Texsox

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 07:57 PM) If you are going to add more money, you also need to make it easier to fire crappy teachers, get rid of tenure and find a way to cut down on the size of the administration and their pay/pensions as well. Especially here in Illinois, the Superintendents pensions are crazy. Based on an average of their 4 highest years pay, most districts give the ones they like huge raises the last 2 or 3 years they work, then when they retire, the pension is picked up by the State, which means by everybody, not just those wealthy taxpayers in Winnetka. The poor taxpayer in Ford Heights (if there actually IS a taxpayer in Ford Heights) is also contributing to the big guy's pension. The schools I have been close to did not seem to have too many administrators, although I imagine that could be an issue in some districts. Especially those poor ones that have to employ cops to assure safety for the students and teachers. With the teacher shortage that plagues most districts, firing crappy ones would be a dream to get to, but it would probably be more helpful to make the job attractive enough to hire better ones.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 06:28 PM) But that charter school slready spends thousands LESS than the regular schools do, and kicks thier asses in all areas. more for less, so it isn't just money. Tex, the charter school there spends $7500 per student. By comparison, the public schools spent $13,330 per pupil, in 2005! http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/wm727.cfm Are you saying their program would be worse if they had more money to spend? What it proves is a small group of ourstanding people can do wonders. Scaling that nationwide is all but impossible. If you has a choice of working for $50,000 in Winnetka or $25,000 in Roundout, where would you work? Would you rather your kids have 3 year old Social Studies books, or ten year old? Which kids will learn computers better, those with cast off Windows 98 machines, 1 per classroom, or a bank of new Vista machines 1 per 5 students? I agree, money isn't everything, but nationwide, if half the schools start with $13,300 and the other half start with $7,500, which group will do better? I believe the group with the resources. Another factor in DC is making the students feel like someone cares, in this case, it could be that they were part of a special program. The Hawthorne Effect for psychology afficionados.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 02:28 PM) Tex, money isn't the issue. If it was, how could the charter schools in DC with excellent success so far (which the Dems want to stop funding), be doing so with 30% less per student than the DC school system? All the problems that conservatives complain about how government can't run things efficently are shown in public school systems. They are an entrenched boondoggle and are not run well. Keep throwing monmey at it, and you get no results. Sure, money is important, but you have to change the educational heirachy, union dominace and parental involvement. A very tall order. As for funding, I am all for some sort of statewide funding, as basing school money purely on property taxes doesn't seem fair. But if I am still paying the huge amount I am now, and my son's schools start losing things left and right, I am gonna be pissed. Money is the issue. When the difference between what school districts spend can be as much as 10X the amount per student, it has to make a difference. When schools are too poor to regularly buy new text books or have computers, there is a difference. When some school districts can spend more money on weight rooms for their football team then others can for their libraries, there is a difference. Just walk through a poor school and walk through a rich school and imagine how you would bridge the difference. Imagine what that DC CHarter school could do with another $1,000 per student.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 10:55 AM) What Boras client even interest you? Aside from Mark Teixiera who's going to get an absurd amount of money I don't see any players that I particularly like. Doesn't matter. A team that doesn't want to even talk with Boras is not even going to look over his list to see if there is a good fit.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 01:19 PM) When is the last time a team set itself up for a long term championship-level run by giving a lot of money to a Scott Boras managed player? I believe Atlanta also did nicely with Maddux. The Tiggers seem ok with a couple of Boras clients as well.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 11:36 AM) Do you seriously believe people are cheering against Konerko? That the fans on here don't want him to regain his form? Or could it be that he's been so bad for so long this season that they're sick of watching it and think getting him off the field will do nothing but help the team? You can only hope for him to turn it around for so long, cheer him on despite the fact that he's been garbage, keep sending him out there in hopes that he'll just come out of it. It's almost August, eventually something is going to have to be done because he's giving this team nothing at the plate and just as little in the field. I'm sure most everyone hopes that he turns it around but you can only watch that shoulder shrug so many times. Yes, I think some people here would rather be right than have things turn out for the team. I see it in the Crede-Fields debates and the pitcher debates.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 03:31 PM) Don't quite comprehend, but House is easily one of the best shows on tv. I fugured Ships got into the supply closet, again. I want to be a gay man so I'd magically have better fashion sense

