I'd also be interested in knowing if the boy whose project wound up in the garbage can is frequently a target of bullies.  Teachers know who is bullied, and you don't know if the incident was investigated because of the new law or because a wise teacher was protecting a kid who needed help.  The fact that that kids would just leave papers and trash on the floor and walk all over them is also a bit suspicious --- could be a situation where several kids not involved in the original bullying incident just joined in the "fun" and wanted to humiliate the kid even more by stepping on his project. 

We had a girl in town who was bullied relentlessly by a boy who followed her to the park on the way home from school and forced her to eat dog excrement.  You state that kids "being reported for things that happen outside the school seems beyond the domain of education and bypasses student's rights and any sense of freedom..."  Well, that's a horrific example of how school bullying spreads outside the class day.  That girl's freedom to live safely is certainly worth protecting.

What do you think should be done to address bullying?

 Your son was "joking that people could just report their friends because that's where the teasing really happens, perhaps the whole school would get suspended."

This set off an alarm bell......teasing among friends, particularly among boys, is a rite of passage.  It's how they relate.  It's comes no where near the standard for bullying.  I was glad to read further and learn your son stood up for the bullied kids in the past, because there are plenty of kids in pain who need someone to champion them.

The new law is one that our school system has sent e-mails to explain.  I was in the school this weekend and there are posters all over showing the faces of bully victims who are dead, including the gay Rutgers student who committed suicide last year.  I don't know the answer, but bullying has greatly escalated in our society.  You are considering keeping your  kids home.....imagine how the parents of bullying victims feel, as they've struggled with that decision for years.

I haven't held a corporate position for quite a while, but I do know that my bossI would have laughed me out of the office if I'd complained to him or her about being igonored.....or left out.

BooHoo!  Are these idiotic women really planning to use sexism as their excuse for every slight, every unkind word.  Toughen up.  Make yourself indispensible by being damn good at your job & then nobody would ever think of leaving you out of a meeting.

 Wow....he and Joe Biden are like peas in a pod.

 We are completely divorced fromt he cost of medical care in America.  And not just cost in terms of money, but in the loss of human dignity as invasive and pointless procedures are performed on the elderly in their last weeks of life.  Heroic (and costly) efforts to prolong a life for a short amount of time, often to be spent in a hospital bed with absolutely no patent awareness of his surroundings, are simply cruel and inhuman.  We need to work toward death with dignity.  We need to stop using the term "death panel" when we have the necessary conversation about what end-of-life measures are wise and compatible with our Judeo-Christian tradition.

But are the interns paid?

My husband is the Director of Engineering & Product Development at his firm and also offers fabulous intenships.  Some of them are true industiral/academic partnerships with close mentoring by both professor and engineer.  Some involve an engineer taking a student under her wing for a sememster and guiding the student's work on a particular project. He's hired kids who have started out as interns. 

But he would never exploit these kids by expecting them to work (and it is valuable, essential work they do) for free.  He wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

 "Given that Perry has yet to show he is a vigorous or eloquent debater, my question to the Ricochetoise is would qualities like this kind of bureaucratic far-sightedness make you more inclined to support and stick with Governor Perry as the candidate?"

Yes, of course this is very positive.....I need to hear more pro-Perry facts, or I may join you in hitting the bottle.  As KT says, it is encouraging to see that shrewdness, provided it's not just another example of cronyism.

"Start insisting that our representatives and senators staff their offices within their own districts/states. The private sector manages complex endeavors with remote teams; the government should also be able to manage."

Excellent idea!

 "My fear about Romney is that he thinks the reason government does not work is that a smart fella like him is not in charge."

You've captured my uneasiness with Romney in just one simple sentence.

"With Perry I fear his ego is greater than his ability."

I'm leaning toward your view on Perry as well.

 The argument for income-based affirmative action is based on an assumption that lower income kids don't have  access to enrichment programs, better quality schools, music lessons, SAT prep courses, tutors, etc. etc and are thus unable to compete with richer kids.  That may be true for many, but it's still a huge assumptioin.  Family wealth is not a substitute for good parenting, nor can it make up for all types of family dysfunction that impact the success of children.  And if AA is someday based on income, all types of accounting tricks and loopholes will be found for hiding income and placing a family in the favored AA category. 

 I don't think of her as prudish either.  The sense of morality that Sarah Palin often draws from in her positions is centered in self reliance and an exceptional work ethic.  Pull your own wieght.  Fight for your beliefs.  Respect life.  Our rights are God given.  If there is a prudish side to Palin, it's not one that I've noticed.

That's already underway.  Colleges can't survive with male/female ratios of 40/60.  The gals stop applying when that happens & optimum enrollment can't be sustained.  Boys do have a slight advantage at schools where a gender imbalance exists.

"I see them as largely irrelevant to one's current role in the political sphere."

Me too.

They almost seem created by a screenwriter who based his story on tired old stereotypes.  If you believe that Palin supprters are rigid bigots who have irrational reactions to alcohol and recreational drug use, and no capacity to overlook youthful lapses in behavior, you'd cook up a story like this to discredit her in their eyes.  The tryst with th black NBA star seems too pat.  As does the image of Palin snorting lines of coccaine off a barrel of Alaska crude.

Ho hum.

 "They will flunk out if they are lucky."

You are correct.  Colleges have a steady stream of income from Pell Grants and the like & the dead wood student is retained long past the time he should be shown the door & launched into adulthood..  But those stoners and skaters receiving these grants have no incentive to work in school, as they will not be going into debt....it's free money.  Courtesy of me and you and the rest of us US taxpayers.

 I think not noticing three limbs were missing goes beyond "mistake."  We've set reasonable standards of medical care and expertise, yet that still leaves some situations that fall into gray areas.  And the trial lawyers will pounce.  But this one, at least as it is presented here, seems like clear malpractice.

"Perhaps I don't understand what ultrasound testing is for. I always thought it was about finding conditions that might be ameliorated in utero.

So now it's a "death panel" screening device?"

Ultrasound testing, like any diagnostic test, is done to discover the state of someone's health.  Period. 

Now, what the patient and doctor choose to do with that knowledge is a completley different matter. If the patient goes for testing and the tests are not performed properly, shouldn't the technician and doctor be held responsible?  Critical decisions the patient makes are based on these tests.   Some pregnant women (like me) go ahead with amniocentisis to determine if Down Syndrome is present only as a means to be prepared, not with intention to abort.  I used to take part in the March on Washington....I'm pro-life all the way.  But a Down baby needs cardiology assessments and special care, and parents discovering the syndrome in the delivery room can be overwhelmed and unprepared.

One of the first things an ultrasound technician does is measure the baby's limbs to see how they are developing and determine geatational age. How was this missed????