Soxbadger

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 12:33 PM) The word is universal, not American. Does not compute. America is the universe. Nothing else matters.

Michigan always beats Wisconsin, that is just a fact of life.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 11:02 AM) Relevant isn't the same as competitive. ND hasn't been competitive since Holtz, but they are still as relevant. They still move the needle just as much. Maybe Michigan could have their own TV deal, but then without their conference where could they find 11 other football teams they can beat? Good point, they can only schedule Notre Dame once, so Im not sure where the other 10 wins would come from.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 10:39 AM) Why? They dont have the largest fan base, not the largest tv deal, not the largest endowment, and haven't been competitive in the BCS era. What makes them so rich? Dude they are figuratively the richest kid, dont you understand that? Just like Ill be figuratively making love to Kate Upton tonight.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 10:37 AM) I'm not acting like it's impossible to evaluate teachers. I'm saying that there is no universal definition of "good" and "bad." Those definitions will fluctuate from family to family and community to community and administrator to administrator. So when we hear about how hard it is to fire "bad" teachers, I want to know on what criteria are they being judged. edit: which doesn't mean that it should be difficult to fire incompetent, ineffective teachers. But I wouldn't support an administrator-by-administrator definition. Objective, meaningful standards are what is needed and most school districts are attempting to move towards that. They need to remain flexible and open, however, to changes in criteria if they are found to be lacking. Well so far the criteria that has been proposed is based on merit, not based on what books they have prescribed. So Im just not sure how this is relevant to the current strike. I havent seen a big fuss about teachers being fired for teaching certain topics. QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 10:39 AM) Yeah, standardized tests are kinda good for evaluating some things but not good for evaluating other things. There's nothing really funny or ironic about that. You dont think there is something funny about kids entire life's being changed by how they score on the ACT/SAT, and yet everyone agrees standardized tests arent a good way to evaluate? That to me is very funny, because it shows that the only true objective way (a standardized test), isnt okay, and the subjective ways (opinion) are also not okay. So really there is no good way to judge anyone. Which is fine, but that goes back to "life isnt fair" so sometimes we judge people unfairly. It sucks, but it happens to all of us. So really why are teachers different?

I agree. I mean its funny that standardized tests are so bad to evaluate teachers, but good to evaluate students?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 10:26 AM) I think this can be said for any job. The issue is, with other jobs, people DO define what's good/bad. And you deal with it. If all of your students always suck in the classes you teach, but these same students perform better in others, it's probably you. I don't get why people think it's so hard to judge a teachers performance. Take all of the students they teach, and take the average scores. Now take those SAME students scores from other teachers...are they higher/lower or the same? That's a pretty damn easy way to figure it out. I've had good teachers in the past, and bad ones. It's not that the bad ones are stupid...they simply don't know how to teach what they know. Its not necessarily that simple. Just because I can get an A in any history/writing class without even opening a book, doesnt mean I can get an A in a calc class with the same preparation. That really isnt the teacher, thats just me being me.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 10:18 AM) Part of the problem is who defines what's good and what's bad? (from digby, towards bottom) No that isnt really part of the problem because I dont believe reasonable people would agree with this. And if they were firing teachers for this reason and then the union struck, I would strongly support them. You are acting like its impossible to ever tell good or bad. So should they just never be rated? Because how can I tell what a good or bad teacher is?! That seems like a pretty big insult to good teachers.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 10:01 AM) Maybe you don't understand the difference between figurative and literal. In the world of college football, ND is figuratively the "richest kid" The Big Ten did at one point decide to go from 8 to 9 games, and even though they've switched back, the time in between caused some shifts in the series with MSU and UM, which was part of what got the ball rolling for ND to make the ACC move. I understand the difference between figural and literal. If you want to just throw around things that are unprovable that is fine. I thought we were having a legitimate discussion as to why Texas (the literal biggest and richest kid on the block) would want to work with the figurative richest kid on the block. Your answer was: Notre Dame is richer than Texas. Well the only place that is true is in the minds of Notre Dame fans. In the world of college football, to non Notre Dame fans, they havent been relevant since Lou Holtz had the Rocket. Yeah I remember watching the clip game against Colorado, I remember when they actually could compete against Florida State. But I have to believe that is almost 20 years now. The only reason Notre Dame has the NBC contract is that the bigger teams all have more lucrative conference deals. IF Michigan broke away from the Big 10, they could easily have their own tv deal.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 09:35 AM) All of that data is misleading. Part of the NBC contract sends money directly to the University and not to the athletic department, so it won't show up in football revenues/profits. The NBC contract covers ND home games only. ND still gets a share in money from away games. Conference TV contracts cover all conference games home and away in addition to non-conference home games. Also, ND has sacrificed some TV revenue in exchange for more control over start times. If ND's goal was maximizing TV dollars, they could probably get 20-30% more money in exchange for giving NBC total control over start times. It's pretty easy to pull a bunch of numbers off the internet. It's much harder to understand what they actually mean. lol None of that data is misleading. You said Notre Dame is the richest kid. They have $1bil less than Michigan, who isnt even the biggest. If you want to prove Notre Dame is the richest school in all the land, show me 1 piece of data to support your position. Because "well they could make more money but they dont" is an excuse, as I could argue that any school could potentially make more money under certain conditions. Your last sentence is one of the most snarky I have read. You are the one who said Notre Dame is the RICHEST school. Yet you didnt provide 1 fact to support it. I showed evidence how Notre Dame isnt even considered top 5. So if you would like to present your case, feel free. But right now you just sound like a Notre Dame homer who doesnt even want to discuss reality. (edit) And you didnt even respond to the point about Big 10 not going to a 9 game schedule. But I guess I dont understand that 8 is the new 9 either? Maybe thats Notre Dame math 8=9.

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 13, 2012 -> 04:46 AM) I saw bits and pieces of it. Did Britney ever really critique anyone because of what I saw, she was pretty much just sitting there to be there? Britney was doing a lot of the critiquing. Most of the contestants were saying "Britney's mean" after the judging. She just would flat out tell people that they didnt have talent.

haha Great minds think alike?

Trade 1 is damn tempting. Stafford could easily regress if the Lions cant run at all and Eli could put up similar numbers. You add in Graham who I think will be the highest scoring tight end, that is just really hard to pass. I am not a big Stafford guy though and I think Eli is a sound QB. I would trade Ridley over BJGE, today. That may change in a few weeks. The reason is that Vereen is out right now so no sharing carries for Ridley. Who knows what Belichek does when Vereen is back. BJGE on the other hand is likely to get 20-25 carries come rain or shine the rest of the year. Really just depends what you prefer, solid guarantee or risky upside.

So a guilty pleasure is X-Factor now that Idol is dead to me. Britney is hilarious. And the boy band that sounded like Sublime was just a terrible knock-off.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 09:10 PM) This is the most pathetic apology for America I've ever seen. America doesnt apologize, by definition we are always right.

You know what, this is the final straw. They want terror, I will give them terror. People like me have held the US at bay, I have quelled the bloodlust. But no more, they kill 1 of mine, I kill 10 of theirs. They fire a rocket at an embassy, I drop a h-bomb on Mecca. Im about to go Jewish god on their ass. Unless theyve forgotten the last time we had to lay the smack down in Africa. See, killing of the first born. USA FOREVER!

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 08:44 PM) Nah, just let me have a presser, not answer any questions, and hop on Air Force One to do more fundraising like nothing happened. Meanwhile, let's grill the other candidate for actually having balls to take a stand. It seems like priorities are screwed up here. What do you want Obama to do? Suit up and go catch some terrorists? Declare war on Libya? Bad things happen, I thought most American's learned the lesson of 9/11, maybe I was wrong.

Dont worry all of Islam apologized:

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 03:50 PM) But it's not better. It's just user preference. I've used Android, Windows Mobile and iOS. They all perform the same basic functions, and are all about looks/style/feel. Apples advantage is the 3rd party support, instant software upgrades, and a huge app library/support structure. Apple's hardware/software tends to work together a bit better than alternatives because they control both. But that said, it's strictly user preference. The iPhone 5 is a capable device, as is the Samsung Galaxy SIII, etc... If you hack Android, you can hack iPhones, too...if that's your game. Thanks, thats what I assumed but always better to wait and see. I always liked how apple products work, I just never have bought one for a variety of reasons.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 05:42 PM) Obama ordered the US embassy to apologize for a youtube video that hurt Muslims feelings. http://egypt.usembassy.gov/pr091112.html "The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims" Full quote: The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others Not seeing the outrage.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 04:56 PM) No, it wouldn't. You're not talking about anything either CPS or CTU has a problem with. I don't think either side has an issue with peer review, and if they do, it's not the only issue. Isnt it the unions job to inform me of what the issues are, and why the proposals by CPS are so bad that they literally can not go to work because of the gravity of the situation. Is that really so much to ask? I just dont trust either side. I dont trust anyone. So when I hear that a strike issue is something that is nonsensical and should easily be resolved, I wonder, what the hell is really going on.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 04:08 PM) The issue they're disputing isn't your plan to hire outside evaluators. Then what is the issue? I still dont understand. Evaluations are s***ty at every job. Unless you are at a job where it is simply economics, we pay you X, you better make more Y than X or else youre gone. We cant fix that evaluations are s***ty. Its like trying to fix standardized testing or some other thing that never can be fixed. There is no good way to judge people without actually being there every single day. QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 04:09 PM) They tried arbitration this summer but both sides rejected the conclusion. Non-binding arbitration. Binding arbitration means if the judge says something, you HAVE to do it. Non-binding is a good way to pay a bunch of lawyers a lot of money. I wonder how much money was wasted on that stupid nonsense.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 04:07 PM) Hiring random people or ex-teachers off the street would not solve the dispute. Nope, but hiring ex-educators who have no stake with either CPS or CTU would. I dont recall saying that it should be like jury selection where anyone could be it. They would set up a committee, the committee would have people who have experience in education, and they would make independent decisions. Or hell just they look over appeals if either side doesnt agree with the ruling. It really isnt that hard to come up with a solution that is beneficial to the children. Its very difficult to come up with a solution that is beneficial to teachers being able to keep their jobs and beneficial to administrators being able to fire teachers.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 04:03 PM) I agree it's a tough situation but throwing more money into more administrative functions and taking it away from instruction is not what I would want to do. The administration should just to what's fair. Oh its the nuclear option. You make a proposal that no one likes, and then 2 parties sit down and realize they better come up with a solution. This is how judges resolve cases every day. You tell 2 parties if they dont agree, Im coming up with a solution you will both hate.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2012 -> 04:01 PM) You were referring to "average people" and "taxpayers." How was I supposed to assume that you meant ex-educators or people who are familiar with teaching and evaluation? I don't think you have the experience or knowledge to accurately assess a teacher. Having been a student throughout your life does not give you that ability. You would need to be knowledge of the actual field of education and have gone through similar education and training that teachers have to assess their performance. What if a Superintendent said I did? What if teachers have requested me to come to classrooms to teach? What if I have passed all of the teacher certification tests? Do I have enough requisite knowledge then? Or is the only way Im qualified to be on the CPS payroll? I just want to know what you think the rules should be for evaluating teachers. Because Im just not clear why if this is the most important issue, 2 sides cant sit down and resolve it.