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from the linked article, right at start, "One gray October morning, about 650 local school children on a field trip to Beauvoir, as the home is called, poured out of buses in the parking lot. " the lost cause is what more than a few kids in the south is being taught as part o' their school lessons. ain't much to be done 'bout past generations, but have current taxpayer money support and promote lost cause narrative is actual a bit o' a surprise to Gromnir. were our understanding, much as you explain, the slavery issue were being glossed over or ignored, but at these parks and historical sites, we got scenes such as the following: “I want to tell them the honest truth, that slavery was good and bad.” While there were some “hateful slave owners,” she said, “it was good for the people that didn’t know how to take care of themselves, and they needed a job, and you had good slave owners like Jefferson Davis, who took care of his slaves and treated them like family. He loved them.” am admitting we would be utter dumbfounded to hear such stated out and open and proud to a bunch o' school kids in 2019, but that seems to be the reality. $4 million a year to keep monuments to dead confederates free o' trash and spray paint tags is not exact the bargain gifted seems to think. hell, if such is the case, Gromnir shoulda' changed professions. coulda' retired much earlier. as we noted, if gifted reads the article, he will see many instances o' new construction being described. nevertheless, is interesting to see what gifted took from the article. HA! Good Fun!

what you said were, "Assault rifles have been banned here for ages, all you can buy is a semi auto that looks like an AK or AR-15." svengali it all you want, but am doubting anybody buys the act more than they did the tim apple error. if your real concern is the 50 dead, am not certain how your continued defense is honoring their memory. *pause for a moment of silence* were a minor slip, a trivial but oft repeated bit o' ignorance. you get to be our resident don lemon for the day, but weren't a biggie. regardless, is becoming spam. say something different. to get back on-track "In other words, it significantly expands the repressive power of Russia’s repressive apparatus. This may be compared to the Stalin’s Troika, a commission of three for express judgment in the Soviet Union during the time of Joseph Stalin who issued sentences to people after simplified, speedy investigations and without a public and fair trial." typical we would assume support for such is a joke, but coming from gifted... irony perhaps missed. such a story could be deemed critical o' russia and/or fake news. regardless o' gifted's curious support, posting the link would be enough to make him subject to fines and imprisonment, depending on opinion o' prosecutor's office. HA! Good Fun!

purposeful misreading or just missed the important stuff? first of the two recent linked articles by gifted, right in the title, says students "could" face expulsion. is nothing in the article which suggests all the students caught up in the scandal will or should be expelled, though there is an admitted argument for such. is no entitlement to a four year degree when you are granted admissions to a university. you pay per quarter or per semester. that's it. most scholarships (including all d-1 athletic scholarships) are valid only for 1 year at a time, requiring student to meet various eligibility requirements to continue. if it turns out a student didn't actual meet admissions standards in the first place, why not have student re-apply? if they has already paid for the semester, expelling seems unjust unless the university is certain the student were complicit in the scheme. regardless, the actual articles don't go near as far as Gromnir... do no more than state obvious: students could lose their seat. there is gonna be a review. omg, no! students part o' a multi-million dollar bribery and fraud scheme are having their admissions reviewed. reviewed? "squee" indeed. "Others might be treated more harshly, she said. "If the kid is 18 at the time he sits to take the tests and the proctor is feeding him answers, I don’t see why he shouldn’t be liable. And I think it’s an interesting prosecutorial choice. I think it says something about how they view the nature of the wrong," she said." seems fair. again, fraud is bad; that observation should be axiomatic. if a student were knowing part o' the scheme to gain admission to school under false pretenses, why should school be forced to keep the student? ain't forced to keep other students who lie or cheat or bribe, but these kids get some kinda free pass? why? HA! Good Fun!

