Bjork! Great choice.

Whenever I read or hear "Bjork" I think of tennis... or swedish chefs...

Bjork Bjork Bjork! :D

I love Bjork...but she's a freak...yet I love her.

Beautiful and nutty as ever. I always liked her video in which she dismantles a old fashioned CRT television and explains how it functions. What a voice.

Ah, here it is. :-)

Warning to potential visitors and investors: Lubbockites are the most irony challenged people in the world. I am not grousing about this either, visitors and recent arrivals have commented to me about it a number of times.

I first saw this many years ago when I took a retail job right after I moved here. A stray cat wandered into the store. A customer facetiously asked me if it was mine. I said, "Oh, yeah, that's my killer attack cat." The yokel sneered knowingly and said, "Yeah, right" for all the world as though he thought I expected him to believe the cat was really a. mine and b. dangerous. Saw right through me, didn't he?

More recently I posted my line about Jesus being a community organizer who attacked entrepreneurs engaged in lawful business. A local liberal, and a doctoral student no less, launched into an impassioned attack on me exactly as though I were a mean, albeit atheistic, conservative attacking Jesus. Intelligent or not, the man was in fact a native Lubbockite.

Other examples abound. My security guard friend told me that a client employee walked off the job, actually quit, when a supervisor cheerfully declared that they were going to start body cavity searches at the door for banned cellphones and other devices. "You ain't gonna' do that to me, dammit," the outraged one declared, "No way." He huffed away before the stunned supervisor (a recent arrival from New York) could tell him that he was, er, kidding.

The guard himself was listening to complaints about smoking restrictions and commented, "Consider yourselves lucky. Next week you'll only be able to smoke while standing on one hand in the middle of the street." A supervisor, no less, sarcastically responded, "I'd like to see you do it," exactly as though he were seriously suggesting such a thing. No doubt she thought this was a brilliant zinger.

The guard is a native and really should have known better but outsiders should consider themselves warned and behave according. There is nothing so unlikely or silly that locals will not take it at face value and treat it as an excuse for their ever-boiling anger.

re: #7 Shiplord Kirel

What do you think they're mad at?

Bjork is an acquired taste, like Kate Bush, or Tom Waits. It may take awhile to really appreciate the music, but the beauty lies within, waiting to be revealed to your senses.

I grew up in a household where I was exposed to different forms of art, music, plays etc, etc but I am at a loss for words to even describe this.

re: #8 jaunte

What do you think they're mad at?

Probably me for making fun of them. They have no way of knowing that I ridicule all stupid people all over the world, with no particular preference for attacking the Lubbock idiocracy. It's just the stupid concentration nearest at hand.

Seriously, I knew a professor in Denton who had researched this, specifically the origins of hate and arrogance in the localized culture of north Texas, especially the Dallas area. (In terms of cultural history, Lubbock is an outpost of Dallas). According to him, this stems from the heavy influx of refugees from Georgia and the Carolinas into northeastern Texas just after the Civil War. It was this influx that set many of the folk patterns for the root population as it spread westward later in the 19th century. These people tended to be very bitter and angry, with a monumental sense of outraged entitlement and lost honor. As she put it, "If a Dallasite acts like he is going to kill you for daring to be ahead of him in the grocery line, he's actually angry because Sherman burned grandpappy's farm. He just doesn't know that's the reason. To him, it's normal, the way he was raised."

re: #11 Shiplord Kirel

I was born in north Texas (Wichita Falls) but only because my father was passing through in the midst of his oil career. Later I met some people from there, and couldn't fathom why they seemed to have such chips on their shoulders.

Obama still ahead of "Generic Republican"

Barack Obama continues to run even with a generic Republican candidate in polling for the 2012 general election. Among registered voters, 43% say they would like to see Obama reelected while 40% say they would prefer that a Republican candidate win the election.
......
...he performs particularly poorly among white men (53%-29% in favor of a GOP candidate) and whites without a college degree (50%-29% in favor of a GOP candidate).

re: #12 jaunte

I was born in north Texas (Wichita Falls) but only because my father was passing through in the midst of his oil career. Later I met some people from there, and couldn't fathom why they seemed to have such chips on their shoulders.

Wichita Falls has the same aggravating circumstance that Lubbock used to have: A nearby Air Force base with its constant flow of suspect and sometimes strange outsiders. At one time, in the mid-50s, anti-military feeling ran so high in Lubbock that the base commanders placed the whole city off limits. This followed the murder of a local girl by an airman. His swift trial and execution not withstanding, the locals persisted in blaming everybody in uniform, with gang attacks, riots and blatant discrimination continuing for 3 years.

If you like the off kilter Icelandic beauty but Bjork still weirds you out too much, Emilliana Torrini has that crystal clear vodka like astringency that Bjork does, but a tad more contemporary.

Goodnight all. Time to get ready for work.

Southampton university archaeologists unearth Roman shipyard

My daughter sent me this tonight:

Facebook will start charging you a monthly fee if you don't take off all of your clothes and go to your nearest grocery store then run up and down the aisles shouting "I'm a pretty caterpillar, and I dance in puddles made of hippopotamus tears!" You must do this by midnight tonight if you don't want to be charged the fee! GO... NOW... HURRY!!! (stolen)

This is exactly the kind of thing the locals would take literally. They would be very proud of themselves for recognizing it as a falsehood (assuming they didn't actually believe it).

re: #14 Shiplord Kirel

Wichita Falls has the same aggravating circumstance that Lubbock used to have: A nearby Air Force base with its constant flow of suspect and sometimes strange outsiders. At one time, in the mid-50s, anti-military feeling ran so high in Lubbock that the base commanders placed the whole city off limits. This followed the murder of a local girl by an airman. His swift trial and execution not withstanding, the locals persisted in blaming everybody in uniform, with gang attacks, riots and blatant discrimination continuing for 3 years.

Why this constant hostility? I read what you wrote but it still makes little sense.

re: #17 Shiplord Kirel

My daughter sent me this tonight:

This is exactly the kind of thing the locals would take literally. They would be very proud of themselves for recognizing it as a falsehood (assuming they didn't actually believe it).

I would totally steal this, but an old family friend posted a "true" version of this tonight, so she would take it as my making fun of her.

Funny, though.

Wow. It was so funny it stunned everyone into 20 minutes of silence.

Bjork: Moon

very nice! one of the things i like best about it is that it is of no genre

does anybody know when it was recorded?

re: #7 Shiplord Kirel

Warning to potential visitors and investors: Lubbockites are the most irony challenged people in the world. I am not grousing about this either, visitors and recent arrivals have commented to me about it a number of times.

I first saw this many years ago when I took a retail job right after I moved here. A stray cat wandered into the store. A customer facetiously asked me if it was mine. I said, "Oh, yeah, that's my killer attack cat." The yokel sneered knowingly and said, "Yeah, right" for all the world as though he thought I expected him to believe the cat was really a. mine and b. dangerous. Saw right through me, didn't he?

More recently I posted my line about Jesus being a community organizer who attacked entrepreneurs engaged in lawful business. A local liberal, and a doctoral student no less, launched into an impassioned attack on me exactly as though I were a mean, albeit atheistic, conservative attacking Jesus. Intelligent or not, the man was in fact a native Lubbockite.

Other examples abound. My security guard friend told me that a client employee walked off the job, actually quit, when a supervisor cheerfully declared that they were going to start body cavity searches at the door for banned cellphones and other devices. "You ain't gonna' do that to me, dammit," the outraged one declared, "No way." He huffed away before the stunned supervisor (a recent arrival from New York) could tell him that he was, er, kidding.

The guard himself was listening to complaints about smoking restrictions and commented, "Consider yourselves lucky. Next week you'll only be able to smoke while standing on one hand in the middle of the street." A supervisor, no less, sarcastically responded, "I'd like to see you do it," exactly as though he were seriously suggesting such a thing. No doubt she thought this was a brilliant zinger.

The guard is a native and really should have known better but outsiders should consider themselves warned and behave according. There is nothing so unlikely or silly that locals will not take it at face value and treat it as an excuse for their ever-boiling anger.

In my house we call those people "The Literals"

re: #18 Dark_Falcon

Why this constant hostility? I read what you wrote but it still makes little sense.

genetic passive aggression?

re: #23 ggt

genetic passive aggression?

Possibly a genetic tendency aggravated by learned responses.

re: #23 ggt

genetic passive aggression?

I know I'm passive aggressive, and so is my youngest. We make lousy soccer players.

"I don't want to kick the ball over there. I want to make you kick the ball over there. How do I do this?"

re: #24 EmmmieG

Possibly a genetic tendency aggravated by learned responses.

I think mostly learned response. If you are raised by angry people, you become an angry person--and/or you drink a lot. From what I've read, West Texas is hard country to try to live in. Generations of hard life can make for angry people.

It's worse, IMHO, if the anger is sublime. Can make for some really f-cked-up kids.

