Well straw, we're just chewing some fat here. Chances of us changing a thing are non-existant. Perhaps it's a good exercise in patience with differing opinions. Donna failed the exercise :)
Now straw, the reason your arguments are so frustrating is because they are actually used by politicians, and they are very effective with the unwashed masses. Blame the low IQ immigrants on quality of education, etc...
These are tools of mass distraction.
If they can convince you that "more funding" is NEVER the solution, then you will never even bother to ask if the funding is ever sufficient.
Same argument with "smaller gubbermint". Smaller than what? Show me a benchmark or stop talking out of your ass.
I said earlier that I think once a certain threshold of adequacies are met, funding education has a vanishing return. Aren't we seeing that in higher education in what is looming as the next bubble we have to face as a society? The inability to provide education for our citizens at a cost we can sustain is a problem with huge long lasting impacts. In the wake of budget cuts, I invite you to open the window of opportunity and possiblity with me instead of banging at the closed door and yelling that it should never have been closed. Since I have a recently new and unique perspective, one that I think maintains values while challenging opinions normally associated with those values, I wanted to share it and invite insight, which I have gotten. I feel very misunderstood. :( The teachers I work with don't disagree with me.
Smaller government means as small as possible. There is no benchmark. It means different things depending on where you are and what you are talking about.
My old firm doesn't exist anymore. While all that bitching was excessive, it was not unfounded, glad it was entertaining, I thought it was entertaining too. In the end, we got what we deserved and I went down with them, I learned a lot from that, but can't complain anymore.
To answer the question asked what seems like days ago, yes, students get out of school during the day for all sorts of things..
Golf
Basketball
Volleyball
Baseball/Softball
Soccer
Choir
Band
At least thats all I know of so far.
I think Evolutionarily unnovel means evolutionarily un-new, meaning it's old hat, and therefore, not exciting. I've never thought of how I interact in society/culture as a survival skill, but that's because I still have evolution and cave men tied together in my mind.
Donna, don't get so upset, please? It makes me sad.
I was always confused on the "standardized tests are culturally biased" front too, until it was explained that it is in fact the content. Students who have never been to the beach may not understand a question testing math that has the beach as a backdrop to the question. Apparently, reading and vocab are the most important skills to master any standardized test, no mater the subject.
"Smaller government means as small as possible. There is no benchmark."
Fine. Be specific about what you think are redundancies. Self proclaimed libertarians are always very shy at providing working solutions (outside of crazy ones like 'let's switch back to gold standard!')
There is just so much confusion about what government even does.
the problem is when educational funding is cut when a "threshold of adequacies" has NOT been met, when the educational system is being stretched too thin.
strawbeary, i think you're right that there are cultural problems that should not be in the purview of education and not public education's problems to fix. but...
when teacher's merit/metrics are measured by abstract testing and their jobs are what is at stake, and when education's funding is tied to success (whose measures are set outside of the education system - often by politicians), it becomes the public education system's problem that 86% of teachers report their biggest challenge is hungry kids. (in this morning's news.) educational funding gets repositioned to deal with structural problems that they must address in order to teach.
if you are dealing with those issues personally and getting teachers back in the business of teaching, more power to you. if you're doing it only for private school kids, you must understand that public school kids have at least the same challenges as those you're addressing - probably greater ones. your services don't come free, and the multiple programs that the public schools have built to address their kids' challenges don't either.
'throwing money' suggests that it's a black hole. a common conservative cry is that public education should be 'about the kids'. the money thrown - they often fail to recognize - is exactly for things that are 'about the kids'. there may be no metric for determining whether giving a third grader breakfast the morning of her standardized testing made a difference. or whether having an after-school program for her so that she does her homework in a safe environment is helping her test scores. but the schools know that these things are of value.
these - and public school programs parallel to yours - are the things which are the first to be cut when the words 'throwing money' get used.
"Smaller government means as small as possible. There is no benchmark"
this allows for any statement to be true..so if i say then we shouldn't have a police force, army, senate, congress..it could more or less be true...because it's 'possible' that government could survive without those things...why have schools at all?
