General Music Chat

Thanks John. I read some posts over and over again and I still can't figure out what they're saying. I kind of have the gist of some of them. The english language sometimes gets butchered. It's a shame. It's actually a wonderful language. Are they teaching it in school any more? Makes me wonder ....

Oh Man , stop , your killin me..I have weak bladder and a BIG prostate..

I know what ya mean, Im still "tryin" assertain the jist of this post...

John

I thought it was only me, that maybe I was too stupid to get it...but metaphorically speaking, it makes about as much sense as...well...nothing really comes to mind, does it? It's indescribably muddlish, nonsensickle flooberotomy of the most ludicrous sort.

I think Enkrich is indeed a lost art. But maybe I was trying to take it all too literally, instead of liberally. Perhaps the Enkrish teachers these days are a bit liberal in what they teach, if this lack of understandability is the result of modern schooling.

It's a sorry state of affairs, educationally speaking. I'm going to quaff a few as I deliberate on it, & make a toast to my teachers who helped me to be more clear.

It's a shame. It's actually a wonderful language. Are they teaching it in school any more? Makes me wonder ....

They're supposed to, but I think they're too worried about what the kids are wearing to bother actually teaching them anything...

This has been one of my favorite pet peeves for a long time. As a kid, my favorite books were the encyclopedia and dictionary, I never, ever missed a word on a spelling test, everyone I meet seems to automatically ask me how to spell, even if they just met me 10 minutes ago. Don't ask me why, they just do.

But that was only half the teachers' doing, it was half mine also. My parents also would never tell me what a word meant, they would tell me to look it up instead. The combination gave me an extensive vocabulary.

Now, many years later I really wonder about the teachers. I've always thought they were very underpaid, the people responsible for educating our kids should be the highest paid employees anywhere, period. But that would also imply that they actually do their jobs...I realize the educational system in the US absolutely sucks, I knew that when I was a kid keeping myself at least 2 years ahead of the class, staying in trouble because I never paid attention in class as a result.

However...now, I see kids going to school every day, eating up our tax dollars, and when they come home, I ask my neice's kids if I can borrow a little flour and the answer is "We ain't got none"...HUH??? Ask a neighborhood kid if his or her mother is home, "Naw, she done left." It drives me up the wall..."I ain't done it"..."Aw it don't matter noway"..."He done fell down"..."It ain't fer, just up the road yonner"...

Then I get online and I see this is not only a local problem. 90% of the people I see online on forums such as this and many websites, have no firm grasp of English or grammar. Or spelling. Many spell grammar g-r-a-m-m-e-r...the most common one I think is the use of the word "then" when it should be "than". My guitar is better then yours. WRONG...that should be THAN. What were you people doing in school? Eating paint off the windowsills?

But what were the teachers doing? If the students have no better grasp of the English language than that (correct usage there, pay attention) then how the hell did they graduate high school? Our schools are churning out illiterates by the million...

Then I go to drop off the neice's kids at school one morning, the same teacher that lets them go home butchering the english language like that stops a boy and girl, both around age 8 or 9, and makes them unbutton pants/skirt and tuck in their shirts IN THE DRIVEWAY...didn't let them go to the bathroom, made them do it right outside in the driveway while everybody watched...if one had been my great-neice I would have been in the office pronto...with a good mad on...

I'm already steamed about that though, the schoolboard fought the local parents and enforced a dress code nobody but the school board wanted, all the kids have to wear uniforms now so they look like little clones of each other, but they leave school still talking like Opey from Mayberry RFD...and worse...

Then there's the other side, what the teachers have to deal with...they have no means of discipline any more, kids can do just about anything they want in class, teachers can't touch them any more. Send them to the office to be suspended, that's it. Their parents either won't do anything about it or can't, the kids figure it out by about the 4th grade and you have a room full of little monsters to deal with, who all need their little butts blistered now and then and will never get it. By high school they're carrying guns to school...and the idiots in the government and courts for some reason don't realize that taking away the parents' and teachers' ability to administer any discipline at all DOES NOT improve the situation. Kids can now sue their parents for child abuse over a plain old fashioned and much needed spanking...Teachers can't touch a kid at all. Period. They'll get sued right back to the stone age...

