[CA renter]

[quote=njtosd][quote=sdsurfer]Thanks for chiming in! I definitely know ours are black widows with the hourglass red mark on the bottom. We are going to do a bit of research and perhaps I’ll post the outcome to this string.[/quote]

The brown widows also have orange-ish red hourglass markings. I read somewhere that they are almost impossible to distinguish by sight alone . . . Although I don’t want to get close enough to try :).[/quote]

In our experience, the shapes are similar, but the legs on the brown widows are striped, and browns tend to be a bit smaller. The bodies can be light or darker brown. They have the orange hourglass marking on the underside which can be brilliant, or a bit faded and difficult to see.

One way to know if you have brown widows is to look under your patio furniture for their eggs. They have a distinct spiky egg sac — it’s white, about half an inch in diameter, and looks like an underwater mine.

Like this (some good pics of the brown widow, too):

https://www.google.com/search?q=brown+widow+spider+egg&client=firefox-a&hs=toc&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ixeqU9PKL47yoATpi4GQDw&ved=0CB4QsAQ&biw=1024&bih=646

They might look menacing, but they haven’t given us any problems, and we sit on our patio furniture all the time, which is where they like to hang out. They tend to hide more, and the ones we have haven’t shown any aggressive tendencies.

[CA renter]

Definitely agree with you about the pressure put on Asian kids by their parents (we have a number of Asian friends, and the parents are hard-core taskmasters…with the results to prove it), but I think that IQ is also involved here. A “gifted” person is much more likely to understand the long-term consequences of their child’s ambitions and actions, so they are pushing their kids to attain success from the moment they are born. They are incredibly competitive.

My friends and I have talked about these differences, and about how (Caucasian) American parents tend to be warmer and more nurturing, less critical, less demanding, etc. My mother was Austrian (Germanic), and they are/were also more like their Asian counterparts. We’ve discussed the possibility that this more nurturing, less demanding parenting style seen in the U.S. is a symptom of a relatively easy life in a powerful country where even the neediest people tend to be better and more generously cared for. In other countries where resources are more scarce, and where survival can depend on how you place relative to your competition, the more competitive, hard-core parenting comes out. Just pondering…

Something I’ve just noted from watching my kids learn Mandarin over the years is that Asian languages are symbolic and more logic-based, as opposed to our phonics-based language. Even how the numbers work in Mandarin ensure that someone who knows how to count will know how to add and multiply to an extent. I think this could be one of the reasons that Asian kids tend to do better in math; they are learning a logical, symbolic language from their earliest years, and their brains might be wired differently as a result.

[CA renter]

What makes this such a compelling novel? Just read the reviews and it sounds interesting, but I want to hear your take on it.

Have you read any of his other books?

[CA renter]

She was an arrogant, entitled, whiny bitch who should know better than to ever reach out, unexpectedly, and grab at a cop. Quite frankly, if she were a 20-something black male, she’d probably be in a lot worse shape.

How do you think the cop should know what she’s grabbing for? Do you know how many times a suspect will reach for a cop’s gun? That was an incredibly stupid move on her part.

To be sure, cops can be arrogant, power-hungry bastards, and I will never deny that. But in this case, the woman was clearly in the wrong, and I think he tried to handle it as well as he could.

[CA renter]

The people who listed for $475K (got $506K, IIRC) used the same pictures from the prior listing, when they bought it for $587K (IIRC). In the current listing pics, some dolt put hardwood over the very nice tile, but only in certain places, so it looks particularly bad, IMO. The front yard also looks worse than in the other two listings. Interestingly, this current seller is using Jeff Karchin, a flat-fee broker who only charges ~$500 to list on the MLS, so the seller is not an agent, him/herself, which is odd for a flipper.

Not sure what’s going on, but find it interesting that the last seller decided to take a ~$80K hit without even trying to break even…in a very hot market.

Of course, we’ve all seen some strange listings/transactions over the years.

[CA renter]

Sounds like you’re going to be great parents, CE (but stay away from that soda!). I like your ideas here. Don’t worry too much about the food; you can make a hobby out of cooking with the family (that’s what we do, since we also love good food, unfortunately).

