Comments on: Firefighter to Testify Against Sotomayor

Senate Republicans Plan Testimony from White Conn. Firefighter Whose Reverse Discrimination Case Was Rejected by Nominee

[Phxfire]

ITHOUGHTITWASFUNNY..you missed (on purpose?) a signficant point. There were cConservatives on both courts who voted WITH Sotomayer. So it appears that its the Conservatives, as usual, who missed every point.

[Phxfire]

To the replys: Sotomayer wasn't THE vote, she was one of the vote from the Appellate bench. Just like there were 4 conservative votes against Ricci's appeal on the Supremem Court. sheesh

[Phxfire]

And we should recognize that Sotomayer wasn't the only vote in the discrimination case for the Appellate courts, either. Considering the questionable history of Thomas and Roberts, this vote should not be any deciding factor.

[dwright1now]

The GOP is a dying wind bag and this is their last hurrah. This sleazy skin-head of a fire fighter is a racist dog looking for his 15 minutes of fame. Well you know Bozo you used up 14 minutes already so go put out a real fire instead of taking advantage of all the GOP swill and pork. Did you really get a hooker from the GOP to seal the deal?

[Thalia-9]

LOLOLOLOL!!!! you are disturbed to say the least...'the sleazy skinhead of a fire fighter'??? you mean the dyslexic guy who hired a tutor to assure he didn't miss a friggin beat? or you think color makes a man/leader as long as it's a 'minority' color...whatever the he.ll 'minority' means anymore...sotomayer was WRONG...grow up, get over it and do your homework instead of typing up a bunch of BS armchair quarterbacking.

[dwright1now]

The GOP is a dying wind bag and this is their last hurrah. This sleazy skin-head of a fire fighter is a racist dog looking for his 15 minutes of fame. Well you know Bozo you used up 14 minutes already so go put out a real fire instead of taking advantage of all the GOP swill and pork. Did you really get a hooker from the GOP to seal the deal?

[jgreatsone]

wow.

[mojo1372]

I don't care what color you are as long as you are qualified to do the job .If you are not qualified you should not be doing the job . would you want these standards applied to getting a doctors degree
i think not you want someone who can pass there medical school tests.
no less should be expected of police , firemen ,emt's they all make life and death decisions .

[Thalia-9]

Gravy...no offense, seriously, but there is also a matter of score and rating in the testing and a lot of it is psychological, not just Q/A in a written test - just because you 'passed' doesn't mean you scored high or did well in the verbal/psyche evaluation of how to lead others...just because you kick a$$ w/ a hose and axe, or take orders of what to do well, doesn't automatically make you a 'leader' of others safety - it's much more complex.

[ToolMangler1]

by Thalia-9 July 9, 2009 7:33 PM PDT


I agree with your comment. But Sotomayor has nothing to do with your gripe, The "City" is the responsible party here, Attack them instead...
If you have a "Legitimate" gripe against her, then say it and we'll listen.

[debinok1]

by tmittelstaed July 9, 2009 4:53 PM PDT
What makes a school "second rate" is how the STUDENTS choose to do.

The fact is that the biggest single motivator to the students getting a good education are the PARENTS, NOT THE SCHOOL. If you think your kid's school is second-rate, or your child isn't doing well in school, then get off your ass, download some school study sheets from the Internet (the Internet is full of them) and sit down in the evenings with your kid and work through them, instead of watching episodes of Lost on TV.

That's what we do with our kids. Both of them. Even during the summer. Do they like it? No. But, in the fall when they go back to school they are at the level that they were when school ended, they haven't forgotten 1/2 of the school year, like your kids. That's why our kids will be going through college and working at nice jobs in a decade or so and your kids will be flipping hamburgers. But, I'm sure you won't care since you won't have missed all those Lost episodes!

Get a clue. And I'm not even going to start with all the single women out there who think that their kids are better off with 1 parent while they are in school.


This comment makes me question just how much you work with your kids. Because I do this also, my boys not only do not "lose" what they learned over the previous school year, but actually advance in their learning. My youngest just finished Kindergarten and is at the beginning of the 2nd grade level in reading, math, and spelling. I do not usually brag about them, but your comment did not sit well with me.

[ToolMangler1]

Well, here's a good one for you. (I posted this earlier)


Are you Smarter than an 8th grader
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas , USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.


8th Grade Final Exam:
Salina , KS - 1895


Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run.'
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.


Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?
8.. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt


U.S.History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.


Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'(HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last..
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks
and by syllabication.


Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena , Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!

Also shows you how poor our education system has become and,


NO, I don't have the answers!

[Thalia-9]

you are dead wrong and have literally no idea of a FD's structure - Sotomayer is the only one who made this a 'racist' issue, so if it's going to backfire on anyone, it will be herself.