Monday Musings...
Good morning, and welcome to the other side of spring aka SUMMER!
And by the looks of the local weather HERE, we're already into the boring pattern of the 3Hs...and that would be Hazy, Hot, and Humid.
Temps will be in the high 80s-low 90s most all week, but it could be worse...we could be in Brownsville, TX, where THEY are expecting temps near the CENTURY mark!
Ok, all you global-warming followers...get you butts outside, sweat you patooties off, and tell us ALL about it, while I remain INDOORS with MY central air going...and we'll call it even, fair enough?
There are a few items that I deemed noteworthy, so let's jump right into it.
** First off, I just got my copy of Glenn Beck's COMMON SENSE (Target.com had a great deal - 30% off, beats every other bookseller), and I have to say that for such a "slight" tome (OK, so it's NOT War and Peace in length), it has more...well, COMMON SENSE than one could shake a stick at. And, as a bonus, Beck includes Thomas Paine's writings on Common Sense as well.
I admit I'm a follower of Glenn Beck.Been watching him since he was on that "other" station. He's advanced through adversity (personal and professional), and has a wonderful take on today's problems, demonstrating that such a simple concept as "common sense" can (and should) prevail in the times we find ourselves in. Now how the hell can you argue with something that simplistic, and yet something which appears be be so devoid in our society today, hmm?
My parents brought me up with common sense, because, as they used to say, if ALL else fails, you can never go wrong with THAT.
And they were right.
Today, it would seem that such concepts AS common sense, have been tossed out with the bathwater, and that's a real shame. What we need MORE today, than ever before IS common sense. And we can toss in ETHICS, INTEGRITY, MORALITY to that mix. Then we can sprinkle it all with a liberal (did he say the *L* word?) helping of ACCOUNTABILITY and PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY...and THEN we can get this nation turned back around.
See? It's all just COMMON SENSE (like I say in the header of this blog).
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
** Today's paper had an article on the whole "no child left behind" educational gig...AGAIN.
The government pushed for NATIONAL standards, and I can see why.
Think on this...
When we were a a nation that was a lot more agrarian, we didn't need NATIONAL standards, because those who lived on or near farms would wind up working there, so not AS MUCH education was needed, generally-speaking. All the people needed to know was...FARMING, or RAISING LIVESTOCK. Simple, huh?
Today, we have instantaneous communication with everyone and everything. Technology has provided means to increase production, and at a more efficient rate...ergo, we need more education to keep pace with such advances.
Manufacturing (per se) has gone the way of the Passenger Pigeon here. It's all but extinct. We rely on other nations to provide our manufactured goods, and that was one helluva slippery slope we travelled (and are still travelling). And we have the grass-soiled asses to prove it.
So we need ALL our kids to be at educational levels of everyone else to effectively compete in a more "global" market, no matter what venue it would encompass.
Well, that's not been working out too well, as we've dumbed DOWN the standards to get all the kids in the same (leaky) boat.
The government will now attempt to REVERSE that trend, holding students to HIGHER standards.
And, in my opinion, although that is a noble action, I fear it's only going to make the hole in the boat a lot bigger, initially.
We already HAVE schools that are failing the "dumber" standards, so what do YOU think will happen when they are held to even tougher standards?
When the bar is set higher, they won't be able to go OVER it, so what's left?
Sneaking UNDER it?
That won't be a solution anyone finds compelling, trust me.
Gonna be fun to watch THIS pending debacle pan out.
Perhaps a little "common sense" is in order HERE?
** National crime stats from last year show a DECREASE in crime, and that's always good news. Curiously enough, people conducting this statistical study (FBI uniform crime stats) are finding that our ECONOMY doesn't have as much bearing on crime as previously thought.
Now, I've ALWAYS stated that economics doesn't have THAT much to do with crime (although it does figure into it, but for many other reasons).
It has SOME relevance, but it's NOT the beginning and end aspect to criminal behavior or trends. And I will always believe that.
One can look no further than HISTORY itself.
During the great depression (when things were a lot worse than today's economic problems), overall crime was WAY DOWN, as compared to those "better times".
Now WHY do you suppose that was, anyway?
-Maybe people were too damn busy trying to get some menial job, in order to purchase some measly scraps of food to survive?
-Maybe people were to busy trying to keep a roof over their head?
-Maybe the government wasn't bailing ALL of them out?
-All of the above?
It was a time when people had a better sense of THEMSELVES...and taking a "hand-out" was considered a demeaning experience. It was better to succeed OR fail on your OWN merits, abilities, and fortitude.
Today, all we have to do is whine, piss, moan, bitch, and gripe, and someone comes along and hands us the keys to the candy store...for free!
It's called the WELFARE SYSTEM, friends, and although it was originally intended as a "stop-gap" measure to AID people TRYING to get back on their feet, it has evolved into a LIFESTYLE CHOICE for way too many lazy-asses of damn near every persuasion.
Maybe we need to add courses in SELF WORTH and RESPONSIBILITY to the educational curriculum across the nation's schools.
I mean, THAT would only be COMMON SENSE, right?
** Lastly, while you're out and about today, think on this:
There seems to be rumblings over legislation to make it just as illegal to program a GPS while driving.
We can add THAT to the cellphone stupidity rampant in this country.
Used to be a time when such things were meaningless, and with good reason.
We all basically paid a LOT more attention to DRIVING, than we did futzing around with electronic (or other) crap inside the vehicle.
We hopped in the car, turned the engine over, put it in gear, and off we went...way too easy.
If we needed to know WHERE we were going, we BOUGHT a damn MAP, and PLANNED the route AHEAD OF TIME. If we got lost, we PULLED OVER, got out the map, found where we went wrong, put the map AWAY, and continued our trek. Or, if we were fortunate, we had a "navigator" riding shotgun, who read off the directions from the map.
How far we've "evolved" from such mundane tasks and banal days of yesteryear, haven't we?
Perhaps it's time to turn off all this "high-tech" nonsense and get back to knowing the RULES of the road, which would include DRIVING THE DAMN VEHICLE, and not eating, doing makeup, getting dressed, getting laid, reading the newspaper, tweeting, facebooking, texting, drinking, and anything else that would take our minds off of the task-at-hand.
My late father always said that: "Driving is your SECOND JOB".
And I personally treat it as such.
But by the looks of some peoples' driving "abilities", I wouldn't give a plugged nickel as to how they manage that FIRST job they have.
Pay attention...doesn't get any easier than that.
And that's just common sense now, isn't it?
Sure it is.
Stay safe out there, America.