But I must admit, it has been a long time since I have really enjoyed the holiday.  People talk about Xmas losing its “meaning” (don’t get me started on that one), but I don’t know if any holiday has lost more of its true meaning than Memorial Day.

What is Memorial Day?  Memorial Day (originally Decoration Day) is a day set aside to Honor and commemorate those that lost their lives defending this country in a time of war.

Now I am not saying that people need to sit around and mourn or be solemn on this day.  I actually think and like the traditions of Barbecues and festivities that often take place.  Think of it as a giant Irish Wake to celebrate the lives of these brave men and women that have given their lives.

What Memorial Day ISN’T.

It isn’t JUST the “unofficial start of summer.”  While you are enjoying those burgers and cold drinks, don’t forget to remember those people that gave their lives so that you could enjoy those things.

Just as importantly (though some may not realize they are doing this), Memorial Day is most definitely NOT a day to use the military as your political pawn.  It is not a day to try and tell people how much more patriotic you are than somebody else.

It is not a day to make a statement about policies you would like to see enacted (or repealed).

Using these brave souls as a tool on this day is a disgrace to their memories… but yes, you do have a right to do it if you want, thanks at least in part to their sacrifices.

Remember those that have died in defending our country.

Celebrate in their honor.

Thank those living that continue to carry on those missions.

Leave the rhetoric until Tuesday… don’t worry, it isn’t going anywhere.

So who will disappear quicker?  Joe Wurzelbacher or Joe Lieberman

Honestly I don’t care as long as they both go away.

This will mark the end of politics on this blog (your welcome).

Those that may from time to time want to see the political talk, I will be starting another blog just for that purpose, The Daft Dem.  Because I don’t believe yesterday was the end… it was only the beginning.

But I will be happy to bring this blog back to a more cheerful and stop be “sooooo serious”  (see Liz, I’m trying)

Next Week will mark the Return of TechParent Tuesday.

Congratulations and Good Luck President-Elect Barack Obama and VP-Elect Joe Biden

However, in all the negativity on the subject, something has gotten lost, and I don’t think (well I know, but I didn’t want to overstate it) many quite understand the gravity of the situation, and why it wasn’t just an “easy” decision for lawmakers to just tell these companies to, “go ahead and fail,” or  ”you made your your own bed.”  It just isn’t, as much as we would like to think it is, to untie these situations from the rest of the economy because of the scale of it all.

A car dealer not far from my home, Bigelow Motors, had been in business for 66 years.  It had weathered upturns and downturns many times over the years, but they were basically forced to close their doors this past week.  The reason?  They lost their line of credit.

In my own business, there are times that I need credit to cover the time between when I secure the supplies I need and the time my client pays me.  Without that line of credit, I am seriously hampered in what I can do and what orders I can complete.  

This is a common way of doing business for companies big and small (only the size of the line of credit changes).  From small corner delis that need to cover stock to mega corporation deals, there is very little that is done “in cash” because income and outlay do not always line up nice and neatly.

Obviously, the impact on business also affects employment as well.  Everybody at that car dealership I mentioned earlier is out looking for a job now.  Unemployment is up all over the place, and would only get worse as businesses need to either cut back or shut down because they are not able to conduct business as usual.

So, just understand, it was not a “no-brainer” to just vote this bill down. (Well, it was in that crazy first draft sent over from President Bush, but that was pretty much obvious to everybody except I guess President Bush and Treasury Secretary Pauson).  Is it ideal?  No.  Did it have to be as quickly as it was?  Unfortunately, Yes.

While people joke around now about how it hasn’t fixed everything already, this plan it going to take time to actually start having an effect, so even now we are still in crisis, but everyday that it waited is more time until implementation takes effect, and the more business that are apt to fail if this wasn’t passed in some form.

What I think a lot of people are shocked with, it that they got a good look at how Washington works.  The sort of wheeling and dealing (and pork additions) that happened here goes on constantly.  It is “how things work” and while this is no secret, it was clearly (and expensively) on display here.

I guess what I am trying to say here is, that I am not saying you shouldn’t be angry about what is going on.  I sure am.  But be angry at the right people, for the right reasons.  Look to former Texas Senator Phil Gramm and his slipping in of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) that enabled things like the Enron collapse, and the bundling of “derivatives” that helped make this mortgage crisis possible.  Be angry that this same Phill Gramm is on John McCain’s short list to be Treasurer of the United States.  Be angry at those that politicized this process and demanded pork for their vote.  But don’t take a “yes” vote in and of itself to be the whole reason.  This really wasn’t an easy situation for anyone to swallow, and there are valid reasons to have voted for the bailout.  The damage has long since been done, and now it needed to be fixed to keep the situation from getting worse.

 The situation has gotten so intense that we in the media have slipped our normal rules as well. Usually when a candidate tells something less than the truth, we mince words. We use euphemisms like mendacity andinaccuracy … or, as the Associated Press put it, “McCain’s claims skirt facts.” But increasing numbers of otherwise sober observers, even such august institutions as the New York Times editorial board, are calling John McCain a liar.  

I mean, how bad is it when Karl Rove is questioning your practices? No, Sarah Palin was no “accident.”  

The Times reports that using webmail for official business was Standard Operating Proceedure in Alaska:

While Ms. Palin took office promising a more open government, her administration has battled to keep information secret. Her inner circle discussed the benefit of using private e-mail addresses. An assistant told her it appeared that such e-mail messages sent to a private address on a “personal device” like a BlackBerry “would be confidential and not subject to subpoena.”Ms. Palin and aides use their private e-mail addresses for state business. A campaign spokesman said the governor copied e-mail messages to her state account “when there was significant state business.”On Feb. 7, Frank Bailey, a high-level aide, wrote to Ms. Palin’s state e-mail address to discuss appointments. Another aide fired back: “Frank, this is not the governor’s personal account.”Mr. Bailey responded: “Whoops~!”

She has shown herself to be willing to make up her facts as she goes along quite nicely.  Whether it is her claim that Alaska provides 20% of the nations energy (Alaska provides about 3.5%), or flat out lying when she says she told Congress “Thanks but no thanks” for funding the bridge to nowhere.  After all when she was running for Governor she said during an Interview:

Yes. I would like to see Alaska’s infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now – while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.  

 Oh she eventually threw the project under the bus, but not until it had been all but killed in Congress, and had become the poster project for pork barrel spending.She has also shown the same cut-throat expectation of loyalty and will fire anybody that does not give her 100% support, that we have come to know during the Bush years. In other words, refuse to give Sarah the right answer when asked if you would ban books from the library that Sarah Palin doesn’t like and you are gone.  When I first saw Sarah Palin, I likened her to Geraldine Ferarro, a poor choice done out of desperation.  I was so wrong.  While Ferarro was a poor choice, and her inept run probably hurt the cause of women in politics more than anything, Sarah Palin is far more dangerous than that.   

On the heels of this incident, in December Congress approved legislation to “ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don’t meet anti-entrapment safety standards.” It was called the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act [pdf], the named for the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, who was killed when she was trapped by the suction of a drain in 2002!

Now, I don’t understand why this wasn’t already a law, because it seems so brain-dead obvious to me as a parent, but can somebody explain to me, even after the first incident, and when people started lobbying for this law in 2002, it took 5 freakin’ years to get this written into law?  Now, I am willing to bet if I left it at that, I would have somebody come along and say “there’s a war on and Congress had ‘more important’ things to contend with.”  But if that is the case, then can somebody explain to me why Abigail Taylor had to die when over those same five years Congress sat back,  played IM games with Pages, stuffed freezers full of cash, taking bribes, and making medical diagnosis via videotape.  They had “the time” to do it, but it seems unless there is enough dead children for them to stop taking donations from corporations that are too cheap to manufacture these things safely, they just allow it to go on.

But it certainly seems that those days of propaganda planting being kept out of our news streams is history. Oh sure, it has been blatantly obvious for some time that the Faux News Channel is little more than “right wing mouthpiece” and tries to twist things to fit that image, but certain talk shows hosts aside (*cough* Hannity, O’Reilly *cough*) the data is usually twisted but not typically made up. Not so in this recent false article planted in Time Magazine. Glenn Greenwald over at Salon.com has done a nice job of comparing the unsubstantiated (false) claims in the Time article piece, with something that the author of the Time article couldn’t be bothered with, facts and numbers.

It is really sad, that you now have to be critical about everything you read.  It is at a point where I trust very few sources of information outside my blogroll.  I may not agree with all of you all the time, but at least there, I know if people don’t know, they don’t know, they don’t just make up the facts as they go along.

It really is a sad place we are in right now.

Now, I guess I was stupidly hoping that when I saw this report that stated 1 in 4 teens have a sexually transmitted disease, that perhaps people would wake up and realize that “Just Say No” didn’t cut it for Nancy Reagan and the war on drugs, and it isn’t working for this either. I was hoping, but of course I should have known better. I should know that there are clowns out there like Wendy Wright over at “Concerned Women for America” (no I am not linking to the hypocritical group of activist women, that somehow believe women don’t belong doing the things that they are doing… like being activists maybe). Anyway, apparently Ms. Wright (I can’t even type that without laughing) decided that the reason for this is because there are actually some programs out there that don’t strictly teach abstinence. Good Gravy, when are these people going to get a clue.

I guess the “concerned women” couldn’t be bothered reading things in the story like:

Blame is most often placed on inadequate sex education, from parents and from schools focusing too much on abstinence-only programs.

or maybe

“This is pretty shocking,” said Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an adolescent medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital in New York.

