Next Season on Survivor

MoonHowler

A teacher friend of mind sent this.  I thought it needed a special place on the blog.

Next Season on Survivor

Have you heard about the next planned “Survivor” show?

Mayor Bloomberg (NYC), Kathy Black (NYC Schools’ Chancellor), Governor Walker ( Wis ) , Governor Kasich (Ohio) and Governor Christie (NJ) will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 1 school year. Each of them will be provided with a copy of his/her school district’s curriculum, and a class of 20-25 students.

Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.

Each of them must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways.

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Open Thread…………………………………….Monday, April 4

MoonHowler

The Civil War began 150 years ago on April 12, 1861.  That endangered species, PBS, is airing Ken Burn’s The Civil War again, in preparation for the event.  Who plans to participate in the upcoming sesquicentennial events in our for First Manassas?  In other areas?  Perhaps after this summer everyone will be able to spell “Manassas.”    Man-ass-as

The Kennedy mini series is also on.  Is anyone watching?  The jury is out on this one.  Old Joe is really shown to be a jerk.  I can see why the family didn’t like it. 

Who what is everyone watching and doing and thinking about?

Do we dare discuss causes of the Civil War this summer or is that one just too hot to touch? 

 

Meet Bill Sammon of Faux News

MoonHowler

It seems that Bill Sammon, Washington Fox News managing editor admitted to going on Fox and “mischievously” accusing then-candidate Barack Obama of being a socialist when Sammon didn’t think it was true – and then justifying that later by saying he now believes it. 🙄

Here is the Jon Stewart take on the issue:

 

Fox Fox, Fox, you are so Faux. 

And the Bad Taste Award goes to ….

MoonHowler

The stupidity doesn’t stop in Arizona.  It moves on to Chicago.  Perhaps bad taste is a better word than stupidity.  According to Yahoo News:

CHICAGO (AFP) – An anti-abortion billboard campaign using a likeness of President Barack Obama to target African-American women has angered women’s groups in Chicago.

Some 30 billboards declaring “Every 21 minutes our next possible leader is aborted” are being placed in predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Obama’s adopted hometown.

They are being displayed for free after the group’s controversial billboards declaring “the most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb” were taken down following protests in New York.

The Texas pastor behind the campaign by Life Always said he wants to “encourage reflection” about the high abortion rate among African-Americans.

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Governor “Pat Robertson” McDonnell inserts his values

MoonHowler

Something strange has happened that I don’t quite understand.  It seems the governor of Virginia has added an amendment to a bill approved by the General Assembly.  How does this work?  Why is the executive branch able to do legislative tasks?  Here is what happened:

 

Washington Post:

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Robert F. Mc­Don­nell has added an amendment restricting insurance coverage for abortion into a bill approved by the General Assembly establishing a health insurance exchange as part of the federal health-care overhaul.

The health insurance exchange would be managed by the state and allow individuals and some small businesses to pool together to buy insurance at lower rates. Some who cannot afford insurance would receive government subsidies.

Under the federal law, states were given the option of creating their own exchanges or using ones operated by the federal government.

The bill approved by the General Assembly stated Virginia’s intent to create its own exchange, and directed state regulators to figure out how to run it.

After the bill reached Mc­Don­nell (R) for his signature, he added an amendment that would prohibit any insurance plan offered as part of the exchange from including coverage for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk.

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Ronald Reagan Middle School Boundary App

MoonHowler

Guest Post

Alanna Almeda

boundary_cover

Ronald Wilson Reagan Middle School is scheduled to open September 2012 and the school board is scheduled to vote on the boundary plans at their April 18th meeting. There are currently 6 proposals available for your comments and suggestions.

Interested in developing your own proposal for consideration? Here’s an unofficial app that allows you to develop your own plan.

Click here for >> Reagan Boundary Application and create your own boundary plan.

Thanks to Alanna for preparing this nifty app for parents and other interested parties.  MH

When Fire is Good: A Sequoia Circle of Life

MoonHowler

—————————————————————————————————-
The Giant Sequoia only exists one place on earth, in Northern California.  It is the largest tree on earth and quite picky about where it lives and grow.

These trees need fire to live and grow.  Fire clears out their underbrush and also helps open their cones so the seeds can escape. The bark on the trees contains tannin which is a natural fire preventative.

