There's surely such a thing as issuing too much content on one subject. Me being that for the Joe Strummer / Clash material. But this was awesome.
Birthday cards some in many forms. Hallmark, homemade, or a strip-o-gram. Or a two-hour tip of the cap from a bevy of musicians who are fans of yours. That's what this is for Joe Strummer, who, as I commented Friday, would have entered his 69th year had his heart not given out in 2002. Mostly musical tributes, with a few old stories from old friends. My favorites include a couple of cool covers of "Death or Glory" (Jeff Tweedy; Bob Weir) and some Spanish dames dropping "Spanish Bombs."
Joe Strummer died when he was 50, a number I turn next month. With COVID putting an annoying crimp in group revelry for such events, I could (and will) do way worse than to have such a birthday card. So I'll enjoy this instead.
"Wish you were here, Joe, We could use you now more than ever."
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Whit- school got pushed back here by two weeks to give the school system more time to prepare. So, I guess this is better than it would’ve been. Bright side is that Zoom is up and running.
my sister is an elementary school teacher. she's righteously furious about the lack of leadership and the risks the governor is asking teachers to accept.
she's a teacher in florida - shoulda mentioned that.
It all fairly well sucks. My daughter the freshman at South Carolina is squared away... for now, waiting anxiously for a shoe to drop that I never does. With every big school that sends its students home, I cringe.
I do think that universities -- some more than others -- have done a good job in preparation. USC leadership has been extremely communicative and clear. wdaughter has three in-person classes and two virtual ones. The in-person classes were the smaller classes -- they are masked up and they each have a table to themselves, spaced appropriately. There are strict rules about who can be where; I'm going to visit next month and I won't be able to see her dorm room. And that's fine by me, as long as they keep rolling along and staying as healthy as they can.
My oldest made the decision to stay home and finish out her AA (she was dual enrolled in HS) largely because most of her friends who were going away were doing almost all of their classes online. She didn’t much point in going away if she had to take classes like that and said she’d rather stay home and earn money. Can’t say I disagreed with her decision.
My sister is also a teacher in Florida and is also quite furious. She’s the elearning teacher for her school because she considered the guidelines for in person teaching around here laughable.
A good friend from HS has a son who graduated with my girl. He was accepted to UNC and decided to attend, but a few months back he decided to take a gap year, drive across the country, go out west, and tool around for a year. He's a smart kid.
As I've mentioned, I'm also a current W&M student. Their (and other colleges') Zero Tolerance policy for behavior that invites COVID (read: parties) has drawn the ire of some folks. I'll grant you that the part of the communication that says "Do not be the reason that valued W&M employees are furloughed or lose their jobs" is rather heavy-handed and somewhat misdirected.
But the pushback I saw (which a prominent gheorghie re-tweeted) that said, "Not being selfish would have been to cancel the semester. Don’t you DARE make this the students’ fault" seems short-sighted as well. Colleges opening for the year is merely the supply to a national demand that hasn't significantly waned. And the tens of millions of dollars that colleges are spending to protect everyone aren't being accounted for in the 2020-21 tuition. There's plenty that these schools are doing right.
Meanwhile, the rules being put in place are absolutely needed. College kids are no more to blame for COVID than Donald Trump, China, an asteroid impact, or monosodium glutamate, but they do carry a quotient of the mantle for keeping their college as risk-free as can be helped.
When I went to college, I was a 17-year-old idiot, and the things I allegedly might have done could certainly have gotten me expelled. Rightfully so. Add "throwing a kegger with 100 people during a pandemic" to the list. To absolve the students (adult citizens, in nearly every case) of accountability for their actions would be a failure in the chapter of our educational journey where children become adults.
Our school got pushed back two weeks. So won't know what happens until the 16th. But district seems organized.
By-product of all of this mayhem is the school fundraiser this year will be masks instead of the usual assortment of junk food and dine out coupon cards. At this rate my mask collection will be bigger than my concert t-shirt one.
My Obey mask is the best one so far.
hoping as an homage to "They Live", squeaks?
My wife goes back to work tomorrow, and kids come next week. All summer she's been asking questions of the school administration about their plans for various situations, and she's gotten few satisfactory answers. Over the past few weeks other teachers and parents have started raising the same issues she's been bringing up for months. The amount of winging it going on across our society is breathtaking.
My kids start high school online in two weeks. I wonder if I'll ever be alone in my house again.
i don't agree with the 'cancel the semester' part of that message, whit. but i did take offense to the administrators who had time to put together a plan and only half-way did so putting the onus on kids (and basically threatening them proactively).
Our town pushed the start of school back a week for: i) desk protection that has not yet arrived (understandable), and ii) to fully staff up after all the leaves of absence and retirements (ruh-roh).
The superintendent has been communicative and pretty open through this whole process, but I believe the start of school is a dangling carrot that will always remain slightly out of reach. We can’t wait to get our kids back in school. They need somebody besides mom and dad to teach reading and writing.
TJ, alas not the 'They Live', just a subtle Giant tag on the side.
In NC, coworkers kids started today with two weeks of online school then hybrid starting after that.
I really give the hybrid model about a month and half, if we are lucky, before they force everyone to remote.
One of my employees has a sister who teaches in Roanoke County. They ordered 200K worth of desk dividers for their schools. They don't fit any of the desks at her elementary school.
Measure twice, cut once.
A mohel told me that.
They are providing all kids with masks and face shields, if you don't have them. At the high school level they have QR codes on every desk in the lunch room. Students have to scan the code every day. So if someone tests positive they can notify others that sat by them at lunch. Those desks are 6' apart. There is some thought going around here. But still might not make a difference.
Squeaky, I think that’s the overriding sentiment. I actually think W&M, USC, other colleges, and some PK-12 schools have worked hard and provided as well-thought out a plan as could be conjured given the timing, resources, and the nature of a pandemic. But these best laid plans can be undone quickly — and students themselves represent a high risk factor. Hence the strict rules and lack of uncertain terms.
Closing out the book on my Brett Brown wager: Woj dropped the news at 4:59 PM ET that Brown was fired. So if you had the over on my 3 PM ET line, you win. Congrats all.
courts just sided with florida teachers, saying the state can't force them to return to the classroom. for now.
and the falwells seem nice. and kinky.
JF Jr is a cuck!
Who else (besides Marls) is pumped for Isles-Flyers!?
Z - love the mohel humor
I hate-watched the RNC for a minute. Some 26 y/o white kid that is probably a virgin started with some race-baiting rhetoric. Couldn’t take it and had to change the channel.
Thanks Marls, I know you have a soft spot for foreskin.
Our kids start school virtually for 1st 9 weeks on Sept. 8th. I’m hopeful the amount of time school system has had will mean this goes relatively well. Friends whose kids started hybrid in N.C. less than two weeks ago already have outbreaks and quarantine of classes happening! Meanwhile, the RNC speakers are turning my stomach with their lies. I left the room. Our oldest wanted to try to watch the first night. To last, he watched an old “West Wing” right before it.
Now I’m watching Lakers take Portland to school! OMDL!
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