Adventures in Politics

I decided that since I am so disappointed and distressed over our sad choices in this next elections, that I would become more knowledgable and more active in politics in my area. So after the primary I went to the precinct meeting. There I met a few others who were similarly curious and we all became delegates to the senatorial convention.

Today I went to that convention, learning many things. First of all delegates select the nominees, not the voters. Not yet anyway. And since none of the delegates at my precinct and precious few from others in the area have Trump delegates in spite of fairly large numbers of votes, we know that either Trump voters are interested in the full range of politics OR that Trump voters are not by and large Republicans. The agenda included approving a slate of supplementary rules as well as a slate of delegates to the State Convention in May. Everything was hunky dory until Rule 16.

Rule 16 says that in order to be a delegate to a State convention, you have to file an application and turn it in. The applications were online and even mailed to the homes of senatorial delegates weeks before the convention. There was plenty of time to turn in these one page applications. But, like their children, these alleged adults fiddled around and lost the papers, ultimately didn't turn them in on time. So instead of asking for time to do it today, they wanted all applications eliminated as a deciding factor in who gets to go to State.

But that's not the whole story. Early on I had been reading how Trump supporters were going to try to get enough delegates just to get the Rules changed for the national convention so that he could be named the nominee with a plurality of the delegates rather than the majority of the delegates. That being the goal, Trump delegates wanted to pack delegations at every level to get their planks in the platform passed. I reasoned this out on my own, but at lunch I asked my precinct chair-a lady who's been around party politics since Reagan-if I was truly seeing that kind of attempted takeover. She nodded solemnly and said not only that, but the same tactics were being used in senatorial districts across the state. If they can get Trump delegates at the senatorial level, they can push their platform and delegates at state and end up having rules shaped to confirm The Donald's nominations without so much as a whimper.

More such shenanigans went on as various precincts tried to remove some delegates in order to replaced them with alternates that held more Trumptastic views than the rest of the crowd. This event-although at times tedious-was an education in itself. I wish I could go to State, but I have to give an AP exam that day.

A Prayer for the Middle Class

Dear Lord,
We thank you for what we have.
We appreciate what you have done for us.
Please, though, Lord, remember that we are weak
We cannot know what tomorrow brings.
We hope, but we also fear.
We aren't asking to get rich, Lord, we are simply asking to get by.
We've been promised hope by politicians and business leaders and evangelists
But that kind of hope is just for show, it's not the substance that we need.
So, Lord, if you can find a way to do it
Please remember us and bless us in spite of our weakness
Or perhaps have mercy on us because of our weakness.
Watch our leader, give them wisdom.
Watch our enemies, and allow them to open their eyes
And watch those who have their own avarice, greed and vanity in the forefront
Before the needs of those who want or suffer.
For this we pray, in Thanksgiving to You.
Amen

How Come They Are Doing This to Military Voters??????

The Democrats, alleged umbrella party of all that is warm, squooshy and nice, wants "everyone" to vote. Homeless people, people here illegally, people in prison---they should all vote.
But....
Not the military. This happened during the Gore campaign as well. In Florida, military votes were tossed as well. Could it be because of a technicality. Or is it because the military has voted for McCain in epic numbers according to polling? At any rate, this should be something that raises suspicions of even the most benevolent of apologists.

Your Democrat Congress @ Work

Last time elections rolled around, there was the overall feeling by the voters that they needed to cast off the Republican party. They didn't do it because things were bad, but instead because the media and the DNC told the American public they were bad. In the two years since the Democrats have taken the reins of Congress, precious little has been done in the way of creating progress. Pelosi is bottling up legislation that could make domestic drilling possible which in turn would eventually lower some of the cost of living. Instead, they are promoting only alternative sources for power. Never mind that the social elite, like the Kennedys, don't want their scenic horizons marred by wind generators. Instead they want them invisible, which of course means, out west. I am not sure how they are going to reconcile PETA's designation of wind turbines as detrimental to bird life. Likewise, we cannot use nuclear because of a move twenty years ago. We can't use hydroelectric power generation because of environmental PAC's that don't like it. Instead we are supposed to use the fluctuation nuances of wind power-which dies in the afternoon during peak usage, and solar, which isn't potent enough to generate power for more than an incremental amount of what we use. As for those electric cars, still limited by battery capacity and the hybrids still use gasoline. Here's what the Democrats have done for you. They have forced corn based ethanol, using bad science from Brazil's sugarcane based ethanol. They have bought votes from key farm states via subsidies. The results are that animal feed is higher, meaning all animal products from meat to dairy are also higher. Don't kid yourself, this isn't accidental. Part of the world wide green intiative is to cut meat consumption. I have even heard lectures on the news about how we are supposed to consider how much water it takes to produce food before we buy it.