The kind that drag people from the backs of trucks until they are dead.

Emmie G --is it just you and me?

We can talk girl stuff then.

re: #27 ggt

Emmie G --is it just you and me?

We can talk girl stuff then.

Made a hot fudge sundae cake tonight. Very good, but I overdid it.

re: #28 EmmmieG

Made a hot fudge sundae cake tonight. Very good, but I overdid it.

How can you overdo hot fudge sundae cake?

re: #29 ggt

How can you overdo hot fudge sundae cake?

When it stops tasting good, and your mouth is over-sugared.

Goodnight, all.

re: #30 EmmmieG

When it stops tasting good, and your mouth is over-sugared.

like wedding cake?

re: #32 ggt

like wedding cake?

Something like that. I hate to abandon you, but I just realized it is 10:30, and it's a school night. See you tomorrow. I would send you some of the cake if I could.

re: #33 EmmmieG

Something like that. I hate to abandon you, but I just realized it is 10:30, and it's a school night. See you tomorrow. I would send you some of the cake if I could.

You're leaving me all alone?

Have a good sleep!

re: #29 ggt

How can you overdo hot fudge sundae cake?

i shall resist the temptation to make lewd suggestions

re: #35 engineer dog

i shall resist the temptation to make lewd suggestions

ah! A friend in the night.

How are you engineerdog?

re: #36 ggt

ah! A friend in the night.

How are you engineerdog?

oh pretty good, thank you for asking. i've been watching boardwalk empire on the computer and ignatz cat is walking all over me

how's yourself?

re: #37 engineer dog

oh pretty good, thank you for asking. i've been watching boardwalk empire on the computer and ignatz cat is walking all over me

how's yourself?

awake. I was dead tired after work and thought I'd sleep all night until Monster Puppy jumped on the bed and decided to say "hi". Now Monster Puppy is alseep and Cat Overlord is trying to get me to pet him with my feet.

Thanks for askin'.

Are the rest of the Lizards playing video games or sleeping?

re: #38 ggt

awake. I was dead tired after work and thought I'd sleep all night until Monster Puppy jumped on the bed and decided to say "hi". Now Monster Puppy is alseep and Cat Overlord is trying to get me to pet him with my feet.

Thanks for askin'.

Are the rest of the Lizards playing video games or sleeping?

there seems to be a small but select assortment that is "viewing this thread"

you must be in a different time zone - it's before eleven here in CA

as for bed jumping, here in the Bear Cabin fur bearing mammals are banned from the bedroom during sleeping hours because of this tendancy

re: #39 engineer dog

there seems to be a small but select assortment that is "viewing this thread"

you must be in a different time zone - it's before eleven here in CA

as for bed jumping, here in the Bear Cabin fur bearing mammals are banned from the bedroom during sleeping hours because of this tendancy

ah, well, I like furry mammals in the bed with me. Monster Puppy has earned run of the bedroom at night, but mostly stays in his crate. I was gone all day, so he was excited to get to see me.

I have one little girl dog who is a total bed bug. She demands that she be cuddled. As my kid is too old to cuddle, she satisifies my mommy need. In the winter, all the animals are on the bed (even Cat Overlord).

re: #40 ggt

mommy need

ah

cuddling is good

i'm reminded of a definition by james thurber - 'incompatible' - he had no income, and she wasn't pat-able

my last wife wasn't pat-able. i'm hoping for better luck next time

re: #41 engineer dog

ah

cuddling is good

i'm reminded of a definition by james thurber - 'incompatible' - he had no income, and she wasn't pat-able

my last wife wasn't pat-able. i'm hoping for better luck next time

So sorry.

patability is important!

re: #42 ggt

So sorry.

patability is important!

i'm consulting the magic eight ball about it but it says "reply hazy, try again"

:-)

Well, I think I can sleep.

Sorry to leave you all alone.

Have a good Monday!

re: #44 ggt

Well, I think I can sleep.

Sorry to leave you all alone.

Have a good Monday!

sleep well, now!

re: #13 jaunte

Obama still ahead of "Generic Republican"

Barack Obama continues to run even with a generic Republican candidate in polling for the 2012 general election. Among registered voters, 43% say they would like to see Obama reelected while 40% say they would prefer that a Republican candidate win the election.
...
...he performs particularly poorly among white men (53%-29% in favor of a GOP candidate) and whites without a college degree jealous, socially-resentful biatches (50%-29% in favor of a GOP candidate).

f

re: #26 ggt

I think mostly learned response. If you are raised by angry people, you become an angry person--and/or you drink a lot.

Or they try to "break the cycle", as many offspring try to do re: parents. But you're right, that is also a learned response.

re: #40 ggt

ah, well, I like furry mammals in the bed with me. Monster Puppy has earned run of the bedroom at night, but mostly stays in his crate. I was gone all day, so he was excited to get to see me.

I have one little girl dog who is a total bed bug. She demands that she be cuddled. As my kid is too old to cuddle, she satisifies my mommy need. In the winter, all the animals are on the bed (even Cat Overlord).

I saw my precious Big Puppy yesterday. Meant to take a pic for you but was immersed in work. Next time.

Meant to add: I told them about you and Monster Puppy and some of the funny stories about him. They were laffin.

re: #20 EmmmieG

Wow. It was so funny it stunned everyone into 20 minutes of silence.

not the same as the composition by john cage?

re: #46 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin

f

So when does Gene Eric Republican announce his campaign bid? Because that asshole's been holding out on us for months.

/

re: #50 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

So when does Gene Eric Republican announce his campaign bid? Because that asshole's been holding out on us for months.

/

Not going to happen. Word is they caught him with a prostitute in a public restroom.

re: #51 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

Not going to happen. Word is they caught him with a prostitute in a public restroom.

Give him a couple days to "Get right with God" and he'll be good as gold again.

ALL HAIL BJÖRK!

President Barack Obama charged that the Republican vision of government would "fundamentally cripple America," as he tried out his newly combative message on the liberal West Coast.

:-)

yanno i think these here democrats may have grown a pair at long last

Time for something pretty... which one often gets with some Debussy:

Iceland is on my bucket list.

Morning, all.

Morning Honcos.

I can't stay long but I did want to put up a Teacher of the Year nominee:
[Link: www.myfoxtampabay.com...]

re: #60 Cannadian Club Akbar

I can't stay long but I did want to put up a Teacher of the Year nominee:
[Link: www.myfoxtampabay.com...]

Well, it isn't as if she'll be fired.

re: #61 researchok

Why do you think she won't be fired?

re: #61 researchok

Well, it isn't as if she'll be fired.

In Florida, 2 DUI's in that short a period means no license for 5 years. But she can get a business permit (church, work, skool, grocery shopping) after 2 1/2 years. D'oh!!

re: #62 Obdicut

Why do you think she won't be fired?

It's tough to fire teachers.

Gotta go start the new temp job. I have zero idea what I am walking into. See ya'll this afternoon.

re: #64 researchok

It's tough to fire teachers.

Not really. Arrest generally leads to being fired. If she was just caught with drugs, she might get to go into a treatment program and might not be fired, but with the felony fleeing charge, she'll probably get fired.

I'm not really sure where this absolute conviction that teachers found doing wrong won't be fired comes from.

After all, teachers are getting fired for having pictures of themselves drinking on facebook:

[Link: guyism.com...]

For doing drugs had having a sex tape, without arrest:

[Link: www.fox4now.com...]

For refusing drug tests:

[Link: www.mapinc.org...]

For having a myspace page with 'inappropriate comments'

[Link: www.pbs.org...]

re: #65 Cannadian Club Akbar

Hope you're walking into Miss. Lovely's Emporium of Manly Goods Sold By Lovely Charming Women Who Date Fellow Employees.

re: #66 Obdicut

I'm not really sure where this absolute conviction that teachers found doing wrong won't be fired comes from.

It's been a meme for a while:

[Link: reason.com...]
[Link: www.foxbusiness.com...]

I'm guessing it derives its motivation from the right-wing politics of undermining workers' rights in favor of employers. But no idea who came up with it first.

re: #68 000G

Ah geez, Stossel.

I love how the people who get angry that principals can't fire teachers more easily never really wonder how qualified the principals are to make that decision. They seem to have such faith that anyone making the firing decisions is doing so solely on grounds of incompetence and that they themselves are excellent judges of incompetence and great at their jobs.

It's hard to fire teachers, even if they are bad

No Teacher Left Behind

Superintendent: Bad teachers hard to fire

The battle over New York City’s worst teachers.

Is it too hard to fire teachers? Almost 60%of teachers say yes.

Firing teachers hsa been a long time problem.

We don't need no stinkin' fizzy-cysts...

Texas holds firm on physics closures

The plans are also consistent with a business-based approach to higher education championed by Texas governor Rick Perry, now in the race to be the Republican party nominee for the US presidential elections in 2012.

re: #68 000G

It's been a meme for a while:

[Link: reason.com...]
[Link: www.foxbusiness.com...]