you already gave up on discussing any issue relevant topic save for personal silliness, so any response from Gromnir is gonna necessarily add to devolution, but please keep posting... for posterity. gfted's guide to board moderation, now with examples. what a hoot. let's see just how far you will go... am knowing a "fin" from gifted is meaningless, so am admitted curious to see just how far he will take what is obvious already doomed. yet another attempt to keep thread relevant. DNA Shows Ethnically Diverse Crew Sailed Henry VIII’s Flagship HA! Good Fun! ps as to gd millenial post, am not sure who to blame more: parents or schools. parents is necessarily doing less parenting than ever before. more work and less time to parent. two working parents is now common. is not school's job to parent kids, but reality is kids likely get as much parenting at school as they get at home. many schools, for the last couple generations, has been in participation trophy mode. is never the kid's fault when they get bad grades; teachers need find a more appropriate modality to reach the student. bullies at school were victims o' bad parents or over harsh potty training, so give 'em hugs instead o' discipline. etc. am being hyperbolic, but not completely. is not the job o' schools to parent, but reality is many (not all) parents don't parent the way they once did.

moderator's job is gonna be getting a little more difficult for gifted after today. linky to this post is gonna give folks a whole lotta latitude when questioning why their posts got disappeared, eh? *chuckle* doesn't bother us if gifted loses his water; is an affirmation o' sorts after all. is not even first time doing so and whenever it happens, am admitted experiencing the smallest degree o' mirth. bad on us. nevertheless, we do feel a bit remorseful for other moderators who may get painted with same brush... or in this case, mop. clean up on aisle 5? but to try and keep on-topic, your heavy metal music does not appear best for cheese culture. scientists played music to cheese as it aged. hip-hop produced the funkiest flavor is not good news for josh. Wisconsin to become the hip-hop state? perhaps try some funkadelic cheese. HA! Good Fun!

sure. sure. 'cause million dollar bribery schemes is nothing but an excuse for first worlder's "squeals." what an utter waste o' law enforcement efforts to uncover and stop fraud. corruption? only reason anybody cares is 'cause o' fake news doing fake news, right? *insert eye-roll* yeah, have learned from gifted the real problems is the press getting same free speech protections as ordinary citizens, american federal democracy successful preventing good old fashioned dictatorships from getting stuff done, and basic math. why won't somebody do something 'bout the real problems? HA! Good Fun!

princeton has been rating slight higher than stanford in recent years, but even so, the argument is gonna be the same stuff is happening at princeton. if linda sue were cheated out o' stanford by some rich schnook's kid, then who is to say it ain't happening at every other ivy. the only reason the feds know 'bout the 8 schools in question is 'cause a guy in ny being charged with securities fraud, attempted to get a better plea deal by offering up info on one guy: rick singer. the feds investigated mr. singer, but is not as if they went ahead and checked if other schools were being targeted by similar schemes. and while we know gifted hates even the simplest maths... stanford charges a $90 application fee. stanford rejects approx 38k student applications per year. show the scheme has been going on for 5 ish years at stanford. $90 is not a huge amount, but each and every one o' those rejected applicants is gonna have an argument that their application were not treated fair and that they should get their money returned. we ain't talking some kinda wacky lawsuit wherein folks is asking for $100 million 'cause the application made a student feel uncomfortable 'bout their lgbt status 'cause it asked the applicant to check box for male or female, with no other options. kinda thing am talking 'bout is simple: stanford were running a rigged game w/o telling anybody the game were rigged, and were charging folks to play. is not an anybody will sue over anything scenario 'cause this is exact what Courts has been protecting folks from since at least Roman republic times. $17 million dollars in compensatory damages for the class. there were seven other schools involved with varying acceptance rates and application fees. to keep simple, albeit arbitrary, let's cut the stanford compensatory damages in half and then multiply by total number o' schools so far. so, $68 million dollars in compensatory damages. UT and UCLA is public schools, so taxpayers end up paying that bill... which don't include attorney fees. show one school administrator knew 'bout the scheme and decided to do nothing 'bout it and you may add punitive damages to the mix. and none o' the 'bove maths includes the college boards. both sat and act were involved as part o' the scheme. sat costs ~$65 with the essay. act is $62. is something in the range o' 3.2 million people taking those standardized tests every year. test numbers have value 'cause people believe they got value. court decides the class deserves partial refund 'cause testing boards did not adequate insure the integrity o' the process? almost nobody is gonna sue over $2, which is the public policy justification for class actions. let big organizations get away with screwing ordinary folks 'cause it don't make any kinda economic sense to take folks to court over $2 or $65 or $90? sure, the school or corporate entity is making millions 'cause o' their negligence, indifference or even willful bad acts, but those folks would never get sued 'cause is so little individual plaintiff money at stake. regardless, getting application money back if stanford were irresponsible is hardly excessive. but heck, gifted and malcolm abbott is simpatico on this, so at least they is in good company, no? maybe share a smoke and complain 'bout fed overreaction. good times. HA! Good Fun!

