Buckhorn Road

Welcome to the future! Please watch your step.

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Anyone remember this movie? It came out in 1984 and starred the late, great Roy "You're gonna need a bigger boat" Scheider. I remember watching this flick soon after it came out on video, and even though I was only 13 at the time, I was fascinated by the movie's vision of what 2010 would look like and also by the fact that, barring any unforseen pianos falling on my head, I would live to see if the movie's vision would match reality.

I now have that chance, especially since my wife and I don't own a piano.

I still don't think it has fully struck me that another decade has passed. I remember so vividly when the '80s ended - I was a senior in high school - and who can forget the end of the '90s, with it also being the end of the century AND the millenium? And please don't start with the whole, "well, the century didn't really end until 2001... I know, I get it!

It's funny how each decade has its own personality. Don't get me started on the 1960s, even though the first half was an extension of the 1950s; it was actually the 1970s when things got really insane. Then we pulled back from the brink of insanity in the 1980s as we enjoyed the governance of Ronald Reagan, and yes, greed really was good. The 1990s I look at as the calm before the storm. Things were beginning to deteriorate, but we were just too fat and happy to care. Then along came the '00s... the Oughts?... the Ones? What the hell do we call this decade anyway?

I have mixed feelings about the '00s.

On a micro (personal) scale, they were pretty good to me. I got married to a wonderful and loving wife; had two amazing children; worked for and received a B.A., a teaching credential, and a M.A.; began teaching, bought a house (two actually; I like the current one better); and settled in to a comfortable life of domesticity. Not bad.

On a macro scale, I think this decade stunk up the joint. September 11, 2001 changed us forever; thousands of families lost loved ones either in the attacks that day or in the battlegrounds of Iraq and Afghanistan; the feeling of freedom that we still had was denigrated badly, both by worries about terrorism, but even more so, I believe, by our own government. Whether it regarded national security or economics, we are not as free today as we were ten years ago. Just look at the increasing hassle we face at the airport as children, nuns, and little old ladies continue to be goosed at the airport while Abdul from Nigeria sails right on through with his undies full of boom-boom. Just look at the downright criminal behavior of our kleptocratic congresscritters and our enabling presidents (yes, Bush, you too!) as they passed and increasingly continue to pass all manner of legalized theft that extinguishes - in the words of Milton Friedman - our freedom to choose.

With this in mind, I get the feeling that this decade is shaping up to be a barnburner. When you have the Tea Party, which isn't even an established political party, beating out both the Democrats and Republicans in polls, you just know that something has to give. With neither side - statist or conservative - willing to back down, it's just a question of whether or not our current national cultural and political conflict will continue to be debated at the ballot box rather than the ammo box. Believe me, I am not calling for violence here; I am merely reporting the writing that I see on the wall. I truly fear for the future of our country in the upcoming decade.

With the aforementioned wife and children I previously mentioned, I think about these possibilities each and every day.

With that not-so-cheerful though, I wish all of you a stellar, safe, and satisfying 2010, and

Good Day to You, Sir

I left my brain in San Francisco

2009-12-31T15:00:00.000-08:00

That's the only explanation I can give for forgetting to post some pics of my family forays in one of my favorite cities. Yes, a salty right-wing nutjob like me absolutely loves the City by the Bay. With Sacramento only being less than two hours away, I could make my way down to San Francisco every week and never get tired of visiting it... Visiting being the key word. I love San Francisco only as a tourist; if I had to live there, I would end up slashing my wrists. It's not so much San Francisco and all the weirdness that goes with it. I would feel the same way if I lived in any big crowded city that is jammed onto a small peninsula.

The only city I have been to that is more claustrophobically crowded and just as packed with things to do as San Francisco is the island of Manhattan, but for my money, the City That Never Sleeps doesn't hold a candle to the culture and uniqueness to my beloved City By The Bay. Check out these pics and find out why. Sorry I don't more of a variety of locations, but most of the photos have family in them, and I just won't show shots of anyone in my family but me.

A trip to San Francisco wouldn't be complete without a walk onto the Golden Gate Bridge.

For some people, it's the last walk they ever take. Yikes!

The 200+ foot fall is rather intimidating.

The views of the City are unparalleled. My son and I take it in.

After you have walked all the way across, it's required that you look back to take in the span you have crossed. Wow!

