Teacher Suspended For Showing Jon Stewart Clips

Here's what happened:

A high school government and law teacher in Eureka, Illinois, is coming under fire for showing his students three segments of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." Rhett Felix, a first-year teacher at Eureka High School, reportedly showed segments that made fun of Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain and allegations of his sexual harassment. The segments, from the October 31 and November 2 episodes, feature Stewart making multiple sexual euphemisms about Cain's pizza chain. Cain served as the chairman and CEO of Godfather Pizza from 1986 to 1996. When parents were made aware of what their kids had seen in the classroom, they started complaining about bleeped obscenities and sexual content being shown in the classroom as well as the teacher's perceived liberal bias. Monday night, the Eureka-based District 140 school board held a two-hour executive session to discuss the complaints against Felix. Even Eureka Mayor Scott Punke criticized how the situation was handled, advocating for Felix to be suspended pending an investigation. One of the parents, Thomas Enterline, called the content of the videos "deplorable" and said he "didn't find any humor in what he saw." School Superintendent Randy Crump suspended Felix on Tuesday and announced that he would be given a new teaching assignment upon his return to the classroom. Felix, who is on paid leave, is expected to return to the classroom November 28.

I think the penalty is a bit harsh, especially for a rookie teacher. The appropriate penalty is a stern talking to, at least the first time.

I'm Ticked. This Is *Not* Cool.

My Kindle Fire shipped two days ago and was supposed to arrive today. You can probably see where this post is heading.

Had it been shipped via UPS, I could have tracked that package every step along the way--out of this facility, into this facility, and I'd even know if they'd attempted delivery yet. Sadly, though, it was shipped via USPS, the post office, and as of last night, a day and a half after shipping, this is all the tracking page said:

November 15, 2011 06:50:31 AM CA Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit

Loads of information there, no?

We had a staff meeting at work today, and I left at about the time my mailman usually arrives at my house. As I pulled up to my house, though, I saw the mail truck parked a few houses beyond mine. I drove up and talked to him because I didn't want him to drive away without delivery. What did he have for me? Nothing. No Kindle, no yellow slip, no nothing. Uh, what does "2 day shipment" mean if it doesn't arrive in 2 days?

Here's what the package tracking information currently says:

November 17, 2011 01:30:24 AM Hayward CA Departure Scan
November 16, 2011 11:43:16 PM Hayward CA Arrival Scan
November 15, 2011 06:50:31 AM CA Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit

What has it been doing the last 15 hours? Why has it not been delivered?

How incompetent is the postal service?

Update, 11/18/11: According to the tracking information, it reached my city post office last night at quarter to 7. Good job, screw-ups.

Will This Affect The Teachers At All?

From last winter's Madison, Wisconsin brouhaha:

Seven doctors received a reprimand from a state board Wednesday for how they kept medical records after issuing controversial sick notes to demonstrators during the protests against Gov. Scott Walker's union bargaining law.

"The board action today holds these physicians accountable for their very public actions," said a statement from Sujatha Kailas, a physician and chairman of the Medical Examining Board.

Another two doctors received administrative warnings, a lesser form of discipline, according to the board.

In February, teachers from several districts called in sick so they could descend on the Capitol during work days to protest Walker's bill to curtail collective bargaining for most public employees. At the protests, some teachers secured doctors' notes to excuse them from work.

Do the school districts now have to honor these notes?

Saving Energy

For reasons I'll keep entirely to myself, I volunteered to attend a meeting of district Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 teachers today. One of our excellent retired teachers covered my classes today so I didn't feel too bad about going.

The meeting was held at a former elementary school abutting the district office "campus". The site is now a central enrollment facility, which to my way of thinking makes it a "district" site, with all the perks that connotes.

Wrong.

Our meeting was held in what had been the multi-purpose room. It was cold there. I don't mean slightly chilly, I mean I was actually shivering at times. I expected it to be temperate there--district people get to work in comfort!--but no, it was 63 degrees in that room. And it took quite some time before we were able to get even the slightest amount of heat in there.

The cold, of course, explains why I had to have an extra bagel, as a guy needs to stay warm somehow.

Libs, Show Me How To Close The Racial Achievement Gap

It's often hinted, sometimes not so subtly, that the racial achievement gap persists because of those of us on the Right.

Well, Chicago isn't known as a Republican stronghold. Surely they have fixed the problem, no? No. And don't call me Shirley:

After 16 years of school reform, Chicago’s “racial gaps in achievement have steadily increased,” according to a study by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. White and Asian students are making more progress than Latinos; blacks are “falling behind all other groups.”

