UK primary students urged to Twit, blog and Wiki instead of history lessons

NOTE TO SELF: WHAT ARE EDUCATORS THINKING?

The British education system is contemplating a change in its curriculum. This in itself is nothing earth-shattering but it's the subject that makes one wonder what are they thinking!

According to the Guardian newspaper, primary school students will be encouraged to learn how to blog, use Twitter and Wikipedia instead of history leassons.

Oh goodie! Yet another legimate reason this time, to allow and encourage students to surf the Net! What else!

Students will be required to know about blogging, podcasts, use Wikipedia (such a reliable information source!) which may or may not have the right information depending on the author, and Twitter(?) as their information sources for info. sources of communication.

Twitter? I use Twitter and it consists of a one line statement. Period. What's more - you have a limited amount of bytes in which to make your statement.

For example:"A cow when milked can give up to (insert correct number) gallons/litres per day. " Perhaps the students could be required to re-write the sentence using all the available Twitter bytes and in addition use it as a math exercise to calculate the amount of gallons/litres a cow will give. In addition students would then be required to Wiki as a means of finding background information about cows and/or milking processes.

The Guardian said the draft review requires primary school children to be familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter as sources of information and forms of communication.

Uh-huh... Next thing you know - YouTube will become part of the curriculum as will texting. I mean - c'mon! Get back to your basic education, peeplz! There's nothing wrong with using the Net as an information tool but even to consider dropping a history course in favor of the Internet?

What's this? A fee to pee?

NOTE TO SELF: RYANAIR TO CHARGE PASSENGERS TO URINATE(?) WHAT NEXT!

Another of those "what-in-the-hell-are-they-thinking" stories that cause us to shake our heads in wonder and puzzlement.

The head of Ryanair, a budget airline I'm not familiar with, is toying with the idea of charging its passengers to use the bathroom. His rationale or excuse is that doing this will lead to "less passenger inconvenience during flights.

How he arrived at this conclusion is puzzling.

Last month, Michael O'Leary, Chief Executive admitted that the airline is looking into the possibility of installing - wait for it - toilet doors in its planes that can only be opened with the insertion of of a 1 pound coin (1.10 euros, $1.40). Now that some expensive pee break!

His logic is that an on-board change, he believes, means that more passengers would use airport bathrooms, leading to "less passenger inconvenience on board the aircraft."

Oh really? I dunno how he arrived at this conclusion. As anyone over 50 will attest, when you gotta go - you gotta go! Period! In my eyes it's an obvious greedy, money-grab. I mean - like passengers don't pay enough for extras already?

Seems that Ryanair is running an online competition to see what else the carrier can charge for on board.

Extras huh? Next thing you know, there will be a charge for using the soap dispenser in the pay toilet. You know - $1 per squish on the hand and still another fee for each sheet of paper towel used. Maybe they could offer a special discount for slightly used paper towels. Or perhaps a charge for sitting on a toilet seat after a certain length of time? The mind boggles at the possibilities.

"The suggestion I like best so far is a passenger in Sweden who has suggested that we should produce rolls of toilet paper with my picture on it," O'Leary said.

Indeed.

Photo of a Ryanair plane here: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/photos/slideshow/oddlyenough-photos.html?imageUrl=/afp/20090324/r_p_afp_od_other/pod-a-ryanair-passenger-air-6e4457fb4f90

Fox News should be ashamed!

NOTE TO SELF: AVOID FOX NEWS DUE TO GROSS INSENSITIVITY

Sometimes the ignorance of some news media makes me gasp in "what-were-they-thinking" mode. In this particular case, it's Fox News that has gone out on a limb to show its dumbness for lack of a better word in their assessment of the Canadian presence in Afghanistan.

Last week once again when Canadians were mourning the loss of four more soldiers, Fox News and more specifically, one Greg Gutfeld (who is this guy anyway and when did he seep out of the wood work?) who hosts some type of TV talk show, decided that it would be oh-so-much-fun to make fun of the Canadian military.

The five-minute segment, which aired recently on Fox News late-night program "Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld" and later posted on YouTube.com, features American panelists suggesting Canadian soldiers need time off for "manicures and pedicures."

The item aired after Gen. Andrew Leslie, the Canadian Forces Chief of Land Staff, told a Senate committee the military would need a one-year break from operations after the mission in Afghanistan winds down in 2011.

"The Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white capri pants," Gutfeld said with a sneer. Another panelist Doug Benson said he was unaware Canadian troops were on the ground in Afghanistan.

"I didn't even know they were in the war. I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight - you go chill in Canada," he said.

As a Canadian I'm disgusted with what they probably pass off as satire but in effect, is gross stupidity and far from amusing. There is a fine line between satire and insult and in this case, it has been crossed and then some. I do not, nor would I now for sure, subscribe to Fox News.

The show should be re-named, "Red Face with Shame."

Shame on Fox News! Canadians are NOT at all amused!

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/03/22/8847666-sun.html

Online www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcJn5XlbSFk