Mishmash Musings

There was some chatter on Twitter about the story of an 8th-grade girl who called 911 after her math teacher “rattled a table” to get the attention of the class. I looked up the story in the Mercury News (San Jose), and am just shocked by what happened. That was basically the whole story. The class wasn’t paying attention, so the teacher shook or rattled a table. One girl was “disturbed” by his actions, so she left the classroom and called 911 on her cell phone. The cops came, and now the teacher has been placed on administrative leave.

Can you believe that?? How ridiculous is our public school system — or society in general, really — that a teacher can’t even rattle a table without being suspended? The sense of entitlement kids today have is just sickening. Every little thing that doesn’t go their way is cause for some kind of legal action. The comments posted along with the story paint an even bleaker picture. One person said in NYC it is considered “corporal punishment” to have students copy out lines or words multiple times (think of Bart Simpson in the opening credits of that show) and that teachers can’t even make corrective marks directly on students’ work. They have to use Post-It notes instead.

Good grief.

Back to the girl in this story. Why didn’t she just go next door to get another teacher or walk her ass to the principal’s office? Why did she have to call 911?? I’m guessing she saw an opportunity to “get back” at her teacher for some other perceived slight and took it.

Well, the storm has been every bit as severe as predicted. I can’t believe some of the pictures I’ve seen, especially this one of cars simply abandoned on Lake Shore Drive because they can’t move. People can’t get to school or get to their jobs, so a lot of places have just been shutting down until the snow gets cleared and driving is possible again.

Of course, with a storm like this, you’d expect some power outages too. Reports coming into the Tribune indicate that some 30,000 people are without electricity right now. I totally feel for them, because it’s not going to be any fun trying to stay warm with temperatures dipping so low. Hopefully they have a backup heating system (fireplace, kerosene heater) until things get back to normal.

When is summer????

Have you heard that MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann is no longer with the network? Friday night marked the host’s last Countdown show. Neither party has been specific about why they’ve parted ways, though there’s some speculation that it’s because of various controversies/frictions that Olbermann has been involved in in the past. NBC’s new owners Comcast probably had a great deal of say in the matter as well.

In my opinion, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. I’m sure Olbermann and his hate-filled rants will show up on another network soon. Let’s just hope he goes back to sports and leaves political analysts to the pros.

(AP Photo/MSNBC)

The Oregon Ducks and Auburn Tigers both wrapped up perfect seasons yesterday, and finished ranked No.1 and 2 respectively in the BCS standings. That means they’ll play for the national title on January 10, 2011 in Glendale, AZ.

I would actually like to see the BCS go to a playoff system because I think it’s ridiculous that a single loss usually eliminates most teams from title contention. For example, Stanford’s only loss on the season came against Oregon, yet they’re going to finish behind Wisconsin in the rankings despite similar records and Wisconsin’s loss coming to the No. 24 team. The computer does its thing, there’s strength of schedule, blah, blah, blah… whatever. At the very least, shouldn’t No. 3 play No. 4 and No. 5 play No. 6 (and so on) in the remaining BCS games??? It’s totally stupid that UConn is going to a major bowl game because of an automatic bid while a more deserving team will have to settle for a crappy alternative.

Still, I can’t complain about this year’s championship matchup. Oregon and Auburn have been head and shoulders above the competition all season long and deserve to go at it. I’ll be watching, and will be pulling for Chip Kelly’s team to win!

A lot of people are finding their extended jobless benefits running out this month. At the end of December, the first wave of folks on the 99-week plan are going to start feeling the pinch. Congress has a chance to extend the benefits once again, but the votes might not be there this time. That will obviously make things even harder for families that are struggling to get by on meager benefit checks. Looks like they’re in for even more downsizing and penny-pinching. Many families, especially those battling with chronic illnesses or that are on prescription medication, should probably think about getting a Blue Cross short term insurance policy or something similar so they can continue to afford treatment and medicine after their benefits run out.

I don’t know what we would do in a similar situation. We’d probably have to move in with my parents, which would be hell, but what’s the alternative? Homelessness? No thanks. I really feel for these folks, especially since this is coming during the holidays. I think I’ll bring some canned goods to the local food bank just to help out in some small way….

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is now on Interpol’s most wanted list. Unfortunately, the charge isn’t espionage (which it should be). Instead, it’s for some rape allegation that Assange says was cooked up by the CIA in an effort to take him down.

Personally, I hope this guy gets caught and sent to prison for a long, long time. Of course what he’s doing amounts to espionage!! Who in their right mind would think otherwise? Just because he calls himself a “journalist” doesn’t make the charge any less appropriate. Would a NY Times reporter have the same kind of immunity? And why do journalists get a free pass anyway? Classified information is classified information, no matter whose hands it’s in, right?

Have you heard about the Amber Alert that was issued for three young Michigan boys over the weekend? Brothers Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton, age 9, 7, and 5, respectively, were reported missing on Friday after their father John was rescued after a failed suicide attempt. John gave the police some weird story about passing the boys off to some female acquaintance he met online, but authorities have not been able to confirm that the woman even exists. So now the FBI has been brought in, and they’re searching the area around the boys’ home with planes and dogs.

I know this isn’t exactly an unusual story these days, but it’s heartbreaking nonetheless. As a parent, I can’t imagine doing anything to put my child in danger. John Skelton has not been ruled out as a suspect, and some people are speculating that he has already killed the boys and that’s why he tried to commit suicide. I don’t really buy that though, as he wouldn’t have had any reason to hide the bodies if he was going to kill himself anyway.

I really hope these boys are somehow found safe and sound. I’m tired of reading tragic stories about kids.

(AP Photo/National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

I’m glad to hear people are revolting against the highly invasive TSA body scans that are being implemented at major airports across the country. I don’t fly that much (maybe once a year) and haven’t traveled since the new procedure has been in place, but I can tell you right now that I wouldn’t like it one bit either. Body scans and pat-downs? Look, I’m all for safety, but this is going too far. What’s next, skintight body suits and no luggage allowances to make sure nobody carries anything illegal on the planes??? Good god, this is getting out of control!

(AP Photo/Paul Beaty)