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Open thread
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted March 3, 2007 at 1:05 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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40 Comments
While reading the story about the blizzards and weather related deaths on the front page, the large number of teenagers- 16 year olds- killed while driving in the weather surprises me. Not that they were killed but that their parents would be dumb enough to allow them to drive a motor vehicle in a snowstorm. It is difficult for an adult with several years of experience to drive in such weather. There is no way I would ever allow my daughter to drive in that kind of weather (although thankfully we don’t get snow here). The parents of these teenagers should accept responsibility for the deaths of their kids.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CITIZENS who courageously assembled in front of the Sedgwick County Courthouse yesterday afternoon. They said loud and clear that there are higher priorities for spending $250,000,000.13 (1/4 of a BILLION dollars) of our hard earned sales tax money than for building an unwanted, unneeded white elephant downtown arena.
AT this first meeting of the initial citizens group, a petition was distributed that says:
“We as citizens of Sedgwick County, Kansas do hereby request the Board of County Commissioners to respect our rights and wishes and schedule a re-vote on the proposed DOWNTOWN ARENA. Our reason for requesting a re-vote is short and simple. WE NO LONGER BELIEVE THE PROPOSED ARENA TO BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF WICHITA AND SEDGWICK COUNTY.
Furthermore many of us believe we were unfairly misled, if not outright lied to, by the supporters of this project initially.
Since the vote to approve this Arena, there have been a multitude of misteps and causes for serious concern on the part of the Board of County Commissioners. These events leave us no recourse, other than to request a RE-VOTE.”
Locations to pick up these petitions will be announced soon by the organizers.
JWink
If your life is full of imagery and fakeness, then why should you expect your happiness be real?
If your relationships are full of mind-reading, games, and over-analyzing; then why should you expect your relationships to be honest and healthy?
If what you really want is people to accept you for who you are, why do you pretend to be somebody you’re not just for them?
If you really want inner peace, why are you looking for it out there, like it’s some purchasable commodity?
If you truly want independence, autonomy, and to be a respected adult; then why do you choose to engage in the same childish right-of-passage rituals as everyone else?
For that matter, if you want people to respect you, why don’t you respect them or yourself?
Why is fakeness so normative; while genuineness is something exceptional, peculiar, and dubious?
“These results in Florida echo those of other researchers, including an analysis of the voucher program in Milwaukee by Harvard’s Caroline Hoxby, showing that competition improves public schools. In fact, no study of which we are aware has ever shown that vouchers harm public-school student achievement. Vouchers may place public-school resources in jeopardy, but that is not the same thing as harming public-school students. It may well be that by making public schools earn their resources, we better ensure that those students will be well-served.”
Kev I disagree. 16 year olds have to learn how to drive on snow and ice too, and if you don’t teach them at the time they get their license, that rate will just move to 18. My 16 year old has a license, but we live in a small town. Luckily we have a school here, but the neighboring towns do NOT and they come here.Not to mention work.
I let my 16 year old drive IN TOWN in the snow and ice to learn. But at some point you’ve gotta start letting them experience the world on their own, because at 18, they’re on their own and you will have no say.
http://redstaterabble.blogspot.com/
Saturday, March 03, 2007Obscene LegislationGet ready, because things in Kansas may well be about to get much uglier than any of us ever imagined.
The battles that have raged in Kansas since 1999 over evolution, sex education, and vouchers have certainly embarrassed the state, but no one was hurt. No lives were destroyed.
But now there’s a bill in the legislature sponsored by State Rep. Lance Kinzer, a Republican from Olathe to ban pornography in public school classrooms. It’s designed to make it easier to prosecute school teachers for using obscene materials in classrooms.
You say you didn’t know they were showing X-rated films or passing around the skin mags in school. They aren’t.But here in the Blue Valley School District there’s been a running battle over a number of literary classics — including Beloved, Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize winning novel about the effects of slavery — which the lunatics on the religious right insist on labeling as porn.
You can find a list of the Pulitzer, PEN, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle award winning literature that would be labeled pornographic here. It’s a virtual who’s who of great American writing.
