the first time i saw rick santorum on tv he gave me the creeps. a religious prick in a sweater vest who seemed to have a string in his back like an old chatty cathy doll. pull the string and you'll get one of 12 religious, right wing adages. the kind of guy i wouldn't trust my kids with when they were tykes.
then i happened to click on one of those 10 facts about arseholes in a newspaper and learned he has a shit load of kids and homeschools them all. i can think of no greater disservice to a child than homeschooling. think about it, stuck with your fecking parents all day and having to listen to their bullshit ad infinitum about every subject under the sun. the kids don't get to raise hell with the other kids at recess and learn all the tricks of the trade from their school mates. homeschooling is for the benefit of the parents not the child. i might be able to understand if the alternative was sending your kid to some ghettoized school full of crack addicts and gang members but good old rick has the means to send his kids to finest schools around.
after all this i learned that rick the prick was a lawyer for the world wrestling federation and was INSTRUMENTAL IN CHANGING THE WWF FROM A SPORT TO AN ENTERTAINMENT ORGANIZATION.
this saved vince mchahon and his cronies millions in fees to sports commissions and removed the wwf from mandatory drug testing of the wrestlers. so what happened? the era of steroids and dead wrestlers was born. thank you rick, may you rot in hell.
oh well, how about those wacky greeks?
for thimscool:
i love you sons of bitches.
40 comments:
Does Rick Sanitarium really have a chance? I thought it was between Newt and Mitt. I'm neutral, anyway. It's always counterproductive for foreigners to pick sides in US elections.
gb - i was neutral until newt pledged to have a permanent moon colony by 2020. i support the man with the vision!
I don't follow all that folitical shit that close, you don't have to watch hours and hours of that bullshit to understand that they are all idiots and assholes.
Got no problem with home schooling, if done properly. They can always send their kids to schools for some things and to get in fights with other motherfuckers.
Fuck wrestling.
So far the poll is spot on, it's not like us to all agree on something.
Newt is so full of shit, no way we could have a permanent moon colony by 2020, unless we take your oil away from you to pay for it.
I have seen people who have home schooled successfully... at least up to middle school. At that point, those parents who are more interested in their child's education than not allowing them to be exposed to any beliefs not shared by their parents let their children attend at least high school.
Kids need to have social interaction. There are church groups and community sports, dance lessons, etc. But its not the same. Children need to be able to learn how to pick their own friends without mom and dad choosing for them. They need to learn how to deal with peer pressure, etc.
Schools introduce people to the lovely world of functioning in institutional settings as well as dealing with people who do not share our view of the world. It helps students to learn to live with rules that they don't have to like, but have to follow. Things required in the real world where mom and dad are not the law.
The long and the short of it is that you cannot keep your children in a bubble if you want them to grow up to be able to deal with the world in a healthy way. School is not just about what you study in class.
As you know I am a home-school parent, and at first I was quite offended at your lumping me in with that gurgling ass-crack known as Rick Santorum. But then I remembered that you are wholly ignorant of homeschooling, and therefore I choose to take pity, rather than offense, and will explain how you got it wrong in your statements about homeschooling.
First of all, though I’m sure it was mere hyperbole, it is easy for me to conceive of "doing a greater disservice to a child than homeschooling" them... for example, you could be an abusive (or simply absent) alcoholic and do much greater damage to their life. But that is a mere trifle, and I’m sure it was only a figure of speech meant to emphasize the fervor of your prejudice.
Next you urge us to “think about it” (sage advice) and you imply that home-schooling involves kids being stuck at home all day with the parents, listening to our bullshit. Our kids get the curriculum done in about an hour, and then pretty much every day involves play with friends, exploring the woods, field trips of various types (usually in a group setting), and plenty of alone time where they entertain themselves.
As such, there is plenty of time to “raise hell with the other kids at recess and learn the tricks of the trade”, since that is the proper majority of most days. And by that I mean with any of more than 100 different kids from a wide variety of backgrounds that my kids see and play with every week.
