Nuts....

MARGATE· He had spent the day after Thanksgiving with his granddaughter, looking for a Christmas tree.As the sun made its way down, Robert Oris, 81, bid his granddaughter and two great-grandchildren goodbye and hopped on his baby blue bicycle to make his way home.His bicycle had become his mode of getting around, since epileptic seizures ended his driving about a year ago.But a couple of blocks from his Margate condo, Oris' journey took a fatal turn. At 6:06 p.m. on Friday while crossing Northwest 31st Street, Oris was struck by a vehicle heading north in the right lane on State Road 7.Margate police said Oris was crossing against the traffic signal from west to east, and failed to yield to a 2004 Saturn driven by Stacie Silberstein.The left front of the Saturn struck the right side of Oris' bicycle. He died as a result of the injuries he sustained, according to police.Family and neighbors remembered the retired engineer as a youthful senior who made time for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and who could be seen around the neighborhood on his bicycle.They all said they were surprised to hear that Oris crossed against the light because he was always careful when riding. "He was always so cautious," said his neighbor Doreen Zappala.Cherie Alley, his granddaughter who dropped him off at the bus stop where he had parked his bike, said her grandfather didn't usually cross at the intersection where he was struck."He came to my house almost everyday," said Alley, of Pompano Beach. "He would push my girls on their swings for hours. He was basically their playmate."Oris moved to South Florida in 1962 and lived in Margate since the early '70s. He started as a tool and dye maker at IBM and climbed his way up the ranks to staff engineer, before retiring in 1988 after 47 years with the company.Marion, Oris' wife of 59 years, died in 2001 and shortly after he moved into Coral Gate Condominiums. His days were usually shared with his seven grandchildren and despite his age, he was very independent, Alley said."He used to ride 14 miles a day," said Alley.A viewing for Oris will be held on Monday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Jennings Funeral Home, 1801 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. His funeral service will be held on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Baptist Church, 501 N.E. 48th St., Pompano Beach, where he was an active member.

And I came across the United States in a covered wagon!

Proposed changes in math don't add up
BY MIKE COHENMike Cohen, an assistant superintendent in the Amityville school district, taught math for 30 years.November 23, 2004We are the folks that everyone in high school hated - the ones who sat in the middle seat in the front row of every mathematics class. When asked for the value of pi, we immediately responded with the approximation 3.141592654, while our classmates snickered.We proudly proclaim our status as "math geeks." Someone once said that most teachers choose to teach a particular subject, but mathematics teachers receive a calling. Our passion for the power, for the beauty and for the perfection that we found in mathematics compelled us to pursue a career in which we could spread our passion to others.The sheer love of mathematics continues to energize us. What we discovered when we got in front of a classroom was that, with the exception of the present and future "math geeks" seated before us, the vast majority of those we taught could care less. Instead, we are bombarded with the eternal question, "When are we ever going to use this junk?" In most cases, we responded simply, "I don't know, but when you get to college, you'll find out!"Beginning in 1987, when the National Science Foundation ran a conference in Washington, D.C., on the improving of calculus instruction in America, a radical new idea took root - applying mathematics to the real world. For those of us in the trenches, this notion meant that we needed to retrain ourselves and, heaven forbid, learn that mathematics could be applied to all aspects of human endeavor.Fast forward to 2004. In the wake of the debacle surrounding the administration of the Mathematics A Regents in June 2003, state Education Commissioner Richard Mills asked Northport-East Northport Superintendent William Brosnan to head a committee to examine all aspects of the state's mathematics curriculum and testing program and to make specific recommendations. Well, the committee finished its well-meaning work and, to say the least, many in the mathematics community are not impressed.To put it simply, the end product seeks to take mathematics back to the days of mindless manipulation and drill and kill. If you read the 87-page document in its entirety, there are two words that you will not find: real world.What you will find is obscure geometric theorems that mathematicians don't even use and algebraic techniques that hand- held calculators carry out at the push of a button in a fraction of a second.For example, the proposed 10th-grade curriculum includes the following: "Show, justify and use the theorem that states that the point of concurrency of the medians of a triangle divides each median into segments whose lengths are in the ratio 1:2."Trust me when I tell you that not even the uber-math geek can find any applications for that chesnut.If that's not bad enough, the proposed changes require formal or informal proofs of approximately 20 additional geometric theorems. Math geeks like us love proving mathematical theorems, but any classroom veteran will tell you that the vast majority of 10-grade students hate the entire process. They simply lack the intellectual maturity to value the tediousness of this enterprise.We believe that there is both power and beauty in mathematics for its own sake, but there is even more power and beauty that derives from using mathematics to solve the kind of problems that people from all walks of life encounter every day. Shockingly, that power and beauty is sadly lacking in the proposed "improved" curriculum.In the current curriculum, students use mathematics to solve problems that arise in business, science and the social sciences. They use mathematics to model the "real world."A recent Mathematics B examination posed a question in which students were asked to use a mathematical model for the total annual profits of a clothing company projected over three years.Instead of graphing calculators, let's give the students slide rules, quill pens, parchment and candles to provide light when they do their homework.If you believe that the best way to move forward is to move backward, then you will love the "new" curriculum. No more applications of mathematics. Now, we will produce a new generation of mindless manipulators.

