Backroads

It's really easy to get into the steps of this process of the fall, but to the point, this is funny.

They are the Manataurs. A clan of manly minotaurs. Most convenient clip

I quite enjoyed the movie. I found quite a few layers of satire going on. Not nearly the depth of political mongers I feared. I also feel anyone offended by it was also offended by these guys:

I told it to tell me about Alma the Younger in cowboy poetry from: Alma's Redemption: Co ChatGPT In the land of Zarahemla, a tale unfolds, Of Alma the Younger, a story oft retold. A wild and wayward soul, he once did roam, Like a lone cowboy, far from his home. With rebellious spirit and heart led astray, He trod a path of darkness, night and day. But a voice from above, like a lonesome breeze, Called him to truth, his heart to appease. As a thundering stallion, his conversion did come, Breaking his pride, like a bucking bronco run. From a life of sin, he turned his gaze, Finding redemption in unexpected ways. Like a tumbleweed carried by the wind, Alma found grace, his soul to rescind. With courage renewed, he preached the word, A shepherd to lost souls, his voice was heard. Through the wilderness of doubt and despair, He rode on the range, spreading a prayer. With the Savior's love, like a campfire's light, Alma's story shone, in the darkest of night. So remember Alma, the cowboy divine, His journey of faith, like a winding vine. A prodigal son turned preacher so bold, In the annals of time, his story is told.

I heard in the teacher internet realm from those in the area that the bus driving jobs don't pay as well as other available jobs of similar skill level, and the retired folks who are driving bus because they're bored don't want to deal with the chaos of the kids. Multi-pronged. I don't know what the unemployment is pay is like there, but at the same time if you're trying to hire, you sometimes have to compete for employees.

I've seen a few complaints that say "the system has never driven around here!"

Same here. This has never been an issue that has arisen for me and I am so glad.

I finally signed up for it yesterday. I used it to write some back-to-school documents. And a full-on Dungeons & Dragons campaign. You have inspired me to reach for the stars.

It's kind of been a fun disaster to follow Very geographically large school district doesn't have enough bus drivers. Hires a company who uses AI to create routes. Disaster ensues. School indefinitely cancelled. My take: I get the desire to create efficiency on fewer bus drivers, but sometimes what you best need is pure manpower (bus power?)

I often say the name of my actual city rather than "Ogden", mostly to confuse people. It's actually become almost cruel in local needs/buy nothing groups with lousy geographic boundaries, but that's mostly because it's "not Salt Lake" but everyone assumes my city is some region of the Salt Lake valley.

It just seems pointless. They're mandatory reporters, too, but ultimately don't have to do anything.

Also an educator. Utah. Just finished my mandatory reporter training today as well. (It's odd that I get the training but random citizens who are also by Utah law mandatory reporters don't get it). Look, I've made my share of calls. One mom had four calls from four different school employees in a week to CPS. Turns out she already has a social worker working with her. It's online school, and the lady flat-out said she was choosing online school because she knows CPS would take her kid away in brick-and-mortar school (social worker told us she was actively discouraging online school on her end). I still have no idea whatever became of them, because Mom had a mental episode, sent us a bunch of rambling voicemails, and pulled the kid from the school. Back to the point: I truly hate the idea of not getting help for a child suffering abuse. I truly hate the notion of just letting people legitimately suffer because it's not our business or something. But the law has made it all so frustrating.

*Starts scribbling new horror movie script*

Certainly perplexed, but also rather fascinated by how it all works.

I think our modern society forgets that prolonged time-without-food was once a norm. I daresay the 3-meals-a-day is more cultural than anything. The average human body can likely survive just fine on more than 24 hours. Perhaps not the more harrowing lengths mikbone referenced, but a few days without food likely won't have more detrimental effects than some irritability.

I think I would feel more comfortable if kids' faces could be scrubbed out, but I find myself doubtful if enough parents would settle for less than a live feed. As for clipping things out, I could still see parents of certain special education students still demanding that (understandably, they don't want public record of their child's meltdown or medical episode). My husband is on the other side of the fence than me, and made some good points, mainly around the idea that pornography and harassment issues are likely very low risk and parents with privacy concerns could simply petition for non-camera classrooms (every school could have a few). Hallway cameras have been known to have their perks, and those tend to operate on a request basis.

