, we continue to report, and the US military and other entities are investigating, and as I said, we are neutral on whether any of this ever happened.”
Lending grist to the Al Jizzeera “Saudi-financed Jihadist Propoganda Network” host’s agenda (“But there is no proof that it did not happen either… “).
 
I’ve linked the Al Jizzeera “Saudi-financed Jihadist Propoganda Network” article somewhere in this post, but I’m not giving the Al Jizzeera “Saudi-financed Jihadist Propoganda Network” a big plug here, you know.
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
*N.B. In this context, “Madcap Jolly Jokers” is a euphemism for “Damned Collaborationist Filth.”
 
**”Daniel Klaidman’s prank” is a euphemism for “traitorous venom.”
 
***Al Jizzeera is the correct spelling of the Saudi camel-lover’s propoganda network.
 
****desecration of the Koran = the careful, proper treatment of a piece of filth, already too unclean from passing through the hands of camle-loving jihadists to use as toilet paper.
 
*****wry sense of humor taken amiss = filthy, collaborationist treason correctly interpreted.
 
******generous, kind and gentle treatment = rips him a new one.
 
WARNING: I HAVE LINKED BELOW TO SOME OFFENSIVE MATERIAL (THAT IS, MATERIAL USING THE NAME “DANIEL KLAIDMAN”).  Oh, there are also some appropriate but highly offensive links to bestiality sites that may be associated with DANIEL KLAIDMAN—I am neutral on whether this is so or not, so I must of course report that it could be so, in order to rise to the level of journalistic integrity set by such bags of puss as Daniel Klaidman.
 
PLEASE DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINKS ASSOCIATED WITH “Daniel Klaidman”! While they are in no way as vile as is he, some of them are disgusting, repulsive and completely vile sites, indeed.
 
NOTE: Let me be perfectly clear about this.  I am neutral on whether or not any form of sexual perversions—such as bestiality, pedophilia, sado-masochism, etc.—are habitually practiced by Newsweek’s Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman. I am neutral on whether Newsweek’s Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman has yet stopped beating his wife—or not. I am neutral on the topic of whether or not Newsweek’s Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman is a cannibalistic serial killer.
 
Since I have no evidence that any of these things are true about this useless bag of puss, I am neutral on whether or not any of these things are true.
 
Of course, I don’t have any evidence that they are not true, either… So they all could be!
 
And that’s the position that Daniel Klaidman takes concerning the  allegation that a prison guard tried to flush the Koran down a toilet: after his mag reported it did happen, when the Saudi-financed Jihadist Propoganda Network asked him about it, he’s neutral.  “Coulda happened” is this bag of puss’s message.
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Carnival of the Recipes #41: My fav fruit salad

Although I have vivid memories from childhood of this special treat…
It’s not just a fruit salad, but it’s certainly my fav. My mom swears she never made it (though I can still see me and my four siblings jockeying over our fav fruit pieces… ). But then, that has been happening more and more often lately.  It’s either a sign of her advancing age or mine.
Regardless, I have been making this salad that boldly mocks Waldorf salads as being too wussie for at least thirty years, myself, so…
Here’s another “process, not a recipe” recipe for you. Measurements/amounts are NOT exact; vary at will:
Mocking Wussie Waldorf Salads Salad
1/2 medium head of (green) cabbage, shredded or chopped
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (more or less, preferably more 🙂
2/3 cup chopped celery (frankly, more celery is a good thing)
about 1/2 cup raisins
1Tbs lemon juice and zest of one lemon (lime juice is a nice variation)
one can (your fav) fruit cocktail (pineapple, pear, peach, grape, etc. pieces in fruit syrup–I distinctly recall vying for the maraschino cherry pieces as a child. heh)
one apple, cleaned, cored, NOT peeled and cut into pieces
1/3 to 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, salad dressing or Miracle Whip.
Mix it all in a large bowl. Chill for an hour or more. Eat.
My memory is of this served with chicken pot pie. So that’s the way I do it.
Note: I’ve been known to add some celery seed from time to time. I like it.  Opinions vary.
Recipe hunters, welcome!  Come on in.  Grab a cuppa joe.  Put your feet on the coffee table and relax a while.  In other parts of this blog, I rant and rave, ponder and pontificate, wander and wonder, but food is for fun as much as simply fuel. So enjoy, drop me a note and tell me how this turned out for you, should you try it. Or just wander around a while and wonder what you’ve let yourself in for.