ivan

"god does not throw dice!" awww, albert, don't worry! i'dve nailed my cousin too if i coulda

a great read for such folks (you'd dig it too pat, despite the author's credentials) is "misquoting jesus" by bart ehrman - he's a radical born-again christian turned biblical scholar who, through the process of actually learning all those dead-languages and grappling w/ the oldest surviving texts (he's a phd from a dog-fearing theological school), became far more liberal in his philosophy - the book is an extremely detailed and interesting history of the evolution of the new testament as an historic document, including many examples of instances where profound theological debates amongst early christians resulted in topically slight, but philosophically significant, alterations in the accepted text.

i'm a high school social studies/humanities teacher, a grade level and subject that has the greatest leeway for individualism i think - elementary and math/science folks seem far more pressured to be in lock-step w/ each other

i understand big time - my wife and have been so unsatisfied w/ our local options that we're homeschooling our kids (it's the special ed thing in particular, schools just really don't handle atypical kids well) - i would also say that my methodology w/ my subject is very non-standard - i build my own curriculum entirely and have almost zero use for my district-issued textbook - ironically, this push for tougher evaluation systems is seriously threatening to the iconoclastic approach, which puts huge pressure to conform and be like everybody else

maybe? i admit, as my drunken OP showed last night, i've yet to educate meself on this specific initiative before voting (got a votenight/datenight set for next weekend though ) - my own district is currently trying to figure out to offer more specific satellite courses and maybe charter schools could fit into that? in theory though, it just seems like it creates more admin and more admin costs while still dealing w/ the same # of kids and cash

would love to spray more on the topic at the moment, but a stack of papers literally a foot high await me - here's to an afternoon of my brood buzzing about me as i was through it all! whatchaya'll doing w/ yer sabbath day?

jeebus, dave, for a guy who don't dig on trashie, you sure took to his multi-post style w/ a passion! having to argue why you don't believe in an all-powerful n' invisible man in the sky who loves you when daily a million n' one frights afflict you is the very height of absurdity

my bible's better 'cuz it's cheekier!

w/ respect, i don't think you know what you're talking about - i'm an active union member, and, if anything, our union is pretty damn weak w/ the vast # of members really not involved at all (a microcosm of the larger political landscape, no?) - my own participation as a member involves working w/ administrators throughout my district, and all w/ the main idea of serving the kids, not just maintaining a status quo - an example from this year: implementing a new state-wide evaluation system for both teachers and principals that was created by the legislature in part to address the concerns of the states citizens that "bad teachers" aren't being weeded out (i volunteered to be a guinea pig for the pilot year to help work out the bugs, and the active members of the union were very involved to help form the bill in the first place, despite the unease that the general membership inevitably felt, as all humans do, in the face of change) i don't complain much about the lack of prestige or remuneration that accompanies the profession, b/c i went into it eyes wide shut n' never had strong aspirations for such anyhow - the bottom line is though, if you want to attract huge numbers of exceptional people into the profession, you're probably going to have to make it more attractive (and no matter how much you pay, it's hard to get people to survive the stress of the first few years - jesus, go try it sometime! your memory of school of course is from the students' perspective - holy shit it's different when having to perform over n' over in front of 150 or so folks a day, constantly under the gun, dealing w/ a gazillion different challenges, all on the fly, and often inexplicably involved and entangled in one another) just defining "good teacher" and "good school" is a sisyphean task, one that is highly variably by kid, community and subject the public perception is that most teachers are dipshit deadbeats - i'm approaching 2 decades in the profession now, and while i HAVE known a few folks that fit that description, they represent a tiny minority of the total, probably about the same in any other industry what do you think unions have really gotten in the way of that would have made all the difference?

speaking of atheists, i like walt whitman: "and to die is far different than what anyone ever supposed, and luckier"

schools are thermometers for the communities they serve - vouchers are a modern day dawes act!

she'd be a whole lot hawter if she wasn't a fucking corpse...

religious debates! even more tedious n' dismal than bolting debates i saw jesus once. got fingerprinted next to him n' everything

i'm voting nay, should that have been unclear

how ya feel about the voucher system for medicare? pretty similar. charter schools let whitey cut n' run and hide in private (and of course, jesusy) schools that only take the folks they want, leaving the dregs that no one else will take in public schools public schools are the great leveler, pretty much the only time in citizens lives when they actually have to interact on a daily basis w/ folks outside of their narrow world but yeah, like ya said, if the repulifucks are for it, that oughta be all that ya need to know to be against it

in other words, there ain't no bummer a hummer n' a hotdog can't handle

no! it's a COOK BOOK!!!

i'm a paranoid agnostic - i'm NOT certain there's a higher power, a Dig Dude w/ a beard lazing about in a comfy robe on fluffy cloud somewhere, but IF there is one, he's a cock-sucker and surely out to get me

what have you climbed on hood?

jesus, pat, that girl manages to get managled even w/o throwing razor-edged tools into the mix!

where the fuck is the rent-is-too-damn-high guy?!?

what the buck is a fuck fence builder?

why do you hate america? like the nod to "the newsroom" in that article - the opening tirade on this subject is perfect [video:youtube]

Don't Fuck w/ The Shaved Men

you'd be suprised how much fun you can have aid-climbing in the muck, clad all in black-trashbags and w/ a big haul-bag fulla (hot)booze...