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"WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Hawaiians were the least likely in the United States in 2010 to say they felt stressed for much of the previous day, at 30.2%. Residents of Utah were the most likely to report experiencing stress, at 45.1%, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index." a7ggqy4y_em8_ejzsa7_kw.gif3iceii1ye0u6rgz2g_p2ig.gif

Gallop Stress Poll

Adam

Adam,

In the thirties and forties percentile?

Only?

What do you smoke over there? Or is it tai chi and meditation?

It's been established that the province of RSA I live in, Gauteng, ("The Place of Gold") has 86.3% stress level.*

(Oh, and I can't even begin to think or to communicate without metaphors, if that counts for anything...)

Tony

*Pure fabrication; but my guess is it's not far off. A metaphorical truth, if you like.)

;)

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Tony:

I think that the "high" level in Utah is because they don't smoke the ganja!

Moreover, they have to worry about the rest of America finding out about them extra wives in the closet!

Or, the funky undies!

Or, the fact that Mitt Romney's real first name is ...

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Tony:

I think that the "high" level in Utah is because they don't smoke the ganja!

Moreover, they have to worry about the rest of America finding out about them extra wives in the closet!

Or, the funky undies!

Or, the fact that Mitt Romney's real first name is ...

re the extra wives, do you like Big Love? I think it's great.

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Tony:

I think that the "high" level in Utah is because they don't smoke the ganja!

Moreover, they have to worry about the rest of America finding out about them extra wives in the closet!

Or, the funky undies!

Or, the fact that Mitt Romney's real first name is ...

re the extra wives, do you like Big Love? I think it's great.

Loved it. I thought it treated the poly issue as intelligently as possible.

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Tony:

I think that the "high" level in Utah is because they don't smoke the ganja!

Moreover, they have to worry about the rest of America finding out about them extra wives in the closet!

Or, the funky undies!

Or, the fact that Mitt Romney's real first name is ...

re the extra wives, do you like Big Love? I think it's great.

Loved it. I thought it treated the poly issue as intelligently as possible.

I agree. For me it is still a contuing series, I am getting reruns on HBO. My favourite wife is definitely Nikki, though I kind of hate her.

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Tony:

I think that the "high" level in Utah is because they don't smoke the ganja!

Moreover, they have to worry about the rest of America finding out about them extra wives in the closet!

Or, the funky undies!

Or, the fact that Mitt Romney's real first name is ...

re the extra wives, do you like Big Love? I think it's great.

Loved it. I thought it treated the poly issue as intelligently as possible.

I agree. For me it is still a contuing series, I am getting reruns on HBO. My favourite wife is definitely Nikki, though I kind of hate her.

big love homepage

Nikki is the blond right?

I like the senior wife myself. And I love the granny with the gun!

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Tony:

I think that the "high" level in Utah is because they don't smoke the ganja!

Moreover, they have to worry about the rest of America finding out about them extra wives in the closet!

Or, the funky undies!

Or, the fact that Mitt Romney's real first name is ...

re the extra wives, do you like Big Love? I think it's great.

Loved it. I thought it treated the poly issue as intelligently as possible.

I agree. For me it is still a contuing series, I am getting reruns on HBO. My favourite wife is definitely Nikki, though I kind of hate her.

big love homepage

Nikki is the blond right?

I like the senior wife myself. And I love the granny with the gun!

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The knee jerk oppositional behavior by our intelligent Shayne is a tedious way to advance a discussion.

It's not tedious. It's not not. He has not tried to avoid anything except the tendentiousness of--I-won't-otherwise-characterize-it--your epistemology.

--Brant

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When you went to primary school, I am guessing, was at least thirty (30) years ago, when you were about six (6) [this of course assumes that you are at least thirty-six plus (36+) now.

Do you have any concept as to how precipitous the decline has been in education in the last three (3) decades?

I have a concept, or an inkling. We already have some fragments of solid research sprinkled across OL on this topic: how precipitous the decline has been.

