Mar
20
2012
Here are my Thoughts On “The Education Mess” Pt 1.
A friend pointed me to this article on something Romney said that has various people up in arms. The article starts in this way:
Republicans always say they want to get the federal government out of education. This comes in many forms, but usually they say something like “education should be returned to local control” or “I’ll eliminate the Department of Education.” They always avoid talking about union-busting because union-busting is not always especially popular. Wisconsin’s Governor Walker can attest to that. Romney, in a rare moment of transparency, told Bret Baier that the reason for returning control of education to the states is for one reason: to union-bust.
Then, they offer Romney’s offending quote:
But the role I see that ought to remain in the president’s agenda with regards to education is to push back against the federal teachers unions. Those federal teachers unions have too much power, in some cases, they overwhelm the states, they overwhelm the local school districts. We have got to put the kids first and put these teacher’s unions behind.
The article continues:
I’m sick and tired of seeing teacher’s unions demonized, and even more tired of seeing teachers shamed and demonized. There’s been a theme that Democrats and Republicans alike have adopted where teachers are the reason for problems in the schools. Teachers are not the problem. I would argue that teachers have been the backstop to keeping schools from deteriorating in the face of constant budget cuts, student poverty, larger classroom sizes, and not enough parent involvement. I don’t necessarily blame parents for that, by the way. When you’re working two jobs to make the house payments it’s tough to head down to your kids’ school or constantly nag about homework. The problem in the schools right now is not teachers’ unions, either. The problem in the schools is that for ten years, teachers have been forced to teach to a test and “one size fits all” standards. They are accountable for an arbitrarily set baseline, regardless of circumstances in their specific area. As we’ve all discovered, that baseline does not necessarily reflect reality or the students they’re instructing, or the environments they’re teaching in. Yet their job hinges on meeting those standards. If they don’t, they’re out.
On the last paragraph, I couldn’t agree more. Those of us who have been in a school as a teacher have seen the folly of No Child Left Behind first hand. If most schools approach NCLB like the one I taught in, they will have a similar experience. The school does not just say one day everyone has to take the standardized tests and be done with it. Here is the little secret many don’t know about how schools and school districts handle the NCLB tests; the school have the students in about every class cram to achieve the highest score possible. There is a lot of prep involved. Basically teachers have to drop what ever it is you’re doing, what ever lesson you happen to be trying to teach at the time, and for up to two weeks try and cram as much knowledge into the students head on materials likely to be on the test. Now, we don’t know the exact questions – those are kept secret – but we do know the general themes. And, since most of the test is multiple choice, you can also teach some pattern recognition. For instance, we tell them if they are unsure about an answer but think that there is one choice that seems more politically correct than the others, then that is likely the right answer. Now, some students don’t have as much awareness as others on matters of political incorrectness, but that will help some, as the tests are designed by people who take PC very seriously. And then, when it’s all over, the teachers have go back and rehash everything that we were working on before we were interrupted by the NCLB tests. Look, we have no problems with tests. But this is not an ordinary test. Because the teacher nor the student can ever see the results of the individual tests, there is no way to assess what each individual student may know or not know, which means that there is no way to improve and enhance the students education – fill in the knowledge holes, as it were. Meanwhile, the schools understandably do whatever they possibly can to statistically show that “Look, our students are getting smarter!”, and we’ve seen more than a few getting caught flat out cheating and manipulating the tests to get the best score possible. If we were allowed to see the results, and use them as a refresher for each student to show where their over-all educational weaknesses are, this testing program could indeed be useful. From a teacher’s perspective, this test and the NCLB requirements are a complete waist of time, and are only done to fill the need of some bureaucrats scattered throughout Washington DC and the states to do “something” “for the children” and lord over the entire education system, as if they are doing anything to really help!
Which brings me to the point I’ve been making for OVER two years now… If a bloated bureaucratic government is such a horrible thing and Republicans are all about getting rid of waist in Government, then why are none of the remaining”True Conservative” candidates not advocating for the complete repeal of this educational waist of time and money???? Yes, Ron Paul might actually take steps to do just that, but we see in the flagging support he gets from the majority of the GOP faithful how serious they really are about cutting Government. It’s not that they don’t like “Big Government”, they just don’t like it when it’s not being run by them. As I stated two years ago:
I’m sorry, but I find the new Conservative commitment to decreasing the size of government as bankrupt as the government they claim to dislike.
