H: Tell me about your grandpa.
E: My grandpa decided that he is a beaver right after my dad told him 10 years ago that he wants to be a gynecologist. Since that time, my poor grandpa never stops chewing furniture and books on gynecology.
H Tell me more about your Grandpa.
E: Oh, my poor grandpa! He came crazy after he knew that my father wants to be a gynecologist... It was about 10 years ago.
H: What happened to your father 10 years ago?
E: He is the best gynecologist in Odessa. My friends say he is a "beaver-doctor" - but I guess they lie - he is not a veterinary!
H: Have you asked your father what a beaver-doctor is?
E: He is a famous gynecologist in Odessa. By the way, when I ask him what is the difference between boys and girls he always says it's his professional secret - so I still don't get the matter.

Okay, unlike any 13 yo male I've ever known. Maybe his parents are fundies?

H: Are your parents religious?
E: My dad is a doctor. And my mom works on TV.
H: Tell me about your mom on TV.
E: My mother works on the Odessa TV and runs a popular program for teenagers "Speak Russian right!" Every Odessian teenager heard her famous "For those putzs who schmooze Russian in a goddam lame way: drop by and listen to mine!"
H: How do you say beaver in Russian?
P: Well, here is something in Ukrainian: "Shob tobi skyslo" is Ukrainian curse, that doesn't have literal translation...

Guess not. ;-)

I am about 7 miles from the fire. These gun related fires are fairly common. Just a few days before this big one began, there was a smaller one in the same area caused by target shooters. There seems to be a misconception that you can't start a fire in those hills without using something like exploding targets or steel ammunition. I do not have any scientific data to back up my claim. However, I know someone who started one of those brush fires with a copper jacketed .22. There seems to be a disconnect between what people think is possible, and what actually is. The authorities haven't done a good enough job explaining this to the public, probably because they are too busy putting out all the fires.

Finally, these types of fires happen every year. There are usually 3-4 blazes that are caused by gun related target shooting in the area. Why do locals continue to shoot there? The answer is as complex as the people who live here. Tradition is an element. So is a lack of adequate gun ranges to support the better than 50% of residents who own guns. The BLM could build an amazing gun range for all the money they have spent putting out not only this fire, but fires from previous years. What is different, now, is that the area in question has experienced very fast growth. This has brought traditional family shooting grounds closer to homes.

This is actually the third fire in this area this month. The other non-gun related one was caused by lightning. The mountain is now a gigantic, charred, nothing. I don't think we'll have too many fire issues out there for the rest of the year, now that it has all been burned.

I wish I had the time to explain why rational, well-meaning people go out to that area to shoot. There are target shooters out there all day. Even while this fire was developing, there were multiple target shooters in the area. It is has common as ATVs and Motorcycles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3eZQHwGQE0&feature=g-u-u

I agree with Dr. Meghan Gray. She is spot on.

For those not familiar with Brady (the interviewer and editor of the videos), don't take too much offense. He commonly takes an antagonistic view to help draw out a more in-depth response.

I almost certainly read the article, and I almost certainly agree with the summary. You almost certainly read the article too, in which case you almost certainly agree that this almost certainly occurred. This is almost certainly the most accurate story ever posted on /. And almost certainly, this comment will be rated +5 informative.

It is either certain, or it isn't. If it is certain, then there is no doubt evidence to back up that claim. In which case you would simply say "it is certain that... because of..." Unless you are writing an article on probability theory, then we should expect facts. Not rumor dressed up as fact.

You know what we call things reported on web blogs that are almost certain?
Bullshit.

Here are some red-flag phrases the writer of the summary almost certainly read, and almost certainly ignored:
"Nobody would expect..."
"I'm going to reveal..."
"It all started when..."
"...something to the effect of..."
"...easily verified via his Wikipedia page..."
"I'm told by people familiar with the situation..."
"I project that..."

Well, before I totally dismiss the article let us learn about the author. Perhaps he is a well connected business savvy insider who has connections right at the top. Let's see what the bio says:

Chris "...is a business grad student at USC who is very fluent with technology..."

Okay, I can't go on any more. I'm going to be sick. Whatever journalistic integrity I had is being sucked dry by this one. Since when did USC grad students start getting taken so seriously?

