Who Influences Our Education?

Its all in what we teach them, therefore it is important who we are. If we leave the task of education to others and abdicate our responsibility of monitoring what they learn and instilling core values then we have to be prepared to take what we get. Those others may be thousands of sources including teachers, mentors, government, friends, music, movies, advertising or strangers.
Until you know what they learning from each one they are all strangers.

This is a true story about a guy who is the kid of one of my friends and has become my friend, who is on his way home from work.

Ryan* ...known him since the day he was born, well mannered, good morals and behavior...developed a “punk” style in clothing, music and style when he was in his early teens. Kinda like we did for Kiss, Rush, Lead Zepp and bomber jackets only now with the Dead Kennedy's and Marilyn Manson. Ryan was taught manners and ethics by his parents, who are by the way closer to the Simpsons than the Cunninghams, the important thing is that they personally taught him right from wrong, giving him a solid framework within which he could collect the souvenirs of the culture around him and a moral compass to help him sort out his own direction in life. As a respectful adult, a nicer young man you'll never meet.

Location: A Bus Stop in front of a Urban Downtown Shopping Mall
Time: 9:00 pm

Characters:
Ryan: 25, Respected Sous Chef, 6'5”, 250lbs, army boots, pierced everything, black ripped skater shorts, leather and denim jacket, chains and patches.
Yout #1: Skateboard kid #1 12-14 yrs old
Yout #2: Skateboard kid #2 12-14 yrs old
Yout #3: Skateboard kid #3 12-14 yrs old
Sensei: Late 20's to Mid 30's male

Ryan*, is sitting waiting for the bus and is approached by three youts with skateboards

{RYAN}; [deep sigh]

{YOUTH#1} “What's in the backpack, huh?”

{RYAN} “Nothing”

{YOUT#1} “Give it to us.”

{RYAN, standing up} “There's nothing in it.”

{YOUT #1} “ Give us the backpack”

{RYAN} “I'm just goin' home, I got nothing”

{YOUT #1, moving around to RYAN's rear} “ We're takin' the backpack”

YOUT #1 swings his skateboard to the back of RYAN's head, unfortunately due to the height differential connects with the shoulder only

YOUT #1 is wide eyed, as if to say “if I hit it, it should have fell down”

RYAN slowly takes off his backpack to set it down and in the same fluid motion kicks YOUT #2 square in the gnards with his steel toed heavy black boot, lifting him off the ground.

YOUT#2 drops to the ground wailing in pain, all hope of future reproduction lost.

YOUT#3 turns and flees

YOUT#1 is still stunned, frozen in the moment.

YOUT#2 pukes and rolls onto his side, grabs his skateboard.

{SENSEI}; (Shouting, as yet unseen from the shadows of the buildings to stage left), “ Hey! I TOLD YOU! YOU KNOW BETTER THAN THAT!”

{YOUT#2}; (Urgently, struggling to his feet), “C'mon, huh, we gotta get outta here!”

YOUT#1 now visibly afraid, snaps to and helps YOUT#2 with their getaway.

{RYAN}; “Thanks, Man...”

{SENSEI}; “I'm really sorry, bro', that shouldnt've happened. I been trying to teach these kids and've been followin' them...and like they should not have bothered you, huh?”

{RYAN}; “cool...I do appreciate what you did”

[BUSES ARRIVE]

{SENSEI}; “ We been tryin' to bring'm up right, huh? There's lots of old people around, huh, lots of smaller, weaker that can't defend 'emselves like you, huh, so we gotta follow'em, huh, make sure they don't get themselves into trouble, huh, make sure they don't mark the big white guys or the street kids, huh...they'll get'emselves all jammed up if they mark the wrong ones, huh, gotta bring'em up good.”

{RYAN} (prevented by his own upbringing and the disembarking crowd from acting on his first impulse...to now kick Sensei in the junk) “What the fuck, Man?”

{SENSEI} (as Ryan is boarding the bus) “ ya bro' really sorry abou....”

(Sensei's word trail off as the bus doors close)

*names have been changed to protect the Pwner

Not Evil, Just Wrong

A Dose of Common Sense

 

After watching the premiere of “Not Evil, Just Wrong”, I was left with a bit of an empty feeling. The emptiness came from multiple sources, first from the part of the message…the thought that a powerful few really may truly be able chart the course of humanity’s immediate future history based on alarmist pseudo-science, secondly from the fact that the film’s truly worthy message was diluted by some poor filmmaking.

 

First, we’ll get out of the way my highly subjective and purely personal critique of the film. Initially seeming to promise to clearly address nine specific points of inaccuracy about “An Inconvenient Truth “ the film wandered off and although spending some time on polar bears, ice melt and other topics but the initial focus was somewhat lost when so much time was spent on the DDT ban and coal in the US. The filmmakers also may have lost some “Cronkite” credibility points with the two obvious homage’s to Penn and Teller, using selected interview outtake clips to deliberately undermine the credibility of the subject. Don’t get me wrong, I love P&T’s “Bullsh*t”, but I think that tactic was misplaced in this movie.

 

That being said, the film delivers a common sense message that more people need to hear. We are deeply in the grips of global climate change, just like the generation before us and the generations after us.  Al Gore and his followers, much like the climatologists of the 1630’s or the 1930’s or Agent J wearing the fresh new black suit, are just the latest in a long line of new kids on the block that believe that the task of saving the earth as we know it falls directly on their shoulders.

