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[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Deservedly fired.

I still can't figure out what's shorter: a New York minute or the nanosecond you and I managed to agree on something?

[jjj]

To clarify, do you think it's OK for teachers to throw erasers at kids?

[Rob C]

RobC, I memorably got a chalky eraser in the face, thrown at a sleeping me by my 7th grade math teacher. I liked math, and did very well at math, but I liked sleep too. I was and am still pretty cheerful about being the butt of a joke too - after the "huh, what?" moment of waking up, I thought it was hilarious. Apparently, so did my classmates, because this was the anecdote for which I was known.

My late wife was great at maths; she simply loved the entire concept of deaing with something intellectual, but also (apparently) not open to too much ambiguity. However, she did once tell me how one could prove that 1 = 0 but that was beyond me even then when she was there to replay the method. She also helped me get up to speed for the maths I needed during the short time I attended a tech. on day-release as an apprentice mech. eng.

I'm happy but surprised that you still bother to post; your comment about flying dusters has already sparked off the inevitable testosterone challenges that pretty much everything seems to represent to some unfortunate souls. For my part, I feel lucky to have witnessed some strange goings on, survived them fairly intact, and managed to hold on to my sanity - more or less.

I watched Rick Stein (a tv chef) tonight on Spanish television, and not for the first time, he has inspired me to attempt something new for lunch tomorrow. And here's the thing: few photographers have me wanting to fill their tripod holes, but this chef's jaunts through French Canals has lived in my soul as something that I really owe it to myself to do sometime before it's too late. That tickles me. Next Saturday he's doing a show on Mallorcan food... as I live here, it may open me up to something else, too.

;-)

Rob C

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

To clarify, do you think it's OK for teachers to throw erasers at kids?

Certainly much better than the other way around, which seems to be prevailing these days.

At least it was a soft thing thrown (sponge, I presume). My art teacher used to throw her keys, and not just a light key chain with modern keys, but one of those "church front door" type of keys, and plenty of them at that,  attached to her key chain. I can tell you one thing: people did not sleep in her class nor disrupted it.

[Justinr]

Certainly much better than the other way around, which seems to be prevailing these days.

At least it was a soft thing thrown (sponge, I presume). My art teacher used to throw her keys, and not just a light key chain with modern keys, but one of those "church front door" type of keys, and plenty of them at that,  attached to her key chain. I can tell you one thing: people did not sleep in her class nor disrupted it.

When I were a wee lad blackboard cleaners were lumps of wood with compressed felt attached. Not a lot soft about them.

[jjj]

At least it was a soft thing thrown (sponge, I presume). My art teacher used to throw her keys, and not just a light key chain with modern keys, but one of those "church front door" type of keys, and plenty of them at that,  attached to her key chain. I can tell you one thing: people did not sleep in her class nor disrupted it.

And also should have been sacked for such things. If you have behave like that to get kids attention you are already failing at your job. Not to mention you can be smarter about such situations, resorting to hurting kids is just dumb and lazy. Not to mention kids tend to hate/have no respect for such teachers.
I had a useless and boring teacher who used to throw an eraser at kids not paying attention/dozing off and no it was not a soft sponge. Such erasers are solid lumps of wood with an attached soft bit. Same teacher also punched a pupil after overhearing his nickname [Putty] being said. He wouldn't last long now.

[jjj]

PC is not about treating people with respect.  It's about shutting people up who may have a valid point to make about a subject that people don't want discussed, often for political reasons.  When someone raises the statistic that out-of-wedlock births and single parent families are creating more problems in black families, the speaker is silenced by calling him a racist.  When a university president states that he believes men make better scientists and engineers or at least are more attracted to these fields than women, he is accused of sexism and is forced to resign.  Even if people's views are misinformed, they disserve the right to speak their minds.  And many views are right on the mark.   "Treating people with respect" is a two-way street. Yet the speakers, often people of good will, are silenced due to fear of losing their jobs and having their careers destroyed for not spouting the "party" line.   

In a free country,  speech that is "damned" creates uninformed, closed-minded and fearful people.  It's akin to book burning. 

It's hard to tell if this very amusing video complaining about political correctness gone too far is satire on the idiotic fuss regarding a coffee cup redesign or genuine outrage. The stance of these sort of religious nuts/far right wingers is so often indistinguishable from satire as the Landover Baptist Church website has shown for years. It does appear to be genuine outrage, a literal storm about a coffee cup.
Alan, like you the lunatic in video and others that like to blame PC for something that is nothing to do with the reality. need to stop blaming PC for everything you do not like.
What makes this whole complaining about Starbucks by Christians particularly absurd is that Christmas is a pagan festival anyway and snowflakes are a symbol of Winter not Baby Jebus.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

...Alan, like you the lunatic in video... and others... need to stop blaming PC for everything you do not like...

Jeremy, like you, the lunatic PC terrorists need to stop attacking everything we do like.

[jjj]

Jeremy, like you, the lunatic PC terrorists need to stop attacking everything we do like.

Paranoid much?

You sound like a thief moaning about the police stopping them doing whatever the heck they want to do. Do you want to be able to segregate black people, bully gays and abuse women without censure like in the good ol' days before political correctness spoilt your fun?
Heck if you do get called out for un-PC like behaviour, which I'd say would be quite likely going by your attitude on LuLa. Here's a suggestion, don't be a racist/homophobic/misogynist etc.
As I keep saying PC simply means being respectful of others and if that is something that bothers you then you are not a very nice human being.

