You hear of tragic deaths all the time. These tragedies spark different reactions by different people at different times. With the aftermath of 9/11 we saw our country band together at first to show their patriotism and strength in the face of senseless death. In the Trayvon Martin and more recent Fergueson shooting we see riots and protests over perceived racism. After school shootings we see calls for gun control. After a school mass knifing incident we hear nothing.
Today as a result of a slow news day I read the story of the death of a teenage Boy Scout in Pennsylvania. Why do I find this story to be so much different than all the others? This Boy Scout died at football practice as the result of a benign tumor in his heart that nobody knew about. His death was truly tragic because there was no way to prevent his death. This boy was a great kid who was working on an Eagle Scout project at a local Presbyterian Church. Friends and family grieved this boys loss but was is incredible is what happened after the funeral was over. 70 people got together to finish the Eagle Scout project that this young man started.
How amazing is it that one young man can affect so many people so deeply that they do good things in his name after he has died? How many more people did this teenager affect that couldn't for whatever reason help out on finishing the project. Such a short life had such great impact. It has been reported that this boy will be awarded his Eagle rank posthumously.
Good things do come from the tragic loss of people. Look at all the foundations that are named after someone who died. Look at all the charities started by someone who lost someone to tragic circumstances. We don't hear enough of those good stories where tragedy sparks something good. Instead the media pays all the attention to the riots, gun control activists, and celebrity deaths.
Celebrity deaths are great news fodder. Examples of this most recently is the suicide of Robin Williams and the death of Joan Rivers. There was even an article claiming that Joan Rivers would be buried with something unusual.( don't know exactly what it is because I didn't read the article) Today was another celebrity suicide as well.
So how do we make sure that there are more good things reported after tragedy than bad things. Simply put we need to think about the person who died. What would they think of other peoples action in their name. Do we honor their death with our actions or do we shame them. If that person were standing there watching what was happening in their name, would they be pleased. Do riots and violence honor their death or just make it newsworthy. If we stop thinking about our anger and start thinking about ways to make things better effectively then our world would be a much better place.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Election Season here we come again.
Its that time of year again. The time that most of us do not look forward to. Election season. Our airwaves will be filled with commercials spouting half- truths and outright lies. Politicians will twist statistics to make them look good. Town halls will happen but when asked a direct question the politicians will turn the answer into something they want to answer instead of answering the question asked. The good news is that it isn't a Presidential election year.
When I was young I was eager to participate in the process of electing our legislators and leaders. I looked at the issues, researched the candidates and with naïve heart went to the voting booth hoping to make a difference in the world. We even went to Caucuses and went to party meetings. As we attended these meetings and watched behind the scenes, reality came crashing down. We saw the back door deals made with those eager to run. We saw those deals be broken when someone new and with more money showed up. We saw how things were really run. We backed out of active political involvement and just voted knowing out votes don't make a difference.
Years later we find a candidate that didn't play like all the rest. He had an active plan, he answered the questions actually asked of him, he had grassroots backing and we once again became active. Then the political establishment came together to ensure he didn't win. He ran again and the political establishment couldn't stop him this time now it was the sort of third party within a party that claimed he was too much the political establishment candidate. He once again lost the election.
The majority of Americans are tired of politics as usual. We are tired of our leaders unable to get anything done because they are so polar opposites that compromise is just not possible. We are tired of our freedoms being eroded bit by bit and just accepting it as the status quo. We need real change. The problem is that in todays political world the people with the money get to decide the laws for the people without the money. Have you ever tried to break into politics without the right connections, the right background and the right bank account. Its not possible. If you don't have those three things you can't get your voice heard. We can grassroots all we want, but unless we have someone with money backing us we will get nowhere.
It is so sad, where I used to be eager to get out and vote I now dread going to the polls. I dread going to the polls because there are no candidates running who support my views or are willing to make changes to politics as usual. Those who are elected to make those changes get to Washington only to find that they are one tiny voice in an ocean and no on will listen. Those establishment politicians like things just the way they are and don't want to make any changes that will lessen their power structure. The only way for us to change this is to massively fire the whole lot of them and start over with completely new legislators. Then maybe the real people will have their voices heard and not just the special interests with the money to get the politician's favor. Yes I am talking revolution but a political one and not a violent one. I want to see a law that requires laws to be written in layman's language instead of the legal mumbo jumbo they are currently written in so the average Joe can't understand it even if they read it. I want to see average Americans in power and not the rich and privileged. I want to see politicians that have the country's best interest at heart instead of their own love of money and power.
