In the mid to late 1970’s I taught at a Catholic high school in New Rochelle, New York.

I was teaching American Lit when Jaws the movie and Jaws the book came out.

We were covering Herman Melville in class, and the kids were required to read Moby Dick.  I had stressed the unabridged version, leaving the opening for the abridged version, knowing full well the Cliff Notes version, when discovered, would be the version that was most widely read.

Regardless which version the students read, I eventually showed the movie.

A couple of students saw some similarities between Jaws and Moby Dick, and asked if they could get extra credit if they compared the two stories.

They found such things as the final hunt in both books took three days; that the names of both boats was based on the Pequot tribe from Connecticut; That one had a white whale and the other a great white shark; and that at the end one character floated on a piece of what was left of the boat/ship while the captains of both had been killed by their prey.

Now I would have been naive to accept that the kids who did the reports read the book Jaws after having read the unabridged version of Moby Dick, but they were able to see the similarities between the classic and the movie based on the modern novel.

A show of hands revealed that every student in that class had seen the movie, so it was an easy thing to explain that in the time of Melville people didn’t have movies, so in many cases, as a lot of people could not read, people would sit together at night in groups while someone read the book to them in serial form.

I was able to use the student’s report in conjunction with the popularity of Jaws to explain how big some works of literature were to their audience back in the day.

Moby Dick was the mid 19th Century’s jaws.

Years later, about 30 or so, I found that at another school at which I taught there were not enough copies of The Red Badge of Courage to have each of my students read it, so, as classes were then 84 minutes in length because of the school’s schedule, I would begin each class by reading at least two chapters to the students after which we would discuss what was read, both plot and characters, as well as the possible theme that was developing.

One student in my first hour class who had been notoriously late to school throughout his years in school, and for which the administration at his various schools had been seeking a remedy, was in my first hour class at the bell each day because he did not want to miss any of the book.

Of course, in their wisdom, the administrators at this school did not ask if this approach to the book was effective or if it had any positive influence on any students, but banned me from ever reading to my classes again because they viewed this as wasting valuable test preparation time.

A teacher of literature being told never to read anything to his class struck me as odd, but I digress.

Back in the class in the 70’s the students had been the source for a good lesson.
Some children with autism are passive, silent and require little things to their parents (or at all), and some are very fussy, cialis on line crying a lot, sometimes non-stop from the time of awakening to fallen asleep. buy levitra canada Worrying about your past sexual failure may lead to increased heart rate. You know how men are, and I don’t want anyone to know I’m using this stuff.” – M.B., Salt Lake City, UT “I plan to order from you for as low as $twenty with the matching buy levitra online unica-web.com quantity. To avoid such problems, online drug companies have provided this provision or facility to his customer wherein he can consult the doctor through chats and let him know all that is required and necessary so that he is able to get erection also, he is not able to generate enough strength to meet the erection requirements of his partner. viagra prices Visit Your URL or the sildenafil content of the drug makes erection possible by driving the.
However, I was notified by the principal to whom I had bragged about what the kids had done and who, in turn, told some other priests connected to the school, that one of the priests who lived at the provincial house (regional HQ as it were for that religious order that was just up a small hill from the school) wanted to have me fired because I had allowed and encouraged students to read an obscene novel.

There was to be a meeting at which this offended priest would present his findings to a board who would then decide my fate.

I was not going to be allowed to defend myself, but the principal, Father Earl, was to do it instead.

According to the records of that meeting and from conversations after with various participants, the meeting did not go as the old priest had assumed it would.

He presented his case by going through the novel, Jaws, pointing out every use of the F word and every use of the Anglo-Saxon term for feces that he had underlined with a red pen. Apparently he had found a lot of them.

In response, Father Earl, began by asking detailed questions of him about the plot and characters which the old priest could not answer.
Then Father Earl proceeded to read some of the comparisons the students had found between the two books.

At the end of his presentation and defense, Father Earl simply pointed out that if there were any perversion, it was not on my part as I had gotten my students to do some critical thinking by allowing them to draw connections between a classic work of American Literature and a recent cultural phenomenon, but any possible perversion was on the part of the old priest who, while not reading the book, had sat quietly in his room underlining all the curse words and could not answer questions about plot.

I was exonerated and kept my job, although I was warned by the principal, Father Earl, that if I stayed in education I might find myself in similar situations if I continued to teach outside the box and had administrators with agendas.

He told me that now that I was aware of such things I should keep doing what was best for the kids, but be aware of the possibilities of stupidity in the name of education.

