halomatt

I have a scenario for you all to play with me...

 

This was an encounter we had with a drunk 25 year old, male, White yesterday (4th of July) near Bayshore beach in Long Beach at just after 5PM..  Somebody mentioned concerns about Officer mindset, so I'll tell you our shift lasted from 8AM-10PM yesterday; we were in the sun walking around all day long, and never got to eat lunch.

 

Bayshore Ave. is closed during the summer weekends from 9AM-5PM for the beach crowds to enjoy biking, etc.  It was re-opened as usual yesterday at 5PM in spite of a mass of humanity still enjoying the holiday at the beach (red cups almost outnumbered the people).  We had already responded to several passed-out drunks on the beach, a few of which were transported to area hospitals (including at least one 16 year old female that I know of)..

 

My partner and I were posted-up at 54th/Bayshore (unofficially called "Horny-Corner" as it's where the college/party people hang-out) when the roads were re-opened.  We started walking the street to advise people that the roads were now open to vehicular traffic, when a male and female pointed-out our eventual arrestee.  They told us he was really drunk and tried to pick a fight with the male, along with most everybody he passed.

 

I turned and saw him walking away.  At about 20 yards away, he turned around with an angry look and took a couple of steps back toward us until he realized my partner and I were standing next to the male and female.  He turned back around, and started to stumble away, obviously drunk.

 

We began fast-walking after him, with my partner yelling at him to stop.  He turned his head and saw us, but kept on stumbling away (he was unable to run away, I'm sure).  We caught-up to him, both grabbed an arm and I cuffed him.  He smelled like a brewery as he started cussing at us and threatening to sue us.  Our encounter with him was riddled with him cussing at us, calling us "bitch-ass" this and that, along with the dreaded "N" word!  He even told us that his mom is a hospital nurse, and he hoped she would finish-us off if we were ever injured and taken to her hospital..

 

We sat him in the backseat of our cage-less, un-marked (Detective-style, you might say) Police car.  He sat behind my Partner who was driving, and I sat in back with him.  He continued the cussing, and threatened to beat us both up if we'd take his cuffs off (This is not a rare threat, it just surprises me that I only hear it after the cuffs are on).

 

We drove a few blocks toward LB Jail, and he was trying to un-buckle his seatbelt and grab me with his handcuffed hands.  Then, he leaned forward and spit on the back of my partners head...

 

Let me know how you would've handled this guy, and how you think we should've handled him.  I'll check-in to look at some of the responses, and then let you know how it all worked-out.

Assault, yes?

Drag his ass out of the car, throw him to the ground, face down. Step on him, "firmly".  Call a cruiser with plexiglass to take him in?  This is my first guess. 

I was in my truck with my buddy and we were drinking beer poured into red cups.  We were inside with music turned low and just sitting with the windows down doing nothing.  Anaheim P.D. pulled up, walked to either side of my truck, asked us to pour out the drink and promptly gave us each a ticket.  A $370.00 ticket.  I paid.  My friend fought it and the officer never showed. 

This was about four years ago now, but since then, I am very careful.  Most of the time, I just drink elsewhere and show up, park and get inside. 

I agree with adam about elimating public education altogether.  However I also know that is never going to happen.  Here are a few thoughts I have had.

 

1.  Stop treating every student as though they learn the same way at the same pace.  I think a track system would work much better.  This assembly line thought process of education might have been great at the height of the industrial revolution, but not anymore.

 

2.  Find a way to reward good teachers and get rid of poor ones.  This should be done through means other than standardized tests which are, to me, a waste of time.

 

3.  Stop the thought process that every kid should go to college.  Some of the best jobs out there pay wise don't require a college degree but they do require learning a craft or skill.  If a kid after a couple years of high school shows an afinity for plumbing, welding or such they should have the opportunity to head that direction.

 

4.  Localize, localize, localize.  The more control that is kept close they more bang for your buck you get.  Also, what works in the suburbs may not work in rural areas or city areas.

 

5.  Whatever direction they take, stick with it.  Our kids have been guinea pigs for almost 40 years with all the different things that have been thrown at them.

 

6.  Any cuts that come into play should start at the top with administators.  Teachers should be the last in line for cuts.

I agree with every one of these.  It's amazing how effin' stupid the Department of Education is when it comes to a college education.  I can estimate that approximately 48% of my current students are not college material.  It's only eighth grade and they can grow up a lot between now and 11th grade, but good Lord, they are lazy! We really should give them a test in ninth or tenth grade and based on their aptitude for college, send them or get them training in a trade of some sort.  They would be far more likely to become productive members of society if they developed a marketable skill than coming out of high school with a misguided notion that in order to be "worth" anything, they have to attend a college for which they are poorly suited.  We set these kids up to fail from an early age and it's sad. 