This is a pipe dream. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. We have watched the current President break law after law, using executive privilege where it was not legal. Golf when there are important things going on in the country, go on more vacations than any other sitting President. We do nothing. It doesn't matter what party he belongs to. If he were a Republican party member I would say the same thing. Any American President who does not believe the laws apply to him regardless of party is a danger to the freedom that we hold dear. The longer we wait to do something about this the more danger we are of having our freedoms revoked. I am only one person. I drop in a vast ocean of others and I am powerless to stop the disaster I see looming ahead. Both major political parties are corrupt. Without some kind of major change in the power grid we will lose our sovereignty.
When I was young I was eager to participate in the process of electing our legislators and leaders. I looked at the issues, researched the candidates and with naïve heart went to the voting booth hoping to make a difference in the world. We even went to Caucuses and went to party meetings. As we attended these meetings and watched behind the scenes, reality came crashing down. We saw the back door deals made with those eager to run. We saw those deals be broken when someone new and with more money showed up. We saw how things were really run. We backed out of active political involvement and just voted knowing out votes don't make a difference.
Years later we find a candidate that didn't play like all the rest. He had an active plan, he answered the questions actually asked of him, he had grassroots backing and we once again became active. Then the political establishment came together to ensure he didn't win. He ran again and the political establishment couldn't stop him this time now it was the sort of third party within a party that claimed he was too much the political establishment candidate. He once again lost the election.
The majority of Americans are tired of politics as usual. We are tired of our leaders unable to get anything done because they are so polar opposites that compromise is just not possible. We are tired of our freedoms being eroded bit by bit and just accepting it as the status quo. We need real change. The problem is that in todays political world the people with the money get to decide the laws for the people without the money. Have you ever tried to break into politics without the right connections, the right background and the right bank account. Its not possible. If you don't have those three things you can't get your voice heard. We can grassroots all we want, but unless we have someone with money backing us we will get nowhere.
It is so sad, where I used to be eager to get out and vote I now dread going to the polls. I dread going to the polls because there are no candidates running who support my views or are willing to make changes to politics as usual. Those who are elected to make those changes get to Washington only to find that they are one tiny voice in an ocean and no on will listen. Those establishment politicians like things just the way they are and don't want to make any changes that will lessen their power structure. The only way for us to change this is to massively fire the whole lot of them and start over with completely new legislators. Then maybe the real people will have their voices heard and not just the special interests with the money to get the politician's favor. Yes I am talking revolution but a political one and not a violent one. I want to see a law that requires laws to be written in layman's language instead of the legal mumbo jumbo they are currently written in so the average Joe can't understand it even if they read it. I want to see average Americans in power and not the rich and privileged. I want to see politicians that have the country's best interest at heart instead of their own love of money and power.
This is a pipe dream. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. We have watched the current President break law after law, using executive privilege where it was not legal. Golf when there are important things going on in the country, go on more vacations than any other sitting President. We do nothing. It doesn't matter what party he belongs to. If he were a Republican party member I would say the same thing. Any American President who does not believe the laws apply to him regardless of party is a danger to the freedom that we hold dear. The longer we wait to do something about this the more danger we are of having our freedoms revoked. I am only one person. I drop in a vast ocean of others and I am powerless to stop the disaster I see looming ahead. Both major political parties are corrupt. Without some kind of major change in the power grid we will lose our sovereignty.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Should we be concerned about the Ebola Virus?
Earlier this week the World Health Organization reported that the Ebola outbreak could not be contained. Previous to that WHO reported that they expected 20,000 deaths from the Ebola virus. Ebola is incurable and for most fatal. The biggest problem is that Ebola is spreading in countries in Africa that are poverty stricken, lack basic necessities such as proper sanitation, good nutrition and proper medical care. This is an environment ripe for the spread of any disease.
Last month 2 American missionaries came home to America to be treated for Ebola and today another American working in Liberia came home to America to bee treated for Ebola. The WHO is worried about not being able to contain the Ebola outbreak and yet they are letting infected people who should be in quarantine leave the area and go where there is no outbreak. Granted the US has better medical facilities, better sanitation and better access to good nutrition but still it was a risk to expose a country not infected to a deadly virus.