It's a two edged sword, the kids don't want to learn, the teachers have very little incentive to make sure they do, it's easier to pass the illiterate little monsters up to the next grade and get them out of your hair than it is to try and actually make sure they LEARN what you teach, on your nearly minimum wage salary you can't even think about surviving on...Why should you bother to try if it doesn't make you a living? Why should the kids learn if they can do anything they want to and not get in trouble, while ignoring their lessons? Nobody makes them learn, nobody seems to care, nobody makes them stay in the same grade 4 years until they do learn it...

See it for yourself. Check up on your history, some spelling, maybe a few medium level math problems and stop random high school kids and see what answers you get to questions you've already researched. How many even know what city is capitol of your state? Try it and see...the level of education -or lack of it - I see coming out of our high schools is deplorable...

Pete, I wish I still had that second grade spelling test from 1908. You'd have loved it. Most people I know would fail it.

When my son was in school they seemed to be all too eager to get kids on Ritallin if they failed to pay attention in class. They were more concerned about that than they were about the child's overall education. It never occured to the teacher that a child might need a bit of prompting to retain attention. Of course, any form of discipline was out of the question. If your child has a problem like this, you should get the "necessary" drugs for your child immediately, so that he/she can fit in like a good little robot.

If a child has a problem reading out loud in class, they don't check to see if he/she can actually read & comprehend the material. They naturally assume that the child needs remedial classes to catch up with the class. They don't bother to find the source of the problem. In many cases, the child involved is simply a bit embarassed to read out loud in front of his peers.

Oh! That means there are "self esteem" issues. Well, we'll send him/her to "guidance class" where they "learn" that everyone has equal value, no matter what kind of horrible person they are. Gee, that has to help, doesn't it?

And while we're at it, we'll use the guidance class to teach the kids that drugs are bad & they should turn in thier parents if they see drugs in the house, just to help them, you understand.

When my son had guidance class, I sent a note to the teacher asking what it was all about. The letter I got in return had the most beautiful penmanship, but was nearly indecipherable in content, because the teacher had very little grasp of the English language. The gist of it all was that the class was required by the state, that there were many special speakers like McGruff, the "take a bite out of crime" dog, & the local police & firemen, & that the rest of the time in this class was used to boost the students' self esteem.

How do you "teach" self esteem to each student in a class of 30-odd people? Why is this more important than other subjects like Geography, which is no longer even taught?

This "class" still exists in our schools. It is required by the state in order to get funding from the federal government. It lasts, in my state, 45 minutes, & is held twice a week.

Our system is all too caught up in the student's feelings & in the quick fix, resulting in most of our children missing out on real education. Meanwhile, they've placed children with real "special needs" in with the rest of the student population, in spite of how much they may disrupt the classes.

And we wonder why our students can't compete with other countries' in the areas of science & mathematics, let alone our own language!

I suppose that it would seem too cruel to tell a student that they have a problem with thier spelling or math. It is oh so much better for them to just move on to the next grade. Holding them back would seriously undermine thier precious self esteem. Who really needs to know how to spell these days, anyway. We have a whole new way of spelling as we text each other on our cell phones.

Perhaps we need to teach that. I sure could use a course on how to undrestand that crap.

