Looking Abroad For A Few Good Teachers
Baltimore and other school districts–in California, Florida and New York–have begun looking abroad for teachers to do the jobs they can’t get enough locals to take on.
New York City has recruited teachers from such countries as Austria, Canada and Spain for years. Three years ago, it began recruiting in the Philippines. Administrators in the city say only 10% of those recruits have left and 530 Filipino teachers are currently working in the city’s schools.
I’ve only read two of “The 10 Greatest Books of All time“.
Faith Hill unPhotoshopped. They really removed a lot of the wrinkles around her eyes! Even her arm is thinner and the back fat is gone.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows leaked to BitTorrent [WARNING!!! There's a link at the end of the article that says something like, "If you’re the type of person who likes spoilers, check out this page." I was too curious. There was absolutely no lead up to it. BAM, it hits you, and there's no need to scroll down. The page lists (in bullets) ALL the people who die in the book!!! Don't click on the link unless you want to know. I was actually surprised by who J.K. Rowling killed off. There were at least six deaths!]
July 18th, 2007 at July 18, 2007 - 6:19 am
While I have read five of these works, only one (Hamlet), would make my top ten. The list seems extremely academic and pretentious. Really, would these great authors (that were somehow judged as being amongst the greatest currently living–by whom?) admit that “The Dark Night” by Frank Miller, “Jurassic Park” by Michael Crichton, “Word of Honor” by Nelson DeMille, “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis, “Little House on the Prairie” by Laura Ingalls Wilder, or “Stranger In A Strange Land” by Robert A. Heinlein was in their top ten. It’s like when people list their hobbies on a resume. How many people list drinking, gambling, shopping, trolling for babes/hot guys, or internet porn?
So, were any of the authors chosen for the survey under 30 (I couldn’t find the list of authors chosen)? Were any of the authors writers of comics or graphic novels (Stan Lee, Jeph Loeb, Mark Waid, Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, etc.)? Were any of the writers among the greats of Science Fiction or Fantasy (Robert Heinlein, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis are already dead, so three of the best can’t judge)? Lacking this crucial information, I’d have to classify this list as crap.
This has the same stench about it as the Academy Awards overlooking “Star Wars” because it was too mainstream and choosing “Annie Hall” instead. Well, Mr. Lucas has been laughing all the way to the bank ever since. But, where are the likes of “Gone With the Wind,” “Catch-22″, “The Color Purple,” “All the King’s Men,” “The Jungle,” “Babbitt,” “Sister Carrie,” “Atlas Shrugged,” and countless others that should be on such a list?
I could give you my list, but as I grow older and new books come out, it is constantly changing. However, the authors I always travel with in some form or another are Robert A. Heinlein, J.R.R. Tolkien, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Michael Crichton, Martin Caidin (creator of the 6 Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman), Orson Scott Card, William Shakespeare, and a few others if there is something I can’t live without or has been highly recommended. And, yes, I do pay extra when I fly due to overweight luggage.
July 18th, 2007 at July 18, 2007 - 8:29 am
there’s a file at this blog http://andrebenjamim.blogspot.com/2007/07/harry-potter-deathly-hallows-download.html that many fans are saying that is very possible to be real. it’a a 700 pages pdf…
July 18th, 2007 at July 18, 2007 - 3:14 pm
John - You’re a man who knows his books. You’re right, the list IS pretentious.
teodoro - That PDF is a fake. It’s fan fiction, but from what I’ve read, it’s still pretty good.