WELL SAID LYNN VAN DER WAGEN

The following opinion piece was in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning. It's absolutely spot on. We are creating a generation of ignoramuses whohave no knowledge of who we (meaning western civilisation) are, where we came from or why we have what we have. Thanks to our new curricula they will also have no idea of how to express any of the ideas that they have never heard of. In 20years time they will want to make that imbecile Kyle Sandilands the PM, maybe sooner since we seem to be well on the way.

"TODAY'S teenagers are shaped by a multitude of weighty issues - high levels of teenage obesity, a heavy binge drinking culture and a social media landscape with hefty consequences.

 But pause for a moment and consider the corresponding gargantuan rise in the younger generation's confidence in the value of their opinions. The sheer weight of their viewpoints is growing exponentially as parents and teachers alike are counselled to hold a young person's opinion in the highest regard.

 Current thinking in educational circles focuses on students' independence and empowering unwavering self-belief. Our educational approach favours individual participation over instruction.

As a teacher with more than 20 years' experience it is increasingly painful to read and listen to opinion in the absence of background knowledge, research or experience - ''no offence'', teenagers.

Past generations paid due regard to the expertise of the teacher and gained intellectual exercise by reading and (gasp) memorising important information. No wonder today's students find university such a challenge, coming from a school system where the mathematics curriculum includes estimation and the English curriculum covers social media.

Having recently spent time teaching students in China, I can't help but draw stark comparisons to my local teaching experience. Students there expect that they will be given a tonne of information and will be assigned extensive homework involving engagement with the instructional material. Invitations to express opinions are met with puzzlement. Rather, they expect and welcome direction.

 In contrast, our students launch into impassioned and complex negotiation the moment there is a hint of work to be done (a technique all too familiar to any parent attempting to institute household chores).

 When the work comes in (often late) it is littered with sentences starting with ''I think'' - an amusing oxymoron. Little reference is made to any research other than nominal efforts to cut and paste from Wikipedia.

 Anyone visiting the supermarket will notice that the fine art of putting one's view across is honed at a very early age - often encouraged in children too young to talk but old enough to point.

 Having now taught through generations X, Y and Z, the labelling of the next generation is clear. Generation I - the first, foremost, the centre of attention.

 I think I'd better retire before I face the gargantuan task of teaching this next generation of overconfident individuals. Their weighty opinions are too much to bear and I've exercised all my patience."

 Lynn Van Der Wagen   Sydney Morning Herald 27/6/12

A member of my family has joined the LIBS

A member of my family has joined the Liberals. I can't say that I blame hime. If I were young and idealisitic again I'd hardly be rushing to join up with Craig Thomson, Bill Shorten and bloody Julia. And we have not yet heard the end of the Eddie Obeid saga that will drag on well beyond the next NSW elections.
The Craig Thomson business is becoming very troubling. He's a pretty creepy sort of person by all appearances but the pursuit of him is starting to have echoes of Nick Sherry 20 years ago, An unfair comparison (to Senator Sherry) perhaps. But for the past couple of months I've had the thought that this blokle is going to crack and when he does he might just hurt himself. We don't have the death penalty here for being a creep.
The sleaze factor appeals to the press and the mad monk and his evil cronies are feeding it like crazy at every opportunity. It cuts both ways too with so far unsuccessful attempts to smear the odious little twerp Christopher Pyne and (from within the Libs) Bill Heffernan. I just wonder what sort of impression it gives young people aboput politics.
On the Heffernan story there's more to that little can of central coast worms to come out and Chris (Darth Vader) Hartcher is in it up to his eyes.
It's all just so unedifying. 

Julia's got to GO

I say nothing for months and then two blogs in quick succession. She just has got to go. I thought it was instructive that at her " a line has been crossed" press conference she was alone. Not a minder in sight. Not a marginal seat candidate over each shoulder nodding agreement. Not even little Bill standing behind her looking authoritative and in control. They've clearly decided that it is all going to be her fault.
How they ever ijmagined that they were going to get away with suppporting Craig Thompson defies explaination. Same goes for Slipper.
It's all of their faults of course. And we are going to get Tony Abbot and that will be their fault too.
The best hope now to minimise the loss and build for a return to sensible Government some time in the forseeable future is to put Kevin back.
There's a dog whistle type attempt to smear Christopher Pyne over his asking for the phone number of Slipper's openly gay staffer who later made the famous allegations. Pyne is not to put it too finely an odious little twerp, but who he asks for their phone number (providing that they are consenting adults) is not any of anyone's business.
Astonishingly, Kristina "Hairspray" Kenealy seems to be making a claim to be resurrected by the media. Perhaps she dreams of jumping in to Peter Garret's seat at the nexy election and then emerging to save the day. I don't know why we don't just make Joe Tripodi PM and have done with it.

