Aims, just an aside, I wasn't criticizing your sister at all. Middle school kids deserve a harsh smackdown on a pretty regular basis. I say things in class all the time that are almost at the edge of over the top because sometimes it's the only way to get a reaction. I just know that when I've done the make a hard and fast rule on the fly, it occasionally comes around and bites me in the ass (last year I gave the same quiz 18 days in a row until everyone in the class had a 70% or higher (hideous typo fixed). That's what I got for saying we'd take it until everyone passed).

is is a young teacher - only in her third year - and maybe it wasn't the best way to handle the situation. She's still learning her ropes. But she's a damn good teacher.

Best or not, it was the way she handled it and, from what you said, it works for her. Like all relationships seen from the outside, you can't know what is really going on unless you are in it and even then you might not know.

Today a 12th grader showed up in a "I heart Hot Moms" shirt and I gave him a hard time about it. I said it was inappropriate and he wondered why. I pointed out he probably didn't want people looking at his mom and thinking about whether or not she was hot enough to have sex with so he probably shouldn't do the same to other kids' moms. He took the shirt off, turned it inside out and put it back on.

I probably would handle it differently if I had to do it again. But it was effective.

Uh-oh. National Punctuation Day: Take The Huffington Post Punctuation Quiz!

I call bullshit on the Comma question. I see nothing wrong with the first one, and the second one has the comma outside the quotation marks.

Passive voice lets you point the finger without actually saying your boss didn't do his job.

This is an excellent use of the passive voice. I'm forced to use the passive voice in some articles because no one remembers who did something; everyone remembers who did it, but they don't want to embarrass him in a national magazine; or they want the mythical "team" to get the credit. This results in such sentences as: "The valve was not closed in time."

This results in such sentences as: "The valve was not closed in time."

I don't suppose you could do: An unnamed source said, "Some doofus didn't close the valve in time."

This would allow people to snicker at a known quantity without incurring libel risks.

Timelies all!

I've never had a surprise party. Oh, well...

I don't suppose you could do: An unnamed source said, "Some doofus didn't close the valve in time."

Heh.

"As a result, shit was made to hit the fan."

You call that patriotism?

Chuck Norris is calling on his fellow tea partiers to deface the American flag. I'm not kidding.

I suggest you fly some revolutionary flag in lieu of your 50-star flag over the next year. Post the 13-star Betsy Ross flag, Navy Jack or Gadsden flag ("Don't Tread on Me") or any representation that tells the story of Old Glory and makes a stand for our Founders' vision of America.

Of course, patriots know that the 50-star flag truly represents one nation under God and our Founders' republic, but modernists simply don't get it. So what do you say we make a statement by flying a different flag and educate our neighbors when they ask us, "Why are you flying that flag instead of the contemporary Stars and Stripes?" (If you insist on posting a modern USA flag, too, then get one that is tea-stained to show your solidarity with our Founders.)

Really? Stain the flag? I have a better idea Chuck, maybe you could show your dissatisfaction with the government by stomping on the flag or burning it.

I'm not an aging former martial arts star with a Townhall column, so maybe I'm not up to snuff on this, but, when I was in the Cub Scouts, they taught us that soiling the flag was a definite no-no. It's this kind of suggestion that usually drives conservatives to write, call and shout at their congressional representatives to pass laws and constitutional amendments criminalizing flag desecration. For the record, I oppose such laws because I see them as the thin end of the wedge that leads to complete abandonment of the First Amendment. However, i do expect people who claim to respect the flag to actually - you know - respect the flag. This kind of suggestion seem to me to be of a part with those who want to demonstrate their patriotism by seceding and dismantling the Union.

Beyond the forehead smacking idiocy of his suggestion, Norris' column and the comments that follow offer an insightful glimpse into what my friend David Neiwert calls the eliminationist mindset. Norris sets up the us-or-them framework. Naturally, he calls his side the "patriots." What's surprising is what he calls his side's perceived enemies (that's us, dear readers); he calls us "modernists." While conservatism is anti-modern at its core, it's rare to see such an open admission from anyone, except the most extreme fundamentalist, that they are in revolt against the modernity....

I've never had a surprise party.

I had a surprise baby shower. It was actually awesome, once I got over the surprise. (80+ neighbors, many of whom didn't know me and I didn't know them, had a shower for Ellie while Joe was deployed. Almost all of them were retired and I think they really enjoyed it and I certainly did.) But the initial shock made me feel awkward and weird and obligated. Like, "but I didn't get you anything!!"

I learned tonight Thursdays are not the night to go to the pool late. Massive swim lesson, one lane for laps, 4 people sharing, one a real slowpoke. Had to pause a lot, though not for long, so it was almost like 1000+m without stopping. Almost, but not quite.

That was sweet of the neighbors, Stephanie.