And after witnessing the absurdity of the current crop of candidates for the Republican side, I find this just as valid as it was two years ago,… maybe more so.
I’ll address some other problems with the education system in Pt 3 of this series sometime today I hope.
Mar
15
2012
Story by Rod Steel.
In a surprise move designed to win some votes and donations from the vile left coast, especially the porn G-Spots of Los Angeles and San Diego, Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum has thrown a bone to the struggling porn industry. He is proposing that, if elected, he will go on a crusade to shut down internet porn.
At first glance, this appears to be a shot in the eye of an industry that has certainly gained new entry into the lives and wallets of a multitude of lonely high school geeks and frustrated old men who find internet porn an easy outlet to make up for their inability to achieve fulfillment in the real world. But, if you penetrate deeper into the world of porn, you will find that the industry has been decimated and hit hard by the advent of free amateur pornography make readily available by the internet in the last fifteen years. Head accountant for major porn player Brown Chicken Brown Cow productions John Ball says he’s pounded the numbers, and since the internet has penetrated the lives of the average citizen, the porn industry has been laid bare by it. “Not only does free amateur videos hurt our bottom line” he says, “but porn pirates have eaten into the profit margin and the money flow has remained flaccid for many years, causing many lay-off for both production crew and actors, forcing some to become pizza delivery persons, or worse, even teachers!” Ball laments. “Financially, this industry has had steep hills to climb in the last few years. Things really were better in the old days” he says. He explains that Santorums proposals, by restricting porn viewing to the much more profitable DVD’s and even VHS video distribution, it would a real money shot for the industry.
Rick Santorum, on his end, has his own reasons for aggressively whipping the scourge of internet porn into submission. This move will be a real injection of money into our campaign honeypot, and the flow of west coast money for us has been, frankly, viscous and hard to come by, said a top Santorum financial adviser.
Santorum himself had this to say about his proposal:
“I believe in traditional values. There was a time, in the 50’s, when our young… (sob) wholesome boys learned about sex by innocently sneaking a peak at their Dad’s special magazines hidden between the mattress, or rent a VCR when their parents were away on vacation, and our young adults would go to the good old fashioned friendly prostitute to deal with their needs. Right now thing are so out of hand and perverted. Look at what has happened to this country since porn became so widely available. It’s destroying our country! We have got to restore the proper traditional values of this country when it was great, before it’s too late”.
“And yes, that does include good old fashioned porn values too”.
Real news story Here.
Mar
15
2012
Because they would resist his desire to do this!
Everyone, if you can’t see that the Social Conservative agenda is just as much a Big Government one as the liberal agenda, maybe you’re one of those not so bright people I hear certain Conservatives suggest that shouldn’t have the right to vote.
Mar
14
2012
**—For those who are not Fresno Musicians… This is a meaningless post that will make no sense.
Go read something else! 🙂 **
———————————————————
Here is Wayne’s letter, in its entirety.
To the Fresno Music community:
I understand that there are questions and doubts concerning my issued apology. I would like to say something, so that there is no guessing my sincerity about this affair.
I will say three things: first, I realize that I am still pretty new on the Music Scene in Fresno. I don’t know all the rules, and I am trying to learn. When I make a deliberate mistake, I do own up to it. Apparently, there were some things I did wrong, and I didn’t know it. For my naivete, I apologize. When I am asked about my band, I assume that it’s because someone wants to know. I honestly never thought that it would be construed as trying to “out” someone else’s band. For that, I also apologize.
Secondly, I wish to formally apologize to those who were affected by this debacle. Marie & Fresno Undercover: I am truly sorry about this misunderstanding. Never at any time did I try to do or say anything to deliberately impugn or demean your band. I don’t know you, so I have no frame of reference to say anything. What I saw of your show was good. I did not mean to show up when you were playing; I had no prior knowledge. I wish no ill of any of those in Fresno Undercover. I am sorry that is what came across. One point I wish to make clear, if I may- I have never out-and-out called anyone’s band “crap” or any other derogatory phrases. It is not in my character to do that.
Vince & Rockville- I am sorry that you also took my actions that way. I don’t know what all has been said, since I can’t access those posts. I will say that from what I have heard, I have been painted out to be someone other than who I am. Again, I remind you that I am new to the scene, and I am still learning how the game is played here. I am someone who will ask the source, rather than jump the shark. I am learning that this isn’t always the case. So again, I apologize. I also feel that your show was a good one, what I saw of it.
