Is it time to finish building that fence? Deploy active duty military units? Really, finally pay attention to the threat?
One could begin to think that Janet Napolitano and her boss might actually want something horrible to happen inside our borders...our own Reichstag moment, so to speak.
It's either that--or shocking, mindless neglect. Any other explanations?
Friday, January 28, 2011
Rahm Emanuel's Back On The Ballot
Unanimous decision by the Illinois Supreme Court.
So, the guy who led Obama from Chicago to The White House now goes back to run Chicago.
This should be interesting. By the time November 2012 arrives, Rahm will need to resurrect anyone as a live voter who died within the last forty years within the environs of Cook County, in order to counteract the actual live voters in the rest of the State of Illinois who will not be voting for HopeyChangeyVersion2.
Like 1960, all over again.
So, the guy who led Obama from Chicago to The White House now goes back to run Chicago.
This should be interesting. By the time November 2012 arrives, Rahm will need to resurrect anyone as a live voter who died within the last forty years within the environs of Cook County, in order to counteract the actual live voters in the rest of the State of Illinois who will not be voting for HopeyChangeyVersion2.
Like 1960, all over again.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Amy Chua's 'Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother': Part Deux
OldSouth finished the book last night as the snow descended. The first part of the book is light-hearted, self-deprecating, actually quite funny.
The second and third sections are quite dark. It requires extraordinary candor to autobiographically recount such miserable behaviour toward not only children, but husband, students, colleagues, childrens' teachers, and extended family and friends.
Amy Chua was under no obligation to write the book or publish it, so real credit goes to her for displaying that sort of moxie. OS hopes his readers buy it and read it--that many thousands of parents and teachers buy it and read it. This country needs to have a serious public discussion about parenting, and this book is a great place to begin.
The older child, Sophia, bore up relatively well under the onslaught. It is a miracle that Lulu, the younger, did not begin self-injuring behaviours, or develop eating disorders, or attempt suicide. She fought back against the craziness, and held to her own sense of self, which probably saved her. OS has seen cases where that did not happen, with tragic outcomes, too painful to recount.
OS's initial take, before reading the book, was to give Amy Chua 2 3/4 cheers. He's revising that down to about 1.5 cheers. There are so many parents unwilling to devote time, thought, and hard work to their children, and we are paying the price every day for that neglect. Amy Chua is not one of those parents, not by a long shot.
But...
Sans love, there is no virtuous circle. Achievement is not love. Obsessive hard work is not love. A perfect performance of Mendelssohn or Prokofiev is not love. Felix and Sergei did not compose pieces of music so that they could become the steel-cage ultimate fighting rings for the egos of parents, teachers and children. OS even contends that that manic sort of preparation to perform a short list of repertoire does not actually train a student to be a musician--it creates a highly programmed kid who can impressively perform a particular piece. Put a piece by Schumann or Shostakovich in front of such a kid, and ask them to make sense of the score themselves. They are lost in the woods, even after performing Mendelssohn and Prokofiev brilliantly. OS has lost count of the times he's seen this play out.
There seems to be no greater framework, no greater stage upon which this story is played. The chief aim of life is to achieve, to win, to be on the early acceptance list to Harvard--Brown will not do, and Duke is synonymous with humiliation. All that is still in place in TigerMotherWorld.
OS kept asking himself as he read: So, the kids and the mom and even the dogs win all the prizes, all the time. Then what? What's the next demand? How much is enough? And OS says this as a hard-charging father of two very high-achieving kids, of whom he is outrageously proud.
Are they loved because they are accomplished? Or do they succeed because they are loved, and respond to that higher call by working their tails off? Yes, in order to achieve substantial things, hard work is required, and a child has to be guided and confronted along the way. There's a lot of value in that process, up to and including that competition or exam, which are an integral part of the process. It's good to win, and that should be the goal. A's are better than B's, and should be the goal.
Do we define success, though, only by the sheepskins on the wall, and the trophies and the resumes, the power we wield, the faculties we sit on, the number of publications on the vita, or by how our lives and our work contribute to the lives around us? It's not either/or, it's both. It really is both.