am thinking this is like the mit temperature change numbers-- am gonna have zero chance reaching gifted. nevertheless, since gifted don't care 'bout fundamental fraud issues, we will instead focus on his reduction o' the scheme to what he seems to see as a harmless bribe, sorta like ferris playing funsies at the chez louis the maître d' in the college entrance scheme took bribes totalling $25 million dollars for spots in elite universities which would no doubt be valued much more than $25 million. so make this instead a federal highway construction fraud case instead o' college entrance. mastermind behind the highway construction fraud gets in trouble 'cause over a decade he took $25 million dollars from contractors to guarantee those contractors would win bids for projects no doubt worth hundreds o' millions. is no finding the bribe biders failed to complete basic minimum contract requirements. (aside: this aspect is not actual equivalent 'cause numerous students in the scheme were not providing the university with the competitive athlete the university were expecting, but am trying to keep this as simple as possible for gifted.) so, no real crime for gifted? nothing more wrong than chez louis scam? is doubtful the bidders who woulda' otherwise won the contracts if not for the bribe scheme would agree with gifted, eh? and yeah, just as we noted 'bove, those bidders for government contracts would no doubt be bringing legal actions 'gainst the government for failure o' oversight in their contract award process, so there is gonna be substantial additional costs for the government/taxpayers. is not small or petty or harmless precise if for no other reason than than we are talking 'bout values o' many $$$. but again, the fraud thing don't bother gifted, so... HA! Good Fun! ps am avoiding double-post faux pas, so excuse non-sequitur nature o' the following: A brigade of beagles helps the US save billions at America's busiest airports gd may be conflicted 'bout the story. on the one had, the dogs is encroaching on his civil liberties. what's next, teach 'em to sniff gunpowder to take away his guns and ammo? on the other hand, gd is a softie for canines, and as much as gd hates the fed, the border and customs folks is using rescue dogs to man, so-to-speak, the beagle brigade.

the tragedy being you will never get back the moment. coulda' not searched and remained untainted and unsullied by weird 21st century fanspeak. *sigh* there was a moment. there was an ephemeral flicker o' time when gifted coulda' shrugged off the impulse to know... and so too did adam fall. on some level gifted knew 'fore searching he would be immersing self in one o' those banal millennial or tweener affectations. did it anyway, 'cause he were curious. is more than your youth which were here lost. HA! Good Fun! ps we didn't add emoticons so as to proper signpost, but am hopeful none take serious.