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I AM PRETTY SICK OF RICH, SELF-CENTERED IDEOLOGUES

TRYING TO RUN MY LIFE!!!!!

"...The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category.

Last month, 11% of voters gave the legislature good or excellent ratings. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008....:

Full Article Here

Scandal Brewing OR Who's Under the Bus This Week

The media has given a free pass to the Democrats by and large because the president and Republicans in general were a more popular target for venom and ridicule. So here we have this economic situation fueled largely by dropping dollars from the mortgage "crisis" (did you ever notice how every liberal issue is a "crisis"?) Anyway, where is the outcry in the media about these stories? They go very high up in the DNC echelon and hardly anyone is giving them page one treatment. Where's the angst folks? Where's the accusations and calls for censure? Pay special attention to the very close alliance between current and former Countrywide executives and the Obama campaign. Heck, one of them is vetting potential VP candidates. *pensive" Do you think that the views potential candidates have toward litigation of the folks involved with subprime loans will play into who is chosen? Just wondering
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About Eggs

(Cross posted at N.I.C.E.)
Remember when you were nine or ten and you sent away for the packets of seeds or greeting cards to sell? Remember how reluctant neighbors and relatives were to buy those seeds? But you had already made PLANS. You were going to buy a horse or travel the world or get a new mitt. You mother at some point told you
"Don't put all of your eggs in one basket." meaning that you can't assume that because something is supposed to work out one way, that you can insure it will work out that way.

Now consider ethanol. Our Congress has virtually forced corn based ethanol down our throats. Never mind that it was based on erroneous assumptions that we had endless supplies of corn. Never mind that the model it was based upon used more efficient sugar based ethanol. Never mind the way it slows down the refining system with the way it has to be handled. Never mind that corn is a source of animal feed and as such has forced the prices on all animal based food items to rise precipitously. No let's just go on our merry way and assume that because we are nice people and think good "green" thoughts, everything will be hunky dory.

Well boys and girls, everything is NOT hunky dory. In fact, with the recent rain and flooding, corn crop projections are lower. Do you think the good farmers and farm corporations are going to say no to ethanol subsidies? Do you think Congress will back away from keeping the likes of Al Gore and George Soros happy? Of course not. So read the story below and start finding a way to grow, hoard or otherwise obtain your own food because unless something changes soon (and not in the political acceptable way) food is going to skyrocket.

Story here.

New Blog

Because I have gotten fed up with the nonsense coming out of the minds and mouths of our elected officials, I have decided to start another blog for discussion of removing incumbents from office. When our founders were deciding who would govern, I am sure they didn't have in mind that anyone would willingly stay in office for an entire career. The system was designed that individuals would do their public service for awhile and then go home. What is missing from today's political scene is the going home part. How do we have anything remotely resembling true representative government when we have folks like Senator Byrd, who by all accounts is very feeble and only conducts subcommittee meetings with the oversight of his aide, or Ted Kennedy, who hasn't been coherent for years even before he became ill. It was never meant to be a lifestyle. Yet our elected officials get health care, retirement and other benefits that most of us can only dream about-and it's all on our backs because we are footing the bills. I will try to post timely links to articles supporting the premise that ALL incumbents need to go home. Right now much is made in the media of how low President Bush' rankings are, but few people know that Congress, the Democrat controlled Congress, has much lower rankings. They are doing nothing to benefit anyone but themselves and their cronies. So give it a look-see, the link is in the blog title for this article.

Who's In Your Corner (Not!)

