Podcast 29 "The chipmunk Cast"

This podcast has been up for several days now but I just want everyone to know that I'm well aware of the way it sounds. While I was getting the audio ready I was playing around with the sample rate. Making it sound fast or slow and having some fun with it. Well, I forgot to change it back to normal before I posted it. I could found out about this right away and I didn't change it on purpose. I thought it might be a fun diversion from the regular. The next podcast will be recorded on next Tuesday and expect a new podcast to show up on Wed morning. Have a good weekend.

--Adam

We Haven't Forgotten

We havent' forgotten that some people still read this blog. We aren't ignoring anyone either. Adam and I have both been very busy lately so the blog is suffering. We will post more again when we are blessed with spare time. If you are still reading... Thanks.

--Chuck

Chuck and Adam Do Everything Episode 27

Here is a relatively short show that we recorded a few days ago. It's a good solid short show. You'll love it!

--Adam

Awesome

This is why you should always look both ways before crossing railroad tracks.

--Chuck

Blogger Plug

This post is pretty damn funny.

--Chuck

Podcast 26

I'm still behind on posting the shows. I still have one in the can that is all ready for you guys. I'll let you guys enjoy this one for now but keep checking back often because I will be posting show very often for the next week or so.

--Adam

debategod.com

I just heard about this new podcast on the Daily Source Code. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet but I will update soon once I have had a change. I sure hope these guys are really into creating a dialogue and not jus trying to convert people to their ideals.

--Adam

Waveline Jo-Dog Fortas

Waveline has a great blog. It is usually one of the most amusing things in my day. This post isn't funny but or some reason I thought others may like to read it.

--Chuck

Looking For Feedback

So I had a friend tell me the other day I should try to get a placement on the local school board. Since I have posted quite a few things about education and NCLB I thought I'd see if anyone else thinks this is a good idea. For those that don't know my history, I am aware of the fact that being on the school board is much more than complaining about NCLB. I am a former teacher, I have a firm grasp of the issues the school board deals with and I am more than capable of doing good research.

--Chuck

File Under D (For Duh)

In his first public appearance as U.S. spymaster, CIA Director Porter Goss told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence there was an emerging terrorist threat from experienced fighters now battling U.S.-led forces in Iraq later joining international militants.

Really? Is that because terrorists don't always stay in the place where they are at? Hmmm. I hadn't thought about terrorists in Iraq going somewhere else. That's amazing. Wish someone thought of that before.

--Chuck

Random Thought

I want an afro.

It wouldn't look good on me though. Nobody needs to see me with an afro.

--Chuck

It's Not News

This is not news. Ohhhhh no! Somebody is impersonating an officer. No! The story should be "Stupid Citizens Pulling Over For Unmarked Cars." Thats right. I'm less interested in the guy impersonating a cop then in the dumbass fuckers that pull over for him. I mean come on look at this description.

The suspect is described as a white male adult, approximately 30 years of age, 5'9" tall, heavy build, and a moustache. He was wearing dark clothing and a dark colored stocking cap.
The suspect was driving an older black Ford Mustang with three white stripes on the door panels. Inside the middle stripe, the word "Mustang" is written in black letters.

Does that sound like a cop to you? Ford Mustang? White Stripes? Stocking Cap? Fucking idiots.

--Chuck

Screw EMINEM

My wife normally watches E TV's E True Hollywood Story. Yesterday they played the EMINEM True Hollywood Story. Well there is a point when they are ooohing and aaahing over how great 8-Mile was and how hard EM tried to be a good actor. So, for all of EM's teenage fans who weren't born when I first saw 8-Mile I wanted to explain something. I liked 8-Mile the first time I saw it. Back then it was called Purple Rain. Funny thing is the musician who tried to act in it the first time around was controversial just like EM. However, he was controversial because of overt sexuality not because of homophobic and mysogynistic lyrics. Other funny thing, he was actually talented. I know EM's "talented" too. But see, this musician actually wrote songs (music and lyrics) and even wrote songs for other artists. Somehow that seems better than EM who just steals music and beats and writes hate speech. Finally, 20 years later that artist still managed to win 2 grammys. Not that I put much emphasis on Grammys but somehow I don't think anyone will care about EM in 20 years. I don't care about him now.

