The sift is like the Tower of Pisa. Depending on your point of view it may appear to lean Right or left. But pointing out the fact that it leans may get you into a little trouble.

Just enjoy the view.

https://media5.trover.com/T/59a983260c99c3ce6b00d1b9/fixedw_large_4x.jpg

I've basically been doing remedial home schooling in addition to our curriculum.

The results of our provincial math curriculum are so clear cut that our results on standardised testing like PISA have steadily dropped since it came in. Not to worry though, the standardised test is at fault and our province is working to stop taking the test. You know, as following the data and fixing the curriculum clearly couldn't be the answer...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/student-assessment-pisa-oecd-manitoba-1.3883344

Additionally, Venice is awesome but NEVER go in the summer. It's super hot & humid, which means the canals stink (because they're also the city sewers), and it is CRAZY crowded with tourists. Go in the off season. Everything is just as beautiful, but you'll actually get to enjoy it. >> ^raverman:

For any considering it. DON'T bother planning the tower of Pisa in to your trip.
It's a depressing little trap town. It really isn't that interesting or unique when you're there. You won't have a good time, and you wont 'remember it fondly forever'.
You'll remember how disappointed you were and that you saw better churches and towers and this sucked you in because of famous bad architecture and tourists all getting in each other's photos. If you do have to go, don't make the mistake of thinking you'll stay a night and see the town. It's basically a ghetto bus stop of regrets.
Book 5 nights in the Ci
nque Terre and a further 3 nights in Sorrento instead and tell me this wasn't the best advice i ever gave you.

For any considering it. DON'T bother planning the tower of Pisa in to your trip.

It's a depressing little trap town. It really isn't that interesting or unique when you're there. You won't have a good time, and you wont 'remember it fondly forever'.

You'll remember how disappointed you were and that you saw better churches and towers and this sucked you in because of famous bad architecture and tourists all getting in each other's photos. If you do have to go, don't make the mistake of thinking you'll stay a night and see the town. It's basically a ghetto bus stop of regrets.

Book 5 nights in the Cinque Terre and a further 3 nights in Sorrento instead and tell me this wasn't the best advice i ever gave you.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'high fives, pisa, leaning tower of pisa' to 'high fives, pisa, leaning tower of pisa, creep, richard cheese' - edited by RhesusMonk

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by Barseps.

@dystopianfuturetoday

Of course poverty and parenting matter significantly, but so does teaching. Teachers may well only account for 10-20% of achievable outcomes as she claims in her article, but with enrollment restrictions to their district for many schools and no incentive for good teachers to teach there, the schools mirror the poverty of the region.

I think you're too focussed on sticking within the constraints of NCLB. Rewards and recognition payments can be calibrated to the difficulty of raising standards in schools at different performance levels. If anything, pay for performance could be the very way to attract great teachers into impoverished regions and under performing schools where previously there was no such incentive.

There's no reason law enforcement couldn't work partially on merit. Again you need the right measurements though, not arrest rates, but levels of crime measured independently and regular opinion polls from the region on perceived safety, conduct and manner of police and other indicators.

Similarly, with the right combination of monetary incentives for working in disadvantaged areas, a focus on improvements in standards rather than purely meeting standards you could create a system that addresses many of the issues you raise.

There is no reason that any test needs to be solely the memorisation of arbitrary facts. That speaks more to the failure of exams that fully emphasize predictable questions rather than requiring a broad understanding certain concepts. I agree completely that school is about learning to learn, and partially that involves developing a work ethic and ultimately memorising some facts. There is no reason that good schools can not devote time towards the arts/music/theater when they feel that their students have mastered basic math and reading skills. There could very well be an upper limit to rewards for performance which allows the best schools to be incentivised to differentiate themselves with broader teaching.

I simply don't see how you can argue though that there aren't basic reading comprehension and a certain degree of numeracy skills, that you simply need to make a living in today's world. Skills that can be easily measured through well designed tests.

If intuition isn't good enough:

http://www.pisa.oecd.org/document/61/0,3746,en_32252351_32235731_46567613_1_1_1_1,00.html

Executive summary page 15 onto 16:

"Within countries where schools are held to account for their results through posting achievement data publicly, schools that enjoy greater autonomy in resource allocation tend to do better than those with less autonomy. however, in countries where there are no such accountability arrangements, the reverse is true."

"In countries that use standards-based external examinations, students tend to do better overall, but there is no clear relationship between performance and the use of standardised tests or the public posting of results at the school level. However, performance differences between schools with students of different social backgrounds are, on average, lower in countries that use standardised tests."

The only assertion I made about charter schools is to imply that having more of them and allowing more competition for enrollment would not be a bad thing. I am arguing my own point not one of a movie.

You missed my point with the last comment. That's exactly what I'm asking you. How is teaching the only skilled field where paying talented people is anathema?

>> ^shuac:

May I ask, respectfully, what the point of all this work is?


I would guess that the point was the challenge of reproducing a very popular song in a seemingly restrictive format. Like a sidewalk chalk drawing of the Mona Lisa, or a Lego version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa - to approach what is widely regarded as a great piece of art (in this case, modern music) and to pay homage to it in a format not envisioned by the original artist.