"I said earlier that I think once a certain threshold of adequacies are met, funding education has a vanishing return"
this is hard for me to believe..and is also equally not an answer... what does 'adequate' mean in this statement? does it mean a book for each student? a teacher for each class? who decides what is 'adequate'?
it is really, really hard for me to believe that a school that provides student with every facility, computer, book, tutor whatever wouldn't significantly alter the way a student is able to learn or increase their knowledge base than if they were 'adequately' schooled.
frankly i think a lot of us are hoping that we do misunderstand you straw... cause a lot of what you're saying/repeating doesn't hold water with what i would think is true or is logical.
and to the parents out there.. what options would i have (if i ever have a child) to the standardized testing format being used in todays schools if i want them educated in the US? i know from personal experience how learning simply for a test doesn't work (at least for me) and i don't want to fund a system or send kids into a system where that is the main criteria... it's bad enough that they have to take the SAT imo.
No, our services are not free, but they are an amazing VALUE, both to society and the individual, as well-spent education funding is. We help many private school students, mostly because they can afford us, but it is interesting to note that public school students actually have the RIGHT to get the services specialists like us provide thru district dollars, but even super savvy parents can't navigate that system, even when we coach them and tell them what to do to get the help they need. For free. Because above all it is about the kids, not us. We tell parents that this route is available when they come to us, we offer to coach them thru it like I said, but to go that route is too complicated and time-consuming, a mess of government meetings and documentation that all are thankful of avoiding, so they chose us.
I am for public schools! I am also for private schools. Can I be for both? Can we have some of each? I have looked into setting up a scholarship program for us so that less advantaged kids can use our services without jumping thru the district's hoops to get to us, but it is more than I can handle now, bureaucratically speaking. Financially speaking, no problem. As teachers, we WANT to subsidize the students we can't afford to serve, but the paperwork is obnoxious and I'm a newbie.
now we're talking. now take your program - which you know is of amazing value - and multiply it times all the other programs which are of amazing value, and pretty soon you're throwing money too!
i see no reason to accept racism as a reasonable point of view, sorry. i was kinda taken aback at your casual use of "jap", straw. but whatever. i guess you don't mean nothing by it. it ain't as bad as some americans have to live with.
look, your use of science is weak. i did my phd in a faculty of science, and attended lots of lectures on genetics (my classmates were modifying bacteria to eat toxic sludge). THAT was science. Whatever study you are citing is part of a culture war, same as the exxon bullshit. peer review don't mean that much, in a general way. no more than a house without a roof still qualifies as a shelter in a meaningful way just because it has four walls. who is reviewing their peers is actually important.
it sounds like you do care about what you are doing and about the kids but have conflicting views of the groups you are serving. i get that, but for what it is worth, just anecdotally, smart and dumb is all over the place. as for what is reasonable in terms of services provided by the govt, i recommend every american travel round the world a bit and look at real poverty. it might change your understanding of what you have and are so wilfully pulling down.
i agree with rusty, the libertarians are not so good at dealing with reality in the real world. the ideas are tempting but don't work.
anyway....
hi nam, thanks for the link. i knew about that snowhut project. very cool. not bad for a wee city. i hope the trend continues.
Hello tc'ers. TC lurker here. Able to lurk because my kid is at public school. I can't speak to all the comments but I would like to throw it out there because I think the public school system deserves some positive energy.
My son is in 1st grade and I couldn't be happier with the education that he receives. I am amazed at the things he has learned that I didn't when I was his age....I'm impressed with the level of giving and support that happens at his k-5 school. We were respite care for one of his classmates who was a foster child until she could join her father (who was deported), and I have to say that the public school system was her rock for almost 3 yrs. - pre-school through kindergarten and currently first grade. While there are a few things that I would do differently, his public school is good and I couldn't be happier with the access. 10 min. walk, 3 min drive.
The recession has certainly stressed us all, and the staff of Portland Public Schools is no different. But on the bright side, all of us laid - off parents have the time to volunteer and see first hand what a school day is like. Makes it a bit difficult to point fingers when you are a part of it.
hahahaaa! Damn, I love that show. And Fred. And Carrie.