“To talk about abstinence is not a bad thing,” but teen girls — and boys too — need to be informed about how to protect themselves if they do have sex, Alderman said.

No, I guess that wouldn’t fit their agenda.  I just can’t help but wonder, if they aren’t concerned about young women and their health, just who are the Concerned Women for America really concerned about?

Yes, I realize I have wandered a bit, but it is these types of people that continue to defend the indefensible.  Of those girls that had contracted an STD in the study, the most prevalent was HPV!

Teens were tested for four infections: human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and affected 18 percent of girls studied; chlamydia, which affected 4 percent; trichomoniasis, 2.5 percent; and genital herpes, 2 percent.

And this is the leading cause of cervical cancer, and 18% of the girls studied are infected?  I don’t like those “odds” at all.  Certainly not enough to take a flyer on my daughter’s health.  Sure, I HOPE she will save herself for marriage, and I HOPE that the man that she marries is ALSO saving himself, so that he can not give her the virus.  But you know what?  I am sure as hell not going to take a roll of the dice with her health and tell her that “Just Say No” is all she needs to know.  I will take any steps I can, and I will educate her for the steps that I can’t take for her, to give her the best chance possible.  To me, that is the only logical conclusion, and in my not so humble opinion, this studies shows that the odds are too great to play it any other way.

The White House’s argument has been that the 40 some odd law suits currently pending in the courts could cause finanacial hardship for the telcos.  Well gee, how does the old saying go?  Don’t do the crime if you can’t pay the fine?  (yea I know, I am paraphrasing).  Perhaps they should have thought of this before they went ahead and broke the law.

So what Senators do the telcos own?  (And if your Senator is on this list, you may wish to contact him/her and ask Why they are supporting and providing immunity for criminals!)

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Inouye (D-HI)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Mikulski (D-MD)

P.S.  Regardless of what your political leaning are… YES!  The Telcos are criminals.  If they weren’t, they would not need the cover of being given immunity.

That was not the scary part. Stay with me here.

1988 was also the year that I got a letter to the Editor published. Fine, it was in the Jersey Journal, a local newspaper that barely has a readership in its own area. But I was happy about it anyway. So, apparently was my mom, who unbeknownst to me, kept a copy of the paper that the article appeared.

Several months back, she had given me a box of different papers and such that she had saved over the years (since my father’s passing in 2004, she has slowly been “getting ready to die” by ridding herself of things that she had saved over th years and given them to me or my sister). In there were old report cards, clipping from sports stories about Little League, “reviews” from local play productions I was in, and among that I found the letter to the editor.

I won’t bore you (or embarrass myself) by revealing everything the young naive version of myself wrote at the time. But in there was little snippet that I thought was quite interesting (and scary in its accuracy. The emphasis added is mine now, and not in the published letter). “… and Geraldine Ferraro was a complete embarrassment. Not that I saw anybody else that could help Mondale actually win the hearts and minds of the country to a point that he would’ve stood a chance, but if I were a woman, I would have be absolutely flabbergasted by this. She is going to throw the woman’s movement back so far, that it will be 20 years before a woman can actually hope to run and have any real chance at the White House.”

And here we are exactly 20 years later.

Update:  I should have been clearer on this.  The article was written in 1988, in reference to Michael Dukakis, but went back and referenced this as series of lousy contenders put forth by the Democratic Party. (Now you know why there is a discrepancy in the years.  Thanks to those who e-mailed me for clarification)

This of course leads to the potential for labels from those that do not use cloned animals to mark their products as such. But let us look for a second at an issue that I have mentioned here before, the use of synthetic hormones in milk. Dairies that have chosen to not use Monsanto’s rBGH/rBST should under the same theory be “free” to let consumers know that they produce a product that does not use these hormones, giving consumers that would rather not use them a choice. Simple enough, right? Wrong! Monsanto tried the court route, with mixed results, certainly not good enough for them. Suddenly now there appears to be a genuine campaign to get these labels removed, so that consumers will not be allowed to chose for themselves.

Is this what the FDA means by “free to label or mark their products?”  The simple fact is, that they assume an uneducated consumer is the best consumer, because that means more profits at the expense of your health… not that you would know it, because the FDA… who is supposed to be watching out for the best interest of the people, are all too quickly giving in to pressure from politics and big business.

It is coming to a point, where regardless of how careful you are or try to be with what you feed your family, these corporations have the money to take away your right to know what it is that you are eating.  If this all sounds “anti-business” it isn’t.  It is about anti-corrupt-businesses.  Businesses like Monsanto that have no ethics and cheat and lie to the public and try to buy off politicians.  Heck, I have all the respect in the world for companies like Burger King.  Are they selling products that are, well questionable in nutritional value and awful in regards to fat?  Of course.  And they make no bones about it.  They tell you simply the way it is.  We cater to fat people with big appetites.  Sure, a bacon cheeseburger is loaded with fat.  But if you are a big person, with a big appetite, and want something that has 5 layers of cheese, burger and bacon, and want to consume all that fat in one sitting, then we are happy to serve you.  It is not healthy.  It is not smart.  But they aren’t trying to get lawmakers to ban health food stores for “misleading customers by claiming that their tofu is a better choice” as their defense.  It is disgusting… but it is honest.   You want to eat that… you know what you are getting and are making a choice.

Unfortunately, when it comes to cloning (and unless we can stop it soon milk as well), you can’t make such a choice.

Bush’s buddy and “supporter” President Gen. Musharraf is only still in power, via a declaration of Marshall Law, and he has now gone from President to Dictator, thus leaving the U.S. looking bad to the people of Pakistan.

And now, Bush’s second vocal ally, Australia’s Conservative Prime Minister John Howard was handed a stunning defeat in Australia. What turned voters to the Labor Party (Liberal) and against Howard? Promises to remove troops form Iraq, and the promise to sign on to the Kyoto Protocol. Something Howard and President Bush were both staunchly against.

So it seems while we in this country somehow continue to elect boneheads that are denying global warming or still lying about the war in Iraq, it seems that the rest of the world has caught on. I only hope when the elections roll around next year, we don’t continue to show our ignorance to the world, and get somebody into office that is willing to stop the insanity.

On the other hand, when I look at an animal like Jack Fuller, a “family acquaintance” that murdered Brittney Gregory, and he only got 30 years in prison my blood begins to boil. Here is a case where this guy admitted in court that he punched the girl at least twice in the face and head because she tried to stop him from smoking crack while he gave her a ride to her boyfriend’s house in July 2004. Her unclothed body was found in a shallow grave some two weeks later. In 30 years he will walk out of prison a free man. Brittney on the other hand will still be dead. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for her parents to know that he will one day be free again.

But, I am getting away from the point a bit, because here in New Jersey, the death penalty has been nothing short of a joke. It was reinstated in 1982, and since that time, the number of 1st degree murder convicts put to death remains at 0. So what is the big deal of voting it out now? Well, other than the fact that people argue that the death penalty is not a deterrent. Well no, not the way it is implemented here in New Jersey. Hell, the appeals process could probably last longer than some of these people will survive in jail.

I would hate for New Jersey to be held up at the beacon of those that are against the death penalty, because we saw fit to abolish it. Because here, it proves nothing other than our own incompetency on whether we are actually going to use it or not. So New Jersey may abolish the death penalty… so what? It is nothing here but a blue law, that has no teeth. The argument is pointless.

Now we have students getting suspended for “spreading rumors” when they report a teacher for having sex with a student. What is worse is that rather than admitting that they screwed up the school administration says, “they had no hard evidence at the time, because both the teacher and student denied it” (gee… can I get a “duh” here?) so the only “logical” step they had was to suspend the student for the “rumor.” Only I wouldn’t have been quite as smug as these administration officials when the teacher was later arrested for having a sexual relationship with the student (which police discovered on their own, since the school never reported this “rumor”). I guess we should be happy that the school administrators finally saw fit to suspend her.

Things can’t get much more stupid can they? Well yeah, they can. How about getting a days detention (each) for hugging two friends as you say goodbye before heading home for the weekend? Stupid? But of course. And once again, you have a school official, in this case District Superintendent Sam McGowen rushing to defend school officials saying that the penalty was appropriate because the school policy handbook states:

“Displays of affection should not occur on the school campus at any time. It is in poor taste, reflects poor judgment, and brings discredit to the school and to the persons involved.”

I defy this clown to tell me what is in more “poor taste and reflecting poor judgment”… being, friendly and polite with friends, and giving them a hug goodbye?”  Or giving the girl detention for doing so?  That you have kids that would rather hug and say goodbye discredits the school?  No, I’d day that job is done quite well by idiotic school officials that apparently don’t have the critical thinking skills necessary to be able to discern  what would be deemed inappropriate or reflecting poor judgment.  The poor judgment is how these people got these jobs.  If I was a parent of this girl, I would be having a “hug in” on school grounds.  But I am vindictive that way.  (hat tip to Doug for this)

It was back in 2005 when I went on my first (public) rant about this, after a Op-Ed piece at the Philadelphia Inquirer by Christine Flowers compared Breastfeeding in public to urinating in public, smoking, and blaring hip-hop music and suggests that women who breastfeed should use the bathroom.  This initial rant really caught me off guard, when Ms. Flowers actually responded to my post, calling me an “Alan Alda Femenist” (whatever that means) because she has every right to sip her Latte at Starbucks in peace, and women should just use the restrooms to breastfeed. (Yeah, that sounds sanitary… why don’t you go sip your Latte in there?)  But it did illustrate to me, exactly how pathetically dense these people are, and thus made me far less likely to ignore them… because they are not going to “just go away” or “have an epiphany” since light will likely not dawn on their marble heads.  (My apolgies, but philly.com apparently decided to pull this from their archives, so I can not link to it any longer).

