Yesterday at work, we had a neat little fair on the patio by the cafeteria. The weather was amazing: 80s, sunny, and beautiful. There was cotton candy, popcorn, cake, free stuff, and a “money tent.” The money tent was this cool plastic booth in which hundreds of little paper tickets were placed. The tickets bore the legend of “Sorry, try again,” or various prizes, ranging from t-shirts to a 37-inch flat-panel TV worth about two grand. When you stepped inside the booth, it was closed behind you and air shot in for four seconds, making the papers flutter in a whirlwind around the booth, and around you. The line was extremely long. I decided to give up my lunch hour to wait in line. I was hoping for the TV, but wasn’t counting on it. I just wanted to win something.

I won a $50 gift card.

I am so happy. I was flying the rest of the afternoon. I never win anything. And I had my choice of that, a $25 gift card, or a company-logo fan. (You can only keep one prize.) The ticket for the $25 gift card flew onto my mouth and stuck there. I wonder if that was a hint?

A free baseball cap, elastic lanyard clip, pen, and enough little freebies to share with my students (I asked) because I intended to have them work on Mastery Skills. They did, and got two more of them, so they got prizes, too. The holidays have put us behind schedule, big-time. We’re missing a total of four Sundays altogether, counting next week.

They’re a good class, my new one. They made it through September with zero negative points, and look to make it through October at least. I was realizing today that I am less likely to give these students negative points because their behavior is generally quite good, and when it gets bad, it’s mostly rowdiness. They can’t help it. They’re nine years old, and they’ve been in school all day, and they have to come to school for two more hours on Tuesday afternoons. I expect less control on those days, and plan lessons accordingly. We almost never do discussion-heavy topics on a Tuesday. Practical, hands-on learning only, and plenty of learning games. The lessons on Jewish philosophy and religion are always scheduled for Sundays.

You’d be amazed at what nine-year-olds come up with during these sessions. They surprise me every year.

I must be doing a decent job again this year, though. I hear through the parent grapevine that the kids are loving my class. I swear, all you have to do is buy a two-dollar toy and make a kid work to earn it, and you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. Okay, I do more than give them prizes, but it’s like being a magician. It’s all in the distraction. While we’re staring at his right hand, his left one is secreting something into his pocket or getting the colored handkerchief ready. With me, the kids think they’re playing a game when I am actually reinforcing the facts they’ve learned by quizzing them on their knowledge of Judaism, history, holidays, and Judaica, in a game we call “Jewpardy.” Because there is scorekeeping involved, it doesn’t feel like work to them.

And yes, I have taught yet another class about the phrase “Three-line holiday.” (They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!) And every year, without fail, one of them will say Yom Kippur is a three-line holiday because they tend to make it a knee-jerk reaction, as it’s true for a good number of holidays, and nine-year-olds are all about being able to tally another correct answer. “Really?” I ask. “What do we eat on Yom Kippur?”

Gets ‘em every time.

“Oh.”

Time to go shopping for Sunday next. The kids have been accumulating points, and they’re going to be burning a hole in their pockets. I’ve already warned them that it’s going to be first-come, first-served, lottery basis as to who gets to choose what prize. Five years has taught me just about every which way a child can get upset during the prize awarding. Normally, I let the child who earned the total points first choose, and go in that order. But that’s not possible now. I only tally points on Sundays, and we will have missed four by the time we get back to a Sunday class.

Good thing I won that $50 gift card.

Naaah. I’m spending it on myself. I think I’ll finally get the Battlestar Galactica DVDs and see what all the fuss is.

The AP has recognized that Hamas won’t recognize Israel, but has yet to recognize that it is the key to the failure of the unity government. (Okay, the AP is actually pretending that Hamas may someday, possibly, could, in a way that may be acceptable to your average terrorist, acknowledge that Israel already exists, but even that it a load of crap.)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Oct 10, 2006 (AP)— Qatar’s attempt to end a growing crisis in the Palestinian territories appeared to end in failure Tuesday after Hamas rejected the plan’s key demands that it recognize Israel and renounce violence.

Fatah faulted Hamas for the breakdown in negotiations the latest setback to international efforts to establish a unity government and restore much-needed aid to the Palestinians.

However, Palestinian Information Minister Youssef Rizka of Hamas said the U.S. was to blame for dismissing a separate Palestinian plan that would establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank but not explicitly recognize Israel. The document has been a basis for Hamas-Fatah talks.

Oh, look. Now it’s America’s fault, because we insist on the palestinians joining civil society before pouring any more money into their already-failed state. And the AP doesn’t find the contradictions in these statements to be, well, contradictory.

Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led government, said his group was not ready to recognize Israel or give up its armed struggle against Israel.

“We differentiate between resistance and terrorism,” he said.

Still, he said, Hamas is ready to continue the negotiations: “The way is not blocked.”

Okay, here’s the thing. Hamad is talking about negotiations between Fatah and Hamas to create a unity government. Hamas is never going to recognize Israel. And while Fatah would not like that to be one of the requirements, they are being forced to add it by the U.S. and the EU. The AP knows this, and still pretends that there is actually a chance Hamas might “succeed” in “negotiations.”

Wow. The sheer gall of the news services never ceases to amaze me.

Israel exists. For Hamas not to acknowledge it makes them look rather stupid, but it’s the principle of refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of any non-Islamic state that is at work here.

When they say they want a caliphate ruling the place where Israel and the terrortories[sic] now stand, they mean it. Why the news services, politiciains, and negotiators refuse to acknowledge this can only be explained by Israeli Double Standard Time.

Say, have you read all of those analyses that say that Ahmadinejad is not really speaking from power, and that he only does what the Mad Mullahs tell him to do? That Ayatollah Khameini is the real power in Iran?

Well, guess what? He’s not going to stop pursuing nuclear “power,” either.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority, said on Tuesday the country would pursue its right to develop nuclear technology, and hinted it would not suspend uranium enrichment as the West demands.

“Our policy is clear, progress with clear logic and insisting on the nation’s right without any retreat,” state television quoted him as saying, in reference to Tehran’s nuclear program.

I think that puts paid the theory that the mullahs are using Ahmadinejad’s position as a bargaining point.

Maybe that’s why I’m liking the new show, Jericho. It’s giving me tips on survival after the bombs drop.

The Syrian sock-puppet with a girl’s first name is showing his true colors, and they are, well, crazy as a bedbug.

In an interview to Kuwaiti daily Al-Anbaa Lahoud said: “There is no doubt that the primary targets of the latest Israeli war in Lebanon was also to destroy the awakening and prosperity of our country. The Israelis themselves said that they want to take Lebanon 20 years back. Lebanon is Israel’s chief rival in the field of finance, culture and tourism. And that is why we can see that whenever Lebanon bounces back and begins to make progress, Israel attacks it.”

What is in the water in the Middle East that these tinpot tyrants all play the same conspiracy card? Wow, they are so incredibly screwed up, no wonder every nation but Israel is a craphole.