Headlines of the Week (Or Whatever)

Vintage WTF: Bizarre Old Photos

Where Children Sleep: Photos of Children's Sleeping Areas Around the World

Vintage snapshots of creepy clowns: Eww.

Porn Stars With and Without Makeup: The difference is dramatic. Pardon the pun.

Food for a week: Photos of a week of groceries around the world.

Miss Universe Costumes: Srsly, Murka. Wtf?

Headlines of the Week (Or Whatever)

U-Shaped Public Toilet Seats, O-Shaped Home Toilet Seats: What's Up With That?

Zach Braff Crowdsources Funding for Garden State Semi-Sequel - Go Give Him Money!

Need: A Review of the Samsung Galaxy S4

Ego-Wrangling the World’s Most Powerful Leaders for a Portrait

Thought-Provoking Portraits Of Children And Where They Sleep

Better Living Through Chemistry

From a writing prompt on our Honors Psychology Discussion Board:

Why do people first begin using drugs? Because it is easier for teens to buy drugs than alcohol. Ba dum ching! No, not really. While the above is sadly true, there is no one line answer for this question. I believe that a variety of factors play into the decision to use drugs, assuming that illegal intoxicants are what we are focusing on.

Our first exposures to drugs as a concept are as small children. “Take this,” we instruct our children. “It will make you feel better.” Then we gulp a caffeinated, sugary soda to prepare to stay up all night with them. We begin our mornings with coffee and end our evenings with a nightcap. We celebrate with wine and champagne. We step out to smoke a cigarette while the television blares out commercials advertising magical pills to fix all of life’s problems, from depression to erectile dysfunction. We take those pills, and our children see it. We prime our children for 'better living through chemistry'. Is it any surprise that they seek out what we show them?

Grand Theft Science

From a writing assignment for Honors Psychology:
 

Does media violence cause aggression? This question is as old as media itself, with medieval priests opining to the people that reading and listening to unholy things would lead to unholy behavior. The common man would do better to stick to the Holy Writ and Passion Plays and to leave the rest alone, lest they be led astray. This question comes from today’s priests in the form of psychiatrists and other medical miracle men holding up or putting down television and video games, with both sides arguing vociferously and with the stakes just as high today as then.

On Language Development

From a writing prompt on our Honors Psychology Discussion Board:

I chose to read about Genie, the ‘wild child’, because I had previously seen the film ‘Mockingbird Don’t Sing’, which was based on her life and case history, from the point of view of her predominant worker, Dr. Susan Curtiss, a trained linguist. As I followed links around the Internet, going everywhere from linguistic case studies to film reviews; I began to wonder how environment affects language acquisition. Everything I read focused on the negative impact of a linguistically lacking environment, but I did not see anything that considered the theoretical positive effects of a linguistically rich environment.

On Adulthood

From a writing prompt on our Honors Psychology Discussion Board:

When we think of adulthood, we first think of chronological age. An 18-year-old is an adult, for civil legal purposes. They may sign contracts, marry, vote, drive without restriction, bring a suit in court, and enjoy most of their majority rights. This is not an encompassing freedom, as the state still holds some rights in abeyance, such as the right to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages, hold certain licenses, and run for certain offices. However, in regards to criminal legal purposes, people under the age of 18 (usually at least 16 but as young as 13 in some states) are frequently 'tried as adults', and sentenced as though they were chronologically older. So legally speaking, an adult can chronologically range from 13 to 35.

YRE Lesson Plans for April and May

YRE Lesson Plans for April and May

On Education and Language

From my Honors Colloquium II mid-term exam:

“The teacher’s thinking is authenticated only by the authenticity of the students’ thinking. The teacher cannot think for her students, nor can she impose her thoughts on them.”

–Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed: The Banking Concept of Education

Thoughts on Behavioral Genetics

From a writing prompt on our Honors Psychology Discussion Board:
 
Behavioral genetics has always been of immense interest to me. Are emotions merely chemicals and firing neurons? Are we wasting our time on environmental solutions to societal problems? Eugenics...? It's a very interdisciplinary field, covering biology, genetics, pharmacology, psychology, the Human Genome Project, and even history.

On Children's Autonomy.

Slut-shaming as parenting.*

"I took slut looking pictures."

Not, I disobeyed. Not, I posted photos that could negatively impact my life. Not, I behaved inappropriately for my age. But, I took photos that implied that I owned my sexuality and body, which angered the people who actually own my sexuality and body.

On Abortion

So here's the deal. Thousands of children die each year because they can't find organ donors. You can donate lobes of your liver with almost no problems. Kidneys are a little more problematic, but neither even comes close to having a child, much less raising one. So, if you haven't signed up to donate one, the other or both, then you have no business voting for a law that would force someone else to donate their organs to a child without consent. This seems like simple logic to me. Again, to recap:

If you think that unborn children have a right to my organs, then actual, live children surely have a right to your organs. So put up or shut up.

Mario Batali Is Fucking Starving

Jesus said: Feed the poor.
They said: Sorry, Jesus!
We spent $40 million on hate and fear.

“I’m [expletive deleted] starving.”