I would call a truce on further assertions. Two reasoning people can agree on measures that can and cannot accurately represent a 'decline.' Measure decline in American education according to useful metrics, by benchmarks and results, by comparison, by relation. In America, which measures have shown a decline, which measures have shown the greatest decline, which measures support a null hypothesis? Shayne and Adam can examine evidence to check conformance to the assertion.

I am asserting as a basic premise that you will not be remotely capable, systematically, installing or instilling those positives without cleansing the wound down to the bone.

This is different. This assertion makes a statement about wound care. And it assumes that an infection or trauma has extended from the skin to the bone.

The power of analogy lies in what is omitted in the comparison. The power and the punch comes from recognition. In this instance the actual wound analogy presumes a deep and dangerous injury that requires radical, if not extreme response. It does not show measures of temperature, heartrate, blood loss, history of infection, blood work, x-rays, patient reports, and so on. These are assumed to be dire, dropping off a cliff in the graphs: toxic shock, rampant infection, crushed flesh, blood, pain, swelling. Of course we have to go to the bone!

Since these measurements are not shown, but assumed, how can we actually make the comparison that the analogy urges us to make?

In the context of a wound that may need debridement or flushing, we are dealing with a serious

trauma, damage and danger. The personnel dealing with the wound need to know the history of the wound, including its diagnosis and treatment. These items of knowledge have been measured and examined in the real world of wound care. There is agreement, protocols, trained responders. There is no disagreement on the necessity for active measures.

So, the power of this analogy is its common-sense evocation of severe, deep infection or trauma of the body. It doesn't matter where the infection/trauma is located. It threatens the life of the patient. The wound or trauma may have touched the bone. It needs flushing, debridement, antibiotic infusion. If there are tears it needs stitching. If bones have been infected or traumatized it needs further urgent examination.

It may be that the wound necessitates amputation of a limb or part of a limb.

Adam, an analogy does work outside of its field. As can be seen in your example of metaphor in mathematics, metaphor can do work, in general terms. But to insist that your wound metaphor reigns over discussion of public education, to dismiss critical reflection on your actual metaphor, to misunderstand the basic objection to your assertion -- this can stall discussion.

You have issued notice that all your prescriptions for education in America are based on the firm, unyielding diagnosis of a wound that needs emergency attention. You are reserving the power to make the diagnosis. Your insistence that only your diagnosis can rule treatment can then prevent Shayne and others from progressing in analysis of the problem.

Cleansed to the bone, your argument would seem to be something like this: In the last thirty years, education has fallen off a cliff. Only by amputating can I preserve its life.

Ayn Rand to the rescue: first, check premises . . . check the 'fallen off the cliff' stats across the board. If premises need adjusting, adjust, then adjust argument accordingly. Save conclusions for the end of the reasoning process . . .

Edited by william.scherk
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Ah, William, you bring back so many memories: wound debridement and amputation. How do you know more than I remember? 45 years does that to me.

All those battlefield Civil War casualties who pulled up their shirts to see if they had been gut shot--to see if they were going to die of an untreatable, unstoppable infection, praying for a leg wound, a bottle of whiskey and the surgeon's saw.

--Brant

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Ah, William, you bring back so many memories: wound debridement and amputation. How do you know more than I remember? 45 years does that to me.

Credit Adam with the punch of the wound metaphor. I have not seen a wound to the bone, as have you, so your remembrances and associations will likely be more powerful than mine, Brant.

Funny how the punch of the metaphor is not so easily derailed. There is a very interesting study Adam linked to which shows how a metaphoric framing can bias a response; this is one of the reasons I call for truce. Another reason is I don't see the indicators as slam dunk dire. We have been over a few stats on OL, not too long ago with Phil and Carol and me and you digging around for some metrics. They were not shockingly awful, but perhaps sobering for Americans to hear they were not number one in all measures.