Last year brought us another two incidents of stupidity.  The first being Victoria Secrets, where an employee insisted a woman use the employee restroom to breastfeed her child. Now, we can not blame the entire chain since according to Limited Brands (the parent company), policy certainly allows women to breastfeed, so it was apparently only a particular employee, but still was certainly a telling example of how even at a store which you would think knows a thing about women’s breasts, you can still run into this sort of silliness.

Of course last year also brought us the melee that started when LiveJournal decided that Avatars depicting breastfeeding were offensive.  Not being a LiveJournal user, and not exactly being a big fan of Six Apart in general, I did not find this all that bizarre (LiveJournal seems to have a history of finding ways to upset their users), but upsetting none-the-less.  Since it was “only LiveJournal” this really didn’t get all that much attention (outside of a few blogs), but of course that lack of attention comes back to bite when now Facebook has decided to go this same route and ban breastfeeding pics.  Proving once again, that just by ignoring a problem it will not go away, and will even manifest itself elsewhere, as it has done in this case.

But this pales in comparison, to the hairy chested machismo offered by Bill Maher in response to a story about a Mother that was humilated to tears, while attempting to breastfeed at an Applebee’s in Kentucky and is now trying to get Applebee’s to change their policies.  To be honest, I guess I don’t find it all that strange.  Much like LiveJournal, Maher despite being a seemingly progressive person, is prone to proving himself to be a jackass frequently.

I’m not going to break down his stupidity point by point, partly because it is so indefensible, it baffles me how he can try and  justify this.   Breastfeeding is no different that masturbating in public?  Really?  I’d say Mr. Maher needs some serious therapy, I mean either he has a seriously twisted view of breastfeeding… or of masturbaring.  I don’t know which, and in all sincerity, I really do not wish to know the answer.

But the reason, I will defer to others is really because you can already find it done better than I could hope to (and without the caveat of it coming from “some guy that shouldn’t be getting into women’s issues”…. hmmmm… I wonder if that is what an “Alan Alda Femenist is supposed to mean).  So, for the complete lowdown you can start with Sarah over at Suburban Oblivion.  Then go get the view from the Velveteen Mind who credits Sarah this time rather than stealing her idea  (I’m just kidding of course).  And the Huffington Post has chimed in as well.  And admittedly I fully expect to find something over at Domestic Psychology soon. (But no pressure Cathy :wink: )

You can see the YouTube video here.

There are several reasons for this. The biggest one of course being that there is just so much more available now than when we were kids.  It is rare that our television is tuned to something other than the Disney Channel, with the rare exception made usually for Scooby-Doo on Boomerang or Cartoon Network.

The second reason being that of course many of the Classic Looney Tunes were of course pulled off the air because they are “too violent” (a rant I will go into separately tomorrow).

But in either case, we found it quite sad that she has been denied exposure to this so far. It didn’t really take away from her enjoyment of the park, but I think that the Tivo is going to have to get a few new “Season Passes” so that she can find out why exactly Daddy was so excited to see Marvin the Martian, that he actually was willing to be on the other side of the camera for a change.

What did you watch as a child?  And do you want your children watching it now?  Why?  Why not?

My only real problem came with some “in between” times, where I learned the perils of Cobra coverage (which is supposedly designed to take care of those specific times), as well as the dreaded, “pre-existing condition” issues that arise (more on that as we go along).

So yes, I am fortunate enough to have “good” coverage, and lucky enough that my family has no “factors” that render them “uninsurable.”  But it is just that.  Lucky.  And as with anything else, it worries me that it is only a matter of time until my luck runs out, and I find myself in a position, like so many others, either unable to afford, or unable to get (at any price) insurance because somebody has some condition that blackballs us because some statistician has determined that a particular condition is “too risky” for them to cover at all.

Now let me state up front that I am in no way a fan of Michael Moore.  I find that unfortunately, as much as he wants to make a good point (as with the recently released, “Sicko”) that his showmanship is a bit too much, and that the message that he is trying to get across gets lost because of his overboard tactics.  That being said, his timing and topics are often right on, and that is certainly the case with the healthcare in this country.

If you think health care in this country is not a problem, then either you are a major stockholder in one of the Health Insurance Companies,  are being paid off by the or are just not paying attention.  Because even if you have insurance, you almost have to be forcibly ignorant not to see what is going on.  How many valid claims do you have to resubmit, explain, or challenge to get paid because they seem to be almost randomly denied.  I say randomly, because at a glance there is most likely no obvious and legitimate reason for it be denied.  And even trying to ascertain the actual reason for the denial can be a challenge as it is cloaked behind codes, and asterisks and run-on sentence explanations that seem to say completely different things within the same sentence.

Despite having continuous coverage that dates back to somewhere in the early 90’s (the last time both TheWife and I had employers that didn’t provide coverage at the same time), we have more times than I can count, had to battle with “pre-existing conditions” issues.  I’ll give you a few personal examples.

The first is  my own, and one that can be arugued either way.  Back in the early 80’s I was working as an EMT with an ambulance company (that ironically did not offer health insurance).  While on the job one day, I got caught in gunfire in a not very good neighborhood, and got hit in the head.  The bullet (fortunately) did not penetrate my skull, but was embeded below my scalp.  The insurance company that handled my workman’s compensation claim decided that since there was nothing life threatening about the bullet, they denied the hospital the ability to perform surgery to remove it.

Fast forward 20 years, I still have that projectile embedded there, however now a doctor I have gone to says that it really should not have been allowed to remain considering that many projectiles are made from (or contain) lead, and that it would be wise to have it removed.  So, we send the paperwork in to my insurance company now.  Denied.  Pre-existing condition.  Which, by technicality is true, but it is only now that the actual “risk” is being determined.  Worse, anything that I may develop later because of it, would also be denied. So, really it comes down to whether or not I am willing to pay for it myself.

Less arguable is the situation with LatteGirl.  She was born with the unfortunate circumstance of being the child of a mother that has both allergies and asthma, and a father that also had major allergy problems as a kid.  But in her case, she has not been without insurance basically since the day she was born.  A “Pre-existing” condition clause on a chronic condition is normally done to deny claims within the first 6 months of new insurance, where none existed before (presumably to avoid people buying insurance only when they find out that they have something serious that needs immediate attention, and then not staying with the company long enough for them to make up in premiums what they have laid out in coverage). But since LatteGirl has not had any lapses in coverage, this should not apply.  And in actuality doesn’t.  But that doesn’t stop them from denying claims made for both doctors appointments and denying prescription coverage on a routine basis.  I then have to spend hours (and a few times days) on the phone with Customer Service Reps, and their supervisors, before I (once again) have to fax over proof of previous coverage to once again get coverage reinstated.  Only to have to play the same game a few months later (you would think that this stuff would be “on file” eventually wouldn’t you).

Finally, and what may be the dumbest of examples.  My mother has cancer.  She has thus far outlived all projections, and has been doing quite well on a chemotherapy regiment, that has been keeping the tumors at bay.  Not improving her situation, but actually keeping it from getting worse for the past three years now.  Of course, as most are aware, the drawback to chemotherapy is, severe nausea.  So her physician prescribed medication that helps deal with this.  However, the medication is supposed to be for “short term” use only, and thus since she does not have a “medical condition” that warrants the continued use of the drug (“side effect” is not a medical condition apparently), every month we have to challenge the ruling and justify the use.  You would think that at some point it would be cheaper to actually keep the previous rulings (again) on-file rather than having to repeat the same process ad nauseum.   But it goes back to what I said earlier about them seemingly doing this randomly in hopes that people get too tired or just give up fighting so that they don’t have to pay.

We have these kinds of issues, and we have health insurance.  I can’t imagine the nightmare that those without have to deal with.  Or worse (I think), not being able to get insurance because a spouse or child has a condition that they don’t want to cover. Something like 1 in 150 children every year are now diagnosed somewhere along the Autism Disorder Spectrum (Based on prevalence statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007)).  I am not going to debate, nor is this about whether something belongs in that “Spectrum” but the fact is that most of these kids (and or their parents) will have problems with insurance at some point.

It is easy to sit back and say, “There but for the grace of god go I.”  But that solves nothing.  And what happens if unfortunately at some point you are not so “graced” and find yourself in that position?  It is a serious problem that needs serious solutions.  Now.  Not eventually.  Not when it is a “critical problem.”  Because, if you run into one of these issues… your perspective on what is critical, will suddenly and drastically change.

It gave me pause when I ran across a couple of letters that tried so desperately to “put things in “perspective” and tell how Important Idol is, and how manipulating the events is wrong, because then the outcome is not correct (please note I have removed all the expletives that would have made those phrases considerably longer).  And I stopped laughing.  And I pondered it for a moment.  And I got really sad.

Our President led us into a war, under false pretenses.  He lied to the American people.  He continues to this moment to manipulate and cajole in an effort to get his way.  And people remain quiet.  (Not everybody of course but you know what I mean).  But mess with a faux talent show on Television, and people are outraged, and screaming bloody murder and talking about how “Un-American” it is.  Lead us into war so that our soldiers get killed on a lie?  OK.  Take away civil liberties?  Hey no sweat.  Abuse and overstep the autorities of the Presidency?  Why do I care?  Just don’t mess with American Idol.

We as a country really need to get our priorities straight.

Although the wise-ass in me would have loved to have seen it be moved to somewhere in Oklahoma, just to drive Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) absolutely batty. Of course the fact that Inhofe can still call Global Warming a hoax after the recently published IPCC Report, proves that he is already batty.

