MarkWVU02

Well said Maks. People forget that education should really start and continue at home.

That was pretty much my point. There will be good students in every school. Only difference is catholic and charter schools can get rid of bad or underperforming students. Personally the bad ones tend to be my favorite though haha.

Well I figured I'd write up a quick review of the Midwest Industries SS-Series Drop-In Two Piece Handguards (midlength) I received as a Christmas gift this year. First off these things are super light. They weigh 7.2 ounces without rails and only 8.3 ounces with the rails. Thanks to only having a top rail these save a lot of weight not having all four sides covered with rails many of us won't use. I don't have a scale at home but they almost feel lighter than my Magpul handguards. They come with 3 rail sections, 2 short and 1 long, and screws to attach them to the handguard. They provide that monolithic style upper rail. They are thinner than the Magpul handguards I replaced them with and feel great in my hands. I don't have big hands and when I tried out my buddies AR with YHM handguards I was surprised how wide they were...these are the exact opposite...thin, I think the website says 1.825". They also have 5 QD socket locations for sling swivels. I couldn't wait to get these on my BCM upper. Mounting them is the same as mounting any 2 piece handguard like the Magpul. These definitely lock up super tight. I always had a 2mm or so bit of front to back play with my Magpul's...these have no play at all and almost feel like they truly are a one piece free float. I used the long rail section to mount my Magpul AFG2 to the bottom and everything feels solid. I'm truly impressed how great they are considering their price point $150ish. The machining was great and looked like much more expensive handguards I've seen. Plus they're made in the USA and come with a lifetime warranty which is always a plus. Haven't gotten to shoot with them on yet thanks to the ammo scare but will be doing so soon and will definitely update once I do. My first impression though is these are great and are a must for anyone looking to add a rail on a budget. I love the fact that they're modular and you can put rails only where you need them. Next investment will definitely be a weapon light with pressure switch. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. Here's the obligatory picture (sorry about the crappy cell pic and bad lighting).

Funny part is the catholic schools and charter schools can get rid of bad or underperforming kids. Usually that's what they do. My buddy Joe is a product of public school. Got accepted to the Bergen County Academy for the Advancement of Science and Technology. Got something like a 1500 on his SATs, attended USC, graduated with an engineering degree, and now makes 3-4 times then I do teaching. Public schools work too you know. Usually you get out what you out into it. Actually my public high school had 2 kids that got perfect SAT scores.

Agreed. I've also never heard the NJEA even mention 2A rights or voting against it.

Laico's does still have valet parking. Last time I went I had one of the best dinners I've had in a while. Problem with merit pay is it doesn't address a lot of things. What happens to gym, art, etc... teachers? I teach severely learning disabled children do it's difficult to judge progress depending on the child and disability. Also you have the problem with vindictive administrators. They could easily set you up to fail with a class of trouble children or a grade level you're not good at. This year I have kindergarten children. I'm much better with older children so I'm struggling. There's a lot of things that come into play when you talk about merit pay that doesn't necessarily work with a lot of staff members. I'm not against the system just there needs to be a system put in place that works. Also there needs to be standardized test reform too. It's sad watching special Ed children that are technically at a 3rd grade age but functioning on a kindergarten level being forced to take 3rd grade tests. There's a lot broken with the education system. Everyone talks about bad teachers but I'd venture to say there are a lot more good ones than bad ones. Just like there are a lot more good cops than bad cops. There needs to be more support for teachers this way we can work to our full potential.

We're expecting the general public to use common sense and logic...something that seems to be lacking in America now. I just engage as many people as possible in thoughtful debate. You can't change everyone's mind but you can change some.

Tell me about it. I can't even get math materials. That's the problem though when there are cuts, they cut at the bottom not at the top where they should.

Might have been Casa Dante in Newark haha. Laico's is some pretty damn good food though.

Depends on money but I'd like a scoped bolt action in a bigger caliber than 5.56, another shotty maybe a field and security combo, another handgun either semi or revolver. Not too sure about models or calibers yet just some ideas for the new year.

Exactly. Keep the population at war with each other while they screw us left and right.

I work in jersey city. When epps was superintendent he was making over 250k a year and had 7 associate superintendents all making 6 figure salaries. Each has a secretary. But people complain about the classroom teachers. There's an easy way to cut money but doing it at the classroom level is ridiculous.

Teachers don't make that much and can't retire at 55. I've been teaching 10 years and make less than almost all of my friends who are in the private sector...substantially less I should add. Most teachers don't make a lot of money until they have 20 years in the job and honestly they deserve it. Here we go with another us vs them thread. Ridiculous.

Voted. They're getting killed.

Just thought of something. They want to move on legislation as quickly as possible. Didn't Obama say something like by the end of January. Shouldn't we rally sooner. Feb 8th may be too late.

I guess but doesn't seem like a typical anonymous message. 15 minutes is longer than any anonymous message I've seen. Also anonymous does loosely have some organization and collaboration. One thing that struck me was they left out part of the motto..."We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."

Seems legit...(sarcasm)

Watched it. Doesn't seem like its really anonymous though. Good message regardless.

Damn I signed up for $35 and got nothing haha. Oh well hopefully they use my money to win the fight.

I'd wait for a gun buy back. Might as well get something for it.

I think we can agree this guy was an idiot. He had a flash suppressor and jersey defined "high cap mags" Unfortunately we here can agree there's nothing evil about these but Jersey law is the law here and he should've known better. I think we can agree most cops are hard workers but some think they have a sense of entitlemant and are above the law which is probably the case with the guy from the article.

You can take a ferry or take the bus (NJ transit will benefit). You don't have to drive into the city people choose to.

Here's a little bit about Hostess. While trying to cut employee salaries by 8% and employee benefits by 32%, hostess' CEO gave himself a 300% raise. Nine other hostess executives received 60-100% raises while filing for their second bankruptcy. Not to mention they stopped paying into the pension system essentially owing millions of dollars to their employees. It seems easy to blame the unions and I can agree that it seems a lot of unions are more concerned with protecting their power instead of enhancing the interests of their members, but it's kind of hard to blame people, who make $20 an hour and wanted a decent wage and benefits package for this while corporate leaders lines their pocket, for this situation.

Once again we seem to be missing the point that your taxes do NOT pay Port Authority cops salaries. they are private and receive no public funding for their operation. I also don't think unions killed American industries. I'd venture to say it was the greedy heads of these corporations who put their huge bonuses above paying their workers a fair and competitive salary. hence, while they outsourced jobs to China and continually made more and more while the average worker suffered. Look at Hostess...it wasn't the unions fault it was the greedy management.

Will try my best to be there. Because of a work situation I technically don't have any sick days left but may have 1 PB day left that I'll use for this.