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Amen, Kid

Education

I can understand  an Olde Phartte  someone from my generation banging on about how the Yoof Of Today are hopeless wankers when it comes to education and being taught in the classroom.  (And yes, I use the word “wanker” in its most appropriate sense, as you will see later.)

But when a 26-year-old teacher gets all ranty on the above topic… well.

“These kids don’t know how to read,” she says flatly. “Because they’ve had things read to them, or they can just click a button and have something read out loud. Their attention spans are waning. Everything is high stimulation. They can scroll in less than a minute.”

And:

Teenagers who refuse to write even a paragraph, who throw tantrums when asked to handwrite an assignment, who beg to ‘just type it’ – not to save time or effort but to copy and paste answers from the internet or use AI to do the thinking for them.

She believes the behavior of her high schoolers is only part of the problem. What worries her is the sense that this generation, raised on screens, simply doesn’t care about anything whether it be learning, literacy or even the basics of society.

“They don’t care about making a difference in the world. They don’t care how to write a resume or a cover letter. They just have these devices in their hands that they think will get them through the rest of their life.

“They want to use [technology] for entertainment. They don’t want to use it for education.”

Hence my use of the term “wankers”:  self-pleasuring little wastrels.

Her solution?

“I think we need to cut off technology from these kids probably until they go to college,” she says. “Call me old-fashioned, but I just want you to look at the test scores. Look at the literacy rates. Look at the statistics. From when students didn’t use technology… to now.

“If you can’t read and you don’t care to read… you’re never going to have real opinions. You’ll never understand why laws and government matter. You’ll never know why you have the right to vote.”

By George… I think she’s got it.  And I repeat:  this isn’t some Olde Phartte like me;  she’s Gen Z, FFS.  And if someone in that group is starting to despair about the future generation…

She’s quitting teaching.  At age 26.

Somebody somewhere needs to give her a job — in a proper school, run as she describes it — because this is a lovely seed just waiting to grow.  She shouldn’t be wasted, because gawd knows there aren’t that many like her.

Random Totty

Gratuitous Chick Pics

So you’re a halfway-decent-looking totty, but you’re about 6’6″ tall and have a problem finding men to date.  What to do, what to do?

Put on some 5″ heels so you’re 7′ tall, and take to OnlyFans, of course.

Yeah;  it’s Brazil, baby.

Welcome Wagon

Immigration, The Gun Thing

Reader Mike S. writes and suggests a housewarming present:

“Every incoming Afrikaner should be given a Green Card and a rifle. Not a Mauser but a good American-made one. Maybe a Ruger American II. Either in .30-06 or 7×57 (for tradition’s sake).”

Well, if you’re expecting an argument from me against such an action, you haven’t been reading this website for very long.

When I read this, though, I thought that a Ruger “Ranch” model would be more appropriate, given the heritage of our newest (legal) arrivals:


…but in looking at the available chamberings (see link), I find them… unsatisfactory.  Certainly not the calibers that our Seffrican imports would be familiar with.

So yes, either .30-06 (American) or .308 Win (which every Seffrican rifleman is familiar with), and therefore either the Hawkeye Compact (.308)


… or the longer-barreled Hawkeye Hunter (.30-06 or .308)

Both are extremely tasty, and I’d take either one in a bushveld minute.

HOWEVER:

Let’s get creative, here, and consider giving them a rifle with which every Seffrican of a certain age is familiar:

Ho yuss… the FN-FAL / DSArms SA-58 — note the “SA” — or, to give the thing its Seffrican name, the R1, along with four spare magazines and a couple hundred rounds of 7.62x51mm.

This choice achieves two objectives:

  • gives our new “settlers” (heh heh) a means of self-defense, and
  • sets the anti-gun socialists’ collective hair on fire.

Anyone have a problem with this idea?

Afterthought:  also, a .22 rifle (e.g. the Ruger 10/22) and a thousand-odd rounds of ammo because it’s a household appliance and every home should have one.

Getting Tough?

Good Stuff, Immigration

Whoa.  How’s this for immigration reform?

Plans are to end migrants’ automatic right to apply for indefinite leave to remain and citizenship after five years as part of a new “controlled, selective and fair” immigration system.
Instead, they face a 10-year wait unless they are able show a “real and lasting contribution” to the economy and society.
Only migrants who show their contribution through their tax returns, work as doctors, nurses or hospital staff and other public services, or outstanding voluntary service will be entitled to apply for permanent residency before the 10-year deadline.
Indefinite leave to remain and citizenship bring with it the right to welfare benefits, free healthcare, full civic rights including voting and the ability to apply for a passport.
The changes are part of a series of measures to “substantially” reduce net migration.

Here are some details.