Over 130 countries have participated in the IPCC’s fourth report, which has involved over 2 500 scientific expert reviewers, 800 contributing authors and 450 lead authors.

In this country a handful of officials at the Department of Justice can’t keep their stories straight long enough to cover up the fact that they fired 8 U. S. Attorneys for purely political reasons, and Inhofe thinks that this hoax could be carried out with this many experts, authors, scientists? Heck, even the few scientists paid off by Exxon to dispute Global Warming, can’t keep their mouths shut long enough for people to actually believe that they came to their conclusions independently from the $10,000 reward offered by AEI (a thinly veiled “think tank” funded by Exxon) offered to try and counter the reports.

But of course, such a stunt would only prove to be a distraction as we watched Inhofe go into convulsions, so it is ultimately better off here in New Jersey (where we can paste posters for it all over the refineries along the New Jersey Turnpike )

Snark finally aside (I think), I am proud to have the event here in New Jersey.

However, in BusinessWeek this week, U.S. Representative Ron Kind (D-WI), does an excellent job of juggling the issues with the results, and showing how it was A Flawed Measure.

The finding raises the question whether this nation should only invest in tools whose effectiveness can be measured through test scores.

As I noted, this study was clearly flawed, but I did omit this point of the conclusion and how flawed the question itself was, thus rendering the rest of the results useless.  Because, there is more to education than standardized test scores.  I said the full potential of Education Software was not explored, but Kind does a much better job as he goes on and explains,

 The answer to that question should be no. This study attempts to show the ineffectiveness of educational technology. Instead it simply reveals the Bush Administration’s tunnel vision on the uses and value of it.

The benefits education technology offers students go beyond merely passing core-curricular tests. With it, students are gaining the technology skills and knowledge they will need to compete in the 21st-century economy. While ensuring that our students are proficient in reading, math, and science is critical to their academic and employment futures, their ability to use technology tools, mine the resources of the Internet, and collaborate virtually with peers around the world are skills that high-paying employers seek as well.

Clearly more needs to be looked at.   And we need to stop looking at things solely through the looking glass of NCLB.  There is more to life and knowledge than standardized test scores.

Now that I am done explaining… John Kerry was on The Daily Show recently, promoting a book he wrote with his wife called This Moment on Earth: Today’s New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future.  Now as Jon Stewart noted, some people may be put off by the fact that it is 250 pages with “no pictures.”  Now, I was of course immediately impressed with the fact that this goes beyond some of the more standard environmental issues, as Senator Kerry points out (albeit the message got a bit lost), an example of how Factory Farming affects our water supplies and such.  I will be picking up the book this weekend and reviewing it… soon. (No Honestly… I will find some time for it.)

It really was a decent interview.  And it was fun as Stewart points out that obviously Kerry and his wife were working on this project for quite some time, and pokes fun of the fact that “Gore got there first” with An Inconvenient Truth, and sort of makes Kerry appear as a “me too” kind of add on to the environmental cause, but that it simply isn’t true.

For those that didn’t see it, the Interview is below the fold.

Now, I must state, upfront, much like the daycare study recently, this study, seems terribly flawed on the surface. When they considered “software” what they evaluated just was (I believe too encompassing).

The technology — ranging from snazzy video-game-like programs played on Sony PlayStations to more rigorous drilling exercises used on computers — has been embraced by low-performing schools as an easy way to boost student test scores.

Now, I understand that you want to engage children with “entertaining” forms of software that seems more fun, and hope that keeps their interest longer, however, it also is less likely to have as serious an effect as the drills based programs and more “professional” types of study programs.

A one year study, is also not very solid and their are a whole host of environmental factors that need to be weeded out as well, and many proponents still think there is promise.

Nonetheless, some experts said the software holds promise. Elliot Soloway, professor of educational technology at the University of Michigan, said that teachers need to be better trained and that administrators need to wait more than one year to see results. He said he worried that the study would scare off school districts.

“This is the last thing that we need now,” he said. “It is the poor kids who will suffer, because it is their schools who will not get technology because of this study.”

Regardless, the “magic” is now gone. The expectations of these software products to help reach the lofty (unrealistic) goals of NCLB, now have to be reconsidered. However, I certainly hope that they do not stop funding the software quite yet, as the full potential just doesn’t seem to be looked at here.

Initially, I assumed that as nonsensical as the articles were that it would just blow over without much ballyhoo. Then I started reading some articles like at Career and Kids, where the frustration of yet another study on the subject shows. And I guess I can understand that since the way these articles tend to slant things, it always seems to be targeting the working mother. However there was something in the study she was missing, so I reviewed the source, and again it was missing some important pieces of the big picture. (which I will get to in a moment… just stick with me here.)

Worse, I saw this piece discount the frustration, because of what this study “proved” as “facts.” And now I had had enough.

All of these writings are based either on the Wall Street Journal version (you’ll need to be a subscriber to view the whole article) , or the New York Times version. But while the Newsweek version certainly offers up a similar shock value headline, and highlights the “problem” it also (briefly) includes some of the important aspects that I alluded to earlier that both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times didn’t bother with, like the study wasn’t designed to answer the question of “Why?” and the writers took it upon themselves to fill in the blanks, to help fuel the fire of the Stay at Home Mom vs Working Mom.

In the interview with Newsweek, one of the authors of the study admits as much, and goes on to say,

We did not look at why in this study, but other people have looked at this question and have some ideas. [One suggested reason is that] there’s been a move to make child-care programs more academic. Kids are supposed to start school knowing numbers and letters before kindergarten, and this process gives them less free time and forces them to do a lot more large-group activities and worksheets. It’s really hard for a 3- or 4-year old to sit and listen to the teacher talk for extended lengths of time.

So, perhaps then it is not the being away from the parent (as some would have you believe), but the fact that these “advanced” daycares, which are more and more being treated like “Pre-Schools” are not giving enough time for kids to just be kids? Perhaps there is too much pressure to make kids “excel” too early. But since the study was not designed for a “Why” we can not actually answer whether or not that is true.

It was also interesting to discover the following,

We saw no relationship between the amount of child care–whether by a nanny, a family member, or a babysitter–to how the child behaved in kindergarten through 6th grade. Interestingly, we also found that staying home with mom was statistically neither an asset nor a detriment in terms of academic outcomes and behaviors.

So it is NOT a question of having a “stay at home Mom.” A Nanny or another family member or babysitter was equal to Mom. Interestingly, both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times appeared to miss that “fact” hence I cannot blame Inside Fatherhood when he draws conclusions like,

But like one commenter on my previous post had said, “I don’t know that day-care in itself causes these problems, but it does remove the consistent, parental influence that’s needed to reinforce good behavior.”

This brings up a good point and I think Jared nailed it. So what is it they are NOT doing? I raise 5 kids on my own and I know there are certain laws that prohibit more than 5 kids per Day Care Staff member. So what is it they are not doing that I personally do with my own kids? For one I know I kiss and hug my kids. This is something that staff members can not do and get away with without lawsuits. And who wants some stranger hugging and kissing your kids? We have lost a lot of trust these days from all the pedophiles out there.

Although, I could fault him for not reading further (as I did), and it seems that he was already predisposed to agreeing to the article to begin with. However, he did not have the benefit of seeing the fact that a Nanny, or other individual caregiver, who may not (or would not) provide the “kissing and hugging” that he suggests is the reason why children would be be better behaved.

This study while beneficial, is nothing more than a stepping stone suggesting further study be done. It is not a conclusion. It can’t be without a “Why.” It is simply proof that additional research is warranted. But you wouldn’t know that by the way some are reporting this.

Back to school – So Tony Snow seems to think that Congress has no oversight responsibility over the White House. Seems to me they need a copy of Schoolhouse Rock! sent over there… quickly. (I must tip my hat to Shakespeare’s Sister had the same idea of how to teach them the Constitution, since not only did she post this idea first, she included diagrams for them to follow)

This was no accident – Some in the government, are trying to push through laws that helped the richest of the rich avoid Estate Taxes or so called “Death Taxes,” and at the same time, under the guise of reining in the budget, last year made it so that pharmaceutical companies could no longer offer deep discounts to college students, and so as of this year (when the law took effect), the cost of Birth Control on campuses have doubled and in some cases tripled. I fail to understand at times how these clowns can sleep at night.

Give us your poor, your… no not those, I want them – Bill Gates is seems is a big supporter of Immigration Reform. Well at least as long as it will get him some more cheap programmers for his company. I guess he has enough low skill labor to manicure his palatial estate, because he was quote by Bloomberg saying,

“Any country should make it easy for people with high skills to come in,” Gates said in answer to a question during a news conference in Mexico City. “I’m hopeful there can be some immigration reform. Hopefully, it would be something that provides predictability and as much freedom of migration as possible”

Of course this is not anything new for the Microsoft Chairman. When he recently spoke in Washington, according to IT Business Edge:

To hear Gates tell it, even 115,000 won’t be enough. The U.S. should have access to an “infinite” number of skilled foreign workers to fill IT posts, he told the committee. During the dot-com days, the annual H-1B visa cap was as high as 195,000.

Yes, I remember those “Dot Com days”  I distinctly remeber towards the end, as the salaries were leveling off, and then the ensuing bust of not being able to find any jobs at a reasonable wage.  And that was before they really started shipping so much work outside the country.  So, I can only imagine what happens to this market if they give Mr. Gates what he wants.  But of course, with all the money he saves, I’m sure he will be able to live comfortably again, as I am sure the slow moving Microsoft stock price has really made him have to tighten his belt. (But I’m not bitter).