Here is the bridge without my children hogging the view!

My daughter and I scope out Alcatraz Island from Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf.

The clouds have rolled in, and it's time to say goodbye to San Francisco as the sailor statue from the Navy Memorial looks toward the city that I love (but would never want to live in!).

Good Day to You, Sir

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T18:16:00.000-08:00

Luke says it best:

Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Good Christmas to You, Sir

What's missing from this picture?

2009-12-23T04:48:00.000-08:00

Although I am not a member of a teachers union - either at the national, state, or local level - my wife has not taken that plunge. As such, she continues to receive the union rags that have stopped coming my way. This is fine by me, because I am often amused by the pablum that is written by these birdcage liners.
After reading the January/February 2010 edition of NEA Today, which is put out by the National Education Association, I was absolutely appalled by the article which chronicled the travails of the family you see pictured on the cover.

Meet mom Juanell, and her four children, Chassity, Chauncey, Chaddwick, and Chancellor. The article lists their many challenges: Juanell can only find part-time work at big box stores; she has four children to take care of, including 10 year-old Chaddwick, who has autism; and most challenging of all is that, as the cover story headline says, the family has dealt with homelessness.

The article goes to great pains to verbally illustrate how awful homelessness can be - for a single mother raising her four children, for being one of the four children trying to do homework in a homeless shelter, for all the family members having to experience the humility and humiliation of admitting that they are homeless and need help. It truly was heartbreaking to read what these children had to endure. The author of the article also did her best to show what strong resolve and dedication Juanell, the mother, has toward caring for her children. Says Juanell in the article,

"Nobody wants to say they're homeless. I have a big issue with pride, believe me. But I look at my little people here and say, 'Okay, if it means they're going to get what they need....'"

However, for all the detail that the article's author put into explaining the experiences and hardships faced by this homeless family, one blaring detail was totally and conspicuously missing: the Man of the House.

Where is the father? Was Juanell ever married? Did he leave? Did he ever show up? Was there a divorce or death? Is he in prison? Are the children all from the same father? Nothing was mentioned or even alluded to about the male component that was necessary for the existence of these children.

With that information being totally glossed over, the article naturally made no attempt to explain how having no father or husband in their lives contributed to the very homelessness this family was facing; no mention was made of any responsibility or poor decisions this mother may have had in her role toward making her family homeless. Making that kind of moral value judgement would totally rain down on the pity party that had been painted for the NEA Today readers to absorb.

The fact is that one of the surest ways to make yourself homeless or teeter on the edge of being homeless is to be an uneducated single mother who has lots of kids she can't afford. And the greatest tragedy of all this is what Juanell's choices can possibly do to her children.

According to Ann Coulter, who did much research concerning single parenthood for her book Guilty: Liberal "Victims" And Their Assault on America, choosing to become a single mother is a disaster for children and the country those children will populate as adults. For you Ann Coulter haters, these statistics are not her own; they are footnoted if you care to check:

Various studies have come up with slightly different numbers, but all the figures are grim. According to the Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, children from single-parent families account for 63 percent of all youth suicides, 70 percent of all teenage pregnancies, 71 percent of all adolescent chemical/substance abuse, 80 percent of all prison inmates, and 90 percent of all homeless and runaway children...

A study cited in the Village Voice produced similar numbers. It found that children brought up in single-mother homes 'are five times more likely to commit suicide, nine times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 14 times more likely to commit rape (for the boys), 20 times more likely to end up in prison, and 32 times more likely to run away from home.' Single motherhood is like a farm team for future criminals and social outcasts.

This neutral oh-woe-is-they stance that the article's author took toward Juanell and her four brood did a disservice toward addressing the issue of what can be done to stop this kind of homelessness in the first place, rather than dealing with the fall-out after the fact. In my opinion, a disservice was also done with the choice of the photograph gracing the magazine's cover. The directions from the photographer or whoever was in charge of the shoot just scream at me from the image: OK, I need you all to look condescending, smug, and victimized. I love it! Stay just like that! I get enough students disrespectfully rolling their eyes at me in my classroom; I don't need the daughter on the left doing that to me in my own home.

Good Day to You, Sir

Alan Grayson really is nuts!