A small group of right-wing activists has tried to censor these books for the past two years. They’ve had hearing after hearing, but their views have been rejected time and again by parents, students, teachers, and administrators.
Most of the books on the list are used in advanced placement — college level — classes. This district has an open review process in place that gives voice to parents, teachers, and administrators in the decision making process. Members of the censorship group have been invited to participate in this process. There is an opt-out procedure for parents who don’t wish their children to read the books in question.
The Blue Valley School District is one of the premier districts in the country. People who live in the district care deeply about education. They want their kids exposed to great literature. They want them to be prepared to go on to college — as more than 90 percent of student here do.
Normally, we wouldn’t worry too much about a bill like this. State legislatures pass all kinds of crazy bills that no one ever pays attention to once their voted into law.
However, that was before a small group of right-wing Republican activists voted to have former Attorney General Phill Kline serve out the remainder of the term of the man who beat him in the last election, Johnson County Prosecutor Paul Morrison.
Kline’s first act after he took over the Prosecutor’s Office was to fire eight members of the professional staff and install his own flunkies in their place.
No one who knows Kline’s record — that is to say anyone who lives in Kansas –will have the slightest doubt that he would hesitate for even a moment to bring pornography charges against a teacher in the Blue Valley school district for teaching I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou or the Hot Zone by Richard Preston.
Kline’s a fanatic and a bully. He’d destroy the life and reputation of one of our great English teachers without hesitation.
He won’t be in office long. Kline was beaten badly statewide in the last election. He was beaten even worse here in Johnson County. There is a lot of deep anger here over his appointment. There seems no question voters here will get rid of him at the next election.
The only question is, how much damage can he do between now and then?
Wichita Eagle editorial writer Randy Schofieldhas written an excellent editorial on this issue that should be read by everyone who is concerned about this issue.
# posted by Red State Rabble @ 7:51 AM
Bad wordsJanet Harmon presented a petition with 500 names at the Blue Valley School Board meeting Jan. 10 asking for the removal of 14 books because of what she considers vulgar language, sexual explicitness or violent imagery. The petition would ban the following Pulitzer, PEN, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle award winning literature:
*All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy — National Book Award, 1992*Animal Dreams, Barbara Kingsolver — PEN fiction prize and Edward Abbey Ecofiction Award, 1991*The Awakening, Kate Chopin — The 1899 classic*The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver –American Library Association, 1988*Beloved, Toni Morrison — Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Beloved, Toni Morrison won the National Book Awards NBF Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and the Nobel Prize for Literature.*Black Boy, Richard Wright — Named among the top 25 non-fiction works of the century*Fallen Angels, Walter Dean Meyers — Coretta Scott King Author Book Award, 1988*Hot Zone, Richard Preston — 42 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list*I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou — Nominated for a National Book Award, 1970*Lords of Discipline, Pat Conroy — Conroy won a humanitarian award from the National Education Association for The Water is Wide, 1972*One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey — made into an Academy Award-winning movie*Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison — National Book Critics Circle Award, 1977*Stotan, Chris Crutcher — Best Books for Young Adult Readers American Library Association, 1986; Best of the Best in Young Adult Literature, School Library Journal*This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff — From a PEN/Faulkner award winner
This link
http://www.bluevalleyk12.org/Contacts.cfm
will take you to a Blue Valley schools web page where you can send e-mail opposed to banning books to Superintendant Tom Trigg and Board of Education members.
I am offended by a book I read to my son the other night. It was called “Mr. and Mrs. Pig’s Evening Out”.
Basically the piglets didn’t want a babysitter, and mommy pig wasn’t paying attention when the sitter turned out to be a wolf. The wolf tried to bake one piglet and the piglet clan tied up the wolf into a blanket and when mommy pig came home they dumped him in the river.
My son will never want a sitter again! Haha.
By the way, I think that legislation piece died the other day.
Tracy! Loved your post about fakeness and searching for inner self etc. That was great read and so true.
But I believe p-mom is right. The banning of obscene materials in classroom died. But not to say that it won’t come back. This is the KS Legislature. ;)
Really curious about your stats, Kev. The only thing I remember seeing about storm related teenage deaths recently was the one in Americus, GA where 8 teenagers were killed when a tornado hit their school gym.