What part of personal privacy don’t they get? – It is always with the “best” intentions that lawmakers seem to come up with the most awful ideas, particularly (or at least so it seems) towards women.  Here in New Jersey, an influential lawmaker is proposing a law that would create mandatory HIV testing for all pregnant women.  Of course, it is a wise move to test if you are pregnant, and current State law already requires the availablity of the test to those that wish to take it, but apparently Mr. Cody has decided that he is going to make the decision for women now.  This really should go down in a ball of flames, but Cody has the political muscle to push through stupid laws, and has done so before, so I will be keeping an eye on this as it progresses.

 I just wanted to end on a fluff piece – The evening news always (or almost always) ends with a “fluff piece” and since I started doing these bits on Friday, I have started to understand why, as you look at what you are posting and ask, “Do I really want to end it on that note?”  So I vamp along waiting to find one.  Today I did not, but while the article is quite serious, I can’t help but be amused at the title of this article from the LA Times, If only gay sex caused global warming.  If only we could generate that same sort of homophobic rage into global warming, we could probably solve this problem in a week.

Washington Post (via MSNBC so you don’t need to register)

“There is a zero percent chance that we will ever reach a 100 percent target,” said Robert L. Linn, co-director of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at UCLA. “But because the title of the law is so rhetorically brilliant, politicians are afraid to change this completely unrealistic standard. They don’t want to be accused of leaving some children behind.”

So there you have the real problem. Not that people don’t know that the law is flawed nobody wants to be seen as “leaving a child behind” advocate. Much like the Patriot Act, the name keeps lawmakers voting FOR things they know they should vote against.

Foes and supporters alike praise the law for drawing attention to student achievement gaps. The law requires testing for all students in reading and math from grades 3 through 8 and once in high school; it also requires reporting of scores for groups of students including racial and ethnic minorities, those from low-income families, those with limited English skills and those with disabilities who receive special education.

Unlike those that blindly support the law without understanding what it is saying, those that are critical acknowledge that there are certainly good intentions in the law, but how it was constructed, and how you can hope to achieve a 100% rating when you include those that have limited English Skills and those with learning disabilities, is not short of just plain silly. So instead students with learning disorder get shipped around to other districts and such to help some districts (those “disposing” of the students) better “benchmarks” while it provides funds (the school shipping out the student generally pays the other district) to those districts that accept them. That is not education, it is a shell game, and the children are the little pebble being slid around under those shells.

They also much do away with the sanctions that are built into the law. These sanctions, are actually counterproductive, as they take away money from the areas and districts that by definition need it the most, the districts where the children are not faring as well. Does this make sense to anybody? “Your schools aren’t doing well, now go and improve them… with less money to accomplish it.” This is what they are in essence telling these districts.

We can’t allow NCLB to be reauthorized, just because it “sounds good.”  It needs to be overhauled and fixed.

I’ve documented my frustration, as well those expressed by Moms from New Jersey to Texas dealing with this issue. As if it is not tough enough trying to content with a sick child, now you have to be concerned more about your child getting sick again, because some parent folds to the pressure and sends their child to school sick. Why? Because the school is pressuring them. Because now California is going to charge them.

It doesn’t take much to figure out what the culprit of this is, and I am sure most of you have already guessed that this is yet another post pointing out why the No Child Left Behind Act should not be reauthorized this year. Now in fairness, the situation is even worse in California, which has a similar attendance requirement for State aid to the schools. But you can be certain even in States where they do not have such laws on the local or State level, since they suffer similar “fines” from NCLB, more will soon follow this lead to help “compensate for lost monies.”

If you have had enough, then please sign the petition created by the Educator Roundtable, or contact your representative. If not, stay tuned, and I am sure I will have more to come.

Update:  I did mention in the first line that this program was “touted” as “getting tough” with parents that elect to keep their children out of school for a vacation.  What I did not mention that at least at present, the program is “purely voluntary” (the main enforcer here, at least for now is guilt).  Hat Tip to Barry for the ommission on my part.  I will however still stand by my belief that should this idea not fall apart in California, other States will enact similar measures to recoup losses (whether by vacation or illness).

The Guardian Unlimited

A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.

The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.

[...]

Climate change ’should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a US national security concern’, say the authors, Peter Schwartz, CIA consultant and former head of planning at Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Doug Randall of the California-based Global Business Network.

It is not being argued in this document that this is something to think about, or an eventual problem, it is saying that this is a problem now and could be catostrophic within 20 years.  Now, I know a vast majority of readers (I’d at least 2 out of the 3), have small children.  Think about it, your son or daughter (or both) will be in their 20’s (or maybe thirties).  This is something that is having and will continue to have a direct effect on the lives of your kids.

The days of laughing off this issue as something brought on by Wheatgrass drinking, home-made hemp clothes wearing flower children (not that there is anything wrong with that) are over.  This isn’t a political issue, though some in their selfishness would like to make it one, for their own profit and gains.  This isn’t even an issue that can simply be taken care of any longer simply by people doing the right things (although, recycling, using earth friendly products and more are still wise choices).  It is something that needs to be changed on a global scale and needs to change immediately. This can’t be talked away with the oil companies trying to bribe scientist to author papers that say it doesn’t exist.  I mean, when the time has come that even Wal-Mart is begging the Administration to do something on Global Warming, we have obviously reached a serious tipping point.

But even if the threat isn’t quite as imminent or horrific a scale as these projections claim, what is the problem with cleaning up our air, our water, our environment?  People who are against fixing this problem are also (often) the same people that want to return to the “good old days” (I’ll save that issue for another post).  Well in the good old days, we had clean air, and clean water.  We washed dishes, and not everything was disaposable and plastic.  Want to go back?  Fine.  But we have to do something about all this pollution to get back to that.

Want to continue to be pigheaded?  You have every right to do so.  But, if you don’t want to think about it for yourself.  Think about the effects it may have on your kids, this isn’t someday, this is something that effects them.  Directly.  I am sure you have insticts to protect your children.  They need help and protection from this as well, now when they are unable to do or change this for themselves.

Twelth-graders’ reading skills have hit a new low, but their grades continue to climb, according to federal officials who suspect the nation’s schools are inflating grades.

Suspicions that teens’ rising grade-point averages may be unmerited are fueled by two new national reports released yesterday at a Washington, D.C., news conference. Both reports are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a U.S.-sponsored program that tests representative samples of students in academic subjects.
According to one report, the latest nationwide test results in 12th-grade reading have hit their lowest point since testing in that subject first began. On average, students nationwide scored 286 on a scale of zero to 500 during the last round of tests in 2005 — down one point from 2002 and six points from the first year, 1992.

Meanwhile, grade-point averages have continued their steady rise, according to a companion report on high-school transcripts. In 1990, the typical students’ grade average in English was 2.52 out of a possible 4.0, or the equivalent of a C-plus. By 2005, the typical grade average was 2.82, equivalent to a B-minus.

Federal authorities say they can’t be sure whether this reflects a conscious effort by schools to puff students’ achievements, or whether it may involve other factors as well, such as teacher inexperience in grading.

Of course they “can’t be sure.” If they accuse the schools of making a conscience effort of puffing students grades, there goes the whole NCLB actually working argument, and they can’t have that. But attempting to come up with a different rational explanation is apparently quite difficult… so far. But, don’t worry, I am sure they will figure out a way to blame somebody. They are not going to allow their steppingstone to class-warfare and elite privatization of the school system fall. (Go ahead, give a more valid explanation of what NCLB is than a way to justify school vouchers and privatizing the school system).

That being said, I will say two things about this years awards. One, does anybody believe that Happy Feet won for any reason other than to just NOT give it to Pixar Studios (again)? It is one of the things that make me disliked the awards so much in the first place. Happy Feet was by most accounts a “fair” at best. Not an overly great story, average all along the line. So why did it win? Was it to neatly fit in a “Politically Correct” night as some have suggested? Or more simply, that is was more “Academy-like” than Cars which would be more of the “Action” film that the Academy typically snubs?

Then of course, on to as the title alludes to, An Inconvenient Truth. I have to admit, I am quite happy on several levels that this film won. Fist of all, because it is, I believe important enough that it deserves the recognition. Second, because it was quite well done and very interesting as documentaries go. Third, because I can’t help but be entertained by the hosts of the Faux News Channel absolutely losing their minds over this. I mean Josh Gibson alone was absolutely livid, and without a decent scientist (or anybody even remotely credible) to turn to, they used Ann Coulter as their “expert” on Hannity and Colmes, to claim that being earth conscience is Anti-Human.

Maybe someday, sombody can explain to me, why wanting to leave this planet to our children in better shape than we found it is such an offensive thought to these people. I mean, I can almost understand why Exxon would offer $10,000 to try and bribe some scientist to say fossil fuels don’t harm the environment. But that is a cold heartless corporation. Don’t these people have children, or neices and nephews or some reason to think outside their pea-brained little world?

Update: OK, we can forget everything those silly scientist have been talking about. It has now been made “clear” by Jerry Falwell:

The Reverend Jerry Falwell says global warming is “Satan’s attempt to redirect the church’s primary focus” from evangelism to environmentalism.

[...]

Falwell said the Bible teaches that God will maintain the Earth until Jesus returns, so Christians should be responsible environmentalists, but not what he calls … quote … “first-class nuts.”

With Jerry joining, I guess the “first-class nuts” quota is officially all full.