[Colorado David]

Respect is a wonderful thing, but it only has value when one earns it on the one hand and is freely given on the other.  It is utterly valueless if it's the result of a mandate. Dignity is something I assign to everyone until it is proven to be misplaced.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Do you want to be able to segregate black people, bully gays and abuse women without censure like in the good ol' days before political correctness spoilt your fun?...

There is a tremendous difference between saying and doing, between words and deeds, between what I am advocating (freedom of thought and expression - which is legal) and doing things above, which is illegal.

...you are not a very nice human being.

That settles it then.

[jjj]

Respect is a wonderful thing, but it only has value when one earns it on the one hand and is freely given on the other.  It is utterly valueless if it's the result of a mandate. Dignity is something I assign to everyone until it is proven to be misplaced.

You are mixing up differents sort of respect. Treating others as you wish to be treated is being respectful.
Respecting someone specifically for say what they have done is a another kind of respect.

[jjj]

There is a tremendous difference between saying and doing, between words and deeds, between what I am advocating (freedom of thought and expression - which is legal) and doing things above, which is illegal.

So do you think saying hateful things is somehow OK, but doing hateful things is not? You do not seem to be aware of the concept of incitement to hatred or at least not want to acknowledge it.
Or are so so naive you think thoughts and speech have no impact on others? I doubt kids who get verbal/online bullying would ever kill themselves, oh wait that is what can and does happen.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... As I keep saying PC simply means being respectful of others...

The problem with such a seductive, yet incorrect, reduction of what PC is, lies in the definition of respectful.

Would you be surprised to learn that in today's highly ideologically indoctrinated university "culture" saying something like "America is the land of opportunity" is considered disrespectful, non-PC, and labeled as a micro-aggression? That professors, if they dare to say it publicly, during a class, are required to issue so-called "trigger warning" to students before saying so? That students then have the right to leave the lecture and recuperate in so-called designated safe zones, free of exposure to different opinions?

But wait, there is more. The latest drive is the establishment of anonymous helplines for students to snitch on anyone on campus they hear utters, even in a private conversation, such a horrible, racist, offensive words like "America is the land of opportunity."

But wait, there is more. It doesn't stop there, just reporting it. The next step is a disciplinary action against those horrible human beings that dare to utter "America is the land of opportunity." And if the university does not hunt down those who said it, even anonymously, and expels them, there will be protests until the university management resigns.

It is utterly hilarious to watch the left up in arms about government spying on citizens (i.e,, collecting bulk telephone records) and yet simultaneously demanding that universities spy on their students and their anonymous yik-yak conversations in order to find out who said such heretic words like "America is the land of opportunity."

And that is your PC in action, my friend.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

So do you think saying hateful things is somehow OK, but doing hateful things is not?...

Yes.

[jjj]

Which simply confirms that you are not exactly a very nice person and also explains your at times bullying behaviour on LuLa.

[jjj]

The problem with such a seductive, yet incorrect, reduction of what PC is, lies in the definition of respectful.

Would you be surprised to learn that in today's highly ideologically indoctrinated university "culture" saying something like "America is a land of opportunity" is considered disrespectful, non-PC, and labeled as a micro-aggression? That professors, if they dare to say it publicly, during a class, are required to issue so-called "trigger warning" to students before saying so? That students then have the right to leave the lecture and recuperate in so-called designated safe zones, free of exposure to different opinions?

But wait, there is more. The latest drive is the establishment of anonymous helplines for students to snitch on anyone on campus they hear utters, even in a private conversation, such a horrible, racist, offensive words like "America is a land of opportunity."

But wait, there is more. It doesn't stop there, just reporting it. The next step is a disciplinary action against those horrible human beings that dare to utter "America is a land of opportunity." And if the university does not hunt down those who said it, even anonymously, and expels them, there will be protests until the university management resigns.

It is utterly hilarious to watch the left up in arms about government spying on citizens (i.e,, collecting bulk telephone records) and yet simultaneously demanding that universities spy on their students and their anonymous yik-yak conversations in order to find out who said such heretic words like "America is a land of opportunity."

And that is your PC in action, my friend.

No that is the sort of made up nonsense and crazy paranoia that people who like behave badly towards others want people to think is PC behaviour. Just like the raving lunatic in video I posted above claiming that Starbucks were anti-Christmas and therefore anti-Christian because there were no no snowflakes on a coffee cup, which obviously was all because of 'political correctness gone mad'.   
Every year our nutty right wing press come up with some nonsense story about Christmas activities being banned in case of offending someone. All made up rubbish.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Which simply confirms that you are not exactly a very nice person and also explains your at times bullying behaviour on LuLa.

Yes, you said that, repeatedly, hurting my feelings. That would be bullying, no?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

No that is the sort of made up nonsense and crazy paranoia...

Are you saying I made up what I wrote above?

[Otto Phocus]

Would you be surprised to learn that in today's highly ideologically indoctrinated university "culture" saying something like "America is a land of opportunity" is considered disrespectful, non-PC, and labeled as a micro-aggression? That professors, if they dare to say it publicly, during a class, are required to issue so-called "trigger warning" to students before saying so? That students then have the right to leave the lecture and recuperate in so-called designated safe zones, free of exposure to different opinions?

It may add something to the discussion if you could cite this.  That way others could read about it for themselves.