2009-12-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

Alan Grayson is a freshman congressional representative from Florida. He is an angry, hateful, juvenile hypocrite, and with the addition of each embarrassing action he commits, Grayson has quickly painted himself as a target for defeat in the 2010 elections.

His latest notch on his idiot stick is something so incredible, that when I first heard about what he had done, I had to do some quick research in order to verify that I wasn't falling for some hoax. It turns out that his office has confirmed that it is real.

Angie Langley, a Republican activist from Florida, has a website called mycongressmanisnuts.com, which is dedicated to defeating Grayson next year. She has raised $4,000 so far, and after this news story gains more steam, she is undoubtedly going to be raising quite a bit more.

In response to this website, Representative Grayson fired off a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder in which he demanded that Langley's website be shut down and she be jailed for five years. Grayson's reasoning for this is because Langley apparently lives in the congressional district next door, yet she calls her website MYcongressmanisnuts.com. So, because this woman isn't a constituent of Graysons, he wants her thrown in jail for criticizing him. Wow.

I love this very first official complaint from Grayson's letter:

Ms. Langley has chosen a name for her committee that is utterly
tasteless and juvenile. Of the thousands of campaign committees reporting to the FEC, I doubt that any other one sinks this low. But that is not the primary purpose of this complaint.

Congressman, if it's not the primary purpose of the complaint, why is it even in there? You're whining to the Attorney General of the United States about the name of the website? Even more disturbing is Grayson's naked attempt to use his power as a member of Congress to intimidate a woman into abandoning her God-given right to speak and write freely.

What really makes this all so amusing is that this is the same man who called a woman a "whore" during a radio interview and said the Republican health care plan was for sick people to "die quickly." Now he has the chutzpah to complain about tasteless and juvenile?

And for any statist out there who would try to make the argument that Grayson has a point that Langley is breaking some federal election law, then I have an answer to that: It's a stupid and unconstitutional law. Guess what? Alan Grayson is my congressman too. I may live in California and he may represent a district in Florida, but the decisions he makes and the votes he enters on the House floor affect my life.

Hopefully, Grayson's increasingly bizarre behavior will ensure that the voters of his district in Florida see to it that he will have few more opportunities to cause any legislative havoc.

Another example of intentions vs. results

2009-12-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

Professor Walter Williams' latest column talks about the effect of increases in the minimum wage on the employment rates of black teenagers. He points out that today, while the unemployment rate among white teenagers is around 25%, the unemployment rate among black teenagers is around 50%. Why is that the case, and has that disparity always been the case?

Enter Williams:

How do you think the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton would explain the unemployment difference between black and white teens? You can bet the rent money they would say: It's racial discrimination. Let's investigate. Was racial discrimination in 1948 greater or less than racial discrimination today? In 1948, the unemployment rate for white 16-17- year-olds was 10.2 percent, while that for blacks was 9.4 percent. Among white 18-19- year-olds, unemployment was 9.4 percent, and for blacks it was 10.5 percent. During that period, not only were the unemployment rates similar, black teenagers were either equally as active as whites in the labor force or more so.

To read the rest, click here.

Good Day to You, Sir

Rules are for the little people

2009-12-16T11:15:00.000-08:00

Senator Charles Schumer is such an arrogant ass. As a private citizen, I have no problem saying that. However, as a public official, I do have a problem with him calling a flight attendant a "bitch" after she told him to stop talking on his cell phone so the plane could take off.

Again, what an arrogant ass.

Good Day to You, Sir

You can't make this stuff up

2009-12-16T11:06:00.001-08:00

Read here for the story of a little dog who fell from the sky... after escaping from the clutches of a giant owl.

The article said the dog was still shaking with fear even hours after the incident. Can't say I blame it.

Good Day to You, Sir

...but don't question their patriotism.

2009-12-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

Are the Democrats willing to sell out a portion of our national security in order to obtain the votes needed to cram the government health care bill down the throat of the American people? According to Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard magazine, it appears that may be the case.

According to Goldfarb's source at the Capitol, holdout Dem Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska is being threatened by the Senate leadership and White House officials with having Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base closed down. Offutt contains the headquarters for the U.S. Strategic Command.

Offering Louisiana Senator Mary Landreiu a gob of taxpayers' money in exchange for her vote is bad enough, but this threatened closure of a vital Air Force Base, if true, is beyond the pale.

Well, didn't Nancy Pelosi say just the other day that she would "do anything" to get the Cramdown passed?