--Chuck

What Are These People Thinking

This is just to prove that I am in fact an equal opportunity complainer. So, I'm all for gay rights. But really come on. Some gay and lesbian activists really do make it to easy for the conservative christians to ridicule them. Come on people.

A plan by a German zoo to test the sexual appetites of a group of suspected homosexual penguins has sparked outrage among gay and lesbian groups, who fear zookeepers might force them to turn straight.

Really, either the penguins are gay or they are not. Nobody is going to turn them straight. If they go hump a female then they wanted a little pussy. Besides this whole penguin argument is dumb. You don't have to justify your behavior by that of penguins. Even if the penguins are gay that's never going to change the arguments from the conservative right. They will just call the penguins immoral. Remember being gay is just wrong. Fuck. Figure it out. Focus your arguments on things that are actually effective. I'm with you but I don't support stupid arguments.

--Chuck

Something I Need

Yeah OK there are some "sexy babes". Honestly though I don't need girls spanking each other. I do however need to try kite-boarding. Take a good honest look and tell me you don't think this looks fun.

--Chuck

By Request

Who the hell would marry Nicole Richie? She sucks. The only reason anyone even knows who she is is because of her dumb-ass antics on the Stupid Life show with Paris. Everyone knows she is dumber than the average pigeon. MONEY. That is the only reason anyone would be attracted to this ignorant unattractive girl.

--Chuck

Chuck v. No Child Left Behind Round 2

So apparently NCLB is supposed to be good because it gives parents more choice in where their children attend school. Let me explain.

If a school does not meet adequate yearly progress for two years then the students are allowed to transfer to a qualified school at the expense of the "bad" school. Now, how many parents do you know that are not going to take the option to send their kids to a better school. Assuming this is true, lets follow this to it's logical conclusion.

Since many parents are going to be applying for transfers it will not take too many before the "good" schools are at their maximum capacity. So the early birds will get transfers and everyone else will be left at the "bad" school. The bad school now has all the same kids plus it's lost some of the kids who got out that were probably some of the better students. Plus, they are paying for all the kids to go to the "good" school. So really, most of the kids are still at the "bad" school whose inadequate budget is now being depleted even more. Basically the parents don't really have a choice. Either they are lucky and get their kids out or they get stuck with the "bad " school and sending someone else's kids to the "good" school.

Some Choice.

Now lets see what happens at the "bad" school. Now they have fewer students and less money and disgruntled parents/teachers/students who know they are at a "failing" school. Do you think they are going to improve? Probably not, the deck is stacked against them. So instead they continue to miss adequate yearly progress. Finally, after a while the school will be readministered. Now what are your choices? You have the "good" school that is qualified because it's students meet some standards or you have the federalized "bad" school that has the failing students and no funding.

Some Choice.

Thus round two is complete. Chuck seems to be fairing better than the faltering NCLB. Actually I think I just bit it's ear off. We'll have to see how round three goes. I don't really sense a comeback though. It's kind of similar to a gazelle v. a lion. Everyone knows the outcome.

--Chuck

Bush v. No Child Left Behing

Why am I battling NCLB? Bush is doing fine KO'ing it by himself. 10 things that Bush is doing to undermine any positive effect NCLB might have.

1) Undercut schools in need by reneging on $12 billion in funding promised to schools by President Bush himself.

2) Cut 25,000 children from Head Start.

3) Eliminate childcare assistance for 300,000 children by 2009.

4) Cut funding for school construction.

5) Leave 1.7 million children without after-school programs.

6) Eliminate the Even Start family literacy program that helps impoverished children and their parents learn to read.

7) Cut funds from Medicaid that would pay health care for 1.8 million low-income children.

8) Kill funding for Safe and Drug Free School programs.

9)Keep college out of reach for qualified students by failing to raise the maximum Pell Grant as promised -- and by freezing work-study funding.

10) Force deeper cuts in education programs by adding new tax cuts that will cost $1.6 trillion over ten years. More than half of these cuts would go to households that earn more than $1 million yearly, while virtually none target households earning less than $100,000 per year.