Some initiatives, such as closing underperforming schools, may have hurt students, Jean-Claude Brizard, the new superintendent, told the Chicago Tribune.

Occupy (Insert City Here) and Press Coverage

Who are the extremists, the Tea Party or the Occupy crowd? To listen to the news you'd think it was the Tea Party--after all, someone showed up to a Tea Party rally with a firearm! But how much violence occurred at Tea Party rallies? How much tuberculosis? How many Tea Party rallies were conducted outside the law--no permits, staying in parks after closing time, etc?

The Occupy crowd is violent. People were never raped at Tea Party rallies, cops never fired into Tea Party rallies, tear gas never had to be deployed at Tea Party rallies, and Tea Partiers were never arrested with hand grenades. As Instapundit said, "All the media myths about the Tea Party seem to have come true with regard to the Occupy movement, but the press doesn’t seem to care all that much."

Let's talk more about violence at these idiots and their press enablers:

JAMES TARANTO ON MEDIA INCITEMENT AND OBAMAVILLE VIOLENCE:

In covering the Tea Party, of course, the Times emphasized its supposed extremism and violence. Brisbane doesn’t even mention these themes his column on Obamaville, even though there has been a good bit of violence there, whereas Tea Party violence was a figment of left-wing imaginations. That tells you something about the agenda of the Times and other like-minded news outlets.

The media helped create and now helps sustain the Obamaville monster, but that doesn’t mean they can control it. In recent days videos have surfaced from Oakland, Calif., and Portland, Ore., showing Obamavillians attacking local news crews attempting to report on the going-on.

The Portland video is especially creepy. It shows an angry white man–his face obscured part of the time by a pink scarf–shouting obscenities at a newsman, and declaring: “We are the 99%, you’re the 1%. . . . We don’t want you in our society.” The distinction between demonization and dehumanization is a very fine one, and media figures who have encouraged this foul and dangerous movement will have a lot to answer for if it continues to escalate.

But they’ll probably just blame the Tea Party or something.

Want to see the clear folly of their ideals? Bounce this idea off of them:

How would they view Occupy Planned Parenthood?

We've tolerated these adolescents for too long now. It's high time the police cleared them out, whenever and wherever they're breaking the law.

It would be wonderful if the press would quit covering for them, but then again, a pet unicorn would be wonderful, too.

Another Football Coach In The News

The news out of Happy Valley has been pretty grim the last week or two, so let's see what we can find out in, oh, say, Wyoming:

A high school football coach in Wyoming has resigned after orchestrating what may be the single-least appropriate motivational tactic in recent years, handing his players a "Hurt Feelings Report" in which students were asked to select from various offensive options to describe why they were upset.

As first reported by the Buffalo Bulletin, Casper Star-Tribune and The Advocate before being circulated throughout the Internet, Buffalo (Wyo.) High football coach Pat Lynch offered up a questionnaire to his players that offered the following possible reasons for their disappointment, as reported by The Advocate (Warning: Some of the choices are pretty abhorrent):

The survey, under a list of reasons for hurt feelings, includes such choices as "I am a queer," "I am a little bitch," and "I have woman like hormones." It asks for the name of the "little sissy filing report" and his "girly-man signature," plus the "real-man signature" of the person accused of causing hurt feelings.

You can see a full copy of the survey here.

After an investigation into the survey, Lynch tendered his resignation on Wednesday, with the Buffalo school board accepting it days later.

OK, definitely inappropriate even if it is a little bit funny--and let's be honest, it is a bit funny. But you want to know what the funniest part of the whole story is?

Still, the now-former coach will be allowed to continue as a guidance counselor at the school.

You can't make this stuff up!

P.S. His "report" is a little reminiscent of things my first battery commander used to say, but as soldiers, we were grown men.

The Lesson Learned Is Clear

When you excuse and accommodate bad behavior, you get more of it:

A California school principal did not violate the freedom of speech of a group of students who wore American flags on their shirts on Cinco de Mayo when he told them to turn the shirts inside out or go home, a federal judge has ruled.

Citing past clashes between Mexican American and Anglo students over their clothing on the Mexican holiday, Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware of San Francisco said school officials "reasonably forecast that (the shirts) could cause a substantial disruption" and were entitled to take steps to prevent it, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Hispanic students take offense at displays of American flags on "their day", and react negatively enough--cause enough of a problem--that the school bans not their behavior but American flag shirts.

