Will Pres. Obama respond to Gadaffi letter...

or will it be “Um, we don’t talk to nasty, dirty terrorist!”

I am mindful during the Katrina tragedy, Pres. Fidel Castro wrote to Pres. Bush offering to send five hundred nurses and doctors over to help with the sick and wounded. My understanding is there was no reply.

Will President Obama also give the one finger salute to the leader of a country reaching out to communicate with him? I suspect Gadaffi wants some acknowledgment of his letter to Pres. Obama, the leader of the free world. I would.

The first letter to brother leader to Barack Obama:
"To our son, his excellency, Mr Baracka Hussein Obama. I have said to you before, that even if Libya and the United States of America enter into a war, god forbid, you will always remain a son. Your picture will not be changed. I want you to remain in the same image. I have all the people of Libya with me, and I'm prepared to die and we have all the men, children and women with me. Nothing more. Al Qaeda is an armed organisation, passing through Algeria, Mauritania and Mali. What would you do if you found them controlling American cities with the power of weapons? What would you do, so I can follow your example."
Read more at:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-19

Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-SPAN and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB

Learn me how to teach: No Blacks allowed!

I often tell the story how, as an under-graduate at Howard University in the 50's, I witnessed students from Africa being inducted into the most prestigious honor societies the school had to offer. I witnessed them studying like hell for fear of failing and having to go back home to face people in their villages who put up the money for them to come to Howard. I witnessed they did not hang out at the Howard Theater.

On television, I have since seen African teachers writing lessons in dirt as students hover around. I have seen classrooms of fifty or more African students sharing books and giving the uppermost respect and attention to the one teacher in the room and, alas, I have seen them come to Howard University and flourish speaking perfect English. Most of them were in the medical and engineering schools. There were no computers in those days. Bill Gates was born in 1955, the year I graduated from high school.

There was a saying at Howard that when the teacher calls the roll on the first day of class, if you hear African names you should immediately go to the registrars’ office to drop the course due to the fact the Africans would set the class average so high you would be left in the dust gasping for breath, wondering what hit you! (Smile)
There was more than one blessed teacher telling us on the first day, “I mark on the curve” and that may have been to keep their class numbers up because after the roll call, there were more than a few of us American students already heading for the door!

The oversight(?) Of Sec. Arne Duncan not inviting educators from Black countries like the ones I have seen on television does not say nice things about him. I say this not from this lone incident. The resolve of Mr. Duncan to help the educational system here in America has become, in my opinion, highly questionable. The words, ‘winging it’ readily comes to mind. Rachel Maddow would do a far better job as would Michele Rhee.

I would think educators from those African countries would have rendered valuable information were they invited to “*…(the) first-ever international summit on the teaching profession for high-performing nations and rapidly-improving countries on March 16 and 17 in New York City.”

In addition to the United States, the invited countries and regions are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

And
Across the globe, education is the great equalizer, the one force that can consistently overcome differences in background, culture, and privilege. Increasing teacher autonomy and participation in reform is vital not just to improving student outcomes but to elevating the teaching profession. We reject the prevailing wisdom that it can't be done.
Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arne-duncan/uncommon-wisdom-on-teachi_b_836541.html

* http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/internationaled/teaching-summit.html

As always,
BB

What you think akin to having bellybuttons

I am not anti-thinking nor am I anti-bellybuttons. They both have their place and their own charming appeal.

Now that the Sunday Barnum and Bailey style talk shows have gone into remission for another week, it’s time for the ‘Grand entrance of the critics’ to grace the scene. You know, the ones that think they have descended from Valhalla per our requests.

I am not anti-opinions either but in most instances, criticisms are given by more than a few saying almost anything to make that mortgage payment and car note. And to boot, that same group of critics have an opinion on every damn thing you can name. The ritual is tiresome and heap big boring!

- (Moderator) I want to thank you for being here but first, let me show you a clip of what Sen. Blah Blah said on Sunday and I want you to tell me what you think.

And all the while the self venerated critic is trying (struggling) to say something, anything that can be construed he knows what he is talking about, the moderator is interrupting him, exposing his own bellybutton.

Ugh! At that point, I usually change the channel! Thank God for the remote! It is one of the worlds’ most useful inventions!

As always,
BB