I don't want to be an alarmist. For years there has been a large prediction of a pandemic. I for one have never listened to the alarmists who were broadcasting that a pandemic was due to hit our world. At the time the likely candidates were Avian or Swine Flu. Those outbreaks were stopped without the massive loss of live predicted. Now we have the Ebola virus and unlike Avian and Swine Flu, it kills the majority of people infected. This is a better candidate for Pandemic. In the past Ebola has only infected small parts of Africa and were quickly contained. That is not the case this time.
I have never put much trust in the World Health Organization. I have always viewed them as an organization that only suggests the worst case scenario. Here is my concern this time around. Is the World Health Organization creating the situation that will cause the Pandemic? Every Westerner with any bit of knowledge about how disease spreads knows the best way to prevent additional exposure to disease outbreak is quarantine. What does that mean in todays world where airline travel makes it easy to bring a disease from one country to another. If you truly want to stop an outbreak from going to epidemic and then pandemic that means you quarantine the affected areas. That means Closing the borders, Closing down the airports to outgoing flights, closing the train and bus depots to outgoing traffic. By all means allow medical, humanitarian and military personnel into the area to treat, control and feed the people. Here is the big missing ingredient as well anyone going in shouldn't be able to get out until the outbreak or epidemic is declared over. This may seem callous to not allow infected people to go home and be with their loved ones in their last days with only ashes for the loved ones to say goodbye to, but it is the only way to insure that the disease stays contained.
By sending the missionaries and medical worker to America no matter how many precautions were taken, the World Health Organization has allowed the risk of exposure to areas outside the affected areas. This is the kind of behavior that can cause a pandemic. No one may become infected by those sent home sick this time around but what about future cases? If sending Americans home diagnosed with Ebola becomes a regular thing it will only be a matter of time before mistakes are made and the virus spreads overseas. If the World Health Organization is allowing infected people home to other countries when will mistakes be made there.
At this time I don't think that we need to worry about pandemic, but if procedures do not begin to change and measures taken to quarantine the affected areas completely, the virus will spread. It only takes one infected person to go somewhere else undetected for the virus to spread. It only takes one mistake in protections surrounding those medical personnel who are infected and sent home. It may seem inhumane to bring everyone infected with the Ebola virus to one place essentially to die, but it is the only way to protect the world at large. It would be better for 10 infected Americans to die in a foreign country then to risk bringing a deadly virus into a population that has used antibiotics and vaccinations to fight disease for generations. Just like the Native American population had never been faced with measles and smallpox making their exposure even more deadly than in Europe. In a population that has never been exposed to Ebola and had weakened immune systems due to antibiotics and vaccinations instead of an 80% fatality rate it will be a 100% fatality rate.
Last month 2 American missionaries came home to America to be treated for Ebola and today another American working in Liberia came home to America to bee treated for Ebola. The WHO is worried about not being able to contain the Ebola outbreak and yet they are letting infected people who should be in quarantine leave the area and go where there is no outbreak. Granted the US has better medical facilities, better sanitation and better access to good nutrition but still it was a risk to expose a country not infected to a deadly virus.
I don't want to be an alarmist. For years there has been a large prediction of a pandemic. I for one have never listened to the alarmists who were broadcasting that a pandemic was due to hit our world. At the time the likely candidates were Avian or Swine Flu. Those outbreaks were stopped without the massive loss of live predicted. Now we have the Ebola virus and unlike Avian and Swine Flu, it kills the majority of people infected. This is a better candidate for Pandemic. In the past Ebola has only infected small parts of Africa and were quickly contained. That is not the case this time.
I have never put much trust in the World Health Organization. I have always viewed them as an organization that only suggests the worst case scenario. Here is my concern this time around. Is the World Health Organization creating the situation that will cause the Pandemic? Every Westerner with any bit of knowledge about how disease spreads knows the best way to prevent additional exposure to disease outbreak is quarantine. What does that mean in todays world where airline travel makes it easy to bring a disease from one country to another. If you truly want to stop an outbreak from going to epidemic and then pandemic that means you quarantine the affected areas. That means Closing the borders, Closing down the airports to outgoing flights, closing the train and bus depots to outgoing traffic. By all means allow medical, humanitarian and military personnel into the area to treat, control and feed the people. Here is the big missing ingredient as well anyone going in shouldn't be able to get out until the outbreak or epidemic is declared over. This may seem callous to not allow infected people to go home and be with their loved ones in their last days with only ashes for the loved ones to say goodbye to, but it is the only way to insure that the disease stays contained.