This will be such an awesome experience for you guys! 🙂

[CA renter]

We have tons of brown widows in our yard. So far, no bites. I’ve heard that they are more venomous, but less aggressive. Either way, they don’t seem to be the problem that black widows are. Still, it’s a bit creepy to have them all over the place. They are literally everywhere.

[CA renter]

No telenovelas for our kids. I was just wondering if there was a series or something that was specifically designed to help English-speaking kids learn Spanish. What you’re doing sounds like a good idea, also because the kids are already familiar with the stories, so will have a bit of an understanding before watching the movies. I’m going to try that.

Hope you’re able to find a new language program for your kids. What you’re doing for your kids is awesome.

[CA renter]

Thought about this earlier today and wanted to make one thing very clear: people with high (and low) IQs come from all races, ethnic backgrounds, genders, ages, SES demographics, etc. The difference is in the range and ratios found among these different groups. Again, I will not even delve into the possible reasons for this, because that is not my specialty…and even the experts don’t know, or don’t want to definitively say anything one way or another.

The RPM is a good test that will definitely identify students who are superior when it comes to certain types of logic, reasoning, and visual-spatial skills. And while the results from this test tend to overlap with the results from other intelligence tests, it is more limited in what it is testing.

While it’s good to use tests that remove cultural and linguistic biases, some people think it’s important to test for these other skills, as well. Verbal-linguistic intelligence, memory, arithmetic, conceptual thinking, understanding of social issues, etc. are all very important, too. Again, while strength in the RPM assessment might overlap with some of these things, it doesn’t cover all of them. Other IQ tests look at visual-spatial skills, but they are looking at many other skills, as well. Not saying that they are better, just that they are different.

Some students are better at math, some at reading, some at logic/debate, some have superior social skills, some have better “street smarts” which many would argue is just as important as intellectual strength. It’s difficult to measure everything with a single test, but what we do know is that higher scores on IQ tests (including the RPM) are highly correlated with wealth, good decision making, higher education, better/longer-lasting marriages (and children born to married parents), etc.

Now, are we failing those who don’t score well on IQ tests? I would argue that we are, but it’s not the teachers who are doing this, it’s the entire educational system, the politicians and corporate leaders who are pushing education in a particular direction, and it’s also because our economic system isn’t set up to give everyone an equal chance, given the same effort expended. I think that is wrong, but we would have to revamp our entire economy and educational system in order to fix it, IMHO, and that just isn’t going to happen.

All that being said, if the cultural and language barriers were the crux of the problem, why do so many Asian students do so well, especially when one considers the fact that their languages and cultures are even more dissimilar than many of those who perform poorly on these tests? …Of course, some would argue that the people coming over from China, Japan, Korea, etc. are wealthier (therefore, more intelligent) while the people coming from Latin America and Africa are more likely to be the downtrodden because they are more likely to be descendents of slaves, or people who weren’t doing well in their native Latin American countries, so made their way over here. Then, we’re right back to, “I just don’t know.”

[CA renter]

Good for you, Russ! Thanks for the recommendation on the Magic Treehouse books. Is there any particular movie series that you get for the kids? How do you and the kids pick the movies? Are you looking specifically at “fun” movies, or at more “educational” movies? And why no cable?

Did your kid’s school cancel the Spanish program because of budget cuts, or was there some other reason? From everything I’ve ever seen, the dual-language immersion programs are absolutely full with a long waiting list. If anything, these are the programs that should be expanded, not cut!

We had our kids in a foreign language school for a few years where they were learning Spanish and Mandarin, but the school closed, so we hired some of the teachers away. Unfortunately, one’s visa expired, and I haven’t been able to find a new Spanish teacher, and our Mandarin teacher found a full-time job in Orange County. We’ve been fortunate because a neighbor/friend of ours is tutoring our kids in Mandarin (and she’s very good), but we’re still trying to find a good Spanish teacher. Using Rosetta Stone in the meantime, but I don’t force it enough because the kids have so much else to do and I don’t want to burn them out.