Even in the Peoples Republic of Portland there is a lot of bad press around Portland Public Schools. Maybe it has something to do with the squeaky wheel...
naw, "jap" is what old bigots call my family. and young bigots too but not in front of me, cuz while i am canadian it doesn't mean i am pacifist.
i am pretty sure strawbeary didn't mean it that way. but i was a bit surprised at first, gotta admit. no hard feelings.
actually, strawberry this idea you have that one race is genetically pre-disposed to be more intelligent than another is offensive. it isn't a compliment at all. sure there are genetic pre-dispositions in groups for all kinds of things, but until everyone gets an even shake at growing up healthy i don't think genetics plays much of a role in academia just yet. japan is pretty cool because the schools are set up to give that even shake, better than most places i would say.
as a more or less liberal i am quite cool with asking people to take care of things themselves and stop whining about it. unless they really can't -
in which case we should all lend a hand and stop whining about it.
jump, that's exactly who I am and that's a perfect way to put it.
Straw, you tossed out the "you liberals just like to throw money at problems" turn of phrase in your very first post on this topic and that set the tone I've heard in every one of your posts since then. You're relying on half-baked, half-analyzed divisive factoids to support an argument from which you're not willing to deviate (while calling ME indoctrinated!), and that was exactly the case on that older thread about climate change. If this is the kind of analytical abilities you're teaching your students, I feel you're doing them a disservice.
If I'm misunderstanding, then I'm wrong. But I don't see how a statement like (paraphrasing) "Asians are smarter, everyone knows that" can be misunderstood as anything but bullshit.
As rusty said, I've failed the patience test miserably lately. I don't have patience for any right wing talking points, sorry. I'm glad other people are able to keep cooler heads in this discussion, because my energy is being spent elsewhere right now.
Sigh. I didn't say "Asians are smarter, everyone knows that." I said I READ in a book written by a neuroscientist with a PhD that Japanese and Japanese Americans averaged higher IQ points. If I am wrong, he is wrong.
Sigh again. It doesn't matter if you don't think genetics plays a role in intelligence, it does. It is politically and socially unpopular to say it, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.
I am most certainly willing to deviate from my initial thoughts, in fact that is what I'm doing. Doing it too well, apparently. Think of it this way: it is very calming to know that things are not going to hell in a handbasket like the popular culture wants us to believe now. American students are not dumb, and polar bears are not going to go extinct.
And what was so offensive about my views on climate change anyways? That some active volcanoes were discovered in close proximity to the melting ice caps?
I think I'm getting kicked out of the cool kid club. That's ok I guess. It was fun knowing all of you...
Disagreement is just that. If it meant the end of relationships, I would have been disowned by my parents years ago. Aren't we all lucky that Archinect is a safe place to have this exchange?
I can't pretend to understand a lot of the attitudes that underlie current conservative politics. I've tried. Hell, I've been listening to Rush alot lately just to try to get it - even a little. (Still don't.)
But I also can't discount that half of the population believes things that are completely the opposite of my beliefs. I am related to, talk to, socialize with, and work with/for those folks every day. I just remain firm in my convictions, share them wherever I think it's appropriate, and listen for places we might find common ground.
As long as you're honest in your search, Straw, there's no issue. I think what's been criticized above is that some of the rhetorical paths you've chosen are adopted from others without any analysis on your part. If they're enough for you, cool, but obviously they're not enough for a crowd who believes different things. That's where you've got to be more rigorous or you'll be on the defense, naturally, as happened here.
the academic in me finds so much wrong in that last statement Straw. But I'm going to keep my big yap quiet because I think this topic has been exhausted. I love you all, let's move on.
So has anyone seen this quiz on ArchDaily? I know holz is busy, but I am really curious what his score would be. If it's not at all obvious by my statements I hold that man in high esteem, he is the architectural quiz-master.
Oh and I've stepped to the dark side, I bought a mac and spent 30 mins on the phone idling chatting with the help desk guy because he was so awesome and threw in free shit just because my order got mixed up.
Yeah, I don't want to get involved with the Libya stuff either. Besides, I think it will mean more to the people if they do it themselves.