Good Day to You, Sir

Going to see "Avatar"?

2009-12-14T22:29:00.000-08:00

Prepare to be proselytized.

The distinguished filmmaker who brought us Terminators 1 and 2, Aliens, and Titanic (all are films I love, by the way) is releasing his newest creation: Avatar.

When I went to see 2012 recently, I viewed a rather lengthy trailer for Avatar, and as I watched, I sensed some bad mo-jo coming from the screen. It turns out that my concerns have merit.

First, I read this review from John Nolte at the mega-blog Big Hollywood (see blogroll). Now I have heard Avatar's purpose straight from the mouth of the movie's writer/director, James Cameron, who had this exchange with the Today Show's Meredith Vieira:

VIEIRA: Yeah there's a love story and also there's a message about, you know, greed and when people want a lot of things, imperialism. All of that.

CAMERON: And how that tends to destroy the environment and so on. And here they are doing the same thing on another pristine planet that we've done here on earth. So it's a way, sort of looking back at ourselves from this other world and seeing what we're doing here.

Yeah, that's what I want: a three-hour guilt trip and self-flagellation seminar in which I pay ten buck for the experience. I'll pass. If I'm in a generous mood, maybe I'll Netflick it someday.

Good Day to You, Sir

In the end, it really wasn't a fair fight

2009-12-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

Lord Christopher Monckton is one of the most knowledgeable and articulate people out there who is doing all he can to inform people about the hoax that is Anthropogenic (man-made) Global Warming.

He has been in Copenhagen while the high priests of the Church of Global Warming have been meeting there to discuss how they are going to best take over our money and our freedom in order to fix a non-existing problem. In this on-the-street interview, Monckton debates a Norweigian demonstrator from Greenpeace and proceeds to tear her beliefs limb from limb. It really is a pleasure to watch this baffled woman watch her whole faith be shattered in ten minutes, but in the end, she hangs on to that faith despite any of Monckton's contrary evidence. Meanwhile, Monckton shows just how silly these people really are:

It really is a religion, ladies and gentlemen.

Good Day to You, Sir

Whistle while you work

2009-12-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

I was listening to our Dear Leader accept his oh-so-well deserved Nobel Peace Prize (/sarcasm) as I drove home from work today, and once again, I noticed something as he spoke that I have noticed for quite a while now: Obama whistles his S's. Any word he utters that ends with the "S" sound concludes with with a slight whistle that is driving me more and more crazy.

Am I being petty? Probably. I guess it's no worse than the lefties who went ballistic over George W. Bush's nervous chuckle whenever he was speaking off the cuff. And yes, Bush's mannerisms grated on me as well. Speaking of "Well," that was about the only tic that the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan, exhibited. The difference is that his tic was endearing; Obama's makes me wince.

Heh, I know you are going to be listening for that whistle the next time you hear the Dear Leader speak, aren't you? Yeah, you know you will.

Good Day to You, Sir

The SST heard 'round the campus

2009-12-09T16:42:00.001-08:00

SCROLL FOR AN UPDATE:

I'm sure it will be. I mentioned in yesterday's post that a meeting would take place today regarding the student who was the subject of the emails, and the meeting turned out to be everything I imagined it would be: a f**king train wreck.

The mother sat there with her laptop with an accusing scowl on her face the whole time; the father sat there looking defeated; and the student sat there with every ounce of hate in his heart that he could muster.

After the teachers gave their reports on the student's progress (none of it good), the student belted out with "They all get to say something, when do I get to say what I want to say?!" The leaders of the meeting made the mistake of indulging this (sorry O'Reilly) bold fresh piece of humanity, and the kid let loose, starting with me.

After being told by his mother not to start talking about how I pick on him, the first thing he said is that I pick on him and that I only ever address his behavior and no one else's (patently false of course). And then he just started going down the line, confronting each of his teachers sitting there and saying what horrible teachers they are and how no one likes them. I was just about to speak up and put a stop to this crap when the student's Language Arts teacher beat me to the punch as he stood up and said in a voice shaking with anger and emotion, "I am not going to sit here and tolerate being talked to like this by a 13 year-old child. I'm outta here."