Language skills.
Skilled foreign workers will face tougher English language tests to get entry visas. Under the proposed rules, they will be required to have the equivalent of [12th-grade] English, where they can speak “fluently and spontaneously” and “flexibly and effectively” for social, academic and professional purposes.
They had previously only been required to be at the [8th-grade] level where migrants have to be able to understand the main issues “regularly encountered in work, school or leisure” and deal with situations “likely to arise while traveling.”
Known as B-2, [12th-grade] English will also be the standard expected of anyone seeking to apply for indefinite leave and then US citizenship, as well as for overseas students.
For the first time, spouses, children or parents of successful visa applicants who want to join them in the US will have to pass language tests which require a basic understanding of English. If the dependents want to extend their visa after two years, they will have to show improvements to pass higher-level tests.

Care workers.
Care homes will be barred from recruiting foreign staff from overseas from later this year and will instead be required to hire foreign workers who are already in the US.
Care homes would be able to recruit from a pool of around 40,000 foreign staff who came on care worker visas only for their visa sponsorship to be cancelled. As explained:
“They are here and care companies should be recruiting from that pool of people, rather than recruiting from abroad. We are closing recruitment from abroad.”

Deportation of criminals.
Under these plans, any offense committed by a foreign national will be reported to ICE rather than only those crimes where they have been jailed, as is presently the rule.
It raises the prospect that migrants could be removed for lower-level offenses. At present, only foreign criminals jailed for more than a year face automatic deportation while the removal of those imprisoned for under a year is discretionary.
The change could mirror moves already announced to class any foreign national placed on the sex offenders’ register, regardless of their sexual crime or sentence, as having committed a “serious crime” with no right to asylum protections.
The new measures would also cover any foreign national arriving on a visa who was subsequently found to have committed crimes abroad but failed to declare them, or who were found guilty of any offences in the US.

Sounds pretty good, dunnit?

Okay, I need to ‘fess up. These aren’t measures proposed by the Trump Administration… but by Britain’s Labour Party.  (I changed some of the words to mislead y’all, sorry.)

But I have to say that if it passes, there’ll be massive weeping and wailing. Hence I expect that lawyers will be powdering their wigs, even as we speak.

I’m normally reluctant to recommend that we copy the Brits, in just about any endeavor;  but I have to say there are some good ideas in there.

Update:  Of course, it could all be a pack of lies.

Another Good Example

Friends and Family, Gummint

…this time from the Hungarians on raising birth rates.  A couple of eyebrow-raisers:

Mothers can stay at home for three years after giving birth, with the first six months paid at a rate higher than their previous salary – they receive their full gross salary, not just the net amount.

Mothers under 30 are exempt from personal income tax, and mothers with two or more children pay no personal income tax for the rest of their lives.

Married couples expecting or having a child can apply for an interest-free loan up to €30.000 – and if they have three children, the loan is fully forgiven.

The government offers low-interest fixed-rate housing loans for families. In the case of three or more children, families can access up to €127,000.

The government also provides non-refundable financial grants up to €37.500 for families who move to rural areas.

Gotta say that as much as I’m approving of all this assistance, I’m not sure who pays for it all.  Then again, if you offset those costs against what a government might spend on illegal immigrants, then maybe the system will work.

The results so far, though, seem to be pretty good:

In 2010, Hungary ranked last among EU member states in terms of total fertility rate, but according to the latest Eurostat data from 2023, we have risen to third place. This significant progress is largely thanks to the targeted government family support policies implemented over the past fifteen years. As a result, since 2010, 200,000 more children have been born than would have been expected based on previous demographic trends. In parallel with the rise in births, the number of marriages has significantly increased, the number of divorces has decreased. Even the number of abortions has fallen significantly  –  all without the introduction of new restrictive legislation.

Wow.  And the principles behind this initiative are sound, too:

First, increase family incomes so that people have the financial base to start and raise families.

Second, support housing, because having a home is fundamental to starting a family.

Third, ensure long-term financial security for women. A lot of women would like to have families but they are afraid that motherhood would mean an existential risk. We built a safety net to increase the income (and the living standard with it) for women.

If you want people to do something, then subsidize it — especially if that “thing” is ruinously expensive through no fault of theirs.

I’d like to see the results of this in, say, twenty years’ time when this “baby boom” starts getting into the workplace.

But in the meantime, I’m impressed.

Speed Bump #6,325

Grammar Nazism

A twofer from the same publication, filed under “Death By SpelChek”:

“I think a lot of the established community will give the town a wide birth in the summer.”

…and:

Stevie-Sara Russell, 43, from Essex, was vivaciously beaten by her ex-partner.

There’s only one thing to do under the circumstances.