I'm guessing it derives its motivation from the right-wing politics of undermining workers' rights in favor of employers. But no idea who came up with it first.

I believe the issue crosses all political lines.

Still, Obdi may be right re teachers who are arrested (and convicted, I assume). I don't know how those numbers shake out.

re: #71 freetoken

We don't need no stinkin' fizzy-cysts...

Texas holds firm on physics closures

Lots can be cut before having to hit existing education programs.

re: #70 researchok

Those articles have the problem I've seen in a lot of articles discussing the subject: they conflate the issue of teachers that are 'bad'-- in that they're seen as not teaching well-- with teachers that are outright criminal.

It is rather difficult to fire a teacher with tenure, which is generally earned after three years on the job. It's not impossible. It's difficult. You have to go through a process, proving that the teacher should be fired, which takes about a year. And, as many of your articles point out, many places don't bother-- often a teacher is forced into retirement (thus prompting another round of outrage about pensions) or the administrators don't bother because they're too busy, I guess.

For the teachers in the rubber rooms, the technique during the period of reviews and suchlike to keep them out of teaching though still paid, what do you think the experience is like for a teacher that is actually competent, but is being charged by an incompetent principal? Don't you think it's just as crappy for them?

I'd love to see a faster review process. I'd always love to see faster anything bureaucratic.

But when clearly some teachers are fired for small causes-- like being on Facebook-- the glib meme about how it's impossible to fire teachers really is pretty silly.

re: #69 Obdicut

Ah geez, Stossel.

His latest piece on Reason is shilling for charter schools. Because, yknow, maximum competition and minimum inteference of government provides best results always:

I was surprised to meet kids who said they like school. What? I found school boring. How can it be that these fourth-graders tell me that they look forward to going to school and that math is "rockin' awesome"?

Those kids attend one of those new charter schools. Charters let them escape the bureaucracy of regular schools, including, often, teachers union rules. These schools compete for kids because parents can always choose another school. That makes them better.

Not every charter school is good, but the beauty of competition is that bad ones go out of business, while good ones expand. Then good schools teach more kids. Choice and competition produce quality. Anyone surprised?

Government schools rarely improve because no matter how bad they are, they still have captive customers.

Yes, I agree.

Conflating criminal conduct with poor teaching is not a good idea. They are two separate issues. You were right to make that distinction.

As for firing poor teachers, the problem is pretty entrenched. The New Yorker 'rubber room' article is pretty incredible- and damning.

No easy solutions on the horizon, that's for sure.

re: #73 researchok

Bet those universities who lose their physics programs won't reduce the number of "deanlets" in their colleges.

re: #75 000G

These schools compete for kids because parents can always choose another school. That makes them better.

Heh. That's such beautifully constrained logic.

It doesn't take into account the idea of parents without enough money to be attractive to the schools.

It doesn't take into account that public schools have to teach everyone; that the private schools exercise discretion in who they teach.

It doesn't take into account that that segregation is part of what makes private schools attractive to parents; that their kids will be with other kids whose parents can afford to pay that much.

Except in the last sentence:

Government schools rarely improve because no matter how bad they are, they still have captive customers.

Where he avoids, just barely, admitting that Public schools have the challenge that they are captive to the kids, that they cannot simply expel kids from the system, that they have to educate all the kids that come to them and don't get to pick and choose.

I would love it if just once a voucher/charter advocate would fucking deal with that in their argument, instead of pretending it doesn't exist.

Probably a sour note for the Obama administration, and possible fuel for the atavist fire:

Pimco’s El-Erian Sees Global Economy Slowing in 2012

Pacific Investment Management Co., which runs the world’s biggest bond fund, is forecasting that advanced economies will stall over the next year as Europe slides into a recession, underscoring mounting investor concern about the global economic outlook.

There will be little-to-no economic growth in industrial nations in the coming 12 months as Europe’s economy shrinks by 1 percent to 2 percent and the U.S. stagnates, said Mohamed El- Erian, chief executive officer of Newport Beach, California- based Pimco.

[...]

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said he has been to 20 years of IMF gatherings, and “there’s not been a prior meeting at which matters have had more gravity and at which I’ve been more concerned about the future of the global economy.”

[...]

re: #78 Obdicut

Heh. That's such beautifully constrained logic.

It doesn't take into account the idea of parents without enough money to be attractive to the schools.

It doesn't take into account that public schools have to teach everyone; that the private schools exercise discretion in who they teach.

It doesn't take into account that that segregation is part of what makes private schools attractive to parents; that their kids will be with other kids whose parents can afford to pay that much.

Except in the last sentence:

Where he avoids, just barely, admitting that Public schools have the challenge that they are captive to the kids, that they cannot simply expel kids from the system, that they have to educate all the kids that come to them and don't get to pick and choose.

I would love it if just once a voucher/charter advocate would fucking deal with that in their argument, instead of pretending it doesn't exist.

Aren't most charter schools cost free?

Also, are you saying charter schools are always a bad idea?

I'm always leery of a 'one size fits all' approach.

re: #79 freetoken

Probably a sour note for the Obama administration, and possible fuel for the atavist fire:

Pimco’s El-Erian Sees Global Economy Slowing in 2012

Obama can't catch a break.

He's going to end up having to pay for the Euro crisis, in one way or another- certainly politically.

The irony is he and Merkel are in it together.

re: #71 freetoken

We don't need no stinkin' fizzy-cysts...

Texas holds firm on physics closures

Texas is closing it's phys-ed programs? No more Longhorns, no Aggies? That's an outrage. Oh...nevermind.

re: #78 Obdicut

I would love it if just once a voucher/charter advocate would fucking deal with that in their argument, instead of pretending it doesn't exist.

Once again, Scandinavia is interesting:

[Link: thinkprogress.org...]
[Link: prospect.org...]
But also: [Link: www.independent.co.uk...]

Heard about this on my drive home from work last night

The chief of the New York Police Department says city police could take down a plane if necessary.

I understand the "logic" but am a tad leery of cities having an arsenal that includes that much firepower

I mean, I'm sure there's an air force/ national guard / coast guard facility close enough and trained better that should respond

[Link: hosted.ap.org...]

re: #82 Decatur Deb

Texas is closing it's phys-ed programs? No more Longhorns, no Aggies? That's an outrage. Oh...nevermind.

Worse

Friday Night Lights got cancelled!!
/

re: #78 Obdicut

I would love it if just once a voucher/charter advocate would fucking deal with that in their argument, instead of pretending it doesn't exist.

Leaving the huddled masses to their own bootstrap devices and thus saving them from dependence on government is an act of charity!

re: #76 researchok

But the rubber room thing, as I pointed out, is jsut as bad for a competent teacher who gets accused by an incompetent principal.

If we really want to fix education in this country, it's not going to be done by letting administrators have more power to fire teachers. It makes no sense on the face of it; why do you blankly assume the competence of those administrators?

If we really want to fix administration in this country, let's look to successful models, like the Finnish one. It involves beating back against the anti-intellectual strain in our country, valuing teachers more, having higher standards for entering the teaching profession. It involves shifting funding away from administration, and back to the teachers themselves.

[Link: bertmaes.wordpress.com...]

[Link: neatoday.org...]

re: #84 sattv4u2

Heard about this on my drive home from work last night

The chief of the New York Police Department says city police could take down a plane if necessary.

I understand the "logic" but am a tad leery of cities having an arsenal that includes that much firepower

I mean, I'm sure there's an air force/ national guard / coast guard facility close enough and trained better that should respond

[Link: hosted.ap.org...]

NYPD with AA weapons? What could go wrong?

re: #80 researchok

Sorry, yeah, charter school is used loosely sometimes, so I was including tuition charter schools. Charter schools are a whole 'nother kettle of fish. If done right, they can be a good component. But even there, Stossel is then being an idiot in his article; charter schools are government schools. They are part of the public school system. That's part of why I got confused about it.

Also, are you saying charter schools are always a bad idea?

Why would you ask that question? Did anything I say approach an absolute?

re: #88 RogueOne

NYPD with AA weapons? What could go wrong?

"Hey sarge, just checking in. Yeah, we're in pursuit here on Broadway. Should we use the stop sticks or this neat new anti-aircraft weapon mounted on the hood of the patrol car?"

re: #88 RogueOne

I wonder if it's just 100 cops on the top of a building with their service revolvers firing as fast as they can while shouting "Yee-haw."

re: #91 Obdicut

I wonder if it's just 100 cops on the top of a building with their service revolvers firing as fast as they can while shouting "Yee-haw."

It's New York City, not Dodge City!!

They'd be shouting "Yo,, Vinnie ,, I think I clipped him"

re: #91 Obdicut

I wonder if it's just 100 cops on the top of a building with their service revolvers firing as fast as they can while shouting "Yee-haw."

