And apparently he talked about it at work, because the next thing that happened was:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Gaywatch - Virginia Edition | ||||
| ||||
Did I mention that my friend is a writer for The Daily Show?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Friends in High Places
So, I was chatting with my friend from high school, Daniel Radosh, on Facebook and I mentioned our own Man in the Orange Hat in the context of Cooch's bigotry.
And apparently he talked about it at work, because the next thing that happened was:
Did I mention that my friend is a writer for The Daily Show?
And apparently he talked about it at work, because the next thing that happened was:
Did I mention that my friend is a writer for The Daily Show?
Monday, March 8, 2010
I was going to write a post about Cuccinelli, but then a friend sent me this:
From her email:
"First of all, it is absolutely appalling that the attorney general of the state -- the top legal officer of the state -- is openly advocating discrimination. This isn't a random nutjob just spouting off, as so many do. He holds a position of considerable legal authority, and is using that position to promote hatred.
Furthermore, he is the lawyer for state entities, and is advising them to take legal steps to strip legal protections from a group of people who have suffered grievously from discrimination, hatred, and abuse -- not just over time, but gay-bashing is sadly and shockingly still an everyday concern for many.
The news story has it wrong. this is not an "increasing split" on issues regarding gender orientation -- it is pure and simple an effort by someone in power, seeking more power, to advance the despicable and uninformed prejudices of the past for his own political gain. This is shameful beyond description.
Universities and other learning institutions have a strong interest in making all their students, teachers, and employees safe. Bans on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation are one way that intent to provide a safe place is expressed.
I swear to god, Dick Cheney is more enlightened than this man, on this issue. That's not a compliment."
Thank you for writing this, my dear friend. I couldn't have said it better, or with more passion.
"First of all, it is absolutely appalling that the attorney general of the state -- the top legal officer of the state -- is openly advocating discrimination. This isn't a random nutjob just spouting off, as so many do. He holds a position of considerable legal authority, and is using that position to promote hatred.
Furthermore, he is the lawyer for state entities, and is advising them to take legal steps to strip legal protections from a group of people who have suffered grievously from discrimination, hatred, and abuse -- not just over time, but gay-bashing is sadly and shockingly still an everyday concern for many.
The news story has it wrong. this is not an "increasing split" on issues regarding gender orientation -- it is pure and simple an effort by someone in power, seeking more power, to advance the despicable and uninformed prejudices of the past for his own political gain. This is shameful beyond description.
Universities and other learning institutions have a strong interest in making all their students, teachers, and employees safe. Bans on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation are one way that intent to provide a safe place is expressed.
I swear to god, Dick Cheney is more enlightened than this man, on this issue. That's not a compliment."
Thank you for writing this, my dear friend. I couldn't have said it better, or with more passion.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
SQUEE!!
Doing a very happy dance.
Happy! Happy! Happy!
Lalalalalala.
Update on this ecstatic interlude when the person for whom I'm happy clears me to release the news.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled ranting.
Happy! Happy! Happy!
Lalalalalala.
Update on this ecstatic interlude when the person for whom I'm happy clears me to release the news.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled ranting.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
So, if a beautiful campus and a football stadium isn't necessary for a good school, what is?
Teachers.
Good teachers.
A focus on academics.
A belief in the value of learning.
Parental involvement.
Good principals.
Good principles.
Lastly, pointing out the connection between things kids enjoy and the things they are learning, which leads to joy in learning. For example: the most recent OK Go! video is "...a celebration of actual root-level physics." And is there anything more fun than this video?
My son, who attends a Loudoun County Public School, is getting exactly this joy in learning from his teacher (he's in 2nd grade). He also got it from his 1st grade teacher. The teachers and principals in Loudoun County are, bar none, TERRIFIC.* The second grade curriculum is strong and has room for children with differing levels of skills to succeed.
This would be the case even if they didn't have a baseball field outside. For instance, the most desirable public school in my home town neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn, is PS 321.
View Larger Map
View Larger Map
See? No baseball field. Three story building. The fifth grade is in that "temporary" building in the backyard (second street view). That temporary building is older than I am. Yet they win awards.
To sum up: Good teachers, good principals, and a focus on academics. Are you telling me we can't get that done on less than 70 acres for a high school?