It's easy to bash Christians--no one worries that Christians will cut their heads off. Try posting a cartoon of Muhammed, though. We're allowing the trouble-makers to dictate the rules. The lesson to be learned here is that if you want your way, all you have to do is cause trouble. This way there lie dragons, not a civic society.

Update, 11/15/11: A teacher at school today made an interesting point. Would the school ban gay pride t-shirts? After all, if you have a bunch of homophobes at the school, the pride t-shirts could set them off and you'd have carnage. Best to ban the gay pride t-shirts.

The court in effect sanctioned a heckler's veto. Bad call.

Wasn't This Decided in 1943?

I'm all about patriotism and saying the pledge of allegiance and standing/removing hats/shutting up during the national anthem, but requiring recitation of the pledge of allegiance was ruled unconstitutional during World War II (West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette):

A Nebraska state senator plans to introduce a bill that would require all kindergarten through high school students to be led in a group recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the Lincoln Journal Star reports...

The Nebraska bill would be modeled after a Massachusetts law that does not compel students to participate in the pledge. Michigan, one of the states that does not have a pledge law, has a bill before its senate that would mandate that every student recite the pledge, according to the paper.

I believe the pledge should be said in classrooms every day, but the Supremes were correct in ruling that students should be allowed to opt out. That some will argue with me on this, claiming that students shouldn't even have to hear the pledge, shows how far we've sunk in this country on issues of civic responsibility and pride; there was a time when having merely to be present when the pledge was said wasn't considered oppressive or a political act.

Awesome Way To Take Advantage Of A Down Economy

Not everyone suffers when housing prices sink:

While students at other colleges cram into shoebox-size dorm rooms, Ms. Alarab, a management major, and Ms. Foster, who is studying applied math, come home from midterms to chill out under the stars in a curvaceous swimming pool and an adjoining Jacuzzi behind the rapidly depreciating McMansion that they have rented for a song.

Here in Merced, a city in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley and one of the country’s hardest hit by home foreclosures, the downturn in the real estate market has presented an unusual housing opportunity for thousands of college students. Facing a shortage of dorm space, they are moving into hundreds of luxurious homes in overbuilt planned communities...

The finances of subdivision life are compelling: the university estimates yearly on-campus room and board at $13,720 a year, compared with roughly $7,000 off-campus. Sprawl rats sharing a McMansion — with each getting a bedroom and often a private bath — pay $200 to $350 a month each, depending on the amenities...

This city of 79,000 is ranked third nationally in metropolitan-area home foreclosures, behind Las Vegas and Vallejo, Calif., said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac, a company based in Irvine, Calif., that tracks housing sales.

You can't fault them for seeking out a bargain or for living the good life on that bargain. As long as they can afford it....

Just Watched Gran Torino For The First Time

Wow.

How Important Are Snackies?

Everyone I work with knows that I like snackies. A little treat here and there goes a long way towards maintaining concord in life. We bring food for staff meetings, and a group of us has "tea club" during our break on Wednesdays. But in all cases the food is brought voluntarily! Requiring students to bring food? I cannot be the only person who thinks this guy is a nutjob, can I?

Sacramento State professor George Parrott walked out of his Psychology 101 lab class Thursday morning because his students didn't bring any snacks.

Instead, he says, he went to breakfast with his teaching assistant.

The professor said students are told of the requirement to bring snacks on the first day of class. A handout from the teacher is clear – "Not having a snack = no Dr. Parrott or TAs. Now you are responsible for your own lab assignment."

He said the snack obligation is his way of encouraging students to work collectively. It connects students who might not otherwise interact on a commuter campus, said the professor...

Parrott said he doesn't feel bad about asking college students to bring food to class. The cost, he says, is offset by savings – about $200 – which students realize by not having to buy a textbook for the course.

Government Is At Least As Much Of The Problem As Wall Street

The solution to the "economic crisis" is not more government regulation. In fact, government bears the lion's share of the burden for said crisis:

Mozilo's almost 20-year-old quote is relevant again thanks to the uproar New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg caused last week when he criticized Occupy Wall Street's view of the financial crisis.

Bloomberg said, "it was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis. It was, plain and simple, Congress, who forced everybody to go and give mortgages to people who were on the cusp. ... They were the ones who pushed Fannie and Freddie to make a bunch of loans that were imprudent, if you will."

The usual suspects on the left went crazy. The New York Times Paul Krugman called Bloomberg an "ignoramous," citing liberal blogger Mike Konczal's Fannie defense:

"The first thing to point out is that the both the subprime mortgage boom and the subsequent crash are very much concentrated in the private market ... [Fannie and Freddie] were not behind them," Konczal said.

