New Arizona School Curriculum

State Lawmaker Wants Public Schools to Offer Bible based curriculum: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

In place of the now infamous and eliminated Tucson Unified School Board District (TUSD) Mexican American Studies program (MAS), Arizona lawmakers wish to start a Biblically inspired curriculum through the means of Arizona House Bill 2563 which was introduced into the Arizona assembly this month by Rep. Terri Proud. The goal of the new curriculum is to inculcate Latino students with Judeo-Christian values and normative Greco-Roman western culture in order to combat the subversive, communist, atheistic, un-American views of Howard Zinn, Paulo Freire and many other Latino authors as well as Native American teachings   and feminist writings such as Feminism is for Everybody (2000), by B. Hooks which were present in the former MAS program.  The new curriculum will be in place as of June 30, 2013 if the bill is passed. Here is the pertinent section (15-717.01) of the bill:

35 A. THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION SHALL PRESCRIBE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A

36 COURSE DESIGNATED AS "THE BIBLE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON WESTERN CULTURE" FOR

37 PUPILS IN GRADES NINE THROUGH TWELVE THAT ENABLES PUPILS TO EARN CREDIT

38 TOWARD A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA. THE COURSE REQUIREMENTS PRESCRIBED BY THE

39 STATE BOARD SHALL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

40 1. THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ERA.

41 2. THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ERA.

42 3. A COMBINATION OF THE SUBJECTS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPHS 1 AND 2 OF

43 THIS SUBSECTION.

44 B. A COURSE OFFERED UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL BE DESIGNED TO:

12 -

1 1. FAMILIARIZE PUPILS WITH THE CONTENTS, CHARACTERS, POETRY AND

2 NARRATIVES THAT ARE PREREQUISITES TO UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY AND CULTURE,

3 INCLUDING LITERATURE, ART, MUSIC, MORES, ORATORY AND PUBLIC POLICY.

4 2. FAMILIARIZE PUPILS WITH THE FOLLOWING:

5 (a) THE CONTENTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT.

6 (b) THE HISTORY RECORDED BY THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT.

7 (c) THE LITERARY STYLE AND STRUCTURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW

8 TESTAMENT.

9 (d) THE INFLUENCE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT ON LAWS,

10 HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, LITERATURE, ART, MUSIC, CUSTOMS, MORALS, VALUES AND

11 CULTURE.

12 C. A SCHOOL OR CHARTER SCHOOL MAY OFFER THE COURSE PRESCRIBED IN THIS

13 SECTION AS AN ELECTIVE COURSE. A SCHOOL MAY OFFER THIS COURSE AS AN ONLINE

14 COURSE.

15 D. A PUPIL SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO USE A SPECIFIC TRANSLATION AS THE

16 SOLE TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT OR THE NEW TESTAMENT AND MAY USE AS THE BASIC

17 TEXTBOOK A DIFFERENT TRANSLATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT OR THE NEW TESTAMENT

18 FROM THAT CHOSEN BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD, THE CHARTER SCHOOL

19 GOVERNING BODY OR THE PUPIL'S TEACHER.

20 E. A COURSE OFFERED UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL FOLLOW APPLICABLE LAW AND

21 ALL FEDERAL AND STATE GUIDELINES IN MAINTAINING RELIGIOUS NEUTRALITY AND

21 ALL FEDERAL AND STATE GUIDELINES IN MAINTAINING RELIGIOUS NEUTRALITY AND

22 ACCOMMODATING THE DIVERSE RELIGIOUS VIEWS, TRADITIONS AND PERSPECTIVES OF

23 PUPILS. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION IS INTENDED TO VIOLATE ANY PROVISION OF THE

24 UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, THE CONSTITUTION OF ARIZONA OR STATE LAW OR ANY

25 RULES, GUIDELINES OR REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF

26 EDUCATION, THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OR THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF

27 EDUCATION.

28 F. BEFORE ADOPTING RULES IDENTIFYING THE STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR A

29 COURSE OFFERED UNDER THIS SECTION, THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION SHALL SUBMIT

30 THE PROPOSED STATE REQUIREMENTS TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. THE ATTORNEY

31 GENERAL SHALL REVIEW THE PROPOSED STATE REQUIREMENTS TO ENSURE THAT THE

32 COURSE COMPLIES WITH THE FIRST AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.

33 THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MAY NOT ADOPT RULES IDENTIFYING THE STATE

34 REQUIREMENTS FOR A COURSE OFFERED UNDER THIS SECTION WITHOUT THE ATTORNEY

35 GENERAL'S APPROVAL PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION.

36 G. A TEACHER OF A COURSE OFFERED BY A SCHOOL UNDER THIS SECTION WHO

37 PROVIDES INSTRUCTION TO PUPILS IN LANGUAGE ARTS, SOCIAL STUDIES OR HISTORY,

38 IF PRACTICAL, SHALL HAVE COMPLETED POSTSECONDARY COURSES IN RELIGION OR

39 BIBLICAL STUDIES. A TEACHER SELECTED TO TEACH A COURSE OFFERED BY A SCHOOL

40 UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE STAFF DEVELOPMENT TRAINING AS

41 SPECIFIED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. PERSONNEL SHALL NOT BE ASSIGNED

42 TO TEACH THE COURSE BASED ON ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

43 1. A RELIGIOUS TEST.

44 2. A PROFESSION OF FAITH OR LACK OF FAITH.

 1 3. PRIOR OR CURRENT RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION OR A LACK OF RELIGIOUS

2 AFFILIATION

ALA cc by nc - sa 2.0 lic.

  The shelves in Tucson school libraries are getting empty with the removal of over 81 banned books and according to some sources the teachers were forced to box these books in front of the students in order to reinforce the message. Notice that "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare which deals with themes of oppression and race is on the list below of Arizona banned books so the state has out done the Roman Catholic church which never put any of Shakespeare's works on its Index Librorum Prohibitorum or list of prohibited books that dates back to the sixteenth century and represents the apex of closed minds. Here is the most current list although more books have been added since this was compiled last year:

List of 81 Banned Books by Course and in alphabetical order *

·         *From http://www.scribd.com/doc/58025928/TUSD-ethnic-studies-audit

American Government/Social Justice Education Project - Texts and Reading Lists

• Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (2001), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic
• Declarations of Independence: Cross-Examining American Ideology (1990), by H. Zinn
• Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales
• Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000), by P. Freire
• Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson
• The Latino Condition: A Critical Reader (1998), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic
• United States Government: Democracy in Action (2007), by R. C. Remy

 American History/Mexican American Perspectives - Texts and Reading Lists

• 500 Anos Del Pueblo Chicano/500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures (1990), by E. S. Martinez
• A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (2003), by H. Zinn
• Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming Human (1998), by R. Rodriguez
• De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views Multi-Colored Century (1998), by E. S. Martinez
• Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales
• Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A. Burciaga
• Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (1997), by C. Jiminez
• Occupied America: A History of Chicanos (2004), by R. Acuna
• Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson
• The American Vision (2008), by J. Appleby et el.
• The Anaya Reader (1995), by R. Anaya
• The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez

English/Latino Literature

• A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (1993), by R. Takaki
• At the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria (1965), by E. Guevara
• Color Lines: "Does Anti-War Have to Be Anti-Racist Too?" (2003), by E. Martinez
• Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy (1998), by R. Montoya et al.
• Drown (1997), by J. Diaz
• Let Their Spirits Dance (2003) by S. Pope Duarte
• Loverboys (2008), by A. Castillo
• Mexican WhiteBoy (2008), by M. de la Pena
• Ten Little Indians (2004), by S. Alexie
• The Devil's
• The Fire Next Time (1990), by J. Baldwin
• The Tempest (1994), by W. Shakespeare
• Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz (1997), by M. Ruiz
• Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros
• Woodcuts of Women (2000), by D. Gilb