To my eyes America is in the top quintile in the world, in the top ranks of the developed world, is incontestably on top in higher education, scientific fruits, wealth of research, clout, etcetera, all derived from its education industry. America is slacking in some international measures of literacy, but against a backdrop of similar top-twenty mixed economies with state education, not bad at all considering its demographics and massive immigration in the last three decades. I mean, how close are the scores of the top twenty? If stats suggests that Canada and Finland top out America on math, reading and writing, could it be the more hellish socialism practiced there or a lessening hellishness or what?

If say Canada is number one at 97 and Finland is number two at 96 and America is number nine at 93, all it would tell me is USA Top Ten, baby!!

All those battlefield Civil War casualties who pulled up their shirts to see if they had been gut shot--to see if they were going to die of an untreatable, unstoppable infection, praying for a leg wound, a bottle of whiskey and the surgeon's saw.

There is undeniable power in using a wound as a metaphor -- the oomph of the reference frames a response in terms of danger, crisis, destruction.

Oh, and hey -- Brant, how about you put up your 45 year old shirtless hunk pic again, so we don't forget your sweetness and innocence?

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Oh, and hey -- Brant, how about you put up your 45 year old shirtless hunk pic again, so we don't forget your sweetness and innocence?

Dang, what did I miss?

Shayne

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Oh, and hey -- Brant, how about you put up your 45 year old shirtless hunk pic again, so we don't forget your sweetness and innocence?

Dang, what did I miss?

Actually, a G-rated avatar pic that Brant uses from time to time. It's ready for a return, I figger.

If you mean, what sweetness and innocence might you have missed in Brant, well, we see it here: in his real-life encounters with other humans he has been a soldier and a care-giver, a family man with deep loyalties and an individual in the maw of a war dragon. His instincts are to peace and order without coercion because he has seen the blade edge of coercion and he did not like it. His impulses are humanitarian and thus innocent of a thirst to revenge or punish, thus actually sweet and peaceable in personal devotion to his human values.

I would definitely elect Brant as Sheriff of New OL-istan!

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Oh, and hey -- Brant, how about you put up your 45 year old shirtless hunk pic again, so we don't forget your sweetness and innocence?

Dang, what did I miss?

Actually, a G-rated avatar pic that Brant uses from time to time. It's ready for a return, I figger.

If you mean, what sweetness and innocence might you have missed in Brant, well, we see it here: in his real-life encounters with other humans he has been a soldier and a care-giver, a family man with deep loyalties and an individual in the maw of a war dragon. His instincts are to peace and order without coercion because he has seen the blade edge of coercion and he did not like it. His impulses are humanitarian and thus innocent of a thirst to revenge or punish, thus actually sweet and peaceable in personal devotion to his human values.

I would definitely elect Brant as Sheriff of New OL-istan!

Sorry Brant, you are now a Sacred Iglovian. It doesn't hurt, honest. Ask Tony and Adam, whatever you think about his epistemology, trust him on pain.

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My pics were on a failed hard drive. I don't have time to reload right now. You can see me just prior to a paratrooper jump in the summer of 1965 in San Antonio Texas on SoloPassion. Go to "Recent Posts" and click on the thread that has about 749 posts. That's a Texas Nat'l Guard Flying Boxcar in the rear. I jumped out over Hondo, TX 60 miles west at 800 feet AGL (above ground level). The shirtless photo was taken over a year later and I was on a small boat on the way north to our outpost on the Cambodian border. It was before my intro to combat using airboats. I know because I lost the camera when it got wet and didn't replace it until the spring. I saw combat in Cambodia in November 1966: airboats, helicopters and hovercraft. We weren't suppose to be there, but were doing payback for 6 days before. General Abrams came by the next day for a debriefing. Prince Sihanouk complained. We were probably no more than 60 miles from where Sean Flynn and his companion were executed by the Cambodian communists in 1971. He visited our team in the summer of 1967.

--Brant

Edited by Brant Gaede
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We have been over a few stats on OL, not too long ago with Phil and Carol and me and you digging around for some metrics. They were not shockingly awful, but perhaps sobering for Americans to hear they were not number one in all measures.

