AlloyToy

I love Tim Russert!!! That guy is a smart individual whom doesn't leave a rock unturned

__________________

"First The Bite Then The Fight"

Scup

Bryan A,

Hold two degrees in electrical engineering. Was hired by the Navy right out of college to evaluate sonar systems a few weeks before I received my BEE from CCNY in 1963. The Navy was having real problems back then with the cold war, and decided to put together an army of engineers and scientists to combat the Soviet submarine threat. Turned out, we were miles ahead of them, but our intelligence was somewhat faulty in overestimating what the Soviets had. I loved working for the Navy. Still keep my hand in it somewhat as I am a part-time DOD contractor. Because of my age, they will not send me out anymore on the gray ships; I do miss the Med deployments, bouncing back and forth while at sea from destroyer to cruiser to fast frigate, and helping the fleet out wherever I could. I must have been one of the real lucky ones in that there were so many days in my life that when I woke up in the morning, I would look forward to going in to work. Like most sailors, I would bitch about our lives at sea, but down deep, I loved waking up with a steel deck under my rack.

Special K

sit home, watch springer, wish i was makin' babys?
damn, sounds like my life.....but i'm 50% retired. almost like welfare...
don't be afraid of anybody's middle name...it's only a name. if it was Sean would he be an I.R.A. terrorist? that muslim bullsh!t is just internet fear mongering.
i watched the democratic debate last night & i saw the next president of the united states. i think obama shined over clinton. not as conservative as i would like (neither is mccaine) universal "free" health care is going to be VERY expen$ive for us. guaranteed higher taxes, but cheaper than war.
however he DID have the balls to say that after a withdrawl from iraq, if al-quaida re-emerged there he would return to defend our security, as we would have to anywhere else.

quite possibly my first democratic presidential vote of my lifetime!

Bryan A.

Scup - Thanks for your service.

I am a Tech Ed teacher or what most people refer to as "Shop Class" and I agree with some of your views on helping students succeed, I just think your view towards teachers are a little skewed. We are just regualr people who go to work everyday and do there job as best we can. The problem comes in with administrators and super intendents, local and state boards who have short sided vision. One thing that has happened over the years in my area across the State and Country are Department cuts. Most middle schools do not teach students in areas of mechanical ability and many High School programs have been reduced in favor of bigger Special Ed departments. I am a firm believer in giving kids as many experiences as they can befor they "grow up", then they can decide what profession they might be good at. The ones who have the ability to become the Engineers and Professionals will find their way but wthout those experiences students expect everything to be spoon fed to them. OK that's enough.

Sorry for the Rant.

Good discussion guys.

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2003 Parker 2530 "El Mar".......click the pic
1973 Seacraft 20SF

AlloyToy

Bryan A,
Shop was my favorite class!! I was one that hated academics, but loved doing hands on things. Metal working, drafting, wood shop.......oh and sports

Now as an owner of a machine shop it kills me to see here in Mass MCAS jammed down the kids throats. There are some "hands on" kids who want to learn a trade however the "standards" set forth by this (in my opinion) ridiculous program have now forced more classroom time and a lot less shop time.

We religiously always took 1 or 2 kids out of machine shop at the technical schools. Not anymore, a machinist today out of Voc.. school comes to work with very little knowledge of machining (speeds & feeds, measuring & measurements, material identification, machining science etc....) and the extent of his metal working tools is a calculator. This because he doesn't need tools as he has no shop time.

I truly believe that if they want to hold educational standards then do in directly with the teachers and not through the students. Test the teachers, like in any other job, you don't prove beneficial to the organization, then you're not needed.

Don't jam ancient mid-evil history down a kids throat, and who give a flying leap about Macbeth............

On the other hand I give you a lot of credit as a teacher in dealing with the kids today

__________________

"First The Bite Then The Fight"

Bryan A.

There are still a lot of kids like you out there.

Unfortunately you are a dying breed because we are not encouraging or giving kids the opportunity to excel in your area. Not everything can or should be made in China.

I frequently question my decision but more often than not it is because of administration and not the kids. Kids are kids, we make them what they are. Our schools reflect society, what we perceive as value the kids absorb. It comes down to do as I do. And that is what they do.....

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2003 Parker 2530 "El Mar".......click the pic
1973 Seacraft 20SF

stormy c

I'm glad to see we are getting some intelligent points made here. Scup I agree with you that the Capital Hill boys run the budget pretty crappy.but we know that will never change. You may run a tight budget ship at home but sad to say alot of Americans do not fill your shoes. Low savings rate , big spending habits and living for today only are sending a lot of folks down a dead end road. The government does not encourage savings but want you to spend and spend. The big tax rebate coming to us they want you to spend. Low interest on savings rates are all controlled by big brother. Hey I'm starting to ramble and suppers ready. Good input by all.

plugmeister

BryanA, I replied with a PM to Scup. You can probably guess that I wasn't as polite as you. Roy, where did you get those numbers? My wife and I made much more than 60,000 in 1999 and paid much less tax than 16,000. Your post is useless. Did you know that in 1900, under President McKinley, a Republican, Andrew Carnegie made $20 million and paid NO income tax? That under Clinton the budget was in surplus while under the Dumbster it's $400 billion in the red? Do you know who Warren Buffet is? (no, not Jimmy Buffet) Ever read what he said about Dumbya's tax cuts? No, I guess not.

AlloyToy

Plug, your turn to speak.....put the real tax numbers up?????

Clinton balanced the budget by TAKING from small business, the working class, and the military........correct Plug??? or am I incorrect?

And that's fine, but answer me this......why does the working class have to constantly pay the piper? I'd like your take on this?

Not in your condescending sarcastic tone but a truthful opinion..........

What do ya think Warren Buffet (two T's in Buffet Plug) has to say about all the dot com companies that took (excuse me stole) peoples money during the Clinton admin??? What did Billy Boy do about that Plug? What was that? I didn't hear you??? Oh ignored it......ding ding ding A Winner!!!! And Enron......didn't that start during Clinton? But it crashed during Bush so he's to blame....

Two sides to my hard earned coins...........

As far as the debate, Obama cleaned up. People see the corruption associated with the name Clinton.......kinda like Kennedy. To be honest neither impressed me last night. Talk is cheap. This is going to be an interesting next term.

__________________

"First The Bite Then The Fight"

Philly Doug

Has anyone noticed the new ads on tv in which the government is offering to give free conversion boxes to people so they can convert their analog tvs to watch digital programming when the HD conversion is complete?

Why the hell as a taxpayer am I paying for other people to watch tv?

Has anyone else heard that Obama wants a new government program to bail out the people who got themselves upside down on these variable rate mortgages?

Why the hell as a taxpayer would I want to pay some dumb asses mortgage?

Did anyone notice that both Clinton and Obama have "health care plans"?

Why the hell as a taxpayer would I want government involved in my health care when it has shown it is utterly incapable of running social security?

I can spend my own money better than Clinton or Obama. I certainly don't need them taking my money to pay for other people's tv watching, other people's mortgages and other people's health care.

Now I feel better.