I'm glad newspapers like The Oakland Press run columns by people like E.J. Dionne. It's good to be reminded of how bereft of reality many columnists are. This guy is out of it. Really, though, I do wonder how anyone can pay him for what he writes. Today, he talks about "mindless opposition to government." "Mindless?" Of course, he's using this gambit to attack conservatives, who, according to Dionne are stupid. OK, he sort of makes it seem he doesn't give such a blanket indictment by signalling Bill Bennett as reasonable. But, c'mon.... Opposition to gov't isn't mindless in most people concerned with the growth of the federal gov't, its intrusion into people's lives, and its rewards for bad behavior. The gov't has no business telling me what kind of light bulbs I have to use, what type of television I must have, what sort of car I will have to drive, etc. It's none of gov't's business. That the gov't debt is completely ridiculous, amounts nobody can reasonably fathom cannot be argued by anyone with half a brain. The malfeasance of corporate execs in banking, the auto industry, etc. was rewarded with the bailouts; members of Congress can engage in insider trading that sent Martha Stewart and others to jail; mothers are encouraged to have more and more babies with whatever fathers they can find because the gov't steals our money to give to them. But, Dionne insists opposition to gov't is "mindless." And that comes from someone whose columns are almost always "mindless."
On the same page, Walter Williams has this to say about Robert Reich, "Berkley's pretend economist." Great line!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Fumbling
I guess I could never be a candidate for President. When Rick Perry the other night in the OU debate (and it's not a debate) couldn't remember the third Cabinet post he'd eliminate or curtail, the pundits claimed that was the end of his candidacy. I forget stuff all of the time. The very next day, in class, I was going over the Zimmerman Telegram from the First World War. I couldn't remember that it is/was also called the Z Note and the Z Dispatch. I've taught this stuff, what?, a million times? But I couldn't recall those until, as usual, I hit the expressway on the drive home.
Should this disqualify someone for President? Hmmm. Wouldn't that same President be surrounded by dozens of aides who might give him a cue? And hasn't Obama fumbled for words occasionally? Where were the comments about those? Don't we all forget things, things we know very well?
Should this disqualify someone for President? Hmmm. Wouldn't that same President be surrounded by dozens of aides who might give him a cue? And hasn't Obama fumbled for words occasionally? Where were the comments about those? Don't we all forget things, things we know very well?
Mottos and Goals?
I've always wondered about mottos and goals of individuals and teams. I've never been a big fan of them. No doubt, when teams win championships, they cite their mottos and goals. "We won this because we set a goal...." Hmmm.... Didn't a lot of teams set goals, even to win the same championships? So, why was it one goal worked, but more than one didn't? I'm not saying failure to win a championship means a failed season; not at all. Look at all the tee shirts and signs in weight rooms...it was those that played major roles in winning. So, does that mean all the losing teams didn't have tee shirts and signs? Is that all it takes? If so, why aren't there more championship teams? Oh, that's why.....
Why does one need a goal or a motto to work hard, to try one's best, to play hard? I don't think it's necessary. I don't need a tee shirt to tell me I work harder than you so I finished ahead of you, whether I did or didn't.
My guess the mottos and shirts are for the times the playing days are over. Isn't everyone, ten years afterward, "All-League" or "All-State" or whatever "All-" they want to believe they were? I even had one guy tell me he was a high school "All-American," but, it seemed odd to me, wasn't offered a college scholarship--not Div 1, not Div 2, not Div 3, or even some community college. It's sort of like Springsteen's "Glory Days."
I suppose these things don't hurt, but I'd guess they are vastly overrated, given far too much credit because the winner always seem to wear the shirts, spout the mottos, etc. Gee, what would it look like if the losers are wearing the same shirts, spouting the same mottos?
Wouldn't practicing and playing hard, trying to be the best one can be just as good?
Why does one need a goal or a motto to work hard, to try one's best, to play hard? I don't think it's necessary. I don't need a tee shirt to tell me I work harder than you so I finished ahead of you, whether I did or didn't.
My guess the mottos and shirts are for the times the playing days are over. Isn't everyone, ten years afterward, "All-League" or "All-State" or whatever "All-" they want to believe they were? I even had one guy tell me he was a high school "All-American," but, it seemed odd to me, wasn't offered a college scholarship--not Div 1, not Div 2, not Div 3, or even some community college. It's sort of like Springsteen's "Glory Days."
I suppose these things don't hurt, but I'd guess they are vastly overrated, given far too much credit because the winner always seem to wear the shirts, spout the mottos, etc. Gee, what would it look like if the losers are wearing the same shirts, spouting the same mottos?
Wouldn't practicing and playing hard, trying to be the best one can be just as good?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Education
I'm opposed to the incessant state and national mania surrounding standardized testing. On the whole, it's counterproductive, doesn't really measure education, leads to cheating (deliberate or otherwise), etc. But I fully understand the clamors for it.