Are we supposed to live vicariously through our children's accomplishments? What if, along the way, they fail at something, like not winning the grand prize at the competition? What if they go to Michigan State instead of Yale? Are they still loved, do Mom and Dad still exist?
OS was hoping to hear more about all this from Amy Chua, and strangely, she seems silent, as if the questions just don't occur. She now treats her children and husband more humanely, which is good.
At least until next time the Tiger gets the urge to roar.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
The second and third sections are quite dark. It requires extraordinary candor to autobiographically recount such miserable behaviour toward not only children, but husband, students, colleagues, childrens' teachers, and extended family and friends.
Amy Chua was under no obligation to write the book or publish it, so real credit goes to her for displaying that sort of moxie. OS hopes his readers buy it and read it--that many thousands of parents and teachers buy it and read it. This country needs to have a serious public discussion about parenting, and this book is a great place to begin.
The older child, Sophia, bore up relatively well under the onslaught. It is a miracle that Lulu, the younger, did not begin self-injuring behaviours, or develop eating disorders, or attempt suicide. She fought back against the craziness, and held to her own sense of self, which probably saved her. OS has seen cases where that did not happen, with tragic outcomes, too painful to recount.
OS's initial take, before reading the book, was to give Amy Chua 2 3/4 cheers. He's revising that down to about 1.5 cheers. There are so many parents unwilling to devote time, thought, and hard work to their children, and we are paying the price every day for that neglect. Amy Chua is not one of those parents, not by a long shot.
But...
Sans love, there is no virtuous circle. Achievement is not love. Obsessive hard work is not love. A perfect performance of Mendelssohn or Prokofiev is not love. Felix and Sergei did not compose pieces of music so that they could become the steel-cage ultimate fighting rings for the egos of parents, teachers and children. OS even contends that that manic sort of preparation to perform a short list of repertoire does not actually train a student to be a musician--it creates a highly programmed kid who can impressively perform a particular piece. Put a piece by Schumann or Shostakovich in front of such a kid, and ask them to make sense of the score themselves. They are lost in the woods, even after performing Mendelssohn and Prokofiev brilliantly. OS has lost count of the times he's seen this play out.
There seems to be no greater framework, no greater stage upon which this story is played. The chief aim of life is to achieve, to win, to be on the early acceptance list to Harvard--Brown will not do, and Duke is synonymous with humiliation. All that is still in place in TigerMotherWorld.
OS kept asking himself as he read: So, the kids and the mom and even the dogs win all the prizes, all the time. Then what? What's the next demand? How much is enough? And OS says this as a hard-charging father of two very high-achieving kids, of whom he is outrageously proud.
Are they loved because they are accomplished? Or do they succeed because they are loved, and respond to that higher call by working their tails off? Yes, in order to achieve substantial things, hard work is required, and a child has to be guided and confronted along the way. There's a lot of value in that process, up to and including that competition or exam, which are an integral part of the process. It's good to win, and that should be the goal. A's are better than B's, and should be the goal.
Do we define success, though, only by the sheepskins on the wall, and the trophies and the resumes, the power we wield, the faculties we sit on, the number of publications on the vita, or by how our lives and our work contribute to the lives around us? It's not either/or, it's both. It really is both.
Are we supposed to live vicariously through our children's accomplishments? What if, along the way, they fail at something, like not winning the grand prize at the competition? What if they go to Michigan State instead of Yale? Are they still loved, do Mom and Dad still exist?
OS was hoping to hear more about all this from Amy Chua, and strangely, she seems silent, as if the questions just don't occur. She now treats her children and husband more humanely, which is good.
At least until next time the Tiger gets the urge to roar.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
The Joys Of Being Snowed In
Cabin Fever is beginning to wear on OldSouth. It's been too cold for golf for weeks now, and the restlessness is evident.
Last night brought another three inches or so. Had the cold air arrived about an hour earlier, it would have been seven inches.
In any case, we're snowed in. The outdoor cat has moved in for the day to sleep in the warm, the younger border collies are out romping in the snow (their favorite weather), the old border collie is passed out on the floor (not interested, been there, done that)
The ice arrived before the snow, and the trees on the property are breathtakingly lovely.