I stayed long enough to give the student's parents a blow-by-blow account of the disaster that was this kid's day in my classroom, and as I did so, the student's mother began doing a facepalm that sank lower and lower as I went on. I then stood up, told everyone that I had had enough, and I departed, as did the student's math teacher, who left sobbing. She is such a nice lady, and she never deserved to be spoken to like that. The student's father actually went out to the hallway with her to console her as she repeated, "I have so tried so hard with him, I have tried so hard!"

As I rounded the corner of the admin building hallway, I overheard the father say to this student, "Congratulations [son], you've managed to piss off every teacher in that room."

I wonder what happens tomorrow?

Good Day to You, Sir

Update:

I was so worked up about this meeting that I posted from my classroom on my mobile device, and then started driving home. I was a couple minutes from home when my cell phone rang, and who should it be but my principal. First things first, she apologized for letting the student in question speak to me and the other teachers the way he did, but it turned out there was a reason she let him do so. Apparently while this kid was going on his rant, my principal had looked over at the District Student Services Director who was also attending this meeting, and he had given her a "stand down" gesture with his hand. Apparently, he made the instant decision that it was best to just let this kid continue his rant and dig his own grave. Apparently, the Director had dealt these parents previously, and they had expressed doubt that their darling child really talked to his teachers in the way that the teachers kept insisting that he did. In what turned out to be a combination Perry Mason/Jack Nicholson-as-the-Marine-Colonel moment, this kid dropped his facade and showed his parents exactly who he was and how he acts. The Director was making sure the parents got a healthy dose of reality.

It worked. This kid is not coming back; his parents have agreed to send him to the alternative school in our district. Thank God! Now maybe I can finally teach something to the students in this class that has previously been, for all intents and purposes, held hostage by this student who is no longer an issue.

Good Day to You Again, Sir

The email heard 'round the campus

2009-12-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

I walked into the teachers lounge this afternoon to eat lunch, and was greeted with applause and several "We're not worthy" bows, complete with the worshipful hands being raised up and down. What had I done to receive such adulation? First, a little background info:

I have a 7th grade student who drives me, and every other teacher who has him or has had him, crazy. He carries on in class like a teacher isn't even there. If he has a comment, he makes it; his comments are often mean or negative putdowns directed at other students; if he feels like laughing about something, he does it; he is constantly tardy and then drags ass as he gets his backpack off and meanders to his seat; he rarely if ever brings a writing utensil to class; he is failing every class he has - including mine, with a whopping 28%. And if you call him on any of this stuff in class, you will be met with an argument that generally centers on one of two themes: "What? I didn't do anything wrong" or "What are you pickin' on me for? So-and-so is talking too!" He is generally a very disagreeable and nasty human being.

Numerous phone calls home to the parents have done no good whatsoever. Three previous attempts at meeting with the parents have been canceled by one or both of the parents (who I understand do not live under the same roof). And best of all, I have been told by other teachers that they have previously been informed by the parents - especially the mother - that this kid's problems arise from the fact that all of his teachers are a bunch of lying racists.

In fact, I was talking to one of our secretaries at lunch, and she told me that she had been on the phone with the mother verifying that the mother will actually show up to a scheduled Student Study Team (SST) meeting tomorrow, and the mother said she doesn't want to miss this meeting, because she wants to be able to look her son's teachers' faces to see whether or not they are lying. Ooooh, I can't wait to be a part of this SST tomorrow.

In anticipation of tomorrow's meeting, the mother emailed our principal. I don't feel comfortable reprinting the mother's email - her grammatical errors and misspellings are embarrassing enough. Instead of the forwarded email from the mother, I will print what our principal had to say to us teachers who are... privileged... to have this kid in our classroom every day:

Hi Folks,

I received this email from [the student's mother] and spoke to her as well. She is frustrated that she is not getting the homework information from [her son] on a daily basis. If you read her email below, she is requesting a daily email from you with just a blurb about the day’s homework. Let me know if you pre-post grades. According to her, she is not viewing pre-posted assignments on Power School.

Thanks!

[Your Principal]

When I read this, I think I literally saw red. After composing myself and taking a deep breath, I then belted out this missive which later garnered such a positive response from my fellow teachers:

With all due respect,

If [the mother] wants to email me every day, I will be glad to reply to her. Otherwise, she is more than welcome to continue checking PowerSchool, which I updated just this morning, and she can also check [her son's] agenda. My whiteboard agenda gives a weekly rundown of activity, and also lists upcoming homework assignments and tests.

