It is an exceedingly great song for gym and other workouts (fast-beat, you know – can run at a good 8kph on the treadmill).

And, I believe that as long as you do it right, it can provide a very good basis for a 20-page (or however long you want it to be, even) thesis on CONTEMPORARY American (and World) History.

Just a taste;

Dien Bien Phu falls can lead to a treatise of the start of the Vietnam War; how it came about, the background conditions, a little bit of Vietnamese history going back to the French colonial times, the effect of the war on Americans, politically, economically and culturally, the fallout of American withdrawal, and the repercussions resulting thereof.

Red China and China’s under martial law – a discussion of Tiananmen Square would not be complete without going into the reasons for their demonstration, the incident itself, the aftermath, and communism (or Maoism) in China in general.

North Korea, South Korea and Syngman Rhee – a general discussion on the Korean War, pretty much the same topic areas as the Vietnam War.

Vaccine – a short essay on polio, its effects, morbidity and mortality rates, the efficacy of the Salk vaccine as well as of vaccines’ role in disease prevention and eradication.

The King and I – Ranging from Anna Leonowens (and her book) to King Mongkul (and the history of Thailand) to Rodgers and Hammerstein to Yul Brynner (a sideline to ‘One Night in Bangkok’ would take you to ‘Chess’, another play) to Jodie Foster (in Anna and the King, the ‘remake’).

England’s got a new queen – Great Britain history, how the Queen ascended, the gradual decline of the monarchy’s powers, the American Revolution (as part of GB history), even WW2 can play a part in this discussion.

Juan Peron – Eva Peron, Argentinian (and by extension, Central and Latin American) politics, strongman/dictator tactics, populism, socialism (communism-lite).

So, like I said, if you did your treatment right, you can come up with a whole lotta stuff, and not just on history too.

So show the song some love! After all, it’s true that “we didn’t start the fire” but we sure trying hard to put it out.

PS Shure, for really ancient politics, you’ll probably have to use ancient songs. The “Battle Hymn” comes to mind, so does the Star and Stripes, but let’s face facts, that sort of stuff you should be learning from books anyway.

However….From elementary school on I could and did initiate conversations with my children as to what they learned in school that day. Some of those conversations lasted until bedtime when necessary. I helped them with their homework. As they grew older we entered into discussions as to the validity, relevance, and truth of the assignments that they were given.

Now that they are in high school and junior college it seems that a lot of their instructors dislike them. My kids know politically-correct BS when they hear it and have a tendency to wreck the grading curve.

If you’re just now finding out about what passes as “curricula” in public schools it may be too late to undo the damage.

It’s our duty as parents to pay attention and be involved in our kid’s lives from an early age.

They deserve nothing less.

delinquency (sorry)

Should I buy a pair of new sidewinders and a bright orange pair of pants?…
Don’t waste your money on a new set of speakers / Ya get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers (etc)

[To be fair, I once did a paper for a college Criminology course on theories of juvenile delinquence as portrayed in "West Side Story." Got an A. The song "Officer Krupke" outlines nearly every major theory in one song.]

The project was about opening our minds and applying analysis to what people said/sang. It was a fun assignment and all the kids went after it with zeal (unlike our other assignments….).

The “We Didn’t Start the Fire” thing was something that was done as a class project sometime in elementary school. About 5th grade or so…

I like the song, but it isn’t a quality high school project.

Then I remembered that when this song came out, I told my sister that she would need to know EVERYTHING that was in “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. She ended up graduating as her class Valdictorian. (Im pretty sure it had nothing to do with me though )

Hmmm…. I never took the time to tell my own kids that…

But then again, Im not sure who/what to blame. My grandparents and parents worked in the fields of the South (as a little kid, we had an outhouse) and from 16 on, I always had two jobs or worked/went to school concurrently. My two oldest kids that are out of high school have ZERO interest in getting ahead in life. They would rather be poor that spend one day working a real job or having a coach tell them what to do. (forget the military, they wouldnt survive a week – and I served in two different branches)

Woah…joeblough. Are you sure your real name isn’t Teri Smith Tyler?

The cyborg has got to be related to chapoutier’s family or maybe chapoutier met her in the hills of West Virginia and now he has a little cyborg of his own. Heh Chap do those cyborgs come with a corkscrew in the side of their head?

The schools are in the hands of the forces of evil.
.
The people running the schools see America’s kids as sex toys and potential slaves.

They have their perverse aesthetics too. The whiter the slave the better, but an east Asian will do in a pinch, the rest are ordinary fare, burgers and fries so-to-speak.

Woah…joeblough. Are you sure your real name isn’t Teri Smith Tyler?

On May 30th, 2008 at 1:20 pm, mattymatt10 said:

Heck, I’m embarrassed I was ever a teenager to begin with.

It has been a little over 40 years since my Brylcreem and CandyApple Red shoes days and I still cringe. But welcome to the fight for our next generation. You are needed.

The schools are in the hands of the forces of evil.
.
The people running the schools see America’s kids as sex toys and potential slaves.

They have their perverse aesthetics too. The whiter the slave the better, but an east Asian will do in a pinch, the rest are ordinary fare, burgers and fries so-to-speak.

Sounds like cracked-pot hysterics?

Seems pretty objective to me.

I’d much rather be wrong.
.

Cheers
JMH