By sending the missionaries and medical worker to America no matter how many precautions were taken, the World Health Organization has allowed the risk of exposure to areas outside the affected areas. This is the kind of behavior that can cause a pandemic. No one may become infected by those sent home sick this time around but what about future cases? If sending Americans home diagnosed with Ebola becomes a regular thing it will only be a matter of time before mistakes are made and the virus spreads overseas. If the World Health Organization is allowing infected people home to other countries when will mistakes be made there.
At this time I don't think that we need to worry about pandemic, but if procedures do not begin to change and measures taken to quarantine the affected areas completely, the virus will spread. It only takes one infected person to go somewhere else undetected for the virus to spread. It only takes one mistake in protections surrounding those medical personnel who are infected and sent home. It may seem inhumane to bring everyone infected with the Ebola virus to one place essentially to die, but it is the only way to protect the world at large. It would be better for 10 infected Americans to die in a foreign country then to risk bringing a deadly virus into a population that has used antibiotics and vaccinations to fight disease for generations. Just like the Native American population had never been faced with measles and smallpox making their exposure even more deadly than in Europe. In a population that has never been exposed to Ebola and had weakened immune systems due to antibiotics and vaccinations instead of an 80% fatality rate it will be a 100% fatality rate.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Fluff piece review of Great Wolf Lodge
Sorry for today's fluff piece, but I have been completely out of touch with the world for over 24 hours. No hard hitting opinions here today because I am just worn out.
After writing my blog yesterday I went with my Mother-in-Law, Niece, grand-niece and my 3 year old daughter an hour away to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. I have pretty much been going non-stop since then.
First of all this is officially after tourist season on a weekday so the only people there were people with pre-school age kids and homeschoolers. That meant that the crowds were low. Great Wolf Lodge has an indoor water park, arcade, restaurants, snack bars, mini golf, 4d adventures and roleplaying quests to name a few of the amenities. There are activities organized throughout the day for the kids as well. We had a suite with a sitting room master and smaller bedroom with two bathrooms. That was a basic room they also have a wolf den, kid camp, kid cabin and questmaster suite available at various prices.
The food was good. The facility was clean although I wasn't pleased with the smell of the environmentally friendly cleaning products used. The staff personable and courteous. The lifeguards in the waterpark were ultra-vigilant. No standing around twiddling their thumbs just constant surveillance of the area they were working. That means they were circling the area and constantly looking into difficult to see areas. the kids activities were well run and fun for the kids although the evening storytime mike made it difficult to understand what was being said. Cellphone reception was spotty so a working vacation here might not work-out so well.
Over-all it was a great experience and I would recommend it highly to homeschoolers looking for a little education with their recreation. The wolf walk in the morning talked about habitat, food and behavior of three different animals and the evening storytime talked about keeping the forest the same as you found it when hiking. The dance party was a great family activity and the costumes for the costumed characters were very well kept. We had fun and going off season made more so because there were no lines at the waterpark.
After writing my blog yesterday I went with my Mother-in-Law, Niece, grand-niece and my 3 year old daughter an hour away to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. I have pretty much been going non-stop since then.
First of all this is officially after tourist season on a weekday so the only people there were people with pre-school age kids and homeschoolers. That meant that the crowds were low. Great Wolf Lodge has an indoor water park, arcade, restaurants, snack bars, mini golf, 4d adventures and roleplaying quests to name a few of the amenities. There are activities organized throughout the day for the kids as well. We had a suite with a sitting room master and smaller bedroom with two bathrooms. That was a basic room they also have a wolf den, kid camp, kid cabin and questmaster suite available at various prices.
The food was good. The facility was clean although I wasn't pleased with the smell of the environmentally friendly cleaning products used. The staff personable and courteous. The lifeguards in the waterpark were ultra-vigilant. No standing around twiddling their thumbs just constant surveillance of the area they were working. That means they were circling the area and constantly looking into difficult to see areas. the kids activities were well run and fun for the kids although the evening storytime mike made it difficult to understand what was being said. Cellphone reception was spotty so a working vacation here might not work-out so well.
Over-all it was a great experience and I would recommend it highly to homeschoolers looking for a little education with their recreation. The wolf walk in the morning talked about habitat, food and behavior of three different animals and the evening storytime talked about keeping the forest the same as you found it when hiking. The dance party was a great family activity and the costumes for the costumed characters were very well kept. We had fun and going off season made more so because there were no lines at the waterpark.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Do fast food workers desrve to be paid $15 an hour?
