So what AREN'T you drinking now?

@OdysseusUnbound, oh no you don't....you can't open with a teaser and pull out. I want to hear the full-blown-balls-out-rant. ....here's to keeping it whisky with Teachers

@paddockjudge here’s a longer rant that I posted on Facebook that was shared about 40 or so times. Not bad.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there (being repeated deliberately by the DoFo Conservatives) about the Ontario teachers’ strikes. Let’s be clear about why we’re striking:

• The Ford Conservatives have gutted funding to special education for the most vulnerable students. Education minister Stephen Lecce keeps talking about “increased commitment”. This is a flat-out lie. There are fewer Educational Assistants (who are already insanely underpaid/under-appreciated) and those who still have jobs are being overworked and are burning out. This is unacceptable.
• Class sizes: this is a shell game the government plays. An “average of 24 students per class” is NOT a hard cap in high school. Guidance counsellors may not teach a class at all, yet they are counted as teachers in the school board’s “student to teacher ratio/accounting”. Same for Special Education teachers. And board curriculum consultants/board leads. This is why you can still end up with 40 students in a grade 12 Math class. Hardly ideal.
• Mandatory e-learning: online classes are already an option for students who WANT to take these classes. Making some online learning mandatory? Not a well-tested approach. And the data that does exist suggests that for e-learning to be viable, it requires a LARGER financial investment than in-class learning. And let’s be clear; the e-learning approach proposed by Lecce is modelled on the educational powerhouses of Arkansas and Alabama, two states whose education systems are consistently ranked in the bottom 5-10 in the U.S. You know who doesn’t have mandatory e-learning? Finland, a country that’s consistently ranked among the best in the world for education. You know which other country is consistently in the top rankings for education? Canada. That’s right, despite what Ford and Lecce would have you believe, our education system is already world class.
• Hiring practices: Lecce rolled this new one out to the public in the last week or so and it’s an outright lie. Not a “difference of opinion” but a lie. Lecce would have you believe that qualifications don’t matter, that school boards and principals are routinely “forced” to hire according to seniority and nothing else. You know, because of “union thugs” or “union bosses” or “all-powerful unions”. This. Is. A. Lie. Qualification is the FIRST consideration when it comes to hiring a teacher. If I, a history/civics/philosophy/music teacher, have 12 years of teaching experience and I apply for a job teaching grade 12 physics, a teacher who is actually qualified in physics will get the job before I do, even if they only have 2 years of experience. (And the students will be much better off).

Sorry for the long post, but I felt compelled to set the record straight.”

@OdysseusUnbound Liked your rant better than Teacher's Highland Cream...

Fantastic news and one hell of a coincidence @Nozinan!

I literally just picked up a bottle of Teacher’s like an hour ago....

@OdysseusUnbound

I couldn’t possibly agree more with everything you say @OdysseusUnbound.

The government’s disgusting underfunding of public education here in Japan is one of the many, many reasons I’ll be leaving this country sometime in the relatively near future.

@OdysseusUnbound it’s simply shameful how we treat people whose activities are so essential to a functioning society. Here in the UK the pressures on education, healthcare and policing are immense - and of course they consequently perform badly. And then we all complain about the performance, whilst never addressing root causes but instead flee to private healthcare and education, perpetuating the vicious circle and deepening social divides.

There, my breakfast rant

@RikS @OdysseusUnbound - Oooh can I join in?!

I'll add that in the UK what makes it even worse are league tables of performance that judge each school by the same standards. Well on paper, fine, OK, but in reality a chronically underfunded, inner city school with high rates of non-English speakers, social problems and general apathy towards education from parents/carers is pitted against rural, leafy, 'all-white' schools with higher levels of parental education, financial support and little, if any, social upheaval.

This state of affairs continually stamps on the efforts of those working in the former whilst massaging the egos of those in the latter, and this sets unattainable standards for many. Obviously, those in charge will have barely even set foot in such inner-city melting pots, let alone be able to relate, but seem fit to continually condescend to anyone who may highlight or question this brazen inequality.

