Sherri's comments

Sherri's comments from the True North group.

Note: Sherri is no longer a member of this group.

I looked forward to buying school supplies each year. Even now, I like to go through the aisles right before the school year and look at all the nifty things.

RA, Bush DID visit and talk to school kids -- he was reading to a group them on 9/11/01, for that matter. I don't recall anyone accusing him of political indoctrination. In fact, the only thing I recall being said about any of his visits is the usual jokes about his reading ability.

There are still people -- a LOT Of people -- who can remember when being called "socialist" was a serious accusation. I think the use now is an attempt to reactivate some of that fear.

Obama "Indoctrinating" Kids?


Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer... is "absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology."

Is anyone else feeling really embarrassed to share a country with this guy? Or are we all just blinded to the socialism inherent in teaching children to take responsibility for their own educations?

Ya know, this (weirdly, perhaps) puts me in mind of the nature of exploration and daring that seems lost in our risk-adverse present -- the people who went into the unknown weren't all scientists and soldiers and professional adventurers. They were people, just plain ol' people who wanted to go or needed to go, people with different interests and sets of skills. Artists and musicians and farmers and shoe-makers.

It's good to see that again.

You know, silk dancing would be awesome in low-g.

Rob, I'm sure you say much more polysyllabic things when you are sitting around in a state. ;)

"Typically, influenza is transmitted through the air by coughs or sneezes, creating aerosols containing the virus. Influenza can also be transmitted by bird droppings, saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood. Infection can also occur through contact with these body fluids or through contact with contaminated surfaces."

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2037...

Well referenced article makes it pretty obvious.

Clemson does not observe Memorial Day, Labor Day, MLK Day...July 4th, Christmas, Thanksgiving break, Fall Break and Spring Break are the holidays off. It's a state university, too, and a land grant university. It started out as a military school and I think part of its schedule is a hold over from the 19th century -- just didn't change. When did we start celebrating Memorial Day and Labor Day?

Ya know, my husband's university does not take OFF Labor day, so we don't GET a four day weekend -- and he worked most of his last break. I'm determined that we will NOT be working NEXT break. He's too damn dedicated sometimes and he's heading for a burn out.

done. We can always remod if he comes back.

Yeah, I sent a message to him weeks ago, but no answer. I think his new job ate him.

Funny, the more days go by, the less I care. I think I'm approaching zero.

Since I was obviously too obscure, what I meant was that a majority of people can be incontrovertibly convinced of an untrue fact if it is repeated to them by something/someone they consider (for whatever reason) to be an authority. Bun asserts that "people should know better" that a once living person used as a fictional character will not be mistaken FOR that fictional person. I say that doesn't take into account how a book becomes part of our culture, and how people don't really care to think.

You may continue to make fun out of my original post. I think I'm done.

I find the only response to this is...

Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Guy Gavriel Kay : "Novels claiming access to the minds of real people are everywhere, and some are very good. But I can't help feeling a vital line has been crossed"

Do you think authors are dabbling in dangerous stuff when they fictionalize the interior lives of historical or "real life" people? Are those lives fair game? Do we lose or gain by it?

All those Reader's Digest Condensed books, too. And those old, bound, farm report books from the 60s.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...

He changed music, that's for sure. I have a collection of his music that I listen to fairly often. It's just such a special SOUND.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090806/ap_e...

Only 59 years old. Those 80s movies were a touch after my official teen years, but they were touchstones of my youth. They were part of my landscape.

It is very hard for anyone with a carefully constructed paradigm to work around or even SEE around those expectations. We make up a big part of our reality. We have all these templates in place in our heads, and we act and react more in line with those templates than we do with what is actually happening.

And everyone has a different set of templates. I have friend with a "policeman" template that says the police are just causing trouble, they don't like certain people, their purpose is to make things a certain way, and some people are immune (these feelings have little or nothing to do with race in this case). My own template is far different -- but no less likely to be wrong in at least some situations. For instance, my inclination to trust a police officer could make me prey to someone disguising themselves or to one of the rare bad apples (they do exist, although I don't think they are common).

So how do we even detect these templates through which we see the world, much less look at how they affect us in a given situation?

Bun, what did the interviewee say was "the system" through which this particular misunderstanding happened? I'd be interested in more details about that. It's hard to talk about something as being "of the system" without knowing what system is being discussed.

And Amazon isn't trying to obtain the same monopolistic control over toasters and flashdrives -- too much competition already in the marketplace to make that feasible. Most of the the time they are just acting as a gateway for someone else and getting a percentage, anyway. But book/media? Bread and butter.