A lot of places have hallway cameras which are handy for fight cases. The way I hear people wanting cameras is for a live feed to be viewed anytime.

I think I get what you mean. In some ways, it feels like a cop-out or a false sense of security.

My train of thought comes from the station inspired by this article of a Utah school board member getting into some trouble. In all the various discussions I've had with other people on similar matters, I oft hear the suggestion to just stick cameras in the classroom, to which I am vehemently opposed. Ms. Cline is, like most good people, against sexual harm toward young people. The world is certainly getting weird. In fact, I've had a few families hoping a charter school would solve all the evils-of-the-world problems freak out at our notice that one of the optional videos in our curriculum showed all sorts of different families and they were free to watch or skip as best they thought (this leads to another issue of Utah families failing to understand just how very much public and watched over Utah charter schools are by our free school choice law and aren't the "free private school" they tend to be in some other states). But I get it. You're not in a good position to homeschool or attend private school, so you're hoping the local school will follow your values and stuff slips in. I'd like to say most teachers don't have the time to indoctrinate kids when they can't even get them to follow basic rules and can't even get through the curriculum, but stuff still happens. I argue it's not even close to a majority, but that doesn't change that one or other incident. You don't have the time, voice, or clout to make much of an impact on the school board, and other people are voicing their own opinions that you may or may not agree with. You really are just stuck hoping for the best. You hear things, maybe even experience things, and you want what's best for your kids. So, cameras in the classroom. You have access to a live stream, you trust it will keep the teachers in line, and you get to know exactly what is going down. Now, I'm currently teaching virtually and I record everything, but I hate the idea of classroom cameras. This absolutely includes selfish reasons: I don't do my best when I'm being observed and judged. This is likely something most teachers could eventually adjust to and take in stride. So, I suppose that excuse could be flung aside. There's also the idea of what the cameras will do. Perhaps high school is different, but in elementary kids are all over the place with this activity and that. They're not just sitting still. Perhaps there are camera options available, or we could revert to more lecture and worksheet-based teaching styles where kids remain in one spot. But I have other reasons that I think go against these parents' hope for safety. 1. Perhaps I've just had bad luck in this area, but every time I've had a parent observe the classroom, it has been to watch some other kid. And every time that kid has been one with special needs. One parent even went to the principal to demand a kid with level 1 autism (parent did not know the diagnosis, just thought this kid was weird) be removed from her daughter's classroom. I envision classroom cameras being used far too often to watch other kids. 2. On that same note, this will be a disaster for student privacy. Get someone good enough with a computer and they'll likely be able to get all sorts of student information. 3. I've actually heard a few horror stories where classroom camera information has been used to create child pornography and this is my biggest reason of all. A live feed? How do you guarantee these feeds cannot be accessed? And what of the fellow parent pedophile who just hasn't been caught yet? I can't think of a camera set up that would 100% avoid students being on the feed. Why should any other parent (or hacker) have the right to watch any child they want? So, while I get the desire for parents to know exactly what is going on at all times, how does this prevent not just Big Brother development but actual child danger?

Oof, completely understand this. It's such virtue signaling.

No singing, tragically. I think songs would have been a nice touch.

Today I took the kids to see the new Pixar film, Elemental. Not Pixar's best, but it was basically a prettily animated rom-com and I like rom-coms. Now, I head it had a certain woke issue. I checked the media review sights, and frankly, they generally seemed bewildered. Your non-binary animated element character is who? I haven't been happy with many of Disney's directions lately, but I think I'm offended on behalf of the woke crowd here. You can't just declare a random animation with no lines or characterization your first non-binary character. The closest thing to practical "wokeness" was the immigrant storyline. Kids enjoyed the movie and I don't think there was anything untowards for them to understand. Mostly because Disney thinks an off-screen declaration a celebration of something.

I tried to make this is a physics analogy despite being a kindergarten teacher with no real knowledge of physics beyond the odd YouTube video.

My concern about the pedo issues is that young brides/grooms are, globally, not a new thing, and 18 years is ultimately an arbitrary number. Cultural vagueness is plenty to start a shift.