lucklucky Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Female cleaner steals train, derails it and crashes into an exclusive Swedish apartment block http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262704/Female-cleaner-steals-train-drives-apartment-house-exclusive-Stockholm.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-Files Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 A 28-year-old California man is listed in stable condition at the Flagstaff Medical Center following an all-night rescue in the bitter cold at Meteor Crater east of Flagstaff.The man says he illegally hiked to the bottom of the crater and jumped down a 100 foot mine shaft to "appease the gods," http://azdailysun.com/news/local/massive-effort-rescues-man-from-bottom-of-meteor-crater-mineshaft/article_4de7dcf8-5c46-11e2-8130-0019bb2963f4.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 A 28-year-old California man is listed in stable condition at the Flagstaff Medical Center following an all-night rescue in the bitter cold at Meteor Crater east of Flagstaff.The man says he illegally hiked to the bottom of the crater and jumped down a 100 foot mine shaft to "appease the gods," http://azdailysun.co...19bb2963f4.html Should have thrown a virgin in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max H Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 A 28-year-old California man is listed in stable condition at the Flagstaff Medical Center following an all-night rescue in the bitter cold at Meteor Crater east of Flagstaff.The man says he illegally hiked to the bottom of the crater and jumped down a 100 foot mine shaft to "appease the gods," http://azdailysun.co...19bb2963f4.html Should have thrown a virgin in. It's a dude who spends his thursday evenings jumping into mineshafts - looks pretty safe to say he fits the bill. Because the surrounding rocky material was too sandy and soft for anchors, the team sent someone back into town for sandwiches and equipment needed to plant posts they could use to rappel down the shaft on ropes. I like their practicality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Steele Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 A 28-year-old California man is listed in stable condition at the Flagstaff Medical Center following an all-night rescue in the bitter cold at Meteor Crater east of Flagstaff.The man says he illegally hiked to the bottom of the crater and jumped down a 100 foot mine shaft to "appease the gods," http://azdailysun.co...19bb2963f4.html Should have thrown a virgin in. It's a dude who spends his thursday evenings jumping into mineshafts - looks pretty safe to say he fits the bill.The voice of experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr King Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Stolen Train Crashes Into Home in Sweden http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324235104578243423965348406.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivanhoe Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Female cleaner steals train, derails it and crashes into an exclusive Swedish apartment block http://www.dailymail...-Stockholm.html The problem with stealing trains is that they are all too easy for the authorities to track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T19 Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 And the criminals always claim to have been rail roaded. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Davis Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Ex-Porn Star turned teacher loses appeal to keep job: http://kdvr.com/2013/01/16/porn-star-turned-teacher-loses-appeal-job-at-california-school/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1a1mg Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 The problem with stealing trains is that they are all too easy for the authorities to track.I see what you did there. UUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Steele Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Female cleaner steals train, derails it and crashes into an exclusive Swedish apartment block http://www.dailymail...-Stockholm.html The problem with stealing trains is that they are all too easy for the authorities to track.And the criminals always claim to have been rail roaded. Lol I would advise you two to not quit your day jobs just yet.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-Files Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 A 28-year-old California man is listed in stable condition at the Flagstaff Medical Center following an all-night rescue in the bitter cold at Meteor Crater east of Flagstaff.The man says he illegally hiked to the bottom of the crater and jumped down a 100 foot mine shaft to "appease the gods," http://azdailysun.co...19bb2963f4.html Should have thrown a virgin in. Where do you find a virgin in Flagstaff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivanhoe Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 I know its cruel and selfish, but I'm gonna see if I can cause FCO to throw a clot and sieze; http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/15/lost-without-a-map-despite-a-globalized-society-university-students-cant-locate-the-atlantic-ocean/ Judith Adler started getting suspicious five or six years ago. She can’t pinpoint why, or what, exactly, it was, but the sociologist at Memorial University of Newfoundland had a gnawing sensation, while looking out at the students taking her course on families and the cultural traditions of families the world over, that the undergrads in her room had no idea where in the world some of the places she was talking about actually were. So the professor did what professors do and gave them a pop quizconsisting of a blank map and a series of questions. “I asked them to indicate where on the map South America is, where Africa is, and Antarctica, the Arctic, and to circle Europe, label Australia