Wow, I didn't mean to open up a HUGE can of worms, but I guess a lot of people are very concerned with the state of "learning" in our schools. Let's talk about attention deficit syndrome. Some little kid can't pay attention so the medical industry has created a new disease called A.D.D. Since teachers can't "cure" the disease without drugs (i.e. a solid whack on the buttocks) they have to prescribe drugs. There's nothing better for the pharmaceutical companies than having very young people hooked on drugs. The invention of the disease A.D.D. and other similar newly "discovered" diseases will guarantee that virtually every person in this country will be hooked on some drug. Eventually with the advent of genetic engineering and cloning human beings will ultimately depend on drug companies for their very survival. All of this insanity could be "cured" with a good swift kick in the behind. I guarantee that little Johnny or Suzy will pay attention to me IMMEDIATELY if I give them a whack on their hind quarters. They WILL NOT NEED drugs. They WILL pay attention. Therefore I have found a miracle "cure" for A.D.D. When little Johnny or Suzy is sitting quietly and attentatively paying attention to me I can then teach them the english language. They WILL learn proper grammar. They WILL learn proper punctuation. They WILL learn how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, etc. I understand the drug companies stand to lose billions of dollars of sales. (If people regularly took garlic pills the drug companies would lose billions of dollars in cold medication sales). Also it would be hoped that when this new "cure" for A.D.D. is discovered, parents will be allowed to prescribe the "cure" at home when needed. No longer will the courts have to get involved with parents who administer the"cure." We need to look back in history when our school system worked wonders with children in this country. The Americans who fought in World War II have been called the greatest generation. Children in the 1920's $ 1930's were taught in a very disciplined educational environment. Maybe we need to revert back to those days, utilizing that same style of discipline and getting back to basic fundamental education. The way we're doing it now is INSANE. Later...

I just figured it was years playing music 5. Years in America speaking enkrik 1/2. Thought another country not the great state of our education system.
Pleaase don't take this literally.

You've missed the big picture on ADHD completely Bob. The Federal Gov. pays the school district "extra" cash for every child they have with this DX. They teach the teachers how to "spot" this supposed disease process in order to increase income. The school is to spend that "extra" cash for classes and teachers just for these children. They do not, they put it in the pocket of the elected members of the school board. It is greed and corruption at the local and state level that fans the flames. That kick in the behind would help the kids. The bullet to the brain belongs to the local and state level polaticians.

I do believe that there is such a thing as ADHD & ADD, & I believe that Ritallin, in minimal doses, can offset its symptoms to a large degree.

When it was 1st "discovered" back in the '20's, it was called "Minimal Brain Dysfunction" or "Syndrome," depending on where you look. This term was used up through the '60's before they gave it the newer, friendlier name. It is a neurological "ailment" that may be constantly distracting for those who have it, but is also a bit of a blessing in the areas of creativity & problem-solving. When treated with proper care, i.e. teaching the child how to think through the distractions, & how to organize & to cope with all the other effects of the syndrome, even the emotional ones, while allowing the afflicted person to use the benefits of it to the maximum, it can indeed be called a blessing. It takes a lot of time & dedication to reteach someone how to think, how to behave, & how to keep temporally & spacially organized. It's far easier to simply medicate the problem & reduce its effects. Unfortunately, when you do that, you also reduce the good effects as well, the problem-solving & creative parts.

Having said that, I also believe that it is a fad disease of our era, & that way too many children are diagnosed with it, & medicated for it.

Ritallin, in small doses, will actually help just about anyone concentrate better, as will most of the other drugs that are used to treat this condition.

The great majority of kids diagnosed with ADHD & ADD are children that are the victims of poor parenting, poor curriculum, boring teachers, & over-eager guidance counsellors, psychiatrists & psychologists.

The biggest mistake we ever made in the area of education in this country was to turn it over to these witch doctors. It has resulted in non-education with an emphasis on feeling good & watching ppl for child abuse (by thier definition) rather than education in any form.

And yes, sans, school boards do get extra funding for each child diagnoseed, & there are innumerable abuses of the system due to teachers & guidance counsellors being told what to watch out for, even though they have no training in the areas of mental health. I found that they were often too eager to jump to these erroneous conclusions about many children I know personally, yet only in one or two cases were the kids able to dodge the drugs, due to equally over-eager mental health "professionals."

I wonder what would happen if, 40 years down the road, the drug-addled minds of these poor misdiagnosed kids turned them all into serial killers & sex maniacs. Eh, they'd just be drugged with something else, wouldn't they?