It makes you wonder if shooting a plane down in a city has the same god damned effect that the terrorists was trying to achieve anyway.
:/

re: #93 Varek Raith

It makes you wonder if shooting a plane down in a city has the same god damned effect that the terrorists was trying to achieve anyway.
:/

Maybe their "secret weapon" vaporizes the plane!

You, of all people, should know that!

re: #87 Obdicut

But the rubber room thing, as I pointed out, is jsut as bad for a competent teacher who gets accused by an incompetent principal.

If we really want to fix education in this country, it's not going to be done by letting administrators have more power to fire teachers. It makes no sense on the face of it; why do you blankly assume the competence of those administrators?

If we really want to fix administration in this country, let's look to successful models, like the Finnish one. It involves beating back against the anti-intellectual strain in our country, valuing teachers more, having higher standards for entering the teaching profession. It involves shifting funding away from administration, and back to the teachers themselves.

[Link: bertmaes.wordpress.com...]

[Link: neatoday.org...]

I see schools and teachers barely treading water.

If the Charter School idea is a non starter, why does Obama want to see more of them?

Also, are there any examples of funds shifted from admin to teachers that have proved successful? Also, why should we assume that teachers are better equipped to handle to funding than administrators? Shouldn't teachers just each and leave administration to administration?

I do agree we need higher standards for entering teachers. I would also add I like the idea of having professionals with real world experience (scientists, etc) encouraged to teach.

That and subject competency exams for teachers. I believe that is critical.

re: #93 Varek Raith

Seriously. Plus any actual AA device is itself a powerful explosive. If it's an AA gun with shells (which, y'know, I doubt, but it could be, who knows?) then some of those shells will fail to explode at altitude and will fall.

If it's missiles, if the missile fails to hit, it may detonate or it may fall and then detonate.

Etc. etc.

At Pearl Harbor, a lot of the damage was done by AA guns firing low trajectories at the planes and hitting our own buildings.

re: #95 researchok

Can you point out where I said charter schools are a non-starter?

Also, are there any examples of funds shifted from admin to teachers that have proved successful?

Yes. The highest correlations of success in teaching is class size. The more teachers you have, the smaller the class size, the better results you get-- probably up to a certain point, but we haven't hit that point anytime recently.

Also, why should we assume that teachers are better equipped to handle to funding than administrators? Shouldn't teachers just each and leave administration to administration?

Um, I think you're confused. I didn't mean that we should shift decisions about funding to teachers, but actual funding; as in, we should have fewer administrators, and more teachers, and better-compensated ones.

That and subject competency exams for teachers. I believe that is critical.

Did you read the articles I linked on Finland's system?

If only we could find a way to make those fat, dumb and happy union thugs with their master's degrees release their stranglehold on the schools.

More than 45% quit before 5 years, flushing the effort that went into their career. My daughter quit 'regular' county school after 4, and didn't go back until she found a safe, rewarding slot teaching in jail.

re: #89 Obdicut

Sorry, yeah, charter school is used loosely sometimes, so I was including tuition charter schools. Charter schools are a whole 'nother kettle of fish. If done right, they can be a good component. But even there, Stossel is then being an idiot in his article; charter schools are government schools. They are part of the public school system. That's part of why I got confused about it.

Why would you ask that question? Did anything I say approach an absolute?

No, I was asking for clarification purposes.

For the record, I didn't mention Stossel at all because while some of his ideas have merit, overall his record is too spotty. Some ideas are well researched others are not.

I've never been a big fan. He makes for entertaining TV but can't be relied on for more serious discussions.

re: #93 Varek Raith

It makes you wonder if shooting a plane down in a city has the same god damned effect that the terrorists was trying to achieve anyway.
:/

Not if you drop it on an apartment building instead of Yankee Stadium.

re: #78 Obdicut

Heh. That's such beautifully constrained logic.

It doesn't take into account the idea of parents without enough money to be attractive to the schools.

It doesn't take into account that public schools have to teach everyone; that the private schools exercise discretion in who they teach.

It doesn't take into account that that segregation is part of what makes private schools attractive to parents; that their kids will be with other kids whose parents can afford to pay that much.

Except in the last sentence:

Where he avoids, just barely, admitting that Public schools have the challenge that they are captive to the kids, that they cannot simply expel kids from the system, that they have to educate all the kids that come to them and don't get to pick and choose.

I would love it if just once a voucher/charter advocate would fucking deal with that in their argument, instead of pretending it doesn't exist.

I had a far-Right leaning acquaintance the other day assure me that vouchers and a privatized school system are the way to go. His reasoning? That if you take the average amount of taxes parents pay towards education and simply cut them an annual check, then even the poorest couple could afford to send Junior to the private school of their choice. Or, even better, all those voucher dollars floating around will convince the private sector to invest heavily in top-quality schools.

In between laughs, I asked him if this fantasy world also would put restraints on said private schools that would prevent them from raising tuition rates or open their doors to any dullard whose folks pony up their voucher check. And then asked him who those hastily constructed schools catering to the voucher crowd will answer to, if the government is being removed from the equation. Remember, ours is a "free market" that decided that the cost of a minor alteration to the Ford Pinto's fuel system was too costly, at least until people started getting immolated in rear-end collisions.

re: #99 researchok

I'm fine with well-administered charter schools. They are, in fact, right up my alley because I like Finland's system, which each schools have strong degrees of autonomy. In the US, we'd face the challenge of making sure that autonomy wasn't abused to teach creationism and religion, but other than that, the Finnish system could be called a charter school system.

However, the reason proponents of charter schools like Stossel push for them is because of these ideas of 'competition'-- which ignores the mission of the educational system to teach ALL students, and ignores that, with charter schools, parents compete with each other to get their kids in the schools; the schools, being non-profit, don't compete to get students-- and because it's easier to fire teachers in a charter school.

Those shouldn't be the reasons to support charter schools; the first because it's simply untrue, and the latter because making it easier to fire teachers shouldn't be used as the goal, and systems chosen because of it. It should be easier to fire teachers if it allows us to reach the goal.

re: #100 Decatur Deb

Not if you drop it on an apartment building instead of Yankee Stadium.

As a Red Sox fan, I want to say flat out I wish no ill will to the Yankees or their fans

That stated, I wouldn't mind if their team bus got lost on the way to a playoff game vs. the Sox resulting in a forfeit!

re: #101 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

If you haven't yet, take a gander at the articles on the Finnish school system I linked. They're really interesting. And really depressing how far away from it we are.

re: #97 Obdicut

Can you point out where I said charter schools are a non-starter?

Yes. The highest correlations of success in teaching is class size. The more teachers you have, the smaller the class size, the better results you get-- probably up to a certain point, but we haven't hit that point anytime recently.

Um, I think you're confused. I didn't mean that we should shift decisions about funding to teachers, but actual funding; as in, we should have fewer administrators, and more teachers, and better-compensated ones.

Did you read the articles I linked on Finland's system?

I read the articles.

However, on the opposite side there is the South Korean models, with class sizes approaching 50 students and test scores that are high.

Obama has lauded both the Finnish and South Korean models.

What is clear is the solutions to improving education are multi faceted. No easy answers.

And on that note, my workday insanity begins now.

Later all.

re: #105 researchok

How on earth do you see the South Korean model 'on the opposite side'?

Do you mean because the South Korean kids seem successful, but in reality very unprepared for college, and so drop out in large numbers?

re: #103 sattv4u2

WTF happened in Buffalo yesterday? I got to watch most of the 2nd half. What a game. I think the hair must have been getting in brady's eyes.

re: #107 RogueOne

WTF happened in Buffalo yesterday? I got to watch most of the 2nd half. What a game. I think the hair must have been getting in brady's eyes.

huh??
wha??
There was a game yesterday?

(at least the Jets and Dolphins lost also!)

Seriously, I can't recall a game where Brady had so many passes tipped at the line

I suspect the commissioner is talking about run-of-the-mill full auto weapons with high angle mounts and maybe a little bit of relevant practice for the officers who use them. Not all AA weapons use explosives, the 20mm Phalanx gun system is an example and there are, of course, similar options for other weapons of this caliber. NYPD could also have .50 caliber machine guns for all I know. This has been a standard light AA gun since it was invented in 1916 and there are a fair number of them in civilian hands.

The chances of bringing down a plane, especially a large one, with these kinds of weapons (especially smaller ones) almost don't exist. .50 calibers were effective in World War 2 because there were a hell of a lot of them and they were after incremental attrition rather than a guaranteed kill. In my experience, civilians who have these weapons, or want them, vastly over-estimate what they will do. That includes the cops. I know a cop who is completely convinced that .50 BMG rounds will penetrate a tank or knock an APC on its side. I hope he doesn't get to put this to the test.

