Symph - your taste in coffee/tea shows you are a true purist.
Or is that "Puritan".    

A purist doesn't use teabags.

"Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil."  Eccl. 8:11.

If you say that one should not execute a criminal for some such act, you cannot just say it's up to God to punish him. You still have to decide on something, if you're a civil authority.

Jesus made a point about hypocrisy with the priests and elders who wanted to stone the woman, he also made a point about forgiveness. He also had some very strong words for what awaits evildoers.

Remember the foolish "children" who mocked Elijah for his baldness, and Elijah cursed them, and they were mauled by the lion? Of course he reserved the actual sword for the prophets of Baal.

So you think women should be stoned to death for adultery, and children mauled to death by bears for teasing?

People can't just run around saying the death penalty is wrong with out coming up with some clear answers to remove the dangers from society.

If the object of the exercise is to protect the rest of society, that can be done just as well by lifetime incarceration as by the death penalty.  

Most of the western world operates perfectly well without the death penalty.

What if they were YOUR children?  Would you still be anti-death penalty?

It's supposed to be one or more of:
protection
punishment
deterent

certainly NOT revenge.

Like kidnapping, holding someone against their will. You'd have to free the entire prison population, unleash them upon your own neighborhood for example, no death penalty, no involuntary incarceration. Hm.. This is wrong too, eh?

In an ideal world, we wouldn't have to lock anyone up either.  We do the minimum that we need to do to protect the innocent and allow society to operate.

Course, they should have picked TX. TX thinks it's a country already!

   

We are. A whole 'nother country.

According to the articles of annexation, Texas has two options available to it that cannot be abrogated by the feds.

1. To divide itself into no more than 5 other states, each state being a part of a confederation, and not requiring annexation by the US if they should so choose.

2. To revert to a sovereign Republic upon majority vote of the inhabitants of the state.

DON'T mess with TEXUS!  

Apparently point one is (partially) true but point two isn't:

Another Texas-related legend holds that the Texans negotiated an annexation treaty which reserved to them the right to secede from the Union without the consent of the U.S. Congress, but the terms of Texas' annexation contain no such provision.

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/texas.asp

C'mon... I want to hear other folks ideas!! This is such a fascinating topic of conversation, no? and y'know...it's just that, conversation. not a debate, really...just tossing out some ideas.

love,
Sparrow

If life, and the bible, are meant to be learning experiences, where we are supposed to think, grow, make connections; ie truly learn; that makes a lot more sense than any idea that we are supplied with the answers to me.

Why a llama...why not a kangaroo?

Because kangaroos are dangerous?

"Pizza at the Grand"  and "3073".

Though Crown Pizza, Reservoir, beats either for value for money.  ($6.50 Australian, for a very nice large pizza.)

Possibly. What were you 'taught' that made a difference in your teaching? Here in the US, I've found that most of what is taught is 'common sense' stuff.

Most of the general teaching stuff was an introduction to educational theories (far from common sense), courses designed to make us think deeply about learning, curriculum, classroom management, etc, etc.  On the maths side, what the pitfalls are, where kids pick up misconceptions, how to diagnose them, etc - how to avoid the mistakes of a "common sense" approach to teaching maths.  In teaching maths, there are many instances where common ways of explaining something tend to produce disasterous misconceptions - and you can easily find those bad methods in text books of only a decade or so ago.  Hardly any of it was common sense, though some of it was a waste of time.

The course here is designed to prepare teachers for the long haul, not to equip them in the short term, so you go out to your first job very green compared with countries where the course equips people well for their first job (like the US?), but we tend to produce better teachers in the medium to long term.  Most of what you learn about the practicalities of teaching, you learn during your teaching practice rounds and your first term in the job.

FWIW, last night I happened to be speaking to a very senior and highly regarded (Australian) maths educator who currently writes resource material for American maths teachers, and he tells me that the standard of training of most [maths] teachers in the US is much lower than here in Australia.

And of course, we can't forget "This drink may be hot" on the side of ever coffee cup, and the classic McDee's story behind it.

Useful if you complain the coffee's cold as well, I guess: "we only said it may be hot".

On most brands of Christmas lights -- "For indoor or outdoor use only."
(as opposed to...what)?

In the doorway?  After all, you might trip over the cord.

On Sainsbury's peanuts -- "Warning: contains nuts."
(talk about a news flash)

Since peanuts aren't actually nuts, I guess this one is technically correct.

With this president, you can know he actually meant it, too.

Well, he might have done if the story were true:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/injured.asp

I genuinely encountered this one, with a Gateway computer:

"Allow box to come to room temperature before opening."

On a slip of paper inside the box.

Coffee: straight and black.  Preferably filter, but that's impossible to find in Australia.
Tea: milk, no sugar.
Green tea: sugar, no milk.

I the old testament it does say that if a person or animal kills a person then they must be put to death. I know that it is some where in Genesis I don't exactly know where though.

Kris

It also says we should stone people to death for adultery.  But then Christ had something to say about that.