Lets not forget that Congress has the power to overrule Bush's grossly misguided spending priorities.

Probability Quiz

Well, I only got one response. For what it's worth, she was right. Statistically you should switch boxes. When you originally choose box 3 there is a 1 in 3 chance you are right. There is a 2 in 3 chance you are wrong. When I open a box I do not change the fundamentals of the problem. There is still a 1 in 3 chance of being right and 2 in 3 chance of being wrong. However now being wrong means that the $1000 is in box 2 (no other choice exists). So, you better switch. If you believe in statistics anyway.

--Chuck

Carpe Diem

This is a CD that my brother in law has been working on since July of 2004. However, most of the songs he has been working on for years. He wrote all the songs except for one that was written by a friend. It is going to be available at Music Millennium stores and I think he plans on selling it on his website eventually. Adam and I will play some of it on a future podcast. If anyone has any feedback let us know and we will pass it on.

--Chuck

If I Cut Off My Own Balls

If I cut off my own balls, I would not then, walk to a bar and hang them in front of my friends. I mean damn. How fucked up was this guy. It's just wrong.

--Chuck

Chuck v. No Child Left Behind Round 1

So, Mr. Prez want to focus on high-schools for the next four years of the wonderful No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Here are my issues with this.

Since the act is NO child left behind lets just talk about one child. Assume that one child comes into our high school reading at a sixth grade level (not uncommon) and unable to perform multiplication and division without a calculator (also not uncommon). This child is at an obvious disadvantage entering high school. Now in order to adhere to the standards required by NCLB lets assume this child has to take a standardized test. Lets also assume that the test covers reading comprehension, essay writing, basic algebra and geometry. So, in order to prepare this child we need to get them caught up. This child needs to be in a reading class. Most likely they are in an average or slightly remedial 10th grade english class. Where are they going to learn to read? Title 1 pays for tutoring... Oh but we can't force the child to go. We can't even force them to come to school. Lets play it safe and say they come for tutoring once a week. Now we need to focus on writing. Ooops, we don't have a writing class. More tutoring. Now we need to teach them how to multiply and divide. Which means they don't know about fractions and percents or ratios. Well we don't have that class either. So stick them in remedial math. Really, though, that's just pre-algebra. So more tutoring. OK. Now we see it's going to be very difficult to get this child who probably doesn't care, doesn't have at home support and doesn't want to get help to come in for the tutoring they need. Even if they do. That still only gives us 4.5 months before they change classes. Even if the same teacher keeps the child for a whole year the test comes around in March or April. The results don't come until the next year. Now the teachers who struggled to help our child have 150 new students 15-30 of whom statistically need help passing the standardized test. Who helps our child now? The new teacher? Hmmmm... Doesn't sound so good for our child does it?

This, among other reasons, is why focusing on high schools for testing is not very efficient. If you want to test for some standardized knowledge in order to remedy diffecencies it makes much more sense to do it in Elementary schools where teachers have more time to focus on the 30 students they have all year. It also makes more sense because elementary school is where the building blocks that are most important should be built. High Schools cannot repair building block defficencies and impart their curriculum as well, let alone prepare for a standardized tests.

Thus Round 1 concludes. Expect Round 2 soon where Chuck battles the principle of giving choices to parents.

--Chuck

Probability Quiz

So a co-worker and I were discussing the fact that it seems like the average person does not have a good grasp on the concepts of probability/statistics. I stumped him with this one. It seems it gets a lot of people. I will post the question today and the answer tomorrow for anyone that feels like playing. It is a classic problem so some people may allready know it.

Question:
Three boxes are on a table. One of them contains $1000. I give you the option of opening one box and keeping it's contents. You pick box number 3. Instead of giving you box 3, I open box 1 and show you that it is empty. Since I am a generous guy, I now give you the option of choosing which of the remaining boxes to open. Is there a better choice? If so which one?

--Chuck

Welcome

For anyone reading our blog after seeing us in the Portland Tribune, welcome.

Warning: we have changed the concept of the show a little because we have been focusing on issues that are bothering us instead of irrelevant tidbits. We really don't have any expertise in the things we discuss, but we enjoy Monday morning quarterbacking. We still try to have a little humor though and we still drink more than we should.