 

Agent J: Man, we ain't got time for this cover-up bullshit! In case you've forgotten, there's an alien battle cruiser—

Agent K: There's always an alien battle cruiser, or a Corellian death ray, or an intergalactic plague intended to wipe out life on this miserable little planet.

 

It’s shortsighted to eliminate fossil fuels in ten years without having an eminent replacement.

Current storage technology does not allow us to economically replace fossil fuel with solar and wind…to store a week’s worth of commercial power in a battery is cost prohibitive, not to mention what effect the disposal of the heavy metals and chemicals used in the manufacture of storage cells will have environmentally. Added to that, current nimby social conditions seem to prevent the use of nuclear power, at least if involves any step in the process happening near here.

You simply can’t base an economy on intermittent power or power that is not there.

 

Yes, climate is changing; but it is an arrogant position to take to say that we are solely responsible for it. Technology is changing too and right now we need fossil fuel technology to power the search for and transition to other forms of energy. These changes are happening gradually and along a natural course. Introducing human suffering to the mix by shortsightedly reacting to another “Y2K”, “Mad Cow” or “DDT” scare is ethically incorrect…just wrong.

True science is never settled. True science floats a hypothesis and spends the rest of time attempting to disprove it.

 

Climate change may be so gradual and a natural part of the evolutionary process  that the human race will evolve along with it…I submit if  in a hundred thousand years we need gills we will have grown them. The world as we know it over time may not be as we know it.

 

Who’s to say that one of the millions of lives lost to malaria since the DDT ban may not have been the life of the discoverer of the “humming glow-rock”, the as yet undiscovered, naturally occurring, clean, free and renewable power source that eventually led to human autonomy and eventual colonization of space?

 

 

Doug Schmidt

Cabtec Manufacturing

306-721-5545

doug.schmidt@cabtecmfg.com

 

10 Winter Cycling Tips

Sure, winter might mean frozen roads and snow-filled streets but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to put your bicycle away for the season. With a few minor tweaks and preparations, you can ride your bike all winter long.

Whether you use your bike to commute on city streets or ride mountain trails, winter biking can be fun and invigorating. Riding on ice and snow definitely takes some getting used to, but once you’ve adapted, you might just become addicted.

10 Tips for Winter Bicycling

1. If you’ve got to contend with ice, studded tires are the way to go.

2. Lower the pressure in your tires to around 15-20 psi to ride through snow.

3. Wide rim tires, like SnowCat rims, improve traction and flotation in snow and ice.

4. Equip your bike with powerful front and rear lighting to be sure you can see and be seen in a variety of winter conditions.

5. Mount reflectors on your bike – white reflectors are more effective than red ones.

6. Pedal smoothly and relax your upper body while traveling on ice and snow. If you start to slide or get sideways, make small corrections until you straighten out. Over-correcting will only make it worse. Practice on empty streets or trails.

7. Use your rear brake when riding on ice and don’t brake too hard. On soft snow, avoid sinking by keeping up a good speed. If you go too slow, you’ll sink.

8. LAYER! A moisture-wicking base layer made of synthetic or wool is the way to go. Follow with a mid layer, an insulating layer and a windproof shell (very important!). It’s okay to start the ride feeling cool – your body will generate heat quickly once you get going.

9. If it’s snowing or the wind is blowing, ski goggles will be your best friend.

10. Always wear a helmet. For winter riding you might want to consider wearing a balaclava under your helmet or at the very least a winter hat to protect your ears.

 

New! Friggin' Laser Etched Corn Flakes (tm)

http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/whatson/pressoffice/News/kelloggs-corporate-news/kelloggs-combats-fake-flakes


Am I alone in thinking this is...uhhh...misdirected or does this sound like responsible spending?

Kellogg's...I don't think you have anything to brag about this time.

We give our money to Kellogg's so they can spend it (no doubt in the maxi-millions) on R&D to develop the technology that can individually laser etch logos onto Corn Flakes?

Bookmark this for the day they look for a bailout...I'd have been a more satisfied Customer by trusting that the "KELLOGG'S CORN FLAKES" box contained "KELLOGG'S CORN FLAKES" and then a charitable act or donation or a reduction in price (probably a prime driving factor towards increased off-brand purchases) of the already "size-reduced" packaging than insult my intelligence with yet another branding reminder.

"Kellogg's has developed a hi-tech method to stamp out imitation cereals - by branding Corn Flakes with the company logo.

The new technology enables the firm - which makes 67 million boxes of Corn Flakes every year - to burn the famous signature onto individual flakes using lasers...inserting a proportion of branded flakes into each box to guarantee the cereal's origins and protect against imitation products.

The laser uses a concentrated beam of light which focuses the energy within the beam, down to a very small spot on the Corn Flake...galvanometers are then used to steer the beam creating multiple vectors that reflect the laser from different angles and ultimately make up the image...a darker, toasted appearance without changing the taste.

Kellogg's embarked on the project to reinforce that they don't make cereals for any other companies and to fire a shot across the bows of makers of 'fake flakes'.

''We want shoppers to be under absolutely no illusion...giving our golden flakes of corn an official stamp of approval could be the answer...''

The company also released figures which show sales of Kellogg's Corn Flakes have risen in 2009 as shoppers with limited budgets opt for recognised, reliable brands."