drbuzz0 said:

You know that is an interesting point. I had not heard of this before but it would not surprise me.

Non-US citizens have a much easier time getting a long term visa to enter the US as a student then by other means. It would not surprise me if this same thing existed. I’ll have to look into it.

That is indeed happening in the US.
A nice example: A “Tri-Valley University”, http://www.trivalleyuniversity.org, a creationist “university” which is not accredited by any accreditation agency recognized by the US government, but which apparently can give out I-20 forms which can be used by foreign students to apply for student visas.
I’ve come across these jokers because they are promoting their “university” in the immigrant community. They didn’t particularly like getting exposed…

Just read it again, and you *did* spell Notre Dame wrong though, LOL

        drbuzz0 said:

Let me just add: I really really do not like discussing this, even to the point where I’ve considered just throwing in the towel on writing and blogging entirely.

Steve, as I am sure you and others have noted, my spelling, and grammar are far from perfect, and it bothers me too, but I would not let these morons get under your skin. Spelling Nazis’ usually have nothing to say on the subject at hand and lash out in frustration at those who can engage in meaningful discussion, and as such they are less than the trolls, who at least have an agenda.

My advice is to send comments like this to oblivion, as being off-topic and leave it at that. You need not feel that should excuse yourself every time one of these anal-retentive jackasses shows up. Delete their noise and move on.

        I talk good english said:

Really, check your spelling. Did you also graduate from Patriot Bible University? Maybe from Patrot Bibble Unstevristy? Your mocking Hovind about his purported education while misspelling along the way is just hypocrisy. I don’t like Hovind and his ilk either, but I’d be certain to check my writing before I’d fill a web page about how dumb he and his followers are.

Are you talking about the napkin? That’s supposed to be satirical – scribbled down on a napkin with no professionalism.

If I misspelled something then it would be nice if you’d mention it since I’ve spell checked it three times, and used Firefox and the Wordpress spell check

I really really really HATE going into this, but since it has come up yet again
NO, I’m not good at spelling. Yes, I’m aware of it. Yes, I hate it. It’s the one thing I’d change about myself if I could.

Now I have to dig up everything that I don’t like to talk about. When I was very young I had a small amount of dyslexia. This is not terribly uncommon and most grow out of it, as I did. Yet my parents had put me in a Catholic school that was small and totally unequipped to recognize the condition and take appropriate educational measures.

To make matters worse, I didn’t even stay in the same school program or the same state at the time. I went from Connecticut to New York City and back to the same school I had been in in Connecticut because my father transferred temporarily for a year for work. The two schools used different programs and methods.

Therefore, in my formative years of learning to spell, I had some very bad influences and was not really given the kind of educational instruction I should have. This tended to reinforce some bad habits and confusion. Growing older means neural plasticity is reduced. By the time it was recognized that I was behind in spelling I was in about the fourth grade and by this time it was all but impossible to correct such badly reinforced habits.

It probably does not help that I learned to rely on a computerized spell check earlier than most of my peers. I always loved computers and was typing most of my school papers (and spell checking them) when I was very young. I had an old IBM system when I was about 8 and used Apple-II’s until I got my first 486 that could run windows at age 10.

My spelling is so bad that I’ve spelled OSHA as OCEA. You can’t tell me that it’s because I don’t know how to spell OSHA, because I know what it stands for (occupational safety and health administration.) Why?? Why would I spell this so badly? I don’t know! I tend to think of writing in an auditory capacity and somehow it does not make the transition correctly all the time. Believe me, if I had even the slightest clue how to fix this, I would.

Let me just add: I really really do not like discussing this, even to the point where I’ve considered just throwing in the towel on writing and blogging entirely.

I can assure you that I have plenty of aptitude in other areas and to this end I have taken several IQ and aptitude tests that break down abilities. I score signifficantly higher in every area EXCEPT spelling. And yes, that includes grammatical areas.

What the hell more do you want? Spell checks are not perfect and I just can’t afford a proof reader. Do you have any idea how much professional editors cost? Yes, I have tried automated dictation. It’s even worse in terms of picking the wrong wording and it’s too awkward.

What? What would satisfy you? Don’t offer any tips to improve spelling, though. Believe me, I’ve tried. Do you think I enjoy being like this? Do you think I like being taken for an idiot because of this? I really don’t. It vexes me to no end

Anyway, as I was reading I began to feel bad for all of the actual academics who engaged in direct or indirect discussion with this fraudulent Christiocrat. In they end they may as well have debated a 5th grader about biology and evolution.

i just stopped reading after the second blatantly misspelled word. If you want people to read your writing, then show them that you care about it.