So what am I talking about, you are probably wondering by now, and rather than keep you in suspense any longer, it is about this seemingly new trend of holding children back when starting school.  Now under certain circumstances, there may be valid reasons to do so, but I think it is being done far too often these days, and not at all for the right reasons.

Take the case of Cynical Dad, his daughter’s Pre-K teachers admits that his daughter is smart, but still suggests that he delay her entering Kindergarten because “she’d rather socialize than do her work,” and “She worries about what everyone else is doing instead of concentrating on the work at hand.”  There are two glaring things that having gone through this recently enough both with my neice and then my daughter in sucessive years, I noted.

First there is no consideration taken for the fact that despite what they may be trying to prepare them for, unless this is a classroom setting, the kids still have more of an expectation of play-time at most Pre-K programs, especially ones that have kids from the time when they are toddler’s (or infants) up through Pre-K.  They don’t view it as “school” and hence they do not treat it as such.

Second, when they reach this level, if you think about it, it is much like being a high school senior (on a much smaller scale of course).  They are ready to move on.  They have outgrown the atmosphere and hence are just going through the motions as they await the time when they “graduate” (don’t get me started on that whole new tradition).  As such, they no longer feel challenged by what is being presented and they are looking ahead to the day they are “free” from that place.  In that case, they are not going to excel more by making them go through it again, they are just going to be bored longer.

Third, who is going to dispute with me that girls are naturally social creatures.  (Sure it applies to boys, but especially at this age, girls seem more likely to build social groups at this age.  At least that is what I have seen.

Now, I have in the past when taking on this subject usually blamed the parent.  But that was because my experience has been with parents that choose to hold their kids back in an effort to make them the “smartest and brightest” in the class by them being older and more mature than their classmates.  This is the one that really gets my goat and makes me want to slap these parents in the back of the head.  Because in this case it is not about the kid, it is about them.  It is about bragging rights, and about how their child reflects on them.  All the wrong reasons to hold the child back.

However, there is I have come to see more often now, the parents that are more struck with fear by the misguided recommendations of the teachers and others that really should be able to provide proper guidance.  Here is where somebody like Cynical Dad sits.  All he wants to do is what is best for his daughter.  An admirable goal.  But now he is forced into a decision by a teacher that wants to hold his daughter back from Kindergarten for what I believe is all the wrong reasons.  Of course as a parent, you get torn in this situation.  Because even if you believe as I do that the reasons are all wrong, you are still forced to sit there and contemplate it.  What if they are right?  Am I making the right decision?

It is an unfair situation to be put in. But one that seems far too common these days.  We have spent more and more time making school teach these kids more and more, and expect more of them earlier (I certainly know the work my daughter is doing in 1st grade was nowhere near 1st grade work when I was a kid. [shut up]).  But at the same time it seems like we are so ready to stall them starting.  But why?  Because we want them to reflect well on us?  Because the teachers want it easier?  Unless it is because of the child’s needs, it is not the right reason.

Where do you stand?  Would you (or did you) hold your child back? Why?  Why wouldn’t you?

But for a change today, I get to praise Texas and Republican Governor Rick Perry. Texas became the first State to require the HPV vaccine.

Ms.
Though Governor Perry is known as a social conservative, his press secretary, Robert Black, told The Dallas Morning News, “He came to the conclusion it was the right thing to do. You don’t have opportunities like this where you can certainly prevent a cancer. It’s never happened before, so it would be irresponsible to walk away from it.”

I have written before about how this vaccination which can help erradicate cervical cancer caused by HPV has been controversial? How is something that has been proven 100% effective in clinical trials controversial, you may ask. Usually it is concerns about long term side effects and safety concerns (which is always valid). But in this case, the controversy stems from religious extremists, that somehow come to the conclusion that a girl getting a vaccine in the (approximately) 6th grade is somehow going to “encourage” promiscuity.

Portland Press Herald
Cathie Rossignol wants the best for her two girls but won’t vaccinate them against a virus that causes cervical cancer when the shots become widely available this fall.

The vaccine targets the sexually transmitted disease responsible for most of the cancer cases, making the lifelong Catholic from Brooklin feel like she would be “giving the OK” to premarital sex if her daughters were inoculated.

Presumably this shot is so strong, that any of life’s lessons taught by a parent to a child from the 6th grade on is simply lost on the child because they had this inoculation.

While, I agree that I think this is a ‘no-brainer’ I do not take lightly the political considerations that Gov. Perry had to consider. I can only hope now that the ice has been broken, that other states will quickly follow suit.

Update: It is important to note, that the Executive Order signed by Governor Perry provides the ability for parents to opt out for religious or philosophical reasons. So taking into consideration the fact that you can opt out, can anybody please explain to me a valid reason why the “social conservative” crowd is fighting so hard to stop this?

The temperature as I left for work this morning was 9… NINE!!! That is not a temperature, that is a lack of temperature! With the windchill it was negative seventeen (-17) degrees. That is farenheit (just a reminder).

Now I am sure there are people that are laughing at how I am whining about these temperatures. (I have been in these colder places myself a few times (Sioux Falls South Dakota, Minniapolis Minn.)) But those people live their by choice. I am not used to such things. Fortunately, I am still fareing better than TheWife and LatteGirl who have spent the last three days sick in bed.

Of course, I guess I should consider myself lucky that LatteGirl attends a school that is good with sending home work when she is sick. I found it amazing that in the past couple of days have found incidents not just once but twice (and I am sure if I look I will find more) where I read about parents that worry about sending their children to school while still sick because of pressure from the schools! What the hell is that? Do we have a new No Child Left Uninfected Act that nobody told me about? Sure, you want kids in school. And if no doctor’s notes were accompanying many absences, I could understand inquiring to ensure the child is actually sick, etc. But to threaten parents, where they need to actually consider rolling the dice and hope their child is “well enough” to go to school and make it through the day without relapse is not only cruel to the child, but to every other child in the classroom. And then these clueless wonders of nature try to figure out “Why?” all these kids are getting sick so often.

I joke about it, but in reality this is actually a product of the abysmal No Child Left Behind Act. In it, they dictate that schools must set a protocol for high attendance rates. While a laudable goal (We all do actually want the kids to be in school), the practice of setting some artificial number or percentage, and threatening the funding of the school if these rates are not met is tantamount to blackmail, and the very reason for these preposterous and inane policies by the schools. (I could continue my rant on No Child Left Behind, but I will save that for another day.)

So, fortunately I have no such problems… yet.  But if any school thought I would be risking my daughter’s health so they can hit some stupid quota… well, let us just say it wouldn’t be pretty.  Of course, if we could ditch these temperatures, it would be much easier now wouldn’t it?

So what would you do in such a situation?  Would you send your child to school?  What do you think?

But Molly Ivins is different for me.  More important to the type of person I have become, and the type of person I strive to be.  She helped me realize that there is no nobility in keeping quiet and just wearing blinders to not see what is troubling in this world.

“If you think his daddy had trouble with ‘the vision thing,’ wait’ll you meet this one,”
     – Ivins on George W. Bush in “The Progressive,” June 1999.

She was a woman, that not only accepted the label “liberal” but wore it with pride.  She was an amazingly talented columnist and writer.  She could be biting and humorous at the same time, but never demeaning herself to the cheap joke or nasty pot shots that lesser people use.  And unlike those on both sides of the political spectrum, she was not afraid to criticize what was wrong, regardless of who was saying it.

“If left to my own devices, I’d spend all my time pointing out that he’s weaker than bus-station chili,”
      – on Bill Clinton, from the introduction to You Got to Dance With Them What Brung You

Molly’s writings served as a sort of wake up call for me.  That if you want the world to be a better place for us and our children, you can’t sit back and “hope for the best.”  Regardless of being a Democrat or a Republican we need to stand up, be counted and be heard.  I have always chastised people that I know who don’t vote because of their “what difference does it make” attitude, because I have always known that if you don’t participate, you don’t have a right to complain. 

“You can’t ignore politics, no matter how much you’d like to. “

What I had failed to grasp, was that I was forgetting to actually use that right to complain.  To speak out, and to speak up when things are not going right.  I want this world be as good, if not better for my daughter, as it was for me.  I will not stop fighting for that goal.  I will speak up.  And I will always have Molly to thank for showing me how important that is.

Thank You Molly. 

Plum Borough School District’s Food Service Department diligently seeks ways to provide students with healthy food choices while enhancing nutritional integrity and taste. Z Trim offers the district an opportunity to facilitate these practices without compromising student safety or taste.

I find the goal laudable, improving the nutrition and healthy choices is most certainly a good thing. There is no doubt about that. However, my issue with what they did at the Plum Borough School District was due to the fact that they took it upon themselves to not inform anybody of the fact that they were doing this until 10 months after the fact. In essence turning the students into their own private test subjects, unbeknownst to students and parents alike.

I will readily admit, that based on the information they provide in the comment, as well as what you can find on the Z Trim Website, it sounds like a good thing. However, as they go on to say,

We understand there are some skeptics afoot who have not tried it and may not buy-in immediately, but that is to be expected with any breakthrough.

And I don’t think that is unfair. We have all seen plenty of “breakthrough” products that were later determined to be less of a panacea than originally thought. So, if somebody chooses to be skeptical I think it is fair enough to allow them to make that choice for themselves, or in this case for their kids.

I have not beef with Z Trim. It may well be an excellent product. But I will stand by opinion that it is a bad precedent to set, to start using students as test subjects without express written consent from the parents. Regardless of how wonderful the school administration may believe the goals or products are, it is not their place to make that decision on behalf of the parent.