QQs and excessive punctuation and "very sad" appears to be needed for gifted, so is 'bout him being discombobulated as 'posed to Gromnir. if is unnecessary, we can stop, but don't want you to lose track as is so frequent the case. our father was cremated, so is inapplicable. on the other hand, if this were some kinda silly attempt to bait us, then we will make only the following observation: QQ hower, as a serious response to a childish query heavy with snark (can't expect too serious a response if you describe with "pappy's bones," eh?) am gonna observe how hinder construction based on presence o' remains o' relatives temporal proximate or remote is personal irrelevant as am having little emotional attachment to the remains o' the deceased. nevertheless, am self aware enough to recognize we would unapologetic use such an excuse on behalf o' clients or causes we believed in as a means delaying or stopping ill-considered constructions. would be irresponsible and unethical not to use every means. also, while we do not have the emotional makeup to be individual concerned 'bout the moldering evidence o' humans long dead save as data for physical anthropologists and the like, would be needing channel a level o' sociopath thankful alien to us to fail to recognize how different such stuff affects our fellow living humans. to discount impact o' a perceived violation o' earthly remains 'cause it don't bother Gromnir personal would be displaying a level o' callousness we hesitate to consider. as such, our concerns insofar as "pappy's bones" is a recognition such is not necessarily insular from our concerns 'bout the wellbeing o' the living. likely needed at least a couple exclamation points to generate comprehension, but C'est La Vie! HA! Good Fun!

sure there is accountability for press, just as there is accountability for individual citizens who publish libelous content... is why we have libel tort. standard o' proof is tough, and again, is thankful tough. founding fathers did not want to chill open and frank discussions o' noteworthy persons and events. need scrupulous fact checking for every schnook passing out pamphlets or writing letter to editor is not only resulting in less speech but is unAmerican... or at least it woulda' been almost universal viewed as unAmerican to hamstring political speech even a few years past. 2019 is different. as to wh access, is getting pretty far afield from initial issue, but will answer more fully than is deserved, w/o resorting to case names 'n such. custom and tradition, as much as written law, may have weight o' law. no doubt any involved in regular course o' business understands the wisdom o' such generalities. in the hypothetical widget business, a "truckload," as a matter o' custom and tradition, actual represents a specific number of units: 500. got a contract tween manufacturer and vendor which specifies delivery o' one truckload per month. evuhl manufacturer thinks he is sneaky and uses a remote controlled toy truck 'bout the size o' a bread toaster and delivers a single widget to the vendor in june. goes to court and points out to judge how the vendor were the one to write the contract, so any ambiguity in the C is gonna work against the author. truckload, in ordinary english, is unspecific. manufacturer complete loaded his truck and made delivery as promised. most o' us would be justifiable outraged by manufacturers actions. thankful, if vendor is able to show "truckload" is indeed custom in the widget business, then vendor is likely gonna win case. is a similar principle with government actions, particular when actions is utter transparent. if wh has been allowing reporters, including reporter D in particular, access to wh press room frequent enough so as to make clear such is ordinary course o' business, then sudden stop such access is gonna trigger due process, regardless o' lack o' any specific rule or law granting access to reporters. during the civil rights era, government institutions in the south found ways to seeming legal deny access to blacks from vote and important services. literacy requirements for voting is no doubt familiar. less well covered in high school history texts were apparent innocuous stuff such as business hour restrictions at government offices which government knew disproportionate affected minority access. when government changes rules and behaviours to disadvantage folks it doesn't like, the Court should hopeful steps in and delivers a smackdown on the government. and keep in mind, the President don't in anyway own the wh. gifted and Gromnir ain't been vetted and cleared for access to press room. is obvious and reasonable security concerns related to random persons gaining access to wh. converse, prevent a person who has gone through all the security protocols from government space they has been previous been afforded access to 'cause they is rude or antagonistic to President is not gonna be an argument which gains much traction. am honest surprised the wh press room access thing were gaining the President any sympathy... and to be fair, even the majority o' fox commentators chastised the chief executive on this point. HA! Good Fun!