[CA renter]

[quote=UCGal][quote=CA renter]This has been studied for generations, and many people who’ve studied it for decades will disagree about the causes of IQ differentials. I’m no expert; just stating what’s out there and what the effects of these differences are on our educational system.[/quote]

One of the reasons San Diego Unified uses the Ravin test for GATE testing is because it takes out cultural bias, native language bias, etc. It’s basically pattern recognition in a purely visual basis.

I can tell you that my kids’ seminar classes were ethnically mixed. Part of that is because they were at a school in a hispanic/vietnamese part of Clairemont. But the seminar teachers have such a reputation that kids literally choice in from La Jolla, Coronado, UC, and Point Loma. (Those are the white kids in the class.) All of the kids are super smart – but some come from challenging backgrounds. I would say the class was less than half white… so clearly there is ethnic diversity among cream of the smart kids.

In other districts that use a more typical IQ test – the factors mentioned above probably play a role of keeping non-english speakers at lower scores.

http://www.raventest.net/raven-test.html%5B/quote%5D

But, is it the teachers that give this school/program the reputation that it has, or is it the students? That’s the question that relates most to the issue of teacher tenure and union protection.

I think you’d be surprised to see that many of the teachers in low-performing schools are some of the very best teachers around. It might not show up on the standardized test scores, though. As a teacher, you can do a whole lot more with a classroom full of highly intelligent (irrespective of the tests used to determine this) and motivated students than you can with students who are less intelligent and come from very rough backgrounds who tend to be a lot less motivated in the traditional sense. This is what is demonstrated by standardized test scores.

Also agree that there is no perfect assessment for intelligence, and that there are many different types of intelligence and talents of various sorts. Will get more into the types of testing and what they’re looking for, and why it matters, when I get some more time later on.

Edited to add:

If you go to your link and click on the “IQ by country” link, the breakdown looks very much like how those segregated schools would look.

[CA renter]

[quote=UCGal]
Thanks CAR. Market gains moved it up a little. (I didn’t plan for last years go-go-go market. Plus I found ways to tighten my budget up a little, so I needed less.

My kids will not know what hit them. I’m going to do my best to embarrass them every day by give them big public kisses when I drop them off at school. LOL.[/quote]

Been thinking about your situation while running errands today. I am seriously giddy for you. You deserve a ton of credit for preparing so well, and I know that you’ve made allowances for things like travel, rainy day stuff, etc. That’s very impressive.

As for those kisses, while they might pretend to hate it, you know that deep inside, they love it! You are going to have so much fun!!! 🙂

[CA renter]

I love this blog! 🙂

———

Paramount, as much as I like to give you grief, it’s good to have you here, too.

You’ve got to admit, though, that you do tend to be rather hypocritical. Zk already pointed out another nugget. The other glaring example is your hatred of all things govt, while you work for a govt contractor (and your wife might be a former/current/hopeful public school teacher, too!?!?). You’ve got to admit, this is pretty funny.

[CA renter]

Awwww, how sweet, zk. 🙂

What a nice way to put it. Could not agree more.

Having a kid makes you see the world in a very different light.

[CA renter]

No, not in doo-doo for that, either. 😉 It’s still your primary residence.

Personally, I LOVE accessory units because they provide affordable housing in a way that doesn’t cluster low-income units in one area, which often cause higher crime rates and blight in the area. It also tends to hold landlords more accountable because most people won’t be slumlords when their rental is in their backyard.

As you’ve noted, the accessory unit is assessed at current market value (not sure about their exact formula, but seems to take construction costs and/or FMV into consideration), so you ARE paying market tax rates on your granny flat.

As for the ongoing Prop 13 protection that would cover the extra unit, I think that the benefits listed above, as well as the fact that you are building an additional unit (as opposed to just buying at existing unit), which benefits society by providing additional shelter that didn’t exist before, is worth the tax subsidy. Also, if the unit us used for elderly or disabled family members, this helps reduce the burden on public service members who are often called to check on elderly family members who live apart from other family members, or are called to help them get up off the floor, or help get them back into bed, etc.

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