Thursday Tidbits...
I got up this morning, thanked my maker for another day, and then promptly looked out the door...
And after seeing the weather conditions, all I could think of was that hackneyed line that SO many "authors" have used to begin their novels: "It was a dark and stormy night"...
(rainy, temps in the 40s and breezy with leaves falling...fun for driving...NOT)
We've some rather curious odds and ends to take a peek at, so let's have at it, and then pat ourselves on the back because OUR LIVES don't suck AS BAD as all that (as much...hopefully)...
** South Park is showing some NEW eps...and last night, they took a swipe at ACORN...marvelous!
I won't give the plot away...you just HAVE to watch it for yourselves and make the call. (BTW - AWB has a clip over at HIS blog - see links at left)
** Tonight is the season finale of Police Women of Broward County. (sighs)...catch it on TLC tonight at 9PM (EST)
(I will confess that is the ONLY show where getting busted would be a pleasurable thing for ME...LOL)
Sorry, I might be married, but I'm not BLIND...(I just have short eyeballs)
** Dow Jones hits 10000 mark again...be still my beating heart. Everyone is saying how the economy is rebounding....NOT SO DAMN FAST, people.
Read between the print of those headlines.
Are retail sales UP? Yeah, if you can count .05% an "up". Retailers are ALREADY looking at holiday sales to be in the tank. People are SAVING...for stupid crap like BILLS and GROCERIES, and other unforeseen expenditures...We used to call it BEING FRUGAL.
And you know what...THAT'S WORKING around a LOT of households these days.
Add to that a LOUSY "stimulus" package (with another in the wings) and the UNEMPLOYMENT RATE...is THAT going DOWN? I don't think so, In fact, it's "expected" to rise OVER 10%. THAT (to me) doesn't sound like any economy that's "out of the woods"...does it?
And how many of us are playing that stock market like some "scratch-off" lottery anyway? Are we blowing the wad on Wall Street in the faint hope that we're "gonna strike it rich"?
I don't think so.
This isn't some Comstock Lode, folks...
** Two of our (Fort Wayne) High Schools are looking at being put on "probation" by the state, due to lack of performance.
South Side and North Side have failed to do "better" than other schools in the area (surprises me that WAYNE HS isn't on that list)
Of course NSHS and SSHS are BOTH what we call ESL schools (English as a Second language) and have the highest number of IMMIGRANT students as well as those claiming poverty. Much of our Burmese and Bosnian population send their kids to THOSE schools.
If these schools do NOT do better soon, they could well become CHARTER schools, and be "taken over" by THE STATE, (ooh, sounds a bit ominous, hmm?)
How's about we create ONE SCHOOL (I know of one or two that could easily fit the bill) for preparation to assimilate into the MAINSTREAM population...herd them all through THERE first, and THEN, after passing proficiency exams, place them in "regular" high schools. Sounds like a plan to anyone in the educational hierarchy?
Ditto for the "problem" kids...ONE SCHOOL that treats these thug-wannabes the way a BOOT CAMP would treat recruits. TOUGH LOVE, people. MAKE them learn.
We've got too much of this "mainstreaming" BS going on, placing normal kids at risk, detracting from the educators' time with students who WANT to learn, and the like.
But...the way it "works" is that yet another "program" will be created to address the problem, when it never really WILL get to the ROOT of the issue (parents and students). THAT is the way to bankrupt any EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.
Give the students ANYTHING and EVERYTHING...screw the cost to John Q. taxpayer.
Whether you know it or not, the ONLY thing required by ANY educational system to be GIVEN to ANY student is...(you guessed it)...an EDUCATION.
Which brings me once again back to the "poverty" issue.
** When we talk "poverty level", we're not talking Appalachian Backwoods, barefoot dirt poor people.
We ARE talking about people who have become USED to having some form of government GIVE them something they would otherwise have to get off their ass and EARN. They drive CARS, live in HOUSES, and get food stamps. (when most of them don't NEED it and are MUCH happier letting YOU take care of them)
We have become too complacent when it comes to rewarding bad behavior. We've all but incentivized apathy and laziness.
We dole it out like Niagara passes water over it's falls.
Trouble is, all that sh*t COSTS MONEY...and in such an economy as our current one, we've barely enough to have our individual needs sufficed. So the government takes even MORE from those that have and GIVES it to those who "have not" (because they know they can sit back and wait until it arrives...for free).
That is not what our Founders envisioned when this nation was created.
We ALL have to pull OUR OWN weight, as it were.
Taxpayers have to realize that when you pay for your kids, you're also paying for a lot more kids you don't even know when it comes to education.
Now, I'm not against being philanthropic...I rather embrace it...WHEN I CAN AFFORD IT.
Americans love to be charitable...it's in our nature.
How many NATIONS around the globe have we helped over the decades, and are STILL helping?
How many of OUR cities have had VOLUNTEERS that traveled to them, leaving their families (and homes) to assist in some catastrophe?
How many people in our own neighborhoods have we "helped" in one way or another?
How many years have we given to the local food bank, or Toys For Tots, or the Humane Society...just because we WANT to?
And how many times have we personally practiced that motto:
"Charity begins at home"?
There is a LARGE difference between wanting to do charitable things (from the heart) and becoming a philanthropist...AND having the government reach deep into your pockets (weekly) and FORCE you to be that way.
Charitable contributions are DOWN as of late...and who is surprised at that?
People are taking care of business AT HOME first, because they KNOW that without "the home", there can never be any giving to others outside of it.
As long as we allow others to not be held accountable and permit them to continue being irresponsible, we'll have to "suck it up" when it comes to government intervention into OUR finances...make no mistake about it.
I don't believe for a moment that our society would collapse if the government got off of the "gimme" ride in Welfareland. Ain't gonna happen.
We can assist ONE ANOTHER just fine...it's worked for us from the beginnings of this nation.
Besides...don't 'ya think that being charitable to each other is a damn fine first step to bringing back into vogue such things as CIVILITY, MORALITY, INTEGRITY, and HONORABLE BEHAVIOR?
We've kept such societal basics in the basement for too long.
Time to get them back out...it's what Americans DO...and do WELL.
Stay safe out there, America.