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 01:56 PM) Man, when they hit in the middle of a network, these computers are really, really fast at getting the hard data together. 10 years ago this stuff wouldn't have been available until days to weeks after an event. The joys of the internets. Turns out it's something we'd call a dip-slip event, not quite a strike slip signal and not quite a thrust signal, but somewhere in-between. Kind of makes sense based on the area it's happening, hit on a fault that likely didn't break the surface, but also hits in an area where there's sort of a directional change in the mountain range, so there's some shear force on the rocks as well. In something like 5-10% of quakes, there will be an aftershock larger than the initial large event, so folks at least should be moderately cautious over the next day or two. Does anyone here speak geologist? BTW we call a dip-slip event when SS bans a troll in 5 minutes or less.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 01:45 PM) I will say that I like House a lot, but I can't watch the reruns. Once you have seen it, there is no point in seeing it again. That is a great point. I think comedies hold up better for multiple watches then dramas. I have watched some episodes of Seinfeld four or five times and find funny stuff each time that I overlooked. Frasier is the same way.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 01:43 PM) Be sure to let us know when a volcano erupts under Los Angeles. Get a room . . .

QUOTE (Felix @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 01:39 PM) House is by far the best show on television IMO. Also: You are a bad, bad man. House, at its best, is very near the top, if not at the top. At it's average, it falls way down. Some episodes are just so gawd awful. But I think their willingness to risk a crappy show keeps them away from the warm and comfortable puke that clogs the airwaves.

Balta, isn't this basically porn for someone in your field of study

y'all know Alaska will elect someone just like him?!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 12:08 PM) I never really cared for it at first, but after you watch a cycle of the re-runs and learn some of the jokes and characters, it gets funnier everytime you watch it. Seinfeld was the same way for me. you can hold the remote anytime.

I was hoping you would chime in. You don't have a choice in a lot of government services, police protection, fire department, neighborhood parks, libraries, etc. Your hometown is your hometown. But we can make it better by giving our time and talents. Volunteer in the school, clean up a park, be part of a neighborhood crime watch.

QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 01:54 PM) sexual position I thought they already did that for you -- it's called alone I kid because I care™

http://www.cnn.com/ front page of CNN I'd be banned at other sites for posting this

Just came across my screen

I'd go library.

One thing that really caught my eye, which may be the only bright spot in all this With graduation rates on major programs as low as they are, and for star players, even lower, that shows he has some maturity and there is some hope for his future.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 12:11 PM) I guarantee you the Dems would much rather Young and Stevens on the tickets than off them, Tex. I'm not saying that it was the Dems. Sometimes an internal cleansing is in order. Either way, if guilty, I hope they fall fast and hard. This stuff sucks way worse than having too wide a stance or getting a blow job from an intern.

If there ever was a guy that Sox fans should get behind and hope he improves it's Kong. He's been a decent, stand up guy, plays hard, has never in my memory embarassed the team. I'd rather be cheering for someone like that to get healthy and regain his form, then some of the other guys that have wore a Sox jersey.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 09:58 AM) Anything "reality" ding ding ding we have a winner

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 10:12 AM) Can I ask you a question, Tex? (i'm going to ask it before a response) I was recently reading about NCLB, and in it they allow states to make their own test or they could use the national test. In Missouri, they tested kids with both and the MAP test was harder and the kids did slightly better on the national test. 25% passed. In Texas, 24% passed the national test, but on their state test, 90% passed. Now, I am well aware of the huge variations mere wording can have on a similar question for kids from different cultures. And so maybe Texas nailed it. But, did they just give out a completely fluff test? I do not know enough about the national test to draw a comparison. I do know that we have a major controversy here about "teaching to the test" and the many, many, classroom hours that are devoted to "test taking skills" that have no other value other then learning to take standardized tests. There is a lot of pressure placed on schools to have their students do well on these tests. That has been a seismic shift over the past 10-15 years. Careers and made and lost on how well students do on the tests. I'd like to know if the same students took both tests. How large of a sample size was used and how well distributed it was. It would also be helpful to know if either test was administered in Spanish. Bottom line, teachers have curriculum in place that helps kids to sort out answers and other test taking strategies. I fail to find much value in that.

Election year politics