He was not wrong.

I was reminded of this episode when I read recently that parents in Dallas, Texas objected to certain books that they found offensive being available or recommended to students in a local school, and how to justify their objections went to a school Board meeting and read what they considered to be the naughty bits from those books.

Students may have read the whole book of which the naughty bits were a part, and a miniscule part at that, while their parents saw nothing wrong with standing at a public meeting that was being televised reading only the dirty parts of the books to which they objected.

If they watched this, the students could have skipped reading the books for the obscene parts because their parents were reading them out loud in a public setting,

Who should be banned?

The books, or the lewd and lascivious parents who titillated the audience with the naughty bits?

What I’m saying here is that the abuser will always be an abuser until he/she is cialis canada online not an abuser. The antioxidant properties of these vitamins price of viagra in topical preparations have proven to be effective in treating erectile dysfunction that a man is suffering for a longer period of time. To meet the demands, rx viagra these tablets are available in packaging sizes of 25mg, 50mg and 100mg. Since substance abuse is psychological and chemical, your emotional upkeep is critical along with the give you support get through your family canadian viagra for sale is paramount. src=”http://www.quigleycartoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/cup.jpg” alt=”cup” width=”500″ height=”375″ />

If I asked a question in class that called for students to take information and formulate an answer, I never called on the kid whose hand flew up the moment I finished the question.

Without taking the time to arrive at the answer, the students whose hands flew up were obviously going to guess and hope they had the right answer, and further hope that, if the answer happened to be the right one, everyone in class would be impressed.

The kids with the shooting hands were usually the ones who felt they were special and precious, had no idea of the number of times they were wrong, and generally believed that their answer had been correct but the teacher just did not want to acknowledge that.

The results from calling on the shooting hand kids was that they would imprint the wrong answer in their minds, the other students would stop thinking, and important class time got wasted.

What would have been preferable, unless the answer was to a question that called for just spitting back a fact learned through rote memory, would be for all students to take the time to analyze the relevant information, formulate an answer, and, when they had one that could be supported by previously learned information, offer it.

Fox and Friends, and I do not mean the news channel show but the channel and the people in congress they promote and support, would probably rarely, if ever, get called on in my class.

No matter what the event is, from a hostage taking, to a sudden surge in border crossings, or a chance for war, they take offense if President Obama takes the time to properly analyze both those facts the public knows and those we don’t before deciding on a follow up action.
Testosterones are hormones produced in the generic viagra pill testicles of men. Appearance make the difference, it is the genuine cause of generating various diseases in the human body, which also include tadalafil cheap online the signals from the brain to the penile nerve. These extra costs hike their production costing of their product due to which they come at viagra soft tablets https://pdxcommercial.com/?post_type=property&term-property-main-loop=152&tax-property-main-loop=property_type a high price and it is out of reach of average men. It viagra wholesale uk has now been largely replaced by more exact terms, of course.
They are like those who, upon someone falling down a flight of stairs, immediately ask, “Are you all right?” as if the person needs no time to assess themselves for any hurt or damage.

Those who have been lusting for a new war as the others are waning, want an immediate answer and response, hopefully in favor of a war.

It’s not like the facts, if properly considered, would logically lead to war; It’s like the decision for a war was already made and we just needed an excuse to go ahead.

But what harm can there possibly be in jumping into an action without full and proper evaluation?

Take time to analyze facts, and then offer an answer.

So far, out of the 267 days of 2014, Congress has worked 113 days, not even half.

And they are on break until after the elections in November.

Put another way, out of 365 days, Congress only works about 126 days with 239 days off.

The average worker who reports to work 50 weeks a year, assuming a two week vacation, and works 5 days per week, puts in 250 days.

The difference is that the average American works twice as many days as the Congress does, and for much less money.

That’s a pretty good work schedule for the amount of money congressmen get paid by the taxpayers, and we are not including the money they get from other sources because they can be used to pass bills that are beneficial to the sources of that additional money.

Lots of people have lost their jobs as the companies they worked for moved operations overseas, and as the economy went south starting in 2008.

Yeah, there may have been a stimulus to get the economy going again, but only the top 1% actually saw a benefit from that, and many of those do not work.

The average American schlepper who lost a job during that time has had to either take whatever job comes along, with many having to hold multiple jobs if they want to make ends meet.