Every once in a while, its good to just sit back and let nature take over and rededicate ourselves to preserving the natural resources that we have.

Something a little less contentious…..

 

The Party of Lincoln needs to look in the mirror

MoonHowler

Guest contibutor Camillus has returned. 

The following is the opinion of the poster and does not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration.

M-H

The Party of Lincoln needs to look in the mirror

by Camillus

 Several weeks ago, a tape of NPR’s head fundraiser, Ron Schiller, making remarks critical of the GOP and the Tea Party surfaced.   In the tape, Schiller referred to the Republican Party as “anti-intellectual” and described the Tea Party as “racist,” “Islamophobic,” and “xenophobic.”  He went on to opine that “Jews” control America’s major newspapers.

 Schiller’s bizarre and conspiratorial anti-semitic remarks are disturbing and offensive.  His remarks about the GOP and the Tea Party, though, warrant further analysis for a simple reason:  they are perceptions widely shared in our society.

 Conservatives reacted to Schiller’s comments with anger.  In their eyes, it was just one more example of a liberal establishment standing ever-ready to portray Republicans and conservatives as ignorant racists and bigots.  

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What’s Wrong with Arizona?

MoonHowler

From yahoo.com:

PHOENIX (Reuters) – Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Tuesday signed into law a controversial bill that makes the state the first in the nation to outlaw abortions performed on the basis of the race or gender of the fetus.

The move comes as anti-abortion groups across the nation try to seize on gains made by political conservatives during the November elections, seeking enactment of new state laws to further restrict abortions.

Under the new Arizona statute, doctors and other medical professionals would face felony charges if they could be shown to have performed abortions for the purposes of helping parents select their offspring on the basis of gender or race.

The women having such abortions would not be penalized.

State legislators have said no such law exists anywhere else in the nation.

Backers of the measure said the ban is needed to put an end to sex- and race-related discrimination that exists in Arizona and throughout the nation. They insist the issue is about bias rather than any broader stance on abortion.

“Governor Brewer believes society has a responsibility to protect its most vulnerable — the unborn — and this legislation is consistent with her strong pro-life track record,” a spokesman said.

Do they just invent things in this state?   In addition to being the immigration capital of the nation, were they also the abortion capital of the nation?   Is there real evidence that people were having abortions because of the race of the father?  How about the gender of the fetus?  Evidence please.Read More

Homeless to be removed from camp in PWC

MoonHowler

Insidenova.com:

DALE CITY, Va. —

By the end of this week, more than 80 individuals in Woodbridge will literally have nowhere to call home.

On Thursday morning, Virginia State Police are closing down a long-time homeless campsite located near the Dale Boulevard exit off Interstate 95 for safety and legal reasons. In an email sent Wednesday, Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer McCord stated that residents will have an hour to move their belongings off that property once police arrive.

Technically, these residents have been trespassing on state property, stated McCord. And because of the nature of the camp setup, McCord said it’s potentially dangerous for both campsite residents and the motorists on the interstate.

“This is a difficult situation and while we are sympathetic to anyone who is homeless, VDOT cannot allow these shelters on its right of way,” stated McCord.

Approximately 35 people are living at the site, said Bonnie Schrader, director of the Drop-In Center program at the nearby winter shelter. To make matters worse, another 46 single adults are officially outdoors after Thursday when the nearby winter shelter closes for the season

This is a story that has no answers.  There are also homeless camps on this end of the county.  What do you do when people have no where to live?  I understand that some of the people in the Dale City camp are children.

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News and Messenger, your bias is showing

MoonHowler

Today’s News and Messenger  featured a story on Babur Lateef”s video , Seen Enough?, shown here and on other blogs over the weekend.

The N & M challenged the assertions made by the Lateef campaign, particularly the comparisons with the housing market and unemployment.  Both checked out as reported by the campaign. However, the N & M took issue with the use of these items:

We should include a note of caution here. Experts have often told us that politicians get too much credit and blame for the economy. They’ve said that even presidents and governors have limited effects in controlling economic trends.

So it seems reasonable that a county board chairman would have an extremely limited impact over a region’s economic performance. Prince William’s economy is closely tied to that of the larger Washington metro area, as well as to the state and national economies.
Lateef’s video suggests that Stewart shoulders blame for the collapse of the financial system in 2008, the rise of oil prices that summer to $140 per barrel and the massive recession that took national unemployment to 10 percent.

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