I had several teachers who did this back in the day.  Even in high school I had a history teacher request we bring crayons or colored pencils to school so we could color and label maps for credit.  They were too lazy to create assignments of any value. 

 

My sophomore English teacher didn't actually teach anything.  She assigned busy work like crossword puzzles and walked around the room socializing with students as they completed the assignments.  If we didn't like our grade in the class, extra credit was available by donating money to her favorite charitable organization.  This is the same teacher who got into an argument with a female student and pinned the girl against the chalkboard with a frontal chokehold. She cooked up a story with the teacher in the next classroom about how the girl made the first punch.  The other teacher agreed to lie and say he was a witness to the whole thing.  I know this because I witnessed the incident and overheard the conversation they had from the storage room.  She never went to jail or lost her job thanks to other teachers and administrators covering the whole thing up.  They gave her a golden handshake (lots of extra $$$) to retire early and go away several years later. 

 

At least in my case, the "crossword puzzle" teachers seemed to be deeply flawed or corrupt in other ways. 

 

 

 

That's interesting.  I didn't know that any high schools were using a method like this. 

That's really too bad your experience was so crappy.  Those teachers are the ones that give me a bad name.  I don't appreciate that.  I do believe in tenure's general concept, but to protect those "bad" teachers? Hell no.  Those people, unfortunately, are the ones by which we are all measured. 

As to the block periods, I know that several high schools in my district use that.  I used to use block scheduling in eighth grade.  My block partner requested that we not use it a few years back. One of the issues that crops up is that with disorganized, lazy, or ADHD/ADD kids, they often forgot or lost assignments or tasks that needed completing because they didn't go to the class for a couple of days.  Often they might fill out their school agenda on Monday at the end of class.  But they often think,"I have two days before I come back in this class." Tuesday night, they look at their agenda, but only see the work assigned for Tuesday, completely forgetting that they had homework on Monday night.  Come in to class on Wednesday and they're shell-shocked, completely forgetting I assigned something. 

I still think the block has more going for it than against it.  Perhaps after this school year, I can convince my partner to go back.  (We're still a year-round school, so our school year ends June 27.)

I think for me it's the scheduling inefficiencies that are torturous for students and teachers alike. 

 

Forcing kids in junior high and high school to take six subjects per day is terrible when you realize how much time is wasted and the stress it causes.  I presume your classes went much like mine:  First ten minutes teacher takes attendance, writes detention slips, hands back assignments.  The next ten minutes, homework from the previous night was reviewed. Then just 20-25 minutes to teach the new lesson, followed by ten minutes to answer questions and issue that day's homework.  Rush, rush, rush through everything.  Talk about a nightmare for math and science classes -- never enough time to explain a complicated subject.  How do we expect kids to concentrate and succeed when the subject matter changes every hour, when they're suffering from ADHD, and when they're anxious about numerous tests and assignments due in other classes the same day?

 

For anybody keeping tabs, that's about 60 minutes per day spent on attendance and returning papers, and 25 minutes (five minutes each time) passing between classrooms.  All wasted.  Most of the time could be recovered if students took one or two classes per day, similar to being a college student.  Two scenarios that I wish were available when I was a kid -- either one would have been great IMHO...

 

One subject per day:

Monday:  English

Tuesday: Math

Wednesday: Science

Thursday: History

Friday:  Some other subject

+ 1 hour of PE everyday

 

Two subjects per day:

Monday/Tuesday:  English and Math

Wednesday:  Some other subject

Thursday/Friday:  History and Science

+ 1 hour of PE everyday

There are many schools, especially high schools, that block their subject in order to spend a longer period (ha! get it?) of time discussing concepts.  I always found that, with writing in particular, I was a more successful teacher when we block-scheduled. 

This can be taken to extremes as well. Case in point: I grew up and attended K-12 in Florida and lived in Oklahoma for a number of years. Florida has 67 school districts, one for each county. Oklahoma, with a fraction of the population, has over 600. That is 600+ school district administrators plus various asssistants, support staff, office buildings, etc. Far too much of the education dollar is spent on overhead when the pie is split too many ways.

Hmm...that's a good example of what could happen.  Still a problem, but in the "other" direction, I suppose. 

You mean like silly crossword puzzles?  I got those many times.  Waste of time. 