I have said it before and I will keep saying it.  There is no benefit to using milk with these artificial hormones in it.  It is not going to send the cost of milk up, in most cases farmers complain about how low the (wholesale) price of milk is.  So supplement Monsanto and use these drugs.  They are not needed, so any risks associated with it are completely unwarranted.

I will be sending a letter off to Starbuck’s today, thanking them.

This year, however I decided that waiting wasn’t all that great an idea, although now I have set my sights a bit differently and will be going after a seat on the Board of Educatation.

Why now, well I have a new Diary Post on BlueJersey.net.

For those not interested in clicking over, a brief explanation, below the fold.

Brief History:

A Teacher in the Kearny School system decides to use his classroom as a pulpit.

The Board of Education says it has “no jurisdiction” and defers to the School Administration.

The School Administration, basically attempts to sweep it under the rug.

Teacher finally responds in Op Ed piece in local paper, not to apologize, not to set the record straight, but to show righteous indignation over his inability to Preach as a schoolteacher.

The School Boards purpose is oversight that things are being handled properly in the school system, which means suggesting actions when the Administration is not taking appropriate steps.

If they refuse to act, then it is apparently time for me to get off my butt, stop looking for somebody else to support who I hope will fix the problem and become part of the solution.

If nothing else, it should be fun foray into what I like to call, “Parental Politcs.”

They say that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Well, now I will try to do it myself.

TheWife informed me that I was wrong, and that Visa, Mastercard and the like had actually started to market cards to kids.  I listened, but was still skeptical.  After all, there was still that whole, “of legal age” thing.  Then yesterday’s post over at BusyMom in talking about dealing with allowances for her kids mentioned the programs (fortunately complete with links) to programs like Visa Buxx and  The Allow Card.

Once, I picked my jaw up off the floor, I went to the article she mentioned from the Wall Street.  I was flummoxed.  How did we get to this point, and how do we get back out of it?  Not once in the articles, web site, did I hear mention of a Savings Account.  Cash… yes, old fashioned checking accounts… yup, the “problem with figuring out which kid charged something on eBay” (exactly who are these parents that let their children use their credit cards and not know what the child is buying?) and more.  But not a single mention of a CD, Money Market, or Saving Account.

Is it any surprise then when you look at the trend in Personal Saving Rate,  it has been trending down for years, and was even Negative for most (if not all) of 2005 – 2006?

Now, I have to admit that in the digital age, cash is not only “old school” it is almost counter productive with so much that is bought online, etc.  But there are plenty of pitfalls to it as well.  Before considering a card like this for your kids, take a look at this article which give both the pros and cons of these types of programs.

But ultimately whether you decide to use this tool for your kids or not.  Teaching responsibility and savings is important too, so do yourself (and them) a favor and teach them the benefit of SAVING as well the quickest and easiest ways to spend.

(I’m just glad to find this article from the Washingtonpost.com that also thinks that marketing cards to kids is an nefarious idea. )

Now two things bother me about the article that appeared in USA Today (besides the fact that it is a USA Today article). First is, do these 33% of students realize that the very rights they use to express their opinion is allowed because of these rights that go “too far.”

The second, is the simple fact that if 33% do believe it goes “too far” doesn’t it mean that 66% DON’T, and since twice as many don’t believe it than do… shouldn’t that headline read, “US students DON’T believe the First Amendment guarantees too many right”?

Or am I missing something?

Here in New Jersey, a recent State Supreme Court Decision stated that the municipalities could use the same powers of Eminent Domain in order to for Real Estate Developers to sell property in an effort to preserve open land. Is anybody surprised that the Developers Association is now upset? Seems they are not as happy when it is THEM that is having their lives ripped out from under them.

The case is “Mount Laurel Township v. Mipro Homes LLC.”, No. A-85/86, Supreme Court of New Jersey. It will be interesting to see if they decide to try and appeal this further.

GenBetween has a good article on Shopping for elders, with links to some other similar tips. Saved my butt this year.

What is it exactly about “San Francisco Values” that has the collective minds of conservatives and the nitwits at Faux News all freaked out? Is it the somewhat oxymoronic fact that the people of the City by the Bay hate judgemental people? Or is it maybe that people from San Francisco know that Almond, Champagne, Mocha and Salmon are colors as well as food? Or maybe they are mad because somebody from SF actually knows the difference between the colors of Almond and Champagne.

Why does Joe Barton hate autistic kids? And what were the people of Texas thinking when they re-elected him?

An 11-year old boy is currently hospitalized, but fortunately stable after battling e.Coli. Do you really need another reason to stop eating fast food? Although New York City has now banned trans-fats in all NYC restaurants.

OK, how embarrassed would you be, if it was your flatulence that was responsible for making your flight make an emergency landing. Perhaps next time she flies, she could check the Facts On Farts Web Site.

Have a friend that is Secular Progressive (besides me)? Want to get in the absolutely last word? Well then sign up so you can send him (or her) a Post-Rapture Message. Of course I hope it is a Secular Progressive running the site, otherwise who will be here to send the message?

When will these kids learn? If you are going to do something stupid, or (maybe even more importantly) illegal. Do not put it up on YouTube! The latest is a case in Norway where the Police were able to track down a Reckless driver that posted his antic on YouTube.

This of course is what happens when a 41 year old with ADD sits down to write a post, without having a clear plan ahead of time. So what have discovered in your world today?

It would be easy to dismiss the article, Science a la Joe Camel as “just politics” on the surface. The initial points drawn out is how the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) turned down 50,000 free DVDs to screen An Inconvenient Truth in classrooms.

In their e-mail rejection, they expressed concern that other “special interests” might ask to distribute materials, too; they said they didn’t want to offer “political” endorsement of the film; and they saw “little, if any, benefit to NSTA or its members” in accepting the free DVDs.

The key however is in that last little statement. “little, if any, benefit to NSTA or its members.” Because, as Laurie David the author discovered, it is all about the “benefits.” Exxon Mobile has given $6 million to the NSTA and holds a seat on the board (so much for steering free of special interests). Shell Oil and the American Petroleum Institute (API) are also large donors, and the
API also produced the film “You can’t be cool without Fuel” which was distributed by the NSTA.

But this doesn’t stop at just the oil companies, I mean the article goes on to point out Forestry Lessons that were, get this, written by Weyerhaeuser (a lumber and paper company) and Internation Paper as well as information in Biogenetic Engineering by Monsanto.

I don’t know about anyone else, but to me this makes about as much sense as the Roadrunner asking for a safe route of travel from Wile E. Coyote. He may give “information” but you have to question the value and motives of the information.

Couple these things in with the all too well documented assault put forth by trying to pass off Intelligent Design as science, and it seems that today’s text books are less like science, and more like science-fiction, or just plain fantasy. As the article concludes, “In the meantime, Mom and Dad may want to keep a sharp eye on their kids’ science homework.”

Me: Well you can come with me, but you can’t actually vote yet.

LatteGirl: But I really, really want to vote this time.

Me: Why? Who do you want to vote for?

LatteGirl: John Kerry.

Stand up, and be counted.

Where are the screams from the White House? Where are the Congressional Leaders screaming at the top of their lungs how this must be changed?

{{ crickets }}

Nowhere. That is where they are.

Talk about going backwards.

So in essence, according to Maryland Law (and I can’t help but wonder what other states have this same flaw in their legislative logic), once a woman says yes, she no longer has the prerogative to change her mind. That’s it. End Game. Because after all once a man gets all “worked up” you can’t expect him to just stop, can you? What just because the woman got cold feet. Baloney… She said “yes” and that is that. Is that really where we are? Really?

I gotta say… that is really pathetic.

View the New Meatrix II-1/2

Of course if by chance you haven’t watched them yet, you should go and watch the first 2 shorts in the series

The Meatrix I
Take the red pill and watch the critically-acclaimed, award-winning first episode of
The Meatrix Trilogy.

Our heroes Moopheus, Leo, and Chickity return in
The Meatrix II: Revolting
to expose the dark side of the dairy industry.

Yesterday’s decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court left both sides happy and at the same time left both sides upset. It all depends on the point of view. But regardless of how you “interpret” the ruling based on your position, the New Jersey Supreme Court ultimately did (I believe) the correct thing.

While the ruling certainly opens the door for gay marriage in New Jersey, it also left the storm door in place for the politicians. New Jersey must according to the ruling (you can view the full ruling here [PDF]), decide how to accomodate the ruling, by either extending the current wording for marriage to include same-sex couples, or to create a Civil Union. (In 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruling was similar and led to Civil Unions in that State.)

That last part about having the the lawmakers decide is what has opponents invogorated, and advocates feeling a bit dispondant over the ruling. From my personal point of view, I really couldn’t care less about the “nit-picking” aspect. When TheWife and I got married, we did so outside the Church, in what at least used to be called a “Civil Ceremony” and to some sticklers, “in the eyes of” god we are not married, but by and large the vast majority of people will acknowledge that we are. So, along that same vein, who cares if it is called a “Civil Union” or “Marriage”? Honestly.

In the ruling, the Justices (for the majority of course) pointed out, similar to what I did yesterday, the financial inequalities afforded similar couples, simply because one is same-sex, and that the government has no legitimate reason to deny these rights to gay couples.

So once again, I have something to be proud of in the State of New Jersey, proving that we are far more enlightened than those that still think that exclusionary practices are OK.

I continue to be amazed at how, in a time of such turmoil, and so much wrong in this country that this is an issue that garners so much emotion from people. I mean let us be honest here for just a moment shall we? If the Insurance Companies were stuck paying the policies anyway, and Corporations didn’t get away with ripping off or just plain out denying coverage for gay couples, this issue would have been long forgotten.

