MiddleClassCentrist

Apple fans also review products they'll never actually consider buying, part of my reason I dislike Apple users so much... This is a presents a problem of quality in the reviews. Since they look to find miniscule (often entirely subjective) flaws and blow them out of proportion to feel better about their own technological choices. When the tech "reviewer" guy goes to complain that the number of Apps available isn't as high. Why is that a problem? Were there any GOOD apps missing? no... they don't substantiate... because all of the good apps are on both systems. 20 fart simulation apps don't make a difference when I only need 1 for the occasional stupid gag. Any good company puts the app on both software ecosystems. My brother-in-law was recently convinced that Samsung is the better phone. took the time to use both, check the apps he wanted. He declared Samsung more intuitive and well built than iPhone.

With all of the north american conservative propaganda machines (CATO, C.D. Howe Institute, Fraser, Canadian Citizens' Coalition, etc, etc, etc.) spewing propaganda and studies to help the wealthy retain their control and get richer, picking on the smaller amount of labour supporting organizations seems a bit silly.

Fair enough, but these policies aren't to reduce the deficit or pay it down. It is to pay for all day kindergarten and other Dalton initiatives.

I know enough about these issues being related to teachers. Half of the problem is that the majority of people don't actually understand why the system is the way it is or how it works. Older teachers are already frozen on the grid. Top pay is achieved after 13 years in most boards. Secondary teachers union proposed a buyout program, it was shot down by McGuinty's extreme hard line of our way or the highway, no exceptions or alternatives. The entire idea of a grid is to slow down the cost of a teacher by starting them ridiculously low. 5 years of education gets you 45k starting with decent credentials. I know people with half completed college diplomas that make 65k/year working as secretaries... 2 months off -> My mother is a bank teller and gets 5 weeks, I'm in IT and I get 6. We get to choose when we take vacation and what we use the vacation days for. I'm sure the majority of teachers would be willing to take less vacation time if it were more flexible. Pension -> Teachers pay 12% of their annual salary into their pension (5k-12k a year) most people I know at my age (Mid 20's) do absolutely nothing for retirement but will complain about the pension they dont' receive because they spent all of the money., The Government matches the teacher's contribution. Pension is only having difficulty because of low interest rates used to evaluate it, if you used the last 10 years of real return instead of the bond rate, there is no problem. The MSM has been doing a hackjob of reporting this issue to conspiracy theory creating levels. Teacher's aren't making any demands for raises or asking for more sick days. They are trying to protect what they have through collective bargaining, a process that this government has been showing absolute contempt of. The teacher's union has been trying to negotiate concessions but, the government just wants to force the deal they created without budging. Getting a contract negotiated before one ends is nearly unheard of in any situation. Yet the MSM has raised this spectre of teachers striking on day 1.

It is very important work but, let's be honest... 94k/year top salary is good by today's standards for a professional. I'm not saying we cut it across the board (some teacher jobs are hugely overpaid: Guidance Councillor, Gym Teacher, Student Success Teacher) But, raises aren't in the cards. Even the OSSTF teacher's union tried to negotiate a 0% wage increase and it was turned down.

The OSSTF (Secondary Teacher Union) has made it clear that it doesn't want to start the year on strike. Does Dalton even have a candidate for that region?

See this is rational. I've never met a rational Apple fan who would actually browse for best value/high ratings. They just go to the Apple Chapel and hear what the preachers have to say about the new product as they pay for it.

That's a lie. Go around any high school and see all of the iGarbage with broken screens. They've been sued for selling their shoddy wares at higher prices in the past. Quality can be subjective but, they stop supporting all of their hardware/software after 4 years. With their latest virus outbreak, they don't support the hundreds of thousands of people using older OSX to fix the security hole. That IS NOT QUALITY. My wife's old iBook is a good example. 3 years of after purchase, a web browser couldn't be found for it to browse properly. I had to install linux on the damned thing to browse the web because "You need to install the new OSX" -> "You hardware isn't compatible with the new OSX". People will get tired of having to be good iZombies and buy new iGarbage every 3 years because the updates slow down older hardware (IMO - purposefully engineered to happen by Apple for planned obsolescence) and Apple shares will fall. Their premium prices are unsustainable in the mass market. It's as simple as that.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2012/08/02/20061226.html It seems there is a rebel Roman Catholic board.

I've heard teachers talk (in jest) about how they'd rather be against Hudak. Because he'd draw a line in the sand against education as a whole and they'd have more backing from the public. McGuinty is actually being really strategic. Nothing he is doing targets classroom programming, only teacher compensation. He's claiming that they need to get with the economic times but, the reality is that teachers are taking a compensation cut to fund all day kindergarten and maintain lower class sizes.

Yes, today has smaller class sizes but... they also have integrated high needs students who would have been removed to remedial programs. Students are rarely suspended for any behaviour that is disrespectful to teachers and parents back their children's lies up. Increase class sizes but bring back the integrity of discipline and it will work. Create special programs for the needy rather than slowing down everyone else.