and show where Asia is and label the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and Mediterranean Sea — and I’ve become much simpler in what I have asked over the years,” Ms. Adler says. “I used to ask if they could identify France, England or Ireland — which is the background of a lot of students here, or Spain or Portugal, which is important for this part of the world, but I’ve stopped asking that. “A sizeable proportion of the class would reliably have no idea where the Mediterranean is. Some students would circle Africa and indicate that it’s Europe, and if asked to locate England and Ireland, they would put them in Africa. I have had students that aren’t able to correctly label the Atlantic Ocean, even though we are on it.” Three-quarters of her students typically fail the quiz, a humdinger of a statistic that mystifies their professor. The thing is, most of these kids spend X hours a day on Facebook, Y hours a day checking Twitter, Z hours on Reddit, etc. They're curious about all sorts of cultural trivia. This business of "adults need to engage their little brains about geography" is just freakin' insane. They're all worried about the future of Planet Earth, but they've never entertained the thought that they might want to learn a few things about what's on the surface of the ol' blue marble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingCanOpener Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Surprising? Not one bit. My buddy across the hall does the same thing with eighth graders on their second day of school, and loses bits of his soul every year. If he had his way, he would drill our students on geography until they could all get that quiz 100% correct. By our calculations, that would mean he would then move onto the beginning of his Louisiana History course in... late April at the earliest. At least our Honors kids killed most of it on the first swing. Sounds like they had a pretty good seventh grade US History teacher... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Steele Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Surprising? Not one bit. My buddy across the hall does the same thing with eighth graders on their second day of school, and loses bits of his soul every year. If he had his way, he would drill our students on geography until they could all get that quiz 100% correct. By our calculations, that would mean he would then move onto the beginning of his Louisiana History course in... late April at the earliest. At least our Honors kids killed most of it on the first swing. Sounds like they had a pretty good seventh grade US History teacher... Find out who she is, And eliminate her. She sounds dangerous. Or at least revoke her Union card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingCanOpener Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) I'm not a her--and neither is my neighbour. Funny thing, he's a hippy and a pretty die-hard social libertarian, with an interesting mix of liberal and libertarian economic ideas. No clue how it lines up, but it works for him. He's a unionist that constantly gripes about the union, has little love for both The Man™ and race baiters that agitate minorities--which sometimes puts him at odds with his friends and the occasional community leader. He then cools it all down by picking up a banjo and playing some folk music, and everyone is happy. Funny guy. Edited January 17, 2013 by FlyingCanOpener Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-Files Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Inscrutable Chinese confiscate dog penisisisis. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/16/taiwan-confiscates-435-dog-penises/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Steele Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I'm not a her--and neither is my neighbour. Funny thing, he's a hippy and a pretty die-hard social libertarian, with an interesting mix of liberal and libertarian economic ideas. No clue how it lines up, but it works for him. He's a unionist that constantly gripes about the union, has little love for both The Man™ and race baiters that agitate minorities--which sometimes puts him at odds with his friends and the occasional community leader. He then cools it all down by picking up a banjo and playing some folk music, and everyone is happy. Funny guy. My choice was based on the fact that most primary (and secondary to a large extent) are women.How did such people get Teaching Certs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekirk Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) I know its cruel and selfish, but I'm gonna see if I can cause FCO to throw a clot and sieze; http://news.national...atlantic-ocean/ Judith Adler started getting suspicious five or six years ago. She can’t pinpoint why, or what, exactly, it was, but the sociologist at Memorial University of Newfoundland had a gnawing sensation, while looking out at the students taking her course on families and the cultural traditions of families the world over, that the undergrads in her room had no idea where in the world some of the places she was talking about actually were. So the professor did what professors do and gave them a pop quizconsisting of a blank map and a series of questions. “I asked them to indicate where on the map South America is, where Africa is, and Antarctica, the Arctic, and to circle Europe, label Australia and show where Asia is and label the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and Mediterranean Sea — and I’ve become much simpler in what I have asked over the years,” Ms. Adler says. “I used to ask if they could identify France, England or Ireland — which is the background of a lot of students here, or Spain or Portugal, which is important for this part of the world, but I’ve stopped asking that. “A sizeable proportion of the class would reliably have no idea where the Mediterranean is. Some students