Filed on July 2, 2009 at 4:00 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
An interesting CNN piece on performing CPR.
Filed on at 10:47 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
Don’t let the big logo and the direct link fool you. The National Guard does not endorse HSLDA. [H/T Mary]
Filed on June 28, 2009 at 8:33 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
OneNewsNow, of course:
Many clear-thinking Americans believe that Marxists are in control of our country — and that there is no reason to believe they will ever give up their power.
Filed on at 6:10 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
Sarah Palin, of course.
Filed on June 27, 2009 at 6:25 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
This lede should never had to have been written.
Local volunteers from Turning Point Church can no longer evangelize at Totem Middle School in Marysville, Washington.
Alas, it’s a OneNewsNow piece, so they just don’t understand why volunteer teachers aids shouldn’t be contacting the students at home and inviting them to church.
Filed on at 2:44 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
A laptop (not a netbook) for $359.
Filed on June 26, 2009 at 6:49 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
I don’t think I’ll be visiting a BK any time soon.
Filed on June 25, 2009 at 9:42 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
CNN has a video news clip about a kid who got very sick swimming in a local “lake” (an old mill pond, actually).
Hope Mills is the closest town to our home, and just the other day I almost took the kids to go swimming in the lake.
Filed on June 24, 2009 at 8:52 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
He was a strange duck at Furman. He was a little different when he was elected to Congress in the Republican Revolution. And he’s still strange.
At least we won’t have to hear about his presidential aspirations any longer.
Filed on June 21, 2009 at 7:37 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
I just realized I went a whole week without updating the blog. I plead work-related exhaustion. I was in Lean Practitioner training all week. Basically ran from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or later) each day. So blogging was a lower priority than vegging.
Filed on at 7:30 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
It was 100 oF here yesterday! I hope that is not a harbinger of how Summer ‘09 is going to play out.
Filed on at 5:24 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
I received two fundraising pitches from different cogs of the Democratic machine yesterday. I told them that I was angry at the way they were handling health care reform and that it looked like they were not going to include a public plan option in the final bill. You can see my response above.
And even though the plural of “anecdote” is not “data,” there are lots and lots of anecdotes showing that the system is completely broken and that breaking the insurance companies’ pseudo-monopoly is the only way out.
Filed on June 20, 2009 at 7:43 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
This HuffPo piece on the Reconstructionists and their plan for America is well worth a read.
Filed on June 13, 2009 at 8:21 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
SciFi is showing “Serenity.” The chyron during the commercial break says “Serenity Now.”
Filed on at 3:35 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
If this is what being a “Christian hero” is all about, I’m not sure that there’s much of a future for Christianity.
A Christian teacher in a public school is being hailed as “a hero of the faith.”
John Freshwater, an eighth-grade teacher in Ohio, filed suit this week against the Mount Vernon City School District and district officials, claiming they violated his free-speech and civil rights when he was released. The $1-million lawsuit claims he was fired by the district last year over accusations that he preached Christianity in class.
[snip]
In firing Freshwater, the Mount Vernon school board cited an internal investigation that found he had preached his Christian beliefs in class. Freshwater, a teacher for 24 years, was also accused of using a scientific device to burn a cross image onto a student’s arm and of keeping a Bible on his desk.
Filed on at 8:54 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
JJ has an excellent post up on how fear and poorly-thought-out arguments make home education more vulnerable to interference from the gov’t. Definitely worth a read.
Filed on June 11, 2009 at 6:31 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
I believe Obama may be our coolest president ever.
Filed on at 1:19 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
One of the stranger “arguments” against abortion (by a group of teachers):
Abortion is the primary factor causing America’s economic recession, said Pawson. America is suffering the consequences for killing fifty-million people who are supposed to be among us today as teachers, producers, consumers, taxpayers, leaders, inventors, and problem-solvers. It’s no surprise that a nation which slaughters nearly twenty percent of its future customers, investors, and entrepreneurs also kills its own economy. Wrong moral choices have negative consequences. Evil acts generate their own punishment.
Abortion has led to the destruction of fifty-million students and simultaneously eliminated hundreds of thousands of teaching careers and education-related jobs. Surely, some of those dead students were the ones God sent to cure AIDS, end world-hunger, and create clean-energy technologies, said Pawson
UPDATE: On second thought, it appears that PLEAS consists of maybe 6 people.
Filed on June 10, 2009 at 12:35 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
If I buy a spot for myself, I wonder if my old friends at Hell’s leading daily (NSFW) would give me a tryout.
Filed on June 9, 2009 at 7:48 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
Fundies never learn. In Dover, Bill Buckingham helped to prove that ID was all about religion with this statement:
2,000 years ago someone died on a cross. Isn’t someone going to take a stand for him?