Hoping you enjoy. Keep warm and dry.
OS
Last night brought another three inches or so. Had the cold air arrived about an hour earlier, it would have been seven inches.
In any case, we're snowed in. The outdoor cat has moved in for the day to sleep in the warm, the younger border collies are out romping in the snow (their favorite weather), the old border collie is passed out on the floor (not interested, been there, done that)
The ice arrived before the snow, and the trees on the property are breathtakingly lovely.
Hoping you enjoy. Keep warm and dry.
OS
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Bear-Stearns Traders Knowingly Selling Investor 'A Sack Of Shit': Lawsuit from 2008 Now Made Public
From Atlantic Magazine biz page:
Former Bear Stearns mortgage executives who now run mortgage divisions of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Ally Financial have been accused of cheating and defrauding investors through the mortgage securities they created and sold while at Bear. According to e-mails and internal audits, JPMorgan had known about this fraud since the spring of 2008, but hid it from the public eye through legal maneuvering. Last week a lawsuit filed in 2008 by mortgage insurer Ambac Assurance Corp against Bear Stearns and JPMorgan was unsealed. The lawsuit's supporting e-mails, going back as far as 2005, highlight Bear traders telling their superiors they were selling investors like Ambac a "sack of shit."
Denninger has been on top of this all along, alleging that the frauds originate at the very beginning of the process--the creation of the individual mortgages themselves. Little wonder that so much of the paperwork has gone missing...
OS is no financial whiz, no economist.
But he does know this: If you bleach all the trust out of a culture, where no one has any idea whether or not he is dealing with an out-and-out crook--things grind to a halt. Perhaps slowly, but inevitably.
Former Bear Stearns mortgage executives who now run mortgage divisions of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Ally Financial have been accused of cheating and defrauding investors through the mortgage securities they created and sold while at Bear. According to e-mails and internal audits, JPMorgan had known about this fraud since the spring of 2008, but hid it from the public eye through legal maneuvering. Last week a lawsuit filed in 2008 by mortgage insurer Ambac Assurance Corp against Bear Stearns and JPMorgan was unsealed. The lawsuit's supporting e-mails, going back as far as 2005, highlight Bear traders telling their superiors they were selling investors like Ambac a "sack of shit."
Denninger has been on top of this all along, alleging that the frauds originate at the very beginning of the process--the creation of the individual mortgages themselves. Little wonder that so much of the paperwork has gone missing...
OS is no financial whiz, no economist.
But he does know this: If you bleach all the trust out of a culture, where no one has any idea whether or not he is dealing with an out-and-out crook--things grind to a halt. Perhaps slowly, but inevitably.
Clobbered In The Last Election? No Worries, Just Stop The Clock! Harry Reid Declares It's 5 January 2011
Really. In the Senate, it's January 5, 2011.
After a nearly three-week absence, the Senate is back in session Tuesday in a chamber where time has ground to a halt: It's the same legislative day there that began Jan. 5.
The ruling Democrats have effectively stopped the clock for a reason: They contend that on the Senate's first day in session, its rules can be changed with just 51 votes, rather than the 67 normally needed. And the rules they are trying to change all have to do with the minority's ultimate weapon: the filibuster.
In other words, they never adjourned the previous session of the Senate!
WTF?!
Mitch McConnell notes that it appears to be one more attempt to nullify the outcome of last November's election. Like that MotherOfAllSpendingBills that Harry Reid sprang on the Senate with less than two days' notice, demanding its passage in the December lame-duck session. The whole thing was so egregious that it didn't pass the smell test for even the Democrats--or at least for the ones who have to face the voters in 2012.
For OS's readers overseas, a few simple truths must be understood about the US Democrat party, in order to understand US politics:
Words have no meaning, being simply sounds one uses to get one's way today.
Rules are for suckers, and other guys.
Only power matters.
They exist to campaign for the next election, whenever that is. If they lose, then its the fault of the great unwashed pool of voters, and the Dems have the obligation to 'adjust' the outcomes for TheGreaterGood. They just thinkin' of us, ya'll.
Trotsky would be proud.