An attempt to translate the lyrics. Forgive my english.
ps: Yes, it happens every day in France :-)
baby baby baby .....

first girl

je veux des plans sur la commode
(I want "plans" on the cupboard)

(understand she wants to have sex on the cupboard, play word in french with "plans sur la comète" which designate designs (dark or not) relying on unrealistics assumptions)

j'veux Tellier sur mon ipod
(I want Tellier on my ipod)
Sorry I don't know who is Tellier



je veux l'amex black de ta mere
I want your mother's Amex (card)
je veux la voiture de ton pere
(I want your father's car)


j'veux sortir avec tes potes
(I want to date your pals)
j'mettrais ma plus belle culotte
(I will wear my hottest panties)

j'veux une session un peu hot
(I want a session somewhat hot)
j'veux bien qu'tu r'gardes mais pas qu'tu p'lote
(I want you to look, but not touch) or
you may look but not touch


baby baby baby ....

2nd girl

j'veux etre dans l'top de justice
I want to be in the justice top (I don't get the meaning of this phrase, maybe just for the rhyme)

la main d' Gaspar sur ma cuisse
Gaspar's hand on my thigh


je veux compter même sans les doigts
I want to count, not only with my fingers

je veux les tiens au bon endroit
I want yours (fingers) on the right spot


je veux pas prendre les escaliers
I don't want to climb the stairways

tien c'est parfait, tu vas m'porter
well that's fine you are going to carry me

je veux que moi sur les photos
I want to see only me on the pictures (photos)

et j'veux poser pour Saint Lau
And I want to pose for Saint Lau (Yves Saint Laurent)

je veux des enfants surdoués
I want gifted children
et j'veux qu'mon chien soit diplomé
I want my dog to be qualified (graduated)

je veux ta tête sur un plateau
I want you head on a tray
and I want my by Denisot (a well known talkshow presenter in France)


3dr girl
je veux pas d' cake, j'veux de la coke
I dont' want cake I want coke (scrambled)
I don't want Kate I want Ethan Hawk

je veux sauter d'une grande échelle
I want to jump from a big ladder
and you have to cope with the rainbow

je veux des glaces choco vanille
I want chocolate/vanilla ice creams
je veux tes boules à la myrtille
I want your balls with blueberries

je veux danser comme Vanessa
I want to dance like Vanessa
j'veux voir son mec à Ibiza
I want to see her guy in Ibiza

je veux dormir quand tu te réveilles
I want to sleep when you wake up
et j'veux l'même T-shirt que Yelle
I want the same T-shirt as Yelle's

j'veux rentrer dans tous mes Jeans
I want to fit in all my Jeans
et j'veux qu'tu rentres avec ta prime
and I want your "prime" (your bonus) to fit in as well

j'veux des glacons dans mon verre
I want ice cubes in my glass
faire une souflette à ta grand-mère
soufflette: no idea how you would translate this (when smoking cannabis, you exchange the smoke)



j'ai vu ton ex, tu sais la sotte
I have seen your ex (former girl friend) you know the moron
dis lui qu'j'ai retrouvé ses bottes
Tell her I have found her boots

j'veux pas noyau dans ma cerise
I don't want no stone in my cherry
j'veux qu'tu redresse la tour de Pise
I want you to straighten up the tower of Pisa (leaning tower of Pisa, here obviously something else)


j'veux jouir dans une 2 chevauxx
I want to come in a "Deux chevaux" (an old french car)
et je vais l'faire derrière ton dos
And I will do it in your back (with somebody else)




baby baby baby

Tags for this video have been changed from 'world record, funny, schadenfreude' to 'guinness, world record, funny, schadenfreude, leaning, tower, pisa' - edited by burdturgler

Aren't mental disorders wonderful? You know, if you make a tuna sandwich and whip the mayonnaise using 3 revolutions a second, at a plane equal to the leaning tower of Pisa, you'll get a light to turn on in an abandoned firehouse in Bangor, Maine.

The lengths that the guy who created this video goes to in explaining the Coral Castle mystery is about a labyrinthine as the mind of schizophrenic on holiday from his medication.

Love it. It stays. I dropped a comment here on the sift, too.

Thanks for the heads-up. Research has been so busy I haven't been on VS in months....

In reply to this comment by oxdottir:
I submitted a video that is hot, and my inclusion of the science channel, very much on purpose, is controversial. I said I would like the determination to be made by you and not random star-invocations. Here is the video:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Girl-spins-on-escalator

And here are some comments :

>> ^MarineGunrock:
nochannel happy femme comedy
How the hell is this science? And what part of this discusses engineering or demonstrates it?


>> ^oxdottir:

Geeze, MG. She's using matched linear forces to provide a rotational spin, and the escalator gadget is being used emmergently. I'm slapping those channels back on, and if the science channel guy wants to eject it, let him. But as the engineering channel guidance counselor, THAT one stays!