People can't trust teachers any more. For instance, how is one to assess a school where the GPA for all students is 3.5 or higher? How can a whole dept have grades that average to 3.2? At some universities A- or B+ is the average course grade. C'mon, we've all seen the products of these schools and depts and they certainly don't merit grades like that. So, why, then, are such grades given? Hence, the need for standardized testing. Teachers and schools say one thing (in giving high grades) when the evidence points in the opposite direction. And, compounding this is the claim by teachers and administrators of demanding higher standards. Bologna/Baloney!
Britain has a national system, one that is highly resented by teachers and students alike. But it serves its purpose: it keeps educational programs/classes, etc. honest.
On the college/university level, and I suspect in the public schools as well, the number of administrators and other nonteaching employees has multiplied over the recent decades. The primary purpose of schools is no longer classroom learning, that is, education.
Far too many instructors at all levels have become enamored with technology. Technology, no doubt, has its place. But it has become a way to avoid real teaching. Oh, the justification is that today's students relate more to the visual, the video games (oops! did I mean to write that? yep.), but face-to-face academic confrontation, the stuff of learning, is lost.
Yet, many US colleges and universities remain the standards for the rest of the world to envy and try to emulate. I guess a good question is why other colleges and universities and even public schools don't try to emulate (and adapt, obviously, for age/grade/level differences) the teaching at these top schools. (See my earlier post on the Socratic method for one possible explanation why they don't.) It's almost as if we design our schools with the lowest common denominators in mind, setting up students for the most mediocre of educations.
But, who will listen? The education-types will bring out all kinds of studies, some flawed, some deliberately misleading, some with results all too predictable because of current methods to justify the latest trendy fashion in education. But how many have actually tried what worked in the past, what works at the best colleges and universities? Has anyone tried hard work, with lots of reading and writing? Has anyone tried really high standards? If so, they are in the minority.
People can't trust teachers any more. For instance, how is one to assess a school where the GPA for all students is 3.5 or higher? How can a whole dept have grades that average to 3.2? At some universities A- or B+ is the average course grade. C'mon, we've all seen the products of these schools and depts and they certainly don't merit grades like that. So, why, then, are such grades given? Hence, the need for standardized testing. Teachers and schools say one thing (in giving high grades) when the evidence points in the opposite direction. And, compounding this is the claim by teachers and administrators of demanding higher standards. Bologna/Baloney!
Britain has a national system, one that is highly resented by teachers and students alike. But it serves its purpose: it keeps educational programs/classes, etc. honest.
On the college/university level, and I suspect in the public schools as well, the number of administrators and other nonteaching employees has multiplied over the recent decades. The primary purpose of schools is no longer classroom learning, that is, education.
Far too many instructors at all levels have become enamored with technology. Technology, no doubt, has its place. But it has become a way to avoid real teaching. Oh, the justification is that today's students relate more to the visual, the video games (oops! did I mean to write that? yep.), but face-to-face academic confrontation, the stuff of learning, is lost.
Yet, many US colleges and universities remain the standards for the rest of the world to envy and try to emulate. I guess a good question is why other colleges and universities and even public schools don't try to emulate (and adapt, obviously, for age/grade/level differences) the teaching at these top schools. (See my earlier post on the Socratic method for one possible explanation why they don't.) It's almost as if we design our schools with the lowest common denominators in mind, setting up students for the most mediocre of educations.
But, who will listen? The education-types will bring out all kinds of studies, some flawed, some deliberately misleading, some with results all too predictable because of current methods to justify the latest trendy fashion in education. But how many have actually tried what worked in the past, what works at the best colleges and universities? Has anyone tried hard work, with lots of reading and writing? Has anyone tried really high standards? If so, they are in the minority.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Worth?
Out running the other AM, I ran past a guy loading his SUV outside a very, very nice house on a lake. The whole package must have cost a pretty penny. And, then, the guy must have had a job that paid a whole lot. I thought, "I wonder if this guy thinks he is worth it [his pay]." No doubt the answer is he does. How about his co-workers or others who do the same type of work he does? Does he think, do they think they are worth what they are paid? My guess is they think so. How about the UAW folks who received $6000 merely for ratifying their recent contract(s) with the auto companies? Of course, just for ratifying, they think they deserve the money. Why, then, is it always teachers (and other public employees) who are "overpaid" and get "extravagant perks" such as health insurance and retirement packages? Remember, I still think far too many teachers get far too much money (while others don't get nearly enough). Yet, the $100,000 incentive to retire at the auto companies makes my incentive pale in comparison (and, it was a one-time deal with the school district). OK, I'm not arguing others aren't what they get paid (although maybe I could). What concerns me is the guy with the mansion on the lake, with the car that costs as much as my house and the guy who makes $100,000 working in a factory. Many of them think teachers make too much money. Many of them think the bankers, Big Oil, Wall Street, etc. are "greedy." I guess it's in one's definition of "greed," isn't it?
I also saw where some school board member (I forget if it was local or state) thinks teachers should be compelled to undertake some after-school activities. I don't remember if it was community-based or just within a school or school district. But I bristle as these do-gooders! First, I hope they are volunteering their time in such endeavors. Second, do they expect teachers to do this for free? No doubt they do. So, I would be, for free, giving up time with my own family, my own children to do things for other people's children? Is that it? Yeah, right. Third, who says many teachers don't already do things like this, maybe not with the school district, but with other community organizations?