'All schools face challenges so we expect the same levels of performance' is the usual marble mouthed response to such concerns ...

It's all window dressing, in the classic English upper-class style, to take attention away from the real issue of chronic underfunding. Meanwhile teachers burn out and leave the profession in droves as they flog themselves to reach these near unattainable and unrealistic targets. But don't worry, there's always next year's cohort of hungry new teachers and we can pay them even less! I imagine policing, health care and so on are in much the same boat. It would also seem this issue is far from unique to the UK?!

Morning all! Have a nice day

@Hewie - I read somewhere that Guy Ritchie is a big 'farclas fan. If I remember rightly he had his stag do there or something? Probably a little kick back for those private barrels he now has his name on ha! Why not though?!

@RianC the issue exists elsewhere too, but having by now lived in 11 countries I think I can competently say that the social divide in the UK is unique in the sense that there is little to no debate about it. It’s very anti establishment and anti EU and all that, but comparatively very little introspective for a country facing a future of increased pensioner poverty, waning education and healthcare and where young professionals don’t stand a chance anymore to get on the propert ladder in the urban centres to which they are drawn for employment.

May I ask what countries you’ve lived in @RikS?

I have travelled extensively, but only ever lived in Canada and Japan. I truly believe the world would be a better place if more of us had the experience of living in another country/culture.

I fully intend to try living somewhere else in the future.... possibly South America...

@RianC Standardized testing is what you get when business people who don’t understand or value education treat learning as another set of “performance targets”. Kids are not widgets and their productivity can not be measured as such. Not to get too deep in the weeds, but our teachers’ unions have often suggested replacing the current standardized testing model with random sampling, an approach that would actually yield more useful data and save millions of dollars. Of course, Liberal and Conservative governments have rejected this. Probably because it is too sensible and practical.

@RikS - Man, don't get me on a British class rant!

You are totally right; and that a non-UK citizen can see the glaringly obvious whilst many 'natives' either don't or don't care enough is quite telling. Still, we have iPhones and cheap booze so ... It used to be pitch forks and witches!

@OdysseusUnbound - Business folk running educAtion ... Ahhh, it's like that there to, eh?! It. Is. Madness.

I like the idea of randomised sampling. I can't speak for Canada but I would guess that here, the league tables allow a form of top down control that more random methods wouldnt. Take that as you will ...

Interestingly, private (or confusingly named, public) schools don't seem to be run with the same ideals or principles and guess who go on to make up over 60% of societies social policy makers? Yip, you guessed it

Phew, not even lunch and I need a dram or two!

Dillon’s newmake spirit.

Our group got about 20 bottles of this stuff from a depot in Toronto, donated by the distillery to help front-line workers who were too busy saving lives to panic buy and clean out all the hand sanitizer in every store in Ontario.

One of my colleagues picked it up and another one and I met at his place (keeping 2 m apart) to pick up some bottles from him. I was told it smelled sweet.

I’m always up for trying newmake spirit and it did look so inviting except the part that said not for consumption - but that’s just for tax purposes, right?

Well, ever the adventurer, I contacted the distillery and said one of my colleagues had said it smelled delicious and should I be contacting poison control? To their credit they promptly replied and said that they had (according to CDC or WHO standards or something) added glycerine (which is safe to consume) and peroxide (which is definitely not safe to consume).

I know some of you notice that one bottle is started. But pleas not the glass is empty.

This stuff seems to make a great full strength spray and leaves no residue (like some sanitizers) when sprayed on hands. I used it today after a home visit to spray things that could not be wiped down.

Can’t taste it? Pity. But I’ll go to their distillery someday and see if I can try some newmake. In the meantime I will preserve my intestinal tract.

Stay safe everyone!

@Nozinan For years, most craft(y) distilleries have been packaging slightly aged hand sanitizer, labeling it as "Whisk(e)y", and selling it to the public at obnoxious premiums over properly aged whisky. It's nice to know their products are finally being used for their intended purpose.