>> ^xxovercastxx:
By that standard we could mark probably every video on the sift as science and/or engineering. Show me a video that doesn't feature gravitational forces in action. Show me a video that doesn't feature a lever, wheel & axle, or an inclined plane somewhere.
Science is usually rigorously enforced, thankfully. A number of the other channels are becoming catch-alls or the channel owner's favorites list. The frickin woohoo channel even says "anything else that we find suitable.." right in its description.


>> ^oxdottir:
Specious argument. Yes, many videos have gravity in them, no those videos don't usually show the existence of gravity producing a novel or surprising result. Should the Science Channel owner disagree, I would not complain.
I created the engineering channel partly out of frustration that there was no appropriate venue for cool gadgets, cool use of technology, and discussions of same. This is smack dab in the intended area, and I would know that better than anyone. Which doesn't of course, keep you from being snippy, but that's the interwebs.




>> ^rottenseed:
oh and this is nature too because humans are part of nature.
and sexuality because those tight jeans make her look sexy to me


>> ^oxdottir:
I removed those channels. If their owners really wanted them in, I wouldn't complain.
I am clearly from a different planet from some of you. To extend the metaphore above, a video that contained gravity as part of the world is not worthy of a science tag. A video taken of two disparate sized objects that were dropped off the tower of Pisa and which landed at the same time would be, even if no words were spoken. Rembar, whatever you want is fine with me.

I submitted a video that is hot, and my inclusion of the science channel, very much on purpose, is controversial. I said I would like the determination to be made by you and not random star-invocations. Here is the video:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Girl-spins-on-escalator

And here are some comments :

>> ^MarineGunrock:
nochannel happy femme comedy
How the hell is this science? And what part of this discusses engineering or demonstrates it?


>> ^oxdottir:

Geeze, MG. She's using matched linear forces to provide a rotational spin, and the escalator gadget is being used emmergently. I'm slapping those channels back on, and if the science channel guy wants to eject it, let him. But as the engineering channel guidance counselor, THAT one stays!


>> ^xxovercastxx:
By that standard we could mark probably every video on the sift as science and/or engineering. Show me a video that doesn't feature gravitational forces in action. Show me a video that doesn't feature a lever, wheel & axle, or an inclined plane somewhere.
Science is usually rigorously enforced, thankfully. A number of the other channels are becoming catch-alls or the channel owner's favorites list. The frickin woohoo channel even says "anything else that we find suitable.." right in its description.


>> ^oxdottir:
Specious argument. Yes, many videos have gravity in them, no those videos don't usually show the existence of gravity producing a novel or surprising result. Should the Science Channel owner disagree, I would not complain.
I created the engineering channel partly out of frustration that there was no appropriate venue for cool gadgets, cool use of technology, and discussions of same. This is smack dab in the intended area, and I would know that better than anyone. Which doesn't of course, keep you from being snippy, but that's the interwebs.




>> ^rottenseed:
oh and this is nature too because humans are part of nature.
and sexuality because those tight jeans make her look sexy to me


>> ^oxdottir:
I removed those channels. If their owners really wanted them in, I wouldn't complain.
I am clearly from a different planet from some of you. To extend the metaphore above, a video that contained gravity as part of the world is not worthy of a science tag. A video taken of two disparate sized objects that were dropped off the tower of Pisa and which landed at the same time would be, even if no words were spoken. Rembar, whatever you want is fine with me.

I removed those channels. If their owners really wanted them in, I wouldn't complain.

I am clearly from a different planet from some of you. To extend the metaphore above, a video that contained gravity as part of the world is not worthy of a science tag. A video taken of two disparate sized objects that were dropped off the tower of Pisa and which landed at the same time would be, even if no words were spoken. Rembar, whatever you want is fine with me.

Alright, I'll join the kiss and tell club here. I stumbled upon the Sift totally by chance. I went right down the sifted queue and said to myself, "these are actually interesting!" Then I looked at some of the comments and discussions, and they were intelligent and civil, as opposed to those on RudeTube. As time passed, I began to realize this; every unusual character I've ever met, (and subsequently lost touch with), had come back to life. Erudite, delusional, intellectual, cynic, bawdy, pious, they're all here. All except idiots. Exactly how are those filtered out of the Sift and diverted back to YouTube?

I also recognized this early on; there was an expert here to comment on everything, except..........paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Dr. Gupta, Oh....he's busy with all that TV mumbo-jumbo, leaving the Sift without a doc on call. So, I'm filling a niche. And NO, I won't write prescriptions for erectile dysfunction. Just send the spammers your credit card number and they will send you some, along with a "Wishing you were here," card from the French Riviera, or the French Quarter, depending on how deep your pockets are. Which reminds me, I'm with CaptWillard, there should be more chicks here. Can't we have a happy hour? a discount? raffles? something to recruit some more feminine perspective? The ladies that do regularly post are gems. We need to mine some more.

Lastly, politically the Sift leans left like the Tower of Pisa (when viewed from the west). Gunrock, myself, and a few others, are walking around to the other side of the tower to see if it looks any different over there.