*Full disclosure: my son does not attend his zoned school. The after-school facility where he's been since age 3 doesn't pick up from there, so he has received permission to attend a school his after-school facility does pick up from. I would be proud for him to attend ANY school in the LCPS system.
Good teachers.
A focus on academics.
A belief in the value of learning.
Parental involvement.
Good principals.
Good principles.
Lastly, pointing out the connection between things kids enjoy and the things they are learning, which leads to joy in learning. For example: the most recent OK Go! video is "...a celebration of actual root-level physics." And is there anything more fun than this video?
My son, who attends a Loudoun County Public School, is getting exactly this joy in learning from his teacher (he's in 2nd grade). He also got it from his 1st grade teacher. The teachers and principals in Loudoun County are, bar none, TERRIFIC.* The second grade curriculum is strong and has room for children with differing levels of skills to succeed.
This would be the case even if they didn't have a baseball field outside. For instance, the most desirable public school in my home town neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn, is PS 321.
View Larger Map
View Larger Map
See? No baseball field. Three story building. The fifth grade is in that "temporary" building in the backyard (second street view). That temporary building is older than I am. Yet they win awards.
To sum up: Good teachers, good principals, and a focus on academics. Are you telling me we can't get that done on less than 70 acres for a high school?
*Full disclosure: my son does not attend his zoned school. The after-school facility where he's been since age 3 doesn't pick up from there, so he has received permission to attend a school his after-school facility does pick up from. I would be proud for him to attend ANY school in the LCPS system.
Watch the BOS finance committee!
http://loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=1698
Impressions so far:
Is Lori Waters serious? SELL land in this market? Still focusing on building stadia for schools while we're having difficulty providing basic services? GET REAL. Where are her priorities?
YES, kids need places to play, but (at the risk of sounding very "get off my lawn-ish") my high school football team had to travel to the BRONX to play, and they were still division champs. They had to sell candy and get sponsorships to buy uniforms and pay for the bus to get them to the field and THEY WERE STILL DIVISION CHAMPS.
When I went there, our "ball fields" were Stuyvesant Park, a two-block-square city park down the street from us, that we shared with the Society of Friends School across the way.
And yet, we consistently ranked (and still do) among the top schools in the country.
And now they're housed in the bottom portion of a skyscraper, with an apartment building above them. Which is how they paid to get a state-of-the-art gymnasium with pool (at the old building where I went, no pool). The residents of the apartment building get to use the gymnasium facilities in the evenings and on the weekends - which pays for upkeep on those facilities.
Granted, Stuyvesant is a competitive admissions High School. Also granted, I got in by the skin of my teeth. HOWEVER, the point I'm trying to make is that you do not need a fireplacing FOOTBALL STADIUM to get a good education. You don't even need one to have a good football team.
You will NEVER EVER get me to agree that buying 70 acres to build a high school is reasonable. Not in this or any other economy.
Loudoun county has plenty of completely empty office buildings. Why can't we use one of them for a high school?
Impressions so far:
Is Lori Waters serious? SELL land in this market? Still focusing on building stadia for schools while we're having difficulty providing basic services? GET REAL. Where are her priorities?
YES, kids need places to play, but (at the risk of sounding very "get off my lawn-ish") my high school football team had to travel to the BRONX to play, and they were still division champs. They had to sell candy and get sponsorships to buy uniforms and pay for the bus to get them to the field and THEY WERE STILL DIVISION CHAMPS.
When I went there, our "ball fields" were Stuyvesant Park, a two-block-square city park down the street from us, that we shared with the Society of Friends School across the way.
And yet, we consistently ranked (and still do) among the top schools in the country.
And now they're housed in the bottom portion of a skyscraper, with an apartment building above them. Which is how they paid to get a state-of-the-art gymnasium with pool (at the old building where I went, no pool). The residents of the apartment building get to use the gymnasium facilities in the evenings and on the weekends - which pays for upkeep on those facilities.
Granted, Stuyvesant is a competitive admissions High School. Also granted, I got in by the skin of my teeth. HOWEVER, the point I'm trying to make is that you do not need a fireplacing FOOTBALL STADIUM to get a good education. You don't even need one to have a good football team.
You will NEVER EVER get me to agree that buying 70 acres to build a high school is reasonable. Not in this or any other economy.
Loudoun county has plenty of completely empty office buildings. Why can't we use one of them for a high school?
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