Back To School

Something to keep in mind as the 2014-2015 school term begins:

The classes that I teach to groups of homeschoolers begin tomorrow. This entire week will be a madhouse!

This year, the rotation for high school literature is British Literature.  We will begin the term with a study of Beowulf.  Other readings for this term, in addition to the anthology textbook, which contains a great deal of rather difficult poetry: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, William Shakespeare's Richard III, and Charles Dickens's Hard Times.

I will also be teaching Grammar and Mechanics, Advanced Composition, American History, SAT Verbal Prep, Latin 3, Spanish 5, and Middle School Literature-Composition.  This class line-up reflects a reduction in the courses I offer.  I'm not getting any younger and need to be careful not to commit myself to course overload.

Many students new to the group have enrolled, and they will suffer a bit of a shock the first month. These classes are intense — as am I as a teacher.

Anyway, on September 2, we're off and running.

The Joys Of Summer

(If you must have politics, please scroll down to the open thread, the blog post just below this one)

Ah!  The joyful memories of summer! (with thanks to Duck, who took the photo and emailed me the jpeg):

Fountain (July 24, 2014)

See more of Duck's photographic art at Duck's Flickr page.

"End of Summer" by Stanley Kunitz:

Open Thread

Yes, I'm back — not that I was ever really absent from this blog, but rather spending a great deal of time preparing for the start of the 2014-2015 school term.

So, what's on your mind?

Here is your chance to vent, but please observe the guidelines listed below:

We welcome civil dialogue at Always on Watch. We will delete comments that include any of the following:
1. Any use of profanity or abusive language
2. Off topic comments and spam
3. Use of personal invective
4. We do not respond to anonymous comments
One infuriating story that recently came to my attention:

Christian children...Islamic songs [at Rejoice Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska, on the evening of 9/22/13]

Even more infuriating — and dangerous:

Obama confesses: ‘We don’t have a strategy yet’ for Islamic State

A few days early.

All the tasks needing to be completed are now done.

I will have two posts early tomorrow: an open thread and an end-of-summer post

During this blog break, I've done my best to keep up with developments in the news. What an avalanche!

Blog Break (With Addendum)

It's time for R&R (rest and relaxation)!

Until August 31, this blog is on summer break.  Please return for new posts on that date, for which I already have two posts queued up. 

During this blog break, I might or might not be making blog rounds. Intense blogging makes R&R impossible and blights life.

Comment moderation is intermittently enabled during this R&R break. I rarely use comment moderation, but I'm determined to enjoy a period of respite.

ADDENDUM: If you wish to post comments about current events, go to this open thread. Otherwise, your comment will not be published.

In Honor Of Robin Williams

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

Last photo, posted by Robin Williams to Instagram: "Happy Birthday to me! A visit from one of my favorite leading ladies, Crystal."

First, read about Awakenings, my favorite Robin Williams film.

Then, watch the short video below particularly poignant now that this brilliant performer is gone — apparently by his own hand:


Robin Williams the performer always gave 110%.  He could make me smile and cry, sometimes at the same time.

RIP, Robin. I miss you already.

Open Thread

So, what's on your mind?

Here is your chance to vent, but please observe the guidelines listed below:

We welcome civil dialogue at Always on Watch. We will delete comments that include any of the following:
1. Any use of profanity or abusive language
2. Off topic comments and spam
3. Use of personal invective
4. We do not respond to anonymous comments
One recent story that made me sigh in frustration:

Salon Attempts to Paint Avowed Communist Lee Harvey Oswald as a “Right-Winger”.

Here's another:  

FAA Issues Flight Restrictions Over Ferguson After Rioters Shoot At Police Helicopter.

Bob Schieffer: "A World Gone Mad"

Please watch this short video published on July 24, 2014 (hat tip to Reliapundit of THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS):


Your thoughts on the above?

Howard Zinn's Long, Influential Arm (With Addendum)

This blog post will remain here for several days so that readers of this blog can explore the information in manageable segments.

Please avail yourself of the opportunity to learn about the anti-American views of the man who has in recent years probably most influenced Americans' interpretation of our own history and heritage. Even conservatives have bought into many of Howard Zinn's ideas — and the disparagement of America.

In fact, his materials, including portions of and materials derived from A People's History of the United States, are used in classrooms all over the United States.

During the interview, Dennis Prager asked Zinn if the world would be a better or worse place if America had never existed. Zinn said that the world would be a better place if America had never existed.

The interview in four parts:











For further study:

The Zinn Education Project web site

The Zinn Education Facebook page

Questions for discussion:

1.  How much of Howard Zinn's influence impacted your education?

2.  How much of Howard Zinn's influence impacts your children's (or other younger relatives' education) today?

3.  Besides education, do you see other ways in which Howard Zinn's influence has impacted the way the people think today?

ADDENDUM

Since I queued up this blog post, the following information about the new AP American History Course has come along (August 7, 2014):

Historic fail? Greatest Americans missing from proposed curriculum

New history curriculum standards proposed for top high school students leave out such American icons as Benjamin Franklin and Martin Luther King, Jr., paint colonists as bigots and gloss over the Greatest Generation's fight to save the world from Nazi Germany, according to conservative education activists who want the framework delayed — and perhaps scrapped altogether.

An open letter circulated by conservative education activists is calling on The College Board to delay implementing new Advanced Placement U.S. History guidelines, saying a “rising tide of opposition” believes the curriculum will take the nation’s classrooms in a bad direction.

