VoicesInMyHead
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Posts posted by VoicesInMyHead
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Just out of curiosity because you two have such a different opinion from the rest of the people in this thread - how old are your children? Are they taking the CRCT this year?
I agree with LSU and the other poster... there's nothing in this test they shouldn't be able to pass.
And I'm a parent with two children, both are taking it, one is in a grade where they must pass it. My child, nor I, have any worries because they have been given every opportunity to learn the subject matter.
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Because grades are highly variable and subjective to the teacher and school. In an effort to ensure that teachers nor schools are simply letting substandard students through the system, the students are tested to ensure they really are getting an education.
The CRCT isn't really about whether or not the student is doing well... it's about whether or not the educational system is doing well. The educational system is given the tools and standards to enable any student in any situation to pass that test. If they don't, it is a failure of the system.
(This is also why the schools work so hard on getting the student to pass it. It reflects on them, not the student.)
The reason why the student is required to take additional classes over the summer to improve the score is to catch those students who truly are having difficulty.
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If you have a computer with a dial-up modem that is connected (to use dial-up internet or faxing or whatever), there are malware programs that can get downloaded onto your computer that will do nothing but make phone calls using various long distance carriers to basically rack up long distance minutes in order to make the long distance provider money. These are run by very shady providers.
If the long distance company that billed your phone number was one of these obscure companies, I would strongly recommend you disconnect your computer from the phone line and see if it stops.
(Note: i am *not* talking about DSL, here... this only applies if your phone line is connected directly to your computer!)
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A little something about panic attacks:
The onset of these episodes is typically abrupt, and may have no obvious triggers. Although these episodes may appear random, they are a subset of an evolutionary response commonly referred to as fight or flight that occur out of context. This response floods the body with hormones, particularly epinephrine (adrenaline), that aid it in defending against harm.
A panic attack is a response of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The most common symptoms may include trembling, dyspnea (shortness of breath), heart palpitations, chest pain (or chest tightness), hot flashes, cold flashes, burning sensations (particularly in the facial or neck area), sweating, nausea, dizziness (or slight vertigo), light-headedness, hyperventilation, paresthesias (tingling sensations), sensations of choking or smothering, and derealization. These physical symptoms are interpreted with alarm in people prone to panic attacks.
Not every sufferer of panic attacks will have the same symptoms, and sufferers will not have ALL of the symptoms listed above. It is entirely possible to have panic attacks out of nowhere, by people who have never experienced them before.
This is a very accurate description of the symptoms associated with panic/anxiety disorder attacks. Indeed, they have no particular trigger and can happen at pretty much any time. When they occur (especially when you are an anxiety disorder newbie), they will scare the living CRAP out of you. You will swear you are dying of a heart attack or something. You will have an overwhelming urge to leave the situation you are in. And, being scared about it all just intensifies and prolongs the attack. You will also worry about having another one, which will predispose you to actually having one. (In fact, when I first started having them, I began reading about them to better understand them, and simply reading about them caused me to have a couple! In fact, I'm betting you have occasionally felt like one was coming on while reading our suggestions, haven't you?)
Anxiety disorder is really an unprovoked "fight or flight" response in your body. You get a heavy shot of adrenaline and other hormones that prepare you for a fight or a flight. But, since it is totally unprovoked, your body and mind sort of freak out about it.
It's a real b**ch!
There are medications to treat anxiety disorder. Anti-anxiety and (oddly enough) anti-depressants can be prescribed, but they are not without their side-effects. I tried a few, and they sucked.
What my doctor and I did settle on, though, is using a cardio-selective beta blocker. It doesn't prevent the attacks... you will still feel many of the effects listed above, however it greatly reduces the intensity to the point where the attack is at least manageable. Cardio-selective beta blockers are quite safe in nature and are routinely used to treat high blood pressure, too. They work by blocking the effect of adrenaline on receptors in heart muscle and (to a lesser extent, hence the "cardio-selective") the rest of the body.
Be forwarned, though... there is no true diagnosis of "anxiety disorder". There's no test that proves what you have is anxiety disorder. There are a few other disorders that have similar symptoms. Adrenal cysts (cysts on the adrenal glands, where adrenaline is produced) can sometimes rupture, releasing a sudden and massive adrenaline dose into your bloodstream, which causes the EXACT same symptoms. All of these other problems have to be ruled out before an "anxiety disorder" diagnosis can be made.
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The bills were piling up, and even though we had good insurance I hesitated to use it for so much doctor bill. I thought the bills were to high, and felt bad that my insurance had to pay such high bills for me. I asked my wife to put off one of her appointments just to curb some of the expense
That's kind of the point of insurance of any kind. To protect you from massive losses.