As for smaller police "special weapons," a full auto AR-15 is awesome at the local shooting range but it is small potatoes by military standards. A lot of these characters might be influenced by World War 2 movies in which hard-bitten infantry routinely shoot down hostile planes with their submachine guns and light support weapons. It happened more than a few times in real life, but the actual odds of bagging a plane before it bagged you were very poor indeed.

re: #104 Obdicut

If you haven't yet, take a gander at the articles on the Finnish school system I linked. They're really interesting. And really depressing how far away from it we are.

The only trouble is that we're not Finnish (or Italian, where I sent my daughter for scuola media). The first effect of vouchers in my town would be to make our re-segregation more complete. When Brown v. was implemented we had an instantaneous crop of church schools and academies, some equipped with furnishings suddenly surplussed from the public system. We are still under federal court review.

re: #109 Shiplord Kirel

Maybe they hired that guy that got arrested for shining his laser at passing planes.

re: #110 Decatur Deb

The only trouble is that we're not Finnish (or Italian, where I sent my daughter for scuola media). The first effect of vouchers in my town would be to make our re-segregation more complete. When Brown v. was implemented we had an instantaneous crop of church schools and academies, some equipped with furnishings suddenly surplussed from the public system. We are still under federal court review.

No, no, not vouchers. Charter different than vouchers. Gah, this is tricky to talk about.

I am in no way supporting vouchers. Vouchers are a terrible, awful, shitty system that have all sorts of bad effects.

By charter schools, I'm just referring to greater autonomy on the part of the schools, not releasing them from their pledge to serve all members of the community, etc.

Really, the Finnish system can't be described using our terms. It's too different.

But yes, the problems we'd face in any system that gave greater autonomy to local schools would be what we've struggled with forever now: religion and racists.

wassup, freek mignons?

Son has left for school

Going back to bed for an hours nap before getting ready for the long quiet drive TO work

re: #112 Obdicut

No, no, not vouchers. Charter different than vouchers. Gah, this is tricky to talk about.

I am in no way supporting vouchers. Vouchers are a terrible, awful, shitty system that have all sorts of bad effects.

By charter schools, I'm just referring to greater autonomy on the part of the schools, not releasing them from their pledge to serve all members of the community, etc.

Really, the Finnish system can't be described using our terms. It's too different.

But yes, the problems we'd face in any system that gave greater autonomy to local schools would be what we've struggled with forever now: religion and racists.

Religion particularly, because any system that relied upon public funds would quickly find itself embroiled in court cases once religion began to play a part. As soon as tax dollars began going into the local parochial school's coffers, there would be lawsuits up the yin-yang.

re: #113 Sergey Romanov

wassup, freek mignons?

I'll have mine medium rare, please

re: #116 sattv4u2

I'll have mine medium rare, please

Do you need a special sauce?

re: #117 Sergey Romanov

Do you need a special sauce?

No

NTTAWWT!!

re: #115 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

Yes. Again, to make it clear, I am in no way advocating vouchers or public money going to private schools. At all.

re: #118 sattv4u2

Right choice!

re: #112 Obdicut

Yes, in fact the terms probably aren't even standardized across the country. We have no 'charter' schools, but we do allow 'magnet', as long as they don't turn into black/white camps. We are just getting significant numbers of Spanish-speaking children, and that will only make it more complicated.

re: #112 Obdicut

..snip

By charter schools, I'm just referring to greater autonomy on the part of the schools, not releasing them from their pledge to serve all members of the community, etc.

The Italian schools are highly centralized. They see that as critical in breaking down regionalism in a nation-state that is less than a hundred and fifty years old. Now think of what 'autonomy' can mean in our state that was rebel territory in 1865.

re: #122 Decatur Deb

Yeah, but I think we already are crippled by that same problem.

I'm not advocating autonomy on its own. Only in concert with all the other factors in the Finnish system.

Part of the problem is that the problem is so multifaceted. Even if we give schools greater resources, more autonomy, and smaller class sizes, there are still factors that will simply diminish the end results. Such as little or no parent participation in the education of their children, which has as much to do with our current economic problems as it does with the anti-intellectualism that has taken hold in recent decades. Not to mention our culture's great emphasis on consumerism and "rags to riches" myths that say a high school basketball player can go straight to the NBA and be making millions in his first year.

To be frank, anybody who says there's a "one-size-fits-all" solution is speaking out his arse.

re: #124 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

Part of the problem is that the problem is so multifaceted. Even if we give schools greater resources, more autonomy, and smaller class sizes, there are still factors that will simply diminish the end results. Such as little or no parent participation in the education of their children, which has as much to do with our current economic problems as it does with the anti-intellectualism that has taken hold in recent decades. Not to mention our culture's great emphasis on consumerism and "rags to riches" myths that say a high school basketball player can go straight to the NBA and be making millions in his first year.

To be frank, anybody who says there's a "one-size-fits-all" solution is speaking out his arse.

Twenty years ago my wife and I accidentally fell in with a nut job who somehow thought we were on the same wavelength. She was running for our local schoolboard under the "Phonics" flag. Before she realized that we were The Enemy, she outlined a cold, coordinated plan to establish the TPGOP in the South. It started with the school boards and was driven by 'expert help' from Florida and Texas. It has colored my perception of all our passionate education reformers since.

Alright. Time to write. 3000 words, here I come.

Image: What-an-asshole.png

Morning Lizardim. What's the word of the day on this unseasonably warm Monday?

re: #128 thedopefishlives

Morning Lizardim. What's the word of the day on this unseasonably warm Monday?

I won't be original. "Bird."

re: #129 Sergey Romanov

I won't be original. "Bird."

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

re: #128 thedopefishlives

What's the word of the day...?

***

dehiscence
verb [ intrans. ] technical
gape or burst open : what is about to happen to the Tea Party as its atavism ripens and sets seed

BBBbBIrd bird bird bird
bird is the word!
(repeat)

re: #130 thedopefishlives

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

So if I'm not unique like everyone else, does that make me unique?

re: #130 thedopefishlives

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

U-NEAK UP ON HIM!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

(gasp, breathe)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

re: #133 Sergey Romanov

So if I'm not unique like everyone else, does that make me unique?

Ugh. It's Monday. Stop making my brain hurt.

re: #135 thedopefishlives

Ugh. It's Monday. Stop making my brain hurt.

BRAAAAAIN!

re: #134 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Stopped in K-mart the other day, didn't see you there tho...

re: #137 Shropshire_Slasher

You won't catch me there much.

re: #138 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

I just saw that big ass sign of Sofia in the front, thats all.

re: #136 Sergey Romanov

BRAAAIN!

Great, a zombie lizard. Where's the radar-guided troll missile firing console?

re: #140 thedopefishlives

Great, a zombie lizard. Where's the radar-guided troll missile firing console?

I eated it!

re: #140 thedopefishlives

Great, a zombie lizard. Where's the radar-guided troll missile firing console?

Down for maintenance and upgrades. In the mean time, here's the emergency alternative. *Hands over machete*

Three teams in the NFL are 3-0.

The Packers.

The Bills?

The Lions?

Kwazy, kwazy world.

re: #142 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

Down for maintenance and upgrades. In the mean time, here's the emergency alternative. *Hands over machete*

*snatches the machete*

re: #139 Shropshire_Slasher

Oh, yeah... Mmmm.... Sofia....

re: #142 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

Down for maintenance and upgrades. In the mean time, here's the emergency alternative. *Hands over machete*

We're up against a zombie lizard invasion and the best you could do was a machete?! *WHACK!*

Johnny Carson, God rest his soul, used to make a practice of publicly embarrassing people who wrote him hostile but stupid letters. One time back in the early 80s, Carson made a joke about someone needing something or other like "John Derek needs a woman." Derek, of course, was the husband of Bo Derek, an icon at the time thanks to the movie "10."

A few weeks later, he took time during his monologue to read a letter he had received complaining about this. The writer assumed he was referring to John Merrick, the 19th century "elephant man" who had been the subject of another recent movie, and had mispronounced the name. She then delivered a lengthy, self-righteous denunciation of Carson for his insensitivity and cruelty toward the disabled, as well as for not getting the name right. Carson read the writer's actual name and hometown on the air, and responded that, no, he really did mean John Derek as he had said. He went on to sarcastically explain who Derek was and that he was definitely not confusing him with John Merrick.

I enjoyed this because I utterly despise pompous moralists, especially when their desperate need to find fault leads them to abuse the innocent.

Real life Emily Litellas can be very funny too, and they richly deserve the ridicule they receive.

re: #146 thedopefishlives

We're up against a zombie lizard invasion and the best you could do was a machete?! *WHACK!*

Hey, it's the best we could do. Budget cuts wiped out most of the reserve funds. However, we do have a bill going through the Lizard Congress right now that would allocate additional funds. But we're worried about spending, so we're looking to offset the cost by scrapping the jacuzzi we were looking to install.

Hey, guys. You must be proud of the zombie invasion. That means that it's the famine years at the right-wing blogs.

re: #143 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Three teams in the NFL are 3-0.