So, here we are, on January 25, 2011. The Senate is meeting today, on January 5, 2011. And if Harry Reid gets his way, then it will still be January 5, 2011 in November of 2012.
At which point, WeTheEnemy (that great unwashed pool of voters) get to remind him of the current date and time.
Again, OS sez it: Political violence is not an option. Once the genie is out of the bottle, and blood flows, Heaven only knows what tragedies await us. NO, NO, NO!
However, this sort of blatant abuse of power, repeated again and again, as we have experienced in the past two decades, sets the stage for just such a tragedy.
OS has children, and would like to have grandchildren some day. And hopes to have a stable, free, and peaceful America for their lifetimes. Lest the darkness fall, we must keep insisting that light prevail, while we still have time.
After a nearly three-week absence, the Senate is back in session Tuesday in a chamber where time has ground to a halt: It's the same legislative day there that began Jan. 5.
The ruling Democrats have effectively stopped the clock for a reason: They contend that on the Senate's first day in session, its rules can be changed with just 51 votes, rather than the 67 normally needed. And the rules they are trying to change all have to do with the minority's ultimate weapon: the filibuster.
In other words, they never adjourned the previous session of the Senate!
WTF?!
Mitch McConnell notes that it appears to be one more attempt to nullify the outcome of last November's election. Like that MotherOfAllSpendingBills that Harry Reid sprang on the Senate with less than two days' notice, demanding its passage in the December lame-duck session. The whole thing was so egregious that it didn't pass the smell test for even the Democrats--or at least for the ones who have to face the voters in 2012.
For OS's readers overseas, a few simple truths must be understood about the US Democrat party, in order to understand US politics:
Words have no meaning, being simply sounds one uses to get one's way today.
Rules are for suckers, and other guys.
Only power matters.
They exist to campaign for the next election, whenever that is. If they lose, then its the fault of the great unwashed pool of voters, and the Dems have the obligation to 'adjust' the outcomes for TheGreaterGood. They just thinkin' of us, ya'll.
Trotsky would be proud.
So, here we are, on January 25, 2011. The Senate is meeting today, on January 5, 2011. And if Harry Reid gets his way, then it will still be January 5, 2011 in November of 2012.
At which point, WeTheEnemy (that great unwashed pool of voters) get to remind him of the current date and time.
Again, OS sez it: Political violence is not an option. Once the genie is out of the bottle, and blood flows, Heaven only knows what tragedies await us. NO, NO, NO!
However, this sort of blatant abuse of power, repeated again and again, as we have experienced in the past two decades, sets the stage for just such a tragedy.
OS has children, and would like to have grandchildren some day. And hopes to have a stable, free, and peaceful America for their lifetimes. Lest the darkness fall, we must keep insisting that light prevail, while we still have time.
Amy Chua's 'Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother'--Just Arrived At OldSouth's House
...and he began reading as soon as he cleaned up the dinner dishes.
OS thinks the opening salvo of publicity could have been handled better. That WSJ article comes off very harsh-sounding, and the jeers were heard 'round the world.
Actually, the book is very very funny and self-deprecating. OS is about halfway through the tale, and as a fellow hard-charging parent, has had several belly-laughs along the way. He's in love with younger child Lulu, who appears to be dismantling Prof. Chua's entire universe, brick by brick.
Moh', lathuh, when the book is finished.
It is quite a read, not at all what OS expected.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
OS thinks the opening salvo of publicity could have been handled better. That WSJ article comes off very harsh-sounding, and the jeers were heard 'round the world.
Actually, the book is very very funny and self-deprecating. OS is about halfway through the tale, and as a fellow hard-charging parent, has had several belly-laughs along the way. He's in love with younger child Lulu, who appears to be dismantling Prof. Chua's entire universe, brick by brick.
Moh', lathuh, when the book is finished.
It is quite a read, not at all what OS expected.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Monday, January 24, 2011
Ruh-Roh: Rahm Emmanuel Declared Ineligible For Mayoral Candidacy By Illinois Court Of Appeals
HT Second City Cop
Here's the news, just in.
Early voting begins Jan. 31.
This will, of course, be fast-tracked to the Illinois Supreme Court.
