Things in the news

Tiger snake found in Tasmania with 'grotesque' spine diagnosed with rare disease - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The news article claims Rocky has got international attention, so I thought I'd post it here & help make the story true...

 

A woman I worked with had her son in a Zero Tolerance school district, and her boyfriend's son was in the same district. Some of the rules were totally ludicrous--no talking/complete silence in the hallways between classes for example--and led to many disciplinary actions. The biggest problem with the DAs was that the accumulation of "offenses" under ZT led to actions that should've applied only to serious offenders. Basically students who were being typical teenagers--PITAs, yes, but not juvenile criminals--wound up at the campus for problem students.

I sympathize with schools trying to boot students who cause serious problems, but Zero Tolerance isn't the answer.

 

Zero tolerance is lazy policy.

It makes the administrator's jobeasywhen it comes to discipline. No interpretation necessary. No context is valid.

If we had rules like this when I was I kid I would have been expelled quite a few times. Instead, I had a Vice Principal that would listen to me, look at my record and came to his own conclusions that maybe I was not a bad kid, just a kid dealing with a teacher having a bad day, or whatever.

 

Second Harper Lee novel to be published in Jue

"To Kill a Mockingbird" will certainly be a hard act to folllow.

 

I almost never buy new books, this will be one of the rare exceptions.

 

Agreed.

 

A new streaming service of old TV and movies launched today.

ShoutFactoryTV

 

Different political party... Same shit.

Tony Abbott: Defiant PM says he and Julie Bishop will 'stand together' to defeat leadership spill motion - Liberal Leadership turmoil - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

I wonder who will be the Australian Prime Minister this time next week...

 

I absolutely hate politics, quite simply because I think politicians make things a lot harder than they actually are. But when they can't even get the basics right, I get so pissed off I almost stop caring. And that's exactly what I think they're hoping for.

Johannesburg, one of Africa's economic powerhouses, can't keep the lights on or the water running or the buses in the streets.

The State of the Nation address is coming up...I can already see how these issues are going to get glossed over.

 

A dramatic turn of events for the snake "Rocky" I mentioned in post #461...


'Lumpy' snake Rocky stolen from reptile handler's home in Tasmania

'Lumpy' snake Rocky stolen from reptile handler's home in Tasmania - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

So the Oklahoma Legislature has voted to ban high school AP history classes because they don't teach 'American exceptionalism' and is part of an effort to 'distort and deliberately edit facts'.

Oklahoma Lawmakers Vote Overwhelmingly To Ban Advanced Placement U.S. History | ThinkProgress

I'm pretty sure the next step is to ban college.
After all that might make the kids think!
And maybe not vote the 'right' way.

 

Oklahoma is pretty much the heart of darkness these days.

 

I have a lot of family ties to Oklahoma, and it pains me to admit it, but there are a lot of ignorant people in OK who don't want any real history to be taught in school. I don't have a problem with people having a strong belief in God and the U.S.A., but let's keep God out of education and acknowlege that the US made & makes many mistakes.

The really sad news that kind of thinking isn't limited to OK. It's present in many states, including Texas.

I wonder what the history classes are like at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK.

 

Right, but Texas has some political diversity, a lot of opinions and perspectives. Texas has Austin and Houston and Dallas and El Paso and Galveston and Port Arthur and San Antonio, and all of those places are different.

By contrast, every part of Oklahoma always votes for extreme right-wing candidates. It's the ONLY state where Barack Obama has never won even a single county.

The Oklahoma legislature doesn't seem to have any dissenters to Jerry Falwell/Pat Robertson view of the world. It's a lot easier for Oklahoma legislators to vote for know-nothing proposals when there's literally nobody standing up for science and reason.

 

me too, hell my parents told me to get out and don't come home till supper time. society has changed so much, I kw in my heart I just don't fit in.
--- merged: Feb 18, 2015 at 8:51 PM ---

Street Pattern said: ↑

Oklahoma is pretty much the heart of darkness these days.​

You being a politician should know what the heart of darkness really fucking is. I am sure that you look Satan himself in the fucking mirror while doing your mornings constitutions. further more just like a fucking politician you swathed a wide berth there with your brush about all Oklahomans. you must've been drunk or high to make such a stupid statement.​

 

I didn't say anything about "all Oklahomans". I have friends there.

However, the majority of the voters in Oklahoma have certainly elected some very fervent individuals to responsible positions.

 

HAL wins: Computer program bests humans at "Space Invaders'

 

CookieCott 2015

Pro-life groups behind the boycott say Thin Mints help fund "sexual and reproductive health services."

I love my Thin Mints!

 

They go after the Girl Scouts every year.
If it isn't for this kind of BS it's for them being accepting of transgender and gay kids.
Screw them and the horses they rode in on.