The Packers.

The Bills?

The Lions?

Kwazy, kwazy world.

Would really be fun if, somehow, the Packers and Lions both go into the Thanksgiving Day game undefeated. Now that would be a game!

re: #148 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

Hey, it's the best we could do. Budget cuts wiped out most of the reserve funds. However, we do have a bill going through the Lizard Congress right now that would allocate additional funds. But we're worried about spending, so we're looking to offset the cost by scrapping the jacuzzi we were looking to install.

Sigh. Just take it out of my Zionist check this month.

re: #145 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

I was in Sears too, I would love a new grill, had a nice selection, I just don't like parting with my money.

re: #143 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Three teams in the NFL are 3-0.

The Packers.

The Bills?

The Lions?

Kwazy, kwazy world.

I had to laugh at the way the Lions slaughtered the Vikings. I mean, they were up 20-0, you'd think that it'd be a relatively simple matter to hold on for the win. But going for it on 4th and 1 when you already have the lead? Ridiculous!

So if we build the ultimate zombie killing machine, and they don't come, can we still use it?!

It has not all been rural bliss. There have been times when as many of 20 people from WikiLeaks stayed at the house. “I’d open a cupboard and another one would fall out,” Mr. Smith said. And then there is the matter of the farm animals. “Julian messed with my pigs,” Mr. Smith said, smiling…

re: #154 Shropshire_Slasher

So if we build the ultimate zombie killing machine, and they don't come, can we still use it?!

Sure, hopefully it'll work well enough on trolls.

re: #156 thedopefishlives

Well its gotta have a name, what can we name it?

re: #129 Sergey Romanov

I won't be original. "Bird."

Boooo!

re: #158 RogueOne

Booo!

Baaah!

Good morning from NYC, where it is a beautiful morning. It has been weirdly warm and humid here over the last week or so, with none of the fall crispness we expect from late September.

The big news here is that tomorrow four subway platforms will begin to have cell service. That will be interesting.

re: #160 garhighway

Any developments re: your computer?

re: #161 Sergey Romanov

Any developments re: your computer?

I am 99% sure that my main problem is an old PC with limited memory.

I want to talk to my IT guy at work and see what he thinks. If I'm right, I am leaning towards the i7 machines, since they seem to be the top of the line.

Is Windows 7 an improvement over what came before? That seems to be what they are selling these days.

re: #162 garhighway

If by what came before you mean Vista, an emphatic Yes ;)

re: #162 garhighway

Is Windows 7 an improvement over what came before? That seems to be what they are selling these days.

Windows 7 is decent enough, for Windows. I would definitely recommend it over XP and Vista. The main issue with Windows 7 is that the design is considerably changed from previous versions of Windows, so it'll take a little getting used to.

Our home PC runs XP.

My wife's laptop uses Vista and I hate it.

re: #165 garhighway

XP is good, but not an option because of the device compatibility, mainly.

re: #166 Sergey Romanov

XP is good, but not an option because of the device compatibility, mainly.

I understand that Msoft is going to stop supporting XP one of these days, right?

re: #166 Sergey Romanov

XP is good, but not an option because of the device compatibility, mainly.

Well, that and it's 10 years old now. Not that that's necessarily always an issue, but Microsoft is phasing out support for it and it is a bit vulnerable in the security department. (An unpatched XP box has a projected lifespan of, what, 9 minutes before it gets compromised?)

re: #162 garhighway

Windows 7 is a huge improvement, as far as I'm concerned. Much more stable, for one thing.

You now get to choose if you want 32 bit or 64 bit Windows 7. If you don't rely professionally on any legacy programs, then I'd highly recommend you get 64 bit.

re: #169 Obdicut

Windows 7 is a huge improvement, as far as I'm concerned. Much more stable, for one thing.

You now get to choose if you want 32 bit or 64 bit Windows 7. If you don't rely professionally on any legacy programs, then I'd highly recommend you get 64 bit.

The machines I am looking at all seem to be 64 bit Win 7.

And 3000 words written. Yay. I want to do another 6000 today, but it's a good start for 9:15 AM.

re: #170 garhighway

The machines I am looking at all seem to be 64 bit Win 7.

Really, unless you depend on old, propriety software, you should get 64. One of the advantages of it is that it can handle more than 2 gigs of ram without problem; it's also simply superior in memory execution in general.

Are there any old programs you absolutely have to have?

re: #172 Obdicut

Really, unless you depend on old, propriety software, you should get 64. One of the advantages of it is that it can handle more than 2 gigs of ram without problem; it's also simply superior in memory execution in general.

Are there any old programs you absolutely have to have?

I don't think so. So long as I can still open old photos and documents and spreadsheets, I'll be good.

re: #173 garhighway

I don't think so. So long as I can still open old photos and documents and spreadsheets, I'll be good.

Yep. All MS stuff is backwards compatible with documents. Go 64. And i7 is a good spec; it's what I have. Got 4 megs of ram as well and you'll be flying.

And get the computer from somewhere that won't preload a fuckton of useless software on it. Don't get a dell.

re: #174 Obdicut

4 gigs of RAM, I hope. I don't know of a single modern operating environment that wouldn't gag on 4 megs. ;)

re: #167 garhighway

I understand that Msoft is going to stop supporting XP one of these days, right?

Not until 2014.

re: #175 thedopefishlives

4 gigs of RAM, I hope. I don't know of a single modern operating environment that wouldn't gag on 4 megs. ;)

Hee hee. Yes. Dated myself rather there.

re: #171 Obdicut

You've probably been asked this here, but what is it about?

re: #174 Obdicut

Yep. All MS stuff is backwards compatible with documents. Go 64. And i7 is a good spec; it's what I have. Got 4 megs of ram as well and you'll be flying.

And get the computer from somewhere that won't preload a fuckton of useless software on it. Don't get a dell.

I've been leaning towards Dell or HP, just because I am a name-brand shopper and I know them. Is there someone else I should look at?

re: #167 garhighway

I understand that Msoft is going to stop supporting XP one of these days, right?

And I will be a sad camper when this happens, as my primary computer uses it.

It will mean I have to break down and buy another copy of Win7, or install Linux again.

re: #176 Sergey Romanov

Not until 2014.

(This sounds a bit weird, when I think about it. Heh. In my childhood I read a Soviet kids' sci-fi book about time travel. It was written in 1950s and the Amazing Future described in the book was ca. 1985 or so.)

Anyone ever mistakenly tried to get in the wrong car in the middle of a parking lot? This officer took it one step further:

Atlanta cop allegedly draws gun, mistakes car for police SUV
[Link: www.ajc.com...]

McCall said he was driving away from the main branch of the U.S. Post Office around 7:30 a.m. Friday when he saw a man running up to him out of the corner of his eye.

“Suddenly, there was a man to my left with a gun pointed at me saying, ‘Get out of my car … that’s my car,’” McCall said.

McCall said he quickly stopped the car and raised his hands “and waited for the sound of a gunshot and the shock of a bullet entering my body.”

The man opened the door and looked inside the car briefly, then holstered his weapon and apologized, McCall said.

“‘Oh … this is not my car,’” McCall said, recounting the officer’s words as the ordeal ended.

Sgt. James Ebb’s white Ford Explorer, embossed with Atlanta Police decals, was parked some 15 feet away from where McCall got into his white Toyota Camry before the incident.

re: #182 RogueOne

Did anything disciplinary happen to the fucker?

re: #177 Obdicut

Hee hee. Yes. Dated myself rather there.

I remember my first laptop - 386sx but I broke the bank and had 16 mb of ram installed. Doubled the price. Ran OS/2 Warp really well though.

re: #182 RogueOne

This reminds me of today's C&H:

Image: imadoctor.png

re: #183 Sergey Romanov

Did anything disciplinary happen to the fucker?

Really...driving a Camry should be a crime, I agree.

Mornin' everyone.

Ah up with the sunrise... And some music from a good friend and his new band. Elvis Monroe

Bryan Hopkins, Ben Carey, Matt Nelson and Ryan MacMillan

re: #183 Sergey Romanov

Did anything disciplinary happen to the fucker?

The story only says that it's "under investigation".

re: #182 RogueOne

Anyone ever mistakenly tried to get in the wrong car in the middle of a parking lot? This officer took it one step further:

Atlanta cop allegedly draws gun, mistakes car for police SUV
[Link: www.ajc.com...]

It's one thing to get in the wrong car that's the same make, model, and color. But mixing up a Ford Explorer (with police stickers on it!) with a Toyota Camry? I know they're both crappy little SUV's, but come on, man.

re: #184 wlewisiii

I remember my first laptop - 386sx but I broke the bank and had 16 mb of ram installed. Doubled the price. Ran OS/2 Warp really well though.

I freaking loved Warp. Some machines at my highschool used to run it back in the day.

Image: this_business_model_seems_to_work_well.png

re: #190 wozzablog

I freaking loved Warp. Some machines at my highschool used to run it back in the day.