Sorry for your losses, WT... honest, I am. I would be totally lost in life without my wife. But, I'd spare no expense and use every cent of insurance that I have paid for fair and square (plus personal funds) to save her life. I hope you would do the same for yourself and the ones you care about, dude.
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Tabby, you sound right. I've had panic disorder for years and it started like that...but -- the shaking I would describe more as an almost buzzing sensation that would move through my body and the mental feeling of being "outside" of the situation or feeling. Obviously, the irregular heartbeat and the compression on the chest making breathing seem difficult (even though it's really not) are pretty standard. You'll also notice that you might have your fingertips go numb.
Does that sound right?
Agreed. Sounds like anxiety disorder to me, too. I've suffered from this for a number of years. It sucks.
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I have a powerful UPS (11 minutes to shut down )and a surge protector.
Very good.
.. I'd still get a weather radio if I were you, though. We have one on each level of our house and a portable for when we're out or camping. We never miss anything. lol
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I have the WeatherChannel Desktop on my desktop and my laptop--love it! But for some reason, the one on my desktop won't open today. I was just about to restart my 'puter to see if I could jump-start it that way.
But still, I'll be glad to have the radio. If something comes in the middle of the night, I won't be listening to my computer.
Thanks! I'll look it up and have it ready when he gets back with the radio.
... nor should you have it plugged in during a thunderstorm.
... and, when the power goes out, then what will you have to warn you?
Weather radios are cheap and very useful.
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I'm a long-time layman's weather nut, as well. The predicted CAPEs (which is a measure of the amount of energy in the atmosphere, measured in joules/kg) are rather impressive this time around. (1200 joules/kg are sufficient for a strong to severe thunderstorm... the models are predicting upwards of 1800 joules/kg this afternoon.) At a very minimum you've got to have energy to brew up a storm, and the energy is certainly there today.
The current radar doesn't look like the front is churning up the atmosphere south of Tennessee nearly as much as it is in Tennessee. It's going to have to be a little more aggressive southward for it to make a big impact here. But, if it does, hang on... this situation easily supports some well-organized supercells.
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Would hate to see you go to jail for 'beating up' a by-the-book FA
I wouldn't.
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We've had both Dish Network and DirecTV. Both are pretty much the same. I prefer DirecTV simply because they (once) offered receivers based on TiVo... not just another DVR. They no longer offer those, but they can still be used if you have them (I do).
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General Motors fuel sending units for the past 10 years have been notorious for failing in exactly this manner... and costly to replace.
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Given that it is much more difficult to make a left hand turn at an intersection than it is to make a right hand turn the yield sign makes sense....it help clear the intersection of traffic.
But, you see, it isn't difficult for a left-turner to make that turn because often that left-turner will get a protected green arrow, which gives them exclusive right of way to make their turn. Everyone else is red except the left-turners. That's their exclusive time to make that turn. Having a yield sign is unnecessary because (a) it is already understood universally that when you turn on red, you must come to a stop first anyway and (
there's no need to yield to a left-turner "to help clear the traffic" because they will get their exclusive turn during the cycle anyway. -
Left turners have to yield for straight on-coming traffic but they don't have to yield for on-coming right turners.
And that is the problem. No other state I have ever been to has this. Left turners yield to everyone unless they have a protected green arrow... that's how it is everywhere except Georgia. In fact, that's the whole reason they have a protected green arrow... to give them exclusive right-of-way for once in the cycle.
The yield signs in Geogia royally screw that up. Now, rather than a simple system of yielding, there's a LOT of guesswork.
- With the yield signs, the left-turner has to look to see if the right-turner has a yield sign or not... because if they don't and you go, you're not yielding and will be at fault.
- With the yield signs, the right-turner has to guess whether or not the left turner is actually going to go. The left turner may not due to more oncoming traffic.
- With the yield signs, there is the possibility that one is taken down due to damage or vandalism. That adds even more confusion... do they yield or not when it's missing? Will an out-of-towner know it was once there but no longer is?
The addition of the right-turn yield signs has introduced a plethora of problems. They should all be removed and the state should standardize on how the rest of the nation does it. It's clear, it's simple, and it's universal. No guesswork, no possibility for confusion, and much less chance of accident.
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Yeah... umm... ok you're right have fun.
This is the attitude that makes these signs necessary.
I'm not really sure of the "attitude" you are referring to. No "attitude" was intended... just observation.
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So while you are sitting there at your redlight the approaching traffic has a green light and maybe even a green arrow. GA allows right turn on red. So you could turn right on your red but do you KNOW what the oncoming traffic's lights look like. ....... You could assume that since you are red so is the other side but that is not always true. And to the best of my knowledge there is no law stating that right turns automatically yield to left turning traffic. The yield sign also gives higher priority to those turning left on a green light than those turning right. The theory is that it is harder for those turning left to safely make that turn than for those turning right. It improves traffic flow if everbody would just remember who has right of wayand why. Those turning left also need to assert this right of way issue. Without the yield signs this is a lawsuit waiting to happen. The state is being proactive in protecting the citizens and staving off lawsuits against itself. Does that make sense to you?
