Hurlshort

Actually, most schools are moving towards Standards based grading, at least in the K-5 grades. Middle Schools are starting to adopt it as well. It is fairly difficult to move away from the accepted letter grade systems, but it has been slowly happening over the last decade. Standards based grading means you are graded on a number scale, depending on what your mastery of the subject is. It is also a lot harder to assess than traditional percentage based grades. So it eliminates the importance of busy work. Obviously it is a much better indicator of skill, but there are some large flaws here. Say you have a PE class, and a student in that class never dresses out and never participates, except on the few assessment days. The student runs a fast mile or does a bunch of pull ups, but is only participating on about 5% of the year. With a standards based system, they would receive high marks in the class. But is this really a good preparation for the real world? I consider myself a successful person, and I will tell you that my success has a lot more to do with my work ethic than my skills. Will this student try to tell his boss that he only needs to come in one day a week because he can fulfill his job requirements in that time? I'm sure there are a couple jobs out there where that will fly, but not many. As for your other complaints, it sounds like you have a problem with parents more than the schools. And I'm right there with you, schools are a product of the parent community. There are good and bad teachers on every campus in the US. The deciding factor in the quality of the education will always be the parent.

This will likely never happen. I really don't have much faith in our public school system. Unless it's completely reworked, it will continue to be awful. This is always an odd statement from the perspective of a public school teacher. Probably because I have public school success stories every year, and I have parents going to great lengths to get their children into the US so they can attend our schools. The system is far from perfect, but it is a gigantic and unique one and it has served many people quite well.

It is a pretty simple case of Machiavellian politics. Does the end justify the means?

My theory on education is that you never take sides as a teacher. Ever. You are to remain the ultimate neutral party at all times. You present your information, and you then tell the students never to trust the information that they are given. They need to do their own research, they need to see multiple sources, they need to think critically. I never disclose my religious or political views to the students, some bother me about that, and I tell them to come back after they graduate. I know most of my students are too lazy to ever do that, they treat the textbooks like gospel, but they also forget most of it quickly. The real indoctrination happens at home anyways. There is a left wing bias in education. There are a few teachers on my campus that I find bothersome with the fact they wear political pins and the like. But I will say they are in the minority. The majority care little about indoctrinating students, they just want them to do their homework, learn to read and write well, calculate formula's, and become a generally confident and successful young adult.

I think the Sharks will resign him. He wants to stay in SJ, at least that is the impression he has given. He has been great this year, so I know the Sharks will offer him something. No one can question his playoffs this year, he's the only guy scoring goals right now. It probably will be lower than some other teams though, so it really will be his call. I think Nabby is gone. Again I think the Sharks will try to sign him, but he seems more inclined to follow the money. I can see them going after Turco as a replacement. They have a decent prospect in net in the minors, so they are looking for a vet to fill the next two years or so.

Dang. The Sharks actually outplayed Chicago for most of Game 3, and they still couldn't get the win.

I've been fairly addicted to the card games the last couple nights. I'm fairly terrible, and I've yet to successfully cheat (although I did win a duel from getting caught.) I'm also horrid at horseshoes. I guess the game is realistic in that regard. There does seem like a lot to do, although I wouldn't call any of them super deep. It's maybe a bit better than previous GTA mini-games, but not a ton. I can see the Western setting not applying to non-US folks. I have ghost towns in my vicinity, I've travelled through Nevada, so the Western spirit is something I've seen firsthand.

I'm embarrassed to admit I have taken to wearing my leather cowboy hat when playing.

I found an abandoned Indian village. It was creepy.

How is that in their best interest, and how would that give them leverage? We have to rely on them to restrain their mad dog. It wouldn't be very politic of China to threaten us with nuclear weapons, but NK can as a proxy. Enoch already explained why collapse of NK would cause problems for China, but more importantly they don't want the Koreas reunited under the South Korean system as that would be a challenge to Chinese hegemony in the region. You seem to be about a decade behind on current events. China and the US are major trade partners. They have no need to threaten with nukes, even through a proxy. There is no money in that.

I own a razor mouse, but after this lame ad I plan on returning it.

Actually, your point might be the critical one here. The computer I have can't run KOTORs properly (long story, laptop etc.), so my point of view into exclusivity is pretty much on the x360/ps3 divide. Those with real computers and not just glorified typewriters obviously have a very different picture of what is "exclusive" to the x360 than I do. So, I guess from that point of view, the PS3 would have different exclusives. And yes, we have different tastes in games. I used to have a weaker PC, and so I really valued my 360. But after I got my nice PC, I was less inclined to buy games on the 360. Plus, my TV is shared by my wife and daughter, whereas my PC is all mine mwahaha. The PS3 was an easy choice when my 360 went on the fritz because the Blu-Ray was appealing to the whole household, and it had a few titles unavailable on the PC.

How is that in their best interest, and how would that give them leverage?

Not sure what you guys are basing that on, China is still NK's patron and the only thing keeping them afloat. No way they could get away with all their crap if it wasn't for China. NK relies on China, but the reverse is not true. China is a capitalist country nowadays, they aren't going to risk their economy on NK. Politically they may posture themselves, but they are going to choose what is best for them financially.

I'm not sure what the argument here is. The Founding Fathers were clearly more concerned with a freedom OF religion than a freedom FROM religion.

China is a lot closer to the US than NK, I imagine they can be convinced pretty easily to not take sides. Actually they would probably insist on joining the cause and being given control of the government. Of course the US probably wouldn't go for that.

The hardest thing so far is keeping other people alive. I've failed a couple side missions already. But the game is very good. My daughter likes it too, she gets on her rocking horse and swings her cowboy doll whenever I play, and yells yeehaw. She is also a big fan of the train whistle.

This is a bit of a silly statement. The US is more involved in international affairs. The US also heads up a ton of humanitarian aid projects. Comparing the US to NK is fairly ridiculous. Also, exactly what lies about Vietnam are you referring too? The north pretty clearly wanted to take over the south, and that was the main reason the US was involved. And Saddam Hussein dug his own grave on the Iraq war, it's not like he made any attempt to correct all the false reports circulating around. The thing you are missing here is that the US typically has decent intentions, even if the way they carry out those intentions is terribly flawed or horribly misguided. What exactly is the intention here of N. Korea?

I'm a customer. I care. By caring I mean I doubt any customers are happy about the exclusive concept.

I doubt any customers really care for the exclusive concept. For developers, it makes their job easier.

Crackdown is a pretty sweet 360 exclusive. But the PS3 has the greatest sports game ever in MLB The Show. edit: The 360 exclusives also usually are released on the PC, so they aren't quite exclusive, really.

Nature has a way of correcting problems like overpopulation. We are one great plague away from it. That said, we will probably transcend our physical shells eventually and then it will be less important to have a home planet. Didn't you all pay attention to Jodie Foster in Contact?

This is the same reason that China, who had the best ships and navigation in the world at the time, never took part in the Age of Exploration. Well, not the robot thing, but the money issue.

Getting a pilot's license is super expensive, particularly if you want to go commercial. That is why most pilots come out of the military, because the government foots the bill for all their training hours.

The original Fast and the Furious was actually fairly awesome. You know, in a Point Break way.