The winter scene

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I was watching TV in our community room, when I see a motion out of the corner of my eye.  I look to see a border collie mix running and jumping in the snow, grabbing at an object and throwing it up in the air with his teeth.  The owner is shoveling snow and throwing the play toy to the dog’s delight.  As the owner walks along, pushing the shovel, the dog puts the toy next to her, but she’s busy and keeps moving.  The dog looks for a second at her, and then picks up the toy and places it even closer to her than before.

I love seeing the simple delight in dogs when they’re at play.  They’re just playing…freely enjoying the moment without thinking about the next moment….

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So, yeah, we have the normal winter weather that’s to be expected in Indiana….

…and I notice that a flock of birds are perched in the tree outside my apartment.  I do a double take when it looks like….no, it can’t be…yes, it is…a robin!  NO!!! They are not supposed to be here for another month!

Nope, there’s no climate change…

As a side note~ back in the day when Indiana was deciding what it’s state bird was going to be, the robin was up for it, but they decided against it because the robin flew away for the winter.  They wanted a bird that stayed here all winter and the beautiful cardinal won out.

If the climate change isn’t arrested, the robin will once again be back in the running for the state bird because it will be so warm that it will just stay here all winter…

…well, that’s if there are any robins or birds once we get done poisoning them in their (and our) environment…

<sigh>

Gluten Free Watchdog

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…because companies will label their products “Gluten-Free” when they’re really not.  It’s either conscious deception so they can get the $$$ gluten free market dollars, or they’re not really testing their product to be sure that it is gluten free.  As I’ve posted before,  even a little gluten for someone who is Celiac can mean a serious reaction. (hat tip to this blog.)

Watchdog mentions this organization that helps certify food.   This makes food shopping sooo much easier–all you have to do is look for the logo and you are reasonably comfortable buying the product.   There is this, too, which also has a logo to help shoppers identify gluten free food.  There is a link to GF recipes on the main page.

Here is a webpage of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.  They, too, help to certify GF foods.  They use a third party to help certify products, which is a bonus. Here is a list of GF manufacturers.  I always want to add a caution that everything can change in a moment’s notice and if a food affects one, whether it’s labeled GF or not, one should be cautious about eating it again.  As they say on the support group–something may be gluten free, but it perhaps is an allergen for a particular person.  Allergies can show up with the typical runny nose, or rash or headache or someone may just feel extra tired after eating a particular food.  Your body will tell you what it needs and doesn’t need–one just has to pay attention.

 

Acts of Kindness

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You know, going through my metamorphosis, one of the hardest things for me to reconcile was that just because someone is believed to be a progressive doesn’t necessarily mean that they follow through with that ideal.

I had a boss that “did all the right things” (attending a peace vigil against the Iraq War as an example), but when it came to acting in a progressive manner, he was the opposite on many accounts.  One of which was that he would hire someone at minimum wage, keep them for six months or so, and when it came time to start giving raises or including them on the healthcare plan, they were suddenly terminated.  And with at least one employee, he was more generous with the wage….but he expected something in return, if you get my drift.  Not a good character.

I repeatedly found this and it really messed with my mind.  I couldn’t *get* that disconnect between spouting off progressive ideals and then behaving in the opposite way.  And one could be conservative and be more apt to follow the progressive ideal.

Chief Wilma Pearl Mankiller mentions this in her autobiography, Mankiller.  She stated that there were “rednecks” who helped the Native Americans out—perhaps just as much or more so than those that claimed to be progressive.

So I am always skeptical (in a healthy way) of those who put it out there that they’re progressive…I’m cautious to take it at face value because I’ve been disappointed so many times.

I was glad to read of this.   Being considerate of others is somewhat of a lost art.

Thanks for keeping the faith, George.  Little acts of kindness are truly acts of Peace.

More on Education

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…wow, there’s something going on when there are so many education posts in 24 hours.

Link here and here .

I should mention the connection between the Bushes and the McGraw-Hill publishing house that publishes education texts and materials.

I picked up my college history book to look at the reference to Ronald Reagan again.  It was a glowing report on him without much critical analysis of his actions nor was it all inclusive of his destruction of the Fairness Doctrine, unions, consolidation of the media markets, etc. I looked at the publisher: McGraw-Hill .

More on the profiteering by the Bushes here.

Yep, where there’s money to be made and destruction of society…you’ll find the Bushes and Cheneys….