If [the mother] can’t get [her son] to write this stuff down, I simply refuse to take over her parenting duties.

Thank you,

[Mr. Chanman]

So, was I out of line? Oh well, I have tenure.

Good Day to You, Sir

Remember...

2009-12-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

December 7, 1941: 68 years ago today.

Good Day to You, Sir

Christmas has officially arrived!

2009-12-07T00:18:00.000-08:00

How do I know? Because yesterday, a friend of mine and I took our sons with us to a big open field east of Sacramento and turned some shotguns on the pumpkins that had been decorating the front porches of our abodes. Witness my giddiness as I show off one of my kills along with the firearm with which I unleashed my late autumn fury:

There is just no getting around it: Shooting is FUN!

Good Day to You, Sir

Hypocrisy defined

2009-12-06T23:54:00.000-08:00

The farce that is the Copenhagen climate change summit begins tomorrow. Well, tomorrow for me; in Denmark, it is probably starting up as I type. Leave it to Drudge to provide us with a link to an article that points out just how disingenuous and hypocritical these charlatan busybodies really are.

Just how are a good number of the attendees of this summit getting to Copenhagen? For starters, try 1,200 limos and 140 private planes.

I dig some of the quotes from the article, like this one from the manager of Denmark's biggest limo rental company:

We haven't got enough limos in the country to fulfil the demand," she says. "We're having to drive them in hundreds of miles from Germany and Sweden.

Wow! Can you imagine how much extra CO2 is being pumped into the air with all that extra driving with these petrol-sucking limos, just so these elitist wastes of oxygen (heh!) don't have to stoop to driving in a regular car like all of us hoi polloi?

This is right up there in the pantheon of hypocrisy with Al Gore's utility bill for his Tennessee mansion, a bill that shows he uses much more carbon producing energy every month than my family and I could ever dream, even if we tried.

Remember folks, if our Dear Leader signs onto anything over there, he will need 2/3 of the Senate (66 senators) to approve. Good luck with that, Obama. Then again, our increasingly imperial presidency seems to be more and more unilateral, in defiance of the Constitution which appears as little more than ass wipe for most of our politicians nowadays.

I'll be watching what happens in Copenhagen.

Good Day to You, Sir

The - ahem! - unprecedented Obama/Hitler connection

2009-12-04T22:19:00.001-08:00

Sheldon Whitehouse: there's a name for you. This guy is not only a real person, he is a U.S. Senator from the late great state of Rhode Island. He is also either the world's biggest idiot, or he is a stone-faced liar:

For eight years, he can't ever remember George W. Bush being portrayed with a Hitler muh-STAHSH? You never saw just one teensy little muh-STAHSH? Here Senator, allow me to fresh your memory. After spending approximately, oh, 5 seconds on Google Images, I found these:

Amusingly enough, less than a month ago, I took Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, to task for making a similarly outrageous assertion about our poor Dear Leader being compared to that certain Nazi leader of 1930s and 1940s Germany. You would think that after the indignant flak that Gibbs received from the right-wing media and the blogosphere, Whitehouse wouldn't be stupid enough to try the same tact, but I guess we either underestimate the dense obtuseness of the statist Kleptocrats, or their devious and cynical belief that their minions are so ill-informed that they will believe every word that is shoveled their way from Obama and his lackeys.

Besides, what can you expect from a guy named Sheldon? Nora Ephron, Billy Crystal, and Rob Reiner had Sheldon pegged back in 1989. C'mon, you know you have watched When Harry Met Sally. Remember this dialogue?

Harry: With whom did you have this great sex?
Sally: I'm not going to tell you that.
Harry: Fine, don't tell me.
Sally: Shel Gordon.
Harry: Shel? Sheldon? No, no, you did not have great sex with Sheldon.
Sally: I did too.
Harry: No you didn't. A Sheldon can do your income taxes, if you need a root canal, Sheldon's your man... but humpin' and pumpin' is not Sheldon's strong suit. It's the name. 'Do it to me Sheldon, you're an animal Sheldon, ride me big Shel-don.' Doesn't work.

Man, I love that movie!

Good Day to You, Sir

I the teacher, in order to form a more perfect student...