You can turn on any newscast and the top story is the economy. The corollary story is the price of oil. Supposedly, people think the President has the power to "do something about the price of oil." Not so. The Executive branch can only act upon laws and bills passed by Congress. So what has Congress done lately to lower the price of oil? If the price is based on supply and demand, you would think that the reduced demand, as cited in the news, would help. Not so-the supplies were lowered by foreign producers to keep prices high. So the next step would be to increase domestic production. But the folks who are running the committees in Congress are now headed and filled with appointees from Pelosi and company. So what did the Congressional subcommittee do for you yesterday? They denied any drilling for oil of of Florida. But that's just for AMERICAN companies. It seems that Cuba, China AND India are all drilling from the same oil field just outside the 50 mile line from shore. The rest of the world is profiting from OUR resources, and then selling them back to us for a profit. The Democrat controlled Congress has done NOTHING to stem this, they insist on following a tangential line of quasi-environmentalism that is leading us to deny our own citizens a safe lifestyle. The case could easily be made that if, as many liberals contend, the war in Iraq was for oil, then what policy forced us to be so concerned about keeping safe our energy supply? In short, would we be in Iraq if environmentalists had prevented using our own coal and oil? And remember, while people can point fingers all they want at the White House, it's Congress that calls the shots. Oh, and by the way, the vote broke down by parties-Democrats opposing drilling, Republicans supporting it. Who's in your corner, really?

China Drills While Congress Piddles.
Subcommittee Rejects Drilling

It's Not Easy, or Cheap, Being Green

An interesting break down of what Texas would have to pay in terms of higher costs for energy if certain measures make their way through Congress is Here.
The entire study is HERE
Just keep these number in mind when you vote.

Conquered From Within

In the bad old days of the Cold War, Moscow claimed that they would never need to use nuclear weapons, because they would ultimately conquer us from within. Likewise, the capture of American captives pushed Americans to vote Jimmy Carter out of office due to his lackluster attempt to deal from a position of equanimity rather than dealing with the preservation of the United States as his goal. So witness this spike in oil prices
HERE
Ask yourself a few questions-
Who is raising the prices?
Answer: speculators, foreign investors and producers-this is obvious because although consumption is dropping the prices continue to rise. As I have stated before, this is just the commodity equivalent of the flipping of real estate that precipitated the mortgage situation.
Who benefits from a weakening U.S. economy?
Answer: China, India, the Middle East, oil producing nations and Europe. By the way, someone might want to enlighten them to the legend of the "Goose and the Golden Egg."
Who bears the burden of cost?
Answer: American taxpayers
What could be the ultimate goal?
Answer: A crash on the American stock market with the goal being to overtake us economically, from within.
Who bears the burden/blame for opening our borders without imposing tarriffs and insisting on trade equivalence?
Answer: Washington-from Executive branch to the Congress they have opened our borders via NAFTA, they have refused to impose limits on illegal immigration which erodes our per capita resources. Someone needs to tell them the story about "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "The Little Red Hen".
You may think I am weighing in as an alarmist, but when you see the amount of investment in American companies by foreign investors, there is ample cause for concern. Congress can point fingers all they want at the White House, and there are reasons that the Executive branch has failed to stem this situation, but Congress has had a one party majority for TWO YEARS. And in that time they have done nothing to help develop companies and the related jobs on our own soil nor have they allowed Americans to find and use domestic resources for our own welfare. Isn't it about time we stop the beauty pageant nature of this campaign and start demanding some serious answers that don't involve smoke and mirrors?

Easy to Be Cruel

Big Oil is a massive Sitting Duck on the pond of government life. People see the prices rising at the pump, they hear tidbits about CEO's with golden parachutes and it makes for good politics for the Big Boys and Girls in DC to call these oil honchos on the carpet. I would agree, corporate compensation has been over the top. But likewise, they are the guys who end up carrying their heads after an especially vicious internal debate and they don't get paid that money for not having had any experience. Give the devil his due-these folks didn't just drop in on Exxon the day after getting their BA's. So for all the anger that the American public has for oil, oil pricing and such consider the following:
"Last year the big five oil companies made around $123 billion in profits. Pretty strong. But what was their profit margin? Around 9%. Same as the year before and the year before that. The politicians can't pander to the dumb masses by slamming profit margins ... so they play the dishonest game of slamming the gross profits, and the media lets them skate. They start talking about "windfall" profits. Tell me ... how is it a windfall profit when the profit margin is remaining effectively the same? Some windfall..."-http://boortz.com
While you are at it casting stones, aspertions and innuendoes (and at the same time being politically motivated by an increasingly biased major media) consider the Big Who Else is profiting from increases in oil prices. And that Big Who Else are ALL THE TAXING ENTITIES including Your City or Town, Your County, Your State and Your Nation. All tax rates are based on a per dollar sale. So for all those people who think that this hurts our country, think again. It hurts THE PEOPLE, but all those taxing entities are flat rolling in dough. And by the way, that money isn't necessarily coming back home because the way of porkbarrel spending is that money goes wherever the head guy or gal says it goes. So look for those cushy public works projects to head to states that the Democrats need in November. And that means, boys and girls, we are going to end up paying $4.00 a gallon so that the DNC can win. How do you like them apples?

