Cole Parker

Well done! Amazing how much you can get into such a paucity of words. C

Yeah, you Aussies wish!!! C

There's another reason, too, for teachers' current disaffection, and the irony is delicious. We've decided, legally decided, that no child will be left behind. Of course, if this is now mandated, then it must be tested to prove than no child really is being so abandoned. So, we test. And test and test to distraction, and to the point teachers I know say they don't have time to teach, they're too busy testing. As I say, ironic. And so very sad. C

Jason: Love your new avatar! C

This is an article in an Oklahoma newpaper, discussing this same topic: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.asp..._A18_hWhen42518 Cole

You old devil you! As a boon to the younger set here, let me translate. 'French letters' was a term used way back when and I can't ever recall it being used recently, but it originally was a nicety for polite coversation and was a dainty way to say 'condom'. For those who already knew this, which is probably most of you, sorry for taking your time needlessly. And to Des: naughty naughty naughty. And funny, too! C

Caylor: Did you just find your avatar? C

Um, it wasn't clear I was being facetious? Uh oh. I think I'll retire now. C

Well, that'll certainly teach him! The very idea of it. Skittles! Now really. What was he thinking? C

Oh, the sheer effrontery of it all! A Brit telling us what convention to use to notate the date! This from the chaps who are so crackers they put cheese on biscuits rather than, well, crackers, who ride up in lifts rather than wearing them, who put their boots in their boots rather than their trunks in their trunks. Difficult to take them seriously, you know? When they don't know enough to come in out of the rain, they stand in it waving around their bumbershoots. Bumbershoots! I ask you! But, let's look at this dating matter. I know, I know, it's hard to talk logic to someone who thinks the size of a foot measurement should be based on the pedal dimensions of some long-forgotten king who was more noted for his foot size than than anything else. Perhaps the queen was interested in that, it having a bearing on other anatomical measurements. Perhaps those should have become a standard, or perhaps he wasn't that manly a king. Anyway, I digress. Dating conventions, that's what we were discussing. That, and the impeccable American logic behind it. We, of course, and corrently, too, use month, day, and year, in that order. As we should. The reasons are readily apparent to any clear thinker. We put the month first, because, obviously, what's the point of having the day first? If you ask me the date, and I say, "It's the 22nd," you'll know next to nothing, even though you posed your query to a very learned individual. You will almost always, in fact, follow up by saying, "Of what?" Because, you see, knowing it's the 22nd and not knowing if it's the 22nd of April or August, May or March, June or July, doesn't give yoiu much to work with. And how do we avoid this, we people who put a premium on logical thinking and time management and don't like to befuddle the one or screw up the other? Why, we put the month first. Which as you can see is logical, time saving and the single most appropriate place to put it! The year? Why heavens, everyone knows the year! It's one of the first things they, the men in the little white coats, ask you to learn if you're compos mentis. You're sane, I'm sane, we all know the year, so why emphasize the thing by putting it first? It's silly to do that, and it could be thought to be insulting, inferring the one you're communicating with has the mind of a twit. No, put it at the end. Where it belongs. Where we considerate Americans put it. Okay, this has run long enough. Our convention for noting the date is logical, functional and empathetic. The Brit one is mostly based on a King's dick size. Need I say more? C

You forgot to mention the basis for Kiss me Kate. I know you know, because the playwrite was almost Australian, I think. British is almost Australian, isn't it?Kiss me Kate was an adaptation of Taming of the Shrew. I won't disparage your knowledge by mentioning its author.You're mine to do with what I will? Well, wait a minute. I need to get some tips from Jason.C

Does this mean, should I feel the need, I can get a quick fix of time travel any time I want by simply moving the little setting gizmo on the back of my clock to something other than what it now is? Cool!C

It's too darn hot,It's too darn hot.I'd like to sup with my baby tonight,Fulfill the cup with my baby tonight.I'd like to sup with my baby tonight,Fulfill the cup with my baby tonight,But I ain't up to my baby tonight,'Cause it's too darn hot.It's too darn hot,It's too darn hot.I'd like to coo with my baby tonight,And pitch the woo with my baby tonight.I'd like to coo with my baby tonight,And pitch the woo with my baby tonight.But sister you'll fight my baby tonight'Cause it's too darn hot.It's too darn hot.Now, you being you, you'll know who worte this and what show it came from, and what author wrote the orginal material this show was based on and the name of that play. And, to make it even fairer, I didn't make up or paraphrase the lyrics you're reading, like someone whose name won't be mentioned to save him from abject humiliation, recently did.Your prize for getting this right won't have anything to do with sleeping with anyone. So there.C