Well, the "press" is hardly monolithic. But even so both things can be true at once. more significant is the obvious mischaracterization o' the press getting a free pass. ny times v. sullivan (9-0) is a free speech case as 'posed to a press-specific case. all Americans, when discussing public figures and events, has a low threshold for fact checking... and thank goodness for folks such as gifted and gd and Gromnir 'cause "publish" applies equal to tens o' thousands o' printings daily by a city newspaper as it does posting on a game message board or pamphlets handed out on a street corner or similar. can't knowing or intentional print falsehoods, but mistake is forgiven and aggressive advocating a particular pov is historical more common than is attempts at impartial reporting. 'course the the myth o' the unbiased press were created to vilify the press and hold it to a standard which has never existed in this country. free pass? *chuckle* https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/104780-political-thread-xx/?p=2087953 there is this notion o' the press being coconspirators with and getting a free pass from obama during his administration. have personal pointed out the error o' such a notion more than once. Congress and many elements o' the press rolled over for obama during the first two years o' his administration, but after that, no President since lincoln had been as aggressive in attacking journalists as were obama. https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bs-ae-zontv-trumpvpress-20170304-story.html the thing is, not obama and not even lincoln attacked legitimacy o' the institution o' the press. both lincoln and obama understood the essential role o' the press in US politics and they similar recognized the deference the founders afforded the rabid and biased journalists o' the late 1700s. core American values and all that. appreciation o' place in history and whatnot. there is no free pass for the press, so is no point refuting, but even so, the thankful enlightened men who has typical held office o' the President has, for the most part, recognized the worth o' the traditions and laws which protect the press (as well as individual Americans) when discussing newsworthy persons and events. also, we never subscribed to the doomsayer pov offered up by some elements in the media. we specific noted how 2019 and 1919 were hardly interchangeable. heck, one o' our favorite spencer tracy monologues doesn't work quite same today as it did 1967. even so, the past decade has been disappointing for us. is not the rough beast slouching towards bethlehem, but have personal been surprised by degree o' political polarization and the magnitude o' individual intolerance we has seen from fellow Americans in recent years. worse, as we noted earlier in the thread, we has become numb to what we previous woulda' considered unthinkable. catholic schoolboys in a confrontation with native americans and black israelites? compared to antifa and white supremacists in numbers literal stabbing and clubbing each other on steps o' state capitol, the covington boys brouhaha is minor. our standard for normal (not same as acceptable) has shifted in the last few years and the move has been more than a little. yeah, the media indulges in hyperbole, but the carus effect o' the last few years o' increasing improbable news may be a contributing factor. check out the ethics in america series, particular episode 3: public trust, private interest. https://www.learner.org/resources/series81.html# is 1989, which is not so long ago for an old dog such as Gromnir. at 4:50-- why don't you lie? of all the videos in the series, the only one which feels complete outta touch, but enlightening for that very reason, is the discussion o' media. good thing? HA! Good Fun!

It is the locals responsibility. FEMA is not going to rebuild the government and infrastructure. The government is. and it is the duty and responsibility o' fema to assist. goes w/o saying that the character and quality o' assistance demanded will depend, in large part, on the local government's capabilities following a disaster. drop off water at an airport, which is quite possible remote and complete inaccessible due to the kinda flooding one would expect from a cat 5 hurricane, is not meaningful assistance. pickups can't reach 'cause is no drivable roads? so why not use helicopter? maybe 'cause fuel is often more precious than water in such circumstances. spend limited time and fuel moving water when could be transporting people to the few functional hospitals, or rescuing people from imminent drowning? is a disaster for chrissakes. private contractors fulfilling half, or less, o' their food/meal deliveries is gonna result in obvious shortfalls, shortfalls which gifted is dismissing as the responsibility o' puerto rico to supplement? is a freaking island, devastated by a historic hurricane. the local government were not capable o' rebuild infrastructure w/o assistance. coordinate the assistance is the rasion detre o' fema. https://www.google.com/search?q=maria+puerto+rico+devastation&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjumcbNtbbdAhVPHDQIHSFOBrkQ_AUICygC&biw=1280&bih=642 following the hurricane, many roads and bridges is submerged or is utter destroyed. assume some runway is gonna be accessible to vehicles is suspect following the linked devastation. but heck, is puerto rico's responsibility. fema got the water delivered, and it were pr's responsibility to drain flood waters and rebuild roads so they could get to the water. no doubt those ten "dudes" and their pickup trucks were sufficient to handling the job o' infrastructure rebuild. is mindboggling this is proving problematic to comprehend. HA! Good Fun! ps update: 'ccording to multiple articles, the water were deemed unpalatable by locals-- literal could not give it away. in any event, am not gonna blame this one on fema or feds as they seemed utter clueless as to the existence o' a problem. water were delivered. water were received. water were not delivered to people in need. as far as we can tell, fema were never informed that the water were unpalatable. "bad water" is a thing, but when you is desperate, water is either potable or not. have personal consumed some pretty foul smelling/looking water once or twice in our life, and we were glad to have it. get somebody to make a determination as to whether is safe or not, then if folks would rather suffer w/o, is all on the people refusing, or so is our opinion. regardless, am gonna concede that this seems most like a near complete local fail. even if fema delivered so-called bad water, they were not informed o' a problem so they could fix.

