I've been asked about that more than once, given that I rarely have blogged about events at school, and never in a manner that identifies students or explcitly identifies where I teach (a couple of posts have made it possible to identify the school, but you would have to click a link or do some research). And I have steadfastly refused to explcitly state my last name on the blog, precisely so I never have to deal with outraged students, parents, and peers -- though a little bit of ingenuity would allow an interested reader to ferret out my identity.

Why do I approach blogging this way? Well, it might have something to do with avoiding a situation like this one in Chicago.

Typing rambling screeds in an anonymous blog he called "Fast Times at Regnef High," a Fenger High School teacher unleashed his frustration over the chaos he saw around him.

He labeled his students "criminals," saying they stole from teachers, dealt drugs in the hallways, had sex in the stairwells, flaunted their pregnant bellies and tossed books out windows. He dismissed their parents as unemployed "project" dwellers who subsist on food stamps, refuse to support their "baby mommas" and bad-mouth teachers because their no-show teens are flunking.

He took swipes at his colleagues, too--"union-minimum" teachers, literacy specialists who "decorate their office door with pro-black propaganda," and security officers whose "loyalty is to the hood, not the school."

In his blog, the teacher did not identify himself or his students, the exact name of his school or the city where he taught. But like most bloggers, he wanted an audience, so he wrote in his blog that he had leaked news of his site to a few co-workers. Soon enough, the 30-year-old teacher's name was the talk of the school.

This week, after returning from spring break, the students read how they were depicted and flamed the blog with profane threats and righteous indignation toward the teacher.

By Thursday, the reaction grew so vitriolic that the blogger took down his site from Blogger.com. Also that day, a Fenger High teacher e-mailed his principal that he wasn't coming to school because he "feared for his safety." The teacher was the same one widely believed to have authored the blog because he told two colleagues that it was his, Fenger Principal William Johnson said.

Johnson said he doesn't know whether the teacher has resigned. The teacher hasn't returned Johnson's phone calls or replied to an e-mail asking to meet with him. The teacher did not acknowledge to the principal that it was his blog, but Johnson said he has no doubt, based on the writing style and his disappearance after the students named him in their postings. When he started the blog in February, he wrote as if he were the "brick and mortar" building named "Regnef,"--Fenger spelled backward--but then switched his voice and revealed he was a teacher.

In his final posting Thursday, the teacher said he intentionally leaked his blog site to people he knew would "tell the world" because he wanted it to be read, but he didn't explain how he expected to remain anonymous.

Now let's be honest -- this course of action was stupid. Once he started publicizing the blog at school, he was screwed. I have a couple of peers that know this is my blog, but they are folks who know to keep the matter extremely confidential because I've told them flat out that I don't want it to be known as my blog.

After posting stuff like he has, how can this guy possibly go back to Fenger High School.

Heck, how can he possibly remain in Chicago Public Schools?

He has enraged kids, parents, and colleagues -- he is toast.

I don't want to be him -- and so I keep my blogging separate from my place of employment.

And thank God I cannot access my site from school, so the temptation to post during school hours is not even there.

Posted by: Greg at 01:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Today is the Social Studies TAKS -- we finally get to my subject area.

And TAKS will be over for another year.

Let's celebrate with my regular weekend Linkfest!

* * *

Post a link to your noteworthy writings and most interesting rants -- not to mention your well-reasoned and intellectually challenging essays -- for all of us to see.

As usual, I will not limit the number of items you can link, provided you stay reasonable.

And also as usual, remember the rule.

No Porn. No Spam. No Problem.

OPEN TRACKBACKED TO: Stop The ACLU, Uncooperative Blogger, Third World Country, Cigar Intelligence Agency, Camelot Destra Ideale, Adam's Blog, Conservative Cat, Blue Star Chronicles, Stuck on Stupid, TMH Bacon Bits, Voteswagon, Liberal Wrong Wing, Publius Rendezvous

Posted by: Greg at 10:28 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'll be giving the Math TAKS all day today, so I'll be wrung out like a wash cloth by the end of the day (monitoring these tests requires a heightened awareness that is really draining -- and a mis-step can get your credentials sanctioned). I then have a meeting tonight regarding the Tom DeLay vacancy (as a CD22 precinct chair, I'm part of the process to select his replacement on the ballot). I just don't know how much time and energy I will have for additional blogging.