When Barry Became Barack

I found this article from Newsweek very interesting because if we are going to continue with what amounts to a rush to coronation, we must know what makes this man tick. I am not faulting his early years or his upbringing-all kids want to "fit in" and be part of the crowd. What I found a bit disturbing was this segment in which Mr. Obama's memory of the situation differs greatly with that of his friend. And this detail gives us a little insight into how awkward and how much Mr. Obama's African American heritage plays into his political spiel. The story itself is linked to the headline above.
Excerpt:
"Back in Hawaii in the 1970s, it could seem that everyone was some kind of a minority. The fact that Obama was half-black and half-white didn't matter much to anyone but Obama, Kakugawa says: "He made everything out like it was all racial." On one occasion, Obama thought he'd gotten a bad break on the school basketball team because he was black. But Kakugawa recalls his father's telling the teenager, "No, Barry, it's not because you're black. It's because you missed two shots in a row." (Here, Kakugawa's memory is different from Obama's. The Ray character in the book is the one obsessed with being discriminated against.)....."

Now, Can We Drill?

I want you to consider the amount of damage that has been perpetrated in the name of environmentalism. Thanks to the China Syndrome, we stopped building nuclear power plants. And the last ones built were so challenged in the courts that their costs were three times the original plan. Thanks to other environmental programs, we can't drill off of the coasts of Florida-where one of the potentially richest oil fields is currently being illegally tapped by Cuba. We can't drill in ANWR in Alaska for fear of a dwindling caribou population. We are pushed by a Congress with eyes on rural votes to have corn ethanol in our fuel. We haven't built a refinery in 29 years. We can't use coal because of acid rain. So what are we to do?

The Ivory Tower advocates for clean air like to point to things such as hybrid cars, expensive fixes for homes and ethanol from corn-which not only reduced fuel efficiency but causes the price of gas at the pump to spike due to the necessary purging of fuel lines in order to have it added. The same people who so elegantly point to rows of cars don't stop to consider that average people cannot afford these things. And with the rising cost of fuel, everything is going to rise in cost from food to energy. It's funny how the same folks who push these ideas don't understand that those of us who work for a living can't just trash our old clunkers and spend $400 a month paying for a new car. And what's worse, they don't really seem to care.

There is the laissez-faire attitude that we "little people" can simply walk to work or turn off the air conditioning. What about the elderly, the infirm or the very young? I guess it's easy to do without air conditioning when you live in a climate were it's only needed a few weeks per year, but what are you going to tell folks in Houston, Dallas, Flagstaff, New Orleans, Phoenix or El Paso? Should we simply close shop and leave town from May until September? Should we wander around like previous generations of the Dust Bowl era?

And it goes farther than that. There's no question that the war in the Middle East has to do with national security in as much as oil is necessary to our livelihood. With Saddam in power and exercising control of the region, we would have been his virtual economic slaves. Right now, environmentalist are limiting our abilities to produce domestic fuel in so many ways, and yet they refuse to realize that these goals have forced our hand internationally. Oil is reaching record purchasing amounts, and the government makes money off of every gallon. We have reserves, we have potential sites for exploration and drilling, but the same folks who seem to be blind to the needs of everyday people are keeping us from progressing. It's the same attitude that helped Marie Antoinette lose her head. At estimated costs to the consumer of $4.00 a gallon coming soon to a neighborhood near you, isn't it time for us to stop this wasteful navel gazing nonsense and begin to use what resources we have available to tide us through until the next great wave of transportation technology comes along? Most midwives and obstetricians will tell you that an induced birth is more painful for the mother and the child. What organized environmentalism is doing to our nation now is the energy equivalent of a pitocin drip. So for the last time, NOW CAN WE DRILL?

Who Are You, Who, Who, Who, Who?

When the rock gods asked that, it was about individuals, not demographics. But now we have political parties that are far more concerned with the voting behavior of mass groups over the needs of the few, or the one. Are we losing our souls to the power of technology? If politics continues this way, yes.

This is SO INCREDIBLY DEPRESSING.....