huh? fema coordinates efforts to assist state and local governments. is precise 'cause puerto rico could not handle the problems o' maria that they needed assistance. perhaps gifted doesn't believe provided assistance need be meaningful or effective? provide water is all well and good, but then fail to provide any means o' transporting the water to people who need it is gonna be a concern for most reasonable people. coordinate with private contractors to deliver food, but ignore when those contractors fail to deliver even half o' the meals they agreed to provide is not particular effective assistance. recognize that state and local governments have responsibilities to aid citizens is axiomatic. recognize how a disaster o' the scale o' maria could prevent puerto rico from fulfilling their responsibilities should also be axiomatic. HA! Good Fun! ps once again, peculiar reading by gifted.

historical, the russia/soviet suspicion has been less party affiliation than it might seem. no doubt before gd time, but Kennedy were not running primarily on a platform o' social reform. Kennedy were the hawk responding to Eisenhower/Nixon dove policies-- were almost the totality o' his platform. am also doubtful any but the true wackadoodle storm trumpers exhibiting the worst aspects o' dunning-kruger effect (we got one or two regular trump-fan posters who is textbook d-k) has forgotten Russian behaviors. again, worth viewing (McMaster starts at 'bout 1:11:05) the Russian sanction votes by house and senate has been getting passed almost unanimous, so is not as if guys such as Mitch McConnelll and Paul Ryan has forgotten what the Russians is 'bout. am knowing you were partial kidding, but a picture o' less than gifted trumpers at a rally is hardly indicative o' the republican party as a whole... though am admitting there is increasing cause for concern given the President's seeming unassailable popularity with his base. HA! Good Fun!

not sure if you going for irony. you do be recalling how it were gifted who wanted to go emoji + sarcasm in this thread 'stead o' serious. am also recalling how last few times gifted has seen some kinda tragic flaw in Gromnir response, it were typical following a comic gifted blunder. can add another such to tally if you wanna continue. 'course if the mod wants to engage in and even promote this kinda silliness, we will indulge for as long as he wishes to do so. tacit approval and all that. oh, and to answer earlier query, we didn't find any gifted posts condemning republicans for blocking obama efforts. after all, such a post from gifted woulda' been noteworthy, but we have no recollection o' such and cannot find. if gifted would like to show us how he ain't being transparent in his condemnation o' political gridlock, we would appreciate a linky or two. willing to wait. will we be waiting comic long time? as for housing costs and market forces, am admitted a beneficiary o' the current scheme, so am hardly unbiased. that said, we would hate to be a young person in 2018 attempting to buy our first home. as we noted during the recent prez election, our two biggest concerns for US was, and is, wealth disparity and national debt. 'cause o' generational wealth disparity, is exceeding difficult for a young person to purchase a home, particular if mom and pops do not own a home. family wealth is inextricably tied to home ownership in this country, which is why the housing bubble burst near a decade ago were so disastrous. the current scheme is skewed disproportionate in favor o' the haves vs. the have nots. as to market forces, such is borked 'cause the banking system is once again borked. market ain't responding reasonable 'cause loans is not being provided reasonable, just as were the case previous to the last housing bubble crisis. we seeming learned nothing from the great recession. our personal situation is unique and hardly useful for drawing general conclusions. sure, we came from modest means and no history o' property ownership, but we benefited from scholarships, and a whole lotta' luck, to get education and job opportunities not common to our peers. current situation benefits us great as we have diversified portfolio and enough cash so that if/when there is another housing crisis with tens o' thousands o' folks defaulting, the value o' our property will once again go into the crapper, providing an enormous loss which we may then carry forward for tax purposes almost indefinite while being able to simultaneous purchase foreclosed properties at dimes on the dollar. housing crisis which destroys retirement plans o' many tens o' thousands and ruins credit o' many younger folks actual benefits folks such as Gromnir. system is borked. HA! Good Fun!

