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Good morning!
Today’s quote is from a song: “Strangers are exciting, their mystery never ends, but there’s nothing like seeing your history in the faces of your friends.”
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back to top63 Comments to “Whirled Views 5.14”
Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of Velcro. How did we miss celebrating that here?
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According to the TB program “Enterprise” the Vulcans invented Velcro.
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oops. TV not TB.
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Mumsee: I just read your post about what your daughter said about talking about God in school. I’m hoping you took this opportunity to sit with her and show her a copy of our constitution along with the part that enumerates the rights for free speech and religion. I know it is a big subject and has to be handled appropriately according to the age and understanding of your daughter.
I would hope before you homeschool that you will approach the teacher and kindly inform her that she is mistaken. Perhaps a pamphlet or letter from The Rutherford Institute would be helpful. Some teachers are just ignorant and need a little more information. Perhaps you already know if that is the case or not.
We do have to teach our children that there are restrictions on free speech and also that there is discretion to be used in sharing all kinds of stories with others. She and the teacher does have to know that speaking about God in school is not forbidden, however. Your biggest concern is your daughter, of course, and how you handle this will make a big difference. I’m praying for you for God’s wisdom for you.
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My husband’s briefcase was stolen and we didn’t even bother to call the police. It contained his laptop and almost a months worth of expensive drugs. We knew from past experience that they would just fill out a report, lecture us on crime prevention and forget about it.
Today I will try to get my son into a private kindergarten because the little boy down the street taught him something so bad an adult would have gone to jail for just talking about it. He told our son he picked it up a school, public school.
Both the local police and the school have recently called asking for donations.
What am I paying taxes?
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Kbells,
So sorry about the briefcase. I would be out of my mind if I lost a laptop.
OK, so don’t call the police about the briefcase, but definitely call them about the call asking for donations. At least in CA no police organizations do that; it’s probably a scam.
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Kbells, we have homeschooled our 7 and 5 year old daughters. I dread the day we might have to put them in gummint schools.
You have my admiration and prayers as you do what is best for your child.
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Kbells: I would contact the police anyway. Something may turn up and you can recover it. I would ignore their lecture and be very tempted to ask them to save it and lecture the thieves.
I’m so sorry for both you and your son. It is so sad that our children lose their innocence at so young an age. They often are more puzzled than anything. I pray for healing there.
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Today in History: May 14th, 1948 (60 yrs ago)
Israel becomes a nation once again, being recognized by the established nations of planet Earth!
And with such a significant milestone in Israel’s existance, you would think World on the Web had a thread on this or something……….
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Drudge is linking a poll in which 29% of Democrats want Hillary to run as an independent.
WooHoo!!! GO FOR IT, HILLARY!!!
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KI,
Thanks, I did print off an article from USA Today for them (did not want to be too threatening) and will discuss this with them (school folk) this morning. The kids and I talked about it last night, it would seem a bit odd for their brothers and uncles to be in the difficult places of the world trying to bring about the ability for voices to be heard while these kids in the safety of our nation get their voices shut down. Told them they could talk about such things but not the illegal things their brother enjoyed discussing at school and ought not to try to force people to believe or ridicule them for their beliefs.
As you know, we homeschooled the first batch and were pleased with the results. We have been optimistic with the school as it is so small and everybody knows everybody but these little things keep coming up, we will keep watching.
As far as adoption goes, the SW told us she was busy on a case with kids in the system for four years and had not yet begun our paperwork as of last Friday (contrary to other times when she said she was just started). The kids wanted to do something so each wrote to the governor explaining that they have been in state care over six years and feel they need to get this thing done. Hubby called a lawyer and she told him the state has been playing games, she will contact SW who needs to submit a paper to the lawyer who will then do some stuff and the SW will have thirty days to complete. Lawyer also said that legally this could have been done last November.
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Homeschooling–
Really not that bad … go ahead and homeschool your kids if you want(they won’t grow up socially challenged), and the benefits go far beyond freedom to talk about God. School time allows flex for learning opportunities outside books and some extracurricular activities (choir, sports, jobs, volunteer work) that might be harder in a public school. And you get to set your own curriculum (much of what the public schools teach is trash!)
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I wish we had a thread on the China earthquake ….
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Ki,
I also just printed off the Rutherford Institute info on free speech in public schools, thanks.