The law has always been that you stop and ensure the road is clear before turning on a red light. That already implies that you will be yielding to anything that is approaching. You don't really need to know the state of their light. If your light says "stop", you gotta stop and ensure it's clear to go. If you light says go, you just go. That's the way it is in every state I've ever been in.
As for this helping the left-turners have a better chance to go, that is completely unnecessary if they have a protected arrow stoplight. They are already given exclusive right-of-way during the cycle, something the right-turners never receive. I have been at a number of intersections where a right-turner has been stuck for multiple cycles. Their light is red and left-turners had green arrow... Couldn't go. Their light turned green and there were no more cars going straight in their direction of travel, so the left-turners kept coming... Couldn't go. Light turned red and cross-traffic started coming... Couldn't go. And so-on.
There is a reason every other state does it differently... Its because it eliminates all of the guesswork.
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Why is that so hard for so many to understand? I have only seen it once that there was no sign. I called the DOT and informed them that the folks turning right had no idea when / if the oncoming left turn had a green arrow or not and that the DOT would likely be held responsible for any accident caused by this. They had a sign up in about 2 days.
But, it's not necessary to guess... Which makes the yield signs unnecessary.
It's really very simple. If your direction of traffic has a green light, the opposing traffic CAN'T have a green arrow. It will never happen. No guessing required.
And if your direction of travel is red, you have to stop before turning right on red anyway. Again, no guessing required.
But Georgia decided to put yield signs. Now, everyone turning right has to guess the intentions of the left-turner. If your light is green, you have no way of knowing if they have red (which means they can't go), or green. And if their light is green, you have no idea if they are going to attempt their turn because you don't know if there are any more cars behind you that are going straight instead of turning right.
Having right-turn yield signs is one of the dumbest ideas in traffic planning. It is no surprise this backwards state decided to do this.
Pure stupidity and lack of any critical thinking.
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Yeah, I remember how excited I was with my first hummer, too. I've loved them ever since.
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NICE! Perhaps there's an end to this madness after all?!?
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Get packaging tape and lay it sticky-side-up wherever you don't want them to go.
They will get caught up in it once...
... once.
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My installation of Norton Internet Security automatically updates itself constantly, often times within minutes of each other. In fact, my last update occurred just 12 seconds ago. And, it has detected and prevented this worm since it was originally found last year.
I have zero worries about this or any other threat out there.
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Ok... Here's the word-nazi in me coming out.
The things you wear in your ear aren't a "Bluetooth". They are a "Bluetooth headset". Bluetooth is the communication protocol between the headset and the device. So, honestly, there is no plural of "Bluetooth". There is (singular) a "Bluetooth headset" and (plural) "Bluetooth headsets".
(Trivia: "Bluetooth" was the name that engineers at the Swedish company Ericsson gave to their protocol, in honor of a tenth-century Viking king Harald Bluetooth.)
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I went to two proms in the late 80's. I took my highschool sweetheart to her junior and senior proms. Junior prom was wonderful... quite likely one of the best dates I ever had. Senior prom was awful... bar-none the worst date I have ever had and wouldn't repeat it if I were paid to do so.
... and I married her.
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The whole notion of Earth Hour is rooted in stupidity. The power systems don't create energy "on demand". The power plants burn the same amount of coal and use neutrons at the same rate, even when there may be a decreased load on the system. They do this to meet peak expected loads.
So, as Earth Hour comes and goes, the only thing these dopes are doing is leaving themselves in the dark... which really is no difference from the usual. All the while, the power plants continue to burn.
Another "looks good on paper, is stupid in reality" idea from the enviroclowns.
CRCT
in Internet Cafe
Posted · Edited by VoicesInMyHead
... then you totally miss the point of the CRCT.
The CRCT is here to ensure that kids aren't passed along just because "they get good grades". Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps the reason the child has good grades is because the teacher was overly lenient in grading in order to promote more students out of their class, thereby making them look like they are a more successful teacher?
That is precisely what the CRCT is here to stop.
There is nothing on that test that shouldn't have been covered in class. If little Johnny is a straight-A student but fails the CRCT, something doesn't add up, and it points squarely at a system that promoted him without really knowing the content.
And the argument of "little Johnny doesn't do well on standardized tests" is bunk. If little Johnny can't pass the test because he can't fill out a simple multiple-choice quiz, how will he fill out all of life's other little forms? If that is a skillset little Johnny is lacking, he needs help.