T

If say Canada is number one at 97 and Finland is number two at 96 and America is number nine at 93, all it would tell me is USA Top Ten, baby!!

All those battlefield Civil War casualties who pulled up their shirts to see if they had been gut shot--to see if they were going to die of an untreatable, unstoppable infection, praying for a leg wound, a bottle of whiskey and the surgeon's saw.

William:

I do not believe that I engaged a lot in that discussion about the metrics and education as much as I wanted to. Additionally, I am extremely suspicious of the "scores" that are reported by the Department of "Education" which form the "metrics" that refer to the US position in the world rankings that you posted.

The reality on the ground is apparently a disaster. Detroit just reports that the illiteracy rate is around forty seven (47%) percent. As you know, these folks cannot read a prescription bottle, a bus map, or, a rudimentary factory manual.

Newark High Schools in NJ graduate less than 50%. Los Angeles High Schools graduate less than 50%. No statement is made on their literacy of the graduates or non graduates, but I will venture that it is dismal.

"Literacy is the number-one predictor of a child's ability to succeed in school.

In fact, the majority of kids who read below grade level in first grade will most likely still read below grade level in the fourth grade and may never catch up.

It is crucial that all children master early literacy skills before they enter school, which include recognizing the letters of the alphabet, understanding that books in English are read from left to right, and being able to comprehend and tell stories. Preschool-aged children are especially receptive to learning; the impact these early lessons have can be dramatic.

Reading to a child three times a week makes them twice as likely to score in the top 25% of their class in reading. This means they'll be more likely to graduate high school reading on grade level or higher.

Tutoring, giving books, or simply reading to children fights illiteracy... one book, one student at a time.

You can learn more about literacy and literacy rates around the USA in Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters: A KIDS COUNT Special Report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation"

This is from the Waiting for Superman website which I would suggest everyone who cares about our future get involved with here.

Adam

Post Script: The mini ball was one of the most destructive technological "upgrades" in the Civil War. It traveled at a high speed and spread upon impact and bored deep, shattering bone shards throughout the body. An additional aspect of the mini ball was that it carried bacteria which took twice as many men into death than the bullets in the Civil War.

Canister shot was a cylindrical tube with, I think 28 round ball bearings which converted the cannon into a highly destructive shotgun taking out 15 to 20 men at a time. Other bored cannon would deliver ordinance that would essentially vaporize 6-10 men at a time in the tight marching formations of the Civil War.

The average amputation took about 12 minutes and is the origin of the nickname for Doctors as "sawbones." An arm amputation had a 77% survival rate which was the best.

Edited by Selene
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This is a conversation now about black illiteracy and blacks getting the short end of education. As a group blacks were becoming more and more educated and middle class until the mid-1960s when The Great Society kicked in and they became entitled. The entitled are victims and powerless--it wasn't their fault. Cut them a check! Drive away daddy--daddy the provider, now out of a job. Let's go to prison.

--Brant

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Addendum: They had no idea about sterile technique in the Civil War nor did they use general anesthetic, at least generally.

--Brant

Correct.

They had chloroform and some morphine at Gettysburg and a lot of whiskey.

There was no sanitation. surgical tools, probes, saws, scalpels etc. were not even washed between uses.

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Oh, and hey -- Brant, how about you put up your 45 year old shirtless hunk pic again, so we don't forget your sweetness and innocence?

Dang, what did I miss?

Actually, a G-rated avatar pic that Brant uses from time to time. It's ready for a return, I figger.

If you mean, what sweetness and innocence might you have missed in Brant, well, we see it here: in his real-life encounters with other humans he has been a soldier and a care-giver, a family man with deep loyalties and an individual in the maw of a war dragon. His instincts are to peace and order without coercion because he has seen the blade edge of coercion and he did not like it. His impulses are humanitarian and thus innocent of a thirst to revenge or punish, thus actually sweet and peaceable in personal devotion to his human values.