I got on my Facebook last night and saw a post from my local news channel, Fast food workers will be striking in the area on Thursday because they wanted raises to $15 an hour. This is not an isolated incident. These strikes have been happening in various locales all across the nation over the past year.
Why do these workers believe that they deserve to have their salary more than double the minimum wage in this area? is it because they are highly skilled workers? Is it because they have lots of training? Is it because they have devoted their lives to the best customer service ever known? No! they want the raise simply because they feel they can't live on what they are getting paid.
What are the qualifications for getting a fast food job? These days all it requires is an application, an opening and either knowing someone or having more experience than the other applicants. Fast food does not require a high school diploma, a clean criminal or driving record, and no experience if there isn't a high demand for jobs in the area. Today's fast food workers often lack work ethic, speed, accuracy and customer service.
There are a few workers that are working fast food because they were laid off and it was the first available job, but those workers are actively looking for better work. There are a few workers who are in high school or college and the fast food hours fit their school schedule. There are a few workers who are developmentally delayed adults and are happy to have the job. I have no problem with those workers. There are even a few who are in the management programs whose ultimate goal is to own a franchise operation. These are not the problem. The vocal faction that believes they deserve $15 an hour have decided that they want to make fast food their career. They do not wish to make the effort to look for higher paying positions once they have gained experience. They do not wish to better themselves by either going to trade school, business training or college. They wish to put out the least effort possible but be paid high wages.
Certified nursing Assistants earn $10.00 an hour. EKG techs earn $10 an hour both of these positions require training that take less than a year. My son as an E4 in the military makes 1900 a month(he's in the nuke program so this is unusual for the average service person in less than 2 years most service members in less than two years are E2 and make a little over $1000 a month.) Pharmacy Technicians make $9 an hour. All these require short training periods and certifications. Police officers and fire personnel starting pay is about $2000 a month which is a little over $12 an hour.
Sorry but fast food workers get the pay they deserve. If they want to get better pay then they need to make the effort to find better jobs, get job training, or go to school. You may say but what if they can't afford it. If they are working fast food and are over the age of 21 then they can file a FAFSA application. They can have community college either degree or job training all paid for including both tuition and books through Pell Grant and Virginia Education grants. They can take their classes and still have a job for living expenses. If you are a single mother you most likely qualify for food assistance as well.
Because of this there is absolutely no excuse for expecting to get paid to do a job anyone with any ounce of work ethic could do.
Why do these workers believe that they deserve to have their salary more than double the minimum wage in this area? is it because they are highly skilled workers? Is it because they have lots of training? Is it because they have devoted their lives to the best customer service ever known? No! they want the raise simply because they feel they can't live on what they are getting paid.
What are the qualifications for getting a fast food job? These days all it requires is an application, an opening and either knowing someone or having more experience than the other applicants. Fast food does not require a high school diploma, a clean criminal or driving record, and no experience if there isn't a high demand for jobs in the area. Today's fast food workers often lack work ethic, speed, accuracy and customer service.
There are a few workers that are working fast food because they were laid off and it was the first available job, but those workers are actively looking for better work. There are a few workers who are in high school or college and the fast food hours fit their school schedule. There are a few workers who are developmentally delayed adults and are happy to have the job. I have no problem with those workers. There are even a few who are in the management programs whose ultimate goal is to own a franchise operation. These are not the problem. The vocal faction that believes they deserve $15 an hour have decided that they want to make fast food their career. They do not wish to make the effort to look for higher paying positions once they have gained experience. They do not wish to better themselves by either going to trade school, business training or college. They wish to put out the least effort possible but be paid high wages.
Certified nursing Assistants earn $10.00 an hour. EKG techs earn $10 an hour both of these positions require training that take less than a year. My son as an E4 in the military makes 1900 a month(he's in the nuke program so this is unusual for the average service person in less than 2 years most service members in less than two years are E2 and make a little over $1000 a month.) Pharmacy Technicians make $9 an hour. All these require short training periods and certifications. Police officers and fire personnel starting pay is about $2000 a month which is a little over $12 an hour.
Sorry but fast food workers get the pay they deserve. If they want to get better pay then they need to make the effort to find better jobs, get job training, or go to school. You may say but what if they can't afford it. If they are working fast food and are over the age of 21 then they can file a FAFSA application. They can have community college either degree or job training all paid for including both tuition and books through Pell Grant and Virginia Education grants. They can take their classes and still have a job for living expenses. If you are a single mother you most likely qualify for food assistance as well.