If he loses there, be assured he will venue-shop at the Federal level. But, can any Federal judge realistically claim jurisdiction over a city election?
But then again, they've claimed jurisdiction over school districting for over forty years now...
Rahmbo can't claim it's about civil rights. His opponents include a Black Woman(check!), a black Hispanic guy(check!), and a white Hispanic guy(check!).
This could get interesting. What's he gonna do with alllll that money he's extorted--I mean gathered--for his mayoral candidacy?
The real issue is: Is Rahmbo a Chicago resident? Or is Chicago his own Rotten Borough?
The guy renting his house has an opinion:
Emanuel, a former North Side congressman, had served Obama in Washington from January 2009 until October. When he left for the White House, Emanuel rented his North Side home to Rob Halpin.
Halpin refused to move out when Emanuel returned to Chicago and briefly staged his own run for mayor.
Halpin applauded the ruling. “Now I feel vindicated by the court,” Halpin told WGN-AM radio.
Residency, Halpin said, is “one of the rights that goes with the rent payment.”
Halpin said “it’s very clear that only one resident” could be attached to a single residence, “unless it was some sort of hippie commune.”
(The wheels on the bus are coming off, coming off, coming off...)
Here's the news, just in.
Early voting begins Jan. 31.
This will, of course, be fast-tracked to the Illinois Supreme Court.
If he loses there, be assured he will venue-shop at the Federal level. But, can any Federal judge realistically claim jurisdiction over a city election?
But then again, they've claimed jurisdiction over school districting for over forty years now...
Rahmbo can't claim it's about civil rights. His opponents include a Black Woman(check!), a black Hispanic guy(check!), and a white Hispanic guy(check!).
This could get interesting. What's he gonna do with alllll that money he's extorted--I mean gathered--for his mayoral candidacy?
The real issue is: Is Rahmbo a Chicago resident? Or is Chicago his own Rotten Borough?
The guy renting his house has an opinion:
Emanuel, a former North Side congressman, had served Obama in Washington from January 2009 until October. When he left for the White House, Emanuel rented his North Side home to Rob Halpin.
Halpin refused to move out when Emanuel returned to Chicago and briefly staged his own run for mayor.
Halpin applauded the ruling. “Now I feel vindicated by the court,” Halpin told WGN-AM radio.
Residency, Halpin said, is “one of the rights that goes with the rent payment.”
Halpin said “it’s very clear that only one resident” could be attached to a single residence, “unless it was some sort of hippie commune.”
(The wheels on the bus are coming off, coming off, coming off...)
The Cold Comfort Of Being Correct: The School That Fired Katherine Birbalsingh Is Forced To Shut Its Doors And 'Recycle'
Cranmer shares the news.
And, further detail from the local paper.
CHILDREN at a struggling academy are to be sent to new schools so it can be demolished and redeveloped.
Around 150 Year 7 and 8 pupils at St Michael and All Angels CofE Academy in Wyndham Road, Camberwell, are to be sent to other schools in Southwark from September, it has emerged.
The school is to stop taking new pupils until 2013 as it goes through a major restructure.
The faith academy has struggled since it opened in 2007 and was judged to be inadequate by Ofsted inspectors in April last year.
The report said it needed to urgently address poor behaviour of pupils.
Which is precisely what Ms. Birbalsingh shared with the Conservative Party Conference last October 5. OS can't urge his readers strongly enough to take eight minutes and view this address, and then pass it along to friends.
For which candor, she was...well...sacked. For saying the unmentionable truth: 'The system is broken, because it keeps poor children poor.'
She just wasn't fired, she was publicly tarred and feathered by the board of the school and its headmaster. They attempted to make her 'radioactive', and poison her future career as a teacher.
Now, we learn, following that good day's work, they have been forced to admit, that, yes, the school is a shambles, and it has to be shut down. Then demolished. Then reopened under new management.
Hmmm....
Now, shouldn't the penalty fall upon the school head and board that drew the knife on the teacher that told the truth and appealed for sanity? Miss B wasn't even particularly singling out the school she taught in to be vilified, but offered it as an example of a much greater systemic failure.
