Blogger Bash

6:00 p.m. - Today - Wellmans on Ingersoll

Okay... bloggers, readers, hangers-on - you know what to do.

See you there.

Now Salt is Evil

And it's not going to stop here. God, what's next?

The CSPI is a textbook example of how evil is most often born out of the best of intentions. Just leave us alone you meddling nannies.

And now, as a paltry act of defiance, I plan to go to the Blogger Bash where I will salt all of my greasy bar food to my own personal taste. And, miss - bring me a big plate of green olives.

Bride and Prejudice

Brenda and I went saw the Bollywood crossover film at the Varsity last night. Great fun. Not going to replace Moulin Rouge as (IMHO) the best Movie Musical of the Century so far. Not as good a film as Monsoon Wedding. But fun!

And...

Aishwarya Rai

Wow.

More on Summers and the PC Gender Police

I found this at Powerline. [Hey... how come I don't have a link to those guys. I'll have to fix that.]

It takes one's breath away to watch feminist women at work. At the same time that they denounce traditional stereotypes they conform to them. If at the back of your sexist mind you think that women are emotional, you listen agape as professor Nancy Hopkins of MIT comes out with the threat that she will be sick if she has to hear too much of what she doesn't agree with. If you think women are suggestible, you hear it said that the mere suggestion of an innate inequality in women will keep them from stirring themselves to excel. While denouncing the feminine mystique, feminists behave as if they were devoted to it. They are women who assert their independence but still depend on men to keep women secure and comfortable while admiring their independence. Even in the gender-neutral society, men are expected by feminists to open doors for women. If men do not, they are intimidating women.

Left wing feminism is just one facet of the denial of human nature and the adoption of "the blank slate". We've discovered that the theory will not hold in practice, so it morphs into religion.

Woe betide those heretics in academia - like poor old Larry Summers.

Way to Go Andrew!

I've been giving Mr. Sullivan a hard time over the last year or so. (Like he cares...) But he sure distills the left wing hypocrisy on the Gannon-Guckert "scandal":

The real scandal is the blatant use of homophobic rhetoric by the self-appointed Savonarolas of homo-left-wingery. It's an Animal Farm moment: the difference between a fanatic on the gay left and a fanatic on the religious right is harder and harder to discern. Just ask yourself: if a Catholic conservative blogger had found out that a liberal-leaning pseudo-pundit/reporter was a gay sex worker, had outed the guy as gay and a "hooker," published pictures of the guy naked, and demanded a response from a Democratic administration, do you think gay rights groups would be silent? They'd rightly be outraged. But the left can get away with anything, can't they? Especially homophobia.

Hey, reactionaries - of either the left or right wing varieties - don't need a consistent and integrated world view. They're uh... reactionaries after all.

Rekha Basu + Junk Science, Perfect Together!

For our social awareness lesson today, Rekha has a moan on the evils of silicone breast implants. She follows her formula to a tee - have a "victim" to personalize it, offer a slanted, left wing feminist "history" of the problem and insert the need for political action.

The only trouble is - there is no scintilla of credible scientific evidence supporting the notion that silicone breast implants cause illness. Look here. But that's not important now. There's a higher truth here people!

Down with Dow! Napalm! Bhopal! Gloria Steinem!

When reason and facts are an impediment to a social/political agenda (just ask Larry Summers...), the evidence must be ignored.

Hey, I think breast implants - saline or silicone - are kind of silly. But if women (or our male transgendered friends) want them, they should be able to get them without Rekha and her nanny state friends getting in the mix.

29 - You Misread Me Dude

29 takes issue with my last post. He thought that I was supporting Zero Tolerance.

Quite the opposite, 29... quite the opposite. I said that Zero Tolerance was public education's answer, not mine!

Zero Tolerance is a heinous copout. It keeps our educators (any others in a position of authority) from having to use their friggin' judgment. See my rant from a couple of years ago here.

