Captain Digital Speaks! - Latest Comments

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

captaindigital — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:54:00 -0000

UPDATE: I've been in communication via email with Carl Dermady, the Executive Supervisor of the Fair. He met with the Director today, and they determined that the fair thing to do was to award all the First, Second, and Third prize plaques that would have been given out under the rules, prior to the change they made at the event. In addition, they plan to send out certificates to all the participants in the Louisiana History category, to acknowledge their participation in Louisiana's Bicentennial year.

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

Kninekid66 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:24:44 -0000

This was the first year that my child was able to enter social studies projects. Just being able to come to State was a real treat. We were impressed with the size and number of projects entered. What a daunting task of making this happen. We had a hard time finding current information on 2012 contest rules at the state site. Most of what we found when we searched the internet was dated 2011 or older. Going in to this compatition, we were confused, terrified, and excited. I felt so sorry for the kids in the History catagory because there were so many of them. Three hours is a long time for the youngest to wait to be judged. Three hours/ four minutes with one judge for a year of work. The floor was packed with little room to move about. It would have been nice to have room for more than one judge to move through the projects.

Where do they get the judges from. I have helped judge regional science contest and I know how hard it is to get qualified judges in quanity. I do not have a problem with one person judging my childs project as long as I have a chance to know what their score is; their weakness and strengthes. The teachers in their classes back home do it all the time. If I have a problem with the score they get on something, I can meet with them and get clarity. The teachers give clear expectations at the start of a project and

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

captaindigital — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:08:50 -0000

That was a label on the box the kids used as a base for their diorama. I've no idea why they didn't cover it up. I'm not being critical of the winning project. They won. I'd just like to know why the organization changed the rules without letting the regions or the participants know in advance. From what I've been told, the oral presentation and judge's questions count for a lot of the score. I saw several entries that I thought were more visually striking, or had more interesting topics. I didn't have time to read the written part of any of the entries, so that could have been something really strong, too. My congratulations to those that one. I don't want ANYthing I say here to take away from their win. This is not sour grapes. It's a legitimate questioning of a poorly-run part of a worthwhile event.

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

politicalgrandma — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:07:24 -0000

Was the albacore tuna in water a part of the winning project? If so, why was it upside down? If not, why was it not covered up?

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

captaindigital — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:10:47 -0000

Beth,

Please feel free to share my posts any time you like. You can also do as I'm doing tonight, and email Carl Dermady (carl.dermady@jppss.k12.la.us - he's the supervisor of the event. Other than that, I don't know. If you find anybody else that you think can help, feel free to link to my blog post and/or get me their contact info. I'll be MORE than happy to expound - at length - on the subject.

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

Beth Barfoot Christian — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:02:34 -0000

Tell me who I can call, and I will express my opinion as well. I posted your blog to Facebook and on the State Social Studies Fair page. I hope you don't mind. I couldn't have written it better, so I just shared it. :-)

Beth Christian

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

Beth Barfoot Christian — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:54:17 -0000

http://lassfair.wetpaint.co...

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

captaindigital — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:34:51 -0000

I just got off the phone with a very nice lady at LSU-S, in their Dept. of Continuing Education, the group that oversees the regional competition. She was shocked to hear my report on the event, and promised to relay my experiences to those who can "take it up the food chain" and determine what happened, why it happened, and how to keep it from happening again.

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

captaindigital — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:57:18 -0000

Dr. Christian,

Thanks! I've already talked to my daughter's Social Studies teacher, and he was as incensed as I am. He's promised to give an earful to the teacher at Youree Drive that is in charge of the fair, and I've got a call in to LSU-S - the sponsor of the regional contest.

I've participated in a number of contests before - as a student, a teacher, and a parent. I can't remember one that was as poorly organized or executed as this one.

Brad

Re: Teen Teachable Moments in (Louisiana) History.

Beth Barfoot Christian — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:05:49 -0000

Thank you for writing this. I hope you are forwarding this to all the officials involved. I was dumbfounded by this terrible decision and then blown away by the lack of understanding or care shown by the officials. They should not have anything to do with this event in the future.

Dr. Elizabeth B. Christian, Louisiana Tech University

Re: When is Hate Speech Politically Correct?

captaindigital — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:22:37 -0000

Excellent point. The problem (as I see it) is, unless the story fits in with the media's worldview and/or advances their agenda, they're not interested. That's unacceptable.

Re: When is Hate Speech Politically Correct?

Audidodee — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:17:39 -0000

"New Black Panther Party get’s [sic] a bye ...for offering a $10,000 bounty for the capturing (dead
or alive) the guy who shot Trayvon Martin."