will do. am suspecting we will, as with most gifted related searches, find little worth the time spent, but we will try. HA! Good Fun!

am wondering if we can find a similar post from gifted from a few years ago when republicans were doing their bestest to hold up every Obama effort and appointment. hypocrisy aside, governmental gridlock as gifted describes is the single most important reason for continued protection o' fundamental American freedoms. is not Bill of Rights which protects freedoms. the soviet union had more freedoms guaranteed to citizens via controlling documents. on paper, China has more significant personal speech freedom protections than does the US. every sub-Saharan dictatorship has got the equivalent o' a Bill of Rights. an executive separate from legislature along with a genuine bicameral legislature (not like English house o' lords nonsense) and an independent judiciary, all designed to maximize gridlock arising from petty discord, is precise why gifted's freedoms is protected. an effective democracy is the single greatest threat to your freedoms as any bare majority may alter such 'cause o' momentary whim or even bare-naked malevolence. because o' gridlock, is much more difficult for legislature to respond immediate to mood o' the people, and as we is able to see, a chief executive is unlikely able to impose his will on a nation by fiat or decree thanks to gridlock. bill o rights is words-- is admirable words. nevertheless, in addition to the near universal American belief in the importance o' fundamental rights, the real protection o' your freedoms is precise the gridlock which gifted laments. if a slim majority in Congress backed by chief executive power and influence cannot convince the minority o' the wisdom o' _______, then such stuff should not become law. such gridlock is a founding principle and perhaps the greatest gift o' the Constitution. … thank God for mitch mcconnel. am not a fan o' the man, but thank God even so. mitch could very easily go along with trump demands to alter the filibuster rules. democrats started the "nuclear option" nonsense during Obama administration regarding all appointments save Supreme Court Justices, and republicans responded in kind with Gorsuch appointment. mitch has refused to budge on filibuster and other efforts which would diminish gridlock. thank God. am suspecting 100 years from now, when trump is not but a footnote, mitch may get proper respect for his efforts. maybe not. even so, as unpopular as protecting gridlock is, doing so is the most important means o' guaranteeing gifted freedoms today and in the decades yet to come. HA! Good Fun!

