Matching Tracksuits

fun in fours

society and culture

No Grunting

Saturday 18 November 2006

Choose your fitness club carefully:

At Planet Fitness gyms, grunters and other rule-breakers are treated to an ear-rattling siren with flashing blue lights and a public scolding. The “lunk alarm,” as the club calls it, is so jarring it can bring the entire floor to a standstill. (A lunk is defined, on a poster, as “one who grunts, drops weights, or judges.”)
New York Times

A “lunk” is someone who judges, yet some are getting harassed at Planet Fitness because their “physiques are too chiseled” and they “take their workouts too seriously.” The gym chain tries to cater to “amateurs” – those inexperienced in the gym.

I don’t get it. Is this a place where the inexperienced come until they can bench press their body weight, and then they’re expected to find a new gym?

US pastor ‘bought drugs’ but didn’t inhale

Saturday 04 November 2006

"I bought it for myself but never used it. I was tempted but I never used it," Mr Haggard said. He said he threw it away.(BBC)

Does anyone actually believe that after Clinton's pathetic "didn't inhale" loophole?

Funny how everything Republicans and their supports hate and fear about sin-mongering, terrorist-supporting, drug-taking Democrats turns up in their own backyard. Odd thing, being human...

Veils and Teaching

Monday 23 October 2006

The case of Aishah Azmi, the teaching aid in Britain fired for refusing to remove her veil, got me to thinking about what it would be like to try to perform the basic functions of her job while veiled.

What was her job, exactly?

Headfield Church of England Junior School, where Azmi taught 11-year-olds learning English as a second language, suspended her in November 2005 after she refused to remove her veil at work. School officials said students found it hard to understand her during lessons and that face-to-face communication was essential for her job. Officials said the decision to suspend her was made only after school officials spent time assessing the impact of wearing the veil on teaching and learning. British Panel Reprimands School in Veil Dispute

I have a little bit of experience in teaching English, and I can't imagine trying to do it without making my mouth visible. I spent much time sitting with students individually and showing them what my mouth was doing to make certain sounds, particularly "th". It would be extremely difficult to do so with my mouth hidden.

Additionally, I know what it's like from the learner's point of view as well. My experience living abroad showed me how critical to comprehension it is to see someone's mouth. When I was first learning Polish, a conversation that would have been simple enough in person was a nightmare over the telephone. If those who were trying to help me learn Polish had done so with their mouths completely hidden, I think I would have learned far less, far less quickly.

Veiling is not the same issue as observant Jews leaving work early on Fridays to get home before shabbat begins. Leaving early does not affect the quality of an individual's work while at work; wearing a veil, in this case, seems to do just that.

The question is whether or not personal religious convictions trump job requirements. When they come into conflict, what gives?

Political Schizophrenia

Saturday 21 October 2006

In local elections in Jabłonka — K’s home village in southern Poland — there’s a man running for mayor as a candidate of the Prawo i Spawiedliwość (“Law and Justice”) party, a fairly right-wing party that, like many Republicans, tries to build a base out of religious conservatives. However, he’s running for a position on the county council as a candidate of the Platforma Obywatelska (“Civic Platform”) party, a centrist, left-leaning party, something slightly right of a Clintonian Democrat.

Really, I just don’t know what I could add…

Curriculum Concerns

Sunday 08 October 2006

In planning my lessons and the general shape of my course, there are a few things I have to take into consideration.

  1. The state curriculum
    Since most of the students are in eighth grade, I generally follow the eighth grade curriculum.
  2. The standards the program director wants implemented
    Hands-on is what he suggests, and I try to make as much of my teaching “hands on” as possible.
  3. The materials and facilities at my disposal
    Our program is relatively new, and while there are plenty of teaching materials available to me, the facilities are somewhat lacking. To everyone’s relief, this is due to change within the year.
  4. The worldview and experiences students bring into the classroom
    Most of the young people in the program don’t necessarily see the importance of education. Further, because they’ve been thrown out of school, they do not have a lot of trust in the educational establishment, which I obviously represent to them.