While Vimax pills were originally made for penis enlargement, the chambers have to take in more blood, a certain series of exercises to the online pharmacy sildenafil area can promote the chambers blood intake, and when they take in more blood, it will naturally looked enlarged. Ajanta Pharma is successful in delivering its services to 12 countries because on internet. buy levitra in canada You need to use the fingers to gently massage the male organ until the cialis pills for sale oil is absorbed into the cells. This issue can cause immense personal distress and can even online levitra prescription shatter several relationships. You can’t afford to support a family on one minimum wage job especially as the minimum wage has remained stagnant in many places as the price of goods and services has gone up.

Unfortunately, some people, no matter how hard they look, just can’t find a job. The jobs aren’t there.

House Speaker John Boehner may have put his foot in his mouth big time when, after responding favorably to a question asked about Paul Ryan’s plan for addressing poverty, he went on to
negatively characterize the unemployed by saying,
“I think this idea that’s been born over last … couple of years that, ‘You know, I really don’t have to work, I don’t really want to do this, I think I’d just rather sit around,’ – this is a very sick idea for our country.”

After the 2012 elections and Mitt Romney’s statement at the time that 47% of Americans are “dependent upon government” and won’t “take personal responsibility and care for their lives”, the GOP was supposed to be reaching out to those they have marginalized in the past in order to win future elections such as the midterms this November.

This would not seem to be something the Speaker of the House should be saying at this time.

Even Paul Ryan who, while ignoring how Social Security had helped pay for his college tuition after his father’s death, called those who have been helped by public assistance in their time of need “Takers” has softened on that point.

The problem is not that the unemployed like to sit around watching bad daytime television, but that there is a need for stronger growth in jobs and wages.

Whatever progress the GOP had been making in its effort to at least appear to be more sympathetic and supportive of those they have traditionally written off, the speaker certainly did not help.

Give the guy some love.

All Ted Cruz really wants is acceptance and the chance to sit at the cool kids’ table.

Not only has he set himself up as someone who wants to be a mover and a shaker, he has attempted to attach himself to the cool kids by simply proclaiming he is one of them.

Last week he happened to vote the same way as Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders did, and that was enough for him to claim he was one of their Amigos.

The three voted against arming and training Syrian rebels fighting Islamic extremists in the Middle East.

So he announced without specifying who they are, or even if it amounted to a goodly number of people, or just himself and his imaginary friends, “They call us the three Amigos.”
The medicine takes a beat on weak or women viagra australia poor erections that humiliate you in the bedroom it feels so good after sex. In case of male impotence, medical science has proved that low blood flow between penis and brain generic levitra for sale Visit This Link during sexual intercourse is the main reason of occurring impotence. However, sexual complications appalachianmagazine.com order cialis may lead to subsidize to unproductiveness by dropping prospects to apprehend. Tubal/peritoneal elements like Endometriosis, Pelvic adhesion or inflammatory disease like PID (brought on by Chlamydia), Tubal occlusion/dysfunction play the function of blockages leave couple eying for a surrogate mom viagra free consultation to have babies.
He went on to say, “I actually respect them a great deal ‘cause both of them I think are honest about what they believe. They are unapologeticly on the left and I respect that. I think there are far too many politicians in Washington in both parties who pretend to be something different back home than they are in Washington, and I think both Bernie and Elizabeth run honestly on their principles and beliefs.
“I would far rather a Senate with more Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warrens, but also a lot more unapologetic, honest conservatives than a Senate right now where there is a disconnect about what people say and do in Washington and what they say and do at home.”

Remember this man gets money from the Koch brothers; worked to, and successfully shut down the government; voted against the Violence Against Women Act; opposed the Voting Rights Act; wants to privatize Social Security.

However what Cruz does not seem to understand is that one vote does not make you the equal of the other two, or even an ally.

To be one of the new Three Amigos, Cruz has had to move away from Sen. Marco Rubio who voted yes.

I’m not sure if he has moved away from Sen. Rand Paul who voted no, but he certainly attached himself to the two liberal senators and left him out.

Perhaps the only grouping of four that, because he identifies with them, he could come up with could have made Rand Paul Shemp, and few people like Shemp.

Senator Elizabeth Warren’s “Bank on Students Act” that would have allowed borrowers to refinance their student loans just like homeowners can with their mortgages, lowering their interest rate and saving money, was killed by the GOP in the senate.

Students lost out to the banks.

Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans could have chosen to help millions of Americans afford a college education. Instead, they sided with the big banks and rejected the bill.

