Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 6:09:06 AM

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lucius septimius 4/6/2020 6:09:58 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 1:

My kids are on "spring break" this week.  Which means I'll have a hard time getting anything done of my own work.

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 6:18:38 AM

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In #2 lucius septimius said: My kids are on "spring break" this week.  Which means I'll have a hard time getting anything done of my own work.

Little OR is with his mom this week, so I should hopefully be able to get ahead with work, and also have time to do things like clean guns. 

Meanwhile: BBC World Service seems rather gleeful at the possibility that Boris Johnson might be seriously ill.  (As opposed to the official story that he's in hospital because he hasn't been able to shake relatively mild symptoms for 11 days now.)

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 6:39:45 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 1:

People used to ask me, "What's it like, working from home?" 

My answer, "Well, it's a short commute, but you always end up taking work home with you."

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 6:40:57 AM

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In #3 Occasional Reader said: clean guns

Isn't that the race of warrior aliens in Star Trek?

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 7:03:12 AM

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Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 7:03:51 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 5:

Heh.

JCM 4/6/2020 7:20:41 AM

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Morning!

School district has online school finally up and running.

3 weeks.... they already had the systems in place. But many teachers never used it. They are supposed to but didn't.

I ask the principal once why don't teachers use it? Find out there was no way to enforce using the online system. No penalties, no reviews nothing.

So now it has taken then 3 weeks.

You don't think the the teachers already have all the material on a computer?

How freakin' hard is it to upload it? Takes 3 weeks?

I've decided after the last few years of dealing with the school that there isn't an administrator alive that would last half a day in a job in the real world.

lucius septimius 4/6/2020 7:40:55 AM

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Reply to JCM in 8:

Good grief.

My kids' school announced that they were going virtual on a Thursday.  The following Monday everything was up and running.  We had a brief hitch with youngest boy's account but that was resolved by lunchtime.  Yet another charter school success story.  

JCM 4/6/2020 7:44:37 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 9:

I had to explain to my wife the schools are about "process" not education. As long as the process is followed, the actual results are completely irrelevant.

Not results. The process is what employees them, they protect the process above all else.

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 8:06:53 AM

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SPRING BREAK!!!

Everybody gets to "social distance" at FOUR feet instead of six!!!

lucius septimius 4/6/2020 8:17:58 AM

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In #10 JCM said: The process is what employees them, they protect the process above all else.

Indeed.  There was a telling moment when I overheard one of the less impressive teachers on a Zoom class.  Youngest boy was pointing out that he didn't see why he needed to be on the chat for the full hour since he finished all of the work within 15 minutes.  She replied that "you spend 7 hours a day in school -- you should be doing that at home too."  But the fact is, when they're actually doing their work, they are done by lunchtime nearly every day. There isn't really enough school work to fill up a whole day.  But the entire system is built on butts in seats for 40 hours a week. 

As Philip Aries said years ago, modern schooling isn't about teaching them anything; it's about training them to sit in an office for an entire work week.  

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 8:25:56 AM

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In #12 lucius septimius said: As Philip Aries said years ago, modern schooling isn't about teaching them anything; it's about training them to sit in an office for an entire work week.  

I wish I could remember who it was who said, some decades ago, that "Sesame Street" doesn't teach kids to read---it teaches them to watch TV.

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 8:28:29 AM

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In #13 buzzsawmonkey said: "Sesame Street" doesn't teach kids to read---it teaches them to watch TV

I don't agree with that assessment, actually.

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 8:29:29 AM

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In #8 JCM said: 3 weeks.... they already had the systems in place. But many teachers never used it. They are supposed to but didn't.

I'd never used the "Blackboard" system that my school has set up for teaching; why should I?  I'm an ill-paid adjunct doing a fifteen-hour lecture class, one-hour sessions spread over 15 weeks, and the whole point of the class is the live interaction.  

This upheaval has had me trying to learn whatever I can to still get the concepts across to the kids---and some of them are now halfway across the world, since everyone was sent home.  So, yeah---it's taking me some time to get things up and running, and they don't pay me nearly enough for this learning curve, but one does what one can.

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 8:35:33 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 8:36:24 AM

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In #14 Occasional Reader said: I don't agree with that assessment, actually.

You've doubtless got more experience in this area than I; I'd be curious as to your reasons.

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 8:38:37 AM

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Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 8:53:36 AM

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In #17 buzzsawmonkey said: I'd be curious as to your reasons.

Well, in terms of Sesame Street from the old days, there's... me, for instance.  My parents have always given lots of credit to the show for my being an early reader.

More recently, while the show hasn't been a big viewing staple for my son, he does watch it from time to time, and from what I can see they do a pretty good job on teaching basic letter-recognition, reading, counting, and math.  

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 10:22:41 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 19:

Since "Sesame Street" came along waaaaaaaaay later than I would have watched it---I go back to the "Romper Room," "Miss Frances and the Ding-Dong School," "Kukla, Fran, and Ollie," and "Captain Kangaroo" era---I have to rely on written accounts, so it appears that I should perhaps adjust my opinions accordingly.

I can still remember the embarrassment of transposing "no" into "on" when struggling to read "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back," back when learning to read meant getting instructed by a parent or grandparent. 

lucius septimius 4/6/2020 10:43:46 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 20:

My older sister taught me to read, mainly because she was tired of having to read me the same dinosaur book every night when I went to bed.  I don't think my mom ever read me a book.  I know my dad never did -- that was big sister's job.

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 10:45:51 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 10:48:35 AM

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In #21 lucius septimius said: My older sister taught me to read, mainly because she was tired of having to read me the same dinosaur book every night when I went to bed.  I don't think my mom ever read me a book.  I know my dad never did -- that was big sister's job.