I am sick. I am so mad that people vote based on shallow assumption rather than substance. And the stupid way that the Republicans have allowed themselves to be manipulated by the media and by the broadbased bias that being a former minister makes you a paragon of management is simply naive. So here we are. Romney is the last bastion against an appeasement layer of pseudo-conservatism and he was brokered out of the West Virginia delegates by a slick move on the part of McCain operatives. This dog in the manger attitude that allowed the third place supporters to vote simply to keep Romney from winning is typical of this man's campaign. I think that the many many true conservatives who supported the likes of Duncan Hunter and Fred Thompson will find a McCain candidacy a hard pill to swallow. As for Huckabee, and his supporters, you are political fools. You were never in the running and all Huckabee became was a shill for McCain preventing consolidation of the conservative base. While those who are evangelicals are dazzled by his former position as a Baptist minister, I have one question-

IF THE MINISTRY IS A POSITION TO WHICH YOU ARE CALLED BY GOD, THEN WHY DID MIKE HUCKABEE QUIT?

Face it evangelicals, you are doing the same thing that you did back when Perot was running. You are forcing a single issue platform that WILL NOT WIN. And you are, in addition, supporting a candidate whose views are not in line with most evangelical thinking. Do you really think it's okay to allow illegal immigrant in-state status for college tuition and scholarships? That is insulting to every single parent and student who works themselves to death to pay for a college education. And when these people are allowed that seemingly legal status, by their low income level, they will end up with scholarships. What about the rest of us who have paid into the government till for our whole lives? Your vote for this man was a slap in the face.

I am sorry, I simply cannot contain my frustration with the way this campaign has evolved. It seems like we were forced to accept a candidate not of our own choosing by forces that do not have our best interests at heart. I am beside myself. I don't know what I will do during the Texas primary on March 4th. The only good thing to come out of this mess is that now the Texas primary will garner us some political favors and I hope the state parties are smart enough to arm-twist a boat load of favored status programs in return for delivering the state's delegates. I may cross over to mess with the Democrats. I may vote for a Communist. I may pick Mickey Mouse, Mickey Rourke or Mickey the guy down the street. But I sure know that I won't be pulling the lever, marking the ballot or sending one red cent to the RNC if McCain-Huckabee is the ticket in November. And you can carve those words in stone.


PS. What really galls me is that for my two oldest kids, this is there first big election. I hate it that they are seeing the seamy underbelly of the system rather than the better lights. I can actually understand the support for Obama because although I don't like his political stands, I would much rather have him over for dinner than Hillary or McCain. What a stinking shame.

How To Tell Governments Apart

This has been posted in various forms elsewhere, but bear repeating. I had actually not seen the second half of this before. It's funny, but sadly true. Thanks to Spikymaxx at MyFoxDFW.com.

"DEMOCRAT You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful.

REPUBLICAN You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?

SOCIALIST You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE You have two cows. Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.

AMERICAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have down sized and are reducing expenses. Your stock goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch and drink wine. Life is good.

JAPANESE CORPORATION You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

GERMAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION You have two cows but you don't know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.

RUSSIAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You have some vodka. You count them and learn you have five cows. You have some more vodka. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

TALIBAN CORPORATION You have all the cows in Afghanistan , which are two. You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts. You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.

IRAQI CORPORATION You have two cows. They go into hiding. They send radio tapes of their mooing.

POLISH CORPORATION You have two bulls. Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.

BELGIAN CORPORATION You have one cow. The cow is schizophrenic. Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish. The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow. The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk. The cow asks permission to be cut in half. The cow dies happy.

FLORIDA CORPORATION You have a black cow and a brown cow. Everyone votes for the best looking one. Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one. Some people vote for both. Some people vote for neither. Some people can't figure out how to vote at all. Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.

CALIFORNIA CORPORATION You have millions of cows. They make real California cheese. Only five speak English. Most are illegal. Arnold likes the ones with the big udders"