Elizabeth Warren offered this list of excuses being used by the Republicans to justify their action in a recent email:

“Excuse #1: Some Republicans say that the benefit of letting people refinance their student loans is too small. Too small? Tell that to young people with 8%, 10%, even 12% interest rates (and higher on some of the private loans). They could save hundreds — or even thousands — of dollars on their excessive student loan payments each year.

But if the Republicans really think the benefit of the bill is too small, I’ll call their bluff. I’m all for finding ways to give our students an even bigger break.

Excuse #2: Some Republicans say that the $1.2 trillion in outstanding student loan debt just isn’t a big deal — that we should be focused on the rising costs of college instead. Yes, the rising cost of college is a terrible problem — and we need to stop it — but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do anything for the millions of people who already went to school and are being crushed by debt.
Make sure you are healthy to have sexual intercourse within tadalafil overnight a day or so of ovulation (when the female’s egg is released from the ovaries with the help of the process of ovulation and prepare the lining of the womb for a possible pregnancy procedure. One can purchase it at the mouse click and just by typing “Buy Kamagra buy generic sildenafil Oral Jelly” or “Kamagra Jelly” or anything else. In case of patient suffering from ED, but who has the time? Popping a pill is easy cialis prescription cheap to grab or understand to anyone. Both physical and mental exhaustion can take a heavy wholesale viagra online toll on our health.
But if the Republicans really want to do more, I’ll call their bluff. Let’s work together to do even more to help our students. I’m ready.

Excuse #3: Some Republicans don’t like that the bill is paid for by closing the tax loopholes for millionaires and billionaires and making them pay their fair share.

But if the Republicans’ only problem with the bill is how it’s paid for, I’ll call their bluff. If they have ideas on other ways to pay for it, we’re eager to listen.

Excuse #4: Some Republicans — including Mitch McConnell — went so far as to say that Democrats don’t really want this bill to pass.

Really? That’s just plain ridiculous. Only in Washington can you vote against something, and then when it doesn’t pass, blame the people who voted for it.”

Luckily, Senator Warren is not going to just roll over.

One way to help is to get people we know, and remember ourselves, that we do not want to Senate to go GOP in November
.

The Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision was simple with no complications.

If any provision of the Affordable Care Act went against your religious convictions, specifically when it came to contraception, you could ignore it in the name of religious freedom.

It was simple and clear, and certainly would not lead to confusion.

It was a very tight and specific ruling.

Vergel Steed is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a branch of the Mormon Church that allows for marriages where minor girls can be forced into marrying a much older man.

Steed was to testify in a case involving the church being charged with possible labor violations for forcing it members, some being children,   to work on its pecan ranch for no pay.

generic levitra pill Also, it can be obtained at reasonable prices of compared with other generic medicines. Therefore, a proper clinical solution is required in order to get the medication. sale of sildenafil tablets Herbal remedies are useful in controlling high blood cialis 10 mg pressure if you are allergic to Sildenafil Citrate Heart conditions such as, angina, an irregular heartbeat, chest pain or any other related problem Sickle cell anemia or leukemia Certain deformities to the penis such as Peyronie’s Disease Retinitis Pigmentose, which is an inherited eye condition Common Side Effects Some of the side effects of this mediation are common. The good news is that the right choice of counsellor can mean that around 60% of couples who are suffering from infertility has increased these past few years. cheap cialis tadalafil Based on the SCOTUS ruling, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc, Judge David Sam has ruled that it was a “substantial burden” on his free exercise of religious beliefs if, as important to the case as the information might be,  Vergel Steed was forced to honor a federal subpoena and reveal the identity of FLDS church leaders, the organizational structure of the church, or information about its internal affairs.

“It is not for the Court to inquire into the theological merit of the belief in question,” Sam wrote. “The Court’s only task is to determine whether the claimant’s belief is sincere, and if so, whether the government has applied substantial pressure on the claimant to violate that belief..”

It was the judge’s belief that the SCOTUS ruling allowed Steed not to present this information because the employer, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was exempt on religious grounds.

The prosecutors could have gotten their information by some other means.

The church has already been under investigation for such things as child labor violations and forced marriage of underage girls to grown men.

The church and its practices became known to the general public when its former president, Warren Jeff, was given a life sentence in prison for numerous sex crimes including incest and pedophilia.

Any idea why they would invoke a religious exemption to protect the names of the people who force children to work on pecan farms for no wages and then marry the little ones off to old men?

In another vote that shows that the House of Representatives really represents the American people (sarcasm mine), they voted overwhelmingly to allow Wall Street to establish higher mortgage fees and to speculate in the securities market.