We cook the pork roast in a dutch oven out on the grill all day, and pull it about half way through. It's cooked in broth and peppers until tender and saucy. Pretty spicy, though. But with spritz of lime, it's all good!
i just bought a pork shoulder to make some pulled pork burritos later this week... yummy... i put a dry rub on it and sear it on all sides before putting it into a crockpot with an onion, some garlic, a couple bay leaves, and some chicken broth for about 8 hours...
i just did a pork shoulder and made tostadas tinga. the best way to shred the pork is with a potato masher. braised the pork in a mix of water onion garlic, cumin, tumeric, chipotle and new mexican red chili. then after the pork is tender, shred and then in a caast iron skillet cook the pork til its crunchy then add some retained liquid from braising more chili powder, cumin and tumeric and cilantro leaves and a can of tomato sauce cook it down and serve it on tostadas with refried beans mexican cheese and avacado.
Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to tell you all this...
Yesterday.
In Class.
I heard a CRASH!!
Now all the student's chairs have wheels, I think there must be a law that states that computer desks must have chairs with wheels, and sometimes the chair wheels can stick, and the chair tip over. This is what I thought happened. Naturally.
This was not what happened.
Nope. It was much more dramatic.
It was during my upper-classmen class. Two student who are friends sit next to each other. They are boys. Boys, being boys, like to pester each other. Student A was poking Student B in the arm, saying "what are you gonna do about it?" Student B laughs, spins his chair, and wraps his arm around Student A. The boys laugh, and then CRASH!!!
I ignore the sound. I can't see the students, and think that it was just the chair/wheel issue. No need to run over, and further embarrass the poor kid. And then I see the worried look on the student's face. I think, "did the kid have a seizure?" Uh oh. I walk over to find the Student A sitting up, but dazed. Both boys are confused.
I ask what happened, and get the above story. I look at Student B incredulously, and say "You put him in a Sleeper Hold?! Haven't you seen those videos on Youtube?" Student B is shocked. Apparently he hasn't seen those videos.
Oh you guys are making me hungry with all this pulled pork talk. Hmmm time to have another bbq. And those bear claws look hilarious... I've seen metal cast ones but never knew what they were for - thanks Sarah... I feel so much wiser now. I'm having lobster patties in a few... lobster pieces lightly cooked in a cumin & curry sauce and placed in a turmeric coloured flaky baked shell.
I wish I liked lobster. It would make me feel so fancy, but alas, I don't. I keep trying. As a matter of fact, I try to eat a lot of things because of the way they make me feel.
We also make vats of sangria for the party. Anybody want to come? I need to know.
yes i learned about the potato masher from America's Test Kitchen. anyways, i also have made some awesome Green Chili Stew, Pork with Salsa Verde etc. Lately, I am into making Moroccan influenced food like moroccan seven vegetables with couscous. totally into turnips and rutabagas these days. and dates and figs.
Thread Central
whoa!
er um
Can we go back to being friends?
Last I've seen donna get mad, birds of pray were involved.
Straw, a successful troll is successful. Good jerb!
I wasn't out to prove anything, or put anyone down, just stir some interesting discussion.
Donna, I saw that student (well not exactly her) this morning and she is doing well. Everything is going to be alright.
Well straw, we're just chewing some fat here. Chances of us changing a thing are non-existant. Perhaps it's a good exercise in patience with differing opinions. Donna failed the exercise :)
Now straw, the reason your arguments are so frustrating is because they are actually used by politicians, and they are very effective with the unwashed masses. Blame the low IQ immigrants on quality of education, etc...
These are tools of mass distraction.
If they can convince you that "more funding" is NEVER the solution, then you will never even bother to ask if the funding is ever sufficient.
Same argument with "smaller gubbermint". Smaller than what? Show me a benchmark or stop talking out of your ass.
I said earlier that I think once a certain threshold of adequacies are met, funding education has a vanishing return. Aren't we seeing that in higher education in what is looming as the next bubble we have to face as a society? The inability to provide education for our citizens at a cost we can sustain is a problem with huge long lasting impacts. In the wake of budget cuts, I invite you to open the window of opportunity and possiblity with me instead of banging at the closed door and yelling that it should never have been closed. Since I have a recently new and unique perspective, one that I think maintains values while challenging opinions normally associated with those values, I wanted to share it and invite insight, which I have gotten. I feel very misunderstood. :( The teachers I work with don't disagree with me.