Were they? I haven't read that but I would be interested in a link. am not certain 'bout participation-trophy mentality as a factor in the current education dilemma, but am gonna concede the new generation o' parents has us embracing our inner curmudgeon. "back in my day," nonsense is, as often as not, nonsense. am nevertheless saddened by the shift away from personal responsibility we has witnessed occur in past decades. 1/4 o' our cases involve schools in some way and we has been involved in coaching either high school football or mock trial/moot court/forensics on a yearly basis during the past couple decades. even so, our experience is limited and anecdotal. that said, we has spent much time in schools and interacted with more than a few parents and teachers since the late 90s. feel free to dismiss... or not. regardless, the most obvious and disturbing educational change we has seen develop is the manner in which parents respond to news o' student troubles in class. is not a school funding issue. is not a methodology or teaching modality issue. is not even a "what is wrong with kids these days," issue. heck, ain't an affluent v. poor issue neither as we has observed the change as much (if not more so) at affluent schools compared to low-income. nope, the change which disturbs us most is parental response. parent-teacher conferences is not as we recall from even the late 90s. nowadays a parent-teacher conference often (not always) involves the teacher defending his or her actions rather than there being a meaningful discussion 'bout how to improve amy or billy's grades and/or classroom behavior. the parent wants to know why the teacher has amy doing so much homework given all the extra-curricular activities she is current taking. and if billy has been disruptive in class, then what is the teacher doing to antagonize the poor child? maybe is part o' gifted's notion o' participation trophy? honest not know. we have seen an ever-increasing trend o' parents knee-jerk defense o' their child's actions and behavior regardless o' how indefensible. is it coddling? is it lack o' respect for the teaching profession as a whole? dunno. regardless, rather than working cooperative to improve amy and billy's grades, parents is defending their children from the one person in the room who seems genuine concerned 'bout the child: the teacher. however, am gonna also observe how amentep observation jibes with our understanding o' the current local-state-fed dynamic insofar as education is concerned. states is reducing their higher education footprint at an alarming rate. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/05/06/how-quickly-will-states-get-to-zero-in-funding-for-higher-education/?utm_term=.5ab49d2f0805 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/economy-rebounds-state-funding-higher-education-isnt-bouncing-back http://www.acenet.edu/the-presidency/columns-and-features/Pages/state-funding-a-race-to-the-bottom.aspx decrease state funding, with increase in secondary services deemed essential for a higher education institution, has led to a tuition crisis. is not an ideal situation and solutions is not political appealing. am not expecting in near future a positive change to funding dynamic. HA! Good Fun!

odd. we wouldn't equate hand shaking with bowing/saluting. to us, bow and salute is similar as is typical signs o' respect and/or difference. fail to hand shake when proffered makes one a schmuck. fail to salute or bow when is appropriate is possible insubordinate. 'course our interpretation ruins gifted's zinger, so... HA! Good Fun!

good idea. recent past doesn't bode well for you. even the thread creator were confused by gifted's tangled and twisted reading. regardless, am thinking folks would be shocked if oldie pamphlets and texts supporting eugenics and the inherent mental instability o' women, which were sadly common educational materials in some places as recent as 50 years ago, were nevertheless taught in schools today. as a people, we grow... we learn. would never occur to us that a book revered in schools during a darker time would need be a continued part o' curriculum today. destroy books is constitutional, but is considered repugnant by most americans. as such we take those curiously misguided books and put 'em back on the shelf, but am doubting even gifted would suggest those largely rejected works need be public venerated with a place o' honor. tennessee legislature wants to force into perpetuity a place o' honor for folks such as the first grand wizard o' the kkk? shame on them. if memphis found a perfectly legal way to circumvent such a stoopid law, then we applaud 'em as 'posed to vilifying. the folks in the wrong here, though they is clear too myopic to realize, is gifted and the tennessee legislature. no surprise on either account. HA! Good Fun!

am neither shocked nor surprised by gifted's reaction... which is kinda why we needed make the post. memphis takes legal action to circumvent what they see as a wrong. scumbags indeed.

... gifted is no doubt also shocked people would consider oskar schindler's actions to be heroic. scumbag repeated circumvented laws which were specific written to protect the heritage o' his nation. nathan bedford forrest were the first grand wizard o' the kkk and his only other noteworthy accomplishment were his military prowess in a war to defend slavery. tennessee legislature is the reason we do not visit the south unless necessary.

I'm brand new to this forum, so maybe i'm missing something... but is it commonplace for a "moderator" to be trolling? gifted has unique and amusing reading skills. don't let it bother you. also, is admitted difficult to troll us in the sense we tend to be equal dismissive o' shennanigans regardless o' wacky perceived social status which can develop on such boards. am gonna react same to developers as to moderators and to so-called noobs and to longtime posters. HA! Good Fun!

am suspecting gifted is using a recent baby name list as 'posed to overall most popular names. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/century.html https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/whats-the-most-common-name-in-america/ HA! Good Fun!