Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Just have to get something off my chest here. Although, to be clear about it, my biggest “peeve” with this issue is not any of the many peeves themselves, it’s the nagging doubt I have that any of this comes as news to anybody, certainly not to those who are promoting the anti-bullying policy.
I was bullied, back in the day. We didn’t have anti-bullying policies. The response from the school officials who might have been in a position to do something, was pretty uniform: If we do something to interfere it will just make the problem worse. Continuing with this explanation of the dazzlingly obvious — although we today are supposed to deplore that attitude, and I certainly didn’t think highly of it at the time, it was & is completely correct. And it taught me the lesson that “nobody is looking out for your welfare, that is completely up to you.” Which is also correct. The drawback was, of course, it was up to me to toughen up to such a level that the bullies left me alone & went on to something else. Which, it turns out, really doesn’t involve that much toughening.
I remember stopping a bit too quick when I was being chased, on a downgrade, sending the bully sailing overhead out of control. Another one in the following year got a swift jab in the solar plexus, and I think that was about it. There’s a difference between taunting someone, and blocking him into a corner, you know. Bullies are cowards, they don’t like victims that fight back, they only prey on those weaker; it’s in the definition. So what concerns me nowadays is that this is the very first tier of learning to deal with a confrontation when there’s no authority figure around to bail your skinny ass out of trouble. We’re going to get rid of that? At the very least, it seems there are some potential liabilities involved in that, that should be inspected in foresight rather than in hindsight.
That is just the first concern I have, that comes immediately to mind. It is the most pressing. I’m not alone in thinking about it. But there are other things that should be bugging people about this more than they do.
I dislike seeing a website called www.stopbullying.gov. The TLD gives me the creeps more than any bully ever did.
Here’s something else that raises my concerns. I recall from the years gone by, that bullying had very little to do with physical torment or intimidation. The bullying I remember, would be much more accurately described, as: A perpetual celebration of the ability to bamboozle and hoodwink the authority figures. And I daresay every single teacher who has ever breathed air, knows exactly what I’m saying. “What, MEEEEE?” Don’t know what he’s talking about. I was just minding my own business. And the all-time favorite: He is actually the one who was hitting me.
I’m seeing all sorts of focus-group-tested and committee-crafted phrases, sentences, paragraphs about zero tolerance. I’m seeing not a single syllable about making the authority figures any smarter, or less distracted.
This suggests to me, rather persuasively, that it’s the bullies-grown-up who are behind the anti-bullying policies. Aren’t all the characteristics there? Smooth talkin’; getting the last word; no appeal, zero-tolerance.
And then there is, if we had some demonstrable talents in any other area of life, we’d be doing that & not this. That reminds me of the bullies, too.
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- House of Eratosthenes | 12/02/2012 @ 13:57