My point was that a gun is not the same a small pocket knife and that a bully with history of inciting violence is not the same as a kid that being bullied. It's insane, twisted and the ultimate expression of Orwellian post-modern political correctness.

I think that students in school should absolutely have the right to self defense. One way to keep a bully (who are for the most part cowards) down is to take a couple of well placed pokes at them. The assistant vice principal should then get both boys stories, take their reputations into consideration and meet out punishment as and if necessary.

In 29's words:

School administrators are the problem. They're a bunch of weak-kneed girlymen who refuse to take sides and enable child abuse. If you've got a kid who's bullying, they've almost always been in trouble and the principals and counselors know this. They don't intervene. They don't talk to the parents or find out what's going on in the home. They don't try to solve the problem. That's why they're in favor of advancing children to another grade level who cannot read, write, or compute.

All I can say is right on brother man!

And you know... wonder of wonders, sometimes these things work out by themselves. I had a kid picked on me in 5th grade. Well... I kind of egged him on a bit - can you believe that? We duked it out (I'm sure it must have been comical to watch...) after school and became later very good friends.

Better Middle Schools - Demand Civilized Behavior

The Register ran an editorial today called Better Middle Schools - Listen to Students. Uh-huh... that sounds like a great idea.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we shouldn't get some input from middle schoolers on the strategies they use to succeed. But there are other things that we need to do first.

I speak from some experience as I currently have a 13 year old boy at Merrill and another boy at Roosevelt who went to Merrill a few years back. I've been a Merrill Parent for the last 6 years and have seen a disturbing change. The difference is evident in the halls between classes.

6 years ago, the kids were... well... kids. Adolescent boys and girls in groups are difficult at best. They were rowdy. They were loud.

Today when I walk the halls between classes, I watch my back.

About two months ago, my wife and I were at school for a meeting. We arrived (as it seems we always do) when the kids were in the hall. We saw a girl and boy shoving each other and cursing. My wife gave the girl the "motherly eye" as we passed by. The girl stared right back and said, stone cold "What are you lookin' at?"

To the girl's credit, the word "bitch" was implied, but not actually said. My wife grabbed my arm and dragged me to the meeting to avoid a scene and, given the day and age, a probable lawsuit.

My attitude is also affected by incidents my youngest son has been through. My son is not an honor student. That's the main reason why my wife and I have had so much time at Merrill in the last two years. He is not, however a discipline problem. He does notice and resent the other kids who are. Every day, that's the first topic after we ask him how his day was. "I can't believe what those kids say to the teacher." my son says.

I can't believe that those kids get away with it.

Public Education's answer...? - drumroll please - ZERO TOLERANCE!

Bullying - zero tolerance.
Fighting - even if you're a good kid defending yourself from a known bully - zero tolerance.
Drugs - heroin or a couple of tylenol, it don't matter - zero tolerance.
Weapon at School - Glock 19 or keychain pocket knife - zero tolerance.
Disrespectful and Disruptive low class hooliganism that disrupts the educational process - well now, that's a complex socio-economic issue you see, bladee, bladee blah.

Out of control, inner city kids with home lives so f@#ked up that the kids can't help but bring their anger and frustration to school. That's not what I live in Des Moines for.

I'll tell you what. If I had a kid in 2nd grade, I'd be looking to move to West Des Moines or... God forgive me... Waukee. I don't see this issue getting any better over the next years if educators are so sensitive and afraid of being branded bigots that they will not call it what it is.

This is the stuff that fuels middle class suburban flight. I want to live in Des Moines. I want my kids in a culturally diverse environment.

If culturally diverse means rude, disrespectful and dangerous, count us out.

Rob Borsellino Has Lou Gehrig's Disease

Regardless of your opinion of his politics, please take a moment to think of Mr. Borsellino and his family. God bless.

Care Package from Hell

Isn't this nice?

Gee... I wonder if the teacher knew about it? Hmmm...