Smaller government means as small as possible. There is no benchmark. It means different things depending on where you are and what you are talking about.
My old firm doesn't exist anymore. While all that bitching was excessive, it was not unfounded, glad it was entertaining, I thought it was entertaining too. In the end, we got what we deserved and I went down with them, I learned a lot from that, but can't complain anymore.
To answer the question asked what seems like days ago, yes, students get out of school during the day for all sorts of things..
Golf
Basketball
Volleyball
Baseball/Softball
Soccer
Choir
Band
At least thats all I know of so far.
I think Evolutionarily unnovel means evolutionarily un-new, meaning it's old hat, and therefore, not exciting. I've never thought of how I interact in society/culture as a survival skill, but that's because I still have evolution and cave men tied together in my mind.
Donna, don't get so upset, please? It makes me sad.
I was always confused on the "standardized tests are culturally biased" front too, until it was explained that it is in fact the content. Students who have never been to the beach may not understand a question testing math that has the beach as a backdrop to the question. Apparently, reading and vocab are the most important skills to master any standardized test, no mater the subject.
I still like the school bus idea, though.
Fine. Be specific about what you think are redundancies. Self proclaimed libertarians are always very shy at providing working solutions (outside of crazy ones like 'let's switch back to gold standard!')
There is just so much confusion about what government even does.
Sarah, your example of a biased test is spot on.
the problem is when educational funding is cut when a "threshold of adequacies" has NOT been met, when the educational system is being stretched too thin.
strawbeary, i think you're right that there are cultural problems that should not be in the purview of education and not public education's problems to fix. but...
when teacher's merit/metrics are measured by abstract testing and their jobs are what is at stake, and when education's funding is tied to success (whose measures are set outside of the education system - often by politicians), it becomes the public education system's problem that 86% of teachers report their biggest challenge is hungry kids. (in this morning's news.) educational funding gets repositioned to deal with structural problems that they must address in order to teach.
if you are dealing with those issues personally and getting teachers back in the business of teaching, more power to you. if you're doing it only for private school kids, you must understand that public school kids have at least the same challenges as those you're addressing - probably greater ones. your services don't come free, and the multiple programs that the public schools have built to address their kids' challenges don't either.
'throwing money' suggests that it's a black hole. a common conservative cry is that public education should be 'about the kids'. the money thrown - they often fail to recognize - is exactly for things that are 'about the kids'. there may be no metric for determining whether giving a third grader breakfast the morning of her standardized testing made a difference. or whether having an after-school program for her so that she does her homework in a safe environment is helping her test scores. but the schools know that these things are of value.
these - and public school programs parallel to yours - are the things which are the first to be cut when the words 'throwing money' get used.
"Smaller government means as small as possible. There is no benchmark"
this allows for any statement to be true..so if i say then we shouldn't have a police force, army, senate, congress..it could more or less be true...because it's 'possible' that government could survive without those things...why have schools at all?
"I said earlier that I think once a certain threshold of adequacies are met, funding education has a vanishing return"
this is hard for me to believe..and is also equally not an answer... what does 'adequate' mean in this statement? does it mean a book for each student? a teacher for each class? who decides what is 'adequate'?
it is really, really hard for me to believe that a school that provides student with every facility, computer, book, tutor whatever wouldn't significantly alter the way a student is able to learn or increase their knowledge base than if they were 'adequately' schooled.
frankly i think a lot of us are hoping that we do misunderstand you straw... cause a lot of what you're saying/repeating doesn't hold water with what i would think is true or is logical.
and to the parents out there.. what options would i have (if i ever have a child) to the standardized testing format being used in todays schools if i want them educated in the US? i know from personal experience how learning simply for a test doesn't work (at least for me) and i don't want to fund a system or send kids into a system where that is the main criteria... it's bad enough that they have to take the SAT imo.
what steven and lars said.