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KBells,
I agree with KI – let the police know about the theft. Not only will it make it easier for them to contact you if it does show up, but it helps them to know if there is a trend of thefts of a certain type in a certain area. In our town recently, they found that thieves were ignoring houses but targeting parked cars, mostly to steal laptops, so they put out the word to be especially careful to lock cars (which a lot of people don’t). Regarding the lecture – it could be along the lines of the advice I give people at work when they’ve submitted a request I have to reject. I don’t like rejecting requests, and I want to help people understand what they can do to get a request approved on the first try – for their sake, not to avoid trouble for me. If I’m tired, it may come off sounding like a lecture.
Regarding the calls for donations – I have been contacted for donations to local police in different places I have lived, and so far as I know they weren’t scams. They were not generally calls from the police themselves, however, but from a professional donation-requesting organization, that gets most of the money given for “administrative expenses.” Strictly speaking it’s not a scam if there is an agreement between them and the police department, and if the police get some donations they wouldn’t have received otherwise, then they are benefiting, even if the company making the calls benefits a lot more. Everyone’s budgets are getting slashed, including police, and this is probably a way of making up for lost funds. I don’t ever give money in response to telephone soliciting, however – if I want to donate I find a way to do it directly to the organization I want to help.
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KBells,
If you report the theft, it’s easier to notify pawn shops and whatnot in the hopes of retrieving the laptop. Pawn shops are usually pretty quick to comply with police reports–they don’t want to be stuck with stolen goods.
Mumsee,
I’m sorry this has continued to drag on for y’all.
Pauline,
I’m happy to give to first responders when I see them asking, in uniform, out in public. Then I know it’s not a scam, and I know that my money will go directly to them.
Everybody,
Saturday is Armed Forces Day. If you aren’t already in contact with someone serving, one option for the so inclined is to take treats over to your local recruiting station. They’ve seen so much grief, especially in places like Berkeley, that I wanted to let them know we appreciated them. If you’re not inclined, don’t derail the thread berating me for my choice.
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How in the world does one make italics or bold in the little “Join the Conversation” box at the bottom of the page? I’m getting sick of putting everything in caps lock and having my post references look like my own words, because they’re not in italics. I’ve tried Ctrl+I but it doesn’t work like it does in Word.
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Kimberly:
In the below, use in place of [ and ]
Italics:
[i]put italics here[/i]
Bold:
[b]put bold here[/b]
Both:
[i][b]bold and italics[/b][/i]
On different lines:
[i]Italics[/i] and [b]bold[/b]
[b]Don’t work if you put the end tag on a different line.[/b]
[i]So you have to have both starting and ending tags on lines that are separated by a space.[/i]
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That was use the less-than in place of [ and the greater-than in place of ]
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Mumsee, I am glad they had useful information for you. I once wrote to them about an incident at my children’s school and was surprised to receive a phone call from them. They asked me a few more questions and informed me of what the law said. The school was within their legal rights in that particular instance. I was impressed with their work and it was very helpful to me.
The system makes much more money by putting off the adoption. I hope the lawyer can get something going and get these children out of limbo. May God give you strength, wisdom and patience when you speak with them.
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Just back from the little chat with the superintendant. He was in complete agreement and, as I suspected, we are dealing with a teacher who clings so close to the law, things get torqued. He will talk with her and daughter is free to talk with her friends about their beliefs in school.
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I have thought about homeschooling. I think the kids get a better education. But I don’t think my son is a good candidate for it. He is a very outgoing, only child, who really needs the company of other children.
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The only way Hillary will run as an independent is if Wee Willy tells her to do it – so write Bill a Note. But I have one better.
Since McCain is seriously considering Joe Lieberman as his running mate and Joe is way left of Hillary, McCain should pick Hillary as his running mate and promise her that he will only be president for one term so she can take over in 4 years – or at least promise her to die in office
I am going to see Bill Clinton as the first male black First Lady with free reign over the Lincoln bedroom if it is the last thing I do.
But she won’t accept McCain’s offer unless bill tells her to. So, please help an old llama out and write Bill to tell him to let Hillary be McCain’s VP when he asks her – and he should ask her if he seriously considering Lieberman.
McCain is just Maverick Socialist enough to do it too. It would be an unbeatable ticket – even though they would both be called racists by Obama
This ticket is way more unbeatable than Obama / Hillary and Hillary has a much greater chance of actually becoming president one day – for sure her only objective in life besides divorcing Bill and marrying Janet Reno of course.
Thanking you in advance.
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KBells,
Socialization is the least reason to not homeschool. With the support groups as they are, between field trips and special classes and group outings and picnics and this that and the other, many are hardpressed to find time for academics. Hmm, sounds like certain public schools I could name.
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I wrote a book review on Dinesh D’Souza’s book, “What’s So Great About Christianity?”