Please don't confuse murder with killing.
There is a big difference between ending the life of a murderer and ending the life of an innocent baby.
Comparing the two is comparing oranges and apples.

They are both fruit.

What do you think the punishment should be for a murderer?

Surely that's in the hands of God.

OK- for starters I want to say that I'm not anti-public school.
In fact, the local ps had their graduation for the 5th graders today and they invited my daughter and other hs students to participate. We were the only hs family to show up.
I've had many opportunities to get to know many of the teachers and faculty of the school.
We are a small town and most (if not all) of the teachers and the faculty live in this town.

As good as our ps is, there are many problems with it.
There are the religious problems (i.e. "winter solace" instead of Christmas break.)

I've no problem with using religion free terms (though I don't see the need - Christmas is part of our culture even for non-Christians).  

Academic problems. Many of the students that graduated in today's ceremony were reading at the 5th grade reading level. Unfortunately, it's the 5th grade reading level of today. We have had a "dumbing down" in the ps and what is considered 5th grade today would have been considered about 3rd or lower in years past.

The drop in reading standards in schools is more to do with what's happening at home.  If kids aren't practicing their reading at home (which many more are not), then their readings standards will drop.  For those kids who do have homes where reading takes priority, there isn't a drop.  Although I would critisise some of what they are given to read at younger ages here - many of the "readers" are, quite honestly, boring.

Teachers overstepping their bounds. It is legal for a teacher or school counselor, etc. to drive a student to an abortion clinic to have an abortion and they are not allowed to tell the parents about it.

Doesn't sound like teachers are overstepping their bounds, but the authorities who set the rules are.  Teachers have to work with the rules and guidelines that the authority sets.  If the authorities say that teachers must not tell parents, then they can't, can they?

Can't take them on a field trip with out parental consent, but you can drive them to a slaughter house to have their unborn baby murdered and possibly endanger their own health. There is something really wrong with that.

This isn't about education at all, but society putting (quite frankly, unfair) roles and responsibilities onto teachers and schools that have nothing to do with education and little to do with reasonable pastoral care.

That being said, I do have a situation that needs prayer.
My daughters are 16 and 11.
The 16 year old will continue to be hs'ed because she is autistic and has some other LDs going on. She doesn't do well around a lot of other people, even her peers.
I have been working full time since October.
My husband has been laid off since March of 2003

Ouch

I'm not supermom or wonderwoman. Nor will I pretend to be.
Please all, be in prayer for our family as we make this decision.

Will do.

Possibly. What were you 'taught' that made a difference in your teaching? Here in the US, I've found that most of what is taught is 'common sense' stuff.

Most of the general teaching stuff was an introduction to educational theories (far from common sense), courses designed to make us think deeply about learning, curriculum, classroom management, etc, etc.  On the maths side, what the pitfalls are, where kids pick up misconceptions, how to diagnose them, etc - how to avoid the mistakes of a "common sense" approach to teaching maths.  In teaching maths, there are many instances where common ways of explaining something tend to produce disasterous misconceptions - and you can easily find those bad methods in text books of only a decade or so ago.  Hardly any of it was common sense, though some of it was a waste of time.

The course here is designed to prepare teachers for the long haul, not to equip them in the short term, so you go out to your first job very green compared with countries where the course equips people well for their first job (like the US?), but we tend to produce better teachers in the medium to long term.  Most of what you learn about the practicalities of teaching, you learn during your teaching practice rounds and your first term in the job.

At least half the tutors I've encountered have been very poor, and that's when they are on top of having an adequate classroom (maths) teacher.  Several have been worse than useless.

As has been my experience with the teachers. The ones that are good are really good. They care. But several have been  worse than useless.  

I've yet to encounter any teachers who are worse than useless yet.  I have met a few who clearly are in the wrong job.

However, with tutors, you have the option of stopping the sessions. With teachers, it's a major battle to get your child out of that room.

Can't argue with that.

It's not ideal - I'm not claiming it is - but it's all that's feasible for the vast majority of people, and I still maintain that it stands up pretty well against homeschooling.

I agree that it's all that most people think is feasible. However, having had my children in public, Christian, private and home schools, as well as having taught in them, I find that homeschooling is the best overall.

For you, that may be true.   Most parents are not so well equiped to do the job.   Many can't even manage to ensure they kids get to school everyday, on time and properly equipped.  A very large proportion don't take the time to read with their children or instill a love of learning.  And these are parents who care enough about education to pay a (very modest) fee to send their kids to a Catholic school.  In government schools its considerably worse. If parent's can't manage the basics to back up a public eductation, the results of them trying to homeschool would be disasterous.

We can go to a restaurant and eat. It's easier. But I can take the time to find out what my family likes and incorporate that into the most nutritionally beneficial meals and say that I think that it's the best option.

That's fine if you understand and care enough to put in the hard work, but if your home cooking consists of fish-fingers and chips every night (or whatever the US equivalent would be) then using the restaurant might be the better option.

The very best homeschooling should equal the very best schooling, and probably does.

The very best homeschooling should, and most often does, exceed the very best public schooling.

It may well do, but how can you know this?