Has there been a significant number of teenage drivers killed in the recent blizzards? Just curious.
Are there no age-related standards setting out what is not acceptable in reading materials in public school classrooms in the state?
I am no prude, but personally, I have known enough nutty teachers (in my judgment) that I want to know that there are some standards.
I am not for book bannings; but if there is objectionable material in these books (I couldn’t care less how many awards they have won) shouldn’t parent know this so they can guide their children? It is done for movies and CDs, why not books?
For instance, consider the book that describes a man taking his son up to mountain top intending to kill him, another man whose own daughters got him drunk and had sex with him, that accuses God of lying, that describes in some detail sexual relations with animals.
I would surely want that book banned, wouldn’t you?
I’m describing the Old Testament.
The first example is Abraham and Issac, the second is Lot and his daughters, the third is when God said, “for the day thou eatest of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt surely die” (they didn’t die that day), and the last comes from that strange book of rules called Leviticus.
I am offended by all you people being offended.
If you don’t like a book, don’t read it.
If you don’t like a movie, don’t watch it.
If you don’t like some music, don’t listen to it.
If you don’t like the way a restaurant or bar operates, don’t go there.
I’ll repeat, for the reading impaired, that I am not for book bans. But I am a big fan of parental control. What would be objectionable about a parental information system for books like those on movies and CDs?
Balz, what the heck ya’ talkin’ about?Have you had your coffee yet?MY posts reflect your feelings on this.Outlander, that’s why the ‘list’ has been widely distributed, and parents offered the chance to opt out for their kids.
Balz, someone mentioned that you do ACAD?Gee, I could always use another good CAD operator.Ya’ any good at 3-D?
Oh well, never mind.You’d never work for an evil lib like me. HA!
“Most of the books on the list are used in advanced placement — college level — classes. This district has an open review process in place that gives voice to parents, teachers, and administrators in the decision making process. Members of the censorship group have been invited to participate in this process.
There is an opt-out procedure for parents who don’t wish their children to read the books in question.”
Could it be? A real conservative entering the race for the Presidency, one who could actually win? Run Fred Dalton, Run.
nah Tracy, I don’t do any design work – or CAD work.
Although I think I own a copy of ACAD and Pro-E – just never used ‘em.
Besides, I like BEING the boss. =)
The faux anti porn in class legislation did INDEED die in the Kansas house.
Fred Dalton? Never heard of him. No one else has either. Sorta like Hecklers assertion that fewer troops have died in Iraq than in training. A fart at a dinner party. No one knows who dealt it. It will be talked about a bit and then forgotten.
Reading? Next book for me and my kid is “Why Mommy is a Democrat”
Kev,
Although I agree with you about parents allowing their teens out when road conditions are bad (I remember my own mother forbidding me to go with friends one night because of snow), P_Mom made a good point. Everyone, including teens, has to learn how to drive in bad weather.
When we had the nasty snow and ice in March, my son-in-law took my 17-year-old to Spirit/Boeing’s parking lot at night when it was empty. He let her get behind the wheel and experience how a vehicle responds on a slick, snow and ice packed road.
Does this mean that she would never have an accident when road conditions are bad? Absolutely not. But at least she’ll have some kind of idea that, when the roads are bad, you don’t slam on your breaks, you put extra distance between yourself and the car ahead of you because you can’t stop quickly, and you accelerate with caution. It’s a step in the right direction, at least.
JR
Fred Dalton Thompson.
I corrected my “training deaths” to “non combat” deaths. It had been a couple years since I looked at those stats.
I’m not afraid to admit when I’ve made a mistake, unlike yourself.
JR
And I didnt say “fewer troops have died in Iraq than in training.”
Get the story straight dumbass.
Heh heh
You can’t even get the guys whole name up and you think he is a viable candidate? lol
“Dumbass”? Aint my fault you swallowed your foot. Just spit it out without kicking at me. You wouldn’t have corrected your mistake if not called on it.
“Fred Dalton Thompson”
Oh, yeah, we SO need another actor in the White House.