I can't speak to your educational experience, but I know of one teacher who might do this. No other teacher I know would send home a crossword puzzle UNLESS the content of such was of some importance.  It's too difficult to generalize your personal experience.  It's also illogical.

Eliminate the Federal and California Departments of Education for starters. After that you can break up oversized school districts like LAUSD. The bigger the organization, the bigger corruption and problems. It's time for this to be taken care of at a local level.

I've thought about this too.  I don't have any facts at all to support, but I wonder how much money that should be getting to the teachers, students and classrooms doesn't get past the politicians.  I beleive that the local control is essential in determining what those students need in THAT local area. 

indifferent towards how their kid is doing. they don't set up any parameters for their kid to work under, like a consistent study time each night or getting help when their kid has difficulty. i'm dealing with a parent now whose son has failed a couple of classes and needs summer school or extra work at a learning center. she won't take him, and i just found out it's been this way for the last 3 or 4 years. her kid needs help but isn't getting it. i've had to deal also with parents who have kids with severe cases of ADHD but can't get any help or evaluation because the parents aren't interested in hearing that their child has a learning disability, even though it's treatable. 

I agree.  I have the same situations in my class. Many kids go home and the parents won't even ask.  The kids will go out and hang with friends instead of do the work.  And really, why not?  If no one at home is setting the standards for education, why would they?  It's not the kid's fault.  With many of the kids, the only time I can get them to work and try is at school.  Unfortunately, with 40 kids in a class, it's like herding cats.  It doesn't help when the unmedicated ADHD/ADD kids are bouncing off the walls and the parents won't lift a finger to at least TRY  and medicate their kids.  This year in particular, I have more kids that are unmedicated than I think I've had in a few years.  The reasons are similar to what Tank said.  Some parents aren't interested in helping their child with medication, but I see these kids in class and see how they can't focus and can't take notes or have to constantly verbalize an endless stream of nonsensical thoughts to others because they can't monitor their own behavior. 

Homework is almost pointless when the parents aren't able to facilitate the learning since they may not understand the work themselves. There is nothing the schools can do if the kids' home life doesn't reinforce anything.

This is exactly correct.  I have seen some teachers assign work that is difficult for the students to complete.  What chance does a parent have?  What about the uneducated parent or non-English-speaking parent?  Hopeless.  I don't assign homework that the kids can't do.  I believe that homework should be reinforcement of what was taught in the classroom.  I always tell my kids to "try" the work.  If they don't "try", they will not understand what they know and do NOT know.  It's a remedy to "I don't get it." complaints.   

All I ask is that parents be an active participant in their child's education.  Even if they can't complete the work, for the kids' sake, sit with them and support them.  Too many parents feel like the homework and the education is just the kids' job and not theirs.  Kids are very adept at sniffing out truth and if their parent says one thing but does another, well many kids know how to manipulate and evade the work. 

well we don't have the tons of parental indifference you find in a public school. we also don't have near the quantity of drug and alcohol problems.

 

outside of that, i can't really tell you too many other differences as i've been in a private school all 30 years of my career.

Public school, 8th grade.  The one thing I've noticed most in the years I've taught is that lack of parenting is having a profound effect upon their children's education.  I can't tell how many kids don't do the work.  I'll call them up and ask them and they'll say they didn't get it.  I take three minutes.  No longer.  I explain the assignment, have the student complete an example and then have the student turn in the assignment the next day.  I'll often get the assignment the next day and I wonder what the kid could do if their parent would just...****in...be...a...PARENT!!!

Drives me nuts.  If I lose tenure, I'm going to be evaluated on these students whose ****-tard parents don't give a shit????  I can't go home with each student to be their parent. 

(Sorry about the cursing.)

I noticed that three of the five guys on the Highest Percentage of Strikes were Angels/former Angels. 

During the game against NY that was aired nationally last week on MLB Network, Trout's dad certainly seemed to indicate that he was concerned with the Ks, as well as the throwing arm.  

 

I think "concerned" or "worried" might be the wrong words, though.  Aware is more like it.  I'm betting that Trout will improve on both fronts.  

I think "aware" is the perfect description.  I too, am aware of his strikeouts.  It seems to me that he's caught in-between being aggressive in the zone and waiting for the "perfect" pitch.  He appears to be down 0-2 often, which means he rarely gets the pitch he wants and has to survive on the pitchers pitch and take what's offered. 

Overall, I thinks it's too small a sample size to be worried at all. I'm still not really concerned with the team.  The bullpen might be an issue, but it's the easiest part of the team to fix and I think this team is very close to putting it all together. 

I believe that Richards, Skaggs and Santiago are all going to be inconsistent over the course of the season.  I don't think it's realistic to expect them to be much more than what Santiago is right now.  They are all young and learning how to pitch in the big leagues.  There's a learning curve and it seems like what many of the knee-jerk reactions around here seem to ignore.

For example, I'm sure you all remember Lackey's fifth inning meltdowns when he was younger, right?  Eventually, he ironed out the kinks and went on to become our best pitcher. 

I guess the point is, we will not see a finished product today, tomorrow, or quite likely, within the next two years or so with ANY of those pitchers.  I really think that this is what we're in for the foreseeable future.  Really, is it so bad?  Even though Santiago was yanked early (haha..."Yanked") the offense left guys on base all day long. 

A little ignorant here, but why aren't they using Bedrosian as a starter?  If his stuff is so good, seems like he'd be more valuable as a starter. Anybody know the thought process? (I'll take your answer off the air, thanks)

serious question:  Since the Angels are on the hook for the guaranteed Wells contract, could they call him and tell him to suit up?  I know he sucks balls, but I'm more interested in the scenario.  If he's not under contract with another team, don't the Angels, who are paying him NOT to play also have the right to PLAY him?  Just a question I had...

Welp, Long needs to play every day.  Apparently he needs to develop his talent more. He'd be part of a rotation in Anaheim which would hinder him in the long run.  Boesch can ride pine and still contribute.  He's a body on the bench.  Long is probably being looked at as more than that. 

817

Getting into a routine is the hardest part of working out for me.  Once I manage to get into a routine, I'm good at setting goals and working toward them.  It's hard for me with lifting, especially after an injury like my shoulder.  I also atrophied badly because the only thing I could work was bis/tris for the past year, bascially.  Sucks.  But we have to plug away.  Getting old sucks.  

Yep. I've had injuries to both shoulders and it can be debilitating in the gym.  Really limits what you can do with weights.  YOu're absolutely correct.  Getting old does in fact suck!

I eventually realized that my "routine" or habit was what was really getting me to the gym and once that habit was interrupted by my move, I had nothing to get me there.  Now that I've lost the mass, I realize I miss it.  I'm trying to establish a new habit, but it's pretty difficult. 

I was going to the LA Fitness on Ontario in Corona and they open at 4:30 am.  The one in my town doesn't open til 5:00.  That's tough.  It's good that you're girl is going to the gym.  It sems like it's easier to get there when someone is depending on you to be there.  Also, it's a nice way to spend time with her. 

I wish I could play footie again.  My back is all effed up and it's painful to run now.  I'm relegated to elliptical and bike at the gym, walking at home. 

I have been working out and doing cardio for about four years now.  I started when I turned 39.  I was active as a young fellah, playing soccer and some baseball.  Had a child, got a job, then another child and was stagnant for about 17 years. 

I recently moved to a new city and have had trouble adjusting to a new gym and have had a very hard time getting my workouts done.  I have lost mass and strength.  I'm pretty bummed about this. The main issue is that the LA Fitness in my new city opens later than the other and it screws up my morning schedule which now includes a commute. 

I'm considering trying to go in the afternoons, but I really don't like that.  I have found that I make up way too many excuses to avoid the gym or cardio in the afternoon. 

What's really interesting to me is that I can actually feel the difference in how I am able to move, my energy level, my attittude and my alertness from now to when I was working out regularly. 

I'm considering getting weights for one of my empty rooms so I can get my workouts done on my schedule. 

Lots of good discussion here.  I've been teaching for 16 years now and I've seen a lot of bull shit in our educational system.  I have no answers, either.  It's a damn shame that we do this to our children and that we can't seem to put childrens' education as THE PRIORITY in our state.  I hate that it's so damn political and ulitmately the children suffer and the teachers get shit on because they care but can't seem to get the people that make the decisions listen. 

Of course I'm overgeneralizing, but I see the hypocrisy daily.  It's hard to be part of this sinking ship. 

Trout

Tulo

Kershaw

Fernandez

Hernandez

Okay, I get it.  Thanks Brandon.  I should just keep writing the letters and pushing for them to update.  I'll definitely look into getting the charge off listed as "paid" or "settled".  Thanks again.

Hmm...someone upthread wrote something interesting.

I had a HELOC that was capped and the funds were shut off and it was about three or four years ago.  If, as the poster stated, I can get them to look at it as a second mortgage that was settled and charged off will it improved my credit score? 

That was one of two negatives on my credit that was dragging it down.  My ex-wife settled with the debt collecter and paid the negotiated amount.  That was last year.  Does it matter what it's called because the fall-off time is still seven years?