The Aug. 4 letter, which is addressed to David Coleman, president/CEO of the New York-based nonprofit, claims the new 98-page curriculum is a “dramatic departure” from the five-page outline previously used by teachers and students and offers a consistently negative view of Americans as oppressors and exploiters.

“The framework ignores the rise of democratic institutions such as the House of Burgesses and New England town meetings,” the letter reads. “It also omits the colonists’ growing commitment to religious freedom and the emergence of a pluralistic society that lacked an entrenched aristocracy.”

What’s missing from the curriculum, according to a former public school teacher and author of two Advanced Placement prep guides, is mention of John Winthrop and his “city upon a hill” sermon as one of the key early instances of American exceptionalism and references to Roger Williams and the birth of religious toleration.

[...]

“And you’re not going to find Thomas Jefferson and the House of Burgesses and the cradle of democracy either,” said Larry Krieger, who retired in 2005 after more than three decades in the classroom. “And finally, you’re not going to find Benjamin Franklin and the birth of American entrepreneurialism.”

Instead, students exposed to the curriculum — roughly 500,000 annually nationwide, many of whom will take the class as sophomores and juniors — will find a narrative laden with tyranny and subjugation....

More at the above link.

Also see New War Over High School U.S. History.

Howard Zinn has won!

August 8, 2014, On The Gathering Storm

I rarely post the audio of a particular edition of The Gathering Storm Radio Show, broadcast live and via podcast by Blog Talk Radio every Friday. The last edition of the show, however, is worthy of its own separate blog post.

Last Friday, Iraqi exile IQ al Rassoli and I discussed the recent bombing of ISIS ordered by Barack Hussein Obama. Please listen to the first 8 minutes of the show:

Popular Politics Internet Radio with WC Always On Watch on BlogTalkRadio

(web link to the show)

Music And The Brain

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

From Plato:

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.

Scientific evidence supports Plato's statement:


As Plato asserted, the benefits of music go beyond measurable neurological findings.   Music does indeed feed the soul (extensive list of quotes on that topic).

Staying Informed

Do you ever feel like this?

Nincompoopery Poll

(Nincompoopery — and worse — abounds! This edition of "Nincompoopery" offers specific links, and readers have the option of taking a poll as to which story they find the most outrageous. Discussion available in the comments section)

Links to read:

ONE: Michelle O’s menu ‘financial disaster,’ school district says

TWO: Feds spend $200K to uncover why Wikipedia seems to be sexist

THREE: "Appalling" Military Directive Elevates Rights of Muslims Over Christians; Reeks of Political Correctness

FOUR: Inquiry by C.I.A. Affirms It Spied on Senate Panel

FIVE: $7,060,259,674,497.51--Federal Debt Up $7 Trillion Under Obama


Please cast your vote in the following poll, which closes on Tuesday:

customer surveys

Race-Based Grading Policy?

Please forward to the 7:58 mark, and watch through the 10:43 mark:


The University of Wisconsin Madison denies that such a policy is in force. But take a look at the babble in this truncated version of the official policy of the University of Wisconsin [Ludicrous babble alert!]:

Book Review: The Housekeeper and the Professor

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

I've read several interesting novels this summer.  One of the gems I discovered is The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. The story, possibly suggested by the case of H.M.,  is both poignant and uplifting — with just the right touch of sentimentality. 

In fact, this book is pure enchantment.  A book to read over and over again!

Midweek Political Satire

With a hat tip to Western Hero:

SPEW ALERT!

FEATURED QUESTION: Constitutional Roles

(This blog post will remain here for a few days)

In several ways, my sister-in-law is a nice person. She is also financially prosperous. As the executive president and CFO of her own private business and living in a very exclusive area of Southern California, she is clearly a member of "the 1%."

When it comes to politics, however, she and I are at complete odds over on Facebook, where I'm actually quite restrained in any political posts that I make. Indeed, I rarely post about politics at Facebook; rather, I typically reserve that venue for contacting friends, family, and former students.

I'm sure that my sister-in-law would have a meltdown if she saw this blog! I have carefully kept secret from her my Always On Watch identity.

One day, my sister-in-law revealed an important part of her political belief system: "President Obama is the man with a vision. It is the job of Congress to smooth the waters!" I was dumbfounded. My sister-in-law is an anomaly in our family, and I didn't expect that salvo from her. Furthermore, she launches an attack every time I post anything the slightest bit political — the one exception being anything about Islam. She hates all religions with a passion.

FEATURED QUESTION: How does one reason with those who believe as my sister-in-law does? 

When Progressives are members of one's own family, it is well nigh impossible to avoid them completely — or to be oneself around them, for that matter.

Musical Interlude

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

A short portion of The Tempest, incidental music by Jean Sibelius:


[about Jean Sibelius (December 8, 1865 – September 20, 1957)]

The blurb from YouTube:

Open Thread

So, what's on your mind?

Here is your chance to vent, but please observe the guidelines listed below:

We welcome civil dialogue at Always on Watch. We will delete comments that include any of the following:
1. Any use of profanity or abusive language
2. Off topic comments and spam
3. Use of personal invective
4. We do not respond to anonymous comments
One recent story that made me sigh in frustration: Obama’s Eid message praises “contributions of Muslim Americans to building the very fabric of our nation”

Today on The Gathering Storm

(Ongoing political discussion at the blog posts below this one)

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, hosted by WC and Always On Watch.

The show broadcasts live for 30 minutes every Friday beginning at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is 646-915-9870. Callers welcome!

Our scheduled guest this week is Mr. Ducky. We will be discussing Ukraine and Russia.