Here is the basic situation: a school is having one of those themed dressing days. This time it is red, white and blue. A kid comes in with a homemade red, white and blue anti-Obama shirt. He is told to wear it inside out or be suspended. He chose suspension. Oy!
(HT: Electric Venom)
Apparently Chef Ramsay is endorsing a line of knives from 2 young women and their company. They also have secured a contract to keep him in knives. There will be 1,000 made and they will be available in November. Anyone trying to figure out what to get NerdMom for Christmas;).
There is an awesome article how engineers are retrofitting UC Berkley’s stadium. Why?
Memorial Stadium was built in 1923 atop the Hayward Fault, which the U.S. Geological Survey said has a 70 percent chance of hatching a 6.7-magnitude or greater quake by 2030. The earth could move up to 6 feet horizontally and 2 feet vertically, presenting a challenge to engineers charged with saving the stadium and the football fans who might be inside.
While plenty of buildings around the world sit atop earthquake faults, Memorial Stadium is unique because of the sheer quantity of people it holds: 75,662. It’s also unique because seismologists know exactly where the fault lies – under Section LL, through both end zones and out Section XX.
Cool.
(HT: Instapundit)
It looks like we are getting a Cabinet level Copyright Czar. Now copyright infringement was already being persecuted by the Federal government so does it really need to be grown to this level? Is this growing the nanny state and just taking more tax money or do you think it actually protects the capitalist society?
You think by staying at home you would get to experience all your baby’s firsts. Well, it doesn’t always work that way. With kid #3, his first steps were in Sunday School. They all said Dad first and so on. So with the NerdPud I wasn’t surprised when I was out to lunch on a Saturday and missed her first steps. She said Dad first (and often). Well, I finally got a big first. Yesterday I was sitting on the couch playing with the NerdPud and I said, “I love you” and she said it too! I was and am stoked;).
But now I have to think about how quickly my last baby is growing up;).
Ok, I have decided to try to make a little money using this blog but I want to be upfront about it. I will never say I used something if I didn’t and I will use a commercial label on all sponsored posts. Just wanted to make sure I was clear before I started making paid posts!
So what did Senator Joe Biden do this time?
From Senator and Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Biden on CBS News:
Part of what a leader does is to instill confidence, is demonstrate that he or she knows what they’re talking about, and communicates to people, if you listen to me, and follow what I’m suggesting, we can fix this. When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television, and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed, he said, look, here’s what happened.
So what is the problem? Well, FDR wasn’t President when the Stock Market crashed and the Depression began. Even if he was, tv isn’t how he would have communicated with the public.
Volokh cuts Biden slack saying that he is just tired and speaking off the cuff. But I don’t give him the same slack. He wanted to show how great the Democrats were and didn’t have a real life example so he made up something somewhat believable.
Chris B over at RedBlueChristian has a great piece on why taxing the rich at a higher rate and therefore charging them their “fair share” is wrong. A thought I am left with is if God had a flat rate in tithe, where do we get off having a sliding scale?
I have collected a few free vocabulary and spelling resources that I wanted to share.
First up is Learning Vocabulary Fun. They have all kinds of great online games. You can choose themes and levels for everything from crosswords and word scrambles to easy matching for younger kids.
Then Learning Treasures has spelling lists and daily printable worksheets for all of first grade and some of second and third grade.
Then Crossword Puzzle Games has a great tool for creating crosswords with your own words. You supply the word and the hint and they arrange it.
So hopefully this gives everyone some really good resources. Remember that homeschooling doesn’t have to be expensive! If you have any resources that I didn’t mention please, let me know. Also, if there is an area or subject you would like me to apply the Frugal Homeschooler treatment to, just let me know and maybe I will fulfill your request next!
Recently my inbox has been flooded with pieces talking about how something needs to be done about the proposed Harvey Milk Day in California public schools.
I have to say that I am a bit ambivalent because it seems to fall in line with the purpose of socialized education. Which is to inhibit the development of Judeo-Christian values. This is what is called a “Dog Bites Man Story”. If a man bites a dog, that is news. But is a dog bites a man, not so much because that is what dogs do. Homosexuality has become mainstream within the school system. So what makes you think that they wouldn’t be looking for pioneers to celebrate? Just like when school became integrated we then began celebrating heroes of the integration (such as Martin Luther King Jr.). I am not saying that these people are equal in achievement. Harvey Milk is famous for being an openly gay politician who was killed for it. So he is the perfect martyr.
What worries me more is the situation that arose recently in Dos Palos where a kid was punished for wearing a shirt that depicted the US flag. And why?
The assistant principal initially thought Shelly’s T-shirt violated a clause of the school dress code that does not allow “shirts/blouses that promote specific races, cultures, or ethnicities.”
As NerdDad said when he heard about it, we have to be careful to not offend anyone who doesn’t like America like the teachers. While I understand that the schools don’t support my values but now they are blatant about their dislike for America. I think at this point, these type of situations are more dangerous than Harvey Milk Day.
But the overriding issue? I don’t know what to say to parents who have their kids in school who are angry about Harvey Milk and say,”Call the Governor”. My gut says, “You already handed you kids over to the school system. What did you expect? And do you really think a phone call will fix it all?” I know it is harsh but unfortunately true. If you don’t like the influence of the system on your child (Harvey Milk Day, etc) the only thing you can really do to stop it is to remove the child from the situation.
Now do I just abandon the school system? No, I vote for change (and not Obama;) and do try to change things but not at the cost of my kids.
There is my rant for the day.