If interested, link to it here:
http://www.campuscrosswalk.org/2008-spring-17.html
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[i]italics [/i]
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Okay, that didn’t work … I’m still confused on italics here.
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italics
sorry all … bear with me as I am still learning ….
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italics
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bold italics
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Okay, new question.
I seem to have figured out italics. Now, how do I STOP italics on a different line? So when I hit enter twice, why does it still give me italics?
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Oh! I can remember how as long as somebody has the instructions written on the thread. I have tried writing them down but I lose them. “They” used to have them permanently engraved on the site but then the change happened and all was lost…
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Kimberly,
You have to do the reverse to turn off the italics. When you finish what you want to say in italics, press the shift and comma key (which gives you less than), type a backslash (found under the ?), type the letter i, then press shift and the period key (to produce the greater than symbol). If we attempt to show you using the actual symbols, it assumes we’re stupid and either italicizes the words or disappears altogether.
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Mumsee,
Just use some on every post until it becomes second nature!
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italics
no italics
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Hey!! It works!!
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This is all much more complicated than it needs to be Cameron
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Important new book: “War and Decision” by Douglas Feith.
Feith was the Undersecretary for Policy in the Defense Department until 2005, and he became a visiting professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Georgetown announced in April that it will not renew Mr. Feith’s contract, despite the fact that the evaluations his students gave him were “nothing short of exemplary.” Many on the Georgetown faculty opposed Mr. Feith’s hiring because of his role in planning the Iraq war. How’s that for academic balance on parade… NOT?
Meanwhile, proud terrorist William Ayres is still a professor of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Feith reveals that the most comprehensive warning of the things that could go wrong in Iraq came not from the State Department or the CIA, but from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And it was the State Department, not DoD, which favored a U.S. occupation of Iraq rather than a quick transfer of power to Iraqis. The great failure was not the politicization of intelligence, but the absence of it.
The CIA failed by insisting that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. In an op-ed tday, Jack Kelly wrote about Feith’s book and he made the following points:
“The CIA also predicted there would be mass defections from the Iraqi army when the U.S. invaded (there weren’t); that the army would remain intact at war’s end (it didn’t), and that Iraqis would not accept political leadership from exiles (they did). The CIA also had no clue Saddam had laid plans for an insurgency.”
Kelly continued; “People who are interested in the facts about the march to war will give Mr. Feith’s book a careful read.”
__________________
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Mommy #1: Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of Velcro. How did we miss celebrating that here?
Because some of us did not know about it, or have memories that could use Velcro for things to stay put. BTW: I don’t think your idea for a thread would stick, as not many would latch on to it. But it probably would get a good story from Drill. Perhaps he can tell one here. (Please Drill?)
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Mumsee,
I completely agree. Many other discussion boards have bold, italic, underline, blockquote, strikethrough, link, etc. as buttons to click above the comment box. You highlight the text, and presto–text that appears as it should!
For those testing their skills: it will appear in the preview box correctly if nothing is amiss–no need to actually post unless you simply desire to show off your skills!
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Who is the author of the quote?
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Ani diFranco
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Buttons would be nice .
This takes a long time! .
Do you have to use both the sign for italics and the sign for no italics at the end of something or can you do it like this:
[sign for italics] ITALICS [sign for no italics]?
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Thanks Cameron and Mommy!
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kbells- Homeschooling advocates will also argue that a classroom of like-aged children is really not the ideal setting for healthy socialization. I have know many homeschooled kids who are comfortable with people of all ages, instead of being locked in to their particular age or grade.
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Mommy #1
I would like to know if this is the 50th anniversary of Velcro or of the actual product called Hook and Loop Fastener.
Advertising has convinced us to use their Brand Name for the product of a different name.
Other examples: Kool-aid–drink mix and Kleenex–tissues.
Any other examples of this advertising scheme?
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Travis: You are correct. Enjoy the virtual coffee of the day!
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Grandma #46: I don’t know if it’s an advertising scheme or if it just happened over time, but the oldest brand name of a product that became it’s common name that I can think of is Thermos. Others that come to mind are Xerox and Scotch tape. Google isn’t a physical thing, of course, but it is becoming used more and more to mean “look it up on the Internet.”
Oh, and I’ve heard lots of people refer to any soft drink as “coke.”
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Whether it is an scheme or not, the companies are happy with the results!
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We have got to get Rush Limbaugh to tell McCain to put Hillary on his ticket. It is a natural extension of Operation Chaos I would think. Who knows, I might still get to see videos of Wee Willy doing his thing as only he can in the Lincoln bedroom with any number of multicultural, trans gendered people and possibly animals. Not that I am dreaming, wishing or hoping this is in any way even near my future
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Okay, you pro homeschooling people have me thinking about it. Where do you get the material and where do find a support group?