I was totally going to say the exact, word by word. They beat me to it :)
No, our services are not free, but they are an amazing VALUE, both to society and the individual, as well-spent education funding is. We help many private school students, mostly because they can afford us, but it is interesting to note that public school students actually have the RIGHT to get the services specialists like us provide thru district dollars, but even super savvy parents can't navigate that system, even when we coach them and tell them what to do to get the help they need. For free. Because above all it is about the kids, not us. We tell parents that this route is available when they come to us, we offer to coach them thru it like I said, but to go that route is too complicated and time-consuming, a mess of government meetings and documentation that all are thankful of avoiding, so they chose us.
I am for public schools! I am also for private schools. Can I be for both? Can we have some of each? I have looked into setting up a scholarship program for us so that less advantaged kids can use our services without jumping thru the district's hoops to get to us, but it is more than I can handle now, bureaucratically speaking. Financially speaking, no problem. As teachers, we WANT to subsidize the students we can't afford to serve, but the paperwork is obnoxious and I'm a newbie.
now we're talking. now take your program - which you know is of amazing value - and multiply it times all the other programs which are of amazing value, and pretty soon you're throwing money too!
wow donna. cool.
i see no reason to accept racism as a reasonable point of view, sorry. i was kinda taken aback at your casual use of "jap", straw. but whatever. i guess you don't mean nothing by it. it ain't as bad as some americans have to live with.
look, your use of science is weak. i did my phd in a faculty of science, and attended lots of lectures on genetics (my classmates were modifying bacteria to eat toxic sludge). THAT was science. Whatever study you are citing is part of a culture war, same as the exxon bullshit. peer review don't mean that much, in a general way. no more than a house without a roof still qualifies as a shelter in a meaningful way just because it has four walls. who is reviewing their peers is actually important.
it sounds like you do care about what you are doing and about the kids but have conflicting views of the groups you are serving. i get that, but for what it is worth, just anecdotally, smart and dumb is all over the place. as for what is reasonable in terms of services provided by the govt, i recommend every american travel round the world a bit and look at real poverty. it might change your understanding of what you have and are so wilfully pulling down.
i agree with rusty, the libertarians are not so good at dealing with reality in the real world. the ideas are tempting but don't work.
anyway....
hi nam, thanks for the link. i knew about that snowhut project. very cool. not bad for a wee city. i hope the trend continues.
I thought I was complimenting the Japanese people for their commitment to education and inherent intelligence. Sorry it came out wrong.
Hello tc'ers. TC lurker here. Able to lurk because my kid is at public school. I can't speak to all the comments but I would like to throw it out there because I think the public school system deserves some positive energy.
My son is in 1st grade and I couldn't be happier with the education that he receives. I am amazed at the things he has learned that I didn't when I was his age....I'm impressed with the level of giving and support that happens at his k-5 school. We were respite care for one of his classmates who was a foster child until she could join her father (who was deported), and I have to say that the public school system was her rock for almost 3 yrs. - pre-school through kindergarten and currently first grade. While there are a few things that I would do differently, his public school is good and I couldn't be happier with the access. 10 min. walk, 3 min drive.
The recession has certainly stressed us all, and the staff of Portland Public Schools is no different. But on the bright side, all of us laid - off parents have the time to volunteer and see first hand what a school day is like. Makes it a bit difficult to point fingers when you are a part of it.
jones, oh sure why not mention the communist education in peoples republic of portland?
Meanwhile in real America, deporting low IQ Mexicans and privatizing everything will work just fine for us.
Put a bird on it!
hahahaaa! Damn, I love that show. And Fred. And Carrie.
Even in the Peoples Republic of Portland there is a lot of bad press around Portland Public Schools. Maybe it has something to do with the squeaky wheel...
Seriously though, Portland comes across as the healthiest place to grow up in.
Well.... maybe not Beaverton, or Gresham. Or SE. Or certain parts of NE, SE, and NW. But you get the idea.
Got it rusty. Just like you don't have to be from Portland to enjoy Portlandia. There are folks drinking cappachuchuchuchu tea everywhere.
I though the jap thing was just an abreviation cause it's a long word. Glad it got calmer.
