Don't mind you changing my post, but by doing so you missed the point. My post was, "It’s ludicrous to think that these selective schools that lure away the brightest, most motivated, best behaved students, will improve the lot of the neighborhood students left behind". I was just repeating your quote and substituting selective schools for charter schools. Thanks for the "I expect so".
EZ - re jogging vs running - thanks for the trip down memory lane. my running/jogging 'career' [such as it was] ended in 2011, when i ground down the last of the cartilage separating bone-from-bone in my right knee, resulting in its replacement. i enjoyed/loved those yrs when i was a runner, even as i slowed to a jogger - kept me anchored at challenging times in my life. from walkman to discman [briefly] to ipod touch - a lesson well-learned in appreciating the journey over the destination.
you also mentioned pickup basketball - that's what i REALLY miss. played multiple times weekly until age 48, 22 yrs ago. my 'feets' did finally fail me. that may be when i first learned to be grateful for what i could still do [as it relates to exercise], rather than ruing what i could no longer do.
Gretchen Whitmer stood up to a powerful faction within her own party when she pushed to end no-fault personal auto insurance in Michigan as the only choice. In my opinion, that was a win for for the state. I would vote for her to get more of that kind of thing at a federal level.
EZ - let's continue our dialogue about charter schools and selective schools. you parsed my reference to 'elitist', but that's ok, you at least own why CPS shd offer selective schools [to keep the white middle/upper middle class families in CPS]. to your question about how suburbanites would react to school choice if it meant allowing school choice to the families of kids [and let's be honest, you mean minority children from low income families] to attend public schools in the suburbs, i offer 2 responses - 1] how did white city of Chicago parents [and many other northern, urban white parents] react back in the 1960s to school desegregation? was that a good reason not to desegregate the government schools? [note - i intentionally use 'desegregate' rather than 'integrate']; and 2] Michigan [where i now live] has statewide inter-district school choice - might be worth your further investigation. if this version of school choice is not accepted uniformly enthusiastically around the state, it does appear to work. [suggestion - use bing + chatgpt with the Q: how is school choice working in Michigan?]
A lot of what goes into achievement is how children view their prospects in life, which is strongly affected by the world they live in and the people close to them. For example, if a boy has an older brother in the home who’s a gang banger, how likely is he to follow in his brother’s foot steps, especially if there is a lack of positive role models and a lack of reinforcement for academic achievement? Also, for many of these children, in their environment, joining a gang provides benefits similar to what any of us get from joining a club or group.
There's still something odd about the CWB's lack of transparency. Yes it's great there's a byline and a bio, but I can't find anything on Hecke through name searches other then the CWB bio. Maybe he scrubbed out his digital fingerprints? And I'd still like to know who's funding them. I'm not convinced yet and still read CWB with caution and doubt.
It is too late for me now, but it seems like if you are shopping for a town/school district to settle into then it helps to follow the news on local schools. I think that is where the a community tries hardest to make things they way they think they ought to be. I'd guess in your case people care about how the district ranks based on average test scores. So prestige is a big thing. I don't think that is a good indication of how any individual student will do, but many people do think that. I live in Evanston and many people want to show how progressive the community is. I think enough people had a reaction to Minneapolis changing the zoning code so that no lot could be zoned to be exclusively single-family dwelling. Since then there has been a push and a little progress to allow more density. In a college town that takes a lot.
The main objection to drag shows seems to be the presence of children. Let's put in a larger perspective. I want children banned from watching John Wayne films. They don't need to be taught that all of life's problems are solved by blasting away with weapons ar knocking people out. This goes along with his making inane caricatures of women and anyone not white. I can give a ton of other examples of so-called acceptable movies, literature, and books that have the possibility of teaching children the wrong things. But here's the rub. I grew up watching lots of action features with violence when I was young. To this day I have neither shot anyone or knocked anyone out with punches. I saw my first porn film while in college. I have no desire to do sex anywhere, any time or use it to abuse women. What it really comes down to is upbringing. My experience teaches me that children will not become either gay or cross dressers merely by attending drag shows. Parents can explain to them just what is going on and why. And that's the real point here. Why are so many in our society trying so hard to raise everyone else's children while at the same time yelling about parental rights?
I agree with you. As someone who spent 10 years in the military, a lot of folks liked to imitate John Wayne and his attitude. I served under a Captain that had a Big Jake belt buckle and literally talked like John Wayne.