English/Latino Literature(Advanced)

• ...y no se lo trago la tierra/And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1995), by T. Rivera
• A Place to Stand (2002), by J. S. Baca
• Address to the Commonwealth Club of California (1985), by C. E. Chavez
• Always Running - La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. (2005), by L. Rodriguez
• Black Mesa Poems (1989), by J. S. Baca
• Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1999), by G. Anzaldua
• By the Lake of Sleeping Children (1996), by L. A. Urrea
• Cantos Al Sexto Sol: An Anthology of Aztlanahuac Writing (2003), by C. Garcia-Camarilo, et al.
• Civil Disobedience (1993), by H. D. Thoreau
• Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States (1995), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos
• Crisis in American Institutions (2006), by S. H. Skolnick & E. Currie
• C-Train and Thirteen Mexicans (2002), by J. S. Baca
• Curandera (1993), by Carmen Tafolla
• Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A Burciaga
• Drown (1997), by J. Diaz
• Feminism is for Everybody (2000), by b hooks
• Healing Earthquakes: Poems (2001), by J. S. Baca
• House on Mango Street (1991), by S. Cisneros
• Immigrants in Our Own Land and Selected Early Poems (1990), by J. S. Baca
• Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature (1993), by T. D. Rebolledo & E. S. Rivero
• Justice: A Question of Race (1997), by R. Rodriguez
• La Llorona: Our Lady of Deformities (2000), by R. Garcia
• Like Water for Chocolate (1995), by L. Esquievel
• Live from Death Row (1996), by J. Abu-Jamal
• Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941 (1986), by T. Sheridan
• Martin & Mediations on the South Valley (1987), by J. S. Baca
• Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (2001), by Rudolfo "Corky" Gonzales
• Mexican American Literature (1990), by C. M. Tatum
• New Chicana/Chicano Writing (1993), by C. M. Tatum
• Nobody's Son: Notes from an American Life (2002), by L. A. Urrea
• Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert (1995), by O. Zepeda
• Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States (2005), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos
• Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (1991), by J. Kozol
• Saving Our Schools: The Case for Public Education, Saying No to "No Child Left Behind" (2004) by Goodman, et al.
• So Far From God (1993), by A. Castillo
• Suffer Smoke (2001), by E. Diaz Bjorkquist
• The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (1999), by F. Jimenez
• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven (1994), by S. Alexie
• The Magic of Blood (1994), by D. Gilb
• The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools (19950, by D. C. Berliner and B. J. Biddle
• The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez
• When Living was a Labor Camp (2000), by D. Garcia
• Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros
• Zapata's Discipline: Essays (1998), by M. Espada
• Zigzagger (2003), by M. Munoz
• Zoot Suit and Other Plays (1992), by L. Valdez
• Zorro (2005), by I. Allende

New Additions (to be added)

“I suspect that TUSD is using many books which were never legally approved, in many different courses, and we have to track those books down and either remove them or go through proper curriculum approvals. Staff has already begun that search process.” – TUSD board president Mark Stegeman. (From the Tucson Citizen news, Jan. 19, 2012)

by GOOD.

<a href="http://tiny99.com/688246">Source</a>
 

Luiza Esta No Canada

"Luíza não está mais no Canadá e voltou ao Brasil fazendo sucesso. Tudo começou com um comercial de TV, estrelado pelo pai dela, que é colunista social. Foi o suficiente para a filha cair na rede e virar destaque nos buscadores de notícias."

Luiza Rabello was an au pair in Barrie, Ontario when her father, Gerardo Rabello said “except Luiza, who is in Canada” during the production of a commercial selling condos in the Brazilian north-eastern state of Paraiba in which he, his wife and two of his three children were present. He wanted to explain the absence of his 17 year old daughter in the video. The remark became a cultural meme in Brazil in less than two days and spawned a musical parody, a  Hitler parody and an interview of Luiza by a national TV network as well as a website, a face book page and many tweets.

