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Comment Perpetuating tropes (Score 1) 316

"...Democrats and their "Oh, everyone's a winner" crap...

Have you ever seen that? Really?

I doubt it.

My guess is that you, and others in this thread, base your comment (or ones like it) on some echo-chamber mythology you've absorbed. Or willingly slurped up.

I've had teachers, who in retrospect I realize were left of center, that were, with few exceptions, appropriately demanding in constructive ways. I can't ever remember seeing encouragement do damage. On the other hand I've seen (some) teachers, who in retrospect I realize were right of center, devastate kids in front of their peers, and, more importantly, erode that child's self worth. I am acquainted with, and have worked with, people who've never really gotten over either the poisonous assessments, or the twisted kudos, incompetent teachers often use to keep control in the classroom. How do I know? Because I see those people fall for the same bullsh*t at work from their pointy-haired managers. In school I was rarely caught in the crossfire because I'm smarter than the average bear and was fairly well behaved, but it made me feel terrible when I saw it and, if anything, it made me less likely be demonstratively smart where the teacher was liable to pit me against another student. In the workplace it's the sort of thing that tempts me to have a beer right after work.

Healthy education is not about competition, least not until kids are mature enough to manage their emotions well. Last thing you need is an authority figure such as a teacher sanctioning the pecking order, peck-to-death dynamic of the typical school environment.

As for this "Everyone's a winner" thing?

What's the alternative? Announcing losers? Highlighting their failures?

"Hey kids, let's look at the test scores. Oooooooo! Looook at the Losers! And you Cindy - why do you even bother? Guess you're gonna work in retail."

Sound helpful? Really? (Then consider what it'd sound like with a light ethnic, racial, gender, or class-based overtone thrown in.)

Most people when they really think about how life was as a child realize it takes a complete disconnect with reality to not naturally compare oneself to one's peers and notice one's relative ranking, then make an effort to improve or adapt.

My guess is, rather than education, that sort of disconnect is more likely rooted in one's upbringing or the onset of some religiously based dysfunction.

I suggest some of you read Alfie Kohn's "No Contest: The Case Against Competition".

As for a "Chinese moonshot"? Should we give a rat's ass? How well did that last effort go? Seems it blew a lot of money to prove a geopolitcal point and then, once the point proven, left space efforts twisted and barely sustainable for decades as well as a bunch of engineering types burnt on the employment front. (much like with the cancelled collider) Let's go back to the moon when there's a positive expected value in scientific terms. Jingoism is a poor motive for science. But it's an easy (lazy) way to light a competitive fire under some butts.
Science

Researchers Prove Existence Of New Type Of Electron Wave 60

ScienceDaily is reporting that physicists at the University of New Hampshire have discovered the existence of a new type of electron wave on metal surfaces. "The acoustic surface plasmon, which will have implications for developments in nano-optics, high-temperature superconductors, and the fundamental understanding of chemical reactions on surfaces. [...] 'The existence of this wave means that the electrons on the surfaces of copper, iron, beryllium and other metals behave like water on a lake's surface,' says Diaconescu, a postdoctoral research associate in the Condensed Matter Group of the physics department at UNH. 'When a stone is thrown into a lake, waves spread radially in all directions. A similar wave can be created by the electrons on a metal surface when they are disturbed, for instance, by light.'"
The Courts

Second Life Lawsuit Heads to Federal Court 201

Conlaw writes "A former plumbing contractor who has made a new career selling virtual cyber sex toys in the virtual world of Second Life, has now brought suit against another player who is allegedly copying and selling a device called the Sex Gen. The plaintiff, whose avatar is known as 'Stroker Serpentine,' is seeking the real name of the copycat entrepreneur. The reporter describing the lawsuit included commentary from a cyber law professor whose university maintains a virtual Supreme Court in the Second Life world."

National Archive File Format Time Bomb 233

geordie_loz writes "The BBC is reporting that the UK National Archive is warning of old formats being a 'ticking time-bomb' where data is going to be lost because of incompatibility in newer versions of software, and software not existing at all. More surprisingly, Microsoft has offered a solution via the OOXML format."

Comment Re:Why negative responses? (Score 1) 410

Love the way you drop the critical bits.

Just as an example:

"just because I say you can't arrest terrorists does not mean I support them killing ..." - yes it does ... obviously"

in a more honest world would read as:

"just because I say you can't arrest terrorists without reasonable evidence, without any sort of oversight, without any assurance of humane treatment, without recourse for mis-arrested innocents, or effective representation, or without even lip service to the idea that eventually we should disclose what we did to the taxpayers in whose name we've commited what many consider to be crimes, does not mean I support them killing ..." - yes it does in my stunted, chest-thumping, opinion ... obviously since you imply the uncomfortable idea that our opponents, be they islamic or democrat, have any sort of human qualities we ought to respect out of princible, even if only for the sake of any of our own soliders that might be captured."

What a tired, twisted, neurotic fan-boy, wannabe line of thought you trotted through it's paces in your post. Talking points so weak and old they can hardly muster a breath to blow the dust off themselves. Talking points so fetid with the ichor of some closeted fetish the suppressed ambiguity of one's attractions seems to drip from them.

Enjoy your life, though guessing from your post that'll only be possible in some feral manner which might leave you gasping "Rosebud" when the reaper shows up to draw the curtain on what I'm sure will be a life of spreading such happiness.

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