How ironic that John Wayne never served in the military and was viewed as someone who avoided service to get major acting roles left open by actors who did serve in the military.
But thanks to Hollywood propaganda in the 50’s and 60’s, he acquired this tough guy all American image.
I didn't say it merely to bash John Wayne. My point was Wayne made movies. They weren't real life. Most people don't act like that. I don't shoot people or mock every other race. What studies have been done showing that kids watching drag shows grow up to be what is considered abnormal? If one is going to take that stance, then outright ban all books and movies for children. Eventually they will run into a character not what mommy and daddy want them to be. But wait! Shouldn't that be the decion of parents, not government? Besides, we will NEVER agree as a society on just what kids should see or not see.
TwiXter (which I've never followed) must be getting truly lame if those five were the best of the crop this week. Sanders' kitchen-curtains skirt wasn't very funny, but at least it tried. Visual Tweets--fully accepting "Tweets" as referring to anything posted on social media in the interests of keeping this feature alive--appear to be doomed.
With all respect, the Democratic bench you suggest is full of lightweights, with the possible exception of Amy Klobachar. No one else has anything resembling a national presence, except maybe Pete B, whom I love, but who has never held an elective office higher than mayor of a medium-sized city. In bright red Indiana, it is unfortunate but likely that he would not be able to win a statewide office like Senator or Governor.
Eric - I'm very happy that you're monitoring CWB Chicago so that you will gain a lot of the Chicago criminal news that is not reported in the mainstream media.
Regarding drag, I want to reiterate that I have absolutely nothing against whatever consensual adults decide to do in their lives - I have nothing against men who enjoy cross-dressing, strippers, swingers, etc. But the question remains, why is it that out of all the different, shall we call them "special interest" groups, that men in drag have such a burning desire to engage in drag in front of little children? No other group appears to be demanding this or even interested in doing so. And that's the sole reason that drag has become a cultural war issue.
With regard to Colin Kaepernick, I could not disagree with you more about the furor that would result if any owner had signed him to their team. He made himself radioactive by actions such as wearing socks at practice that depicted police officers with pig faces, as well as causing division in the locker room for his refusal to put the team ahead of his own personal agenda. When the NFL set up a tryout for him in Atlanta in 2019 for all interested teams to send scouts in observers, he blew it up at the last moment and instead held an impromptu demonstration at a high school field a number of miles away. That lack of willingness to in any way cooperate with the league said a lot about his attitude. And, at that time the consensus of the football observers was that he was far less than impressive. Personally, I do not in any way begrudge Kaepernick his own views. But I do object to his insertion of his partisan political views onto the football field where the overwhelming majority of people turn for entertainment and to get away from the everyday life stresses. To keep that in context, the football field is his place of work where he is performing while being paid by his employer. How do you believe any employer would react to an employee making a scene of themselves in the workplace to promote their own political views? Of course, it would not be tolerated and the employee would either change his or her ways or be terminated for cause. But Kaepernick knew that he had a bigger stage on the national league televised football games, so he decided to make a spectacle of himself, but in doing so he also made himself radioactive to any other team.
I do think it can take a lot of time and energy to teach some/many kids to read. Some though will pick it up with my simple “ trick” that I think should be encouraged. We watched ALL television with the Closed captioning on. Both my kids were reading well before kindergarten with absolutely no instruction or effort by me (have I mentioned that despite being a voracious reader I HATE reading out loud and shirked my parental duties). I think this is an easy absolutely no effort…little downside thing to encourage low income families to try.
I thought this sounded suspect, but most of what I read says it has merit! My New York daughter won't let me put the TV on when my 15 month old grandson is visiting. Maybe if I show her this and include the closed caption she will allow it!! :)
Lol. You can tell her that I let my daughter watch tv as a 1 year old and never restricted screen time and she ended up going to Duke with dual degrees in Electrical and Biomedical engineering.
EZ,
Don't mind you changing my post, but by doing so you missed the point. My post was, "It’s ludicrous to think that these selective schools that lure away the brightest, most motivated, best behaved students, will improve the lot of the neighborhood students left behind". I was just repeating your quote and substituting selective schools for charter schools. Thanks for the "I expect so".
