In fact, after seeing live footage of this, I'm sure of it. Clamoring, maniacal faces deeply saturated in vindictive indulgence. These are the same type of faces that were present at town hangings, guillotine showcases, and who'd spit and throw at "witches" burning at the stake. These are our savage faces.

I don't feel sorry for the mother, but... I thought a girl had gone missing. There's a less volatile way to show disapproval. I don't even know what they do this for. Is this vengeance? Because it does nothing. Is it harassment? Because they certainly add hardship to a family that's already going through a far-reaching loss. 

A girl has gone, and she may not be found. If she's dead, what is justice? You can't right something that is already unjust. There's only grief. And in grief, there can also be respect. Pain itself is sometimes also a resolution in situations like this.

The same confusion grips us today. The ambiguously named 'War on Terror' has declared everybody suspect. The result has been a climate of fear that pits us against one another in a type of pseudo nationalistic thunderdome in which survival depends upon who can prove themselves the most patriotic. In the midst of this conflict It seems the definition of patriotism has split, with one faction insisting that it means obeying the government and another insisting it means defending the principals of the constitution. This war however is nothing but a fanciful charade, elaborately planned and executed in order to divert our attention away from the true enemy.

While we turn on one another, squabbling about petty inaccurate trivializations, the so called 'elite' of the nation are plundering the people of their wealth and liberty. Over the past seven years we have seen the exponential growth of corporatism and a corresponding decline in income. We have seen examples of  corporations granted new sweeping powers in collusion with the government. In this new environment telecommunications companies are free to record the private data of individuals and the world's largest mercenary corporation has emerged.

It appears clear who the true enemy is. It is those who seek to control us, those who seek to expand their stranglehold on our lives. The enemy is not your neighbor, it is not your co worker, it is not your mother in law. The enemy are our fellow members of the human race who have decided that it is their right to control the destiny of others. iIt is Barrack Obama, John McCain, Mahmoud  Ahmadinejad, the Pope, and your friendly city police chief.

Conservatives don't mind being called conservative. In fact, most conservatives are proud to be conservative (and equally proud to be American). And why not? Starting with the vision of our founding fathers, the traditional conservative values of independence, individualism, and self-determination motivated the early settlers and pioneers and, later, the industrialists and entrepreneurs who built this country into the greatest and most powerful nation on earth.

But why are liberals suddenly ashamed of the word liberal? Why do they feel the need to redefine themselves as something else? And why have they chosen the singularly inappropriate term "progressive" to describe themselves? It almost seems as if they're begging the question. After all, what is progress? Reviewing the history of civilization, progress has traditionally been marked by significant advances that made the cultures that developed them more efficient and productive, enabling them to prosper and to expand their territory and culture.

More advanced civilizations often used their technological sophistication to conquer less advanced civilizations and, historically, it was largely as a result of war that progress spread from culture to culture. The conquering armies have not always been the aggressors. It was Japan that attacked the U.S. in WWII. But Japan would not be the major economic power it is today if the U.S. had not defeated it, and rebuilt it as a modern industrial/technological nation.

There have been episodes in history when more advanced civilizations have been overrun by less advanced civilizations that were more focused on military progress. That's one reason why a nation should never allow itself to become weak militarily, no matter how advanced it may be in other areas. Mr. Obama recently promised to "cut investments in unproven missile defense systems," "slow our development of future combat systems," and make "deep cuts in our nuclear arsenal." Conservatives cringed, but liberals loved it.

All types of progress entail tradeoffs. As vast tracts of land are cultivated, the native species on those lands must either find new environments, adapt, or die. The extraction of raw materials from the earth causes disruption of habitats. The production of metals, plastics, paper, and the manufacture of goods all cause various forms of pollution. But without these trade-offs, civilization as we know it would not be possible.

Liberals don't believe in trade-offs. They continually seek to enact regulations to curtail any kind of progress that impacts the environment. They want to sequester vast extents of land into national wilderness areas, preventing the extraction of natural resources like minerals, timber, or oil. They want to enact cap and trade regulations that will jack up the costs of the energy we require to live our daily lives, and which is also required to fuel all types of industrial and technological progress.

Progress is always a result of trial and error. Significant advances require significant investments in time, effort, and money, and entail enormous risks because there is no guarantee of success. Who has the kind of money to invest in making progress possible? Capitalists. Why would they be willing to take those enormous risks? Because there's a possibility of an enormous payoff. They calculate the risk/benefit ratio and, only if the potential rewards significantly outweigh the risks, does it make sense to invest. Yet liberals don't think anyone deserves such enormous rewards, and would tax their profits to the point where it's no longer worth the risk to invest. Without capital investment, progress cannot occur.

Liberals like to point out that the income gap between rich and poor is getting greater all the time. But they ignore the fact that the standard of living of the poor gets greater all the time, too. The poorest people today have a higher standard of living than the vast majority of people had a hundred years ago. And the reason they do is all the industrial and technological advances made possible by capitalism. That is true progress. And it benefits the poor as well as the wealthy.

Despite what liberals believe, capitalism is not a zero sum game. When new industries evolve, new opportunities are created. The fact that some people get very rich doesn't mean other people have to get poor. But those who don't have the motivation to work hard, better themselves, and pursue opportunities, will always be poor. And the easier the government makes it to be poor, by subsidizing poverty, the more people will take the easy way out.

Liberal ideology is consistently opposed to progress. They continually demand regulations that stymie progress, and they want the government to take more money away from those who fuel the scientific, industrial, and technological advances that define progress. They believe that money should be redistributed to those who don't contribute to progress, but are its beneficiaries.

Since liberals are so opposed to progress, why is it they want to be known as "progressives?"

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No,no,not me:-))

In America kids and college students now are back to school.

Why am I writing about it?? Well,there is a good reason to write about all this mess .

I'm sure you guys remember  your  own ,old days when after ,for the most part ,wonderful vacation ,you have met with unpleasant reality - time for serious duties and responsibilities.

Bye,bye Paradise,whatever that means.

I'm making  my observation from the position of sales associate. In my store we sell all school supplies. Everything. I got this job not long ago so I'm pretty fresh to this subject.

Some of you may rise your eyebrow why I'm working as a sales associate when I graduated from University and even got master degree. Well,one day I have decided to change completely my career path and started something new and maybe not sa high profile like I used to work in Europe.

Sales associate?? All right,no problem. So here I am.

Boy, I didn't realize what  that really means  BACK TO SCHOOL! In America. It is all about crazy-ness.

First of all, every kid come to store with looong list of everything that teachers want them to have.

But even more then that.Every school has its own list of school supplies.!!

From my perspective it has no sense. What is the main idea to put kids and their parents on the race for such a stupidity like  special color  of binders,or special color of  bookmarks??? Or even special color of erasers.

This should be left totally for kids decision ;not teachers.

This year is  special for pink erasers for certain schools.Pink erasers are proud of themselves:-)))

What is that??   People run through my store like a crazy because they can't find pink erasers,because is sold out due to high demand.

We didn't know that pink erasers wil be such a hit in this memorable year.

What really counts  is always level of school books not color of this or that. I know that colors may bring little  sunshine to classroom ,but again - leave it to kids.They should decide about color of eraser not teachers!  Same with binders,dividers,pencils,....and so on.

Schools can decide about dress code and special uniforms.

How nice it would be  to establish for every school special uniform , the same to wear for every kid. Same with college.

In Europe I was in school like that. Every girl and every boy we had  one dress to wear. It was like a trade mark for certain school:-)) We were able to  recognize from what school is any particular person just looking for his or her uniform.

So now you know  why I'm pretty conservative about school dress code. For me it is not acceptable to wear in school jeans,t-shirts,dirty shoes or like boys wear their pants with crotch near ground zero and at the same time showing part of their  naked asses. What is that??! Is it good taste,is it good manner,is it GOOD??!

Same with girls !!

School is like an office,not a beach.

Elementary school could start like a beach but gradually should switch  toward office. Serious office.

And what a coincidence that very reputable schools in Europe but also some high profile schools in America ,they  ALL  have special uniforms for their students!!!

No,it is not coincidence. Think about it. Good establish reputation with rigid  CONSERVATIVE  RULES  for students. Conservative rules about everything that governs student life ,also after school.

By letting students wear what they wear  ,teacheres and schools show desinteresman in CONSERVATIVE RULES!

And our civilization,latin civilization was established  long time ago on the basis of CONSERVATIVE RULES.with roots deeply in Christianity.

Showing such a desinteresman schools in fact support  kind of demoralization instead of education.

I prefer simple ,sobber words instead of sprinkle around sugar,sugar and more sugar....

Education without stress,with minimum rules,no rules is the best. Minimum rules about dress code ???

Only your breast and ass should be covered.

How covered?? Minimum.

High rate of teenagers pregnancy,rapidly dropping age of first sexual contacts,lack of respect for virginity,drugs in school, lack of respect for authority , and so on...All of these are  important signs of demoralization.

Who creates such an atmosphere in Education?? Who supports it.?? No directly,of course not,but .....

Any Solutions.????   Back to school ,.eee,pardon ....back to CONSERVATIVE RULES.back to education supported by Dekalog,which means more stress. But  you know what??  In  this case stress  has a positive impact on personality.

I have read in one of newspapers about  special program for teenage girls which was called "one dollar for each day without pregnancy".Practically each girl who entered this program and wasn't pregnant in the end of  high school ,she could have got around two thousand dollars together with diploma .

The authors  have called  such a program - "Prevention".:-))))

I call it Stupidity and  Demoralization. Because that program teaches young girls how to lie in order to get money.

This program do not support virginity as important issue in Dekalog. It supports liying.This program says nothing about abortion and how bad it is for Morality.

You can get ten abortions  during your high school and still get the money ,because after abortion you are not pregnant,right??

What a devil program.I'm curious how much money   the authors  have got for such a "great" idea????:-((((

....will be continued.....

Ps. Johnathan is in love with me. I totally do not understand WHY??? Am I beautiful or what???.:-0)))........

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My niece learned to read this year and she is gobbling up everything she can find. In my ongoing quest to be the coolest, hippest — and therefore her favorite — aunt, I scoured through my boxes of books to find her some old treasures I used to love. I stopped when I found A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein. She's going to flip when she reads this stuff! Anyway, I ran across a poem I had forgotten:

ATIONS

If we meet and I say, "Hi,"
That's a salutation.
If you ask me how I feel,
That's consideration.
If we stop and talk awhile,
That's a conversation.
If we argue, scream and fight,
That's an altercation.
If we later apologize,
That's reconciliation.
If we help each other home,
That's cooperation.
And all these ations added up
Make civilization.

(And if I say this is a wonderful poem,
Is that exaggeration?)

—Shel Silverstein

Sure, the target audience here may have been children, but I work for an organization that could sometimes use a little reminder about how this stuff works. Do you, too? Conversation, consideration, communication, celebration... what other "ations" should we apply to help the civilization (and plain old civility!) in our workplaces?

1. Is the game’s cognitive load appropriate for your students? Many simple edutainment titles are aimed at younger audiences. Consequently, these titles are often inappropriate for older students, who will find them less of a challenge and potentially insulting to their intelligence. Conversely, modifications of such titles as those in the Neverwinter Nights series, or the Civilization series, might be beyond the abilities of younger audiences.
2. Is the game easily modifiable? Many educational games on the market offer no capabilities for modification, giving teachers a “what you see is what you get” approach. Some games might have a higher level of adaptability for classroom use. For instance, a foreign language teacher can run a copy of The Sims 2 on her classroom computer and simply change the operating language, offering an instant immersive language environment for her students. Ideally, however, a game can be easily modified by the teacher, so that he can insert whatever objectives are needed into the gaming environment. Such modifications are more difficult and time consuming but doable, as seen in several examples for the Neverwinter Nights engine and Second Life.
3. Does the game align with your standards (local, state, national)? Fortunately this question is increasingly being addressed by educational video game companies, as they realize that the purchasing of their titles in large quantities by schools largely hinges on this question. Look at the excellent job Tabula Digita is doing making sure their math games are aligned with state and national standards. Hopefully the company selling the product has already done the alignment for you, however your job as a teacher will be to make sure you know where the product lines up with the standards you are responsible for teaching. If nobody has done that previously, chance are good you will have to do it yourself if you need to justify using the game in your classroom to parents and administrators.
4. Can the game present useful outcomes within a short time period? Class periods are generally short. Time spent on any lesson is perforce brief. Many excellent video games with learning potential are hugely complex and take hours to complete. However, you have just minutes in your class to drive home a point or two. Therefore you will need to eschew games that take an inordinate amount of time to develop their pedagogical points. Also, setting up a game and getting students going takes additional time, whether in a lab, on laptops, or on classroom computers. Setup and shutdown times will decrease the available minutes students can spend on the game and its learning objectives.
5. Does the game train or teach? This is a critical difference classroom teachers need to fully understand. Most “serious games,” as they are commonly called, train players in something. This training may involve safety practices, industrial techniques, machinery operation, or a host of other skills. Academic games aligned to state standards will focus on testable outcomes and high stakes exams. Most teachers will not want to deviate from the standards they are required to teach, or at least have a ready explanation as to how the game is germane to their subject matter. For instance, a geometry teacher could certainly justify using a game that involves creating floor plans; a history teacher can find plenty of justification for the many Civilization mods out there; and a language arts teacher can justify the typing and reading involved in most any higher level game. Regardless, if a game actively seeks to teach academic content, its appropriateness for the classroom will naturally rise above a rival game designed more for work skill enhancement.
6. Does the game track player progress? Videogames that keep track of the progress your students make will lift that burden off your shoulders. Ideally the game will offer reporting functions on each student so you can easily track their progress, and perhaps suggest remedial actions or advanced activities if a student is behind or ahead of the norm.
7. Are the graphics and gaming quality on par with contemporary entertainment titles? It is certainly possible to buy educational games which fall far below the expectations of students used to higher quality offerings. Since studies show that nearly two-thirds of all households play videogames, it behooves us to use quality games in the classroom since our students will likely be used to high standards. It’s always good to pilot test any particular title with students you trust. If they like the game, it’s probably worth the investment to outfit a school computer lab or buy a site license. Dr. Brian Woodfield over at BYU noted how a teacher set up Virtual ChemLab on one machine in the back of her classroom, which eventually led to the school purchasing a site license. I do mini-studies with my own kids from time to time. Also, my paper on assessing higher order thinking in videogames might help pinpoint the pedagogical potential of games with which you are unfamiliar.

In conclusion, any classroom intervention is worth serious consideration beforehand. Hopefully, these seven questions will help steer you toward quality products. Educational videogames are strong tools for teaching in the classroom. Judicious selection of appropriate titles may result in many positive results.

References:
Rice, J. (2005). Evaluating the suitability of video games for k-12 instruction. Paper presented to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2005 International Convention, Orlando, FL.