You think that's true? I'm not -- I think that the issue is that they really don't realize exactly how assholish it is. I think that the fact that we're JUST NOW in 2012 getting stories about people who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore is an indication of the fact that really, most people simply haven't thought about it very hard.

At least that's what I hope. And like I said, I'm not an optimist when it comes to human nature, but I really do think that we're still at the 'ignorant of exactly how much it makes people want to kill you' stage.

Yeah -- I mean, this is the problem. Like, frequently -- most of the time -- I sort of wish that talkers would, you know, die, but there's lots of unobtrusive usage that's nobody's business.

I'll tell you what I really think is going to happen: I think in 10 or 15 years, we're going to look back on this time period, and be sort of aghast at how people behaved with regards to their phones. I don't accept that things are moving in a more-talk-is-OK direction, I think that there's the possibility that this is a manners-haven't-caught-up-to-tech blip. There's going to be a certain amount of soul-searching as we deal with the driving issue, and I'm hoping that what will come out of that will be, 'Wait -- is what I have to say really important enough to need saying, now, in these circumstances?'

And I'm not generally optimistic about human nature. But cell phone usage, I just don't see how this can go on very much longer as it is -- I mean, it's raw uncut assholishness, all the time, and everyone KNOWS it, but for now, they all DO IT anyway.

My fingers are crossed for what alcoholics refer to as a 'moment of clarity'.

The writing's been on the wall for years. If your car gets 35mpg and you live within 15 miles of your job, an increase of $2 a gallon hits you with a whopping $5.80 increase per week -- what's that, a big mac? A latte and a half?

And if you *haven't* got a fuel-efficient car and tried to live where you work or close to transit, given how long we've known that gas prices fluctuate in response to world events, well, you've done it to yourself. Shut up.

Free market, y'all. You asked for it, you got it, and you demanded a house with a lawn and an SUV anyway, and now you've got the nerve to cry about gasoline prices? I believe the french refer to this sort of thing as 'yo problem'.

That is totally how I'm going to describe where I live next time I run into a Tasmanian. "You know Australia? That's the America of Maine."

Understand me -- I wish that these people who are almost certainly wrong are right, and that there's no warming happening.

BUT IF THERE IS, aren't you going to gain any enjoyment from the fact that Texas, the reddest, denyingest of states is going to catch fire first? Be honest: that's going to be funny. When Arizona, Nevada, and Kentucky follow, I mean, seriously? I'm not supposed to smile at *all*?

Sorry -- what exactly haven't I anticipated? I'll be dead in 50 years, by which time, what, 3, 4 degrees? Texas will be on fire, and I'll get to watch from afar. And if it's not, that's great, too.

Are you under the impression that the earth desperately cares whether you or I hang around?

That's how I removed myself from this jackassery.

Personally, I think that the preponderance of the scientific evidence suggests that we ought to be worried about climate change. However, there are people who seem to have a chip on their shoulder about this, and they seem to be centralized in the very states that are going to have it worst if they're wrong. Frankly, I hope they're right and that their already-sun-belt homes don't wind up in the middle of a new desert, and that their kids don't end up with some kind of mutant skin cancer.

But if they do? I don't care. Maine could use an extra degree or two, and it'll be funny to watch all the Red States run around begging the federal government for disaster relief like they do when a river floods or there's a hurricane in the gulf. "Oh, noes! Hotness! Who could have guessed! Please help us, evil socialist elitists. Our kids can't play outside and we're all so THIRSTY!!!! Waaaaaah!"

I'm smiling just thinking about it.

I worked at a school that did exactly this, and you're right, the pressure was still there to pass kids.

Two things made this somewhat successful:

1. The 'marginal' range did move up. So while maybe you're allowing just as many close-but-not-quites to get C's as you would have with D's, the bar for 'marginal' was definitely higher.

2. The administration was behind it. They were very clear: if a kid should not get credit, give them an F.

So, like i said, some success. More than none.

Though I don't need the rhetoric, this hits it on the head, in every aspect.

I'd like to try teaching math like English -- Math 1, Math 2, Math 3, Math 4, with curriculum determined in part by such apparently meaningless factors as what might be useful in other classes or what's happening, you know, outside of my room.

The textbook comments are particularly right on -- step 1, burn them. If teachers complain that they won't know what to teach, fire them on the spot.

Geometry is also a lousy place for proof. Teach deduction all the time, in every topic -- and in classrooms other than math. "Here's a bunch of fake stuff you don't know anything about that's hard to draw. Now let's think really abstractly about how we're thinking about it!" And induction doesn't get taught at all.

The practical deal-killer, the one that drove me out of the profession, is that the barrel full of math teachers is so close to empty that you're pretty much scraping bottom from day 1. This kind of instruction -- and this kind of critique -- can only originate with someone who likes math, and is sort of good at it. You'd be amazed (or maybe you wouldn't) at how few public high school math teachers this describes.

America has gotten the math teaching instruction it asked for when it decided to prop up bad teachers with lousy but easy-to-use texts, and to boot it got the benefit of not having to pay very well for people willing to go through these motions. (It's not about money, but really, it's a little bit about money. I doubled my salary when I left last year.) It's a big, huge problem, and since you're going to have to convince parents that it needs the kind of dramatic overhaul this (great) article describes, and since parents were largely victimized by the existing system, I'm pretty sure it's a losing battle.