If you watch LAW & ORDER, you’ll recognize him. He plays D.A. Arthur Branch. He often plays a bad@ss and reminds me too much of our current V.P ;)
He’s appeared in many TV series/shows and movies, notably several of the Law & Order series.
“Law & Order” …. D.A. Arthur Branch (107 episodes, 2002-2007)… aka Law & Order Prime (USA: informal title)- Church (2007) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Talking Points (2007) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Charity Case (2007) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Remains of the Day (2007) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Corner Office (2006) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch(102 more)”Conviction” …. D.A. Arthur Branch (1 episode, 2006)- Pilot (2006) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch”Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” …. D.A. Arthur Branch (11 episodes, 2003-2006)… aka Law & Order: SVU (USA: promotional abbreviation)… aka Special Victims Unit (New Zealand: English title)- Gone (2006) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Rockabye (2005) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Starved (2005) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Goliath (2005) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Night (2005) TV Episode (as Fred Thompson) …. D.A. Arthur Branch(6 more)”Law & Order: Trial by Jury” …. D.A. Arthur Branch (13 episodes, 2005-2006)- Eros in the Upper Eighties (2006) TV Episode (as Fred Thompson) …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Boys Will Be Boys (2005) TV Episode (as Fred Thompson) …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Day (2005) TV Episode (as Fred Thompson) …. D.A. Arthur Branch- Blue Wall (2005) TV Episode (as Fred Thompson) …. D.A. Arthur Branch- The Line (2005) TV Episode (as Fred Thompson) …. D.A. Arthur Branch(8 more)Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005) …. Sen. Fred Dalton Thompson”Law & Order: Criminal Intent” …. D.A. Arthur Branch (2 episodes, 2005)… aka Law & Order: CI (USA: promotional abbreviation)- In the Wee Small Hours: Part 1 (2005) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur Branch- In the Wee Small Hours: Part 2 (2005) TV Episode …. D.A. Arthur BranchLast Best Chance (2005) (V) …. President Charles RossRacing Stripes (2005) (voice) …. Sir TrentonEvel Knievel (2004) (TV) …. Jay SarnoRachel and Andrew Jackson: A Love Story (2001) (TV) …. Voice of Andrew Jackson”Sex and the City” …. Politician on TV (1 episode, 2000)- Politically Erect (2000) TV Episode …. Politician on TV
Baby’s Day Out (1994) …. FBI Agent Dale GrissomIn the Line of Fire (1993) …. White House Chief of Staff Harry SargentBorn Yesterday (1993) …. Sen. HedgesBarbarians at the Gate (1993) (TV) …. Jim Robinson”Matlock” …. Gordon Lewis / … (2 episodes, 1989-1993)- The Juror (1993) TV Episode …. Prosecutor Mr. McGonigal- The Hunting Party (1989) TV Episode …. Gordon LewisKeep the Change (1992) (TV) …. OtisDay-O (1992) (TV) …. Frank DeGeorgioStay the Night (1992) (TV) …. Det. MaloneWhite Sands (1992) (uncredited) …. Arms DealerThunderheart (1992) …. William DawesBed of Lies (1992) (TV) …. Richard ‘Racehorse’ HaynesAces: Iron Eagle III (1992) …. StockmanCape Fear (1991) …. Tom BroadbentCurly Sue (1991) …. Bernard OxbarNecessary Roughness (1991) …. Carver PurcellClass Action (1991) …. Dr. George GetchellFlight of the Intruder (1991) (uncredited) …. Court-Martial CaptainDie Hard 2 (1990) …. Trudeau… aka Die Hard 2: Die Harder (Philippines: English title) (UK: promotional title) (USA: video box title)Days of Thunder (1990) …. Big JohnThe Hunt for Red October (1990) …. Rear Admiral Joshua Painter – USS Enterprise
Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) …. Maj. Gen. Melrose Hayden Barry… aka Shadow Makers (UK)”Roseanne” …. Keith Faber (1 episode, 1989)- Let’s Call It Quits (1989) TV Episode (as Fred Thompson) …. Keith Faber”China Beach” …. Lt. Col. Reinhardt (1 episode, 1989)- Twilight (1989) TV Episode …. Lt. Col. Reinhardt”Wiseguy” …. Knox Pooley (3 episodes, 1988)- Last of the True Believers (1988) TV Episode …. Knox Pooley- Revenge of the Mud People (1988) TV Episode …. Knox Pooley- School of Hard Knox (1988) TV Episode …. Knox PooleyFeds (1988) …. Bill BileckiUnholy Matrimony (1988) (TV) (as Fred Thompson) …. Frank Sweeny… aka Deadly Vows (UK: video title)No Way Out (1987) …. CIA Director Marshall
Oh THAT’S who that is??!