While the blog started as the impetus for the show it has also evolved. Mostly it is me posting things that piss me off or make me laugh with a little bit of Adam every now and then. Feel free to leave comments and give us any kind of feedback. Hope you enjoy.

--Chuck

For those of you who have no idea what the Portland Tribune Article is here is a link so you can all be illuminated in the glorious light of our presence. Or just read the article that has a short mention about our show.

--Adam

Tara Reid

Thought this was funny.

If I could exploit women and still feel good about myself, I think I'd open a strip club. I'd only employ women with real breasts. I bet I'd turn a good profit.

--Chuck

Chuck v. No Child Left Behind

This post will be updated when I have more time. For now I will simply say this.

Standards do not equate to achievement.

--Chuck

Awesomely Funny

That's right. I said Awesomely Funny. It's a little better than Wicked Funny. Since I hate Paris Hilton it pains me to say this. However, this SNL sketch is hilarious. You must watch it.

--Chuck

Website Recommendation

In an earlier post I recommended a book by Benjamin Barber. I recently discovered his home page where he has quite a few articles. Barber writes on many topics all of which are pertinent to today's world situation. I think he writes very lucidly and describes his viewpoint with great enthusiasm. For me, he always raises intelligent questions. I highly recommend checking out his website and his books.

--Chuck

The Art of Imperfection: Top 10 Signs That You Are An Unquestioning Christian

I just love stuff like this. I wish I was a real writer so I could write things like this. Way to hit the nail right one the head Holly. You ROCK!

--Adam

Podcast 23

Posted our latest podcast late last night. Check it out and let us know what you think.

--Adam

Help Me

I'm thinking of getting my wife a Valentines gift. Ladies. Which one is the best?

--Chuck

American Idol

This is the reason why people who can't sing shouldn't attemp on American Idol. Furthermore if you have an outstanding abnormality, like an extraordinarily high voice, you should expect to be ridiculed.

--Chuck

That Would Hurt

Ouch

--Chuck

2+2=11

Jesse over at libhater had a little rant about other blogs the other day. He claimed that Sarah at rebootd tries to convince people of her views by using faulting reasoning such as saying 2+2=5. Well I disagree with him. Sarah just uses different reasoning than he does. She amptly supplies evidence too so that people can reach their own conclusions.

So as an example of using different reasoning, I supply the following example.

Everyone will agree that 2+2=4.

I say 2+2=11. I'm correct too.

Fell free to argue with me, but don't complain when I prove that I am right.

--Chuck

God Exists (The Proof)

I read this book last night that had the following proof for the existence of God.

Basically it claimed that the universe is huge and still remains stable and unchanging. Therefore there must be an external force acting to keep everthing in order and making everthig remain the same. That force has to be God because God is the only thing greater than the universe.

Most the people who read this blog can probably guess what I will say about this so I won't. However, I would like to hear other opinions.

--Chuck

Masturbaters Beware

"OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian who masturbated at a window in his house won his appeal against a conviction for indecency on Thursday after Canada's top court ruled there was no evidence of intent to commit an indecent act, and a home was not a public place. "

"The woman said she spotted Clark while she was watching television with her two young daughters in their family room. She alerted her husband, and the couple observed Clark from their darkened bedroom for 10 or 15 minutes -- also using binoculars and a telescope -- before summoning the police, who said the upper part of Clark's body was visible from just below the navel. "

Why do we need judges to tell us that our homes are not public spaces? Note to stupid people. If you don't want to watch your neighbors. Close the blinds. Don't watch them for 15 minutes then complain.

--Chuck

dropload

dropload

Just say this neat free service and it looked really cool to me. You use it to transfer large files (less than 100 megs) to other people. Any file for free. It catch is it will only be available for 7 days. Still cool though. I will update how well this works once I know more.

--Adam

Podcast #22

Here is the second part of the podcasts that chuck and I recorded last Friday. Just more drunken ramblings so be warned this is not safe for work, or home, or children, or adults, or the elderly. Especially the elderly. Let's hear what you think.

--Adam