Oh, and I get to be a hallmonitor tomorow during one of our many standardized tests. Fun!
sounds fun, sarah.
naw, "jap" is what old bigots call my family. and young bigots too but not in front of me, cuz while i am canadian it doesn't mean i am pacifist.
i am pretty sure strawbeary didn't mean it that way. but i was a bit surprised at first, gotta admit. no hard feelings.
actually, strawberry this idea you have that one race is genetically pre-disposed to be more intelligent than another is offensive. it isn't a compliment at all. sure there are genetic pre-dispositions in groups for all kinds of things, but until everyone gets an even shake at growing up healthy i don't think genetics plays much of a role in academia just yet. japan is pretty cool because the schools are set up to give that even shake, better than most places i would say.
viva portlandia!
in which case we should all lend a hand and stop whining about it.
jump, that's exactly who I am and that's a perfect way to put it.
Straw, you tossed out the "you liberals just like to throw money at problems" turn of phrase in your very first post on this topic and that set the tone I've heard in every one of your posts since then. You're relying on half-baked, half-analyzed divisive factoids to support an argument from which you're not willing to deviate (while calling ME indoctrinated!), and that was exactly the case on that older thread about climate change. If this is the kind of analytical abilities you're teaching your students, I feel you're doing them a disservice.
If I'm misunderstanding, then I'm wrong. But I don't see how a statement like (paraphrasing) "Asians are smarter, everyone knows that" can be misunderstood as anything but bullshit.
As rusty said, I've failed the patience test miserably lately. I don't have patience for any right wing talking points, sorry. I'm glad other people are able to keep cooler heads in this discussion, because my energy is being spent elsewhere right now.
Sigh. I didn't say "Asians are smarter, everyone knows that." I said I READ in a book written by a neuroscientist with a PhD that Japanese and Japanese Americans averaged higher IQ points. If I am wrong, he is wrong.
Sigh again. It doesn't matter if you don't think genetics plays a role in intelligence, it does. It is politically and socially unpopular to say it, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.
I am most certainly willing to deviate from my initial thoughts, in fact that is what I'm doing. Doing it too well, apparently. Think of it this way: it is very calming to know that things are not going to hell in a handbasket like the popular culture wants us to believe now. American students are not dumb, and polar bears are not going to go extinct.
And what was so offensive about my views on climate change anyways? That some active volcanoes were discovered in close proximity to the melting ice caps?
I think I'm getting kicked out of the cool kid club. That's ok I guess. It was fun knowing all of you...
don't you think it's a bit early to fall on your sword strawbeary?
Disagreement is just that. If it meant the end of relationships, I would have been disowned by my parents years ago. Aren't we all lucky that Archinect is a safe place to have this exchange?
I can't pretend to understand a lot of the attitudes that underlie current conservative politics. I've tried. Hell, I've been listening to Rush alot lately just to try to get it - even a little. (Still don't.)
But I also can't discount that half of the population believes things that are completely the opposite of my beliefs. I am related to, talk to, socialize with, and work with/for those folks every day. I just remain firm in my convictions, share them wherever I think it's appropriate, and listen for places we might find common ground.
As long as you're honest in your search, Straw, there's no issue. I think what's been criticized above is that some of the rhetorical paths you've chosen are adopted from others without any analysis on your part. If they're enough for you, cool, but obviously they're not enough for a crowd who believes different things. That's where you've got to be more rigorous or you'll be on the defense, naturally, as happened here.
the academic in me finds so much wrong in that last statement Straw. But I'm going to keep my big yap quiet because I think this topic has been exhausted. I love you all, let's move on.
So has anyone seen this quiz on ArchDaily? I know holz is busy, but I am really curious what his score would be. If it's not at all obvious by my statements I hold that man in high esteem, he is the architectural quiz-master.
Oh and I've stepped to the dark side, I bought a mac and spent 30 mins on the phone idling chatting with the help desk guy because he was so awesome and threw in free shit just because my order got mixed up.
Rush is an ignorant piece of shit. Please don't associate me with him.
YES PLEASE.
Ok. New topic, should we go to war with/for Libya?
Or, if you'd prefer, I'm having a Texas independence day party on Saturday. Making pulled pork tacos. We could talk about that.
I did enjoy the conversation, though. It was nice to see the other sides, and it not get too scary. It was nice. I love TC.
no war in Libya. next topic?
(and yes pulled pork tacos btw)
Yeah, I don't want to get involved with the Libya stuff either. Besides, I think it will mean more to the people if they do it themselves.