Because of this there is absolutely no excuse for expecting to get paid to do a job anyone with any ounce of work ethic could do.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
The obsession with celebrity
Everywhere you go TV, Internet, Grocery Stores, Malls, etc. there are stories about celebrities. Who's dating who, Who's in rehab, what they are wearing, what their kids are doing, what they said.
Half of the news broadcasts are about celebrities and the rumors surrounding them. A few years back I was standing in the grocery line and noticed that every magazine was talking about a certain celebrity couple. Each magazine said something different, (they were getting married, they were having a baby, they were moving in together) The reality was two weeks later they were no longer a couple.
Who are celebrities these days? They are Actors, singers, dancers, sports stars, kids of famous parents, royals, rich people, politicians, and infamous people. These people for the most part don't do anything very important, yet the media touts their opinions on everything from pets to world politics.
My question is why? Who cares that Brad and Angelina finally got married, (I thought they had married years ago). Who cares that some actor punched some photographer that got in their personal space, who cares that such and such a singer went back to rehab once again. Most people are not friends or even acquaintances with these celebrities, but the world at large feel they need to be privy to the most private moments of these peoples lives simply because everyone knows their name and face.
Just because a person is famous doesn't mean they have any real knowledge to base any opinions on. Yet the media constantly asks these people what they think of important issues. Most of the time they are aligned with a cause or issue to get more media limelight that they don't need and guess what the world at large gives it to them.
Wouldn't the world be a better place if instead of half of the news being about celebrity watching that news shows would show the good things average people are doing in their community. Wouldn't it be great if more people were worried about important things going on in the world such as unrest in the Middle East and Africa. Wouldn't it be great if people would spend their time researching the issues instead of just deciding on a side because a celebrity supported it?
Yes our entertainers give us a wonderful service by offering a distraction from the daily grind of our lives through their music, shows, movies and games. That is all it is meant to be. We are not meant to hang on their every action and word like they were guru's of knowledge. We are not supposed to check our common sense at the door in favor of finding everything we can about the people who entertain the masses but don't actually know them.
Celebrities are just people with flaws and strengths like everyone else. The put their pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else. It just so happens that their job makes their name and face known to many people. Its time to allow them to live their own lives without fear of paparazzi and invasion of privacy. Its time to put more stock in our own lives instead of people we don't even know. Its time to occupy ourselves with finding ways to help those in need instead of wondering what so and so wore to whatever award show. We would be better people if we started focusing on what mattered instead of vain and foolish things.
Half of the news broadcasts are about celebrities and the rumors surrounding them. A few years back I was standing in the grocery line and noticed that every magazine was talking about a certain celebrity couple. Each magazine said something different, (they were getting married, they were having a baby, they were moving in together) The reality was two weeks later they were no longer a couple.
Who are celebrities these days? They are Actors, singers, dancers, sports stars, kids of famous parents, royals, rich people, politicians, and infamous people. These people for the most part don't do anything very important, yet the media touts their opinions on everything from pets to world politics.
My question is why? Who cares that Brad and Angelina finally got married, (I thought they had married years ago). Who cares that some actor punched some photographer that got in their personal space, who cares that such and such a singer went back to rehab once again. Most people are not friends or even acquaintances with these celebrities, but the world at large feel they need to be privy to the most private moments of these peoples lives simply because everyone knows their name and face.
Just because a person is famous doesn't mean they have any real knowledge to base any opinions on. Yet the media constantly asks these people what they think of important issues. Most of the time they are aligned with a cause or issue to get more media limelight that they don't need and guess what the world at large gives it to them.
Wouldn't the world be a better place if instead of half of the news being about celebrity watching that news shows would show the good things average people are doing in their community. Wouldn't it be great if more people were worried about important things going on in the world such as unrest in the Middle East and Africa. Wouldn't it be great if people would spend their time researching the issues instead of just deciding on a side because a celebrity supported it?
Yes our entertainers give us a wonderful service by offering a distraction from the daily grind of our lives through their music, shows, movies and games. That is all it is meant to be. We are not meant to hang on their every action and word like they were guru's of knowledge. We are not supposed to check our common sense at the door in favor of finding everything we can about the people who entertain the masses but don't actually know them.