So where's the public outcry over the black nurse who gunned down a white woman and stole her baby? I don't see Spike Lee or Mike Tyson or anyone else who was so very vocal over what is possibly a self-defense killing also calling out for the head of this cold-blooded killer on a pole, demanding that the full force of the judicial system come down on her, or offering any support or encouragement for the victim's family. In fact, I don't think I've seen the differences in race even brought up in any of the news coverage of this, something that surely would have happened had the racial roles been reversed.

Re: Scattershootin’ Fridays…

Charles Wilber — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:11:18 -0000

When they hired Keith Current TV offered him part ownership in their network. This is undoubtedly what the suit is about. Probably just as unknown as Current TV is ALEC. Never heard of ALEC? Neither has anyone else except perhaps those conservatives who live in their own separate bubble. Since 1973, ALEC has promoted, with corporate cartel sponsorship, the conservative agenda on a state by state basis. They've worked quietly behind the scenes deceiving many corporations of their intentions. Only recently has their activities come to light prompting Pepsi and Coke to drop their contributions to this organization that they believed was benign. Wal-Mart, however, continues to support them. Ah...just another reason to boycott Wal-Mart.

Re: The Racists of the DMV.

captaindigital — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:51:45 -0000

I wrote to Coca-Cola, expressing my outrage that they would allow a Left-wing group, "Color of Change" to bully them into dropping their support for ALEC - an organization that supports both Voter ID laws and "Stand Your Ground" legislation. Within 24 hours of being targeted by Color of Change who ordered a boycott of Coke products, Coca-Cola dropped their membership in the organization as well as pulled their financial support.

I received a reply from a PR flack at Coke today. Here's what they said:

Thank you for contacting our Web site, Kozak. We appreciate your interest.

The Coca-Cola Company is a nonpartisan business organization and does not take positions on political matters unrelated to the beverage industry. Because public policy issues have the potential to impact our business, our Company uses its resources on occasion and in a balanced manner to advance matters of public policy that are consistent with the sustainability of our business and our Company’s values. The Company’s Board-approved policy on political contributions builds enhanced transparency into an already strong set of reporting practices. Both the policy and an annual report of our contributions are posted on our Company Web site.

As we only take positions on issues and public policies that are directly related to our Company and industry, we have not provided our support for, or opposition against Voter ID legislation in any forum, including through ALEC. Nevertheless, The Coca-Cola Company recognizes the importance of voting rights and actively encourages our U.S. employees to vote in elections.

We hope this information is helpful. If you have additional questions or comments, please feel free to contact us again.

Terrence G
Industry and Consumer Affairs
The Coca-Cola Company

Notice a couple of things. "Terrence" (who's apparently too craven to give his last name), did not address the ALEC membership nor their pulling financial support from the organization. His non-answer is a classic example of weaselly- corporate double-speak.

I'm gonna miss Coca-Cola.

Re: Do Vows Matter Anymore?

Brad Kozak — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:48:31 -0000

Nathan – under what portion of the constitution are you claiming that this act is unconstitutional? The ERA failed to win ratification by 2/3rds of the states, so there is no language in the document guaranteeing rights based on non-discrimination according to gender. And the ERA said nothing about "sexual orientation" – a convoluted, tortuous turn of phrase if ever there was one. A law is either Constitutional or it's not. The problem is that, in the last 50 years or so, the Progressives on the Supreme Court have taken an activist role, making law (which is NOT their job) where no law exists. I think it was Justice Hugo Black that talked about the big can o' worms the Supremes opened up when they declared abortion a 'right.' And see, that's the problem. The minute you start manufacturing 'rights' in the judicial branch, you have no oversight (laws come from the Legislative branch – not the judicial) and you have no way to stop the slide down that slippery slope. Is access to broadband internet a right? Free health care? What about a car? A college education? You see, once you get away from rights that were given to us by the Almighty (those "inalienable" rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), and start insisting that other things are "rights" the whole argument collapses. There is no "right" to get married. It is perfectly legal to have a majority of citizens decide that marriage can and should be limited to opposite sex couples. I see nothing wrong with that. I see nothing wrong with the state allowing civil unions, either, which puts me at odds with some Conservatives on the issue.

But this is not about if a law is right or wrong. This is about the way government works. Or how it used to work, before Obama got into office. The founders wisely divided the process of law between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches for a reason. That way, nobody could bully their way through and allow the government to become unresponsive to the will of the people. For better or worse, the majority in this country believes that marriage should be between a man and woman. To thwart that will is against the very heart and soul of the Constitution – a document conceived and designed to insure that the government works for us, not the other way around.

