- Wow. Have you seen that video of the kid finally striking back against a tormentor? here and here are a couple of follow-ups. Apparently there was no injury, though you’d swear the little bully would have gotten a broken leg out of it. Sucks that the victim got the same punishment as his tormentor.
- Washington wrecks your washing machine.
- SecurID. You may have one. Careful. Turns out not to be so secure.
- Via The Agitator: Resilent Japan. But as the author, Jesse Walker, is quick to say, it’s not just the Japanese who respond well in the midst of catastrophe.
- We were talking the other day about the power of positive thinking. Works for some. Definitely for Bruce Lee. Too bad life cut him off short of his goal.
That’s yet another problem with “zero tolerance” policies; it’s not bad enough that each situation isn’t examined closely, but it also makes the victims less likely to stand up for themselves. Just what should happen right? Make the crime worse.
I can’t stand front loader washing machines. They just don’t handle the same amount of clothes. Our current machine can do 1 load for every 2-3 loads that my last place did.
My local school system has a “Zero” tolarance policy. It translates into zero tolerance for non-violent caucasions that are the victims of school violence. There is zero tolerance for people that stand up to the bullies either by reporting their actions, or taking direct action to stop them. It stands to reason that since schools are instruments of indoctrination for the federal government that they would want to punish anyone that might stand up for themselves, can’t have people standing up against oppressors you know.
If you fall into any kind of special interest group (non-caucaision/asian minorities, poor, illegal alien, socialy connected parents) etc, you get plenty of exceptions to zero tolerance. You get to bully threaten and hurt to your hearts content as long as you pick on the right kids, which seems to be anyone not of your peer grouping.
When my daughter was attacked by another female student in 7th grade and threatened to be killed, the zero tolerance school had no intent of doing anything and accused my daughter of aggravating the situation by reporting the assault. The principal was notified when we reported the assault to the police and they had to respond. Many, many people were displeased when that happened. Ultimately none of the zero tolearance beauracrats did anything since it was close to the end of the school year and would be to much trouble. It was the last day my daughter attended school there.
On SecurID: Some years back I was given three years of free Equifax reports after a laptop at a VA Hospital in Texas was stolen/misplaced. It turns out that when I signed on as a Medicare provider my name and other personal information was placed in a database and somehow that file ended up on a computer half the country away.
If/when RealID and the glorious, all-encompassing and portable electronic health record being rammed down our throats come to pass, those files will be worth billions to identity thieves.
They are well-funded, agile and increasingly sophisticated. Contrast that with government and it’s not hard to see who’s going to win.
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After fixing my toilet (I added a short length of PVC to the overflow, allowing my tank to fill to the point that I can get a decent flush), stockpiling light bulbs and adding TSP back into my dishwashing detergent, it looks like it’s time to buy an “antique” washing machine. Maybe it’s time to look at some of those old units and forward engineer an open source, DIY set of plans for something that can actually wash clothes.
They have regulations. We have ingenuity. Not hard to see who’s going to win this one, either.
bruce rules…still
Wow CS, that’s neat your DIY ideas. I’m not exactly a handy-man but I’m getting better, but it’ll take quite a bit for me to get to that level.
Abortion is a real divisive subject for libertarians. Here’s a great article about how it could be done, without needing government to be involved. Of course there’s no “solution”, although libertarians understand there’s no “solution” when government is involved either:
http://zerogov.com/?p=1699
“Zero tolerance policies” are probably the biggest sham that school systems have ever come up with. All that bluster about promoting the current PC agenda of ‘non-violence’ and ending school bullying is a giant load of BS…It’s all 100% political, an easy way for schools to sweep conflicts under the rug while making it look like progress. Just give both parties the same punishment, check off the “problem solved” box and believe with blind faith that it is…they do it with pretty much everything now.
Matt brought up the one exception to the rule…teachers, principals and school boards are absolutely pants-peeing terrified of even the most baseless accusations of racism. The ONLY deviations from the zero tolerance thing that I have witnessed have been when some black parents pull the race card to get their kid out of trouble…and of course it was their kid that started the whole thing but any principal will gladly throw a white student on the chopping block to cover his own ass. It’s pretty unreal.
To clean up a phrase”If You Don’t Start None, There Won’t Be None”-Mr. Bully got a lesson in that. Things have indeed changed. Taking care of the bully was left up to you-and expected-when I was in school(1970’s). He should have kicked him in the crotch when he was down, to make sure he got the point. Might even be good for Mr. Bully-it might prevent future actions that would result in him stopping a bullet. Bullies are usually some of the dimmest bulbs in the chandelier,but sometimes lessons can be pounded in. If nothing else, Mr. Bully has cause for pause before picking on someone else.
The top-loading washer is going the way of the incandescent bulb, for no truly good reason. I’m currently building up a “care package” of high wattage bulbs(100 to 300 watts-for a machine shop) for a friend in California..
“I’m currently building up a “care package” of high wattage bulbs(100 to 300 watts-for a machine shop) for a friend in California..”
As CS mentioned, add a box of TSP to that care package. Millions of dishwashers were scrapped when phosphates were removed from detergents and suddenly the dishes seemed to come out dirtier than they went in. All those poor “BROKEN” dishwashers.
The power of positive thinking is fine, but talent, good looks and a marketable skill go a long ways towards achieving a reasonable and clearly stated goal. If he had chosen to be the greatest leading man of all time I’m guessing the results would have been rather “Jennifer Annistonish”. Not bad, but hardly meeting the goal.
The power of positive thinking has become somewhat of a cult in this country based on… well, I’m not sure what it’s based on. An attempt at a metaphor:
Him: Dude, I’ve decided to shoot myself in the head.
Me: Man, I don’t know, that’ll kill yuh.
Him: Oh man, why are you being so negative. Lots of people are shot in the head and live. Look at congresswoman Gifford?
Me: You’re right dude, have at it.
And a recent real life conversation with interpretation.
Her: I’ve decided I want to go after that Bad Boy Alpha and make him my own forever. That’s my goal!
Me: Listen, you’re fat, five years older than him, and insist on monogamy. This doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Her: Why are you always so negative. You don’t know that it’s not going to work. This is my dream and I’m going after it.
Me: You’re right Cupcake. Have at it.
I have more REAL light bulbs stored than regular furniture, how sad is that fact….I just wish I could have salvaged the washing machine, it worked like a charm because it was “older” (late 90s)…..
Since I’ve been reading a lot about “writing down your plans” lately, the link to Bruce Lee is pretty cool…..He came close to getting his wishes, even in death, too bad he isn’t around to enjoy them…..
The only way to stop a bully is exactly the way Casey did…no amount of adults “knowing better” will ever accomplish that; plans or programs or whatever else they come up with won’t either…..that awful trait probably goes back to the caveman days, generations after generations that followed……
Great laundry tips on here, thank you 😀
Seeing the little bully get his due reminded me of the Baltimore cop who picked on the skateboarders ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GgWrV8TcUc ). I was thinking while watching it, “Hey, you kids have skateboards, big honking pieces of wood. A knock upside that cop’s head with a skateboard would let him know to mind his own business.” Of course, they’d get arrested and jailed, or worse, but I would have cheered that part of the video.
Go Casey!! Schools are notoriously bad at witnessing and dealing with bullying right in front of their noses. My son was bullied continuously during grade school, but the school never saw it. We tried to advise him to not strike back but to walk away. Bad advice. The humiliations built up until one day he lashed out and slugged a kid who was tormenting him. My son, not the tormentor, got busted.
When confronted by the principal, councilor, and teacher, I told them I thought they (and I) had it all wrong, and that my son did the only thing he could do if he was going to keep any kind of self-esteem. Needless to say, the school did not agree.
In the kid world, even sometimes in the adult world, a punch to the nose is appropriate and ought to be recognized as such.