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Posted on 05.12.13 by Danny Glover @ 12:22 am
We don’t want our children educated in an environment where a teacher lets an unruly student bully her (and other students film the episode), where the disruptive student wins praise for ranting at the teacher, and where neither the mother (a teacher herself) nor school administrators punish the student for being inexcusably disrespectful. There are no winners in this episode at Duncanville High School in Texas, which sadly earned 18-year-old sophomore Jeff Bliss 86 seconds of YouTube fame: The message to teachers is that students can shout you down without consequence, and the message to students is that they are in control of the classroom. That’s an unhealthy atmosphere for teaching children who actually want to learn — even if, as Dallas Morning News columnist Tod Robberson argues, Bliss had a valid point about his teacher’s instructional methods. “Teaching by ‘packet’ is no way to get through to young minds,” Robberson wrote in a column decrying Bliss’ behavior and the reaction to it. “… But his choice of protest venues and methods is one I will never celebrate. He owes everyone involved an apology.” (Read previous “Why We Home-School” lessons.) Filed under: 1980s and Business and Culture and Education and Government and Human Interest and Media and News & Politics and Parenting and People and Rednecks and Video and Why We Home-School Comments: None |
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Posted on 04.21.13 by Danny Glover @ 11:26 pm
This is how you make a masterpiece, redneck style: My wife watched the video with me and wants to buy me one of the paintings, especially once she realized the artist, Heather LaCroix, is from Louisiana. Filed under: An Enlightened Redneck ... and Culture and Family and Features and Human Interest and Media and Parenting and People and Rednecks and Video Comments: None |
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Posted on 04.20.13 by Danny Glover @ 12:28 am
We don’t want our children subjected to the disciplinary whims of school officials who lack common sense and ignore their own policies about what qualifies as acceptable behavior, speech or dress. The latest case of bureaucratic overreach occurred at Logan Middle School in my home state of West Virginia, where an anti-gun zealot who also happens to be a teacher picked a fight with a student over his pro-Second Amendment t-shirt. This particular student, eighth-grader Jared Marcum, was old enough to protest — and did. Marcum should have respected authority enough to change shirts and let his father argue the point, but he’s just a kid. When that didn’t happen, the adults in the room should have acted like it. Instead, the school not only suspended Marcum but also had him arrested, a decision that forced Marcum’s father to leave work and just inflamed the situation further. Unfortunately, Marcum’s case is not unique, and the other students punished by public schools for simulating guns or carrying toy guns have been far younger. Here’s a list of the incidents, which likely will continue to grow as the hysteria over guns does:
These anti-gun witch hunts of children (and their parents) have become so ridiculous since the Newtown, Conn., school shooting last December that one Maryland lawmaker has proposed legislation to crack down on the schools, not the students. By teaching our children at home, we don’t subject them or ourselves to such nonsense. (Read previous “Why We Home-School” lessons.) Filed under: Business and Education and Government and Human Interest and Hunting & Guns and People and Rednecks and West Virginia and Why We Home-School Comments: None |
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Posted on 11.12.12 by Danny Glover @ 9:59 pm
Marcé briefly believed his small business was doomed in the summer when the Spanish government hiked taxes on tickets to plays by 21 percent. But then he had a carrot-inspired epiphany: Sell produce in exchange for free movie tickets. “We sell one carrot, which costs 13 euros [$16] -– very expensive for a carrot, But then we give away admission to our shows for free,” Marcé told NPR. “So we end up paying 4 percent tax on the carrot, rather than 21 percent, which is the government’s new tax rate for theater tickets.” It’s a clever way to stick it to Tío Sam and to generate publicity for the theater. But tax hikers undoubtedly won’t let it stand. One Spanish economist quoted in the NPR story called it “tax evasion.” “This means that people who do pay taxes have to pay a larger tax,” Fernando Fernandez said. “And this makes it more difficult to get the fiscal target. So we have to denounce this just as much as we denounce the filthy rich who don’t want to pay taxes. We should do the same.” Filed under: Business and Entertainment and Food and Government and Human Interest and News & Politics Comments: None |
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Posted on 09.11.12 by Danny Glover @ 12:47 pm