I remember him from “Hunt for Red October”.
Guy always looks like he has something lodged in his a**!
He shows up from time to time on the wingnut talking head shows. Sheesh Heckler, you ARE desperate!
Fred Thompson is also the head of Scooby Doo Libby’s legal defense fund. I am not sure if that is a formal or informal organization, but it does point out his ties to the Bush Administration.
I do believe that anyone with a close association with Bush is doomed.
The Bush Family is said to be quite unhappy that George has completely blown Jeb’s future opportunities.
this will make you laugh or cry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCkYfYa8ePI
Yes, morg, absolutely.
WSC said: “The Bush Family is said to be quite unhappy that George has completely blown Jeb’s future opportunities.”———–
You would think so! But there seem to be some who are incapable of thinking and are still behind their man Bush. Scary, isn’t it!?
The Bush supporters also think that the Titanic would have been a damned fine ship if it wasn’t for those icebergs.
Fred Thompson also dated Lorrie Morgan (the country singer) at one time. I don’t know if he wised up or if she did.
Bush would have told the passengers they were just stopping to pick up ice cubes and they would stat the course.
Morg after watching half of that video I found my hand trying to keep covering my forehead while my head kept shaking back and forth! It reminded me of that old saying “Too stupid to live!”.
And sadly it is about my fellow Americans, now the question is.Did we vote for G.W. Bush a second time or is it we just deserve G.W. Bush?
Don’t worry, w-dog. The video is in a very long tradition of European efforts to portray Americans as idiots.
Seriously, this has gone on for literally centuries now. Thanks primarily to the reelection of George Bush in 2004, this tradition has gained tonnes [joke: EU spelling of "tons"] of traction and now Europeans prefer to think of us as so stupid as to discount drastically any and all American opinions.
Take this video for what it is: some Americans don’t pay any attention to world affairs. No less, no more.
Man, Dub-Dog, that video was hilarious!!! It does not surprise me, however, since most Americans are clueless when it comes to World History and geography.
The bit with the interviewer claiming to be John Howard, PM of Australia, was funny in that NO ONE challenged him on the point. Given that Howard is short and bald, I wonder how the photo subject will feel if they ever see an actual pic of Howard.
What’s up with this story? The WE was ordered to remove a story by a judge? I think something stinks bad here, and I hope the papers win.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MO_NEWSPAPERS_ORDER_KSOL-?SITE=KSSAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-03-03-14-57-55
In England, this would be called “taking the p*ss out of” Americans.
Believe me dub-dog, this has been going on for a couple centuries now. Things improved notably during the Clinton years, but the Connecticut native better know perhaps as Jedi Prez W The Something Less Than Great, a.k.a, Commander Codpiece, a.k.a. Shrub has exacerbated things to the point that the BBC now sends video crews to us Red States in order to record our ignorance. The better to deny American miliatary power, delay the obvious, make things worse, etc.
Been there, done that, yeah Bush is a f*ck-up, we’ll try to do better despite his empowered co-dependents, etc.
:shrug:
PS All asterisks as insurance, courtesy of the WE’s language police.
Which I think I may have helped create. Crap, mein buddies.
Er, cr*p. :>)
Test: fark.
Hah! I am so dam..darn clever that i just what swoon over my own #2 efforts morning-wise, mebbe. Hah!
Test 2: arse.
Hah!
In the immortal words of ksfarmgrrl:
heheheheheheheheheeee…woops, left out some h’s there..hhhh..hehehe
!!!!
Fark! Your arse!
Yeah, baby, p3ned!!!
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