Anatomy of a meltdown (Hope and change = Nothing Me and My Family Belive In - Freakin Gag Alert)

Cape Cod Times ^ | June 28, 2009 | MARY McNAMARA

[appleseed]

HOLLYWOOD — Clearly the Obama administration needs to address the issue of teacher salaries and fast. On AMC's "Breaking Bad," Bryan Cranston is playing a science teacher making meth, and now we have Thomas Jane as Ray Drecker, a high-school basketball coach-turned-male prostitute in HBO's "Hung."

Both are men of middle age who find themselves undone by fate — Cranston's Walter White has cancer, Ray's wife has left him and he's lost his home to fire — and a lack of ambition. Both are angry at a world that seems to have reneged on earlier promises so, with their personal landscapes scorched beyond recognition, they become, essentially, survivalists, reaching for whatever talents they have to create their own lawless, post-apocalyptic society. Recession-era Mad Maxes.

This is especially true of "Hung," which, despite its sophomoric title, attempts to be a surprisingly subtle study of modern adulthood in difficult economic times. (In case you don't get this, it's set in Detroit.) In this it occasionally succeeds, but at a cost to the sexual farce one might expect from such a setup.

Ray is the quintessential former high-school superstar who has never quite moved on from the arena in which he experienced his zenith. After his athletic career was cut short, Ray became a mediocre history teacher and a successful basketball coach. Which worked out OK until his high-school sweetheart/wife Jessica (Anne Heche) realized this was as good as it was going to get and left him for another former schoolmate, the dweeb who turned into the multimillionaire dermatologist.

Ray and his teenage kids, Darby (Sianoa Smit-McPhee) and Damon (Charlie Saxton), move into his parents' old lakefront home, which promptly burns down. And, of course, Ray has let the insurance lapse.

[appleseed]

Can't even get beyond the first paragraph. What the crap have we become? Threw the TV out long ago. Have dial up because that's all I can get. Don't own not one tune Michael Jackson ever sung. Have a full pantry of can goods and freezied dried stuff. Have a few gun cases full of stuff. Maybe I'm alone on this, but in my corner of the world, we don't give a crap about this kind of stuff. Last time I checked with the neighbor up the road, he cared more about what Govt. was doing to us as far as cap and trade and health care is concerned rather than Hollywood BS.

[RockinRight]

Most teachers I know make more money than I do, and I have the same level of education.

Where’s my demand for higher salary?

What a pantload.

[appleseed]

Self Reliant/Survivalist ping list

[umgud]

A whole lot of change, but no hope to go along with the change.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Cry me a river. I got a degree in K-12 English education, supposedly national accreditation and a lifetime license (from a private school very well respected for their education program).

Well, that was some years ago. I looked into going into teaching after 20 years in corporations. I know a lot more now than then, in all subjects of the humanities, plus I have a lot of real-world experience in all types of writing.

So what did these whining, union crybabies do when they complain about the teacher-to-student ratio and claim they are being paid enough?

They change the rules to require a couple more certificates that make it just about impossible to obtain if you have other commitments.

These teachers should boot the NEA and their state-level affiliates out the door if they want any real improvement in their compensation and in the results they claim to strive for.

[Larry381]

I admit I only read the opening paragraph of this article but is this author actually pointing to a couple of TV shows to make a point for teacher raises?

[jakerobins]

Um nobody forced people to become teachers...If you want to make a million don’t go into public education......If you get a degree in education you have to love education.

[Squantos]

Ditto here. Blocked the MSM in print an TV in 99.
Turned off direct TV last year.

Our pay for information sources are XM radio an internet. About 40 dollars a month

We still get movies at our library for free an have movie nights but free pdf ebooks an the net is awesome source of entertainment with shows an podcasts etc.

We are also very careful where our dollars go with regards stopping all cash to those supporting socilist agendas etc. As in hollywood.

[vladimir998]

“On AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” Bryan Cranston is playing a science teacher making meth...”

Gee, remember when AMC played great old movies you could watch with your kids without having to worry about what was shown?

Yeah, those were the days.

[karatemom]

It should be interesting to see what happens in CA when they have to cut teaching staff and combine classes or increase the teacher/student ratio.

[foobarred]

Actually Breaking Bad is a terrific show. The Cranston character turns “bad” not because of his teacher’s salary, but because of his own weakness and pride. He’s had opportunities in his life, but never took them.