We cook the pork roast in a dutch oven out on the grill all day, and pull it about half way through. It's cooked in broth and peppers until tender and saucy. Pretty spicy, though. But with spritz of lime, it's all good!
i just bought a pork shoulder to make some pulled pork burritos later this week... yummy... i put a dry rub on it and sear it on all sides before putting it into a crockpot with an onion, some garlic, a couple bay leaves, and some chicken broth for about 8 hours...
mmm food and parties sounds good. morning all!!!
Hey lars!
i agree Sarah. i think we've exhausted ourselves with foreign entanglements for now. involvement via the UN/humanitarian response is another story.
i am meeting a few friends at a bbq joint tonight, and all this pork talk is getting my motor running!
i just did a pork shoulder and made tostadas tinga. the best way to shred the pork is with a potato masher. braised the pork in a mix of water onion garlic, cumin, tumeric, chipotle and new mexican red chili. then after the pork is tender, shred and then in a caast iron skillet cook the pork til its crunchy then add some retained liquid from braising more chili powder, cumin and tumeric and cilantro leaves and a can of tomato sauce cook it down and serve it on tostadas with refried beans mexican cheese and avacado.
Vado, I've never even thought of using a potato masher. We always use forks, but have considered getting the bear-claws
But I have a potato masher, the good old, metal style. And I've never thought of crisping it either. We may try it.
Yesterday.
In Class.
I heard a CRASH!!
Now all the student's chairs have wheels, I think there must be a law that states that computer desks must have chairs with wheels, and sometimes the chair wheels can stick, and the chair tip over. This is what I thought happened. Naturally.
This was not what happened.
Nope. It was much more dramatic.
It was during my upper-classmen class. Two student who are friends sit next to each other. They are boys. Boys, being boys, like to pester each other. Student A was poking Student B in the arm, saying "what are you gonna do about it?" Student B laughs, spins his chair, and wraps his arm around Student A. The boys laugh, and then CRASH!!!
I ignore the sound. I can't see the students, and think that it was just the chair/wheel issue. No need to run over, and further embarrass the poor kid. And then I see the worried look on the student's face. I think, "did the kid have a seizure?" Uh oh. I walk over to find the Student A sitting up, but dazed. Both boys are confused.
I ask what happened, and get the above story. I look at Student B incredulously, and say "You put him in a Sleeper Hold?! Haven't you seen those videos on Youtube?" Student B is shocked. Apparently he hasn't seen those videos.
Oh you guys are making me hungry with all this pulled pork talk. Hmmm time to have another bbq. And those bear claws look hilarious... I've seen metal cast ones but never knew what they were for - thanks Sarah... I feel so much wiser now. I'm having lobster patties in a few... lobster pieces lightly cooked in a cumin & curry sauce and placed in a turmeric coloured flaky baked shell.
I wish I liked lobster. It would make me feel so fancy, but alas, I don't. I keep trying. As a matter of fact, I try to eat a lot of things because of the way they make me feel.
We also make vats of sangria for the party. Anybody want to come? I need to know.
i have had other types of patties arch but didn;t know they had lobster ones... mmmmm sounds delicious.
Sarah tacos and sangria sounds like fun, if only i didn't live in fl...
Nam, I've got a guestroom. It even has a double bed, if you wanted to bring your other half.
yes i learned about the potato masher from America's Test Kitchen. anyways, i also have made some awesome Green Chili Stew, Pork with Salsa Verde etc. Lately, I am into making Moroccan influenced food like moroccan seven vegetables with couscous. totally into turnips and rutabagas these days. and dates and figs.
I read that as "Dates WITH figs," at first.
God, siting out in the hall, watching kids, making sure they don't talk, is REALLY EFFING BORING. Thank God for Archinect.
Sarah, if you're bored, you should start a new topic thread. I suggest one called 'Archinect Barbie' what would that look like...
the bbq talk is making me wish for some pulled pork instead of my (boring) sandwich.
hey vado isn't proper new mexican 'chile' not 'chili'?
oh, princeton had 125 applicants for a tenure-track gig - that's a lot of hungry academics!
It's all ready for you, Rusty.
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