For these first six weeks, I taught basic chemistry. It’s part of the state curriculum; it’s very hands-on; at the level I’m teaching it, the course doesn’t require a lot of materials.

Beginning tomorrow, I’ll be switching to social studies. If I follow the state guidelines, I’ll be teaching North Carolina history.

In both cases, I wonder I am (or will be) teaching anything useful to these kids. Who cares if they can tell how many protons a given element’s going to have in its nucleus? Who cares if they have a vague understanding of North Carolina history? How’s that going to help them in a future that likely doesn’t include college and might not even include a high school diploma?

Even more troubling is the thought that I’m not their permanent teacher. I — like the rest of the staff — want them all out of the program as fast as possible. That being said, shouldn’t I be teaching them things that will help them succeed better once they do return to “regular” school?

The frustration mounts when I consider the academic level of many of our “consumers” (as the kids have to be referred to in Medicaid reports). Sadly, not one is on grade level; tragically, several are two, three, even four years behind. And I could add perhaps “predictably” to those sentences: if they’re having problems coping with anger and frustration, problems with showing respect toward others, they’re certainly not learning very much.

Of course, the first obvious answer is to throw out the state curriculum, to some degree. Going strictly by the book is not going to reach these kids — the fact that they’re in our program to begin with is ample evidence of that.

Second, meet the kids where they are in their academic achievement and — most critical — interests. At the moment, I have groups of four students when everyone is present and accounted for. Sometimes, I have two students. That means I taylor something specifically designed for each student and monitor them all as they work.

There’s not much I can do about changing their worldview except by giving them an example of a different one. And so I try to be enthusiastic even when — indeed, especially when — they’re dead in their chairs.

Sometimes I feel that being an example is about all I can do — and that’s not meant as a comment about their inability, but mine.

Third Rail

Thursday 28 September 2006

Democrat

There is no middle ground in United States politics because there is no viable third party. America's black-and-white thinking is reflected in our political system. "You are either with us, or you are against us."

The void created by having a two-party system has hurt both the Democrats and the Republicans -- not to mention the general population. Joe Lieberman is a good example of a politician who could use a viable third part; I'm a private citizen who could use a viable third party.

Republican

I think we call could.

Bush stayed in power with a combination of support from hard-line Republicans and individuals who might not agree with Bush's stance on everything, but voted for him because of the perceived continued threat of terrorism. A viable third party would have helped.

Ross Perot was a one-man third party, until he stuck his gilded foot in his mouth at the NAACP.

Out of the Closet

Monday 18 September 2006

So I recently admitted to reading the Washington Times.

Sure, it’s a rough-and-tumble mouthpiece of the right wing, but it’s so much fun. Just look at this stuff from the op-eds:

  • The French irritation with America grows out of wounded pride, a sense that France is not as important in the world as it once was, but a President Sarkozy might restore some of that lost pride and with it an appreciation for stronger links with America. (Suzanne Fields)
  • The following are the chamber remarks of the fictional Lord Harold Reid (whose fictional grandson, in the 21st century would become leader of the fictional Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate).I regret to have to stand up tonight, on the day of defeat at the hands of the Germans of our French ally’s armies at Sedan and on the Meuse River to observe that on this solemn occasion Prime Minister Winston Churchill has chosen to politicize and cheapen the moment. (Tony Blankley)
  • Just as the mainstream media is fond of Bush bashing and calling all Republicans right-wingers — even when there is no conspiracy — the local press view politicians through biased eyes. They demonize pro-life politicians as anti-abortion rights; they view advocates of school choice as opposing public schools; they write profusely about a Jewish Democratic candidate Ben Cardin beating Kweisi Mfume, who has a African name, in Maryland with only 44 percent of the Democratic vote, and practically ignore the fact that Michael Steele, a black Catholic Republican, bested his primary run with 87 percent of the vote — nearly twice that of Mr. Cardin. (Deborah Simmons)
  • Yet the ephemerality of the sense of solidarity, to me, seems more an indication of its artificiality than of squandered sustainability. The United States, in the post-September 11 world, would be going places where few would be able to follow even if they were inclined to do so, starting with Afghanistan. Because Afghanistan was a quick success in terms of ousting the Taliban government and scattering al Qaeda to the four winds, people tend to forget the “graveyard of empires” analysis that swirled around the notion of dispatching the U.S. military to undertake “regime change” there. People also tend to forget the early reports of a bogged-down operation. (Tod Lindberg)