— Celebrity chef Mario Batali, while discussing his 'Food Stamp' diet, where he and his family are eating on a 'food stamp' budget (an average of $1.48 per meal, or $31 per week) in protest of potential cuts to the federal nutrition assistance program.

Unlike most people on food stamps, Mario Batali has access to a large variety of foods and has both the equipment and education to make the best use of it. This is something we should think about the next time that we're auditing what poor people eat, or their grocery purchases. I mean, this guy prepares food for a living - with every kind of equipment known to man - and he still cannot manage to do this without feeling like he’s going hungry.

Dude. Dude, this kid has it right. (Randomly found in the Interwebs.)

"The world is pretty and everyone should be quiet and enjoy it."

On Welfare Queens

What!? No. That's asinine.

I keep seeing all of these hate graphics about poor people. They usually invoke the fantasy world wherein welfare queens receive free rent, free food, and can afford luxury items with the cash that they receive from the jobs that they don't have. It's pretty illogical, but the myth persists.

Personally, I'm really curious as to how people can tell when people are using food stamps, since it's a plastic card that looks and works exactly like the average debit card. How can you tell the difference between my brown CNB bankcard and someone else's brown SNAP card? How close are you folks getting to the people in front of you? Usually, I'm still unloading my cart while the person in front of me is checking out, and I can't really see what their card looks like, so all I can see is if they're using a check, a card, or cash.

So the next time you see a graphic like that, you should ask the poster, "Exactly how close are y'all getting, and why?".

My Letter to the Editor

Mike hides his face, but not his
fish. Angel does the opposite.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to bring attention to a community program in which our family was able to part. In case you’re not immediately familiar with the biyearly Children’s Art Studio, it consists of a series of art classes about art vocabulary and techniques and usually covers a variety of art media, followed by an art showcase and reception. This program is organized by Ms. Sharon Cheatwood, the Arts Coordinator for the City of Lawton's Arts and Humanities Division, and is taught by local certified teachers.

My older two children, Angel and Micheal, participated in the 2012 Spring Children’s Art Studio, and had a wonderful and memorable experience. These types of classes are very important to my children, especially my son, who has special needs. They were able to participate because of grants that help fund the program as a whole, and that help fund a limited number of scholarships for lower-income families. This program was funded by the City of Lawton, the Lawton Arts & Humanities Council, the McMahon Auditorium Authority, the Oklahoma Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Angel stands by her gold-and-silver fish.

As you may know, art education is closely linked to academic achievement, social development, and civic engagement. Involvement in the arts is also associated with gains in education, critical thinking, confidence, and teamwork. Their contributions to this program helped to extend these benefits to a large number of children in our community, and are to be commended.

The Darndest Things

Mike: I'm going to wear socks and shoes, so I don't get a fungus.
Me: That's smart.
Mike: I hate funguses. I saw one once; it was huge.
Me: Where did you see that?
Mike: In my dream. It was above an elephant.

I think this whole line of thought stems from our conversation about athlete's foot, lol.

The Darndest Things

Me: Angel, you have two choices: you can work on fractions or clean your room.
Angel: Those are terrible choices!

My kid has first world problems.

The Internet is for... Kids.

I was recently involved in a discussion regarding how we allow our children to use the Internet. I was surprised to see so many negative responses, especially concerning viruses and pornography. Many parents cited protective reasons to severely restrict their children’s Internet usage, and made with clear (with their terminology, concerns, etc.) that they, themselves, were not strong Internet users. This attitude strikes me as ridiculously short-sighted. Just like with other boring or worrisome topics, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves about Internet usage so that we can educate our children.

Myth: Charter schools take money from traditional schools.

So this is how it works.

Schools have two sources for funds. The first is local, which means a portion of your property taxes, any bond issues or sales taxes that you vote to go to schools, and any local fundraising efforts. (Think Box Tops for Kids and similar programs.) The second is state, which means both state and federal funds. These funds go through the State Department of Education and are dispensed to schools based on a complicated bit of math called ‘State Aid’ formula. In a nutshell, each student has x amount of money attached to them. X is determined by taking a base amount and ‘weighting’ those funds for students whom are lower-income, have disabilities, or a variety of other needs-based factors.

Charter schools don’t get to dip from both funds. Charter schools only receive state funds, meaning no local taxes, no bond issues, etc. For instance, we live in Lawton, so our property taxes go to Lawton Public Schools. Our children attend Epic Charter School, so our State Aid funds go to Epic Charter School. The take-away is that our charter schools receive less money than our traditional brick-and-mortar schools, not more, as some critics would have you believe.

Do charter schools take money from traditional schools? Yes, when they take students. However, the traditional school no longer has to pay for that child, and gets to keep the local funds. So not only do they not lose money on state funds, but they are able to spread those local funds among fewer students. A win-win for traditional schools, which is why almost all Oklahoma charter schools are run by traditional school districts. You might notice that these districts are happy with their own schools. It’s the other schools that are villainous.

The Darndest Things

Ike: Look at my puzzle!
Me: You are so smart, Isaiah!
Ike: I know that already.

Of course he does. :P