I still believe that there are enough Christians in the world that understand the message to love even the people that are “different” than you, or at the very least, “judge not, lest thee be judged” that the vocal minority that keep this issue afloat with hate would eventually wither away. It wasn’t all that long ago, that “Good Christians” deried interracial marriage as a sin. Today, except for the racists, this “sin” is no longer. The cause was lost, and suddenly it was OK. Enlightenment. I can only hope that this enlightenment can continue.

But unfortunately that is not enough. Businesses, government agencies, insurance companies, and other monies are at stake here. So they stoke the hate to “defend” marriage from people that love each other. Not for any “holy” reason. But to save money. It is all about the money.

I hope that tomorrow that right wins out over “might” and the New Jersey Supreme Court makes the right decision. I love this State, and would hate to feel embarrassed to say that I live in a State with such intolerance.

There has been plenty of blame going on in the news, with the “dangers” of MySpace, so much so that places have actually taken to trying to ban it. Of course, plenty has been offered in the way of blaming the Internet for teen smoking. To prove their point, The American Cancer Society enlisted kids 11-15, according to this article, to go and buy cigarettes online. And of course the kids were able to get them because the site did not “verify their age.” Back in August, this article points out that kids as young as 14 according to the study cited have purchased alcohol online. I will return to that age verification in a momment.

The latest today, is article about how Teenagers are turning to the Internet to buy Prescription Drugs. At least in this article the examples they give are teenagers that are 18 and 19 years old, so in theory at least, the parents can be given some benefit of the doubt because the kids could have possibly already had their own credit cards, and were of legal age. But of course despite the examples given, what the article is hinting at is again that underage teens are acquiring these items via the Internet.

Now wait a minute and think about that. Underage kids buying things on the Internet. (See I told you I would get back to it). How exactly does an underage kid go about purchasing something on the Internet like cigarettes or Prescription drugs? After all, they would need a credit card to complete their transactions. The Credit Card companies don’t (generally, unless a mistake is made, but that usually only happens in TV sitcoms) give credit cards to minors. They are not of legal age to enter into the contract for a credit card. So are they using Mom and Dad’s Credit cards? Hmmm. Maybe if the parents were paying attention. You think?

Somewhere along the line these parents seem to want to abdicate responsibility for raising their kids to legislators. Well we need to stop the sale of Prescription Drugs on the Internet because 11 year old Tommy is buying Xanax. Well, dumbass don’t give a credit card (or don’t leave it where he can get it) to you underage kid. And maybe it might be a good idea to take a look at the bill every so often and see what the hell is on there.

I don’t know if this was nationwide or not, but around here, one television station use to run a PSA every evening. “It’s 10PM, do you know where your child is?” I used to think it was a stupid ad (especially when I was a teen), but you know what? Most of the time, (hey I’m not perfect, and sure I fibbed once or a dozen times) my parents did know where I was.

Nobody is going to raise your child for you. You can legislate the world away. Even as a teen (and probably especially as a teen), your parenting skills and guidance are needed. It is easy to stay in your child’s life when they are young, they really can’t stray all that far away from you. But as they get older, their needs for you don’t diminsh… they just change.

So how could this be? Well we can take partial credit because parents today tend to be more involved in their children’s lives by choice. But honesty dictates that I also admit there is a bit of “fear factor” that is involved that guilts us into it as well. We worry about, predators and crime, and careless people and tend to watch our children like hawks today more than ever before, not always necessarily because we want to, but because we feel as if we have no other choice.

When I was growing up, perhaps maybe my first year on Little League, my parents drove me to most (if not all) of my practices and games. But from then on, until game day, I was usually on my own. Hop on my bike, with my glove dangling from my bat which was over my shoulder, as I would ride across town to the park.

I can’t even imagine such a thing today. Heck I can’t even imagine my wife dropping my daughter off at practice, leaving and then returning to pick her up. Nope. She is there the entire time. (Why not me taking/picking up for practice is a whole other story for a whole other day. Suffice it to say that my wife thinks I am “too competetive” for the little kids, and I tend to agree).

But, as the story points out, it is certainly not all about the guilt and worry. Men and women both spend considerably more time with their kids than in the past. We spend more time getting involved in their activities, and trying to nurture them, rather than the old, “go out and play, and I don’t want to see you back in this house until I call you for dinner”

So, overall I guess on a whole, we are not as horrible as Focus on Family and others would lead you to believe. Turns out that we can work and spend time with the kids. And despite baseless claims to the contrary. We are doing it. So grab a drink. Sit back. And Relax. Moms… Dads… This [insert beverage of choice] is for you.

Now, I am not one to often go and buy a book soon after it comes out. Why? Honestly, I don’t know. But I suspect it has to do with me being cheap and waiting for it to go on sale, or to pick up a copy on eBay’s Half.com.

However, this one I think I need to go and get now. I will review it when I am done, and see if it lives up to my anticipations (the “Lies” part). The Lunacy part is just obvious. I mean if you just go over to Joe’s Blog and read her quotes, it becomes quickly clear how far “out there” she is. (In case you don’t feel like clicking over, I will share my “favorite”)

“I think [women] should be armed but should not [be allowed to] vote.”
– Ann Coulter on Politically Incorrect, 2/26/01

Of course if you had followed my suggestions in the past and stopped over at Sweet Jesus I Hate Bill O’Reilly, you are now thinking, as I am, that the second book in the series, “Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Bill O’Reilly” practically writes itself. Oh wait, I forgot… that would probably be considered plaguirism, since Bill put his own lunacy in print with his pathetic “Culture Warrior.”

There are certain things that I agree with. With its $45+ billion dollars in debt, that New Jersey needs to start doing things to whittle that down. And with our property taxes being some of the highest in the country, they need to look elsewhere. Personally I support that if they have to raise taxes, to raise them on non-essentials.

However, Internet sales fall under Inter-State Commerce, which makes it (in most cases) prohibited from taxing. If Gov. Corzine manages to find a way to slip this through, it is going to be a damaging thing. First of course for consumers that will have to pay the taxes. (You can be sure that if this gets through, every State is going to make a beeline to this cashflow. ) But just as importantly to businesses, particularly small one, and even people who sell things on places like eBay, as you will now not only have to work as a tax collector, you will need to know the rates, rules, and proceedures from every State that you sell (or even potentially sell) products to. And that can be a real mess.

I still think Gov. Corzine was a better option than the man he defeated. But 10 months in office, and he has come with some real clunkers that are not endearing him to anybody. I have always assumed that he had long term aspirations on running for President, but if he is going to just keep throwing things out there just to “see what sticks” he won’t stand a chance.

What you will notice (if you can make it through all 99 pages) is the absence of anything related to students wearing uniforms having any bearing in creating a “safe school climate.” I mean, unless those uniforms are made of kevlar, they are not going to keep kids safe.

What will keep our kids safe? I wish I could say definitively what could be done. I don’t know about anybody else, but these events are every bit as terrorizing (actually probably more so), than alleged plots by al-qada. Events such as these are far more random, and virtually impossible to guard against (with all due respects to the above Secret Service and Department of Education). I mean sure, once again you can read talk about metal detectors in every school. But if the person, like the man that killed those girls in PA, has plans to exact “revenge” and is determined to kill people, do you think an underpaid security guard working a metal detector is going to halt it? Or would that simply be the first victim as the perpertrator enters the school.

I fully expect to see my daughter every day after school. But I am sure that those parents in PA, expected to see their children again as well. I mean after all, that is Amish Country. Crime is so low that many people do not lock their doors, and several towns do not even have a police force. If it can happen there… it can happen anywhere.

Well here it is. In a debate for a Congressional Seat from a retiring Congressman, the GOP contender, Peter Roskam decided to invoke the Rovian stategy to claim that his opponent, Tammy Duckworth was an advocate of the “cut and run philosophy.”

The problem with that? Tammy Duckworth is a double amputee that lost both legs in Iraq. She served our country proudly, and certainly sacrificed of herself for our country. Roskam, was obviously not thinking when he made this remark, and just following the GOP Guide to “talking points” whether they are real or not.

OK, the first e-mail came out in the press, and he resigned. It was in poor taste, and certainly questionable. He was right to resign, but I didn’t think much about it.

Then I turn around again, and read about the IM conversations that he had, and am now absolutely aghast at the now blatant nature of it. It crossed that line of questionable, and went straight into clearly inappropriate and questionably legal ground (Questionable, only because it the transcription has not been independently verified as yet).

Then I find out that this Virtual Child Molester, was member of the Missing and Exploited Childrens Caucus! The blood is starting to boil.

Come to today, only to find that GOP leaders KNEW about this for some time… and not only did they attempted to sweep it under the rug (par for the course – and I expect no less from either party), but they did not even force him to resign his position on the Missing and Exploited Childrens Caucus! They left him there.

I like the following analogy from this article in USA Today:

Beverly Pepe, 67, of Lake Worth, drew a comparison to the Roman Catholic
Church’s scandals. “That’s the same as when the church knew about all those
priests molesting the boys, and they just kept moving them from church to
church,” she said.

Of course no GOP scandal would be complete without some spin justification from Ann Coulter, Brit Hume and of course Bill O’Reilly. But the best (or worst depending on how you want to look at it) has to come from Newt Gingrich who justified the GOP sitting on the issue and not reacting to the Foley scandal in a timely manner because:

House Republicans would have “been accused of gay bashing” if they had
“overly aggressively reacted” to Foley’s allegedly inappropriate email
communications with a 16-year-old male congressional page when House Republicans reportedly first learned of Foley’s actions in late 2005.