So here's an open thread for folks to link and trackback. That's right, I'm trying to do a linkfest since too keep folks coming back on a day when I might not blog a bunch. I won't limit the number of links, but do request that you practice reasonable restraint.

No spam. No porn. No problem.

Posted by: Greg at 10:36 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I mean, what else can you say about the folks featured in this article? They are pretty frightening, and sound like they need to be heavily medicated -- especially Maryscott O'Connor.

In the angry life of Maryscott O'Connor, the rage begins as soon as she opens her eyes and realizes that her president is still George W. Bush. The sun has yet to rise and her family is asleep, but no matter; as soon as the realization kicks in, O'Connor, 37, is out of bed and heading toward her computer.

Out there, awaiting her building fury: the Angry Left, where O'Connor's reputation is as one of the angriest of all. "One long, sustained scream" is how she describes the writing she does for various Web logs, as she wonders what she should scream about this day.

She smokes a cigarette. Should it be about Bush, whom she considers "malevolent," a "sociopath" and "the Antichrist"? She smokes another cigarette. Should it be about Vice President Cheney, whom she thinks of as "Satan," or about Karl Rove, "the devil"? Should it be about the "evil" Republican Party, or the "weaselly, capitulating, self-aggrandizing, self-serving" Democrats, or the Catholic Church, for which she says "I have a special place in my heart . . . a burning, sizzling, putrescent place where the guilty suffer the tortures of the damned"?

Psychologically healthy people do not act that way. Clearly, this is a woman in need of some serious psychotropic medication -- no sane person burns with that sort of seething, corrosive hatred for those with whom they disagree. It isn't called Bush Derangement Syndrome for nothing.

In the end, I don't know what to feel. Should I be frightened of someone so rage-filled? Thankful that she has found some outlet other than violence through which to vent her rage? Or saddened that someone so in need of help is not getting it the thorazine and haldol she clearly needs.

Maybe I'll just settled for being sorry that the Washington Post didn't do a better job of picking a responsible, reasonable Lefty (like John Aravosis or Oliver Willis, for example) to feature. I think liberals in the blogosphere have been done a grave disservice with this piece.

MORE AT: Malcontent, FBIHOP, Jawa Report, Bluto, Iowa Voice, MahaBlog, Mudville Gazette, Political Pit Bull, Latino Issues, No Kool Aid Zone, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Beautiful Attrocities, Club for Growth, NewsHog, Six Meat Buffet, Gun Toting Liberal, Blogger's Blog, Leather Penguin, Seeing the Forest, Alternate Brain, Dr. Sanity, Cheat Seeking Missle

Posted by: Greg at 06:00 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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1 Thorazine? Add Lithium to that list!! ;-)

Posted by: Hube at Sat Apr 15 01:06:57 2006 (YJyKI)

2 Or a heavy dose of hot lead. j/k

We just gotta do everything in our power, to keep the insane leftists out of power.

Posted by: Chad at Sat Apr 15 07:36:12 2006 (3K65W)

3 Hah - funny article, and untruthful as well. Not many of us hate Bush - we just think of him as dangerously incompetent. BTW, get used to hearing that phrase, dangerously incompetent. It will be used to help recapture the senate and house.

Posted by: Dan at Sat Apr 15 14:22:55 2006 (aSKj6)

4 Notice -- I didn't say that this woman was representative of the Left, and in fact lament that someone else was not picked.

On the other hand, your comment does indicate that there are a number of you on the left who are delusional -- both for believing Bush to be dangerous and incompetent, and for believing that your side is going to recapture either house of congress.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Apr 15 14:28:09 2006 (VMkk1)

5 Oh, and by the way -- she and her commenters are absolutely thrilled with the article -- click the link on her name above.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Apr 15 14:30:04 2006 (VMkk1)

6 I wholeheartedly agree that Finkel should have used an example of a more... restrained figure of hte Left.

Finkel never said in the article (at least I don't think he did ) that she was not a typical representative of the Left side of the blogosphere.

Horrible journalism, imo.

Posted by: LP at Sat Apr 15 14:51:17 2006 (5nRnl)

7 Finkel never said in the article (at least I don't think he did ) that she was not a typical representative of the Left side of the blogosphere.

Did you RTFA?

He specifically mentioned "Daily Kos".
He specifically mentioned "Atrios".
He specifically mentioned "Crooks and Liars".
He specifically mentioned "Rude Pundit".
He specifically mentioned "Smirking Chimp".

All of the above indicated they were in total agreement with her viewpoint!