Warp was good. It supported multi-tasking! IBM just missed the boat...a year earlier, and they could have killed MS DOS and Windows.

Yeah, looking back on Windo$£ 3.1 now, OS/2 was far far better.

re: #193 wozzablog

Yeah, looking back on Windo$£ 3.1 now, OS/2 was far far better.

I never had the Warp experience. I actually managed to find a copy of it a couple of years ago and installed it on a virtual machine, just to try it out. It was definitely interesting.

Good morning lizards!

I hope everyone had a good weekend.

re: #192 darthstar

I was a big fan of Warp, but IBM never could get the backing for that project, and ceded the entire space to MSFT. It was far more stable than MSFT's 3.0/3.1/3.11/NT, and had much more flexibility. In many ways, it was ahead of its time.

re: #78 Obdicut

Where he avoids, just barely, admitting that Public schools have the challenge that they are captive to the kids, that they cannot simply expel kids from the system, that they have to educate all the kids that come to them and don't get to pick and choose.

I would love it if just once a voucher/charter advocate would fucking deal with that in their argument, instead of pretending it doesn't exist.

It's the "800 lb gorilla in the room" and the source of a lot of their hypocrisy. Your post points to a more general problem Stossel and his ilk have regarding "competition". As much as they talk up "competition" and "market forces", blah blah, competition with all comers is the last thing in the world they want. Without a rigged game that weeds out competition for them, they cannot compete.

The very idea of their children potentially being shown up by one of the dhimmi's children in a school causes them deep anxiety.

White-liberal-unhappy with Obama voters=racist.

Black President, Double Standard: Why White Liberals Are Abandoning Obama
[Link: www.thenation.com...]

Still, electoral racism cannot be reduced solely to its most egregious, explicit form. It has proved more enduring and baffling than these results can capture. The 2012 election may be a test of another form of electoral racism: the tendency of white liberals to hold African-American leaders to a higher standard than their white counterparts. If old-fashioned electoral racism is the absolute unwillingness to vote for a black candidate, then liberal electoral racism is the willingness to abandon a black candidate when he is just as competent as his white predecessors.

The relevant comparison here is with the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton. Today many progressives complain that Obama’s healthcare reform was inadequate because it did not include a public option; but Clinton failed to pass any kind of meaningful healthcare reform whatsoever. Others argue that Obama has been slow to push for equal rights for gay Americans; but it was Clinton who established the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy Obama helped repeal. Still others are angry about appalling unemployment rates for black Americans; but while overall unemployment was lower under Clinton, black unemployment was double that of whites during his term, as it is now. And, of course, Clinton supported and signed welfare “reform,” cutting off America’s neediest despite the nation’s economic growth.
.....
The 2012 election is a test of whether Obama will be held to standards never before imposed on an incumbent. If he is, it may be possible to read that result as the triumph of a more subtle form of racism.

re: #198 RogueOne

Obama's biggest problem has been to manage expectations. Whether it's HCR, DADT, or the ME peace process, the bar has been set so high - either by his own Administration or by pundits who thought he was primed to do big things.

Fact is that HCR was a big deal whether you agreed with how it was done or not. He accomplished something there that prior Presidents were unable to do.

Same with DADT and recognizing the contributions of gays and lesbians to the US Armed Forces.

To win in 2012, the Administration has to do a better job of managing expectations and they've started doing that with the way they're promoting the jobs package and recasting the stimulus package. That the official recession figures show that the economy shrank by a far greater percentage than previously believed is highly suggestive that the stimulus did a barely adequate job of keeping things from slipping into an even worse situation. It's a tougher argument to make than the GOP's claims that the stimulus failed so that we shouldn't try that approach again b/c unemployment went well above the WH target figures for the stimulus.

It's going to be an uphill battle, but one that Obama can climb.

000G, are you here?

re: #199 lawhawk

That's the ball game right there.

re: #199 lawhawk

It's the Republicans who still have the work to do.

Across the polls - Obama is down by few points in some polls to "Generic Republican".
However - he beats everyone except Romney in the opinion polls by a landslide, and he still beats Romney, just by a smaller margin.

Paperwork finished. Time to get to work. Enjoy the rest of the day people.

re: #198 RogueOne

The professional complaining class of White Liberals were pissed with Clinton over CAFE standards, Welfare, Heathcare, DADT.

re: #178 Sergey Romanov

You've probably been asked this here, but what is it about?

It's about a guy learning how not to fail, and then learning how to be okay with succeeding.

And sex, Japanese punk rock, and why immigrants are awesome.

Good morning Lizardia from "always sunny" Philadelphia.

City is depressed today due to the Eagles losing.

Shopping done yesterday for the week. Meatloaf to be made tomorrow, and also picked up a 10lb pork shoulder that will be converted into slow cooker pulled pork later this week. (All purchases Cat Overlord approved!)

re: #204 wozzablog

The professional complaining class of White Liberals were pissed with Clinton over CAFE standards, Welfare, Heathcare, DADT.

The professional complaining class of white liberals will always be unhappy with Democratic presidents because they never listen to what the candidate actually says on the campaign trail. They project their own utopian fantasies on that person then whine when reality hits.

re: #198 RogueOne

re: #199 lawhawk

Obama's biggest problem has been to manage expectations. Whether it's HCR, DADT, or the ME peace process, the bar has been set so high - either by his own Administration or by pundits who thought he was primed

Some of it is compounded by Bill Maher "I expected a black ninja badass president but instead I got Obama so now I'm 'disappointed'" type of b.s.

I say often: you expected Cotton Comes to Harlem from someone who has always portrayed himself as Virgil Tibbs. Obama can manage certain expectations only so much.

re: #207 Lidane

The professional complaining class of white liberals will always be unhappy with Democratic presidents because they never listen to what the candidate actually says on the campaign trail. They project their own utopian fantasies on that person then whine when reality hits.

True that.
Goes both ways on all sides.
W is getting it from the other side at the moment from the wingnuts.

re: #207 Lidane

The professional complaining class of white liberals will always be unhappy with Democratic presidents because they never listen to what the candidate actually says on the campaign trail. They project their own utopian fantasies on that person then whine when reality hits.

It's really true. And I don't even agree with the premise of the Nation article title, that "white liberals" are "abandoning" the president. The professional left/talking head types, sure, but we could expect that from those corners. I'm not seeing it among the regular joes.

OT for those NYers out there who have a thing for architecture and/or literature:

Where Brooklyn's literary greats lived. Truman Capote, Walt Whitman, Henry Miller, and Isaac Asimov among them.

re: #209 wozzablog

True that.
Goes both ways on all sides.
W is getting it from the other side at the moment from the wingnuts.

Another good point. The Evangelical right, for instance, does something similar with their candidates who make it to high office. Never fails.

re: #208 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin

re: #199 lawhawk

Some of it is compounded by Bill Maher "I expected a black ninja badass president" but instead I got Obama so now I'm 'disappointed'" type of b.s.

Pretty much this. Because he's the first POTUS that isn't a white guy, the expectations that were set for him were impossible. The professional complaining class liberals damn near expected Obama to eliminate all racism and all minority resentment just by virtue of the fact that he got elected. They expected sunshine and rainbows 24/7/365, 40 acres and a mule, and for the POTUS to walk on water. Real life doesn't work that way.

He turns out to be human and now they're disappointed. Fuck that.

Gaffe of the week...

From the LA Times:

New gaffe: Obama confuses Jews with janitors

"If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor. I have no problem with that."

FACEPALM

re: #213 Lidane

Pretty much this. Because he's the first POTUS that isn't a white guy, the expectations that were set for him were impossible. The professional complaining class liberals damn near expected Obama to eliminate all racism and all minority resentment just by virtue of the fact that he got elected. They expected sunshine and rainbows 24/7/365, 40 acres and a mule, and for the POTUS to walk on water. Real life doesn't work that way.

He turns out to be human and now they're disappointed. Fuck that.

He's a perfectly reasonable and fairly middle of the road guy on policy as in all things.

That there is so much emotion attached to him is remarkable really.

re: #204 wozzablog

The professional complaining class of White Liberals were pissed with Clinton over CAFE standards, Welfare, Heathcare, DADT.

Well, I was pissed with Clinton (as well as Barney Frank) over DADT because it he had campaigned on ending discrimination against lgb in the military. Instead we got yet another policy where the government was eliminating another career path for an entire group of people, self included.

It doesn't seem that a big deal for those it doesn't affect. But at the time it was a lot more than just a disappointment.

re: #212 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin

Politics is about the art of compromise. It's not about the crushing of the enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women. Yet, that's precisely what the right wing/socon/TP is pushing for - an absolutist view where compromise is a dirty word.

re: #214 NJDhockeyfan

Gaffe of the week...

From the LA Times:

New gaffe: Obama confuses Jews with janitors

FACEPALM

Why do reporters have to impose their own interpretation where there should be none?