I made the same assumptions about science curricula at the grade school level. Fortunately I had the good sense to interview several grade school teachers in our state on the subject. They revealed a fascinating problem. They hardly knew anything about the subjects they were teaching. Generally speaking they were quite poorly prepared to be teaching anything, let alone science. It is a mess out there. At least in our state. Perhaps yours is better. A fact that wouldn't be hard to believe given that Utah ranks near the bottom of the pile nationally. Their number one concern was pushing their ESL students.

Also, I think you may have a misunderstanding regarding what a home school program is like. We aren't winging it with cheap tricks and crappy toys. We are using a well researched and planned out curriculum that places our children a full year ahead of the state's curriculum. Even that one is generally poor, in my opinion. We are supplementing it with far more advanced material.

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2901425&threshold=-1&commentsort=0&mode=thread&pid=40250371#40253581

I change my mind about things all the time as I gain new information. You haven't provided any, though. I don't have time to write a how-to guide for home schoolers on /.. Rest assured that we have thought long and hard about such issues. Thank you for your concern.

I don't think applying the kind of approach we are taking in conjunction with a public school program would work very well. The schools in our state are quite terrible, and are consistently ranked in the bottom third of all states. My children are much further along in their core studies than many of their peers. In a few areas they are at grade level. With a home school approach you have the flexibility to push a child in subjects in which they excel, while continuing to work on less strong subjects. With public education, it is a one-size-fits-all approach. Unless a child can move a full grade ahead in all subjects, most grade schools are incapable of splitting a child's curriculum between grade levels to provide a more meaningful challenge. Have you ever thought about how silly that is? At the high school and university levels, the rules change rapidly to accommodate a student's variable abilities.

Absolutely, but I wouldn't want to imply that I know how to actually make that happen.

We aren't raising burger flippers (I hope!). Many businesses operate in networks, not links. If there is a weak link, the active and willing can build around them. Foundational knowledge and work ethic are key to a strong educational future. There is a point at which our children's learning will out-pace our ability to stay in front of them. When that day comes, we will engage the community to ensure we won't be holding them back. You have to know when to let go as a parent. For home school families that can be hard to do. However, we understand it is a necessity. There is a point at which a child's choices mark their future beyond a parent's reach. That is the time to let them stand or fall. Our hope is that the strong foundational experience they have gained will serve them well as they face new stressors.

All that said... If you are a parent you already know there are no guarantees.

All of my children are in a home school program to specifically achieve the following:

* Dramatically improved science curriculum over state requirements.
* Aggressive reading and mathematics programs.
* Enhanced educational environment (a quiet, well equipped classroom).
* Teachers who really care, and want each child to be able to compete in a demanding global economy as adults. We love our students like parents should, because we are both.

In order to teach my nine year old chemistry, I do not have to be an expert chemist. I simply have to know more than a nine year old does about chemistry. It really isn't that hard, and it has been fun for all of us to expand our knowledge. If you are going to engage in home education, you can't do it sitting on the sidelines. You have to educate yourself first. Then you can teach. Expect more from the teacher than you do the student.

If none of the above is happening for your grandson, consider placing that child in public school. Many public education options are abysmal. If results from home education are worse than the public option, consider that a major red flag. Your benchmark should be a grade or two ahead in most subjects (unless the child has a learning disability).

Teaching at home doesn't work for everyone. It isn't always the ideal solution. I wish I had a bazillion and one dollars to hire private instructors with decades of experience to do the teaching. There is no doubt, though, that what we are doing is working. All of my children, even the ones who struggle, placed in the top 5% in the last round of state required testing. They are not geniuses. They simply know how to work. Something their peers tend to have a hard time with.

First, I will charge you the sitting fee. Then the printing fee. Then I'll add a special fee on blank printing paper to cover my losses every time someone steals one of my pictures. Part of that is your fault, obviously. Then I'm going to charge a fee for delivering the print to you. A charge for placing it in your album. A fee for placing it on Facebook, another one for your iPhone, another one for your digital picture frame, another one for... well, you get the point. I'll charge yet another fee _every time_ you look at the picture for the next 110 years. Finally, if you show the picture to someone else I'm going to charge you double. If you show it to 5 or more people then you'll need to pay $100. If you describe the picture, you'll need to pay a fee. If you use part of my picture in another picture, fee. If you want to re-interpret the picture, fee. If you want to digitize the picture - HELL NO! Not allowed. I'm going to hire lots of lawyers to threaten you with lawsuits if you break any of these rules. I will also be hiring private investigators to pose as your friends to try and trick you in to showing the pictures. If you show them my picture of you without paying the fee, then off to jail with you, you dirty crook. When the police raid your home to search for your criminal copying device (printer), I will be there with them going over all your albums. I am sure you are a thief. When I find the unauthorized images I know you stole, you'll pay $10,000 per violation. If you place any of my images of you on the Internet, then your ISP will be shutting off your connection, confiscating all your website addresses, and barring you from even seeing a computer for years. Simply looking at my image of you without a license is theft, and you are a no-good-rotten-thief deserving shame, public ridicule, and jail time. You are making me, the lowly artist, starve! Oh, by the way, I am not actually going to do any of this. I'm going to sell all the rights to my images to a large multi-national global corporation with incredible political power who will do all of this. Not for me or on my behalf, but for them. You can pretend it is for me, if that makes you feel any better.

