As previously stated, I'm a former teacher retired for medical purposes. What you can count on is that there are probably just as many teachers that will be offended by my point of view as students or parents. Whatever. It's not a charisma game as far as I'm concerned.

But another thing I should note is that my previous business manager experience and psychology degrees give me a bit more than the average 'just out of school teacher'...and a whole hell of a lot more than those idiot teachers that have few credentials and just show up for work each day to go through the motions.

Back on track, though, there are a whole lot of perspectives as far as why we are failing as an educational system. There are plenty of liberals who would love to point the finger at President Bush and claim it's all his fault. But is it? Yes, the nation's mean test scores and average college admissions have declined over the last eight years; and most schools have either lost funding or struggled to maintain a ... Read more ...

This blog is a repost, done so that everyone has the opportunity to participate.

You have heard the cliche that it's best not to engage in a battle of wits unless you're well armed? Well now is the time to put up or shut up.

A couple of days ago I proposed an idea: The Roast Blog.

A lot of people seemed to get off on it, so I'm going to take responsability here. I'll handle the work as it was my suggestion, but I advise you read the following carefully, as the moderator has already warned that she won't tollerate any crap on this one:

1) A Roast is a honerable comedic tradition meant to show someone respect by making a joke out of their qualities. This could be an observable quality (such as their choice of avatar), or a typical behavior they have (like their writing style), or a feature of their personality (like if they are conservative, a vegan, etc.)

2) A Roast is NOT a random or off the cuff insult. Statements like 'U R gay' or 'you write lame shit' isn't creative, ... Read more ...

True story, but a short one. I had a friend when I was in my 20's who wanted to start a gun collection.  No particular reason why. He just thought it would be cool. He wasn't a militarist or an NRA nut. He just wanted to buy a whole bunch of cool looking guns. And he wanted to do it for free.

He had a decent tech job and at the end of the year the government always took a huge chunk of his salary, and he felt it was about time to get some back. So he calculated the estimate for that year and almost spent the whole amount on guns. A carload of guns. A pimp-lovin'-buttload of guns.

As many guns as his finances and background checks would allow.

Then, he wrote them all off on his taxes.

Of course, he was audited. He was told to go in and explain why he had attempted to write off such a huge amount of guns as a 'business expense.'

He said: 'That's simple. I started a business as a hit-man.' I wish I could have been there to see the auditor's face. 'I started this business las ... Read more ...

Okay, I just put up a video I stumbled on that's freakin' hysterical about giant movie monsters. Yeah...it's home-made geekdom, but giant movie monsters are just cool.

I recently saw the Mothera movies that were produced post-new-milenium, and it proves it. They are still cool. I don't know what it is. The element of monsters? Power? Cheesiness? Whatever draws me to these things they are just great to watch.

So if you had to make a list of your favorite giant movie monsters, who would be on that list?

...in your neighborhood...You remember that old Sesame Street song, right? 'They're the people that you meet each day!'

Well the safety and normalcy of Sesame Street was a long time ago for me. In the city on any given day I can look out my window and see the hookers trying to get by. But that's not that unusual.

No, unusual would be the disabled guy that goes by in the electric scooter. He goes by about once a fortnight in the summer. He's pimped out his Hover-round so that there's a karaoke machine hooked up to the battery. As he drives along in the bicycle lane, he croons old R&B tunes. He's actually got a really nice voice. The whole neighborhood loves him.

Then there's Weird Prius Guy. Imagine a guy that looks like Monk, but skinnier and with a pot belly. He's really quiet, and keeps to himself even when I try to say 'Hello.' He drives a Prius that is always so full of clutter you wonder how it is that he manages to get around in it at all. He lives in an apartment that's righ ... Read more ...