All we really know is "same tax rate as a ju-, uh, as a janitor ".

re: #214 NJDhockeyfan

Yeah, that's a pretty blatantly misleading headline. Facepalm indeed.

re: #214 NJDhockeyfan

That's your gaffe of the week? It's a bit premture, no?

It's not even 10am on Monday. Rick Perry nor Michele Bachmann haven't gotten started yet. Give it until at least Thursday before you decide the worst thing said all week.

re: #214 NJDhockeyfan

Gaffe of the week...

From the LA Times:

New gaffe: Obama confuses Jews with janitors

FACEPALM

0/10. Troll harder.

re: #213 Lidane

Yeah, that, and they just don't know any Black people. Not in their personal lives, and not professionally. They should try being Black, walking into an all-white environment the first day of work and seeing just what expectations and absurd demands are thrown at them.

We do it every day, but never on the grandest of grand scales. The Obamas have handled it with a lot of grace, but then they were trained for it, as are all Black professionals.

re: #214 NJDhockeyfan

Gaffe of the week...

From the LA Times:

New gaffe: Obama confuses Jews with janitors

FACEPALM

It doesn't follow the anti-Semitic meme that Jews control all the money, so my interpretation is that he was about to say "junior" something, stopped himself, and said "janitor."

Of course this will not stop all the outrageous outrage.

Image: z3d3f.gif

re: #224 000G

Image: z3d3f.gif

Woah! That made me dizzy.

re: #224 000G

Image: z3d3f.gif

*drool*

re: #224 000G

Image: z3d3f.gif

Drone ready.

re: #223 Alouette

Of course this will not stop all the outrageous outrage.

Obama could find a miraculous way of completely eliminating the deficit, balancing the budget, lowering taxes to almost nil, freeing us from foreign oil dependence, solving every international crisis over a beer, and getting us to full employment and there would still be outrageous outrage over anything he said or did along the way.

re: #223 Alouette

It doesn't follow the anti-Semitic meme that Jews control all the money, so my interpretation is that he was about to say "junior" something, stopped himself, and said "janitor."

Of course this will not stop all the outrageous outrage.

"Junior secretary" or some such.

re: #228 Lidane

Obama could find a miraculous way of completely eliminating the deficit, balancing the budget, lowering taxes to almost nil, freeing us from foreign oil dependence, solving every international crisis over a beer, and getting us to full employment and there would still be outrageous outrage over anything he said or did along the way.

I wouldn't consider the LA Times close to being a conservative right-wing paper.

re: #229 wozzablog

"Junior secretary" or some such.

Junior janitor.

re: #228 Lidane

Reuters "Obama Walks On Water"
FoxNation "Community organizer can't swim"

re: #231 Sergey Romanov

Junior janitor.

_{Roger Wilco}

re: #229 wozzablog

"Junior secretary" or some such.

Or perhaps just a slip where he meant to say "janitor" and the wrong vowel came out, so he had to back up and try the word again. Hey, we all make mistakes.

re: #217 lawhawk

Politics is about the art of compromise. It's not about the crushing of the enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women. Yet, that's precisely what the right wing/socon/TP is pushing for - an absolutist view where compromise is a dirty word.

It's because theirs is not a politics of ideas, where they believe in certain principles of government or public policy. It's not even one where they believe in certain concepts or tenets, because so much of what they actually want to do goes against what they say they believe in. The only tenet is that of hating 'the left'. It is the sole raison d'etre of cult politics, and everything is said and done with that in mind.

Exercise in awkwardness: Rick Perry Dances the Hora Around a Menorah Without a Torah. (Dec 2010)

I hope Charles takes on this new stupidity. Man. This is so stupid I lost a few IQ points myself just being exposed to this story.

re: #230 NJDhockeyfan

I wouldn't consider the LA Times close to being a conservative right-wing paper.

Well...

re: #217 lawhawk

Politics is about the art of compromise. It's not about the crushing of the enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women. Yet, that's precisely what the right wing/socon/TP is pushing for - an absolutist view where compromise is a dirty word.

Yeah, "compromise" has definitely become a 4-letter word among the Disappointed set. I suspect that's because they've never really been challenged on anything in their own lives, or have never been confronted with true enemies.

Was saying in a downstairs thread last night re: neighbors who harass minority families (the topic was jerks who proseletyze Jewish families), the "come with that to my house and look down a barrel of a gun" thing doesn't work, especially not with a Black family that is being harassed in a hostile white neighborhood.

You have to find a realistic way of dealing with those types. Likewise, Hell Up In Harlem will never work for the Obamas in DC.

re: #236 negativ

Exercise in awkwardness: Rick Perry Dances the Hora Around a Menorah Without a Torah. (Dec 2010)

Try saying that 5 times fast.

re: #240 wozzablog

Try saying that 5 times fast.

Yeah, right. It's like saying Candyman three times?

re: #241 Sergey Romanov

Yeah, right. It's like saying Candyman three times?

I hope not. I don't want to see rick perry appear in the mirror behind me.

unless I'm driving away, that is. ;)

re: #230 NJDhockeyfan

I wouldn't consider the LA Times close to being a conservative right-wing paper.

Um, that author used to work for Laura Bush.

Yes, the author of that piece is definitely a right-wing conservative.

re: #230 NJDhockeyfan

I wouldn't consider the LA Times close to being a conservative right-wing paper.

hehe

Interesting article:

Michael Kazin: "Whatever Happened to the American Left?", The New York Times, 24. September

After years of preparation, welfare-state liberalism had finally become a mainstream faith. In 1939, John L. Lewis, the pugnacious labor leader, declared, “The millions of organized workers banded together in the C.I.O. are the main driving force of the progressive movement of workers, farmers, professional and small business people and of all other liberal elements in the community.” With such forces on his side, the politically adept F.D.R. became a great president.

But the meaning of liberalism gradually changed. The quarter century of growth and low unemployment that followed World War II understandably muted appeals for class justice on the left. Liberals focused on rights for minority groups and women more than addressing continuing inequalities of wealth. Meanwhile, conservatives began to build their own movement based on a loathing of “creeping socialism” and a growing perception that the federal government was oblivious or hostile to the interests and values of middle-class whites.

[…]

If activists on the left want to alter this reality, they will have to figure out how to redefine the old ideal of economic justice for the age of the Internet and relentless geographic mobility. During the last election, many hoped that the organizing around Barack Obama’s presidential campaign would do just that. Yet, since taking office, Mr. Obama has only rarely made an effort to move the public conversation in that direction.

Instead, the left must realize that when progressives achieved success in the past, whether at organizing unions or fighting for equal rights, they seldom bet their future on politicians. They fashioned their own institutions — unions, women’s groups, community and immigrant centers and a witty, anti-authoritarian press — in which they spoke up for themselves and for the interests of wage-earning Americans.

Today, such institutions are either absent or reeling. With unions embattled and on the decline, working people of all races lack a sturdy vehicle to articulate and fight for the vision of a more egalitarian society. Liberal universities, Web sites and non-governmental organizations cater mostly to a professional middle class and are more skillful at promoting social causes like legalizing same-sex marriage and protecting the environment than demanding millions of new jobs that pay a living wage.

A reconnection with ordinary Americans is vital not just to defeating conservatives in 2012 and in elections to come. Without it, the left will remain unable to state clearly and passionately what a better country would look like and what it will take to get there. To paraphrase the labor martyr Joe Hill, the left should stop mourning its recent past and start organizing to change the future.

Are you so brainwashed NJD that you believe that Obama compared a Jew to a janitor? Really? He's a raging anti-Semite that finally, finally let it slip?
I feel for you and your paranoia.

The upside of being 'poor'. by ANDREW MALCOLM

That dude is a wingnut if there ever was one. I also like how he put poor in quotes.

That sound you are hearing is this "story" unraveling.

re: #247 recusancy

The upside of being 'poor'. by ANDREW MALCOLM

That dude is a wingnut if there ever was one. I also like how he put poor in quotes.

OMG THE SO-CALLED POOR DON'T EVEN HAVE TO EAT THEIR OWN EXCREMENTS TO SURVIVE! PURE LIBRUL HYPERBOLE!

re: #230 NJDhockeyfan

I wouldn't consider the LA Times close to being a conservative right-wing paper.

Who cares? I wasn't talking specifically about the LA Times anyhow.

In general, Obama could be a real-life Time Lord or miracle worker and otherwise solve every problem in the world and there would still be outrageous outrage over anything he said or did.

re: #242 iceweasel

I hope not. I don't want to see rick perry appear in the mirror behind me.

unless I'm driving away, that is. ;)

ah, Perry. The GOP leader in the Primaries is going down to the president by 9 in the General on average, which fits neatly with the personal negative ratings he keeps piling on with the wider electorate every time he opens his mouth -11% and growing.

Obama had better re-write any upcoming speech that has any words beginning with J.