EZ - re jogging vs running - thanks for the trip down memory lane. my running/jogging 'career' [such as it was] ended in 2011, when i ground down the last of the cartilage separating bone-from-bone in my right knee, resulting in its replacement. i enjoyed/loved those yrs when i was a runner, even as i slowed to a jogger - kept me anchored at challenging times in my life. from walkman to discman [briefly] to ipod touch - a lesson well-learned in appreciating the journey over the destination.
you also mentioned pickup basketball - that's what i REALLY miss. played multiple times weekly until age 48, 22 yrs ago. my 'feets' did finally fail me. that may be when i first learned to be grateful for what i could still do [as it relates to exercise], rather than ruing what i could no longer do.
Gretchen Whitmer stood up to a powerful faction within her own party when she pushed to end no-fault personal auto insurance in Michigan as the only choice. In my opinion, that was a win for for the state. I would vote for her to get more of that kind of thing at a federal level.
EZ - let's continue our dialogue about charter schools and selective schools. you parsed my reference to 'elitist', but that's ok, you at least own why CPS shd offer selective schools [to keep the white middle/upper middle class families in CPS]. to your question about how suburbanites would react to school choice if it meant allowing school choice to the families of kids [and let's be honest, you mean minority children from low income families] to attend public schools in the suburbs, i offer 2 responses - 1] how did white city of Chicago parents [and many other northern, urban white parents] react back in the 1960s to school desegregation? was that a good reason not to desegregate the government schools? [note - i intentionally use 'desegregate' rather than 'integrate']; and 2] Michigan [where i now live] has statewide inter-district school choice - might be worth your further investigation. if this version of school choice is not accepted uniformly enthusiastically around the state, it does appear to work. [suggestion - use bing + chatgpt with the Q: how is school choice working in Michigan?]
A lot of what goes into achievement is how children view their prospects in life, which is strongly affected by the world they live in and the people close to them. For example, if a boy has an older brother in the home who’s a gang banger, how likely is he to follow in his brother’s foot steps, especially if there is a lack of positive role models and a lack of reinforcement for academic achievement? Also, for many of these children, in their environment, joining a gang provides benefits similar to what any of us get from joining a club or group.
I would add former Mich governor and current Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm to your list of Dem possibles.
She was born in Canada -- that is undisputed! -- and therefore not eligible.
Thanks! But Vancouver is almost in Washington. :)
Vancouver IS in Washington, just across the river from Portland.
Eric, good effort with the tweets and “visuals” but why not throw in some puns and short bad jokes.
Below are some samples that I expect you can top.
I wanted to marry my English teacher after she got out of jail
But I found out you cannot end a sentence with a proposition.
My friend David had his ID stolen.
Now I just call him Dav
Albert Einstein was a great man…
But his brother Frank was a real monster.
So apologies to all lawyers out there, I once practiced law…but I have to end with a mean but funny joke
How many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
If lawyers are involved, the light bulb is already screwed.
There's still something odd about the CWB's lack of transparency. Yes it's great there's a byline and a bio, but I can't find anything on Hecke through name searches other then the CWB bio. Maybe he scrubbed out his digital fingerprints? And I'd still like to know who's funding them. I'm not convinced yet and still read CWB with caution and doubt.
There was a proposal to bring some kids to my suburban school district from a more impoverished suburban district. Parents hit the roof.
It is too late for me now, but it seems like if you are shopping for a town/school district to settle into then it helps to follow the news on local schools. I think that is where the a community tries hardest to make things they way they think they ought to be. I'd guess in your case people care about how the district ranks based on average test scores. So prestige is a big thing. I don't think that is a good indication of how any individual student will do, but many people do think that. I live in Evanston and many people want to show how progressive the community is. I think enough people had a reaction to Minneapolis changing the zoning code so that no lot could be zoned to be exclusively single-family dwelling. Since then there has been a push and a little progress to allow more density. In a college town that takes a lot.
The main objection to drag shows seems to be the presence of children. Let's put in a larger perspective. I want children banned from watching John Wayne films. They don't need to be taught that all of life's problems are solved by blasting away with weapons ar knocking people out. This goes along with his making inane caricatures of women and anyone not white. I can give a ton of other examples of so-called acceptable movies, literature, and books that have the possibility of teaching children the wrong things. But here's the rub. I grew up watching lots of action features with violence when I was young. To this day I have neither shot anyone or knocked anyone out with punches. I saw my first porn film while in college. I have no desire to do sex anywhere, any time or use it to abuse women. What it really comes down to is upbringing. My experience teaches me that children will not become either gay or cross dressers merely by attending drag shows. Parents can explain to them just what is going on and why. And that's the real point here. Why are so many in our society trying so hard to raise everyone else's children while at the same time yelling about parental rights?
