My wife and I had our kids in the dark ages of the '90s so we never had a chance to potty train our children with this 2-in-1 iPotty with Activity Seat for iPad. This is a nice reminder that not all progress is good.
iPotty
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Why No Trader Joe’s in GSO?
The Triad Business Journal explores why there won't be a Trader Joe's in Greensboro in the near future. In addition to all of the reasons cited in the article – Greensboro not being on TJ's 2-year plan, the attorney involved in the proposed project last year no longer being involved, and nothing happening on the development front – they might want to add that no one in Greensboro (that I know of) made a video to try and woo Trader Joe's. Some folks in Winston-Salem did a couple of years ago and now we have a TJ's in Thruway. So, folks in GSO here's a helpful hint from your neighbors in Camel City.
The Perils of Helicopter Parenting
A teacher has written a nice little piece about what she sees as the danger of overprotective parents. Here are the money paragraphs:
These are the parents who worry me the most — parents who won't let their child learn. You see, teachers don't just teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. We teach responsibility, organization, manners, restraint, and foresight. These skills may not get assessed on standardized testing, but as children plot their journey into adulthood, they are, by far, the most important life skills I teach.
I'm not suggesting that parents place blind trust in their children's teachers; I would never do such a thing myself. But children make mistakes, and when they do, it's vital that parents remember that the educational benefits of consequences are a gift, not a dereliction of duty. Year after year, my "best" students — the ones who are happiest and successful in their lives — are the students who were allowed to fail, held responsible for missteps, and challenged to be the best people they could be in the face of their mistakes.
If you spend enough time at schools, youth sports events, scout meetings, etc. you'll see plenty examples of what this teacher is talking about. What will really blow your mind is what parents of some high school students will do to make sure their kids' transcripts are pristine for the all-important college application process. They'll manufacture "community service" projects, write their childrens' application essays, do their kids' school projects or let them drop a class if it's too challenging or threatens to lower the GPA by a smidge. In their minds the purpose of education isn't to help their children truly learn and grow, it's to get them into a prestigious school so that they can get a prestigious job. And what happens when those same kids get to college and struggle? They call home and guess who comes running to try and bail them out?
Obviously there are times you should help your kids, but providing help is often more about the parents than the kids. It's actually harder to watch your kids struggle than it is to intervene and do it for them – it's literally painful – so when we step in and bail them out we're actually being very selfish. We're assuaging our own pain to our children's long-term detriment. If we really care about them we will let them fall and learn how to pick themselves up. It ain't easy, but no one ever said that good parenting was easy and that's why they pay us parents the big bucks anyway. Right?
Standing on Principle
Winston-Salem city councilman Dan Besse is taking a bit of a political hit for his stance on an issue before the council. From Yes! Weekly's editorial about the matter:
The Winston-Salem city councilman took a stand last week against a proposed resolution by the city to oppose the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which equated money with free speech and enabled corporations and unions to make unlimited financial contributions to the political process…
But the time is being spent regardless of Besse’s opposition, largely at the behest of his political allies and constituents…
Surely there would be no harm to Dan Besse’s political future by backing down on his stance and throwing in with the opposition groups. It’s an election year, after all, and though Besse’s Southwest Ward seat seems safe, he will surely face a Republican opponent in the General Election.
The editors then provide two quotes from Besse that I think should be printed and hung on the walls in the chambers of every city/town/county council in the land:
“I strongly believe that as a good-government issue, that local governments should focus on the good things we can do — services and infrastructure that we are responsible for — instead of serving as an adjunct public debating society on issues over which we have no jurisdiction,” he said.
and
“If you can’t act on what you believe is the right thing to do, then you shouldn’t be in office,” he said.
Councilman Besse also pointed out that he is an activist on many issues like assault weapons bans, the Affordable Care Act and environmental quality, but he is active in other more appropriate venues. His point – that being a member of city council doesn't preclude him from advocating for any issue on his own time, but when he's wearing his councilmember hat he should be focused on the city's business – is spot on.
If You Don’t Smile You Might Be Dead Inside
Paperman is Disney's Oscar-nominated animated short. Enjoy.
Words Are Important
Have you seen the latest Volkswagen commercial? If not take a look:
As you can see it's basically a funny take on the whole laid-back/chill island thing that most of the world associates with Jamaica. No problem right? Wrong. Apparently some people think that it's racist:
The controversy got its start on CNN yesterday when Jamaican-born Christopher John Farley of the Wall Street Journal said: "Although I love you featuring Jimmy Cliff in the ad, a terrific Jamaican performance, the Jamaican accent did sort of strike me as Jar Jar Binks-ish." The New York Times's Charles Blow had a more intense reaction, saying the accent was "like blackface with voices." The commercial was discussed this morning on the Today show and their "ad expert" Barbara Lippert, the editor-at-large of MediaPost.com, said "this is so racist."
It's probably not surprising that someone would take offense to the ad – What doesn't offend someone these days? – but that last statement in particular is just ridiculous. How is it racist? Jamaicans aren't a race, they're a culture. As is pointed out later in the post linked above, there are plenty of white Jamaicans. If this ad is racist then so are all of the Lucky Charms ads that play on Irish accents, Leprechauns and all of our cultural preconceptions about Ireland. And the Swedish Bikini team? Don't even go there.
While it may seem like splitting hairs to call out critics for saying the VW ad is racist when at most it's a cultural charicature, there's really an important point to be made. Calling something racist when it isn't distracts us from the truly racist acts that occur every day. Folks like Barbara Lippert, whether they mean to or not, are acting like our society's Chicken Littles, screaming racism so often that no one will pay attention when the real thing happens.
£110, 200 Years and 20 Million Copies
Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice was published 2oo years ago – January 28, 1813 to be exact. As we learn from this Letters of Note post, Austen sold it for £110, which converted for inflation is roughly the same as selling it for £75,000 (there are various ways to calculate inflation and this one uses average earnings). Since then over 20 million copies of the book have been sold, which works out to roughly 100,000 copies a year. That's a serious return on investment.
Class Participation is Overrated
For those who hated "class participation" in school and didn't understand why tests couldn't be 100% of their grade, this story in the Wall Street Journal is wonderful news:
David Lando plans to start working toward a diploma from the University of Wisconsin this fall, but he doesn't intend to set foot on campus or even take a single online course offered by the school's well-regarded faculty.
Instead, he will sit through hours of testing at his home computer in Milwaukee under a new program that promises to award a bachelor's degree based on knowledge—not just class time or credits…
Wisconsin officials tout the UW Flexible Option as the first to offer multiple, competency-based bachelor's degrees from a public university system. Officials encourage students to complete their education independently through online courses, which have grown in popularity through efforts by companies such as Coursera, edX and Udacity.
No classroom time is required under the Wisconsin program except for clinical or practicum work for certain degrees.
The VHS Generation
A blast from the past for those of us old enough to remember analog technology.
Heart Cover of Stairway to Heaven + Kennedy Center = Awesome
Who'd have thought that Heart – with John Bonham's son Jason on the drums – doing a cover of Stairway to Heaven at the Kennedy Center Honors would result in such awesomeness? Check out the reaction of the guys as they watch the performance. Very cool.
Befuddled 