Now, who would like to sign up for a session with me? You know you want my goods and services! If I don't have a line out the door by end of day, then it is because all of you are all STEALING my work. I suffer at least... $2 billion... in losses a year (yeah, that sounds right). If you weren't stealing my pictures, then I'd clearly have plenty of customers. It is all your fault my business is suffering, you rotten crooks... er, I mean customers!

65.52.0.0/14 451 "Due to overwhelming security issues with hotmail, your e-mail provider has been blocked. Please switch e-mail providers, your e-mail is not safe at hotmail."

# grep hotmail.com /var/log/maillog | wc
    20935 419204 4814336

If everyone did this, we wouldn't have an issue any more.

For those of you who have been fortunate enough to breed, what do you do to keep your spawn from being harmed while sequestered in your lair? Here are a few tips:

• Keep them away from the lava. Young evil geniuses are not yet capable of understanding that magma will melt their face. Being geniuses, however, your bio-genetic-replicants will soon learn this is a hazard if you toss a few lost island tourists in to your volcano.
• Don't let them eat anything except organically grown unprocessed rations. If you've ever had the misfortune of being trapped in an air-lock cycle with a dirty diaper containing post-digested processed cheese, you'll never use such torture on even your most hated nemesis. Not even an evil genius is that cruel.
• Ensure your mini-clone understands that only minions should be used for weapons development. Evil daddy is not an acceptable bio-waste or germ warfare target.
• Do not allow your halflings to ingest laser beams, acid, sharks, large saws, explosives, boomerang hats, and especially ultra-powerful-magnetosphere-altering magnets. They'll end up sticking together and you'll NEVER get them apart.

Don't forget the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff.

My step-father was one of the curators at the Pioneer Museum in town for a few years. They had the actual mechanical computer that Clyde Tombaugh used to calculate the orbit of Pluto. It still worked. It might be worth phoning them to see if they still have it on display.

Here in Utah, where the government seems to own most of the state, we have our own share of odd structures. Like these on the Dugway Proving Grounds:

http://g.co/maps/9uz4u
http://g.co/maps/yyyfk
http://g.co/maps/zs7c3
http://g.co/maps/vh7mf
http://g.co/maps/q2zg5

There are a gazillion odd things on the landscape of Earth. It seems most of them are either built by scientists, the military, or both.

My personal guess for the China structures is that it is something really boring. Like a geological study using satellites. Some of the structures do seem to be military/bombing related. However, I have to wonder if the squiggly line structures are related to a satellite based geological study. If you look close, it rather seems like some of the lines have been "moved" or are folded on itself by some natural process. Doesn't that seem like a lot of disruption in the soil for being less than a decade old? If I were a geologist, that might be just the kind of area I might want to research. Doubly so if I was trying to protect the many important archaeological artifacts found in that area of China. I might even try some anti-erosion studies, etc. Even more meaningful would be understanding how important those archaeological sites are to the economy. If they wash away, will tourists still pay to see a small mound of dirt?

Yeah, I know it isn't as exciting as space aliens... which I would much prefer to be true. ;-)

This is what they "built:"
http://www.draganfly.com/uav-helicopter/draganflyer-x6/

"Iranian aerospace scientists have built an unmanned flying saucer..." Or just copied a picture from a website from a company that actually does.

Much have I have seen, and much have I done, for I am LOFAR of the Hill People!

You know, I will do battle with my telescope, and lose. I will do battle with my telescope, and win.. and yet, I still lose! And I am supposed to feel great sorrow for it! I swear, by Zeena's teats, if I had my telescope's advantage on the field of war, I would be a god.