As you can see from the Google trends graph below, this is a transitory meme which never expanded beyond Brazil and ended within four days.

Compare this with a sustained meme like Duck Face which is an English translation of the Japanese word "Ahiru-guchi" and originated as a Japanese meme for a facial expression which women in Japan use to attract men. The Google trends graph below tells the tale.

This Japanese meme post is still in the top five posts which I've done on this blog. Why do some memes die out quickly while others transcend their cultural and linquistic boundaries to become part of the global cultural environment? Is it the size of the population, the number of International speakers of the language or the global awareness of the country's cultural interests? Brazil should have the advantage over Japan in all these areas. Brazil has 192 million people to Japan's 127 million people. More folks speak Portugese than Japanese. Does the global community consider Latin America to be a cultural backwater and doesn't pay attention to events in this part of the world?

Memes do seem to have a threshold level beyond which they are self sustaining and are maintained within the specific culture even if they aren't global. For example:

Take the Russian acronym, ОБС (short for Одна Баба Сказала), in translation “A foolish girl said” for an expression implying the spread of rumors by mouth or the press.  This is a local meme which has never travelled beyond its origin.

How memes replicate and propagate in the Internet age is something which I haven't explored but might be applicable to several threads that I've explored lately in comments on other blogs.

Ice Fishing

A Short Film About Ice Fishing from Jason Shahinfar on Vimeo.

Normally I would be ice fishing on Lake Simcoe at this time of the year but it has been unseasonally warm this year with most of the days this month above freezing so I'm still waiting. The video above is about how not to ice fish and shows the unfortunate consequences. The location of Lake Simcoe is on the map below and is sixty miles north of Toronto.


View Larger Map

The picture below was taken approximately where the marker in the map is placed.

by Scaturchi lic. cc by nc-nd-2.0

 You can see the ice huts in the picture which are the high end of ice fishing. There are also nylon ice fishing tents as well as just sitting out on the ice with a cold weather suit. With a wind chill of minus 30 degrees Celsius on Lake Simcoe at night, I prefer a hut with a heater and lots of beer. Maybe a fish finder and fish cam for help. The video below is without doubt the low end of ice fishing.




Shopping at Canadian Tire for supplies.

Ice fishing rods. Shorter for fitting inside an ice hut.

An essential piece of equipment for gutting fish.

The fishcam so you can see what`s happening below and used with the fish finder. Notice the fake fish.

Hut or tent heater


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Coleman coffee maker


Sometimes life is a little less calculated and you have to make an igloo.

Myself Entering an igloo



Me inside an igloo - lots of light

Me dog sledding up north



Toronto Boat Show 2012

Direct Energy Building - Site of the Boat Show

Last weekend I went to the Toronto Boat Show, the site of which is located on the map below.

View Larger Map

The inside of the Direct Energy Building can be seen in this 360 degree photo.


Direct Energy building at CNE in Toronto

As usual, the show was massive and packed with people. In 2010 10.2 million Canadians went boating according to a survey. Ontario has the world's largest group of fresh water lakes as well as the thousand islands in Lake Ontario and the ten thousand island area in Lake Huron. There is also the Trent-Severn waterway:

The total length of the waterway is 386 kilometres (240 mi), beginning at Trenton, Ontario, with roughly 32 kilometres (20 mi) of man-made channels. There are 45 locks, including 36 conventional locks, two sets of flight locks, hydraulic lift locks at Peterborough and Kirkfield, and a marine railway at Big Chute which transports boats between the upper and lower sections of the Severn. The system also includes 39 swing bridges and 160 dams and control structures that manage the water levels for flood control and navigation on lakes and rivers that drain approximately 18,600 square kilometres (7,182 sq mi) of central Ontario's cottage country region, across four counties and three single-tier cities, an area that is home to more than a million Canadians.
It reaches its highest point of 256.3 metres (840 ft 11 in) at Balsam Lake, the highest point to which a vessel can be navigated from sea level in the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence River drainage basin. ...

