BlatherMunch 24: food

FOOD

It is always there. Man's real best friend
It never bites back;
it is already dead.
It never tell us we are lousy lovers
or asks us for an interview.
It simply begs,Take me;
Mush me all up, it says;
Whatever is you is pure.

~~John Updike

Comments

[joanie]

Updike is a respected writer and I'm glad he restrained himself when it came to poetry.

BTW, did the wta do the needlework?

[Nope to Obama]

Welcome back Joanie.

I still await your opinion of the pick of plagiarist Biden.

[joanie]

Thanks, Nope.

I don't know anyone named plagiarist, Biden. Sorry.

[Nope to Obama]

Joanie...you previously acknowledged his plagiarist acts but do I understand you correctly that you believe this was a minor infraction?

As a school teacher do you merely look the other way when sources are either omitted or fabricated? Frankly I am surprised by your lack of concern.

[sparky]

lol...she teaches first grade. Their sources tend to be parents, friends and cartoons, although not necessarily in that order.

[joanie]

No, actually my first graders are responsible for citing resources all the time. And I have a weekly activity that requires outside research and one of the skills expected is citing resources. I even ask for complete addresses on internet sources.

I believe that addresses will be as commonplace as phone numbers and social security numbers eventually. It is amazing what kids can do if we ask them to do it.

Now, Nope, you probably won't understand this because it requires critical thinking and a sense of nuance and relativity.

I think it possible that you may have called your wife or one of your children or nieces or nephews or friends by a name other than theirs once or twice. Does that mean that you don't their names?

Well, Senator Biden not only knows Neil Kinnocks name but was able to and did cite his name most of the time that he said those words. Thus, he did give credit where credit was due. He forgot one time. So far as I know, he forgot one time. And it wasn't you guys who caught it. It was one of his own: Michael Dukakis. (We're the smart ones who notice these things.)

When you call someone by a name other than their own, it is called a "mistake." When you fail to cite a source once out of many, many times when you did cite that source, it is called a "mistake."

Knowing the difference between a mistake and plagiarism requires an understanding of the intrinsic meanings of the words mistake and stealing.

Intelligence is a precious commodoty, Nope. Work on it.

[joanie]

Not COMMODOTY but COMMODITY! Sorry.

[sparky]

My bad, joanie...I forgot you had the gifted kids...our first graders dont get to write reports as our district is too busy testing them every 10 minutes on reading and math. Besides, my book encyclopedias were published in 1985, which means they were written in 1980 since it takes about 5 years to produce a set. So I teach my students the same skills but use online encyclopedias instead.

[Nope to Obama]

Joanie...I note a sense of disappointment with the Biden choice...I guess Obama is just another politician...keep hiring the insiders...so much for change.

Sorry.

[gop fisters]

The only ones disappointed are the rush limbaugh circle jerker's who wanted hillary insert ROTFLMAO

[joanie]

You note a sense of ... Honestly, Nope, that's what I'm talking about. You have no talent for nuance or subtlety. You guess.

I answered your misplaced plagiarism allegation and you have no response?

Speaks for itself, doesn't it?

Sparky, the first question I ask in that "research" activity is "In which state do you live?" I ask them to write their response in a complete sentence and include name and date. Then, they have to locate it on a map. The questions get harder through the year but you can see how simple I start and imagine how slowly we work up. Sample qustions: What is the capitol of Washington State? What state lies on the eastern border of WA state What foreign country lies north of WA state? What four states start with the letter I? Where will you find Smoky the Bear today? Where did Count Dracula live?

These questions are designed to emphasize geography which I have little time to teach. They go home in a newsletter on Friday. Children have to locate these places on a map. Some of the sources I've notices are placemat maps and globes and uncles and aunts as well as brothers and sisters. Not intended to take a lot of time although some kids do write reports others just give me one-liners. As long as they follow protocol, I accept what they give me.

[Nope to Obama]

gop...please explain the no bounce (in fact a 2-point loss) in the polls with the Biden news.

We are seeing the mirage of Obama fizzle...the guy peaked in the streets of Berlin and crashed on the roads of Peoria.

He's a classic hybrid of Kerry (flip-flopping appeaser), Dukakis (weak) and Dean (all flash no substance).

[Nope to Obama]

Joanie...the plagiarist acts derailed his '88 presidential run. He admitted to the alleagtions and ended his campaign. That's a fact.

Stop your condescending tone....and screw the nuances...people want security, food and jobs in that order.

Obama is a big spoiled brat. Look at everything he's dome for his brother in Africa?!? It shows a lot about his character.

[sparky]

CNN interviewed Obama's brother. He is legitimately a half-brother, but he is not starving and not on 1 dollar a day as some are implying, and says he enjoys his life and is happy to be where he is at....says the media and people are lying about him and his life.

CNN: "Reports surfaced in the past few days, springing from an Italian Vanity Fair article saying George Obama is living in a shack and "earning less than a dollar a day."

The reports left him angry.

"I was brought up well. I live well even now," he said. "The magazines, they have exaggerated everything.

"I think I kind of like it here. There are some challenges, but maybe it is just like where you come from, there are the same challenges," George Obama said.