I would definitely elect Brant as Sheriff of New OL-istan!

Cough, cough. When do the bribes start arriving? Tomorrow I have to oil my machine gun--the one trained down my driveway. I'm building a guillotine to match up with my humanitarianism. Love me or die! (And bomb Canada!)

--Brant

exposed

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Yes indeed, send your child to public educational prisons!

Video here of Administrator's Rationale for suspending students for light saber prank

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A staged fight with lightsabers is causing a lot of commotion at Westfield High School . Two Westfield High seniors have been suspended for 10 days because of this lightsaber fight.

Kevin Carr is a senior there and said he was in the lunchroom when this happened. He explained that the two boys are friends and planned a fake lightsaber, Star Wars fight. Then they were escorted out and given the suspension and the news that they would not be walking at graduation next Friday.

I love the fact that media outlets feel the need to repeatedly report the kids were using “fake light sabers.” Oooohhhh—so they weren’t using real light sabers? Well, that changes everything!

Alas, apparently there is some confusion. Because—believe it or not—the principal is defending his decision to kick these kids out of school because “someone could have gotten hurt.”

By the plastic light saber toys. Hurt. Uh-huh.

I know we live in the new world of total fear and panic, that we has a society reject all unregulated fun, spontaneity or joy, but I think what the two seniors did was cool, funny, memorable and—despite fears of lopped-off arms in local cantinas—harmless.

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Yes indeed, send your child to public educational prisons!

Video here of Administrator's Rationale for suspending students for light saber prank

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A staged fight with lightsabers is causing a lot of commotion at Westfield High School . Two Westfield High seniors have been suspended for 10 days because of this lightsaber fight.

Kevin Carr is a senior there and said he was in the lunchroom when this happened. He explained that the two boys are friends and planned a fake lightsaber, Star Wars fight. Then they were escorted out and given the suspension and the news that they would not be walking at graduation next Friday.

I love the fact that media outlets feel the need to repeatedly report the kids were using "fake light sabers." Oooohhhh—so they weren't using real light sabers? Well, that changes everything!

Alas, apparently there is some confusion. Because—believe it or not—the principal is defending his decision to kick these kids out of school because "someone could have gotten hurt."

By the plastic light saber toys. Hurt. Uh-huh.

I know we live in the new world of total fear and panic, that we has a society reject all unregulated fun, spontaneity or joy, but I think what the two seniors did was cool, funny, memorable and—despite fears of lopped-off arms in local cantinas—harmless.

Look at the bright side. That principal probably started out as a teacher and got promoted out of the classroom doing much less subsequent harm to the teached.

--Brant

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Ed, thanks for your reply. We almost had a discussion here. I see that you got zero replies on RoR. Hard to say which is more frustrating. On the one hand, your essay was largely unarguable and unsurprising, true and accurate though it was. Sometimes, we have to really accept silence as active agreement.

Adam - Thanks for the link to PLoS One. I added it to my Favorites. Also, I downloaded the article about Metaphors. Interesting coincidence: after hardly reading the abstract, I decided to place it in my folder for Criminology Theory as it seemed most applicable. And indeed, the experiment was about how we think about crime. So, that worked out well.

On the wider front, I was dismayed to see the arguments you got against metaphor. Metaphor is more than rhetorical flourish. It seems that we understand largely by analogy. One-to-one mapping of arbitrary symbols (the "call" that warns of a predator or seeks a mate) may be very deep. At the human level, though, we could not have the one million words in the English language but for metaphor and analogy. Even if we could map a million arbitrary symbols to concretes, then what? Shakespeare, the Bible, Atlas Shrugged, The Matrix, Sword and Sorcery, Bodice Rippers, Space Operas, Horse Operas, Grand Ole Opry, and of course Grand Opera, Light Opera, operetta and musical comedies ... Metaphor, analogy, and paradigm are the larger structures of thought and expression.

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