To have Obama simply and arbitrarily decide that it's okay not to enforce or defend a given law is an affront to the Constitution and to the oath he swore to defend and protect it. What if he decided a law protecting illegal search and seizures was worthy of being ignored? What if he suddenly decided that it was legal to throw people in jail for disagreeing with the government? There are laws against that. It's in the Constitution. But by your logic, if the law doesn't pass muster with some segment of the populace, it must be okay for the Chief Executive of the country to simply ignore it.

We are a nation of LAWS, not of MEN. No man, not even the President, is above the law. To allow the President to decide which laws to enforce puts one man - the President - above the law. And that just can't work.

Re: Do Vows Matter Anymore?

Nathan F. Drake — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:26:58 -0000

Late to read this, but it looks to me that too many people like to pick and chose what they like in the Constitution.

In this particular case, you are upset because a President refuses to execute a law that violates the spirit of the Constitution ("classifications based on sexual orientation” are a no-no), under the argument that such law was adopted by bodies that are supposed to operate under the rule of the Constitution.

So, who is at fault, people who adopted a law that violates the Constitution or a President who refuses to execute that law?

Re: </Washington>

Aida_Wedo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:35:54 -0000

Even the most sophisticated online meeting software can be hacked. I say we do the opposite with them. Put them all in the bunker room with no alcohol and just grade school cafeteria lunches until legislation gets passed. We won't see any filibustering then.

Re: About

Brad Kozak — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:00:29 -0000

Hmmm.

Not sure where THAT'S coming from. I'm an entrepreneur and a self-employed one at that, so promotion is a big part of my work. However, it's not who I am. It's just what I have to do to make a buck. I earn my daily bread at graphic design and animation, and in that business, networking is everything. I'm also a musician. Sadly, in Shreveport these days, it's impossible to earn a living at music without constantly promoting yourself. (When I lived here before, back in the 80s it was a LOT easier.)

When I'm not forced to bang my own drum, I like to read, write, and create. I find myself challenged a good bit (especially on Facebook), as so many of my friends are not people of faith. For some reason, too many people today think it's A-OK to mock Christians, although Muslims, atheists, agnostics, Wicans, and just about every other flavor of belief is a protected class. So I feel duty-bound to stick up for my religion.

People that get to know me find out (quickly, I hope) that I don't really have an ego.

People that don't know me well have told me they think I'm all about the ego.

Not sure how to take that. I'm just me. When I was young, I used to come home from school in tears. The other kids would tease and taunt me for being good at music and at art. My dad insisted that, as he put it "not hide my light under a bushel." So I haven't. Unfortunately, that comes off (to a lot of people, I guess) as if I have a big head, or think I'm special. But when you can do something, and it's easy to do (like music, art and writing are for me) you don't really see it as remarkable or special. It's just easy. So I don't make a big deal out of it, but I kind of don't understand sometimes why other people do.

I believe that all talent and ability comes from God. It's up to us to figure out what to do with that gift. I wish I could say I've figured it out. I haven't. But I have figured out one thing. It'd be fairly stupid and presumptuous of me to think that what I do has anything to do with ME, since God is the one who game me whatever gifts I've got.

So I'm not sure where you're coming from, but I thought I owed you at least that much of an explanation.

Thanks for writing.

Brad

Re: About

newdesigns — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:18:44 -0000

I saw your profile on Christian Mingle. I was impressed. But now after reading more about you on this website, I've decided you just like to advertise yourself. Advertise anything. My mother would have liked you. She owned a few newspapers along with my father. She was terribly liberal though.

Re: Do Vows Matter Anymore?

joey_kent — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:40:23 -0000

Rock on, O sage Captain Digital ! A fine missive to start my day. So good to see you last eve out among the hopeful and idle in the land that Shreve forgot. You look well. Keep up the musings.

Re: A Captive Audience.

Car DVD Players — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 04:03:27 -0000

Hollywood wonders why movie attendance is down. DVD rentals are too.

Re: Who gets Jeep?

rwanka — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 05:36:05 -0000

I couldn't believe that Chrysler is over, it's a great one, maybe it's weak now but it will come stronger later.

Re: Newsbabes.

Motorhomes — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:48:29 -0000

coool...

Re: I’m still here. Um…there.

taniascarafile — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:38:19 -0000

Kudos to you for helping your dad. It's important for us to take care of our families and it's nice to see someone putting their loved ones before themselves.

Re: About

paul1827 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:14:06 -0000

Nice site, Brad. I see you have acquired an impressive self-deprecating sense of humor, which I find a big plus. Gotta go now and pay my 'wife taxes'...take care.
Paul Evans