The Trent–Severn Waterway is managed by Parks Canada under the statutory authority of the Historic Canals Regulations (which outline and delegate the responsibilities for navigation, resource protection, dredge and fill operations, the operation of boater campgrounds, etc.). The 386-kilometre navigation corridor includes over 4,500 kilometres (2,796 mi) of shoreline and over 500 square kilometres (193 sq mi) of water. More than 125000 private and commercial properties abut the navigation corridor of the Trent–Severn Waterway. The Trent–Severn Waterway also has regulatory responsibility and authority under the Dominion Water Power Act for the 18 hydroelectric generating facilities located along its route.(Wikipedia)

Ticket booth

 The parking cost $13 and the entrance fee was $17.

Most folks went for the power boats. There were 550 exhibitors in the show. They also have a 5,000 gallon fish tank filled with various fresh water marine life where they demonstrate how to cast for fish.

Of various sizes as well as smaller non powered types.

and others

There were bikes to store in your boat for shore trips.

And an indoor lake to test smaller boats. Also a children's boating area.

Lots of state of the art onboard displays for those with technolust.

 As well as the ubiquitous snowblower. I think that people on my street compete for having the most bad assed one.

Tug boats...

and inflatable ones

as well as vintage boats

I always head for the sailboat section and my favorite was the 44DS. Three cabins and two heads.

Here's a video about it.


And here's a  close up of the display panel - GPS, depth display, radar, autopilot, etc.

And one of the two heads

And the dining area

French Children Don’t Throw Food

"Whispering" by Thibault Foubert from OhMyProd! on Vimeo.

The video is about Isaac, a young American journalist in Paris who has problems meeting women. Tonight, however, he was set up on a blind date with a young French actress by a co worker and the action in the video takes place in a Parisian restaurant.

As you know the best women in the world are French women. Ask any Frenchman. Full disclosure – I had a Montréal girlfriend when I was young who I met in the Winston Churchill pub on Crescent Street in downtown Montréal. At the time, I was trying to seduce expat American transfer students from McGill University posing as an exotic Coureur de Bois spouting Sartre and Proust while sipping Absinthe in the smoky environs of the bar and keeping an eye out for spies from the Office Québécois de la langue Française, the little Canadian brother of the French, Commission Générale de Terminologie et de Néologie who were watching for Anglo predations on the language of Molière.

Mireille Guiliano  cooking by Barry Jan lic. 2.0 creative commons

Anyway, we’ve already had a book called “French women don’t get Fat” by Mireille Guiliano, a French citizen who moved to the States in the wealthy Boston suburb of Weston as a student for a year and put on 15 lbs before she returned home and regained her gamine form and now there is a new book titled,” French Children Don’t Throw Food” by Pamela Druckerman ,an American mother of three who lives in Paris with her English husband and three children. According to this book, French women make Amy Chua’s Tiger Mom look like a wimp. They have rules such as letting the baby cry for awhile and insisting on children having at least one bite of a new food even if they refuse – “c’est moi qui decide.”

Guiliano was raised in Alsace and Provence, Sorbonne educated and is now married to an American. Spending most of her time in New York, she teaches the virtues of portion control, fresh food and variety of meals. Now French women are not only trim but also master mothers whose well behaved offspring are a joy to behold. This book answers such questions as why French babies sleep through the night, why do French children eat what they are given, how French mothers chat while their children play quietly and why French mothers wear skinny jeans instead of tracksuits. This is the latest in a long line of perfect French women books. For a reality check, you might want to read this post on Sarah Hague’s blog.  Sarah is a British woman who lives with her children in Montpelier, France and writes about her life in France on her blog.

Update Feb. 12, 2012:  Here's a video from the Wall Street Journal interviewing Pamela Druckerman.

by NowSourcing via