The Reading Mother

---Strickland Gillilan

I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,
“Blackbirds” stowed in the hold beneath

I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Celert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each mother of boys were such.

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be —
I had a Mother who read to me.

lucius septimius 4/6/2020 10:53:23 AM

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doppelganglander 4/6/2020 10:59:10 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 23:

That's a lovely poem. My mother insisted she read to me but I don't remember. She said I got impatient with being read to and took over for myself. I must have been 3 or 4.

Reading to my kids was one of my favorite things about parenthood. The last time I read to the two younger kids, it was the first 3 chapters of the final Harry Potter book, and they were 17 and 14.

JCM 4/6/2020 11:00:59 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 22:

Foster more panic. That's all I can think of.

The death rate in NYC because of the virus is only about 10% above the normal death rate.

The idea the city can't handle a surge of 10% is bogus on the face of it.

Even if the system could handle the surge burying in parks is still bullshit.

A dozen ways for handling temporary surge.

The frozen goods warehouses at the Port. Frozen goods trailers or containers.

Extra shifts at morturaries.

It reminds of budget time. Oh the budget is so dire we have to cut police and fire... but not a single other city department.

It's all for propaganda value to "prove" how bad things are, but a little reasoning proves other wise.

JCM 4/6/2020 11:09:28 AM

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I've gotten to the bottom of the coronavirus.

I expect to have an "accident" right after I post.

The US Military in collusion with the Chinese Army directed by Trump using the 5G Chemtrail network spread the virus targeting Trump's enemy city list.

Nice knowing you all! 

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 11:21:11 AM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 25:

It is a lovely poem---but since it mentions "blackbirds" (slaves) in the first stanza, it is probably off-limits today.  

BTW, some of Jack London's stories, like "The Heathen," have "blackbirding" as a plot element.  Despite slavery having been outlawed in the mid-19th century, London's stories, which are mostly set in the last decade of the 19th and first decade of the 20th centuries, talk about recruiting Melanesians from the South Seas as "indentured servants" to "come and labor on the Queensland plantations."

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 11:30:52 AM

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In #24 lucius septimius said: the greatest Bond girl of all.

Well, I'd argue that point, but may she rest in peace.  

I believe she was also one of the few Bond girls who was older at the time than the associated Bond actor.  (Monica Bellucci is the only other such example I can think of off the top of my head.) 

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 11:39:22 AM

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In #27 JCM said: The US Military in collusion with the Chinese Army directed by Trump using the 5G Chemtrail network spread the virus targeting Trump's enemy city list.

I see you let the Joos completely off the hook...

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 11:39:42 AM

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In #30 Occasional Reader said: I see you let the Joos completely off the hook...

HOW MUCH ARE THEY PAYING YOU?!!

/

lucius septimius 4/6/2020 11:49:34 AM

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In #29 Occasional Reader said: Well, I'd argue that point,

So who's at the top of your list (in my case it would be Daniella Bianchi).

JCM 4/6/2020 11:54:06 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 30:

Must be why my accident didn't happen!

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 12:10:28 PM

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In #32 lucius septimius said: So who's at the top of your list (in my case it would be Daniella Bianchi).

In terms of overall screen presence (that is, above and beyond mere "hotness"), I'd nominate Eva Green from Casino Royale (2006). 

lucius septimius 4/6/2020 12:22:16 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 34:

She was impressive, and the story was tragic.  What I love about Bianchi is how playful she is.  The scene in the train car where she's looking at herself in the mirror and makes a mustache with her hair is a hoot.  And at the end she saves Bond by shooting Col. Kleb.  

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 1:09:51 PM

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In #35 lucius septimius said: and makes a mustache with her hair

So xe was the first transgender Bond grrl... 

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 1:14:23 PM

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Oh, wow.

Boris Johnson moved to intensive care unit

JCM 4/6/2020 2:43:46 PM

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Shortages may lead to hospitals using points system to decide who lives and who dies

Yeah! It's called TRIAGE and it's been done as long as there as been medicine.

"WASHINGTON (SBG) - It’s a formula often reserved for wartime - deciding in a split second who lives and who dies."

What is the best allocation of resources at hand. It trained for any mass casualty incident, or when short of resources for the immediate need.

Like when you've got a crew of 3 and 5 critical patients and next unit is 8 minutes out.

Fookin' media makes out like it's something new!

buzzsawmonkey 4/6/2020 2:50:26 PM

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Reply to JCM in 38:

Don't you realize that this is rationed healthcare which is a direct result of our not having Medicare For All™?

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 3:18:33 PM

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And it was a great day in the financial markets, so there's that.

Let's hope the optimism is warranted. 

Occasional Reader 4/6/2020 3:19:58 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 39:

The health care ration has been increased from 30 grams, all the way up to 20 grams, Comrade. 

lucius septimius 4/6/2020 3:40:26 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 41:

Yet another glorious triumph of centralized planning!

lucius septimius 4/6/2020 3:58:57 PM

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Kosh's Shadow 4/6/2020 4:04:12 PM

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In #38 JCM said: Shortages may lead to hospitals using points system to decide who lives and who dies

When do the Dems start the ad campaign showing Trump throwing Granny out of her wheelchair?

JCM 4/6/2020 4:12:15 PM

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Crows making a huge racket in the backyard.

Check it out... a hawk has a pigeon in the backyard, disemblowing it.

lucius septimius 4/6/2020 4:30:08 PM

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Reply to JCM in 45:

When my oldest was little he and I were sitting at the dining room table.  My back was to the window.  He said "Dad ... what's that on the trellis?"  I said "plants."  He said, "No, look."  It was a red tailed hawk, sitting on the garden gate about 10 feet from us.  All of sudden he flew off and napped a humongous green snake out of the bushes and flew off.

Had we a cactus I would have said we were in Mexico City.