Note that the side panel on the Bing News page for the Three Gorges Dam includes a phone number. Someone should call it.

They might be busy this week.

Note also the 'Reviews': Only four out of five stars! And this warning:

(!) COVID-19​

Temporary closure or reduced hours may be in effect

You'll thank me for the link to this minute-long video.

And if you don't, we'll all know why.

I'm surprised TNT posted Sir Charles on this.

“I don’t understand how you beat hatred with more hatred.”

Charles on the recent anti-Semitic comments by athletes & entertainers.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1284146895821185025

BLM protest shut down highway 17 (the road to Santa Cruz) because, as their representative said, the people in the area are mostly white and thus don't support them.

I'm not sure if that's the oddest combination of racism, stupidity, and political naivete that I've seen, but it's certainly in the ballpark.

Considering the economic fallout and inflation we will experience in the next 5 years. How little will a million be worth?

Childless people will never understand how infectious children can be. Children by the fact that they're very young can be unconsciously spread the disease.

Teenagers on the other hand can be assholes and will do it for the lulz:

https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/1285225949991251979

Childless people will never understand how infectious children can be.

I call them "little germ magnets". I also call elevators "mystery virus cars".

Sixclaws, I'd say the AVERAGE childless person knows quite well that children are far more likely to be vectors - and lice carriers - than adults. I heard that many hospitals, over the last few decades, have banned every visitor under 18, when they used to be less strict. At any rate, all too often, selfish parents take sick kids to public places and infect others - or send sick kids to school. Adults naturally want to socially distance from obviously sick kids, but often can't.

Take a look at this enhanced footage from an Apollo 16 lunar rover traverse with Charlie Duke and John Young, where the footage that was originally shot with 12 frames per second (FPS) has been increased to 60 FPS:

https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-this-old-apollo-footage-get-upgraded-into-a-60-fps-masterpiece

I'll say one thing for Kanye West; he's not afraid to go after those who are considered beyond reproach. I don't know how anyone, apart from blatant racists, could diss Harriet Tubman, for instance. But according to Kanye, Tubman "never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people."

Leave it to him, I guess. I'd love to see him tap Taylor Swift as his running mate, but she's not old enough.

Kanye may be in the middle of a manic episode of his bipolar disorder.

I get that many teachers are concerned about COVID. Especially older ones and substitutes. But what teachers aren't understanding is if schools don't open then there is little reason to not lay them off. When restaurants were closed the wait staff all got fired. It wasn't the wait staff's fault. But there was no reason to pay them to not do a job. The same applies to teachers and closed schools. I understand COVID isn't their fault and this isn't how they wish things were. Even so if schools don't open there is no reason for them to keep their jobs. Simple as that.

Ben,

None of the proposals I have heard include teachers staying home doing nothing.

The alternative to opening schools has been to teach remotely.

They would still be teaching, just working from home or teaching from the class where the students are at home.

I think you would agree that is still doing a job.

Actually Arty, no. I have kids in school. What they offer online is not comparable in either quality out or man hours invested to in person education. Even the cheapest states spend over $7k per pupil for education. If all that is offered is an online curriculum then one can easily be purchased for under $1k per pupil. So the sensible choice is if schools cannot be opened then you just lay off all the teachers and staff and instead purchase an already developed program at a fraction of the cost.

These are the concerns everyone who works a job has to live with. Teachers are not an exception.

Ben,

You are welcome to judge the "quality" as this is a subjective assessment on your part... but how would you know how many hours were invested in the work?

Have you surveyed the educational providers to ascertain the amount of hours put in to develop the online lessons?... are they providing additional help and resources outside of the lessons?... are they assigning and grading homework and putting together tests for the students?

You can call it "sensible" to lay off all the teachers if schools move to an online format come the fall... but I call that nonsense because the schools will not be closed forever.

No matter how you slice it they are likely to be reopened within less than a year... just not less than 3 months.

Once you've fired all of the teachers how do you plan to reopen the schools?... just rehire them and hope they are available?

This isn't about making exceptions... tons of folks are working from home as we speak.

Ben,

Also... the online format for public schools includes the teachers teaching from home.

So your ultimate plan is for the schools to offer an online format... then fire all the teachers... then cancel the online format... and force everyone to pay for online curriculum without an instructor?

None of that makes any sense to me.

Do you imagine the schools not opening implies the teachers aren't running classes virtually?... because they aren't going to do that for free once they've been fired if you get what you are looking for.

Arty I'm not retarded. And clearly you don't have any kids. It doesn't take much IQ to tell that the currently offered 'distance learning' doesn't take many manhours to implement.

As for your other 'points', do you not know about any of the commercially available home school options out there?

But hey, push what you want to push. I am just giving fair warning that keeping schools closed is an existential threat to the current school system.

Ben Says:

"It doesn't take much IQ to tell that the currently offered 'distance learning' doesn't take many manhours to implement."

If there is one thing I have learned over the years it is that almost no one has the foggiest clue what is really involved in doing another persons job.

Maybe you should actually talk to a few teachers and find out what is involved in getting a distance learning program going and how many hours are put in.

Maybe you will be surprised, maybe you will not be... but this isn't about "IQ" Ben... this is about your arrogance to think you know the ins and outs of another persons profession without bothering to ask.

I have Arty. So no, nothing you've said is persuasive. But you do you.

On a political level I applaud the schools staying closed. After all there is a good chance they will not be reopened and charters will expand to fill the void.

Ben Says:

"On a political level I applaud the schools staying closed. After all there is a good chance they will not be reopened and charters will expand to fill the void."

And this right here is why your opinion on the matter isn't convincing in the least.

You are literally calling for an entire profession of people to be terminated because they might work from home for a few months during a pandemic.

That is not the position of someone looking at facts and operating rationally... that is the position of someone who has a result they desire independent of the existing facts.

Sure sure Arty. Go back to sleep.

Ben,

I hate to break it to you... but you have described your position on this issue as using a viral pandemic as a means toward your own personal political ends.

This is not a good look.

Lucky for the rest of us, your personal political views about this topic will not influence public education in the least.

No Arty. I described my position being the opposite of a means to my personal political ends. But I get that you can't understand that. So as I said, good night.