2009-12-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

It was a pretty easy Friday in my classroom today. My 8th graders - all 126 of them spread over 5 different periods - stood up individually in front of the rest of the class and recited the Preamble to the Constitution from memory. There are 52 words in the Preamble, so I doubled that amount to arrive at 104 points, which was the points possible for the assignment. This made it something that was worth the students' while not to blow off. Two students did, but most of the students took this assignment very seriously.

I had warned my students about this assignment when we began studying the Constitution a couple of weeks ago. A week before we broke for Thanksgiving, I told them that they would be reciting the Preamble on the Friday after our return from Thanksgiving. During that whole time, I would hear students reciting the Preamble to themselves and practicing with each other as they would walk into my classroom every day, or during silent reading at the beginning of the period, I would watch many students read the Preamble poster that hangs on the classroom wall. I could see their lips barely moving as they silently repeated the words to themselves as they studied.

I have to say, I was rather impressed.

When all was said and done, the class averages (out of the 104 points possible) were 95.0, 95.5, 88.7, 101.5, and 84.4. The classes with averages in the 80s just happened to be the only classes with that one brain trust who refused to perform the recital, which netted them a big fat zero. Otherwise, the vast majority of my students either aced the Preamble, or missed less than 5 words total. This after I caught major bitching, whining, moaning, complaining, and much gnashing of the teeth as many of these same students who ended up doing just fine did everything they could to intimidate me or shame me out of going forward with this assignment. I heard it all: You can't make us do that! I'm telling my parents about this! There's no way we can memorize this! We're all gonna fail! You're gonna ruin my GPA!

In the age of constructivist education, rote memorization has become a pejorative. Nevertheless, I stick to my belief that memorizing important information is a learned skill that will always have a revered place in education. Well, it will be revered by me at the very least. You should have seen the looks of pride on the countenances of many of my students as they departed from the hot zone in front of the class after successfully reciting the 52 words of the Preamble.

I provide other confidence building assignments in the form of memorization throughout the year, with most of them being extra credit opportunities. Every quarter, I allow each my students one opportunity to eke out some extra points by identifying all the U.S. states (25 points), or all the capital cities of the U.S. states (50 points), or reciting all 44 U.S. Presidents from 1st to 44th (44 points). The students take these on with gusto. I always get quite a bit of resistance concerning the President assignment with the same tired complaints that listing them off by memory is not possible, but I always do it for them with no problem. I never ask anything of my students that I cannot do myself. Sure enough, I always get some takers on the President extra credit assignment, and they always do just fine. Whatever assignment they pick, I do tell my students that they need to study, study, study until they have the info down cold, because they only get one shot.

If you are interested in incorporating any of these extra credit assignments into your classroom or you are a non-teacher who is interested in brushing up on the states and their capitals, here is the website in front of which I plunk my students when its time for them to attempt the extra credit assignment. I use the beginner level for the states and the intermediate level for the capitals.

Hmmm, Now that I have proved to my students that they can handle a little memorization, I wonder what their reaction would be to memorizing the Gettysburg Address come this Spring?

Good Day to You, Sir

"Thrill" sounds better than "Tingle" anyway

2009-12-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama gave a speech that prompted MSNBC hack Chris Matthews to say in his response to the speech - and these are his words - "I felt a thrill going up my leg." Eww.

Ever since, conservative bloggers and pundits have incessantly mocked Chris Matthews for this ludicrous and disturbing quote, and rightly so. The problem is that nine times out of ten, these bloggers and pundits get the quote wrong. Somewhere along the way, "thrill" turned into "tingle." Bloggers will mention Matthews' tingling leg, or they will refer to him with the nickname "Tingles." I'm not sure why the word changed, but it was a bad idea. When you look at Matthews' infamous quote, having a thrill go up his leg actually sounds worse than a mere tingle.