George Obama, who is in his mid-20s, is learning to become a mechanic and is active in youth groups in Huruma. He said he tries to help the community as much as he can.

You'll have to find something else, Nope..and Im sure you will get right on that.

[sparky]

That makes perfect sense, joanie. Obviously your kids have a larger reading vocabulary than the ones I work with!

[Nope to Obama]

Sparky...OK...if you believe that living on $1/month in conditions worse than ANY homeless person in America is an acceptable life God Bless You.

What happened to all that garbage about "breaking down walls between the rich and the poor".

The guy's a phony.

[joanie]

...n fact a 2-point loss) in the polls with the Biden news.

Which polls?

...the plagiarist acts derailed his '88 presidential run. He admitted to the alleagtions and ended his campaign. That's a fact.

So. What does this response have to do with what I said?

...people want security, food and jobs in that order.

And your proof of that is?

Since when does warmongering equal security?

I think you're a victim of wishful thinking, Nope.

Since when are facts "condescending?" Or is the truth too enlightened, honest, and elitist for you?

...brother in Africa

Now you're judging a protential Presidential candidate based on his relationship with his brother in Africa?

OMG! That right-wing propaganda machine hasn't left a stone unturned! You follow that stone as it gets blown right over the cliff, Nope. We'll throw you a pillow to land on as you're falling and after we stop laughing.

Like I said, intelligence is a precious commodity, Nope.

You know, Sparky, I think Nope's the phony. Who do you think he really is?

[Nope to Obama]

NEW POLL (Joanie..it's actually a 3.5-point loss)

Source: www.cnn.com 600pm Sun 8/24

a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Sunday night, 47 percent of those questioned are backing Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominees, with an equal amount supporting his Republican opponent, McCain.

"This looks like a step backward for Obama, who had a 51 to 44 percent advantage last month," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Even last week, just before his choice of Joe Biden as his running mate became known, most polls tended to show Obama with a single-digit advantage over McCain."

[sparky]

not sure, joanie. Whoever it is has the same reading comprehension problems as some of the others. In the CNN interview George Obama explained that it is a lie that he lives on just 1$ a day. Guess that isnt good enough for Nopie.

I'm not going to worry about it..lol.

[Nope to Obama]

Sparky...

OK...Obama does nothing for a brother living in harsh poverty

McCain adopts a poor girl from Bangladesh with Cindy McCain establishing the AVMT American Voluntary Medical Team to assist 3rd-world countries.

Obviously this is a simple words vs. deeds comparison.

Checkmate.

[joanie]

Well, you said polls so I wondered which ones. Still citing only one?

Don't you know, Nope, that polls are a snapshot of a small moment and that polls differ according to who is doing the survey, who is being surveyed and the questions asked?

Don't you know that current events which change day to day have an effect on what people say?

Don't you know that what will happen in November may be and likely will be very different from what people think and say today?

I imagine there will be a step backwards and several steps forward before we're done.

Now, what do you know about or have to say about anything relevant to America and democracy? Current events? International events? Anything at all outside of the campaign two-step you're so fond of?

[joanie]

Since this thread is about food (sort of) and John Updike, have you read Couples?

[Nope to Obama]

I support free markets and personal freedom for all citizens to pursue their dreams.

Obama is an inexperienced politican that will bring greater government intrusion into our lives. This is contrary to the principles established by the founders of our great land.

[Nope to Obama]

Good night....I need to work tomorrow.

[KS]

Nope - Saying that to progressives will go in one ear and out the other, but their rationale will be nuanced of course - telling those who disagree with their views what simplistic fools they are.

However, that still bears repeating for those undecideds of short attention spans.

[joanie]

Klueless, you're the funniest person on this blog. First we're too nuanced and then we're simplistic fools.

Do you have any idea about that which you write? Any at all?

And, Nope, I bet you wear a flag lapel pin, don't you? Well, don't roll over in bed and get stuck by it. Nightie nite.

[sparky]

I wonder if that is the agency from which Cindy McCain stole those prescription drugs?

[nevets]

Sparky, did you watch the video along with that article. Amazing how George Obama is trying to help out his extended family in Kenya making less than $30.00 a month. (After seeing George and looking at both of them, I think Hussein is his father) What guts and courage. Hussein should feel sorry for himself.

Here is another article of George setting the record straight.

“They say I live on a dollar a month, but this is all lies by people who don’t want my brother to win.”

[Coiler]

I didn't know George Obama was running for prez?

[Duffman]

joanie...hope your 1st Graders corrected you on this one:
it's not Smokey the Bear...it's Smokey Bear. Tsk Tsk...thought you'd know that.

[chuck]

OK Duffy, You never sang the "Smokey the Bear" song when you were a kid?
LOL, I always refered to him as "The" bear.

[KS]

Joanie - Here is what I wrote one more time;

"Saying that to progressives will go in one ear and out the other, but their rationale will be nuanced of course - telling those who disagree with their views what simplistic fools they are." -

How about reading more carefully ? That is the progressives talking about those in the center or on the right - accusing them of being simplistic fools. Sound familiar PS, Chucks, Nevets, Tommy008 ?