what do teachers make?

in case you haven't seen this...

tip o' the energy dome to big sis for the link.

tribe names

since we're a tribes school, i let my students name their 5-6 student table-tribe (TT). it's a good exercise in compromise as well as creativity. their names must have unanimous approval of the TT, and they must work together to decorate their name tag (i've got to come up with a better name for this... placard?) actually, it's more of a mobile since it hangs from the ceiling of my bungalow... (shhh, don't tell ed, or the LB fire department!) they end up looking pretty good--especially by the third trimester--they pull out all the stops! here are a few examples:

THE DEAD ROBOT CHICKENS OF DOOM

dragon (thinking): "NEXT"
chicken 1 (thinking): "something smells good."
chicken 2 (thinking): "i know."


L-R: sovany (lead vocals), "WE LOVE YOU, LONG BEACH!"; alula (lead guitar), "ROCK ON!!"; arlena (keytar), "I'M ROCKIN' ON THE KEYTAR"; james (drums), "I AM THE KING OF THE DRUMS!"; lee (bass), "I'M ROCKIN' ON THE BASS!"; juny (keyboards), "THE KEYBOARD PLAYER"

and my personal favorite...

enough said.

5th anniversary

this piece from fairness and accuracy in reporting (F.A.I.R) collects the quotes of both "liberal" and "conservative" television pundits from february to may of 2003,when this
top-gun-cod-piece-of-theater occurred.

what's astonishing is the sheer breadth and scope, indeed the totality of triumphalism and self-righteousness displayed. on fox news it's to be expected, but NPR, PBS? REALLY?!


HOW CAN THESE PEOPLE STILL BE TRUSTED?

maybe it's true what somerby so succinctly states:
you can't run a middle-class democracy with a multimillionaire press corp.

read 'em and weep:

"Iraq Is All but Won; Now What?"
(Los Angeles Times headline, 4/10/03)

"Congress returns to Washington this week to a world very different from the one members left two weeks ago. The war in Iraq is essentially over and domestic issues are regaining attention."
(NPR's Bob Edwards, 4/28/03)

"We had controversial wars that divided the country. This war united the country and brought the military back."
(Newsweek's Howard Fineman--MSNBC, 5/7/03)

"We're all neo-cons now."
(MSNBC's Chris Matthews, 4/9/03)

"The war winds down, politics heats up.... Picture perfect. Part Spider-Man, part Tom Cruise, part Ronald Reagan. The president seizes the moment on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific."
(PBS's Gwen Ifill, 5/2/03, on George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech)

"Why don't the damn Democrats give the president his day? He won today. He did well today."
(MSNBC's Chris Matthews, 4/9/03)

"What's he going to talk about a year from now, the fact that the war went too well and it's over? I mean, don't these things sort of lose their--Isn't there a fresh date on some of these debate points?"
(MSNBC's Chris Matthews, speaking about Howard Dean--4/9/03)

"If image is everything, how can the Democratic presidential hopefuls compete with a president fresh from a war victory?"
(CNN's Judy Woodruff, 5/5/03)

"Now that the war in Iraq is all but over, should the people in Hollywood who opposed the president admit they were wrong?"
(Fox News Channel's Alan Colmes, 4/25/03)

"I doubt that the journalists at the New York Times and NPR or at ABC or at CNN are going to ever admit just how wrong their negative pronouncements were over the past four weeks."
(MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, 4/9/03)

conservative columnist cal thomas should have been looking in the mirror when he declared:

(THOMAS 4/16/03) "All of the printed and voiced prophecies should be saved in an archive. When these false prophets again appear, they can be reminded of the error of their previous ways and at least be offered an opportunity to recant and repent. Otherwise, they will return to us in another situation where their expertise will be acknowledged, or taken for granted, but their credibility will be lacking."

EAT F'N CROW, YOU FILTHY WAR PIG! 4,000 DEAD AMERICANS AND COUNTING, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF IRAQI DEATHS, AND NOT ONE OF YOU HAS APOLOGIZED FOR YOUR COMPLICITY?!?!*

SHAME ON YOU. SHAME. ON. YOU.

the worst part is, these people aren't rush limbaugh or sean hannity (of course, they, too, were spewing this same tripe every day of the week, along with hundreds of other conservative AM talk radio show hosts across the country). these people are considered legitimate political pundits! and guess what?

they still have their jobs!

they who confuse and divide our country.

and they're going to cover our election this november?



*that's not to mention the pentagon pundit scandal that the new york times broke last week exposing television news organizations (such as NBC) using "retired generals" with lucrative lobbying and weapons contracts as "military experts" during their reports on iraq without revealing their vested interests.