Celebrities are just people with flaws and strengths like everyone else. The put their pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else. It just so happens that their job makes their name and face known to many people. Its time to allow them to live their own lives without fear of paparazzi and invasion of privacy. Its time to put more stock in our own lives instead of people we don't even know. Its time to occupy ourselves with finding ways to help those in need instead of wondering what so and so wore to whatever award show. We would be better people if we started focusing on what mattered instead of vain and foolish things.
Monday, September 1, 2014
The fallacy of Education Reform in America
Tomorrow is the first Tuesday after Labor Day and for many that means the first day of the new school year. In celebration of that fact I thought I would write about the realities of Education Reform and why it doesn't seem to be working.
About 40 years ago a politician got on his soap box and insisted that American children were far behind the rest of the world when it came to the study of Math and Sciences. But yet foreign exchange students were coming in droves to get an education in America because it was the best.
Over the last 40 years wide-sweeping changes have been made to the American Education system. Longer school hours.(when I went to high school in the 80's we went 6.5 hours my high schoolers go 7 hours) Longer years( when I was in school we got pretty close to 3 month summers and now my kids are lucky if they get 10 week summers. More classes( I had the same 6 classes everyday all semester long( my kids get 4 classes every day for the semester and then start 4 more the following semester other districts do 4 classes A days and 4 classes B days all year long) They are required to take more Math, more English, more Science, and more history. In fact the high schools main goal is to shuttle every kid to college after graduation. Now we have the train wreck that is Common Core.
Here are the results of all this Education Reform. SAT scores have dropped steadily since I was in High School. The US went from the leader in technological and scientific advances for over 20 years to falling far behind India and Asia for the last 10 years. College entrance requirements have fallen for state schools and most college graduates can't get jobs within their field of study within the first 6 months of graduation.
The question keeps being asked "Why has all this hard work failed to get the desired results"? First of all you have to look at the data. I read a news article in US News and World Report about 6 years ago titled The Case against Summer Vacation. It once again had all this data about how US students were falling behind in Math and Science. It showed that the US Education System required far fewer attendance days than any other country. Here's what it didn't show the start and end to the school year. (many countries send their children to school on Saturdays) It talked about the fact that many students had to do massive review at the beginning of the year because they forgot what they learned over summer vacation. There was one data set gathered that it did not talk about. The data collected showed that US kids went to school almost twice the number of hours of school than most of the other countries. Yet claimed we were falling behind.
Why do we keep falling behind with all these hours our kids are in school? First of all, when I was in school if you had a student who constantly broke rules or were disruptive, they were removed from the environment either through expulsion, drop-outs or alternative schools. If kids didn't want to be at school then they weren't wanted. Now expulsion only happens when a student is violent. we had after school detention, now they have in-school suspension. Second, special needs students had classrooms of their own so that their unique needs could be met. Now we have inclusion and special needs are placed in regular classroom taking needed resources from the average student and giving them to the special students such as time and attention. Third, disruptions are common-place and elementary students are denied much needed recess time to decompress and process what they have learned. Fourth, when creating curriculum emphasis is placed on advanced learning and processing, forgoing basic foundation skills. Skills such as handwriting, grammar, how to do projects and papers, how to do basic math without a calculator, how to research using library resources and not a computer, creative writing, and the list goes on. Fifth, parental involvement in the education process has either taken over such as with elementary and middle school science projects or completely erased itself such as in High School. Sixth, students are told that they need to go to a 4 year university and discouraged from going to trade schools or enlisting in the military. My children are highly intelligent but conventional college situations did not meet their needs due to career interests and personalities. Seventh, students are no longer taught self government. I am required to sign class syllabuses and code of conduct books for my high schoolers when they should be taking over that responsibility themselves.
All of this has happened in the last 26 years. These changes have actually hurt our students based on SAT scores, employment rates of college graduates, and our standing in the global economy.
Why might you ask? The answer is quite simple. The politicians twisted the statistics to suit their purposes. Here is how they did it. America's Education system is like no other in the world. We give everyone a chance to reach their highest potential regardless of aptitude, ability or financial status. The rest of the world only tests their college bound school programs while we test everyone( including our developmentally disabled or delayed). We don't weed out those student who would do better in a trade or with life skill learning by high school like the rest of the world.
As a result of trying to get our slower students to measure up to artificial standards, we have left our most gifted of students without the resources to receive the education they need in order to reach their full potential. By trying to make all our students the same, we have stopped all students from reaching their full potential unless they have the money for private schools or extra curricular tutoring. By trying to make our children the same we have stifled their ability to do extraordinary things.