@Nozinan I made some hand sanitiser using that recipe it - it is supplied by WHO. I used analytical grade lab alcohol (ethanol), a very low conc. of hydrogen peroxide and glycerol as a humectant. None of that crap with aloe vera added to it. I bet that new make smells better though!

@65glenfarclas Not really. It may, like JW Red, have tasted like or worse than hand sanitizer, but at 40% it is worthless in infection control.

@Nozinan I understand that 40% is useless for infection control. I'm talking about "gems" like this 3 year old malt for which I paid 100 bucks plus $17 shipping from the distillery back in May 2013. The bottle is still 2/3 full at the back of my cabinet. It is the one of the worst rot gut whiskies I've ever tasted (though a couple of people I've shared it with didn't think it was that bad). Poured myself a small dram last night to see if air time has mellowed it, nope, its as undrinkable as ever - drain pour. This waste of money put me off craft(y) distilleries to this day. If not for the unbearable aroma I would use it for #handsanitizer.

@65glenfarclas I hope cask #1 is better. I picked that one up from the distillery shop. I promised @Victor I would open it with him one day. Now I worry that he will think I don't like him...

@Nozinan good luck!

This would be a good time to crack an Old Pulteney 12 in my home.

The entire main and upper floors have been saturated with the smell of gefilte fish cooking. Luckily we closed the bedroom doors and many windows are open..

Here's my review for the fish reference...

connosr.com/old-pulteney-12-year-old-whisk…

Lots! We were supposed to attend a whisky festival today but, obviously, it didnt go ahead. Something to look forward to once the curtain of germs is lifted, I suppose. Tomorrow's Zoom will do for now!

Speaking of, has anyone seen the latest whiskysponge? His take on online festivals is a hoot, as per.

whiskysponge.com

If you scroll.down to the previous post there's a rather fetching new Bells decanter being released ...

A'bunadh Alba: I want to taste it first.

@OdysseusUnbound. I teach at an uni, and the big concern is that the online procedures will continue after the crisis--as if this were some kind pre-planned test to cut costs.

I'm also concerned about the effects of this crisis on civil liberties. We're kind of falling down the slippery slope already when it come to rights. No government (liberal, conservative) will roll those changes back. At least that's my experience in the US. Sorry about that rant. In any case, I'm an educator and hear your. There's a Fb group called Teaching the the Time of Covid-19, if you are interested!

Caol Ila 17 YO (unpeated) CS followed by Caol Ila G&M CS (peated), followed by Lagavulin 12 YO CS, followed by Octomore 10.1.

Why? I'm on call.

Why WOULD I have considered these? Today it was reported that @odysseusUnbound's union, one of four that beat back the regressive changes the government was trying to inflict on education in Ontario, has ratified its contract.

And @OdysseusUnbound is an Islay peat fan.

Well done, Odysseus!

I had such big plans...

A'Bunadh batch 49 to celebrate @Talexander's birthday, and then I thought I'd vat some of it with Lag 8 and Milk and Honey 3 YO (total 11) to bring it to 60 for @paddockjudge.

Then I decided to do without the Lag and M&H because 11 years plus NAS does not equal 60.

So I decided I would pour some Legacy, one of the whiskies I most closely associate with the judge.

In the end, I got distracted and ended up with nothing...

Nothing for me tonight as I prepare for a blood test tomorrow. I insist on believing that 20 hours of fasting will make up for 3 months of indiscretions...

I did interact with Scotch tonight though. My brother and his family were over ad we spent the evening outside (from a distance), and he mentioned he wanted to get a bottle of Scotch for a friend (who I've met) who likes good scotch and he wanted something that wasn't readily available, so I parted with one of my bottles of Bladnoch 12 YO 55% Sherry Cask matured.

@Nozinan That's what I call brotherly love.

I’m having a blend I just mixed up. 50-50 Jim Beam White Label and Bookers. It came out at 102 proof, love that proof. After the first dram, I made up a 350ml/350ml bottle. It’s a pretty amazing blend, delicious, much better than JB and more drinkable than Bookers.

I’ll see how it marries in a few days.

Cheers Benancio