Really old geezers

I don't remember some of this, but I am not old enough yet. Don't remember wwII. Don't worry about cursing in front of a woman....hell, they can curse worse than us!

At sporting events during the playing of the national anthem, old geezers hold their caps over their hearts and sing without embarrassment. They know the words and believe in them. Old geezers remember Word War II -- Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Normandy and Adolf Hitler. They remember the atomic age, the Cold War, the jet age, the moon landing and Vietnam.If you bump into an old geezer, he will apologize. He will nod or tip his hat to a lady. Geezers trust strangers and are courtly to women. They hold the door for the next person, and always, when walking, make certain the lady is on the inside. Geezers get embarrassed if someone curses in front of women and children. And geezers seldom brag, unless it's about their grandchildren.
Old geezers know our great country is protected not by politicians or police, but by the young men and women in the military. More than ever, this country needs geezers with their decent values.Marion Thiel

It is a JOKE!

ABC Puts N.F.L. in 'Desperate' SituationBy The National Football League, still chastened by the "wardrobe malfunction" that exposed Janet Jackson's right breast during the Super Bowl halftime show on CBS in February, was stunned Monday night by another incident, this one on ABC.
In the scripted introduction to "Monday Night Football," Nicollette Sheridan, who portrays the serial divorcée Edie Britt on the popular ABC series "Desperate Housewives," wore only a towel as she flirted with Philadelphia Eagles receiver Terrell Owens in an otherwise empty locker room. After asking Owens to miss the game, Sheridan dropped the towel; the camera showed her upper body from behind. Owens, smiling broadly, said the Eagles would have to win without him, and Sheridan leapt into his arms.
Yesterday, a league spokesman called the sketch "inappropriate and unsuitable for our 'Monday Night Football' audience," and the league office expressed its displeasure to ABC executives. ABC Sports apologized, saying in a statement, "We agree that the placement was inappropriate."
The N.F.L. said it had received dozens of calls and hundreds of e-mail messages in complaint. ABC said it also received complaints.
ABC Sports tapes an introduction to "Monday Night Football" each week, but the N.F.L. does not see it before the broadcast and does not have approval privileges. The introductions occasionally feature stars of ABC's prime-time shows, but the network's entertainment division did not request any cross-promotion for "Desperate Housewives."
The decision by ABC Sports to produce a racy introduction is curious for several reasons. The network is clearly aware of the N.F.L.'s sensitivities in the wake of the Jackson incident. It announced before the season that it would use a five-second delay in its football broadcasts to avoid any embarrassments.
"Desperate Housewives" needs no promotion; it is one of the top-rated shows on television. But ABC may have been looking for ways to increase the "Monday Night Football" ratings. It is the only broadcast network still negotiating for rights to N.F.L. games, and some executives speculate that ABC loses $170 million a year on Monday night games. CBS and Fox completed their long-term television deals with the league last week, but the prime-time and cable packages currently held by the Walt Disney Company for ABC and ESPN were left unresolved.
The Philadelphia Eagles released a statement that said: "We appreciate that ABC has taken responsibility and has apologized for the opening to 'Monday Night Football.' It is normal for teams to cooperate with ABC in the development of an opening for its broadcast. After seeing the final piece, we wish it hadn't aired."
The Eagles declined to say whether they knew about the content of the introduction before it was shown and whether it was taped in their locker room. Philadelphia won the game against Dallas, 49-21; Owens caught three touchdown passes.
As a result of the incident at the Super Bowl, in which Justin Timberlake tore away part of Jackson's costume and exposed her breast, the Federal Communications Commission fined the CBS division of Viacom $550,000, or $27,500 against each of the 20 stations CBS owns and operates. It was the largest fine ever levied against a television company.
Paul Tagliabue, the N.F.L. commissioner, told the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet in February that he had been "deeply embarrassed" by the halftime show, adding, "It happened under our operation and we take responsibility for it.''