And now,4 years later, another fundie torpedoes his case:
A federal appeals court has ruled that a Ten Commandments monument outside Oklahoma’s Haskell County Courthouse “has the primary effect of endorsing religion.”
[snip]
The latest ruling prompted Haskell County Commissioner Mitch Worsham to say, “Whoever was the judge in this, I feel sorry for him on Judgment Day.”
Yeah, placing the Ten Commandments on public property had nothing to do with religion. Riiiiight.
Filed on June 4, 2009 at 5:20 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
This one is horrific.
Filed on June 3, 2009 at 8:12 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
This is the funniest CL ad I’ve seen.
Filed on at 7:00 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
NH just legalized same-sex marriage.
Filed on at 4:29 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
QOTD (from the anti-tax Tax Foundation):
Targeted [business tax] incentives are to a state’s economy what steroids are to the human body – short term results that eventually weaken the bones, cause heart failure, or worse, impotency.
I don’t know about the folks at the TF, but I think if given a choice of being impotent or being dead, I’d choose the former and hope for a cure. There’s no cure for the latter.
Filed on June 2, 2009 at 4:16 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
This local story is good news. Assuming that the expensive vaccine is made available at a reduced cost for those without insurance or who otherwise can’t afford it, of course.
Filed on at 5:34 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
but not terribly engaged right now. I can leave you with one quote from a g-school teacher, proving once again why g-school is so much better than home education, and why we’re all just a bunch of uneducated ignorant yahoos who don’t know our places:
Homeschooling parent/teachers are arrogant to the point of lunacy. For real! My qualifications to teach English include a double major in English and education, two master’s degrees (education and journalism), a student teaching semester and multiple internship terms, real world experience as a writer, and years in the classroom dealing with different learning styles. So, first of all, homeschooling parent, you think you can teach English as well as me?
Me daresay me probably could.
[H/T: Kelly]
Filed on May 25, 2009 at 5:45 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
Daniel Hauser has been found.
Filed on at 3:45 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
Any geeks care to speculate what’s going on with this page?
Filed on at 3:40 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
On why g-schooling is better than home education:
[Dinwiddie County Public Schools Superintendent Charles] Maranzano said that the beauty of public schools is that they have subject specific experts teaching students and that working with others teaches students to be stronger individuals.
“We are preparing children today for a global experience,” Maranzano said. “They’ve got to be flexible and adaptable and they’ve got to be ready to modulate and function in a world without borders. What we do well is bring disparate, socio-economically deprived children into the same building as privileged children and educate them and prepare them for a role in the world.”
Modulate? WTF is that supposed to mean?
Filed on May 24, 2009 at 7:58 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
WND is still banging away at the birth certificate “scandal.”
Filed on May 20, 2009 at 5:42 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
This is really sad. Daniel Hauser, the boy whose parents are “treating” his cancer with voodoo (so to speak), is missing along with his mother. He’s going to die because he has idiots for parents.
UPDATE: He’s an HEK.
Filed on May 18, 2009 at 5:46 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
I’ll be able to get a diesel Fiesta. Thanks, Obama!
Filed on May 17, 2009 at 6:56 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
Definitely even-numbered.
Filed on at 1:17 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
NC’s Senate just passed an amendment to the child support law that raises the required age of support from 18 to 21 if the “kid” is attending college full time. This bill would seem to imply that it is a parent’s legal responsibility to pay for their child’s schooling through age 20. That seems, to me, to be a fairly dramatic change. And I can see how a judge could easily extend that to include all families, and not just divorced ones. After all, the assumption behind child support is that it helps to maintain the standard of living that the child would have experienced had there been no divorce. Since the Senate appears to believe that all kids of divorce are entitled to have their parent(s) pay for their college expenses, I guess they believe that true of all kids.
Filed on at 11:22 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
to wish Hell were real.
Of course, this will convince not a single cheerleader on the Reich Right.
Filed on May 16, 2009 at 8:02 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
It takes a 10 police officers over 12 full days each to shoot a stuffed toy with a Taser?
Filed on at 4:12 am under Life in Fayetteville by dcobranchi
Just because I thought y’all could use a bit of sheer insanity to go along with your morning coffee:
Stop gay marriage to uphold identity
What does it mean to be homosexual?
There are very few perfect males and females. We were created with DNA that determines our sexual orientation. Culture, religion and environment also play big roles.
We are created on a line: one extreme is the macho, the other the overly compassionate. The expanded middle is the “normal,” who have an almost equal portion of male and female traits.