What's Wrong With Our Schools

Last night I finished grading exams. Sadly, one of the students who most needed to pass did not do so. There are several reasons why this occurred. As a student with learning issues, I did limit the number of potential answers for each question from five to three. I also provided all the classes with reviews and the answers to those reviews which went over all the material for the course. This student chose not to do the review and was really mad when I told her I had no more copies. I run off ten more copies of all papers than I have students. I have told them for awhile that when the papers are gone, they are gone. I gave her some options. She could get a copy of the review to copy in the library from another student. She could write down the words and go over them. Or she could have taken home a book and done her own review. She did none of these things. On top of that, she could have gotten ten extra credit points for a very small assignment that she had to get signed by her parents. She chose not to do that. She also simply did not do one entire part of the test, choosing instead to write notes to her friends. What could have been a marginally passing grade on the test of 72, instead was a 52. I am sure she will be upset, as will her parents, but for the wrong reason. The state of Texas gives few rights to teachers, but one of these is the sanctity of grades. Here is the dilemma. We have parents who have bought into the concept that if their children don't perform in class that it's not due to self-absorption or laziness, it's due to learning difficulties or the massively misapplied label of ADD. I have an ADD child so I know this exists in limited amounts. But there are far too many parents who would rather self diagnose and then get meds or a letter from their pediatrician that parents believe exonerates students from the full responsibility of the standard workload. That's a mistaken concept. Teachers do modify tests and assignments for these students, but the students STILL HAVE TO DO THE WORK. And that's a concept that too many parents and students do not get.

Below is a quote from a book I am reading by Dr. Maureen Stout. The title is The Feel-Good Curriculum:The Dumbing Down of American's Kids in the Name of Self-Esteem.

"...I started to remember other strange conversations with my colleagues. One of the more bizarre occurred at a faculty meeting at which we examined the results of a faculty survey on the purposes of public schooling. One faculty member responded that the schools should be like a womb for students. At first I thought his was a joke and, turning to my neighbor, was about to say what a good one that was when I stopped short. Rather than find this amusing, the group seemed to regard it as a profound statement regarding the public school, and all nodded grave agreement that schools should indeed be like a womb. You may well wonder what the meanst by that. Well, a womb is a warm, secure and insulated environment. The unborn child is protected and nourished until she is ready to face the world and, perhaps most important, no demands are made on her.
This is what professors of education believe school should be like: places in which children are insulated from the outside world and emotionally--not intellectually--nourished. We should expect nothing of them but give everything to them; they should be cared for, counseled, and analyze, and the whole school environment should center on their needs. Schools are no longer for learning essential skills or acquiring knowledge, but for cultivating what Daniel Goleman calls "emotional intelligence": the ability to get along with others, understand one's feelings and one's emotional hang-ups, and generally figure out how to deal with others effectively..."

First of all, the highlighted areas are my own, but I want to comments. Think how many K-3 schools refuse to use things such as rote learning or even numeric grades because of the fear of negative impact on students. Also, I want you to consider how many schools are actively controlling student activities such as meals. Think of how many schools will not allow peanut butter sandwiches for fear of a child having an allergic reaction. At some point, if this child NEVER has to account for what they put in their mouths, they will still have a reaction because they have never been taught NOT to eat the offending food. Instead other students have to do without to accommodate the needs of ONE STUDENT.

On a larger scale, how many programs within our schools are designed to conform to the needs of a few children over the needs of the majority of children? It's become a balancing act between parents who mean well, but who don't want to accept that their child isn't performing up to level, and administrators who fear parents' reactions when their child doesn't succeed. And while I can handle such issues in the classroom, more and more I am seeing kids who are not just tuned into their IPODS and computers all the time, but students who cannnot and will not read. I am going to make a prediction here.


My Prediction: Reading will become such a rarefied skill, that in many cases reading and writing will be given over to specialized technicians who are capable of these skills. Furthermore, the lack of true literacy will re-stratify the nature of our culture with those who are literate controlling the future and the fate of those who are not.

This is why it is very important to look at candidates for more than their views on the war or their political views. Anyone who accepts the concept of "it takes a village to raise a child" is also espousing the views of a nanny state mentality that wants to promote literacy only within those groups that support them. The idea is not to promote education, the idea is to usurp power.
Vote carefully.

Texan of the Year?

