Mar 252023
 

The story:

North Carolina English teacher resigns after ‘covering mouth of boy, 11, with heavy duty TAPE to stop him talking in class’

First up, the flaw in the headline: the tape isn’t “heavy duty.” It’s not Gorilla Tape… it’s blue painters tape. Which means it’s not especially sticky. It’s masking tape with less tack, really easy to pull off.

But as to the issue: taping a talkative kids mouth shut. On the one hand, kids are supposed to shut he hell up in class. Constantly yammering on is not only bad for class discipline, it damages the other kids in class by impairing their ability to concentrate on the lesson. On the other hand, boys this age are full of energy (or at least they should be). This is not a “problem,” this is not “wrong,” this is basic biology. So physical punishment for something as relatively inoffensive as talking – as opposed to throwing things, fighting, stealing, assaults, etc. – may seem excessive.

What say y’all?

I do know one thing: teacher was a moron. How do I know this? She was a foreigner, here on a visa. She lost her job *and* her visa over this. Whatever plans she may have had for the future have been shot to hell. And this was an unforced error on her part. You don’t go to another land and screw with their kids if you want a better life. Unless you go to Britain. They seem to be cool with foreigners screwing with their kids. But the US/ We still, in general, care for our offspring. For the most part.

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Meme unrelated. But I just wanted to share it.

 

 Posted by at 6:01 pm
Mar 252023
 

Well, here’s a sufficiency of stupid for the day:

 

I honestly can’t tell if the people referenced here are trolling – which is entirely possible – or if they’re really that fookin’ weird. I guess it comes down to this: do people *really* wash their chicken with dish soap and/or Clorox? It’s not something I’ve ever heard of. I would’ve assumed it to be a joke. But I just can’t tell anymore.

 

 Posted by at 5:02 am
Mar 242023
 

Season three of “Star Trek Picard” has been an astonishing breath of fresh “Star Trek.”  After four dismal years of “Discovery” insulting the fandom and crapping on the legacy, and two hideous seasons of “Picard” that took a steamer on the character of “Picard,” season three, under new management, has really turned things around. And the latest episode  goes so far as to wipe out the Discovery production design aesthetic.

There is a visit to the Star fleet Museum, showing a number of of ships on display. These include the Defiant from Deep Space Nine, Janeway’s Voyager, the NCC-1701-A Enterprise, the HMS Bounty whale hauler… and the USS New Jersey. This is a never before seen, probably never before mentioned ship. Which makes sense; doubtless Star Fleet has lots of ships worthy of keeping that never showed up in any prior episode or movie. But what makes the scene really special: all of these ships are, so far as I can tell, *exactly* what they should be in terms of design. The Bounty looks like a Klingon vessel from Star trek III and IV, not one of those gibberish ships from Discovery. The Enterprise, Voyager, Defiant are all quite correct. And the New Jersey? Take a look:

That’s a *proper* TOS-era Connie-class. Not like the sad spectacle of “Pikes” Enterprise from STD/SNW.

And there’s the fact that Worf looks like a Trek Klingon, not a nuTrek Klingork.

So, yeah. Picard ends with this season. But the powers that be will be *really* missing out if they don’t follow this up with a series that spins off of Picard Season Three… same production crew, same production aesthetic, same writers, same producers. They finally found people to work on Trek who actually *like* Trek.

 Posted by at 12:58 am
Mar 232023
 

Yes.

 

 

On the one hand, Macron is operating by decree, which should never be allowed. On the other hand, what he’s doing is actually necessary… he’s raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. And even 64 seems kinda ridiculously low. France, like everywhere else in the West, has a birth rate that is less than replacement (1.83, better than pretty much everywhere else in Europe); their population numbers seem to be buttressed  by importing Algerians, Moroccans and other North Africans. The result of that is relatively few young people for lots of old people, especially going forward. Keeping the retirement – and thus pension payout – age low is going to be economically infeasible. So the French people are rightly pissed at a tyrannical government… that’s using tyranny to do what needs to happen. So… France seems kinda screwed.