Maybe I don't know the entire story, but it seems to me we have a strange system of justice here. In Detroit, a judge acknowledged that the mayor's people destroyed evidence against him in the case of a murdered stripper/party girl, then dismissed the lawsuit due to a lack of evidence. What? Is it that simple to beat the rap? Somehow/Someway, there's something rotten in Denmark.
I also saw where some school board member (I forget if it was local or state) thinks teachers should be compelled to undertake some after-school activities. I don't remember if it was community-based or just within a school or school district. But I bristle as these do-gooders! First, I hope they are volunteering their time in such endeavors. Second, do they expect teachers to do this for free? No doubt they do. So, I would be, for free, giving up time with my own family, my own children to do things for other people's children? Is that it? Yeah, right. Third, who says many teachers don't already do things like this, maybe not with the school district, but with other community organizations?
Maybe I don't know the entire story, but it seems to me we have a strange system of justice here. In Detroit, a judge acknowledged that the mayor's people destroyed evidence against him in the case of a murdered stripper/party girl, then dismissed the lawsuit due to a lack of evidence. What? Is it that simple to beat the rap? Somehow/Someway, there's something rotten in Denmark.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Priceless
What is it the commercials say, "Priceless?" Well that's what about 10-15 minutes outside this evening were, "Priceless!" Michael and I were outside with binoculars looking for the International Space Station, which was scheduled to be overhead just before 8:00.
Waiting, we first focused our binocks on Venus, rising in the Eastern sky. Then we took in a bit of the half moon. While searching for the ISS, suddenly a "shooting star" came flying across a neighbor's roof! And that was particularly cool because on the way home from basketball practice the other night, Bopper saw a shooting star that I missed. He was giddy over it all night and then tonight....
But we didn't have time to think much about tonight's because following a high-soaring plane we originally thought might be the ISS, the real ISS showed. We actually spent more time looking without the binocks, just watching its very steady pace across the sky, from about ten o'clock to six o'clock (NNW to almost due S). While watching it, I asked Bopp if he'd like to be on it, like the astro/cosmonauts and scientists have been. He just thought about it.
Amid our thoughts and conversation, I had a more solemn moment. For whatever reason, I recalled nighttime labs in Prof. Cogan's Astronomy course at AC, watching the skies from Memorial Hill and Hitchcock Field with Bill Bradley. It capped a moving and memorable 20-minute episode this evening. Nope, I couldn't put a price on it....
Waiting, we first focused our binocks on Venus, rising in the Eastern sky. Then we took in a bit of the half moon. While searching for the ISS, suddenly a "shooting star" came flying across a neighbor's roof! And that was particularly cool because on the way home from basketball practice the other night, Bopper saw a shooting star that I missed. He was giddy over it all night and then tonight....
But we didn't have time to think much about tonight's because following a high-soaring plane we originally thought might be the ISS, the real ISS showed. We actually spent more time looking without the binocks, just watching its very steady pace across the sky, from about ten o'clock to six o'clock (NNW to almost due S). While watching it, I asked Bopp if he'd like to be on it, like the astro/cosmonauts and scientists have been. He just thought about it.
Amid our thoughts and conversation, I had a more solemn moment. For whatever reason, I recalled nighttime labs in Prof. Cogan's Astronomy course at AC, watching the skies from Memorial Hill and Hitchcock Field with Bill Bradley. It capped a moving and memorable 20-minute episode this evening. Nope, I couldn't put a price on it....
Ageing or Aging
Hmmm...which spelling is correct? I don't have time to look it up, but as I often say in my classes, "I can do anything I want. It's my TV show." So....
Perhaps I haven't yet reached "old age." I know I was talking with someone the other day about "senior discounts." Gee, from what this guy was saying, I certainly qualify for all of them now. I think the only one I've ever really had is at the Denny's/Lenny's in Las Vegas. I don't remember any others, but I don't remember them. But, it was a humorous conversation.
Old, but not old enough yet.... That's what I've been thinking. According to conventional wisdom, once one reaches a certain age, he doesn't care what he says--favorable or unfavorable. Well, I still have a few things I'd like to tell people, mostly very favorable and flattering, but am leery of doing that. I guess, among other things, I don't want any embarrassment--and not on my part.
So I guess I'll wait just a little longer, but not too long!
Perhaps I haven't yet reached "old age." I know I was talking with someone the other day about "senior discounts." Gee, from what this guy was saying, I certainly qualify for all of them now. I think the only one I've ever really had is at the Denny's/Lenny's in Las Vegas. I don't remember any others, but I don't remember them. But, it was a humorous conversation.
Old, but not old enough yet.... That's what I've been thinking. According to conventional wisdom, once one reaches a certain age, he doesn't care what he says--favorable or unfavorable. Well, I still have a few things I'd like to tell people, mostly very favorable and flattering, but am leery of doing that. I guess, among other things, I don't want any embarrassment--and not on my part.
So I guess I'll wait just a little longer, but not too long!
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