Thursday, July 30, 2009

Boko Haram—More widespread than you’d think?

The phrase, Dear Gentle Reader(s), means, in effect, education is sinful.  Well, that’s one way to interpret it.  Go here for a more detailed and, probably, more accurate discussion.

It’s a name given to a particular Islamist cult in Africa currently wreaking havoc in Nigeria.

The cult is more interested in “Western” education, to be sure, but too many religionists are leery of modernizing education for their potential adherents.

In California, fundamentalist Christians helped to destroy a move for more creative thinking in the 1990s; in Afghanistan and Pakistan the Taliban and other Islamists destroy girls’ schools; text books from Saudi Arabia often seem lodged in the 7th century.

The war against terror won’t be won in the military battlefield; it needs must be won in the classroom.

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

11.14.2139

Note to self:  Suggest to nieces and nephews they put a clause in their wills for their grandchildren that there be established a national holiday on November 14, 2139, in honor of the master rapscallion of greed, Bernie Madoff, who would’ve been released from prison on that day, had he lived out his sentence.

Have a good B.M. Day, everyone!

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

ERP?

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A dilemma, Dear Gentle Reader(s) has descended.

It seems one was ensconced in a dentist’s chair, preparing for a routine replacement of a rather superficial filling (one not requiring extensive drilling) when one responded to a packing of string under the gum area with a wince.

“Too much pain?”

“Um, well, I feel it.”

“OK.  Let me give you another shot.”

“Thank you.”

Skip ahead four weeks.

“Explanation of Dental Benefits” from MetLife:  “For benefit determination purposes, procedure D9110 is not a covered dental expense since it is considered a part of procedure D23 91 and benefits are not separately payable for this procedure.”

“Hmmm,” one hmmms.  “What is D9110?  Dunno.  Let’s look.”  Referring to the procedure code at the top of the page, D9110 is…Wait for it…Emergency Relief of Pain.*

So one didn’t get enough “relief of pain” from the first shot, and the second shot cost $100!

Perhaps one ought to seek the services of a different dentist.

Perhaps.

Too bad, though.  It was a pleasant 2 year relationship.

*Hence, ERP

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Friday, July 10, 2009

Huh?

There is a law school, Dear Gentle Reader(s), which goes by the name of Ave Maria School of Law, that is currently engaged in a wrongful termination law suit and, in so doing, is raising some interesting diction (in the sense of word choice) issues.

You can read about it on  the web site of The National Law Journal.

What is most interesting is this:  [Ave Maria School of Law] is trying to declare law professors as ministers to avoid a wrongful termination suit from proceeding.

The professors aren’t ordained, but somehow they’re ministers because they work for a religious institution.

Word games—the bane of logic.

Fun times.

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Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Enough, Already!!!

Dear Gentle Reader(s), how much more do we have to know about Governor Palin?  Better, has anyone read anything, anything at all, new about her in the past month or so?

There can’t be very much interest in her political future.  Except for extremists in the right wing of the electorate—and there aren’t enough votes there for her to be a serious contender—no one seriously considers her a “contender.”

There might still be enough of a concern for people to begin to ask serious questions of Senator McCain, i.e., “What on earth were you thinking?”  Other than that, let the woman do whatever she wants to do. 

It’s time for the punditry to let go.  We’ve already paid enough attention to that particular train wreck.

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Saturday, July 04, 2009

Eye-rolling Smiley

Sometimes, Dear Gentle Reader(s), it’s so easy, that one thinks an effort is hardly worthwhile.

Case in point—over at the Townhalldotcom Muckroom, Bill O’Reilly’s column starts with this titbit:  “In fact, we are becoming a nation of braying sheep…”

Ah, Bill-o—to use the Hallowed Keith’s word—, sheep, my boyo, don’t bray, they bleat.  Jackasses bray.

Either way, though, Bill-o’s covered.

Happy Fourth, America.  Remember the troops.

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