some little bit of website pushing then a rant on education

For fun and excitement go to these two websites for all things tiki go to http://www.tikidreams.webuda.com/ .  For information about Yuma birding, go to http://www.yumabirding.com/ 

     Rant about education, Education is too important to leave to educators, we need teachers!  We know that teacher are necessary but they demand so much.  When I was in school  and when my kids were in school, teachers made much more money and had better benefits than the families in their classroom. (and had summer off for part-time jobs) I don't know the solution, but when educators control the system the system dies. Look at any big city school system.  Take the example of Wisconsin or California!  We can't throw money at it but it does take money to hire bodies.
     When parents are required to be the prime teacher of their children, why send them to an educator 8 hours a day to have them come home to do all the work. We hire people to teach our children and they send home school work that has to be done. What I couldn't learn at school my parents couldn't teach me. They just didn't know! If I had a child in school now I would have to relearn everything just to keep up. I don't know how a minimum wage parent has the energy to teach their kids all night after working all day. How can you expect parents who are not educated to school their own children.
   Things are getting tough, years ago the average worker just needed a high school diploma to get a good life long job.  Today only 6% of jobs require only a high school diploma.  In some cities 60% of students are dropping out prior to graduation. What are those people going to do for jobs?  Are we creating a really permanent underclass.  Round and round it goes, Many teachers are hard working loving leaders of our children, they deserve our respect and an honest wage. Should the taxpayer support them above their on level?  How many questions with no answer?

Eygpt and Cuba are we to be surprised again?

       I am stunned at the gullibility of the American journalists and diplomats involved with the great overthrow of the Egyptian Dictator.  They are so desperate for something to call good in the middle east, they will develop a wholesale fantasy about it.  I am old enough to remember Castro and his freedom fighters and their almost bloodless overthrow of the dictator Batista.  Oh how good, Cuba would now be free!  People would simply not believe that one ruler will be replaced by another. I remember watching the Edward R Morrow Show with the tour of the presidential palace in Havana.  Fidel just smiled when Morrow asked "Is it true?Are you a Communist? "  His answer Si.  Then came the denials from the American press, "How could he say that? He must be joking! Anything but face the fact that they had been duped.
      Now I wait for the other shoe to drop.  Sometime down the road we will wake up to some facts of life.  The Military Revolution of the 50's their leader was Nasser/Sadat/Mubarak and soon the military will tell Egypt who is in charge.  We are somewhat lucky that we have been training and supporting the military, we may be able to salvage something out of this but it is the middle east.  As of now the military is rewriting the constitution, the military says they will have an election as soon as possible, for now go home and wait till we tell you what happened.  If it works the military will have had a somewhat bloodless coup.
      I will be surprised if the social revolution provides us anything except several weeks or months of entertainment.  I know this is not a popular view, but the other shoe hasn't dropped yet.  I have avoided the Iran comparison because I am too much of an optimist to believe that another Democrat administration can screw up in the same way.  It is too easy to believe that smart ,charismatic presidents could be so stupid. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop.
     

Life in the slow lane

         It has been a slow week. Some how all the hoopla of the Super Bowl and the Egypt has passed me by.  I can't understand why we are so obsessed by things we cannot control. This week saw the 100th anniversary of Ronald Regan's birthday many folks were involved in events surrounding that.  I spent several hours involved in Kiwanis meetings listening to people explain why membership continues to decline.  Worry  worry all about things that don't really concern any of us directly.
         We all need to be involved with our lives and the world but why do we concern ourselves outside of our circle. I think that it is too easy to be involved with the "Bigger Things" but what about the smaller things. I know I cannot affect the outcome of any crises in any foreign country, yet I worry.  I know I cannot force the congress to work more than a few days a month.  Yet I wonder which is better, them not working or working.
         I was out working on my roses today and it calmed me down to just do the simple things.  I know that stress is a way of life today and we need to deal with it. I heard today that human a being in the first world has twice as much sensory input  in a day than a human being 200 years ago did in a lifetime.  That is easy to imagine because look at how any one thing has changed.  Lets take computers.  When I was born it took a battle ship to hold the most sophisticated computers.  They were used just to fire the big guns!  Today there is more computing power in your cell phone! When my kids were born, no one owned a home computer, now how many do you have in your life. Sure does surprise you doesn't it.  Even 100 years ago most folks never ever went more than ten miles from home. Now today we would think them deprived.
        Well I've wandered around alot on this but try to think of the simple life and make yourself happier.

Why do they think we feel entitled to what we have already paid for?

     Over and over again, I hear the pundits complain about how expensive the "Entitlements" are that the baby boomers want.  First off I agree there are entitlements out there that shouldn't exist and we can argue about what they are.   We can argue about the Social Secuity program but we have lost the purpose behind it.  It was meant to provide money to older folks and to get them out of the work force.  Plain, simple and to the point.  More jobs for the working age people because now folks don't have to hang on to their jobs for support.  The brilliant part is that WE pay for it ourselves. We are forced to pay in (and our employers in some cases) our premium is pre-deducted (and we don't miss it) and our money will be there when we need it.  So why isn't it?   It was supposed to be locked away!     
      Congress in their wisdom has given social security money to many groups that have never paid in.  One example is a disabled child born to a covered parent can draw lifetime without ever paying in.  The connection is there and perhaps can be stretched to cover them but what about their children, oh yes they can draw for life also.  I am not saying that there should not be support for disabled people but asking why should it come from the "Locked Box"   Congress stole our Social Security Money and they added a tax to buy our health insurance. 
      Now lets look at how much money we had taken from us to support our Social Security and Health insurance.  I am guess/estimating that since I have started paying in to Social Security I have been taxed  over $100,000.00  and since medicare started   I have been taxed $21,000.00.  If my money was lock boxed (as we were told it would be)  and if we were paid interest ,my Social Security check would last well over 10 years.  My health insurance if paid out properly would last over 10 years also.  All of that said, where is it written that what I have paid for ,I cannot have.
    I wish to inform the pundits that I want what I paid for!  I hope congress gets it, I have had my fill of them stealing my money over and over again.  I won't start on Medicare because it would take too much space, suffice to say that medical prices have skyrocketed since congress stepped in to control them.  Please leave comments and remember small words please! LOL