Un-Charted waters…

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Ball State is no longer supporting the charter schools in Indiana.  (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun for the title)

One of them is the Imagine Schools here in FW.  They’re not holding up under the test of time and students.

Here’s a story on it. (Side note~the Indiana Dunes/Lake Michigan is at the top of the webpage.  It’s so cool that Indiana has this.)

Here’s the local take: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130123/EDIT07/301239992/1147/EDIT07

Related to this, high school graduates are not graduating on time.

I reeeeeallly hate to turn to faux news, but it’s the one with the most info: http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/students-not-graduating-on-time-high-school-dropou/nJ8dZ/

Notice how they immediately put the blame on the teachers, and then the parents.  While both could be at fault, I take a longer look at this–

The No Child Left A Mind Act.  It has now been torturing children since 2002, when W. signed it into law. (Note that speaker Boehner was a co-author)

From the site:

NCLB’s main focus is on skills in reading, writing and mathematics, which are areas related to economic success. Combined with the budget crises in the Late-2000s recession, some schools have cut or eliminated classes and resources for many subject areas that are not part of NCLB’s accountability standards.[32] Since 2007, almost 71% of schools have reduced some instruction time in subjects such as history, arts, language and music, in order to give more time and resources to mathematics and English.[33][34]

(italics are mine)

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The children graduating now and in the next year would have been subjected to this mind-numbing, controlling, micro-managing of schools and teachers for all of their education careers.  This system has FAILED miserably, as the inability of these students to graduate on time and with the skills of life (not of business, mind you, but of life–schools are waaaay too influenced by the corporate “needs” instead of the country’s needs of an educated populace that can ask questions and analyze information in a way that is helpful towards sustaining a democracy.)

Another point of the above link was that they were saying the kids didn’t care and were disrespectful.  The kids want out of school.  This should be a red flag that something is terribly wrong when so many children hate school.  We’re born with the natural curiosity in order to learn about our world and how to go about in it.  Most kids love to learn, so if they’re not interested in it, then the fault is on the system, not the kids.  And I believe the kids are disrespectful because they are repeatedly subjected to boring school days that don’t stimulate their creativity, don’t encourage them to think outside the box, subject them to endless tests, reading, math, reading, tests, reading, math, tests…you get the idea….they become angry because they know they’re being screwed.  And they perceive the teachers as being at fault when the teacher is only doing what has been required of her–she cannot teach in a creative way while using her own intuition to conduct the class–she has a guide book that she must follow with little room for any creative expression either by her or her students.

When I was a substitute teacher, on one of the first assignments I got behind in class because we were doing Math and a student was having difficulty understanding the concept.  The class day was so unbelievably structured that it didn’t allow for extra time, and I soon fell far behind and couldn’t get everything done that the teacher had outlined.  She hit the roof when she came back to class later that day, because it meant she had to add everything I did not get done to the next day, which is also as structured with no time for extra.  I never subbed for her again.

 

 

Freedom town

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Jon Stewart takes a look at the Freedom Towns being promoted by the fundamentalist/conservatives.  Wow.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-29-2013/america-2–now-with-more-freedom—a-glenn-beck-holiday

In the beginning of this segment, when they are just outlining what it is about, I’m thinking….they’re talking Communes?

Well, okay, not exactly communes, where everybody is supposed to share food and chores and stuff, but yeah, this comes pretty close to it, by demanding residents adopt the same narrow view.

The thing is…it’s not that far from Communism, which requires everyone be the same—by discouraging independent thought and creativity and action.  (And I wonder what they do with someone who loses their job and becomes homeless in this Utopia? Or *gasp* someone who develops an independent thought and starts expressing liberal ideals…?)

And to link into the previous post on the Fourth Amendment–it along with the First Amendment are parts of the Constitution that kept us from becoming Communist China, Communist Russia, and Nazi Germany.  Without them, we’re toast.

So…..you would think that the conservatives would be fighting like the despised liberals to preserve them.

Why aren’t they??

The right to privacy

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…is slowly being eroded, we know, but then there are among us the rebels who won’t go quietly.

Oh, the imagination is running into overdrive with all the fun I could have of this…but I want to keep this blog, um, family friendly. haha.

From Cornell Law:

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

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I have a Paralegal Certificate and my professor told me that this means that if a police officer pulls you over, you have the right to refuse to give your name or any information unless you are put under arrest.  And with my experience with this, you don’t even have to be in suspicion of a crime–you just have to be in the area–doing your job–to be treated like you were a criminal.