Skip to main content

Quote of the Week

With all of the ridiculous legislation that education is facing in the United States, I cannot foresee this country turning out many more great thinkers.  If we do, they will be privately educated where those institutions have the ability to truly challenge students' thinking.

The aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States... and that is its aim everywhere else.
 -H.L. Mencken
This actually makes me think of an anecdote from a teacher.  When one of her students failed to complete his homework consistently, she phoned the child's mother.  She explained the situation that this young pupil was failing to complete assignments and she was seeking the mother's help in getting the work finished.  The mother in turn called the principal to complain that the teacher was harassing her and that her child did not have to do homework if he did not want to!

When the teacher had the student in class again, the student remarked that he wasn't doing the homework but he knew she would pass anyway.  Why?  He brought up that the teacher will not get a raise unless her students pass the class (welcome to Indiana!).  Her response?  "I don't care, I'm leaving after this year."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comparing Oil Prices

I'm a sucker for spreadsheets.  Its so convenient to lay out the data, compare, and make an informed decision.  Okay.  I probably get carried away with it.  Did I really need to make one to compare oil prices?  Um no.  But I didn't anyway.  My Grand Oil Price Comparison Spreadsheet This comparison includes motor oil, gear oil, and transmission fluid prices I compiled from Amazon, Autozone, Meijer, Menards, Tractor Supply, and Walmart.  These prices are generally for the West Central Indiana market so they may vary. As I have time, I will add other local retailers (Advance Auto, Napa, and O'Reilly).  This is mostly centered around my fleet of Fords.  In our household, we're driving a 1998 F-150 XLT 4.6L 4x4, 2004 Expedition XLT 4.6L 4x4, and a 2010 Expedition EL Eddie Bauer 5.4L 4x4.  I never meant to be a Ford fanboy but its pretty convenient keeping all the same fluids and filters around.  Some oils are marked specifically as 5w-20 (that's what Ford recommends afte
Post a Comment
Read more

Husqvarna 460 Rancher Chain Saw

When your 450 isn't big enough, get the 460.  Its the biggest non commercial saw that Husqvarna sells. I'm still really happy with my 450 but I added the 460 to the fleet when the 450 needed repairs.  The 450 was quite literally pouring oil out the bottom. The 460 has a few advantages though.  It has 3/8" pitch chain versus the 450 has 0.325".  That is a common pitch and it can take a little bigger bite than the 0.325.  The larger engine offers more power and the longer bar (24") allows for bigger cuts and easier limbing work. I also made the mistake of purchasing my 450 from a big box store.  While there's nothing exactly wrong with that, the local dealer was the same price and far more helpful when picking out a saw.
7 comments
Read more

Linux Uptime

Linux rarely needs a reboot.  With more recent kernels, it doesn't really need to reboot at all.  Since I've been studying for my CompTIA A+ exam, I've left a lot of material open and handy.  I lost track of how long my desktop had been running so I ran a simple terminal command "uptime" to see. Yes, that would be 53 days, 14 hours, and 38 minutes.  Try doing that on Windows.
Post a Comment
Read more