I always push when I am expelling methane gas!

A real headline from the NY Times:


U.S. and 13 Other States Agree on Push to Gather Methane Gas

Ya should be happy to get a kiss!

By JOHN CARLSON
Recently, a younger co-worker of mine witnessed a traumatic spectacle.
Old people kissing.
After describing it in graphic detail, she shuddered and turned away in horror, as if she'd just seen an asphalt-roller driver - perhaps one paving a petting zoo's parking lot - accidentally back over Quackerville.
She was ruined for life.
I sympathized, of course, but after listening to her tale, I thought it needed clarification on a couple important points.
First, the kissers weren't really old people.
They were, like, in their 50s, which to my way of thinking means they were just a couple of kids.
Younger people don't realize that, as one ages, one's age-related ideas of sexual attractiveness and appropriate behavior automatically adjust with it.
For example, I am certain that when my buddies and I are in our 90's, we will be sitting around the rest home elbowing each other and whispering things like, "Whoa! Check out that hottie in the skimpy pink slippers!"
On the other hand, I suppose it is possible for kissers of any age to go beyond the bounds of propriety.
A kiss, after all, is an innocent little peck, or maybe even a smooch, or perhaps something more intense.
But what she described was the sort of tooth-mashing, tonsil-throttling, full-contact lips-and-gums assault more accurately described as "sucking face."
Even that might be acceptable up to a point, I suppose.
However, I can see my friend's point, too.
Sucking face is not the sort of intense physical interaction a young woman her age wants to witness between people who buy their Metamucil in six-packs.
Frankly, I wouldn't endorse it either, except under extraordinarily special circumstances, such as being reunited with a loved one after a long and painful separation, or your spouse buying you a bass boat.
Then I could see the passionate embrace, the longing look, the frantically muttered "I love you! I love you! I love you!" until, finally, the magic moment was forever sealed with a deep, long, soul-searching kiss that promises "We shall never be apart, my darling, never, ever, ever."
With your boat, I mean.
But regardless of age, this must be done with a full understanding of the potential consequences.
Youngsters?
Their braces could snag.
On the other hand, an oldster's fast-setting Super Poligrip could mix with his lady friend's fast-setting Super Poligrip and, when they pull away for a gulp of air, both sets of dentures come flying out of their mouths between them.
Of course, then they are going to have to break their embrace to catch their now-cemented dentures in mid-air, grab them by either end and pry them apart, hope they got the right set, then yank them back out of their mouths and trade if they didn't.
This could possibly take some of the romance out of being an older couple in love.

Carbon Monoxide

I remember this guy. Very good with horses. It is strange, I know several people from Richland Center who have been killed by carbon monoxide. Do we get complacent around our heating?


Robert Nevel, 71, a trainer at Maywood Park Racetrack, died this week from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The death occurred when a propane tank was not properly connected inside the trailer where he slept at the track reported the Chiacgo Tribune on Friday (November 12).
An autopsy confirmed the poisoning and the death was ruled accidental the medical examiner’s office reported.
Nevel, from Richland Center, Wisconsin, was a school teacher for 27 years at Ithaca High School. He had trained horses for 40 years.
A trotter he owned and trained, Big Spiel, finished third at Maywood on Monday night.

His resignation DOES make me feel safer!

"The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved."
- JOHN ASHCROFT, the attorney general, in his resignation letter.