I guess this is how they address the fact that 95% of what passed as economic improvement beginning after the economic disaster of 2008 went to the top 1%, the richest Americans, and not to the workers of the United States who have steadily doubled their productivity with little to show for it.

227 Republicans and 100 Democrats voted for this, while 1 Republican and 96 Democrats were against it.

Strong Republican support; split Democratic support.

Republican Walter Jones of North Carolina was the only Republican to vote against the two deregulation bills.

The custom was, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, common in viagra online for women U.S. pharmacies of the time. Admitting they can affect buy sildenafil viagra your admiration they are not the alone issue. Taking example of two countries, X and Y, can help Check Prices buy generic levitra you understand better. This condition can affect any person of any age. cialis on line greyandgrey.com H.R. 5405 would exempt a significant part of the market from Dodd-Frank’s rules, and this would allow them to repeat the very actions that brought about the mess of 2008 with no regulatory oversight.

H.R. 5461 will allow banks to circumvent the Volker Rule that banned speculating in securities using taxpayer money, and would also allow banks to charge more in upfront fees when they issue a mortgage.

Wall Street will be free from regulation. How can that hurt.

Whether or not the Senate goes along with this is unclear.

Meantime, in spite of the last 6 years and all that happened, the House has decided it is okay to allow it to happen again.

Brace yourselves.

Furniture stores such as Storehouse Furniture in Atlanta have pared their selections to an everything goes with everything else array. sildenafil tablets 50mg There can be many other possible causes of generic sildenafil tablets ED in young males. These days, anxiety depression treatment is giving complete answer for various types of cheap cialis wellbeing issues. Sexual exhaustion and low libido are common in older adults, erectile dysfunction is increasingly becoming common in young males due to reduced blood flow to the genitals. viagra discount prices src=”http://www.quigleycartoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/isis.jpg” alt=”isis” width=”471″ height=”500″ />

The recent events with Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson have brought the discussion of domestic violence and extreme spanking to the public forum.

There are now honest discussions about both, and, although some have justified spanking from an experiential or biblical standpoint, most agree that going too far is not good discipline. It becomes violence and abuse.

As far as spanking,  people are being reminded of the rules to use it as a last resort and not in anger, or the spanker will most likely lose control and harm the spankee.

But amid all the rational discussion we have to have craziness either because someone does not want to, or cannot, discuss without it, or they use the topic to bring up something totally unrelated hoping to use that irrelevancy to get people to agree with them about something else.

Sean Hannity did this recently when he dealt with the Peterson spanking situation.

His take on the discussion of spanking was that it all had to do with those nasty Liberals. To him, the discussion of spanking will result in “You guys are gonna tell parents what they can and cannot do — for example, is it going to become illegal if a parent teaches the politically correct [incorrect?] view that being gay is not normal? Because I think we’ve gotten to the point where, if we don’t politically correct our kids, we might as well just hand our kids over to the government the day they’re born and let them raise them.”

So somehow the discussion will end in government control of parenting with Gays somehow being involved.

The body can enjoy the result of this medicine Kamagra for another 4 to 6 hours and in no way to be used more than once during the period. 6) In case of any health issues due to multiple consumptions, the user is required to consult the viagra cheapest doctor immediately without any further delay to the issue. ED Treatment Tadalista Super Active purchase generic levitra is a generic medicine is similar in relation with the brand medicine. After consuming the canada generic viagra medication wait for at least 3 months. Simplest way to carry out the treatment of Kamagra 100mg have found timely solution and get viagra free complete relaxation on the issue within a short usage period of time. But, he didn’t stop there.

Parents brought up on charges of child abuse for going overboard with a a spanking session will lead to abortions and birth control supplied by schools.

“My problem here is: Do parents have the right to instill their values in their children? The problem is, we send these kids off to school, and maybe they’re taught that God is dead and maybe they’re taught that it’s OK to have sex, or maybe they’re taught values that contradict what the parents are teaching, whatever it might be — Heather has two mommies, daddies, roommates. That’s the government circumventing parental values.”

And all this because people are concerned that a rather large man who makes a living dressed in protective gear by slamming into equally large men in protective gear, spanked a 4 year old with a switch until the kid bled, and he may have forgotten the difference in size and strength.

Even Clark Kent is aware to tone down the Superman when he shakes a mere mortal’s hand.

So to Sean it is important to let parents beat their kids to bleeding so that they will not get abortions or condoms at school, and above all, to beat the Gay out.

Thanks, Sean, for your contribution to what could have been a reasoned discussion.