Maybe no compression, but lots of compassion from Trab. Lots of that.As for the misting, that sounds like the b/f's job to me. He's the one to strip you naked and mistify your parts.The thought is making me hot.C

While I think you're being a little too harsh, Trab, a little too negative, I've actually lived through and experienced some of what you're saying. It's not totally accurate, but the gist is true. I know exactly what you mean about being neutered by your responsibilities. I know it only too well. C

It's despicable that it happens, but it surely does. The system is surely broken. We need to put the welfare and education of our children, our most precious commodity, at the forefront of our thinking, and that is not currently happening. For all the good the PC movement was doing in this area, it has now been overcome by petty politics, ignorance, self-serving greed and cowardice. The child is being overlooked, dismissed as a voice too small to be heard. It's another is a long list of problems we as a society face that doesn't have an easy solution. Good men have to speak up and do something. That's a solution to many problems. There seem to be a dearth of these good men. C

That you wrote it at all is remarkable. What a wonderful change in outlook. Congratulations! C

Be sure to get some iced tea, jalepino cornbread and don't miss the buttermilk/lemon-pepper fried chicken. - JS Oh, wow! Jalapeno cornbread! That sounds wonderful. And the chicken! We in other parts of the country rarely see real fried chicken any longer. All the current worry about cholesterol has resulted in chicken that's grilled or broiled or baked, frequently with the skin removed. I've been in Georgia a couple of times over the years but haven't seen those two items on the menu there. Maybe I have to go, where, Alabama or Mississippi? It does sound worth it. C

This is why I led off my argument by stating the objective of many school boards and administrators today. Their objectives aren't the noble or ethical aims outlined here. Their objectives are to maintain the status quo and their jobs, and they do this not by shooting at lofty aspiriations for their constitutencies, but by keeping the nosie level muted. I've seen and read about it too often, and have first and knowlege of it in several places. They care about their positions, and feel the best way to keep them is to keep complaints sqaushed. They squash them by caving, in most instances, to the one who bitches the loudest. And I still maintain, such actions are basically cowardice. C

Most current school and school district administrations have one major goal in mind: to not make waves. They don't want parent complaints, and if they have them, they move heaven and earth to mollify any complainers. See the recent Oregon middle school play for confirmation of this, although this is simply one case; this practice is currently rampant across the country. If a school district feels it will get complaints for having GSA clubs in the schools, it won't have them. If they feel the general atmostphere does not support anti-discrimination politices protecting minorities, they will not have such policies in the schools, or simply not enforce them. What we need is some right-minded people with guts in our school and district administrations. I don't agree with Trab's suggestion that it's deliberate nonfeasance or stupidity that allows this to continue. I think it's cowardice. C

Don't put the soapbox too far away. You're dead nuts right on with what you said. C

When I see Taiwan, I immediately think 'a twain', because unfortuantely that's the way my mind works, and 'a twain' reminds me of 'the twain' and it sets me to remembering old Rudyard and him going on about East being East and West being West and never... but you know how that goes, and it doesn't say anything about North and South, which we were discussing, so actually you've got me so turned around and feeling so discombobulated even I'm whistling Dixie. Someone pass the blackeyed peas, please. C

Well, obviously, if you have to stand on one foot and whistle Dixie when setting them, they're Southern clocks, and so probably don't tell the correct time anyway, just the Southern version of the time, which is mixed up with fundamentalistic religious views and questionable stances on race relations and eating shellfish in non-R months and thinking the South won the war and all its generals were smarter than all the North's generals. I think your problem began when you came into possession of these clocks in the first place. You probaby should have foreseen the problem when you first read the directions on how to set them and saw the one foot dealie. Whistling wouldn't cause great concern, but my understanding is many Southerners drink to excess, probably so they can forget they live in the land of chiggers and water moccasins, and so the standing on one foot part would make the clock setting impossible for some, and downright dangerous for others, especially those who take a mind to set their clocks while positioning themselves precariously at the top the cellar stairs. Everyone knows the lurking dangers abiding in Southern cellars. That's where they keep Bubba chained up. My advice is to get rid of all those clocks. Buy some new ones, ones that were made in the North. They'll give you the correct time, you don't need to cut your stability in half while setting them, and knowing how to whisle or the words to Dixie is a matter of no consequence. I have no answers for the chiggers or moccasins. C

I must read more British stories than you do, because I didn't find anything terribly odd in it. I perhaps would have if I wasn't accustomed to reading stories set in that country. I really like British stories and writing. It somehow seems so much more civilized than much American writing. I think I probably should have been a Brit. Except I'm not sure they'd have accepted me. I'm too independent in spirit. Cole

I think it's Canadians who eat fries with gravy. Gravy! Well, they're Canadians. That explains it. C