 |  |
 
October 2012
August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003
     |
 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! February 22, 2005 Dear American Soldier I Hate YouBy GreyhawkIn the imagined shadow of the Twin Towers that are no longer there, the students of teacher Alex Kunhardt?s social-studies class at Brooklyn?s JHS 51 send their regards to some soldiers stationed in Iraq:Pfc. Rob Jacobs of New Jersey said he was initially ecstatic to get a package of letters from sixth-graders at JHS 51 in Park Slope last month at his base 10 miles from the North Korea border. Reminds me of my e-mail from a teacher at (ironically) a US school on Yongsan Army Installation in Korea: "I hope that your children's teachers offer you children the type of education where they see what a close-minded, blood-thirsty individual you are. You are the type of person who will fight for freedom, all right, as long as it is for the freedom of white, American males. Hitler loved people like you." For which Mrs G received this response from the principal: I apologize for any inconvenienced that this may have cause you and your family. As I read each email I do not see truth in everything that is alleged to happen in Ms. Pell's class. I will address these issues and concerns with my Superintendent in that she seems to have used her private mailing and email for her responses to your husband. I am not sure of my position legally in respect to these actions but I can assure you that the appropriateness of the connection to the school will be addressed. Posted by Greyhawk / February 22, 2005 11:38 PM | Permalink 15 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
Comments (0) |
|
The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
(Digital phone dialing heard in background...)
Inconvenience?
Inconvenience???
How about being sorry that I am so GD mad that I am coming down right now so we can have a Parent-Teacher Wall-to-Wall conference! Click.
I saw this on Fox News this morning. It is absolutely appalling. I, as a parent was always aware of what (or who) was influencing my child. Where were the parents of these children?
DebbieR:
The parents were probably working and the teacher had a captive audience unitl the end of the day. The kids didn't likely see anything really bad about it.They are 6th Graders, after all ad the teacher is an adult that they listen to all day and might even find funny, entertaining and full of 'interesting' stuff they never knew (not the 3 R's usually).
Truth be told, the public school systems (especially in NYC) are daycare facilities to the parents more so than places of learning.
Let me give you a personal example of 'interesting' knowledge. When my daughter was a freshman in HS a couple years ago, she had to take American History. I looked forward to it, hoping she would ask for help (and hoped that she understood Geometry all on her own...). I was furious at her assignment in the fall of that year (the only essay assignment during their Civil War perioid coverage):
What significant Contributions did Women, African-Americans and other Minorities make to the Civil War?
Not Lincoln or his assassination. Not the Emancipation Proclamation. Not the Slavery issue or even the Underground Railroad. Not significant battles, nor a study of the confederate cecession. Nope. None of that inconsequential fluff.
White Male = Bad, so forget that stuff. You write a paper on anything but that during the period and we'll call it a draw. Apparently that was the plan?
Don't get me wrong, either. I teach and most of my students are kids coming out of High Scools in rough neighborhoods and they come to me with really bad attitudes. They are predominantly not white males (as I am). Everybody owes them and everybody has them under their thumb. It's always 'The Man' and it's always 'They'.
Problem is, no one ever bothered to tell them that they 'Could'. No one ever told them that they 'Could' anything, do anything, be anything.
Not their friends (or "friends"), not their teachers, and with most of them, certainly not their parents. They are all victims. Can I tell you that after 3 hours with me on their first day, their eyes light up like they've just had an epiphany. They realize they are in charge. And every day, I teach them not just how to be a Network Administrator, but how to believe in themselves, how to want something and get something rather than expect something and wait. That they 'Can'. Why not? Says who?
(So if anyone reading thinks I want only the White Male Presidents taught, please dismount the horse you are currently riding.)
I guess what I am trying to say is that there are two aspects to what you ask. (Where are the parents?)
Some dump their kids at the local public daycare facility k-12. Some bring them to school. But even the ones who bring them to school leave them at the mercy of the teachers. And kids don't always like to talk about everything they do with their parents, too.
We pray that we have done a good enough job and left a good enough mark that our young 6th grader can discern the difference between a letter of support and what these kids were coaxed into writing (by teacher or parent).
But sometimes it just isn't up to us.
In my school district, I'd go down and have some words with the principal....
Rest assured that most soldiers are receiving supportive and loving mail from students. My son's 4th grade class wrote over 120 cards to soldiers at Christmas and again recently. Everything from 'what kind of food do you like' to 'thank you for protecting my freedom'. The teacher in this school should be fired. It's not their job to insult our soldiers - the media and senators do fine on their own.