I agree with you. As someone who spent 10 years in the military, a lot of folks liked to imitate John Wayne and his attitude. I served under a Captain that had a Big Jake belt buckle and literally talked like John Wayne.
How ironic that John Wayne never served in the military and was viewed as someone who avoided service to get major acting roles left open by actors who did serve in the military.
But thanks to Hollywood propaganda in the 50’s and 60’s, he acquired this tough guy all American image.
I didn't say it merely to bash John Wayne. My point was Wayne made movies. They weren't real life. Most people don't act like that. I don't shoot people or mock every other race. What studies have been done showing that kids watching drag shows grow up to be what is considered abnormal? If one is going to take that stance, then outright ban all books and movies for children. Eventually they will run into a character not what mommy and daddy want them to be. But wait! Shouldn't that be the decion of parents, not government? Besides, we will NEVER agree as a society on just what kids should see or not see.
TwiXter (which I've never followed) must be getting truly lame if those five were the best of the crop this week. Sanders' kitchen-curtains skirt wasn't very funny, but at least it tried. Visual Tweets--fully accepting "Tweets" as referring to anything posted on social media in the interests of keeping this feature alive--appear to be doomed.
With all respect, the Democratic bench you suggest is full of lightweights, with the possible exception of Amy Klobachar. No one else has anything resembling a national presence, except maybe Pete B, whom I love, but who has never held an elective office higher than mayor of a medium-sized city. In bright red Indiana, it is unfortunate but likely that he would not be able to win a statewide office like Senator or Governor.
Eric - I'm very happy that you're monitoring CWB Chicago so that you will gain a lot of the Chicago criminal news that is not reported in the mainstream media.
Regarding drag, I want to reiterate that I have absolutely nothing against whatever consensual adults decide to do in their lives - I have nothing against men who enjoy cross-dressing, strippers, swingers, etc. But the question remains, why is it that out of all the different, shall we call them "special interest" groups, that men in drag have such a burning desire to engage in drag in front of little children? No other group appears to be demanding this or even interested in doing so. And that's the sole reason that drag has become a cultural war issue.
With regard to Colin Kaepernick, I could not disagree with you more about the furor that would result if any owner had signed him to their team. He made himself radioactive by actions such as wearing socks at practice that depicted police officers with pig faces, as well as causing division in the locker room for his refusal to put the team ahead of his own personal agenda. When the NFL set up a tryout for him in Atlanta in 2019 for all interested teams to send scouts in observers, he blew it up at the last moment and instead held an impromptu demonstration at a high school field a number of miles away. That lack of willingness to in any way cooperate with the league said a lot about his attitude. And, at that time the consensus of the football observers was that he was far less than impressive. Personally, I do not in any way begrudge Kaepernick his own views. But I do object to his insertion of his partisan political views onto the football field where the overwhelming majority of people turn for entertainment and to get away from the everyday life stresses. To keep that in context, the football field is his place of work where he is performing while being paid by his employer. How do you believe any employer would react to an employee making a scene of themselves in the workplace to promote their own political views? Of course, it would not be tolerated and the employee would either change his or her ways or be terminated for cause. But Kaepernick knew that he had a bigger stage on the national league televised football games, so he decided to make a spectacle of himself, but in doing so he also made himself radioactive to any other team.
I do think it can take a lot of time and energy to teach some/many kids to read. Some though will pick it up with my simple “ trick” that I think should be encouraged. We watched ALL television with the Closed captioning on. Both my kids were reading well before kindergarten with absolutely no instruction or effort by me (have I mentioned that despite being a voracious reader I HATE reading out loud and shirked my parental duties). I think this is an easy absolutely no effort…little downside thing to encourage low income families to try.
I thought this sounded suspect, but most of what I read says it has merit! My New York daughter won't let me put the TV on when my 15 month old grandson is visiting. Maybe if I show her this and include the closed caption she will allow it!! :)
Lol. You can tell her that I let my daughter watch tv as a 1 year old and never restricted screen time and she ended up going to Duke with dual degrees in Electrical and Biomedical engineering.