SO BRING THE TROOPS HOME!

Why he won....

'Why do they bother?'
Will Walden covered this year's race for the White House alongside the BBC's Washington correspondent Matt Frei. Over the final month of the campaign they followed President George W Bush across America, visiting 25 cities across seven states in 28 days.
"Why do they bother? And why do we?" BBC cameraman Jason Ellson implored me.
I had to confess I had no answer. We had slept for under three hours. I had actually paid the hotel bill when we arrived and we'd been on the road to Wilmington for 45 minutes without exchanging so much as a word.
For once Matt and Ron Skeans, our other cameraman, had managed a lie in.
Of course there was something of the jaded cynic in both Jason's question and my failure to respond.
We had, naturally, seen too much of him, George that is. The old stump speech was just that - old.
And all four of us could do every line - inflection and nuance included.
My particular favourite - the Laura line - "The most important reason to re-elect me is so that Laura can be your First Lady for four more years" - always got a laugh from us, because no matter how many times he said it, it got a big roar of approval from them.
And still I had no answer.
'You know where I stand'
And then there it was - on the final morning of the campaign, on the road to Wilmington, Ohio - a pre-dawn revelation at the corner of Hunter Drive.
In that instant, I knew why. And I knew deep down why that why was about to return George W Bush to the White House.
Red brake lights bumper to bumper for miles ahead. "Because they care," I told Jason.
The most important reason to re-elect me is so that Laura can be your First Lady for four more years President George W Bush
On that corner, and in that freezing aircraft hanger where Bush swept in on Marine One, and in the streets of small-town America we met Republicans yes, but we also met the undecided, the independents, even the "Bush" Democrat.
And every one had the same explanation - they were voting for Bush because he was their president, running their country, in a time of war.
Nothing more, nothing less. Why rock that boat?
Americans revere the office, not the man, but in choosing the man, they want someone who befits the office, and in a time of war that office befitted George W Bush best.
So as the president himself often said: "You may not like what I stand for, but at least you know where I stand."
True of Iraq, true of national security, true of those much-talked about moral values.
He had a position, he stuck to it, and yes, it made him, on occasion, appear to some as stubborn or even arrogant. But it also made him appear strong.
And when it comes to "us and them" America will, it seems, always choose strong.
The 'wow' factor
There are of course more complicated reasons. There had never been a post-9/11 election before, because there had never been a 9/11.
Bush can be engaging, charming, even witty. Kerry, more often than not, was none of these.
And then there was the brilliantly played 'Rove hand', dealt by Bush's chief planner Karl Rove.
The Rove/Bush doctrine of the three Fs - Family, Faith and Flag - hit home, where it mattered most, in heartland America.
Fear that the three Fs would be eroded under John Kerry was enough to mobilise millions of evangelical Christians who hadn't voted in 2000.
Wherever we travelled, one line more than any other brought the biggest cheer of the night.
The one about family values brought conservative America to its feet and sent them home happy in the knowledge that Dubya was the guardian of their moral, as well as their physical, security.
And then there was the simple fact that the president looked presidential. However hard you tried, you simply couldn't help feeling 'wow'.
I remember travelling to New Hampshire with Laura Bush. In her motorcade, on her plane, close enough to talk to her.
Which we did, and yes she's as normal as she seems. It made me think: "If I'm impressed what must these small town folk think of it all?"
Passionate, but stage-managed
Folk in places like Richland Center in Wisconsin. Five thousand strong, a remote windswept town on Highway 14 West.
Bush arrived on a rainy Wednesday lunchtime. So did the entire town.
He'd come because he had too, he needed the votes, they'd come because they wanted to...because the president was visiting.
One woman in the line, a teacher at the High School, told us she'd encouraged all her pupils to "come visit the President", that it was "such an honour he was bothering with Richland Center".
Matt asked her if she'd be voting for Bush. "Probably not," she replied. Later on, watching her watch him, I wasn't so sure.
Of course much of the campaign was aggressively stage managed. The die-hard were bussed in from miles around.
"Bombard them enough and eventually the message sticks," was how one junior aide described it.
The warm-up acts at these set-piece rallies were often a mix of celebrity, politician, or minister. Invariably, they involved a prayer, a pledge, a stirring rendition of the anthem.
But they were also about the ordinary American. The small-business owner, worried about being taxed out of existence by those "nasty" Democrats.
Or the mum, who, regardless of her husband's recent redundancy, apparently shared the president's views on family, stem cell research, partial birth abortion, the sanctity of marriage. Clever stuff.
Not once did we face the "Blair moment" - the type of moment where mid-speech the speaker is interrupted by a small but vocal group of protesters. The secret service would never have allowed it.
And besides, you couldn't help but feel the Republicans had vetted everyone days ahead of time.
Yes, people really did care about all this. That, more than anything, was the most encouraging thing about this election.
'Very heated, very quickly'
I was transfixed by the response of thousands of students at the University of Miami, site of the opening presidential debate. For 90 minutes no-one went to the bar, no-one talked, no-one lurched drunkenly across campus.
They just concentrated really hard on the big screens in front of them. They chuckled when Bush mangled the odd sentence, whooped when Kerry and flip-flop appeared in the same sentence, applauded when the candidates found the right tone.
And afterwards, these kids stood in line to talk to the television cameras, and what they said was both informed and eloquent.
And yes we found division, everywhere we went.
In Boulder, Colorado, we met Steve and Susan Kremm and their two sons, Democrats who couldn't quite believe Bush was their president.
"You just can't talk about this election without it getting heated, very heated, very quickly," Susan told us.
"How can the American public be so stupid", lamented Steve, "To swallow that line about Iraq being a threat, it's a disgrace!"
Just 100 miles south, in Colorado Springs, we met Chuck and Vicky Broerman and their four girls.
Staunch Catholics who admired the president. A strong leader, a man of conviction, a man of family.
"It's the future of the world at stake," Vicky told us. "And only George Bush knows how to defend us, and keep us safe."
Chuck, Vicky and the girls won the day, along with 59 million others. Nearly 56 million saw it differently.
Will George W Bush reach out to them? He says he wants to. Whether they want him to - well, that's another story.