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Actually, companies AREN’T happy when we refer to all soft drinks as Coke or whatever. Ads in writing magazines remind writers to use such terms correctly. Why? Because if enough people use the term wrong, the company can actually lose its trademark of the name! I can’t think of the list of words we now use as generic terms that started out as trademarks, but there are several. (Yo-yo is probably one, for example.) And Xerox doesn’t want to have to come up with a new brand name, so it can’t be happy when people talk about “xeroxing” something–expecially when they’re doing the copying on an HP copier!
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KBELLS: Most medium cities have a support group already set up; you might check around at some of the churches in town (since church-goers tend to be more likely to homeschool) or see if HSLDA can get you a reference.
Material you can get wherever you wish; there are usually helpful magazines and also homeschooling conferences. A Beka Books and BJU Press both offer excellent resources for homeschooling (some of which I used).
Probably the first best place to check would be the HSLDA website; I imagine they’d have some tips and ads on more good homeschooling resources.
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KBells,
Step out your front door and quietly whisper, “I am thinking of homeschooling” and they will come.
or mention it at church and somebody will know somebody and you will get connected in no time.
or call your local school or private school and ask, they will know.
The material is anything from a few trips to your library with a very organized mom to any of the many homeschool complete curriculi giving moment by moment directions on how to proceed for those less organized of us. We started with Calvert close to twenty years ago as they provided a complete deal with laid out lesson plans. We then went to Abeka just picking and choosing what we wanted though they have complete lesson plans as well. We did the complete course work with high school but did not see the need for the younger years.
Go to homeschool fairs and find out what is available. Talk to folks in your support groups. Find what works for you three. It is a tremendous experience and we felt well worth our while academically, socially, and family(ly). But it may not be for you, certainly worth checking into.
Home School Legal Defense was also a good resource or us.
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The first “hook and loop fastener” was actually used just outside the Garden of Eden. It was created by God as a way to help Adam and Eve hold on their animal skins. Today it is commonly known as “Burdock or “Cocklebur”. It is another sign that God’s punishment can still be a blessing.
It took intelligent man 6000 years to figure out a way to invent a controllable image of the original creation.
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MTCON,
Yes, and I see they are coming up nicely this year, prepared to waylay any and all unsuspecting passersby. Though, as I recall, burdock is edible…
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Mumsee,
Yes, the root of the first year burdock is edible, but I don’t know how it is prepared. When I was farming there was a group trying to encourage it as a high value alternative crop. It was my understanding at the time that it was exported to the Asian countries and they used it as an aphrodisiac. I’m not sure how well it works, but judging by the populations of those countries, it may have some merit. I just don’t know how to develop a credible analysis.
DW just did a search on it and it is used as a detoxifyer to help cleanse the body of harmful toxins, which in some ways goes along with the Asian use, I guess.
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The oldest example of a brand name becoming generic, AFAIK, is Aspirin.
“Aspirin” is the trade name for acetyl salicylic acid, first sold by Bayer. I heard there was some landmark court case in which Bayer sued another company for selling “Aspirin.” According to the story, Bayer lost because the brand name had become generic-ized.
That’s why Kleenex and Coke don’t want writers to use their brand names as if they were generic terms. If they’re used that way long enough, the company may lose control of the brand.
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Please note that “socialization” does not mean what some of you think it means. It’s not equivalent to socializing, as in “getting together with other people.”
Here’s a definition from Oregon State:
the process by which culture is learned; also called enculturation. During socialization individuals internalize a culture’s social controls, along with values and norms about right and wrong.
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth370/gloss.html#S
That’s exactly what I don’t want public schools doing to my children!
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Here’s another one – Vaseline.
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Other brand names gone generic: Tupperware®, Levis®, Keds® (at least where I grew up), Cheerios® (in our house, all ring shaped oat cereals get that name). I cannot think of any more off-hand.
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Karen and Peter, those are all still brand names. We may sometimes use them generically, but “aspirin” (Stubob’s example) now is what the medication is called, no matter what company manufactures it. That’s the kind of “going generic” that companies don’t want. (Kleenex wants the Puffs box to say “Puffs facial tissues” not “Puffs kleenex.” Just as I’m sure Bayer wanted the other company to say “pain reliever” or “headache pills” or something else rather than “aspirin.”)
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Cheryl – Yeah, I know. That’s part of the point, I think.
Grandma had said, “Advertising has convinced us to use their Brand Name for the product of a different name.”
So that’s what I had in mind.
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