Please, all you conservative bloggers and blog commentors out there: Quote Chris Matthews correctly. It was "thrill," not "tingle." The actual line was disturbing enough that you don't need to try to sex it up:

Good Day to You, Sir

And now, a few words from our first president:

2009-11-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houfes of Congress have, by their joint committee, requefted me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to eftablifh a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and affign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of thefe States to the fervice of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our fincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the fignal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpofitions of His providence in the courfe and conclufion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have fince enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to eftablish Conftitutions of government for our fafety and happinefs, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are bleffed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffufing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleafed to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in moft humbly offering our prayers and fupplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and befeech Him to pardon our national and other tranfgreffions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private ftations, to perform our feveral and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a bleffing to all the people by conftantly being a Government of wife, juft, and conftitutional laws, difcreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all fovereigns and nations (especially fuch as have shewn kindnefs unto us); and to blefs them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increafe of fcience among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind fuch a degree of temporal profperity as he alone knows to be beft.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand feven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington
_______________________________________________

Happy Thanksgiving to all,

Chanman and family

SNL gets it right

2009-11-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

Saturday Night Live has tepidly made fun of our Dear Leader in the past, but you could tell that they were definitely holding back.

Not this time. This press conference between Obama and the leader of China is priceless!

Hopefully, SNL will continue to point out that the emperor has no clothes, and other comedians out there will finally figure out that it is OK to pummel our president.

Good Day to You, Sir

Great, something else to worry about

2009-11-20T15:39:00.001-08:00

And you thought waking up in a tub of ice water with your kidney missing was bad:

Gang 'killed victims to extract their fat'

Nope, never contemplated going in that fashion... until now.

Good Day to You, Sir

It's the moooost wonderful tiiime of the yeeeear!

2009-11-20T15:12:00.001-08:00

Why is that? Not because it's almost Thanksgiving or Christmas, but because its always around this time of year that I begin teaching my 8th graders about the Constitution, and that usually means having to gingerly explain the circumstances of Bill Clinton's impeachment without getting myself in trouble.

Today, I began teaching my 8th graders about Article I of the Constitution, which lists the qualifications, responsibilities, and powers of Congress. Included in that list is the power of impeachment. The natural thing to do as a teacher is to give examples of impeachments that have happened in our country's history, and since there are only two presidential examples, its a little hard to ignore 50% of the occurrences. That, and since Clinton is such a recent (and still popular with my students) president, his name invariably comes up in the class conversation, where students want to know what he did to get impeached.

Remember, I am talking to 8th graders here, but to truly get them to understand the gravity of Clinton's offenses, I refuse to fully sugar coat what he did. What I tell them is that when he was governor of Arkansas, he had some of his underlings bring to his hotel room a woman who had caught his eye. That woman was Arkansas state employee Paula Jones. I tell the students that Clinton exposed himself to her, but I don't have the stones to add that he told her to "kiss it."

I then tell my students that because of this incident, Paula Jones sued Bill Clinton for sexual harrassment, and the suit was still going forward when he became president. Then I go into the perjury charges where he lied under oath in an effort to conceal his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and how his lies led to the case being dismissed.

Then things get really fun when I tell my students how the case was reinstated when evidence was introduced that proved there really was a relationship between Clinton and Lewinsky, thus proving that Clinton was committing perjury.

"What was the evidence, Mr. Chanman? What was the evidence?" Well kids, there was this blue dress...."

Damn you, Bill Clinton.

Good Day to You, Sir

Ladies and Gentlemen, your Attorney General:

2009-11-19T15:24:00.001-08:00

I would venture to say that either AG Eric Holder is a moron, or he is a leftist scumbag. Either one doesn't bode well for the well being of our country. I have to say, I don't think much of that Republican squish, Lindsey Graham, either, but the ambiguous non-answers that he extracts from Eric Holder is a rather brilliant maneuver, especially since the million-dollar question is such a simple one: If you captured Osama bin Laden tomorrow, would you have him informed of his Miranda rights and try him in federal court like you are doing with Khalid Sheik Muhammad (who was not Mirandized by the way)?

As a commenter so succinctly (and profanely) points out on HotAir.com (see blogroll):

This could be one of the shortest trials in history.

Defense attorney: “Mr Khalid Shitbag Mohammed- were you read your Miranda rights upon your arrest?”

Khalid Shitbag Mohammed: “No.” “Death to America.”

Defense attorney: “Mr. WhoeverthefuckarrestedKSM- did you read Mr. Khalid Shitbag Mohammed his Miranda rights upon his arrest?”

Mr. WhoeverthefuckarrestedKSM: “No sir, I did not”.

Defense attorney: “Your Honor, I move that the case against Khalid Shitbag Mohammed be dismissed.”

Judge: “Case dismissed.”

Good Day to You, Sir