It's the sensationalist newspaper for the uneducated masses. The discussion is simplistic and dramatic, and heavily one sided. Average word usage is about Grade 8 level. They know their target market, they scoff at education and any professional that makes more than they do. So they fill it with personalities that match theirs.

ESL is not a disability, FYI. Top students in my local area are often ESL. Special needs of 8% is hard to gauge because if students have simple accomodations like "print notes" etc. They are likely not the high maintenance ones that I am speaking of. The integrate at all costs ones.

Yep, fools are easily parted with their money. Nothing new. Because, the faithful like yourself come into discussions like this one and preach the Apple tune. Quantify and Justify beeeeyotch! I've used Apple products and they are no more reliable. Apple users are just embarassed to admit when their product fails... And when they do fail they don't understand why and blame you, the IT guy at the time (I worked my way through Uni in tech support). I have enough experience with computers to know the reality. Hell, Apple purposefully stops supporting it's own software so you'll buy new. iCloud works on Windows XP but not Snow Leopard (lol Apple users). Going on with the fools being parted with their money... Websites show Apple users more expensive options because they ignorantly equate price with quality. Going shopping for a deal on a vacation? Use Linux or Windows. Another example is the MacBook Pro 15" vs 17"... $800 price difference... SAME INTERNAL COMPONENTS. $800 for 2" of screen... But a typical Apple user thinks they are getting a "better" computer.

I use Mint, and I much prefer KDE over Gnome. Problem I have is that I like to game and it's just easier to run games on the native system they were designed for (Windows). I've used quite a few different distros but, I'm no expert at the OS. I can just read tutorial docs when I need to

We had Apple junk... thing costed 2 computers over it's lifetime. They were sued during this products lifetime for knowingly selling shoddy hardware. It's a wonder this company still exists. They make their products ready to fail so you'll buy a new one if you are one of the faithful... so many iphones and ipads with broken screens... Guess who makes their fabled "retina" display? ... Samsung. But, the worst part about Apple is their fans. It makes more sense after you realize it's a religious decision and not a technological one. Trying to get Apple fans to quantify why their product is better can be funny because they can't. All marketing mumbo jumbo. "more intuitive" "just works" "does what I want it to" ...

I see a lot of this. Why do so many people own iPhones and iPads ffs. At least get cheaper ones... But, you can only spend money that you have access to. If you don't have access to cash through wages... you can't buy as much.

Like the health effects of oil spills and poisoned water supplies...

Any teacher with some integrity knows that letting students get free passes is a bad idea, except for medical/emergency reasons.

Hey now. What you describe is likely an American Education school attendee. (Went to a Diploma mill for almost 3x the cost of an Ontario Uni.) Ontario programs do not end halfway. They start in Sept and end in April. Only the bottom of the barrel accept anyone at anytime American Schools start halfway through the year. Bottom of the barrel... not good enough to get into an Ontario University programs (For those that don't know, the enrolment grades are much higher in Ontario)... If you want to get into specific job information: MORE NEW TEACHERS ARE UNEMPLOYED in their first school year than ever before. Nearly 70% of teachers are under or unemployed in the first year. From previous info, American Graduates are the LEAST LIKELY to find a job (they are bottom of the barrel of course)

The science backs that these students are more successful with like peers, not integrated at the bottom of peers. Our education policy is based on feel-good emotions, not objective realities. The teachers I know have a word for when too many special cases destroy an entire year of young minds... It's called a crop failure. When there are too many special needs for regular teachers to run a consistently strong program for the kids who need it. Every year, the children are stuck with the same high maintenance students who disrupt their learning. The accumulative effect is staggering. The sad reality is that many of these "integrated" students are likely just going to end up on permanent government assistance. Meanwhile, we are sacrificing the education of young people who might have contributed to the economy.

That's 25% Samsung anyways. Apple doesn't invent or create, it copies and claims to innovate, has someone else do everything other than software and slaps "Revolutionary" on it to charge anywhere from 50-300% more.

So you feel that a new teacher should be frozen at 45k/year while other teachers get paid 90k/year? The new teacher who had their tuition doubled by Mike Harris and is still paying off debt? If anything, we need to roll back wage gains and allow new teachers to continue moving up, IMO.

This is a public scare tactic. Teachers have no plans to start the year on strike... OSSTF President Ken Coran on CBC Radio http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=2262691312 If Teacher's start the year on strike, it's because they've been legislated to work without fair bargaining.

He doesn't represent all teachers. Teachers have gone 8 years without any issues and they understand the current economic climate (at least the ones I know). The OSSTF union even went to negotiate a wage freeze and McGuinty said "Not enough"/It's not what we want. A union going to negotiate a wage freeze is almost unheard of! Now, ETFO (elementary) is more militant and less rational... it would never do that. The stuff you read in the news is mostly just misinformation, teachers aren't making any "demands". They are just trying to protect what has already been agreed to.