By the way recess is now limited to 20 minutes in my kid’s school district, where they would get to spend the rest of their hours learning the tricks of how to “not be disruptive” while waiting for their slower classmates to finally learn their colors... or being ignored while their faster classmates soak up most of the teacher’s attention.
And finally you make a very snarky comment about how homeschoolers do it to benefit the parents rather than the kids. Yeah. Voice of experience there, eh Billy? While it might take 1 hour a day for them to absorb their lesson plan, it takes more than an hour a day to prepare it (and then another to deliver it). And it takes more than a little selfless effort to cart the kids around to the various field trips, park-play-dates, dance lessons, pottery classes, etc. Moreover, in my wife’s case, she has pretty much arranged her social life (and carreer) around our kids... which she is OK with, but it is not something she chose to do selfishly, ya numbskull.
I don’t want to denigrate public schools; they can be the best (and frequently are the only) option that parents have for their kids’ education. But I feel very fortunate that my wife (and to a lesser extent, I) can home school our kids. We believe it to be the best possible education they can have, and time after time we see evidence that bears out that theory and encourages us to stick with it.
I wouldn’t suggest that everyone should do it, and I gladly pay my taxes to support the public schools. But I would encourage anyone with school age kids to consider the option, if they can afford to take the time... especially for the young children.
Kids need to have social interaction. There are church groups and community sports, dance lessons, etc. But its not the same. Children need to be able to learn how to pick their own friends without mom and dad choosing for them. They need to learn how to deal with peer pressure, etc.
Ever since "No child left behind" social interaction at school is extremely limited as they scramble to get all of the kids ready to pass the standardized tests that determine their school's funding.My kids spend a great deal more time interacting with other kids than anyone in public school.
They do pick their own friends and deal with peer pressure... are you implying that homeschooling involves one of the parents constantly hovering over their kid making sure that they don't talk to Timmy because he's probably gay? What on earth do all y'all normal folks think goes on around here?
Schools introduce people to the lovely world of functioning in institutional settings as well as dealing with people who do not share our view of the world. It helps students to learn to live with rules that they don't have to like, but have to follow. Things required in the real world where mom and dad are not the law.
This is a good point to think about... In the early days (less than 12 years old), I think that the institutional nature of schools is damaging to children (Billy remembers me as saying that I don't want my kids to be programmed by the state). Many private schools for young children focus on De-institutionalization and child-led learning (think Montessori).
At some point, these are lessons that need to be learned however, and would agree that school can be an effective way to impart them. We have discussed sending our kids to public school when they get older, but that decision can wait a while.
The long and the short of it is that you cannot keep your children in a bubble if you want them to grow up to be able to deal with the world in a healthy way. School is not just about what you study in class.
Again, just what in the hell do y'all think homeschooling is all about? Bubble? That's ridiculous. Our kids are exposed to a lot more of the world than would be possible inside the "bubble" of public school.
Do some other home school parents keep their kids in a bubble? Probably. Maybe that was the norm when it was mostly chosen for religious purposes. But it's a new world folks. Homeschooling is becoming a mainstream option and there are many ways to do it very well. Also, the public schools that you may remember from your youth, or from your kids days, are done and dusted. I live in Chapel Hill, NC, where the public schools are the best in the state (and I pay hella property taxes for the privilege). But I still think we're making the best choice, and there is a huge home-schooling community here.
Things have changed since you formed these opinions, Silly Rabbit.
silly - i agree. in this day of kids addicted to the internet they have to get out into the big bad world and learn how to deal with it.
thims - who in the fuck are you calling ignorant! you forget , i'm a master baiter ;)
of course there are exceptions to every rule. i'm thinking of religious fundamentalists that specialize in putting the fear of god in their kids and rick sanashithead seems to have made his career on religion and his narrow view of family values.
bill - bill - you're handing the moon to the chinese. there are no child labor laws on the moon so the little yellow devils will be right at home.
