Aug 27
“Stupid Is As Stupid Does, Mrs. Blue”
Posted by Dave in Politics on 08 27th, 2004| | No Comments »

Republicans Work Hard to be as Clueless as Democrats

Effort Seen as Success, Experts Say.

Aug 27
Random Notes:
Posted by Dave in Random Thoughts on 08 27th, 2004| | No Comments »

Paris Hilton is publishing a 198 page memoir. Personally, I’m going to wait for the movie version . . . oh, wait . . . never mind.

I missed NBC’s coverage of Olympic water polo. Will someone please explain to me how they get those horses in the pool?

School started this week. I’m teaching 6th grade this year, after one year of teaching 7th grade. The difference in attitude between those age groups is tremendous. I’ll leave it to you to decide if that’s good or bad.

I don’t know how you folks who work an entire 12 months out of the year can do it. Frankly I’m exhausted already. I’m also sunburnt; coaching 7th grade football has exposed me to more sunlight in the first week than I got over the entire summer break. My nose looks like a cherry tomato.

I write a weekly column for 3rd Degree, which is a website dedicated to the Dallas Burn, a Major League Soccer team (the team will soon be renamed FC Dallas, but that’s a different story). Normally the column consists of me watching that week’s match on television, and writing about it in my normal engaging and witty manner (ahem). This week however, I’m actually going to Big D to watch the match in person, and, thanks to the good folks in the Dallas Burn front office, I’m getting my first-ever press credential. Sweet. I feel so grown-up.

Aug 23
Quote of the Day
Posted by Dave in Quote of the Day on 08 23rd, 2004| | 1 Comment »
You can pretty much take any issue and say that Kerry has gone on record as supporting your personal beliefs on that issue – regardless of which side you are arguing for.
– Brian

I sure do wish I’d said that.
Aug 18
Olympics
Posted by Dave in Stuff on 08 18th, 2004| | No Comments »

If you’re only going to read one blog post about the Olympics (and really, that sounds reasonable), make it this one.

Aug 16

Zorak is having a lil’ mantis!

Aug 15
Quote of the Day
Posted by Dave in Quote of the Day on 08 15th, 2004| | No Comments »

“The dynamics that make modern schooling poisonous to healthy human development aren’t difficult to spot: the work in classrooms isn’t significant work; it fails to satisfy real needs pressing on the individual; it doesn’t answer real questions experience raises in the young mind; it doesn’t contribute to solving problems encountered in actual life. The net effect of making all work external is to render the victim listless.”

– John Taylor Gatto
Aug 6
My Way News
Posted by Dave in Culture on 08 6th, 2004| | No Comments »

I’ve always heard that “the wheels of justice grind slow”, but this is ridiculous.

Aug 3
Real Debates
Posted by Dave in Politics on 08 3rd, 2004| | 1 Comment »
Here’s a modest proposal.If we simply must have presidential debates, and it seems we must (they’ve become as much a part of the national landscape as reality TV, unfortunately), then let’s have real debates. No panel of “journalists”, no group press-conference format, but a real debate.

You folks who were on the debate team in high school (you know, the cool kids) know the format I’m talking about. For the rest of you, let me set it up for you. First, there is only one topic for each debate. Debate geeks call it the resolution, because it is always stated in terms of “Resolved: blah blah blah. . . .” With each side taking either the affirmative or negative side of the issue. So, let’s say they want to talk about abortion (like they ever would). The topic for that particular debate would be something along the lines of “Resolved: The laws of the United States should protect unborn children from abortion”.

The affirmative side would consist of The President and Vice-President, while the negative side would be made up of the team of Kerry and Edwards.

The format would go something like this (taken from the National Forensics League rules for debate):

Affirmative Speaker – 8 minutes for constructive speech
Negative Speaker questions Affirmative Speaker for 3 minutes

Negative Speaker – 8 minutes for constructive speech
Affirmative Speaker questions Negative Speaker for 3 minutes

Affirmative Speaker #2 – 8 minutes for constructive speech
Negative Speaker questions Affirmative Speaker for 3 minutes

Negative Speaker #2 – 8 minutes for constructive speech
Affirmative Speaker questions Negative Speaker for 3 minutes

Negative Rebuttal – 5 minutes
Affirmative Rebuttal – 5 minutes
Negative Rebuttal – 5 minutes
Affirmative Rebuttal – 5 minutes

During the debate each team has a total of 5 minutes for preparation.

Each team member must do one and only one constructive, one period of answering questions, one period of questioning and one rebuttal.

That’s it. The advantages are that the participants only have to cover one topic per debate, the gaffe factor is lessened, “journalists” are taken out of the picture, and the Vice-Presidents (and Vice-Presidential nominees) play an important role in the process. Plus, it will encourage more young people to get involved in debate club at school, which can only be a good thing.

Presidential debates, as currently practiced, are a joke and a sham. At the very least, this format would add some dignity and credibility to the proceedings.