Hold your nose and vote for Kevin.

How hard can it be ? (As the awful Jeremy Clarkson would say.) The Labor party has been  in poll free-fall since they dumped Kevin Rudd and every twist and turn that the conspirators have tried since has just accelerated the decline.
They had a leader who was relatively popular (with the voters that is, remeber them?) He managed despite some personal eccentricities to deliver a long overdue apology to the Aboriginal people and to shepherd our economy through the GFC leaving us in the strongest possible position with an economy and living standard that is well ahead of just about everywhere else on the planet. Norway may be doing better but who wants to live there?
So Rudd had some leadership faults, was a bit of a control freak and lost the plot and listened to bad advice when the climate change summit turned out to be a waste of time. The peope who gave him the bad advice had their own agendas. He's no doubt learned from it. Maybe he'll be a better leader the second time around. Menzies and Howard most certainly were. He could hardly be worse than what we have now.
They should bring him back and bring him back now. He'll have a few scores to settle. Good. There needs to be some major blood letting. It will be like Octavian dealing with Brutus and Cassius et al. Not pretty but all good fun.
After the bloodshed and with the budget in surplus there will be an election. He might or might not win but he won't lose like Julia is going to lose. If they stick with their present game plan they will probably not see the Speakers right profile again for a very long time.

Queensland election

Yes he is a short person. It's a cliche but sometimes, as they say, a good cliche really hits the nail on the head. So Queensland now has a complete dickhead for a Premier. It won't be all that unfamiliar will it? When he was mayor of Brisbane one of his more startling achievements was to take the lovely green and shady town hall square and turn it into a hot box of dazzling white paving with not a tree in sight. This is the sort of development we can presumably see for the rest of Queensland with can-do campbell. No capitals intended. The size of his majority means that until the next election he's going to think that he can do ANYTHING and he's unfortunately probably correct.
I think the size of his win also reflects an unprecedented volatility in the electorate, particularly among the old  Labor vote. They see an ALP without true believers and why would anyone vote for that. The trade union base disappearing is only a part of it and it isn't to do with the end of the cold war either. Labor was never about what we were against, it was about what we were for. Now it appears that we have neither.
Oh for a leader with convictions and opinions (of their own, not as derived from focus groups).

Bob Carr for PM

No I don't think it's going to happen. But doesn't the Fairfax press want it to! Last weekend the papers were as good as they will ever get. Full of praise for a political leader who can actually speak in complete sentences and in fact can string together several at a time. More than several in fact. I hear Bob talking to that inner city trendoid Richard Glover last week and he went on at such length and with such erudition that he put me in mind of the great Gough.
The Spectator had a good cartoon showing Bob in yankee civil war uniform taking careful aim and shoting himself through the foot. A reference to the misjudged comment about political instability in New Guinea. Bob's response to that was to say "yes, that was a mistake". Now why didn't some genius suggest that turn of phrase to Gillard or Abbott?
He's very fit, more qualified for the job than anyone in the caucus and demonstrably electable over Abbott but the haters in the caucus won't let it happen. Nothing is going to stop little Bill.

I'm back

Hi folks,
Or to be more accurate is anybody out there?
I'm back to blogging after a long absence due to having better things to do. I have been reabilitated after my illness and am back trying to be a school Principal again, now at Terrigal Public School. In the great game of educarion snakes and ladders I have finally landed on the BIG LADDER and in very timely fashion too.
Terrigal is a beautiful spot and everyone in the school from the smallest child to the grumpiest old bloke on the staff  (guess who) know it and feel good to be here every day. So far I've only missed about two morning coffees at the surf club and this morning I even got a second one for free.