Here and Now...What's Happening?

[Calz]

Posted by Dennis Leahy (here)
I am way too "chicken" (mature? wise with age?) to actually ever try base-jumping, or highwire over a canyon...but I am drawn to it as an observer. I just saw a video that, quite honestly, is so intense in a few places that I couldn't breathe. I watched this in 720p at full screen, and had to walk away from the computer afterwards.

I'm still not sure what draws me to this. I was probably too chicken to try this at my most insane/invincible (18-22 years old) time in my life, yet, I want to think I could have overcome my fear and could have done this.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=sPtcRj7Nw_Y

Invitation to Bill to watch this, and comment as to whether you would have ever tried these activities.

Dennis

Dennis

My kids did this in the Phils a couple years ago (without helmets I may add) ... they were fine ... they loved it ... I shat my pants just watching them ...

What's a dad to do???

[Calz]

War ... 30 year later ... what is it good for???

Is this a trick question???

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mn91L9goKfQ

[Calz]

You know ... I am at the leading edge of what has gone wrong and acknowledge that though the push comes from the banksters who are mere puppets of the multidimensionals ... at some point despite all the nonsense hoisted upon us we have to stand our ground and take some responsibility.

I know of no other song that brings this out better than this:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EPhWR4d3FJQ

[chocolate]

When it comes to standing one's ground, this is what I read yesterday:
http://www.collective-evolution.com/...the-us-greece/

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=YH0_JQW--gc

Can be done. It is a matter of FREE WILL and NO FEAR
~~~
A friend of mine at 38 went bridge jumping few months back. He said it was real fun, I got shivers only imagining him jumping.
He is a dear wonderful soul- friend, if one can put a label on him so imagining him getting hurt was a bit of a scare. He is married, and fortunately for his wife, she had to go to work at that day . Some of us obviously enjoy such extremes.
~~~

I don't know if this has been discussed here, but I found calmradio:
https://calmradio.com/ I use it as a free user (try it button).
Here and Now, I am enjoying very much from the acoustics selection ~~SoloGuitar+Piano~~SoloPiano~~ and ~~EliteArtists~~.

Goodnight everyone,

and to Ulli -> Good Luck! tomorrow. Should I wish you good luck if that means we will have to wait for new ones to be made?

I just have to post this image:


sweet dreams (to me at least)!

[Billy]

It came upon me to post this here and just now, or was it a moment ago.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=vHI9BTpGkp8

[ulli]

Came home, fed cats, checked mail, now going out again.
Got my foot in the kiosk door; not quite as fantastic as I hoped, but after all...it is the quiet season right now.

So, consignment it is. At least she loved my stuff, and I believe we will get on well.
There is more traffic there in that mall than here in the outback of Costa Rica.


Just started reading this article, and wanted to share it.
This way I won't forget to read the rest when I get back later tonight.

Women and Hollywood….

http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandh...ostHeaderPanel

[1inMany]

Day 2 of home school. Humming that Elton John ditty, I'm Still Standin' because I only had one single moment of "what the bleep have I done" today And, well, because it seems that whatever hell the days or nights are, the song still rings true

Actually, this week is mostly online orientations for Em. They are boring. It isn't really home school, per se, either. It is a private (pay) national online high school. I weighed the three options I found. One, there was a public (free) online high school accredited in Texas. This option required the same schedule as public school, same curriculum, and same standardized testing. The only difference between public school and online public school is the room the student sits in. Two, there was true home schooling, where we would buy the curriculum, and I would have been in the teacher role when it was time for grading assignments or issuing grades for a transcript. And three, this option. It is self paced, but a third party (certified teacher) grades assignments and the school establishment issues the transcript/credits.

Since someone who shall remain nameless had already hinted at an allegation that Em would not actually do anything, and that I would simply hand out grades like candy in the face of said absence of work, I found something that will keep everyone happy but still meet her needs. He wants grades? Okey dokey, show me the money. I can by goodness gracious give you grades.

Hmmm. Bit of a rebellious streak, I have. So far, so good. Counting my blessings at this moment. Counting you all in my blessings at this moment.

Much Love,

[Carmody]

I love the idea of home schooling. I know some folks, due to being able to schedule their school work in the way that they want to, actually end up doing twice the work in half the time, with much higher grades..

[chocolate]

HERE AND NOW "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
~ Albert Einstein
and choc.

~~
I love the idea of home schooling too.

~~
When it comes to rebellious streaks, I have one too many, 1inMany!
Love to you back!