Machos are aggressive, hard-driving, self-centered with rigid beliefs and tunnel vision. The opposite are those who have a laid-back tendency, want to nurture everyone who is hurting or despondent, with tendencies to love, accept and embrace every new idea that comes along.
At this point, there is nothing wrong with the picture. It becomes distorted when couples lose their identity by not celebrating their position on the line. They drop off when they need someone else to affirm their masculinity or femininity.
Psychology lost its scientific credibility by claiming a proposed DNA structure to affirm homosexuality. That has not been scientifically proven.
Vermont has legalized gay marriages through its legislature rather than judicial process, which will be exploited throughout the states. Gays do not want tolerance of civil union but will only settle for marriage, and President Obama has promised to appeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
If we want to uphold the right to true femininity or masculinity, then the time to stop gay marriages is now before the train gains any more speed.
Ray Miller
Fayetteville
Filed on May 15, 2009 at 1:20 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
is not a suicide pact. Nor does the First Amendment allow you to kill your kids.
A 13-year-old Minnesota boy with cancer must resume prescribed treatment to save his life, despite religious and other objections by his family — unless it’s already too late, a Brown County District Court judge ruled this morning… Daniel Hauser was diagnosed in January with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but the Hausers stopped their son’s chemotherapy and radiation after one treatment in February, and began substituting alternative care… Colleen Hauser testified that she was trying to “starve” her son’s tumor with natural healing methods, such as herbs and ionized water, that she had learned about on the Internet.
And I learned on the internet that some people will believe any stupid superstition they happen to read about.
Filed on at 12:46 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
A: This right wing leader is just too stupid to breathe.
Q: Who is Mike Farris?
Filed on May 13, 2009 at 3:55 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
I seriously doubt Kidz Bop producers would change the word “looking” to “fucking.” That wouldn’t exactly be good for the very profitable franchise.
Filed on at 3:20 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
QOTD (from my favorite right-wing wackos):
However, other religious leaders are taking a wait-and-see approach, calling Ahmed a “respected professional” and the most qualified person for the position. Some even claim that turning him down because of his [Muslim] faith, despite his credentials, would amount to discrimination.
Wow! Who are thse “some” who would claim that discriminating against a Muslim because of his religion is “discrimination”?
Filed on May 12, 2009 at 5:50 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
If you’re going to extol the virtues of home education and your right to be recognized as a legitimate educator, it’s probably best not to use a comma splice in the middle of your LttE:
Home-schoolers interested in trying for a Golden Apple are not asking for special treatment, obviously, we’d need to meet the same criteria as every other nominee to proceed through the winnowing process.
Filed on at 5:44 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
The NYT has a really good Op/Ed on the issue. It won’t convince any of the Bible thumpers but is worth a read just to reinforce the idea that we’re on the side of the angels.
Filed on May 10, 2009 at 5:01 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
I spent the whole day laying tile in the bathroom. Up. Down. Up. Down. It’s looking quite nice, but I’m not sure it’s worth the six months in traction.
Filed on May 9, 2009 at 4:36 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
Geez! OneNewsNow readers make the Southern Baptists look sane. Scary.
Filed on May 8, 2009 at 4:05 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
It’s old news, now, that DuPont is cutting 2000 positions, mostly in the automotive, construction, and basic chemicals markets. My division sits squarely in the first two, so we were a bit concerned. Fortunately, I’m safe this time. But I learned via the Philly press that Marshall Lab, where have some good friends and lots of colleagues, is closing for good. My old boss, the guy who hired me into my current position, is tasked with closing the place down.
A sad day, all around.
Filed on May 7, 2009 at 8:48 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
Screamo may be the most predictable/boring/annoying musical genre since disco.
Filed on at 8:44 pm under HE&OS by dcobranchi
I never expected to do this, but I can recommend at least one of the bloggers associated with the wacko OneNewsNow. Sheri’s an entertaining writer. Really worth a read.
Filed on at 5:49 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
Another winner!
Filed on May 5, 2009 at 1:41 am under HE&OS by dcobranchi
You’ve got to read the interview that Christianity Today did with Joe the Plumber. A taste:
In the last month, same-sex marriage has become legal in Iowa and Vermont. What do you think about same-sex marriage at a state level?
At a state level, it’s up to them. I don’t want it to be a federal thing. I personally still think it’s wrong. People don’t understand the dictionary—it’s called queer. Queer means strange and unusual. It’s not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that. You know, God is pretty explicit in what we’re supposed to do—what man and woman are for. Now, at the same time, we’re supposed to love everybody and accept people, and preach against the sins. I’ve had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn’t have them anywhere near my children. But at the same time, they’re people, and they’re going to do their thing
“Queer” isn’t a slur but “honky” is?
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