That is the Left side of the blogosphere...

Posted by: fletch at Sat Apr 15 16:36:55 2006 (elMOd)

8 No, no they aren't. Maybe you think that from the selected posts you read, but a vast majority aren't like that.

Daily Kos is by no means like that, that sort of crazy anger. If you think it is, then this page is just as bad; many of hte diaries are well-reasoned and insightful.

Crooks and Liars? Give me a break. Atrios can dabble in that, but rarely.

Seriously, saying they are all in total agreement with her based on the selected quotes he used is just stupid.

Posted by: LP at Sun Apr 16 08:34:43 2006 (ZercO)

9 If you want to see how much this member of the left agrees with the Deranged Maryscott O'Connor, just look at my comments on DKos here:

http://www.dailykos.com/user/Lawyer%20to%20Capitalists/comments

I will do everything in my power to see that there is no Republican in the White House 2 years from now, and despise what this administration has done to our country, but I do not share her methods or point of view. She does not speak for me or for many others.

Posted by: Lisa at Sun Apr 16 11:42:56 2006 (vW7iC)

10 And please note -- I'm married to a Democrat who would generally agree with the statement you made, Lisa. That is why I lament the fact that the blogger selected was one so incindiary.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sun Apr 16 12:49:56 2006 (oFqcI)

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It is nice to be noticed.

Comments are always a treat (even from trolls and obsessives) -- especially from my regulars.

Trackbacks are great -- when trackbacks are functioning right.

But making the news -- anywhere -- is a treat.

So my serendipitous discovery of this story excited me even more than it surprised me.

How blogs helped keep the faith in Afghanistan

By - Sruthijith K K

The trial of Abdur Rahman, a 41-year-old Afghan facing execution under the Shariah law for converting into Christianity, was yet another incident involving the conflicts that have defined the polarised world after the events of September 11, 2001.

Since the issue violates the fundamental principles of liberal democracy, sharp reactions from the western world and bloggers do not come as a surprise. For the record, charges against Rahman have been dropped for now and the case has been returned to the prosecution for further investigation.

There is little disagreement that this move is a result of the enormous international outcry and appeals from Pope Benedict XVI, US President George W Bush, and many other heads of state. However, clerics have called for the death of Rahman and his safety remains a concern.

'Rhymes with Right' puts the news of his release in perspective. "Rahman is to be freed based not upon a human rights violation, not upon the principle that every person has the right to choose his or her own religion free of state coercion, but based upon technical questions about the evidence and insinuations about his sanity. This is, therefore, NOT a victory for human rights or religious freedom - it is a strategic retreat on the part of the Afghan government."

Many blogs are examining the verses in Koran and the hadiths that deal with apostates. "Though the only verses in the Koran which deal with apostasy do not outright condemn apostates to death, there are plenty of hadiths that do," Giraldus Cambrensis, writing in 'Western Resistance' concludes.

'Riehl World View' says: "I find this incredibly infuriating as so many American, as well as Christian men and women who fought to liberate Afghanistan. This is not what America fought for."

John Hinderacker, taking this line of argument from the American perspective further, thinks this is a "watershed moment". "The American people will bear a great deal of sacrifice, but only on behalf of principle. If, after our liberation of Afghanistan, a man may still be executed for being a Christian - or a Jew, there is no logical basis on which our government can continue to request the ultimate sacrifice from its most devoted supporters."

'Rhymes with Right' balances out the optimism the release has been received with. "There is still every chance of Abdul Rahman being prosecuted. Or what we might see is forbearance in this case, but the eventual execution of some other convert."

Either which way, blogosphere will closely follow developments in Afghanistan.

Wow -- major quotes, including the first and last word on the subject. Not only that, but I'm given precedence over John Hinderacker, whose keyboard I am not worthy to polish

Now when will Bill Bennett, Sean Hannity, and Hugh Hewitt be contacting me to appear on their shows?

Well, I can dream.

* * *

And here is where you can give me a little thrill by linking with your best work and trackbacking to this site. That's right, I'm trying to do a linkfest since it looks like the trackbacks may be working again. I won't limit the number of links, but do request that you practice reasonable restraint.

No spam. No porn. No problem.

Have a blessed Easter weekend.

Posted by: Greg at 06:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I supposedly got about 450 hits yesterday -- and abruptly stopped receiving traffic at 21:50:49. Is this a sign that I've been abandoned -- or is the tracking software down?

Posted by: Greg at 10:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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