Don't want any Presidential stains on a blue dress!

"The big danger is one of hubris. There's a tendency after you win your second term to think you're invulnerable. You're not just king of the mountain, you've mastered the mountain. That can often lead to mistakes of excessive pride."
- DAVID R. GERGEN, former presidential adviser.

Dick Cheney in Phoenix

So, we went to a fall league game on Saturday afternoon. There is a guy there that is the spitting image of dick cheney. I point him out to my wife and say the dick is hiding in Phoenix. She says he would not carry his own briefcase. Well, I said he would if they contained the nuclear codes!

Anyway, the guy comes by us. I ask "Are you Dick Cheney?" He looks at me and says, "Go fuck yourself."

Wife had to admit it probably was the Vice President.....

Proudly wearing my Packer tie today!

Redskins lose, so Kerry should win
MANCHESTER, N.H. — John Kerry supporters got a welcome omen for their candidate on Sunday: The Green Bay Packers defeated the Washington Redskins.
If history holds, the 28-14 score portends a victory for Kerry on Tuesday because the result of the Redskins' final home game before the presidential election has always accurately predicted the White House winner.
If the Redskins win, the incumbent party wins. If they lose, the incumbent party is ousted.
"Oh, yeah, he's going to win. It's guaranteed," said Packers safety Darren Sharper, a Kerry supporter. "I don't have to vote now. Don't even have to go to the polls. Saved me a trip on Tuesday."
The Democratic candidate, who describes himself as superstitious and carries a lucky buckeye, cheered the omen.
"I couldn't be more thrilled with the Packers win today," Kerry said. "The Packers have done their part. This Tuesday, we'll do ours."
President Bush's campaign pointed to an equally nonscientific prediction of their victory.
"Weekly Reader!" said Bush strategist Karl Rove, referring to a mock election held by the Weekly Reader, a Stamford, Conn.-based national schoolroom newspaper, in which Bush handily beat Kerry.
The streak began in 1933, when the Boston Braves were renamed the Redskins. Since then, beginning with Franklin Roosevelt's re-election in 1936, the trend has held, including a 2000 Redskins loss to the Tennessee Titans that predicted George W. Bush's win over Al Gore.