[Marianne]

My two brothers' children were home schooled.
It can be very nice.
But it can be isolating too.

One brother keeps his family close -- they are very religious and don't want the outside world to influence their young. His children are shy and timid, and have taken a long time to find their way in the world.

I believe in educating them in my way at home (which is to think for themselves), then sending them out into the world to bump up against all influences. It's how growth happens.

My children went to public school. I regret that because I think it breaks a spiritual connection. I hope I helped them find it again, but I was ignorant myself at the time. If I knew then what I know now ....

[araucaria]

If school were designed solely to impart knowledge and learning techniques, it would be a very inefficient way of doing that. Yet academic excellence is the only criterion used for evaluating a school's performance. They even have league tables in the UK, which make it sound like some kind of sports activity. And yet we don't send our kids to learn a sport in order to come top of the league. We send them to enjoy themselves and to learn a few social skills in the process.

[Calz]

Posted by Carmody (here)

I love the idea of home schooling. I know some folks, due to being able to schedule their school work in the way that they want to, actually end up doing twice the work in half the time, with much higher grades..

Rockysmeller did quite the number on the amerikan school system eh???

Any doubts???

Check this out ...

Outside of Carmody perhaps ... tell me honestly ... could you pass this???

______________


SOURCE:
The following document was transcribed from the original document in the collection of the Smoky Valley Genealogy Society, Salina, Kansas. This test is the original eighth-grade final exam for 1895 from Salina, Kansas. An interesting note is the fact that the county students taking this test were allowed to take the test in the 7th grade, and if they did not pass the test at that time, they were allowed to re-take it again in the 8th grade. Also of note, the school year was but 7 months, beginning October 1 and ending April 1. allowing 5 months for planting, farming and harvest.



EXAMINATION GRADUATION QUESTIONS
OF SALINE COUNTY, KANSAS
April 13, 1895
J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent.

Examinations at Salina, New Cambria, Gypsum City, Assaria, Falun, Bavaria, and District No. 74 (in Glendale Twp.)

Reading and Penmanship. - The Examination will be oral, and the Penmanship of Applicants will be graded from the manuscripts

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

Health (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Where are the saliva, gastric juice, and bile secreted? What is the use of each in digestion?
2. How does nutrition reach the circulation?
3. What is the function of the liver? Of the kidneys?
4. How would you stop the flow of blood from an artery in the case of laceration?
5. Give some general directions that you think would be beneficial to preserve the human body in a state of health.





Imagine a college student who went to public school at the end of the 20th Century trying to pass this test, even if the few outdated questions were modernized. Imagine their professors even being able to pass the 8th Grade. Can Americans, student and professor alike, get back up to the 8th Grade level of 1895?

ED-U-CA'-TION, n. [L. educatio.] The bringing up, as of a child, instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties.

-- Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) --


http://www.barefootsworld.net/1895finalexam.html

[PurpleLama]

May many pieces of jewelry be sold.

Here and now, thinking of our hostess....

[araucaria]

You're right Calz, of course. But then, people have been complaining for ever about educational standards slipping. But if you take a different tack, you might say that the smartest folks are probably as smart as they ever were, and the basic level reached by say 90% is very much higher, even than 100 hundred years ago, when illiteracy was much more common than it is today. And somewhere in the middle, you have millions of people typing away at computers and other gadgets who only twenty years ago would have shied away from a typewriter or even a pen.

So are we being dumbed down, or smartened up? If you go back a thousand years to when only a few clerics could read and write and even kings often could not, then maybe it is the case for the dumbing-down agenda that has been overstated?

[Calz]

Posted by araucaria (here)
You're right Calz, of course. But then, people have been complaining for ever about educational standards slipping. But if you take a different tack, you might say that the smartest folks are probably as smart as they ever were, and the basic level reached by say 90% is very much higher, even than 100 hundred years ago, when illiteracy was much more common than it is today. And somewhere in the middle, you have millions of people typing away at computers and other gadgets who only twenty years ago would have shied away from a typewriter or even a pen.

So are we being dumbed down, or smartened up? If you go back a thousand years to when only a few clerics could read and write and even kings often could not, then maybe it is the case for the dumbing-down agenda that has been overstated?

Ah my Libra brother in arms ... I love it ... able to take up any side of any issue ... (most times both) ... with grace and style

[Playdo of Ataraxas]

Well, I learned something today via technology, a new word. I like it:

"Apotropaic/ˌæpəʊtrəʊˈpeɪɪk/

Tomorrow, 2 February, is a Christian festival day that has a number of names, one of them Candlemas. It got that name because on that day in medieval times people brought candles to church to have them blessed by the priest. This was thought to give the candles the power to ward off evil spirits — in the language of religion and folklore, they became apotropaic.