I can believe Rick has his kids home schooled. It's probably to save himself some chump change for his campaign and also to make sure the kids receive the correct amount of brainwashing. I wouldn't give you a dollar for any of those right wing nut jobs. Unless it was to use them to pull a wagon through a field with a rope tied to their balls. It would probably be the first honest day's work they've done in their lives.
I can't believe you didn't mention Santorum's Google Problem.
I think Thim's just wrote the fucking longest comments ever for things that really don't make a fucking difference anyway.
But hey, he is going to undue the damage I've done to this world.
LOL
kelly - well said. ruby and i appreciate your thoughtful comments.
thims - i dealt with that sleaze on facebook. i try to exude class and good taste in this little enterprise.
bill - yer right. his long and well thought out comments kinda put my little post to shame but i'm just a poor little squirrel in a great big world.
did anyone see the 60 minutes piece on gold in india?
HA! I teach my kids to question authority. I feel bad for the home schooled kids. I know some mothers who do it, and I can't imagine consciously choosing to spend the entirety of each and every day with your children. Aren't they supposed to go to school to give you a break?!
Thanks for weeding out all the stinker politicians. You're making my job a lot easier. ;)
@BBC: I'm an activist!
@BP: You got me again.
Bonus content: Normally I don't slum it at Starbucks, because their coffee is bland and expensive. But on Valentines Day I will definitely go there and get venti Americano.
jayne - i think it works both ways. the kids would get pretty sick of spending all day with their dorky parents.
thims - my son brought me back some beans from cuba. they're kinda of bitter but i'll have to drink a bit more before i pass judgement. (he also brought back cigars)
That holier than thou asshole DID have some of his spawn in private schools and stuck the citizens with the bill; something like 300 K.
He's just another lowlife gritted a la Palin.
Grifter goddamned auto suggest.
Disclaimer - I couldn't care less about people's sexual orientation (unless they make a big deal about it and are completely fraudulent).
Santorum is very anti-gay in his rhetoric but I hear from good sources that he is very pro-gay when he has the opportunity.
He may even be mixxxed up in the Penn State sex scandal.
So you say Rick the Prick and I say Rick the Prick likes Dick.
Cigars? Are you a grandfather now?
Creepy Ricky helped screw-up wrestling? -- for that he deserves damnation via Undertaker tombstones forever. Oh yeah, he pings the gaydar. Glad you saw the saintly light, Billy. I remain Newt Neutral for the moment.
I like THIS ONE.
Ha! This issue really got some fire going didn't it?
I stand by what I said. I have seen good and bad home schooling... and I have seen good and bad public school situations as well.
I am not trying to offend anyone. Just saying what I know is true. Kids do need to be away from their parents as they develop into adults to establish healthy self esteem and confidence in the real world.
Not all parents have the educational skills to teach what is required for a student to enter college and not have to struggle or drop out.
Look at it this way. Not everyone is good at math or science or language arts. A school provides a teacher for each subject who is good at what they teach.
I hope that those offended here are the type of parents who aren't putting their kids into a bubble.
But yes, I do know three home school parenting units that believe that gay Tommy is going to touch their child and make their son gay. They are also afraid that their children are being encouraged to have sex in sex education classes. And that they are being told that Jesus does not exist except at myth. It is crazy!
Home schooling is not an easy job. Not all parents are up to it. But that's my opinion. =:]
harry - send hugh over to show rick where the bear shit in the bucket.
tex - it does seem that most people that hate gay people are kinda gay themselves. rick likes dick, good slogan for newt and mitt.
thims - not yet. they better start breeding soon, the bribes aren't going to last forever.
bob - hell in the cell for rick!!
silly - i agree 100%. some people may be able to do a decent job with home schooling but the vast majority are handicapping their children.
silly - i agree 100%. some people may be able to do a decent job with home schooling but the vast majority are handicapping their children.
I basically think most schooling is overrated, important but still overrated.
What is wrong with it? Stupid fucking adults that decide what the kids should be learning. It may be better once they get the basics to let the kids to decide what they want to learn.
But what the hell, the leaders do need more sheep.