Good stuff…

Seriously, though, I find it difficult to understand folks who say, for example, “Oh, I never read the New York Times — too much liberal bias.” How would one know, then?

“I don’t watch CNN because it’s owned by Ted Turner.” “I don’t read the Washington Times because it’s owned by Sung Yung Moon.” I don’t see much difference.

Occasionally I’ll even find myself somewhat agreeing with the WT — but that’s for another day.

Blind Irony

Sunday 17 September 2006

I’m certainly not the first to comment on this, but it’s been rattling around in my head for a couple of days.

Action and reaction:

  • The pope makes comments that, when taken out of context, can be interpreted as implying that Islam is a violent religion.
  • Some Muslims react by shooting a nun and others by fire bombing a church.

I really feel like a wing-nut for saying this, but…

  • Why are we not hearing equal outrage in the Muslim world at these violent reactions?
  • Why, when Madonna used crucifixion imagery in her latest tour (BBC), did we not get riots and violent protests at the Vatican?
  • Why, when Jews are insulted, do we not see violent protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem?
  • Why can various Muslims (including the leader of Iran) call for the destruction of Israel while we non-Muslims are expected to tip-toe around troubling ideas found in the Muslim world?

Update: Just after posting this, I read in the newest The Week of a Dutch priest who, angered at Madonna’s depiction of the crucifixion, phoned “in a fake bomb threat to a Modonna concert. […] He was tracked down easily because he called from his home phone.” Google turns up a few stories about it.

Pants

Saturday 09 September 2006

If tends continue, it will soon be the "in" thing to wear one's pants down around one's ankles...

Cherokee uber Alles

Monday 04 September 2006

Though I grew up less than two hours from this area, I never visited Cherokee, North Carolina. That's a shame, really, for a trip there promises to be thought provoking and educational.

The best place to visit is undoubtedly Oconaluftee Indian Village, an outdoor museum that recreates the eighteenth century Cherokee reality.

The village itself is deceptively small. It seems like it wouldn't take more than a few moments to wander through it all, but you wouldn't learn much then.

Instead, there's a guide who seems to know just about everything about just about everything.

Our guide also had the mandatory sense of humor that transforms a "guided" tour into something much more personable.

It was at the council chamber that the obvious was finally mentioned: the potential for a less-than-easy relationship between the Cherokee and the white tourists.

"I'm often asked, 'Do you hate white people?' when I'm giving these talks," the guide said. There's a lot of reasons to feel resentful.

  • White Europeans were the original illegal immigrants.
  • A British officer (his name escapes me now) deliberately spread smallpox among Indians by distributing contaminated blankets.
  • The Trail of Tears.

Yet the guide pointed out the obvious: it was not races who did this, but individuals.

It seems in Germany we're finally seeing the realization of this as well. National guilt about the Holocaust made most Germans unwilling even to cheer their national teams. National pride was not even a goose step away from nationalism, that most feared -ism of contemporary Germany.

It was only at this last World Cup -- held in Germany, which certainly had something to do with it -- that commentators began speaking of German pride. German children cheered the home team, and German flags waved in the stands.

And that concludes the diversion...For lunch, K and I went to a small park and ate open-face sandwiches with one hand while swatting gnats and flies with the other. In the park was a small grove of reed.

I'm not quite sure what variety of reed it was, yet it could have left me feeling awfully clausterphobic had the path through the grove not been so spacious.

More photos at Flickr.