The word is classical Greek, apotrepein, to turn away or avert. Like other civilisations, Greeks and Romans had many rituals that were designed to ward off evil. Grotesque masks and faces, such as the Medusa head of the ancient Greeks or the gargoyles on medieval churches, frightened witches and demons away; incantations and gestures kept the devil at a distance; amulets preserved their wearers from malignant spirits; holly and rowan were effective against evil; symbols such as the all-seeing eye were put on wineglasses, houses, boats or tombs. All were apotropaic.

Although the house is humble, with no fancy architectural details, he noticed a few things that dated it to the late 17th or early 18th century. These included an “apotropaic symbol”, carved on the inglenook and intended to keep witches from coming down the chimney.
Sunday Times, 13 Mar. 2011."

[Dennis Leahy]

Homeschooling is a sore subject for me. Something that my wife and I have an "irreconcilable difference" on. She accepts the "traditional" groupthink - that is, the tradition that Rockefeller and Carnegie imposed on children to make obedient factory workers.

Worse, as I literally argue with my daughter's teachers and principals about homework (I want zero homework assigned), I have my wife siding with them.

My daughter is 14, and has heard from me for years that virtually nothing they are jamming down her throat and making her memorize will ever have any bearing on her life. I also talk to her about the bells. The bells. The bells. 45 minutes, and a bell. No continuity with a project, just factory bells. No immersion in a project until a breakthrough or an insight. Just factory bells. Hall passes to go pee. Permission to use a bathroom. I have told my daughter to go when she needs to go, never hesitating, and that I guarantee she will get in no trouble. I will be in the teacher's and principal's face within minutes of that kind of abuse.

I let my daughter know when something she is learning (that is, being forced to memorize, to pass a test, to make the teacher and school look good) has practical use in the real world. I'll say, "well, knowing how to calculate the perimeter will tell you how much fencing you'd have to buy to surround your garden", for example.

I tell her to make deep friendships and use her time working through social interactions with all kinds of people. I tell her to think of school as a contest she's having with herself, to figure each teacher out and get grades good enough that no one can take away any "privileges" (she couldn't play her beloved soccer with bad grades, and the kids are barred from some of the social activities if they have bad grades.)

I have told her many times that she doesn't have to go, that if she fights to be homeschooled, that then it wouldn't just be me arguing for it...but, as an only child, she is terrified of the isolation and loss of social interaction.

I feel awful every day I send her off to school, and every evening that she is forced to sit with a math book and do homework rather than do any family activities, or art projects, or learn to cook, or just chill-out..I seethe. It is the greatest "mistake" of my life, acquiescing to having her go through this bullsh!t day after day, stealing her childhood, (attempting to) form her into another vanilla, compliant, obedient, worker bee. She's a smart-ass, feisty, witty, intelligent, and relatively well-grounded for someone that has to endure that lifestyle.

Homeschool does require some testing be done, but I wonder how close to a self-guided education would be attainable, and still cross the goddamn t's and dot the goddamn i's that THE STATE demands be met. One thing I'm sure of is that you could let your kid become immersed in a project (for example, an art project) for days on end. No goddamn bells.

Yeah, this hits a raw nerve with me. If you want to know how far away the Rockefeller/Carnegie/prison education system is from my heart and mind, read the "Education Reform" section of the Candidate Position Issues section of The Reset Button. And, take a look at the Sudbury Valley School.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=NxPnvJE0V2E

Dennis

[ulli]

Posted by PurpleLama (here)
May many pieces of jewelry be sold.

Here and now, thinking of our hostess....

She has now 21 pieces on consignment,
and I have another 20 pieces to price, and deliver.
So I'm back in business.

And I will also be going back to Barbados in March, and replenish the stock in the kiosk there.
Amazing how very similar those two kiosks look.
Both have four corner columns with glass shelves inside, and glass counters between them,
yet are located in totally different cultures/countries.

Gone are the days when one just showed stuff to retailers and they threw their cash at you.
But if she gets a following of people who go wild over my stuff it might happen again.
I had nine shops between the age of 25 and 45,
and found the success of 1988 the most intoxicating experience.
But that same year my love life was at rock bottom.