Rick Santorum and Rick Perry..what are the chances that we'd have 2 idiots running for president named rick..
President Rick...I don't think so.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...
But these are Cuban, no?
Has anyone here ever smoked a Cohiba blunt stuffed with Afghan hash?
bill - education over rated? you'll have a tough time arguing that point with leslie.
yellowdog - i think sanatorum is a way bigger asshole than perry. speaking of shithead politicians, i felt like puking when i heard obama was praying for whitney's kid.
thims - i'll never understand cigar smoking. why bother with hash when pot is just as powerful these days?
I'd have a tough time arguing any point with leslie, she was born to be a pain in the ass to men and thinks she knows every fucking thing there is to know about every fucking thing there is to know something about.
Einstein would have called her a fucking idiot.
I can imagine some instances when homeschooling would be a reasonable choice. But very few parents have the education themselves to be decent teachers. I particularly distrust those who homeschool for religious reasons.
Rick Santorum believes birth control is WRONG! Mind you, he wouldn't do anything about it as preznit, but he would leave it up to the individual states to decide whether or not it should be made illegal.
Yes. This was stated by a US politician in the 21st century.
Now stop laughing your arses off, since you'll need them to sit on after you've recovered your breath.
secret - i'd guess that 90% of home schooling parents don't give their kids any advantage for higher education.
shaw - i suspect old rick is on his best behavior right now and if by some terrible stroke of luck he became president a real nasty, puritanical lunatic would emerge.
i'd guess that 90% of home schooling parents don't give their kids any advantage for higher education.
Good grief... why not spend a second researching before you guess wrong and continue to denigrate others and spread misinformation?
Here ya go, Sunshine.
"Major findings include: the achievement test scores of this group of home school students are exceptionally high--the median scores were typically in the 70th to 80th percentile; 25% of home school students are enrolled one or more grades above their age-level public and private school peers; this group of home school parents has more formal education than parents in the general population; the median income for home school families is significantly higher than that of all families with children in the United States; and almost all home school students are in married couple families. Because this was not a controlled experiment, the study does not demonstrate that home schooling is superior to public or private schools and the results must be interpreted with caution. The report clearly suggests, however, that home school students do quite well in that educational environment."
Does it prover that Homeschooling is better than Public Schooling? Not at all. But it does prove that your statement is bullshit and that your prejudice is unfounded.
thims - whomever pays for the survey gets the results they seek. if you were so confident in your position you wouldn't be so defensive.
fuck, you might even have your blog to present your ideas rather than lurking in the shadows and taking delight in finding fault with others.
say hi to leslie for me.
Hey Leslie, Billy says hi.
There are plenty of blogs promoting homeschooling that you'll never read. There are several statistical studies of homeschooling that were done by pro- and anti homeschooling groups. That one was paid for by tax dollars, covered 20000 students, and is generally regarded as being unbiased.
I am defensive because I constantly hear the type of stuff you're saying from people that I care about... and I take the approach of confronting misinformation... particularly when someone is suggesting that I am harming my kids for selfish reasons.
Why are you being so deliberately offensive? If you don't want to be challenged on your blog then turn off the comments.
i didn't say you were handicapping your kids, i said most people handicap their kids with home schooling.
i will solidify my position on the high ground thus:
I APOLOGIZE FOR LUMPING YOU IN WITH BIGOTS SUCH AS SANTORUM.
i now claim the high ground. so i've got that going for me too, which is nice ;)
And do you base your opinion on homeschooling on a survey you commissioned?
Thanks for the Santorum info, he's worse than I thought.
thims - i'm assuming that the homeschooled kids come from a higher socio-economic background than the public schooled kids in your survey so they aren't starting off on the same footing.
take public/private schooled kids coming from households with the same income levels as the home schooled kids and compare the results.
on the other hand, billy cook probably has a survey that says kids with no education are more successful that kids with plenty of formal education. or at least the kids with no formal education are more sexually proficient.
tex - he's probable even worse than we can imagine.
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