For the record, Vice President Joe Biden did not invite a biker lady to sit on his lap. He did the gentlemanly thing and pulled up a chair so she could get her picture taken with him. A smart photographer captured the candid moments after the posed picture, and people on Twitter started a rumor about something that didn’t happen the way they saw it. Sadly, I fell for the Twitter hype about the photo. I’m glad to have heard the rest of the story. Also for the record, pizza entrepreneur Scott Van Duzer did hug President Obama during a campaign trip to Van Duzer’s Florida restaurant — and people are protesting the pizza shop over the hug. Obama haters flocked to the website Yelp to give Big Apple Pizza negative reviews for political rather than culinary reasons. As an American, I support people’s right to register any political protest they desire, but I also reserve my right to expose some such antics for what they are — petty politics. Van Duzer, a Republican who voted for Obama in 2008 and plans to do so again, is right: “There’s no middle line anymore, and that’s exactly what’s wrong with our country right now.” Scott Van Duzer appears to be a good man, and he is doing good work through his own foundation. He shouldn’t be catching business grief for hugging, or even voting for, President Obama. Disagree with his political views if you want — I do — but leave his business out of it. If I lived in Fort Pierce, Fla., I would be heading to Big Apple Pizza to buy a pie and show my support for the right of small businessmen to freedom of political speech and action. As a conservative, I cannot expect the same — remember the Chick-fil-A uproar — but this is a clear opportunity to “treat others the same way you want them to treat you” (Luke 6:31). Filed under: Business and Food and Human Interest and News & Politics and People and Photography and Religion Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 09.07.12 by Danny Glover @ 4:22 pm
Unfortunately, Candy Corn Oreos are not an imaginary nightmare on Main Street. They are about to become a reality at Target stores thanks to some evil marketing genius with a sick sense of humor. The news is all over the Internet today, and I knew before I read it that someone covering the story was sure to use the phrase “outside the box,” which too often is synonymous with bad ideas. I’ve explained my animosity toward that phrase before. Now, with the introduction of Candy Corn Oreos, I’ve decided to revive my regular ridicule of the concept with a new feature on this blog. Consider this the first official installment of “Outside The Box.” While we’re talking about nasty attempts at sweet treats, enjoy comedian Tim Hawkins’ take on the subject to start your weekend: Filed under: Advertising and Business and Food and Holidays and Human Interest and Just For Laughs and Outside The Box and People and Video Comments: None |
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Posted on 06.12.12 by Danny Glover @ 11:20 am
It took a sincere English teacher to tell the seniors at his high school what no political or celebrity commencement speaker ever would: “You’re not special.” David McCullough Jr., whose only claim to fame before this month was being the son of renowned historian David McCullough Sr., delivered that message repeatedly and profoundly at Wellesley High School’s graduation ceremony June 1, and he is earning kudos for his honesty toward “pampered” students. Here are excerpts of McCullough’s speech:
Filed under: Culture and Government and History and Human Interest and News & Politics and Parenting and People and Video Comments: None |
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Posted on 05.29.12 by Danny Glover @ 8:23 pm
We have seen the value of homeschooling in the successes of parents and children from our own community, including 6-year-old Lori Anne Madison, who this week will become the youngest person ever to compete in the National Spelling Bee:
Lori Anne earned her spot in the national competition by winning the Prince William County, Va., spelling bee. Most of her rivals this week will be at least twice her age. Lori Anne’s educational success is not unusual in the homeschooling world. Her peer group regularly excels in competition. Here’s just a short list:
You can read plenty of other success stories at the website of the Home School Legal Defense Association, or just Google the phrase “homeschooler wins” and watch them fill your screen. Students who get their education at home are especially good at winning spelling bees. (Read previous “Why We Home-School” lessons.) Filed under: Grammar and Home Schooling and Human Interest and News & Politics and Sports and Technology and Why We Home-School Comments: None |
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Posted on 05.21.12 by Danny Glover @ 10:08 pm
Some days I’m more proud than others to be a West Virginia boy and a West Virginia University alum. Today, as mournful Mountaineers remember former WVU football coach Bill Stewart, is one of those days. Stewart died on a West Virginia golf course this afternoon while playing in a charity tournament with Ed Pastilong, the former WVU athletic director who took a chance and hired Stewart as head coach in 2008. At age 59, he was much too young. Mountaineers have spent the past several hours filling their corner of the Internet with tributes to Stewart. The most popular is Stewart’s “Leave No Doubt” speech, which inspired a Mountaineers team rocked by the cowardly betrayal of Rich (Gotta Get Richer) Rodriguez to an upset victory in the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: This photo also has been saturating my Facebook feed: But this clip really captures the blue-and-gold enthusiasm that all Mountaineers loved about Bill Stewart, even those fans who didn’t think he was a great coach: Two quotes from the Associated Press story linked above add context to that clip:
Everybody could see it, including non-West Virginian sports writers like ESPN’s Brian Bennett, who today explained why Stewart’s legacy at WVU is more than wins and losses:
As Bennett said at the end of his touching essay, “There was no head coach like Bill Stewart, and there weren’t many people quite like him, either.” Filed under: Adoption and Business and Culture and Human Interest and Media and News & Politics and People and Sports and Video and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 05.17.12 by Danny Glover @ 1:45 pm
All-you-can-eat specials have survived the test of culinary time because restaurants make a profit from them. But eventually some large redneck with a larger appetite is bound to make a diner pay for promising an endless supply of food for a set price. Enter Bill Wisth, the 6-foot-6, 350-pound fish fan that Chuck’s Place in Thiensville, Wis., wishes it hadn’t caught on all-you-can-eat night: Picking a fight with Wisth after he downed at least a dozen pieces of fish but wanted more probably wasn’t the best marketing tactic for Chuck’s Place. The family restaurant has had problems with Wisth before. This time, he decided to protest the restaurant’s decision to try to cap his food intake. Word spread far beyond tiny Thiensville, as the story has been told by The Christian Post, Christian Science Monitor, Eater, Gawker, The Huffington Post, International Business Times, NPR, New York Magazine, UPI and many more news outlets. “I can’t believe how slow a news day it is when they’re bringing camera crews out here,” Chuck’s Place owner Ted Hagen said. “… A radio station in Toronto said they’d give me $200 if I’d let him back in and they could film him eating the fish. I said, ‘I don’t think so.’” Filed under: Food and Human Interest and Media and News & Politics and People and Rednecks and Video Comments: None |
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Posted on 05.15.12 by Danny Glover @ 2:58 pm
Jake Stump of the WVU Alumni Magazine unearthed the details in what he called “hardnosed, investigative (ahem) journalism.” It all started in 1979 with the arrival of new football coach Don Nehlen to the campus. The old football uniform, helmet and logo, with “WVU” overlaying an outlined map of West Virginia, had no pizzazz, so Nehlen commissioned one to make a statement. The details of the logo’s past remain murky even after Stump’s research because Nehlen and the other people behind the vision and the design don’t remember events exactly the same. But the story is fascinating anyway (at least for Mountaineers fans like me). Here’s the heart of it:
Filed under: 1980s and Advertising and Business and Culture and Human Interest and People and Sports and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 05.14.12 by Danny Glover @ 3:29 pm
I started my journalism career as a copy clerk and obituary writer at The Tampa Tribune and periodically dream of starting a business built around story-length, multimedia obituaries, so I appreciated this obit about a woman who made a career out of writing story obits:
The kicker to the story: It was the last obit Gerry Hostetler ever wrote for the Charlotte Observer. She penned her own obit before her death from complications of a stroke. Filed under: Human Interest and Media and News & Politics and People Comments: None |
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Posted on 04.30.12 by Danny Glover @ 6:41 am
If you live in Tornado Alley, you may want to find a sturdy helmet. It could save your life like 8-year-old Noah Stewart’s baseball helmet appears to have saved him:
That anecdote from an NPR story about the potential for helmets to reduce tornado deaths fascinated me on many levels. As a parent, I pictured one of our children floating above us inside a tornado, and the thought of it horrified me. As a lilapsophobe in the making (fear of tornadoes and other severe weather), I imagined myself living through every aspect of the Stewarts’ ordeal and wanted to rush to the store to buy tornado helmets for our whole family. And as an entrepreneurial spirit, I started dreaming of a hot new market for tornado helmets. If I would buy them, how many other people would do the same? Wearing helmets couldn’t possibly prevent all tornado deaths, but it’s common sense that it would give some people a better chance of surviving flying debris. Filed under: Business and Family and Human Interest and News & Politics and People and Weather Comments: None |
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Posted on 04.27.12 by Danny Glover @ 2:02 pm
What better day of the week to post a wacky frog video than Friday. It’s Frog Friday! Filed under: Human Interest and Just For Laughs and Video and Wildlife Comments: None |
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Posted on 04.27.12 by Danny Glover @ 12:53 pm
That’s what one of my Facebook friends said yesterday when sharing this snapshot, captured by CU Independent photographer Andy Duann after a bear wandered onto Colorado University’s campus: Head to the CU Independent’s article for more photos of the bear incident. And while we’re getting cheap laughs at the expense of falling bears, watch this decade-old clip of a bear hitting a trampoline, which Shephard Smith plays regularly on his Fox News show: Filed under: Human Interest and Just For Laughs and Media and News & Politics and Photography and Video and Wildlife Comments: None |
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