 

 

 

 

 Posted by at 11:56 pm
Mar 232023
 

It’s nice that Elisjsha Dicken is getting *some* recognition for his heroism, but it really does seem like it should go higher than just the local police chief giving him a hearty handshake and a printout. Not that the local PD was wrong to do so… but the fact that he’s not being touted on the national stage is something of a scandal.

Armed civilian who stopped Greenwood Mall shooter named Citizen of the Year

I guess President Biden is just too busy to bother with actual heroes…

Mindy Kaling Was Awarded A National Medal Of The Arts

Oh.

 Posted by at 12:59 pm
Mar 212023
 

OSU requires DEI statements from mechanical, aerospace engineer job applicants

Scholars seeking a job in Ohio State University’s College of Engineering must pledge their allegiance to diversity, equity and inclusion as part of the process.

University officials ask applicants to provide a statement that describes their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, along with “specific examples such as teaching and/or mentoring students from underrepresented backgrounds, outreach activities to underrepresented groups, or conducting research that address social inequities,” according to a copy of the application rubric recently tweeted by John Sailer with the National Association of Scholars.

One suggestion I have: use the current terminology against them. What, exactly, is an “underrepresented” group? That’s nicely vague. One could simply assume that it means “minority.” Okey doke. Well, what is one of the “progressives” most favoritist descriptions these days? “The Global Majority.

“Global majority” is a collective term for ethnic groups which constitute approximately 85 percent of the global population. It has been used as an alternative to terms which are seen as racialized like “ethnic minority” and “person of color” (POC), or more regional terms like “visible minority” in Canada and “Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic” (BAME) in the United Kingdom.

OK. Cool. Then that means “The Global Minority” is anyone not described by that 85%. You know… white people. So… say “why yes, I’m committed to mentoring minorities.” By doing so, and keeping it vague, it means you’re committed to mentoring EVERY TYPE OF HUMAN IMAGINABLE. Because by one definition or another, everyone is a minority.

Also:

High scores are given to candidates who have a “sophisticated understanding of differences stemming from ethnic, socioeconomic, racial, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and cultural backgrounds and the obstacles people from these backgrounds face in higher education.”

This can also go pretty much any way you want it to. “Yes, I fully understand the importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. (Because I understand how they cause a general reduction in competence and quality.) I understand how all these different factors can play into the difficulties people face. (Because I’ve seen how Asians and The Global Minority are shut out of educational opportunities due to quotas.)” And so on.

There is a way to game any system, no matter how devious and malicious. However, better still would be to toss out this nonsense. *Especially* in stem fields of education and endeavor, where competence and merit are the only metrics by which someone should advance. otherwise buildings burn, bridges collapse, planes crash and people die. But in the mean time, people have to decide to either stand up to the bullies and risk it all, or undermine the bastards.

 Posted by at 11:03 pm
Mar 212023
 

The one where a guy watches “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” for the first time and realizes its genius. He’s a hoot to watch along with.

FYI: First time I saw this was in a high school history class. I fell out of my chair – literally – laughing when the French flung the cow.

 Posted by at 1:29 am
Mar 202023
 

An emerging fungal threat spread at an alarming rate in US health care facilities, study says

Clinical cases of Candida auris, an emerging fungus considered an urgent threat, nearly doubled in 2021, according to new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. …  rising from 53 in 2016 to 330 in 2018 and then skyrocketing from 476 in 2019 to 1,471 in 2021.

It’s resistant to drugs and disinfectants; a lot of people can be carriers and not know it. It usually causes harm to people with compromised immune systems, is difficult to eradicate either in people or facilities once it sets up shop. It was first discovered in 2009 in Japan, being found for the first time in the US in 2013. Somewhere between 30% and 60% of the people who develop Candida auris bloodstream infections die, but they also had other conditions.

 Posted by at 11:37 pm