I've had four children through the public school system. You already know what I do for a living. Before I was a nurse or had done any research, my eldist was Dx ADD, we tried diet then dope, She got pissed because her teacher had labled her, she refused to take the drugs at the third grade, Made A's, graduated with honors. And now she works the ICU as an RN. The schools tried this trip with all my kids, I guess that means I am a poor father. On one occasion I told the school to keep the socalist away from my kids, Teach them to read write and do math, and I would do the rest. So far so good. I could probably afford to send my kids to a private school, but not all education in this life is in class. At that point. The school does do a fair job, as long as parents give them something to work with.

Back to the Topic: Everyone wants to sing in this country.
I don't, I want to sing in the Bahamas!

Sans, both my son & myself have been accused of having this disease. I think it may be quite possible that I/we/he have/has it. But then I said, wtf, if it is indeed a real thing, then ppl have no doubt had it for centuries without the modern treatments, & many have undoubtedly done quite well in thier lives, so why not us?

That is why I refused treatment for us both, & we seem to be doing pretty okay, by my standards.

It's good to see I'm not the only one, man.

Screw the system!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note, my wife of 25 years has been diagnosed with chronic depression, I guess. She's been put on a few of those new anti-depressant thingies, & has turned into a different person over the last few years. I cannot get her off these things, & will no doubt be heading for divorce very soon as I have zero control over her unhealthy decision to stay on the damned things.

Her entire personality has changed over the last 8 years. It was immediately apparent even back then that this wasn't the answer to her problems as soon as she started taking them, & I begged her to get the hell off of them. She won't of course. She has had her prescriptions changed at least twice, but nothing has ever gotten better, & in fact has gotten worse. I would seriously love to shoot the damned doctor that prescribed them in the 1st place.

Damn Philby...I hate to hear that, sounds like it really sucks a lot. I know the scenario though, I've seen it before too but not so up close and personal. And no, you can't talk to them. Same as alcoholics and junkies they won't listen and trying to help is useless until they want help, which is usually at the point it's serious and getting off the drugs means withdrawals that can be deadly.

Way too many people are taking prescription drugs that benefit nobody but the pharmaceutical companies that sell them. I think more drug addicts in this country are there by prescription than by street drugs. And of course the government wouldn't dare call the average housewife a drug addict...Personality changes have been a long known side effect, that was a problem with Valium and Darvon in the 60's. Sure Valium calms mom down...she's also been a zombie for the past 3 years...

I also think plenty kids are put on drugs when considered "hyperactive" when they should actually be taken OFF the sugar...pop tarts or pre-sweetened cereal for breakfast if any at all, junk food all day, cokes all day, Mcdonald's or meal in a box for dinner, or the ever present macaroni & cheese, cookies to shut them up...and you have perpetual sugar high. No wonder the kid's hyperactive. Take most kids today off sugar and I bet they go into withdrawals...

Education...the current educational system is missing one important ingredient that my 5th grade principal Mr Tarver had and it cost almost nothing. He called it the board of education, and it was applied to the seat of knowledge. A 1x 4 paddle about 14" long with 1/8" holes drilled in a 1" grid from end to end, and a handle probably made with a jig saw. One application did wonders for a kid's attention span...The kid who pushed me around all year was finally introduced, after he started a fight with me - or more appropriately when I finally decided I'd had enough and pushed back...he never even looked at me again...but I did make sure he started it...I just finished what he started...the shiner went away in a few days...the lesson didn't.

Oh yes my wise and beloved father kicked my ass daily. And loved and taught me right from wrong. Did I listen uh no. Had to learn the hard way.
If he werent 80 he'd probably still be kickin my butt

Be very carefull when dealing with antideressants as they alter the receptors or seratonin in the brain. To change or stop runs a HUGE risk of suicide! Be afraid, Be very afraid! I say this with all the love God has given me as a man and a nurse.

roger that..

Another one to watch out for is PAXIL.

My buddy just blew his own head off after he went 48 hours with no Paxil.

(If I find out who his dr. is, he might be walking with a limp if at all)