July 28, 2006
DOPA=Censorship
Check it the latest scary tactic the government is using to help keep children "safe." The idea behind Resolution 5329 Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) is to force public schools and libraries to block social networking sites, chat rooms and blogs. Their reasoning? Children are continually stalked when logged into such sites. If passed this will be a scary precedent indeed. Schools and libraries that don't comply will be in danger of losing federal funding. Putting the money issue aside, the real danger is the impact it will have on classrooms. If DOPA is passed, important educational forums for students and teachers will no longer be accessible through classroom and library computers. Blocking wikis, blogs and chat rooms will not eliminate the predator issue. What keeps kids safe is educating them about certain online dangers thus enabling them to use the internet safely.
Read more on this at TechCrunch...
Posted by Stanks at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2006
Bang for the Buck
On hot summer days, the teacher in me goes crazy. I feel the need to organize, boss people around and fix everything. So what form did this manic personality trait take yesterday? I'll tell you. I became obsessed with finding a new apartment. So I grabed my friend and went looking at places that were the top of my price range (cause there is jack-shit in my real price range) and discovered that for $2,000 bucks a month I can get a small apartment with warped floors and a stinky hallway in an old walk-up. Ummm...that's what I have now and I pay a lot less. Ok my apt doesn't have a door beside the front door but I pay a lot less. God damnit. I've been forced to see the bright side: my apt may have no doors, the hallway may have windows that have been busted for MONTHS and I may have neighbors right below me that are bonified idiots, but overall it's not a bad place to live. After several hours of celebrating rent stabilization with my neighbor, my husband, threw up a blog for us, 112suffolkstreet.That's the address of my building but since you don't know my apt number you can't kill me. There's not much on it right now, but go read it anyway. Go on...read it!
Posted by Stanks at 08:37 AM | Comments (2)
July 19, 2006
Daze
Yesterday I was walking around Brooklyn with my friend Honor. We had gone to the movies to escape the heat. On some street that I can't remember the name of, we found a kind hearted animal lover. If only there was somebody who was giving out cold water to humans for free I wouldn't have had to carry Honor on my back.
Posted by Stanks at 08:49 AM | Comments (1)
July 17, 2006
King of the World
Last Saturday two friends and I went on an epic hike. Actually the hike itself was not the epic part, it was the getting there from NYC that proved to be difficult. We left Brooklyn at 11:00 AM and drove for what seemed to be hours to get to High Point, the highest elevation in NJ. Carsick and sick of cars we looked with wide eyes as the mountain rose before us. But the second we pulled up to the trail head, the skies opened up , dumping a hell of a lot of rain on our heads. Ever optimistic (and bored of complaining by that point) we jumped back into the car and drove another hour to Bear Mountain. It wasn't raining when we got there so we popped out of the car, laced up our boots and trotted happily into the woods only to encounter...more rain. And lots of it. With brave hearts pumping, we forged ahead. On top of the mountain we found some excellent blueberries which I did not take a picture of. But I found this little guy sitting in a pool at the bottom of a tiny waterfall. If truth be told, I almost stepped on him. If you look closely you can see the terrified expression on his face.
Posted by Stanks at 01:34 PM | Comments (2)
It's Here...
Well, the first heat wave of the summer has hit. I have to say, with all the rain and thunder that's been shaking the city, I'm not too upset. However, I do wonder about the welfare of my little plot in the 6th and B Garden, a favorite city oasis. Took a little breakfast break there the other morning with my good friend, John. I forgot to take my camera along with me so an older one is gonna have to do. No matter, it looks pretty much the same.
Posted by Stanks at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2006
Thailand
Teachers continue to be targeted...
Posted by Stanks at 06:09 AM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2006
Run for the hills
Well...it's been quite a day. Alito is all but confirmed, Halliburton has been accused of sending contaminated water to Iraq, the march to end choice decended upon DC, and Bush fields some tough questions all on his own.
Posted by Stanks at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2006
Phaideia Anyone?
It's always entertaining stumble across another deluded and repressive voice on the subject of eduction. Pastor Doug Wilson, part-time thinker and full-time destroyer of choice shares his crusade to bring back the rod to education. I hear his book sales are down...
Posted by Stanks at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
The Truth is Out There
Another reasonable entity weighs in on the Intelligent Design debate. I know, I know--almost everyone and her mother has seen this site but it's still worth to post for the one vistor that comes to mine.
Posted by Stanks at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2006
Catholics Kick Intelligent Design
I almost knocked my tea over this morning when I saw this article in the NY Times. It seems the Vatican has given a subtle nod to the theory of evolution, dismissing the preposterous theory of intelligent design.
Posted by Stanks at 06:15 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2006
David and Gollith
Teaching kids is funny. Where else can you get the one-two combination of unfortunate smells and dead pan humor rolled into one on a given day? If you want to experience it for yourself, walk into any elementary classroom. If you're lucky you'll get hit in the head with a piece of clay. Speakig of which, I mediated a fight today between an on-again off-again 4th grade bully and a small 5th grader. It was David & Gollith come to life in the hallway. The fight, as far as I can tell, was over a basketball and the ever changing foul line. When the bully tried to flex his muscle by slapping he ended up getting popped with a jab and upper cut by a kid 1/2 his size. When I confronted all involved the bully broke down and cried saying anything to get out of trouble. David, on the other hand, owned up to his talent for punching and apologized with a true heart.
Afte many tears and a long conversation I asked the wanna-be bully what he learned from the whole experience. At first he came up with some regurgitated line about making better choices. When I said,"Uh huh...what did you really learn?" he said, "That kids littler than you can really hit hard."
Posted by Stanks at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)
Red Alert: Public Schools Waste $$$
A recent article by by ABC commentator John Stossel solved the crisis in public education. Stossel maintains that public schools should stop crying poverty, that they are, in fact, rolling in dough and throw money out the window quicker than President Bush can mis-pronounce "nuclear." He says schools should buy more textbooks and spend less money on "extras" like computers and foreign language programs. Stimulating kids' minds through hands-on experiences be damned! Let's teach everyone by rote to increase those test scores which are a true reflection of what kids know and how they learn. I think I can say with a fair amount of cetainity that Stossel has probably spent 1 hour or less in a k-12 classroom in the past 15 years.
Posted by Stanks at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2006
Backdoor Jesus
Parents in a small school in northern CA are suing their high school to block a philosophy course designed to teach creationism and intelligent design along with a dabbling of evolution. Proponents say this will foster healthy debate. Opponents say evolution is being used as a loophole to get ID into the curriculum.
Posted by Stanks at 06:12 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2006
Confirmation Hearings
Confirmation Hearings began for Judge Samuel Alito yesterday. Alito claims a "good judge is one with no agenda" and maintains he will aprroach all cases with objectivitiy. But considering his conservative stance on issues such as a woman's right to choose, education, the extension of presidential powers and civil rights, Alito's words and assurances fall flat on their asses.
Posted by Stanks at 06:24 AM | Comments (0)