This is the reason that the homeschool population has increased to over 3% of the population. That is over 1.7 million homeschoolers in the US.
Homeschool is not just for the ultra-religious. Its for all those who feel completely disenfranchised by the public school system.
Education reform has not worked. Its time to get back to basics.
About 40 years ago a politician got on his soap box and insisted that American children were far behind the rest of the world when it came to the study of Math and Sciences. But yet foreign exchange students were coming in droves to get an education in America because it was the best.
Over the last 40 years wide-sweeping changes have been made to the American Education system. Longer school hours.(when I went to high school in the 80's we went 6.5 hours my high schoolers go 7 hours) Longer years( when I was in school we got pretty close to 3 month summers and now my kids are lucky if they get 10 week summers. More classes( I had the same 6 classes everyday all semester long( my kids get 4 classes every day for the semester and then start 4 more the following semester other districts do 4 classes A days and 4 classes B days all year long) They are required to take more Math, more English, more Science, and more history. In fact the high schools main goal is to shuttle every kid to college after graduation. Now we have the train wreck that is Common Core.
Here are the results of all this Education Reform. SAT scores have dropped steadily since I was in High School. The US went from the leader in technological and scientific advances for over 20 years to falling far behind India and Asia for the last 10 years. College entrance requirements have fallen for state schools and most college graduates can't get jobs within their field of study within the first 6 months of graduation.
The question keeps being asked "Why has all this hard work failed to get the desired results"? First of all you have to look at the data. I read a news article in US News and World Report about 6 years ago titled The Case against Summer Vacation. It once again had all this data about how US students were falling behind in Math and Science. It showed that the US Education System required far fewer attendance days than any other country. Here's what it didn't show the start and end to the school year. (many countries send their children to school on Saturdays) It talked about the fact that many students had to do massive review at the beginning of the year because they forgot what they learned over summer vacation. There was one data set gathered that it did not talk about. The data collected showed that US kids went to school almost twice the number of hours of school than most of the other countries. Yet claimed we were falling behind.
Why do we keep falling behind with all these hours our kids are in school? First of all, when I was in school if you had a student who constantly broke rules or were disruptive, they were removed from the environment either through expulsion, drop-outs or alternative schools. If kids didn't want to be at school then they weren't wanted. Now expulsion only happens when a student is violent. we had after school detention, now they have in-school suspension. Second, special needs students had classrooms of their own so that their unique needs could be met. Now we have inclusion and special needs are placed in regular classroom taking needed resources from the average student and giving them to the special students such as time and attention. Third, disruptions are common-place and elementary students are denied much needed recess time to decompress and process what they have learned. Fourth, when creating curriculum emphasis is placed on advanced learning and processing, forgoing basic foundation skills. Skills such as handwriting, grammar, how to do projects and papers, how to do basic math without a calculator, how to research using library resources and not a computer, creative writing, and the list goes on. Fifth, parental involvement in the education process has either taken over such as with elementary and middle school science projects or completely erased itself such as in High School. Sixth, students are told that they need to go to a 4 year university and discouraged from going to trade schools or enlisting in the military. My children are highly intelligent but conventional college situations did not meet their needs due to career interests and personalities. Seventh, students are no longer taught self government. I am required to sign class syllabuses and code of conduct books for my high schoolers when they should be taking over that responsibility themselves.
All of this has happened in the last 26 years. These changes have actually hurt our students based on SAT scores, employment rates of college graduates, and our standing in the global economy.
Why might you ask? The answer is quite simple. The politicians twisted the statistics to suit their purposes. Here is how they did it. America's Education system is like no other in the world. We give everyone a chance to reach their highest potential regardless of aptitude, ability or financial status. The rest of the world only tests their college bound school programs while we test everyone( including our developmentally disabled or delayed). We don't weed out those student who would do better in a trade or with life skill learning by high school like the rest of the world.
As a result of trying to get our slower students to measure up to artificial standards, we have left our most gifted of students without the resources to receive the education they need in order to reach their full potential. By trying to make all our students the same, we have stopped all students from reaching their full potential unless they have the money for private schools or extra curricular tutoring. By trying to make our children the same we have stifled their ability to do extraordinary things.
This is the reason that the homeschool population has increased to over 3% of the population. That is over 1.7 million homeschoolers in the US.
Homeschool is not just for the ultra-religious. Its for all those who feel completely disenfranchised by the public school system.
Education reform has not worked. Its time to get back to basics.
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