[ulli]

Posted by Dennis Leahy (here)
Homeschooling is a sore subject for me. Something that my wife and I have an "irreconcilable difference" on. She accepts the "traditional" groupthink - that is, the tradition that Rockefeller and Carnegie imposed on children to make obedient factory workers.

Worse, as I literally argue with my daughter's teachers and principals about homework (I want zero homework assigned), I have my wife siding with them.

My daughter is 14, and has heard from me for years that virtually nothing they are jamming down her throat and making her memorize will ever have any bearing on her life. I also talk to her about the bells. The bells. The bells. 45 minutes, and a bell. No continuity with a project, just factory bells. No immersion in a project until a breakthrough or an insight. Just factory bells. Hall passes to go pee. Permission to use a bathroom. I have told my daughter to go when she needs to go, never hesitating, and that I guarantee she will get in no trouble. I will be in the teacher's and principal's face within minutes of that kind of abuse.

I let my daughter know when something she is learning (that is, being forced to memorize, to pass a test, to make the teacher and school look good) has practical use in the real world. I'll say, "well, knowing how to calculate the perimeter will tell you how much fencing you'd have to buy to surround your garden", for example.

I tell her to make deep friendships and use her time working through social interactions with all kinds of people. I tell her to think of school as a contest she's having with herself, to figure each teacher out and get grades good enough that no one can take away any "privileges" (she couldn't play her beloved soccer with bad grades, and the kids are barred from some of the social activities if they have bad grades.)

I have told her many times that she doesn't have to go, that if she fights to be homeschooled, that then it wouldn't just be me arguing for it...but, as an only child, she is terrified of the isolation and loss of social interaction.

I feel awful every day I send her off to school, and every evening that she is forced to sit with a math book and do homework rather than do any family activities, or art projects, or learn to cook, or just chill-out..I seethe. It is the greatest "mistake" of my life, acquiescing to having her go through this bullsh!t day after day, stealing her childhood, (attempting to) form her into another vanilla, compliant, obedient, worker bee. She's a smart-ass, feisty, witty, intelligent, and relatively well-grounded for someone that has to endure that lifestyle.

Homeschool does require some testing be done, but I wonder how close to a self-guided education would be attainable, and still cross the goddamn t's and dot the goddamn i's that THE STATE demands be met. One thing I'm sure of is that you could let your kid become immersed in a project (for example, an art project) for days on end. No goddamn bells.

Yeah, this hits a raw nerve with me. If you want to know how far away the Rockefeller/Carnegie/prison education system is from my heart and mind, read the "Education Reform" section of the Candidate Position Issues section of The Reset Button. And, take a look at the Sudbury Valley School.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=NxPnvJE0V2E

Dennis

You know Dennis, although I am inclined to think the way you do, as opposed to the regimented drilling...
I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that neither way is better than the other.
Both are just 'something/anything' that they end up selecting their MO from.

The only thing that matters in life is awakening, and neither one of those methods prepare for that event.
Awakening happens when a consciousness raising event occurs out of the blue, unplanned, unexpected,
and suddenly the inner eyes are opened.
And wherever people are at that moment they often attribute what was happening right then to being the cause,
but that could still be an error.
The other day a guy told me that some balsamic vinegar that cost $600 a bottle caused his awakening...(Yeah, right!)
Like the Purple Village Lama says...it's best to uphold the mystery of life.

[PurpleLama]

Posted by Playdo of Ataraxas (here)
Well, I learned something today via technology, a new word. I like it:

"Apotropaic/ˌæpəʊtrəʊˈpeɪɪk/

Tomorrow, 2 February, is a Christian festival day that has a number of names, one of them Candlemas. It got that name because on that day in medieval times people brought candles to church to have them blessed by the priest. This was thought to give the candles the power to ward off evil spirits — in the language of religion and folklore, they became apotropaic.

The word is classical Greek, apotrepein, to turn away or avert. Like other civilisations, Greeks and Romans had many rituals that were designed to ward off evil. Grotesque masks and faces, such as the Medusa head of the ancient Greeks or the gargoyles on medieval churches, frightened witches and demons away; incantations and gestures kept the devil at a distance; amulets preserved their wearers from malignant spirits; holly and rowan were effective against evil; symbols such as the all-seeing eye were put on wineglasses, houses, boats or tombs. All were apotropaic.

Although the house is humble, with no fancy architectural details, he noticed a few things that dated it to the late 17th or early 18th century. These included an “apotropaic symbol”, carved on the inglenook and intended to keep witches from coming down the chimney.
Sunday Times, 13 Mar. 2011."

Yep, got my Evil Eye on the front door.