I have a daughter in 8th grade. After the Iraqi elections I asked if her history teacher had talked about the significance of what was going on there. There was no mention of it in history, social studies or any class. They avoid talking about world events. I am upset about the lost opportunity to teach the kids about democracy and courage and the very things that make it possible for us to have the life we do. Well, at least my girls know about those things and understand the sacrifice our troops are making.
Some insignificant citizen got their 15 nano seconds of fame. Tell everyone to stand-up, there are these types in this country, and they can be ignored. What can't be ignored is the state of mind of most teachers and educators in this country. Go to the PTA mtgs., the Principals, and schools and make a bigger stink. Believe me the last thing these people want is to have you and your supports in their faces at every turn. And don't let them tell you it is someone else's fault, issue, or vision. You will probably accept the blame yourself, if you buy any of their excuses.
link texts
After reading this story... I'm sick...sick to think this is the education and support coming from our middle schools. How depressing!!!
Al Adkins
Wow. Unfathomable. I went from first through twelfth grade at Seoul American School in Yongsan, and this type of thing would have been unthinkable. Between teachers with this attitude and the attacks and threats to U.S. military off the base, what could these DOD kids be thinking?
My bro-in-law, now USAF Col. in Camp Casey, says even walking off base is not a good idea.
Why was my posting with the e-mail addresses for Ms. Pell deleted from the blog??? Why the sensorship??? I thought we were fighting and dying for our right to has our say? Yes, I understand that this is your blog, you can sensor anyone or any post you want, but that goes against all the principles of what we stand for. If anyone is interested in email Ms. Pell, do a google search for "Michelle Pell DODDS" and you will find an alumni page/letter where she post three email addresses for herself.
With the right to free speech comes responsiblity. Sorry, don't know legalities of posting personal information. Although it is readily available on the web, if someone wants it they'll have to get it themselves, not here. Would'nt want to be accused of handing it out. Call me chicken, I can handle it. ; )
"Teaching" like this is sypptomatic of a larger problem, as is Political Correctness, which is getting Americans killed.
And did you notice that the Principal's response had spelling errors and grammatical mistrakes? Shazayam, Sam! How'd he get the position? Tips from Ward Churchill?
Symptomatic of a sticky keyboard...
I happened to fall upon this website, along with the other site with Ms. Pell's full letter, when I was looking for news of my friend in Iraq.
It made me really sad to see so many people bashing on each other about this whole ordeal.
I really don't know what do say, but I felt like I had to say something. Since the other site does not offer comments or posts, I decided to write it on here.
Ultimately, what I want to say is... our freedom to write and say what we want is protected by our soldiers and others who serve to protect our country.
People burn our flag and slander our government... and it's not by terrorists alone. Some are by US Citizens.
But even then... even when some US Citizens vilify our government and our country, our troops do what they do so that we can do what we do...even it if means we speak wrongly of them.
Too many people in the US take for granted of the freedom we truly have. But oddly enough, this article and blog helps me remember my freedom of speech, along with every US citizen.
I grew up on Yongsan. I lived more than half of my life in Korea. Yes, guards by the gates, weapons, BDUs and hummers on post was definitely a reminder of military presence, but as a teenager of a Military Soldier that is the closest to the battlefield I will ever go. (Thanks to our soldiers protecting us in foreign lands.) Though many of us lived and breathed a Military life style, we also become desensitized of it. Sometimes, the true depth of the military is lost when all we see is our parents come home faithfully every day. Even when war is happening, our parents still return home. That's good enough for us. We sometimes forget that there others out there on the battlefield so that our parents can come home to us.
I know many people think that what Ms. Pell did wasn't right, but it was a wake up call that many SAHSians need at times. Our parents do such a great job at trying to keep things normal, that we forget the expense of what some military personnel have to go through. Even if Ms. Pell has an alternative lesson plan than many conservative US Citizens, she does care for her students and she does her best to help them realize the true depth of freedom. It comes with a price.
Unlike Ms. Pell or Mrs. Greyhawk, I have no talent in writing eloquant letters or comments. I wish I did so I wouldn't feel like I'm stumbling over my words as I write this.
But what I do have is knowledge; I've learned from my DODDS teachers the true value of freedom of expression, especially when they speak their minds.
To all, I commend your comments. Just remember those who help us have that freedom to say what we want to say.