Education Reform

Enough about health reform. What about education reform? I've spent the last two months registering, enrolling, collecting birth certificates, phone numbers, and processing 100s of pounds of paperwork. All of which has nothing to do with education but everything to do with accountability of tax dollars, far too many of which are being spent to keep records of where the tax dollars are spent. Let's spend less money on stuff that "supports" education and more money on education.

When a kid turns 7 years old, she/he is given an "education credit card." The card has x number of hours of education time on it. All kids get the same number of hours. Schools are open 365 days a year with a staff of responsible adults 24/7. The adults are all volunteers from various professions and have been screened for a "mean teacher gene." If they have the "mean teacher gene" they are not allowed within 100 yards of the school. When kids enter a classroom, they swipe the card and the clock starts ticking. The card must be swiped each time kids take a bathroom, recess or meal break so as not to waste the education hours. Schools all have dorm facilities so that kids can go to school in other cities if they want to.

Schools aren't the only places that will accept the cards. Libraries, computer labs, museums, theatres, businesses, etc will all accept education hours for kids to serve internships. These places will be reimbursed by the government with "tax dollars." When a kid has learned all he/she wants to learn, she/he just checks out. They don't have to waste their time in places where they are not learning, they just leave.

When kids want to "graduate" they take comprehensive oral and written exams . They are given a certificate that relfects what they have learned. They can use these certificates when applying for jobs or for further education. If they earn a certifiate before they've used all of their education credits, they can use them toward earning another certificate.

If they want to drop out, they first have to earn a certificate of citizenship that allows them to vote.

Not My America Anymore? Thank God

I never watch Fox news. The only show I watch on Fox is Simpsons. I don't watch any other "news" talk shows either. I'm either bored to death or angry enough to throw a shoe through the TV. The only radio shows I listen to are on NPR. So, theoretically I shouldn't even know who Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck are, right? However, people are constantly quoting them in order to disagree with what they said. I really think people should totally shun them, an old fashioned shunning that borders on cruel and unusual punishment. Maybe then the sponsors would put their money on another show. Maybe a Simpson's spin off?

I do however watch The Daly Show and The Colbert Report. They don't hide their bias and every once in a while they are funny. They are clearly much more intellegent, or at least have more intellegent writers. I may get bored, but I never feel like throwing a shoe through the TV. Tonight they showed clips of "those guys" all saying, over and over and over again, "This isn't the America I grew up in." Glenn Beck was weepy with emotion. All I could do was yell at them, "Thank God this is not the America I grew up in." When I was a kid, President Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Segregation was the law of the land in some states and women were actively discouraged from competing with men for good paying jobs. When they did get a good paying job, they could be paid less and the employers could get away with it. There were still signs that read,"No dogs and no Indians," in some Western city establishments. The Internet was text files only and you still programmed them with punched cards. People like me couldn't rant about people we don't like ranting about people we do like.

So I say to you Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity. Thank God this is not the same America. It may not be better in all things, but in some significant ways it is better. What would really make it better is if someone pulled the plug on you guys.

Summer Time

Ok, picture the scene in The Birds when the ground is covered in birds and the people are moving slooooooooooowly and trying not to startle the birds into flight. Or picture the scene in Indiana Jones where Indy is dropped into a pit filled with snakes and he tries to walk cautiously so as not to step on or startle the snakes. Now picture my back yard and the minute you set foot off the porch you are surrounded by GRASSHOPPERS! You can't sneak around so they won't jump on you because they are everywhere! You can hear them clicking and clacking around. I haven't seen grasshoppers this numerous in many, many years.

On the upside. Our new windows are keeping the house much cooler than it is outside.

DeskTop

Here is my new desk. My friend and I put it together one day. Only had to take it apart 2-3 times before we got it right. I think I'll put a copy of this picture on my "desktop."

Making Hay

I got home from work today and saw that the field below us is being cut for hay. It's been years and years since that's been done. New owners, I guess. I used to hear the saying about Making Hay While the Sun Shines and I never completely understood it. I knew it meant you had to take advantage of favorable conditions, but I never quite made the connection to doing that to the exclusion of all else. I mean no matter what else you've got planned for the day, if the sun is shinning, you got to get out and cut the hay until the sun goes down. So take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and don't put it off till the "next sunny day", there may not be another before the hay is useless.

Don't know what made me get all "preachy" here. But it was a pretty sight.

Pirate Treasure

I got a catalog with this picture on the cover. I'm guessing someone is wishing they'd picked a different theme for April.

Downsized

We originally got a TV dish antenna because we had no reception at all with just "rabbit ears." Then there were over a hundred channels, most of which were sports and no good to us, but it still seemed like a good deal because even watching a dozen of the hundreds availible was better than nothing at all. But for the past seveal months, I've noticed that whenever I'm in the mood to watch some TV, there's nothing on the schedule that looks worth watching, or worse, I know it's not worth watching because I've already seen it. Then once a month comes the bill. I'm paying THAT much and not enjoying it?????? So last weekend, I went online and "downsized" the TV package. We still get access to some news, the FOOD channel and the Science channel. It's only been a week, but so far what this has meant is a whole lot more time for video games while listening to NPR. Can't let the big screen TV go to waste, can I?? Who knows what I'll do with my time when I get tired of video games?