would circle Africa and indicate that it’s Europe, and if asked to locate England and Ireland, they would put them in Africa. I have had students that aren’t able to correctly label the Atlantic Ocean, even though we are on it.” Three-quarters of her students typically fail the quiz, a humdinger of a statistic that mystifies their professor. The thing is, most of these kids spend X hours a day on Facebook, Y hours a day checking Twitter, Z hours on Reddit, etc. They're curious about all sorts of cultural trivia. This business of "adults need to engage their little brains about geography" is just freakin' insane. They're all worried about the future of Planet Earth, but they've never entertained the thought that they might want to learn a few things about what's on the surface of the ol' blue marble. I'd be willing to bet that this sort of thing hasn't really changed all that much, down through the years. Circa 1980, my World History teacher gave a similar sort of test in our class. About 90% failed, if I remember rightly. When I was a recruiter about ten years later, I sat down for an interview with a kid who was in the running for valedictorian of his class. At the end of the interview, he said something about "...well, if I ever want to go to Europe, I'll just drive there some summer...". Geography is not something we really bother to teach, and it has been that way for a very, very long time. And, to tell the truth, I'm not entirely certain that it is that big a deal. There's intellectual knowledge that matters, and then there's the sort of stuff that wins you games of Trivial Pursuit. Which is which, is the question? I'd submit that being able to recite the capitals of the world and locate them and their countries on a map might not be the most important take-away from a world history or geography course. What would be the important thing, for the average person? Damn good question, and one I don't think very many of us bother to think about. An analogy would be my experience teaching threat vehicle identification as a junior NCO. That was one of the first subjects I was ever tasked with training, and I did what became my usual patented "drown them in knowledge" training technique. By the time I got done, I covered every nuance of what was worth knowing about Warsaw Pact and NATO tanks and other armored vehicles--Caliber of ordnance, crew sizes, recognition features, you name it, I covered it. Took about three hours to give the class, and it was exquisitely detailed and refined. As a final test, I had little dioramas made up out in the woods with camouflaged model tanks in them, so the poor bastards had to ID them from the prone at about ten meters. All well and good, but the First Sergeant took the wind out of my sails with a single comment: "Y'know, CPL Kirk... I love the class. I really do. Best vehicle identification class I've ever seen, and I can tell you put some time into it... But... Is it really that important to know that the T72 tanks that overrunning our command post have a 125mm main gun? Wouldn't it be enough to know "Enemy tank", for our guys? We're not tankers, and knowing the gun data isn't going to do shit to help us take one down with a LAW...". EEFI. Essential Elements of Friendly Information. Hell of a concept, and one I'd submit is probably a valuable technique which should be carried over into education more than it is. Does it really matter what year the Magna Carta was signed? Does it matter if Billy Bob knows where Wessex was, or Parthia? I would submit that the date and location data are important things for the specialist conducting analysis, but for the average person, wouldn't it be a lot more important to focus on what the Magna Carta was, and how the effects of its signing reverberated through history? Wouldn't it be more important for that "average Joe" to know that Wessex was a small kingdom in Medieval England which had influence in what later became England? Give them an understanding of the broad strokes, and hope that sticks with them, or perhaps ideally, sparks an interest for them to study some aspect of history in more depth. I really think that teachers who get too wrapped around the details like specific dates and locations are doing a huge disservice to the instruction of history. The dry details bore the hell out of the kids, and they really don't represent a hell of a lot of real value, to my mind. What should be emphasized is the ebb and flow of human affairs, and how that influences life today, along with the ability to make comparisons between historical events and the events of today. Concentrate on dates and places, and you wind up convincing the majority of your students that history just doesn't matter--It's all dull and boring trivia. I had a teacher when I was in grade school who managed to bore the crap out of me with her module on WWII--All dates, places, names. The next year, we moved, and I got the same period over again, but with a teacher who knew how to grab our attention with the stuff we were interested in. I didn't retain crap from the first teacher, but I can still remember some of the vivid details the second one taught. Presentation and relevance are the keys, and when it's dry data you can easily look up, I'd suggest it is far more important to focus on the human aspects. Edited January 17, 2013 by thekirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max H Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Geography is not something we really bother to teach, and it has been that way for a very, very long time. And, to tell the truth, I'm not entirely certain that it is that big a deal. There's intellectual knowledge that matters, and then there's the sort of stuff that wins you games of Trivial Pursuit. Which is which, is the question? I'd submit that being able to recite the capitals of the world and locate them and their countries on a map might not be the most important take-away from a world history or geography course. What would be the important thing, for the average person? Damn good question, and one I don't think very many of us bother to think about. There's a difference between naming all the capitals of the world and knowing where the atlantic is, and having a general understanding of where the middle east is is kinda useful, even if just to avoid humiliation. To draw a parallel with your vehicle ID class: they may not need to know the exact differences between the T-80U and T-80UD, but telling a BMP from a tank is rather useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivanhoe Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 I'd be willing to bet that this sort of thing hasn't really changed all that much, down through the years. Circa 1980, my World History teacher gave a similar sort of test in our class. About 90% failed, if I remember rightly. When I was a recruiter about ten years later, I sat down for an interview with a kid who was in the running for valedictorian of his class. At the end of the interview, he said something about "...well, if I ever want to go to Europe, I'll just drive there some summer...". Geography is not something we really bother to teach, and it has been that way for a very, very long time. You have a different definition of "a very, very long time" than the rest of us. My 7th grade Social Studies class circa 1972 or 1973 was about 50% geography, with weekly quizzes using "blank" world maps with political boundaries outlined. Quiz questions weren't on the level of "what ocean is this", they were at the level of "identify Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia, and Venezuela on the map". And this was a junior high school with about equal numbers of middle-middle, lower-middle, and working-class kids. Any kid who couldn't identify the Atlantic Ocean would have been pulled out of class and evaluated by a psychologist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Eastes Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Any kid who couldn't identify the Atlantic Ocean would have been pulled out of class and evaluated by a psychologist. I graduated from high school in 1970, in a medium-sized Texas town ( we had one sort-of integrated, and one all-black, high school ). I concur with the above, and then some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekirk Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I'd be willing to bet that this sort of thing hasn't really changed all that much, down through the years. Circa 1980, my World History teacher gave a similar sort of test in our class. About 90% failed, if I remember rightly. When I was a recruiter about ten years later, I sat down for an interview with a kid who was in the running for valedictorian of his class. At the end of the interview, he said something about "...well, if I ever want to go to Europe, I'll just drive there some summer...". Geography is not something we really bother to teach, and it has been that way for a very, very long time. You have a different definition of "a very, very long time" than the rest of us. My 7th grade Social Studies class circa 1972 or 1973 was about 50% geography, with weekly quizzes using "blank" world maps with political boundaries outlined. Quiz questions weren't on the level of "what ocean is this", they were at the level of "identify Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia, and Venezuela on the map". And this was a junior high school with about equal numbers of middle-middle, lower-middle, and working-class kids. Any kid who couldn't identify the Atlantic Ocean would have been pulled out of class and evaluated by a psychologist. I must have come in on the beginning of the change, then. I could always ace those tests, but I was the weird kid in the history class who read the textbook cover-to-cover the first week of class, and then spent the rest of the year getting "A" grades on all the tests while reading other stuff in class, like Ezell's "Small Arms of the World". Used to drive my high school history teacher nuts, because he'd see me sitting there not paying attention, ask me a question, and then get a 15-minute answer covering crap that wasn't even in the textbook. You know you're in trouble when the rest of the class is begging the instructor not to call on you... I don't remember seeing much in the way of pure geography quizzes in school. They were big on it when I started primary classes in the mid-1970s, but by the time I hit high school in 1978, it was pretty much gone. I don't think there were a lot of kids in my graduating class who could have named all fifty states and state capitols, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie Pellagio Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) Geography hasn't been taught for a very long time. What is taught under the guise of "geography" is really "Environmental Studies" ie the study of rivers, soil, ecosystems, weather and climate etc. (I would imagine climate change is a huge part of it these days, when i was in school it was all about the hole in the ozone layer and el nino) People in general have no concept of geography, and even I'm not perfect, the old 'blank map with country borders' game still used to trip me up in West Africa, but perfectly intelligent people these days have absolutely no concept of where things are in the world. it is really, really scary, same goes for history with people having no idea the difference between the Cold War and WWII, or WWI and WWII, people thinking the Boer War was when the black Africans or Indians rebelled. Edited January 17, 2013 by Archie Pellagio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marek Tucan Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Exactly. Too much detail is bad, but basic orientation should be more than "gee, somewhere ont he Earth". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now