The Dallas Morning News, a BELO publication, has decided to select the Illegal Immigrant as the Texan of the Year. Now maybe I am just naive, but it seems that someone who is here illegally isn't really a part of the fabric of the society. I am tired of the naivete that fuels this politically correct rhetoric and I think we should all DEMAND that the candidates address this issue. If you think this doesn't impact you, let me clue you into a few facts.
-Illegal immigrants use public health facilities, often giving bogus names for services. This means that if they use false ID, the people with the real identity end up having to deal with the mess. In a 20/20 episode last year, people who crossed the border were bombarded with offers for fraudulent documentation before they had even left sight of the border.
-The average live birth costs $7K. Dallas' Parkland Hospital has the highest live birth rate in the country with upwards of 70% being to women who are undocumented. How many of those bills do you think get paid? And if the users don't pay, who do you think gets stuck with the bill? (Hint: Taxpayers)
-City and county taxes pay for infrastructure, education and services based on the total number of residents in existing housing. When you have older properties managed by absentee landlords, you end up with multiple families living in single family homes. So the rate for supporting things like police, streets, water and schools are divvied up where they actually pay less per person than the other residents. Add to that the fact that having multiple families in single family homes drives down home values making taxes rise just to cover current expenditures. Now add to that the fact that these are often in older communities where retirees count on their home as their main asset. Can you imagine the double heartbreak of seeing sinking values and rising taxes?
-Security is perhaps the most serious issue. In state public schools every teacher, every volunteer is required to have a criminal background check. Yet school districts seek to save money by contracting services for food, tranportation and maintenance. The service companies allegedly do checks, but who is monitoring this? And even if they do checks, I have heard many of the hired staff at my school discussing how they avoid being caught by ICE. This isn't secure or safe.

In short, this is an issue that the candidates want to go away. Tancredo is out, but I still have hopes for Thompson, who seems to be the only guy interested in holding people to some standards. Mark my words, there are going to be activists pushing for illegals to vote simply because they are here.

Primary Season: Strange Days Indeed

Part of the primary process is the winnowing of many candidates down to a few. This is becoming a truly odd primary for several reasons. First of all, Iowa and New Hampshire, for all their small town charm, no longer represent the vast middle American political spectrum. Back in the day when we were largely a rural economy with manufacturing centers, the combination of having largely rural Iowa and New Hampshire primaries calling the shots made sense. In a period when most of us live in or around large cities, the views of these small and most homogenous states don't reflect the concerns that hound most of us. What does an Iowa farmer know about the influx of illegal immigration on the economy of border states? What does a New Hampshire resident understand about the increasing need for improved infrastructure throughout regions that would swallow their small state in size? We are a federation of states, each supposedly with our own needs but with fair representation, allegedly, in Congress. So why then do we continue to put such blind faith in the caucus process in states that have so very little to do with the larger problems of urban centers that are remote to them? A better case could be made for having California or Florida as the first primary because at least there the mix of voters would better represent the nation as a whole. Instead what will happen is that candidates will gather and attempt to appease the voters in these two small states. In doing so, they will address things like education, healthcare and social justice-all areas in which these two states express a great deal of interest. Very little will be said regarding the war, taxation, spending or the other bugaboos that haunt states later in the primary season. After these first primaries, it is expected that candidate will drop out. I have my own ideas about that. As I see it, Obama wins Iowa and Clinton wins New Hampshire. The Republicans are a toss-up, with Giuliani being the compormise candidate. I am kind of curious if someone like Thompson might make it a floor fight OR possibly break from the party and run as an independent. Wouldn't it be interesting to see Thompson/Leiberman ticket? Now that would tick off both major parties, but at the same time could throw the election to Congress. I don't think that's a hot potato they want to handle because the ensuing political fallout will make Gore's hissy fit look like a hiccup. Strange days indeed.

New Democrat Legislation Proposed

Sorry-I couldn't pass up the opportunity. This clears up so many questions about a great deal that is going on in our society. I got it from an email, I don't know the original source, sorry.

New Democratic Legislation Proposed

"The Americans With No Abilities Act (AWNAA)

WASHINGTON, DC - Congress is considering sweeping legislation which will provide new benefits for many Americans. The Americans with No Abilities Act (AWNAA) is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition.

"Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society," said California Senator Barbara Boxer. "We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing."

In a Capitol Hill press conference, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance. Approximately 74 percent of postal employees lack any job skills, making this agency the single largest U.S. employer of Persons of Inability.

Private-sector industries with good records of nondiscrimination against the inept include retail sales (72%), the airline industry(68%), and home improvement"warehouse" stores (65%). At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has agreat record of hiring Persons of Inability (63%).

Under the Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million "middle man" positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance.

Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given,to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability into middle-management positions, and gives a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the AWNA Act contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the Non-abled-banning, for example,discriminatory interview questions such as "Do you have any skills or experience which relate to this job?"

"As a Non-abled person , I can't be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them," said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Michigan, due to her lack of any discernible job skills. "This new law should really help people like me." With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Senator Ted Kennedy: "As a Senator With No Abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her adequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation."