There's something happenin' here...
The news has seemed fairly dull as of late, little did I know that it was really leading up to some crazy shit going on in the world. I'm struggling to remember to ask questions, such as "what is the slant? Who is the interested party writing this? Can I trust the source? Research the facts..." and so on.
But with news about Hopeful Presidential Mitt Romney spouting seemingly sane things that are really a special brand of crazy, I begin to be a little distressed. Let me give you a fair example.
"Mitt Romney promotes school vouchers in attack on Obama's education policy"
The highlights of this article include, but are not limited to:
* "Every Child Deserves a Chance,” ... "where poor and disabled children should be allowed to escape failing public schools by using federal dollars to pay for private schools, online schools and other alternative settings." Um, I'll go into details later, but that is an awfully large number of our population. Is Mitt Romney aware of the size of the population that are poor, disabled or both? I'm guessing not. okay, okay, I rant more on this one later...
* He's blaming Obama for the incredible Republican "No Child Left Behind" stupidity that began with Dubyah. But, which was really a "reincarnation" and "rejuvenation" of the ESLA from 1965, Remember? I only recently found the last bit out. On paper it really sounds swell, but we know from experience that it has NOT turned out swell, since America's education is dying (a well propped up dinosaur).
What I think this means for our country and future:
or: My deepest fears about this campaign agenda.
This voucher system seems an excellent way to continue to breed big government, bankrupt our system further and ignore the fact that though the total utility to the average person seems great, there is no real wealth creation in this transaction. The buck is being passed along to the majority - the taxpayers - because Mitt Romney thinks that this is what the populace wants, and suddenly you look like a douche for trying to point out the problems with the plan, because you must hate disabled babies...and poor kids...and be part of the 1%. Sheesh. What a mess!
I want children to be educated and nurtured and to be social. I want special needs children to be the best that they can be. Hell, I want every kid - rich, poor, brilliant, stupid, boy and girl, to be given the best education that he or she can do. And if education is not your thing (I feel like we've been here, before), Then, fine! Don't go to school! Go get a job doing whatever you can do, and do it to the best of your ability and hopefully you can move up the ladder in an honest and ethical way.
In other words, let's revamp our look at education. (WARNING: TANGENT) I mean, is sitting thousands of kids in a prison for 8 hours a day really doing us any good? With rising rates of mental illness, epidemic levels of obesity, apathy and falling levels of curiosity, it's little wonder that the world feels so damn cold and isolated. Oh, lord, I could go on...I merely suggest that maybe schools should be set up with larger outdoor areas to sit in (in good weather), and place a much greater emphasis on playing, experimenting and physical activity, even in an older age. Mitt calls for an alternative? Why not make school year round with day school and evening school as an option, to shrink the number of kids in each classroom, and double the need for teachers, who should earn a damn decent living, because they are encouraging our children to become better people while we go off to earn our living.
And, back to the topic at hand...at best, it's really the beginning of a string of broken promises about that magical future we're supposed to have, where the government gives a damn about our environment, our leisure time, whether or not we get educated and can compete with other countries for our own future.
Don't believe me? Please go judge for yourself and let me know what your take on this is....
And this is why I try not to read the news too much - there are about 15 other articles that have caught my eye, such as the news about Hewlett-Packard laying off 27,000 people (not that I know any of them, but that means there are 27,000 more people who will be unemployed, and who will probably end up being underemployed. Which it, by the way, another topic for another day (the under-employed.
Other than that, I've been laid up with a bad back. I did some gardening on Sunday and threw my back out. I've been stretching and finally went in for a massage today. It's not 100%, but it is better and I am feeling a lot more relaxed today. Luckily I didn't have class today, because I couldn't have made it. I am crossing my fingers that I'll be back to fine tomorrow.
Everything else is really wonderful. J has been a hero and amazingly supportive. I am working really hard to make sure he knows I don't take him for granted or see how amazing he is. I
Time to go stretch out my back...