It’s pretty clear in the show that the price he pays with his soul is not worth the money.

[hiredhand]

Yep! The library is one of our primary sources of movies! ...that and a thrift shop up the road!

Liberals are starting to get very, VERY nervous about what's happening. It's quite obvious that our Executive leadership has no freakin clue how to handle the economy, a military, open borders, and terrorism... just to name a few big ticket items...much less direct an automobile manufacturing company. It now takes very little to prod a liberal with - "So! How's that "Change We Can Believe In" working out for you?! Do you still have "HOPE"?!" I've even had a few express regrets of voting for Obama... under their breath of course. They're not quite ready to come out and admit that they made a mistake yet.

This is unfortunate, because I tell them that by the time they ARE ready to admit the mistake, we over here on my side of the fence will have long since battened down the hatches (so to speak) and things will be very unsafe. I tell them that NOW is the time to fix things, but they're so afraid that they can't do anything. Hell...they can't do anything anyway. They're ineffective on a good day! About all they seem to be good for is suckering into false "hope" and "Change We Can Believe In". But they forget that in order to fulfill their agenda, it takes MONEY, and that's a problem right now...and it's a problem that's getting bigger!

You remember when I said back in October that our Congress and Senate started a financial siege with that 10% of people who own everything? I had a conversation with a few of them the other day (ten-percenters that is). They told me that whereas previously they would suggest to customers that cash would get a discount, now the customers are ASKING them! Plus, cash is very tough to track and they're doing a lot of business over cash. During this conversation, one suggested to the other that the IRS would notice that it appeared as though he were GIVING AWAY work. The other replied, ""F" em! They give away MY money for charity! I'm just doing the same thing as far as they're concerned!"

This situation has degraded a long way in a short time. The financial decline is on a non-linear curve, and now liberals are terrified of what they've done. I personally am taking no small sense of satisfaction in rubbing salt into their wounds. :-)

[raybbr]

Actually Breaking Bad is a terrific show. The Cranston character turns “bad” not because of his teacher’s salary, but because of his own weakness and pride. He’s had opportunities in his life, but never took them.

For all it's weirdness and black humor "Breaking Bad" was very entertaining. The character development was very good. I found myself fully engaged by them all through the series.

I especially like Jesse Pinkman. What a tragic character full of faults but you still root for him because he really is a good kid.

[hiredhand]

Wow... reading the first paragraph was a shock to me. We haven't ever gotten any T.V. signal good enough here to watch very much. Then, a few weeks ago, the digital conversion took place and we had already decided in advance that we weren't doing it. We live on a small working farm and if we want to wallow in filth, there's plenty of it down in the goat pen and the chicken house! :-)

As for teachers...public school...the NEA...and the indecent decline of the government education system... We saw the general direction it was taking back in the late 1990s and pulled ours out of that mess and started homeschooling. We graduated one last summer (after nine years), and still have two more that we're homeschooling in the 9th and 11th grades. My wife (a BSN/RN) has only just recently been able to go back to work part time. It was tough missing that paycheck, but we simply didn't spend what we didn't have. We lived within our means. But people we know bitch and complain because they never seem to have enough... and they both work, full time, and the kids live between school and day care. Parents rush them too and fro to "activities" so they'll get "socialized" and stay entertained. Then one day when the adult realizes that the teen aged monster isn't anything recognizable anymore, they wonder where they went wrong! But they got what they wanted while the time was passing to put meaningful input into the lives of their own children! They wanted new cars, homes in exclusive parts of town that they could only afford for awhile because of our screwed up financial system.... home entertainment equipment, motorcycles, boats, and all manner of other "stuff". I'll have to admit that I like "stuff", but it has to perform some USEFUL FUNCTION and perform that function WELL... otherwise I could care less. ...and I could REALLY CARE LESS about the absolute crap that comes from Hollywood and the MSM.

I didn't mean to make this sound like I was being hard on people for not homeschooling because I know good and well that some people are simply in a position that won't permit it. My point was to illustrate just how screwed up people's priorities are. But then again, I think Sub-Prime pretty much proved that!

[Squantos]

Cash is indeed king for now . Frugal , living within ones means and voting with your dollars if they will negate your real vote with fraud from the nuts at acorn.

socialism only works until you run out of other peoples money and then it’s communism and I know how to deal with a communist kicking in doors in America.

Frugal life is an easy life. So much available for free that is good quality, and brings good friends and families back together at work and play. At our local VFW we have created a resource library where we have millions of ebooks and 12 CPU stations with printers etc that members and their families can come and print out a copy using their own bond paper if possible or bring in a little USB thumb-drive to take the material back home to their own computers etc ......

Cheap as we were discussing this AM. Old construction designs of dwellings were done with passive cooling in mind with transom windows, large covered porches, ceiling fans , shade trees, getting up early in the cool of the day to do your hardest work around the property and relaxing in the shade during the heat. Recent additions and remodel of my home has done wonders for my utility bills. We stripped the brick off the exterior framing. Added rigid foam board and tyvek house wrap w/ a dupont breathable grid pattern material that allows airflow over the house-wrap. Then we replaced the brick. After repairs to the homes sheathing and framing we sistered the exterior walls inside framing with 2x6 studs and used expanding foam and new drywall for a really thick insulation shell of the home. Attic has 14 inches with a plywood floor over that !

A fresh air heat exchanger is part of our HVAC system with good filters and such yet we drop down our top windows on the side of the house where the sun is hitting and open the lower part of the windows where the shade is and the home has stayed cool even in 96 degree heat we’ve had in last few weeks.

We normally will open the windows in late evening in the manner described above and then early in the AM close em and the temps stay in the high 60’s to low 70’s all day unless we are in and out a lot an then we can turn on AC for a hour to super cool the big foam beer cooler we live in and turn it off and stay real comfortable till evening cools down and we open windows ..........

I am a nut with regards to insulation in ones home. Triple pane windows and triple pane storm windows and doors are a MUST ! And minimum of 12 inches of insulation in the shell of ones home will do wonders for yer comfort and your wallets comfort.......:O)

[foobarred]

I especially like Jesse Pinkman. What a tragic character full of faults but you still root for him because he really is a good kid.

I read somewhere that the Pinkman character was supposed to die a violent death at the end of the first season, but didn't because viewers really liked him.

At one point in the 2nd season, I really thought the show jumped the shark when Jesse started shooting heroin. It got too dark and left the viewer with nobody to cheer for. However, the writing is so good that you can see that his character still has humanity and may find redemption in the end.

[hiredhand]

I’ve been thinking all day about that conversation. :-) I think I’m going to pick back up on the project where me and SoapGirl managed to get air moving up through the attic and sucked it through the damp cloths hanging from open windows on the cool side of the house. I’m going to try this again on the next really hot day that we have. :-) :-)

[Squantos]

Drop top windows on hot side of home about 4 inches and open lower windows on cool shady side of home with yer passive swamp cooler design. We also have a whole house fan in the attic hole in case the HVAC fails for whatever reason as it has deone in the past at times. After all it is man made and has high probability of failure that comes with such. We have the passive systems, the HVAC, and a few portables that we can set in a window for really hot days if something goes south !

I keep 2 window units at my Mom’s residence as well in case her HVAC fails . Not good to make near 80 year old ladys angry by letting her get to overheated....LOL !

I am going to add a solar panel to our whole house fan to suck out the hot air from highest points in the structure with windows cracked at lowest points to gain cool air off covered porches for .............free !

[hiredhand]

I'll keep you posted on the "swamp cooler" testing. :-) We HAD one of those big fans in the attic for sucking air up into that space and out the front window. There's a small room up there with a window.

Anyway... SoapGirl wanted to see if the fan worked and I was curious too. So we took the motor off and brought it to the kitchen. The motor was OLD and on the tag I could plainly read "110V, 60HZ", so I put some new input wires on it and wired a switch to it. Then me and her plugged it in, and I hit the switch! That thing made the worst noise you can imagine! ...and flames shot out of it, along with an intense bluish light! It scared the absolute crap out of both of us! It blew the breaker before I could react, and there it sat on SP's counter, smoking with small flames still coming out of it. :-) Me and SoapGirl laughed at each other because it WAS funny in retrospect!

Anyway...as I was saying...we used to HAVE a fan! :-)

[Squantos]

LOL....new motor is cheap at thrift shop or garage sales......:o)

Red Green would be proud ........put some duct tape on it and press on !