But, being a realist, OS knows that there will be zero disruption experienced in the career of ‘Dr’ Irene Bishop, the 'Executive Head', and no fallout for the Bishop of Southwark (who could have come to Miss B's defense), or anyone else involved in her mistreatment.
Except Miss Birbalsingh. And the students. And their families. And the neighborhood.
That's ok, though. They're just the people who do the work and do the work and do the work, and pay and pay and pay the taxes, and try to survive the school, and try to better their kids lives. What matter they? They'jest the LittlePeople.
OS is soooooo grateful to live in Tennessee. The rest of the world thinks we don't wear shoes here, that we're rednecks and hillbillies chawin' 'baccy and playing banjos on the tailgates of our pick-em-up trucks. And we do have our share of failings, no doubt about it.
We, however, elected successive state legislatures that deliberately leave home-schoolers alone. That allows charter schools, and doesn't legislate private school start-ups out of existence.
We have a by-God choice! We can, and do, vote with our feet, to the eternal anger of the teachers unions and the bureaucrats in the Department of Edumahcation.
Go, Miss B!
By the way, ya'll: Her book, To Miss With Love, publishes in March.
Not at Amazon yet--OS just checked.
But wouldn't it be a joyful thing to see it arrive to opening day with about 25K in pre-orders?
Revenge, sweet sweet revenge, served cold.
At a distance.
And, further detail from the local paper.
CHILDREN at a struggling academy are to be sent to new schools so it can be demolished and redeveloped.
Around 150 Year 7 and 8 pupils at St Michael and All Angels CofE Academy in Wyndham Road, Camberwell, are to be sent to other schools in Southwark from September, it has emerged.
The school is to stop taking new pupils until 2013 as it goes through a major restructure.
The faith academy has struggled since it opened in 2007 and was judged to be inadequate by Ofsted inspectors in April last year.
The report said it needed to urgently address poor behaviour of pupils.
Which is precisely what Ms. Birbalsingh shared with the Conservative Party Conference last October 5. OS can't urge his readers strongly enough to take eight minutes and view this address, and then pass it along to friends.
For which candor, she was...well...sacked. For saying the unmentionable truth: 'The system is broken, because it keeps poor children poor.'
She just wasn't fired, she was publicly tarred and feathered by the board of the school and its headmaster. They attempted to make her 'radioactive', and poison her future career as a teacher.
Now, we learn, following that good day's work, they have been forced to admit, that, yes, the school is a shambles, and it has to be shut down. Then demolished. Then reopened under new management.
Hmmm....
Now, shouldn't the penalty fall upon the school head and board that drew the knife on the teacher that told the truth and appealed for sanity? Miss B wasn't even particularly singling out the school she taught in to be vilified, but offered it as an example of a much greater systemic failure.
But, being a realist, OS knows that there will be zero disruption experienced in the career of ‘Dr’ Irene Bishop, the 'Executive Head', and no fallout for the Bishop of Southwark (who could have come to Miss B's defense), or anyone else involved in her mistreatment.
Except Miss Birbalsingh. And the students. And their families. And the neighborhood.
That's ok, though. They're just the people who do the work and do the work and do the work, and pay and pay and pay the taxes, and try to survive the school, and try to better their kids lives. What matter they? They'jest the LittlePeople.
OS is soooooo grateful to live in Tennessee. The rest of the world thinks we don't wear shoes here, that we're rednecks and hillbillies chawin' 'baccy and playing banjos on the tailgates of our pick-em-up trucks. And we do have our share of failings, no doubt about it.
We, however, elected successive state legislatures that deliberately leave home-schoolers alone. That allows charter schools, and doesn't legislate private school start-ups out of existence.
We have a by-God choice! We can, and do, vote with our feet, to the eternal anger of the teachers unions and the bureaucrats in the Department of Edumahcation.
Go, Miss B!
By the way, ya'll: Her book, To Miss With Love, publishes in March.
Not at Amazon yet--OS just checked.
But wouldn't it be a joyful thing to see it arrive to opening day with about 25K in pre-orders?
Revenge, sweet sweet revenge, served cold.
At a distance.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
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