Is Konczal right? Are Fannie and Freddie innocent of causing the mortgage crisis?

This we do know: Thanks to the widespread belief that the federal government would bail them out, Fannie and Freddie were able to borrow money at below-market interest rates.

This gave them a significant competitive advantage over private-sector firms which, by 1992, the two government-backed corporate entities had turned into an almost 70 percent share in the mortgage securitization market...

From 1992 through the height of the housing bubble, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac used their monopoly position in the mortgage securitization industry to reward firms like Countrywide for making bad bets in the housing market. Countrywide's success was a signal to other market participants to lower their standards as well.

Wall Street banks are not blameless for the financial crisis. But they were only responding to the incentives set up by the federal government. Ignoring this history will help no one.

Government distorted the market, with predictable results. My solution to so many of these problems is not to create more regulation and give government more power to distort, but to lessen government power. The market will correct itself. Sometimes that correction isn't pleasant, but how pleasant is the current return to stagflation brought on by government failure?

You get more of what you subsidize. With TARP and auto bailouts we've subsidized failure, and we will certainly get more of it. We're 3-4 years into this now, almost 3 years under President Obama's "steady hand" at the leviathan of state. Has anything improved? Are certain companies still "too big to fail"? What has the taxpayer gotten for his "contributions" to these bailouts? How is the average citizen better off?

Government is much more of the problem than it is the solution. And when you have a president as steeped in socialist ideology as is our current president, you get predictable results both in the economy and in the electorate:

President Obama's ratings on the the most important issue for his re-election -- the economy -- have posted the weakest showing of his presidency, according to a poll released Friday by CBS News.

About 60 percent of voters said they disapprove of Mr. Obama's handling of the economy, the highest on record. Just 34 percent approve of the job he is doing on the matter.

Cruising Through School

Now this is one of the most fun stories I've read in quite awhile:

Don't be fooled by the twin beds and stacks of books on Darwin. Molly Malarkey's dorm isn't like others at St. Mary's College of Maryland. The lounge downstairs has chandeliers and panoramic views of the St. Mary's River. Someone comes by to change the sheets and collect laundry. And, in a wardrobe, there are the orange lifejackets.

For the rest of the semester, the 18-year-old Malarkey and 239 other students are living aboard the Sea Voyager, a cruise ship about the length of a football field now docked at the school's southern Maryland campus. Earlier this semester, after heavy rains exacerbated a mold problem in two dorms and made some students sick, the school moved students out and put them up in hotels...

The party won't last for long, however. The school plans to have the students' dorms renovated and mold free by the end of the semester.

Smart, or Not So Much?

Here's one of those "are you smarter than the average bear" quizzes. You have several seconds to answer each question, but I tried to answer them as fast as I could (because that makes it more fun!). I scored 26.

Happy Veterans Day

You don't have to go to work or school today? You're welcome :-)

1% vs the Teachers Unions

From EIA:

The union coalition spent $30 million – a third of it from NEA and its Ohio affiliate – or about $15 per “no” vote. Somehow the One Percent control all of the nation’s wealth, but never seem to be able to come close to outspending the teachers’ union. Maybe that’s how they stay so rich.

Big Brother

I like hearing a Supreme Court justice be so blunt:

A Supreme Court justice on Tuesday expressed major concerns that the government would engage in round-the-clock surveillance reminiscent of the totalitarian world of the George Orwell novel 1984 if the court ruled in the government's favor.

The court heard oral arguments in the Jones case, in which the outcome will determine whether warrantless GPS tracking by law enforcement is an invasion of Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

Justice Stephen Breyer questioned what a democratic society would look like if people believed the government was tracking them for days at a time.

Of course it's a 4th Amendment violation. However, after the Kelo decision, I don't have a lot of faith that the Court will make the correct decision.

Asking the Questions That Need To Be Asked

The Occupy (insert city here) crowd likes to whine about student loan debt. Deb Saunders asks the important questions:

I keep reading about young adults who owe, $60,000, $90,000, even $200,000 in student loans. How did you rack up that kind of debt? Where did you go to school and why that school? What was your major? How did you expect to pay your loans off? Details please.

Typical Lack of Leadership From Obama

Need another example? How about this one:

The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday it will explore a new route for a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline, delaying a final approval beyond the 2012 U.S. election, sources briefed on the matter said.

The decision would be a victory for environmentalists, many of whom oppose the pipeline, and a setback for TransCanada Corp, whose $7 billion Keystone XL project is seen as the most important North American oil pipeline plan for decades.

I guess as president you can vote "present" sometimes.