To my bandmates- I am sorry that you were caught up in the backlash of this. The people who answered the call, when I first sounded it, are a marvelous bunch of musicians. Each of them have shown me the quality of their character, and their musicianship. They have each responded to this in the manner they thought was best. I can’t fault them for that. I have stated that after the performances this week, I will accede to the decision that I leave the band. It is not my choice, but I do so, hoping for the best. Keep up the great work, guys.
Finally, I understand that some of you have found me to be arrogant. I wish to emphasize that I am not an arrogant person, by nature. I have been involved with music, in one form or another, for 33 yrs. (I started when I was very young). Many have noted my enthusiasm for music performance, and it has been mistaken for arrogance, at times. This is not intentional. Someone once described my attitude for music as being “a kid in a candy store”. I can agree with this analogy, and I sometimes stumble a bit, in my eagerness to do what I have essentially been trained for from my beginnings: to entertain the masses, alongside people of similar spirits. Isn’t that why we got into the business in the first place?
I hope that you will be able to see this, and understand me a little better. I really do love the Music Business, with everything I have. And I respect those in it.
A Wayne Hamilton.
Mar
14
2012
Oooops!
So, I woke up this morning, and while I was scanning the news, I saw this headline.
CBO: Obamacare to cost $1.76 trillion over 10 yrs
I scanned the short piece, and applied the usual safeguards: the meat of the article seemed plausible, there was a link to the CBO report, and the link actually took you to where you needed to be. So I posted it on Facebook, under the tagline “Obamacare much more expensive than advertised…. Told ya so.” But, in my rush to confirm my personal bias against the Obama Pelosi health care law (it’s not going to do what it claims, and will only make things more expensive) , I skipped a step – I didn’t actually read the CBO report.
I mean, the writer at the Examiner wouldn’t provide false info and numbers if he linked to the actual CBO report… Right????
The answer to that is, sadly, yes.
A Facebook friends promptly notified me of another article from The Hill, stating that the CBO estimates the cost to be about $1.1 trillion. (my fingers keep typing “extimate” for some reason) My first thought was that the article must be a year old. But nope. it’s from this week. And the link to the CBO Report is the same one from the Examiner.
So now I thinking “What The Math?????“.
As is usual, the truth is in the middle. The Hill fails to mention that the actual cost IS about $120 billion above the original projection when it passed. So the cost is rising. BUT, the Examiner does worse by not only jumping ahead a year to the period of 2013 to 2022, which isn’t mentioned in the report. The CBO estimates are from 2012 to 2021. Worse still, the writer of the Examiner piece adds all sorts of fiscal conditionals not even covered in the report that are not included in the CBO report.
Though it is true that, as each years passes, the cost of the ADA will increase because more expenses are added into the CBO ten year estimate as the Obamacare kick-off year 2016 gets closer and closer, the $1.76 trillion number does not appear anywhere in the CBO report, and neither does the 2013 to 2022 estimate.
This is dishonest reporting. The writer of the Examiner article has posted a follow-up, explaining how he got the figures he did. But it still isn’t CBO based and pulls lots of assumptions out of a hat. So FAIL # 2.
I have been burned by the Examiner before, and I shouldn’t have let my guard down. I was going to delete the Facebook post, but I need it out in the world as a reminder that I sometimes bite on things before putting in the proper leg work, and as a reminder that can’t let my guard down. I got burned, and I deserved it.
And yes, I did manage to throw an Adventure Time With Finn And Jake reference AND a Split Enz / Tim Finn , Neil Finn video into a post about crappy journalism. Finn’s Everywhere!!!!
Yes, I’m just that good!
Note: I did have to delete the original post after all. I started getting too many likes, and was afraid that no one was reading my mia-culpa and take-down of the original article.
Mar
8
2012
From Pat Robertson:
Mr. Robertson said he enjoyed a glass of wine now and then — “When I was in college, I hit it pretty hard, but that was before Christ.”
Dang… I knew Pat Robertson was old… But I didn’t think he was THAT old!!!! 🙂
All kidding aside, this is one of the few times where I can agree with something said by Robertson, and applaud him for being reflective on religious matters instead of being provocative and just plain silly.
Mar
8
2012
As my 47th birthday has been approaching, I’ve been reflecting on a few things… OK, it’s more because of the fact that for my birthday Greg bought me a 12 string Takamine guitar and I’m going to town!…
Yes, I can already play “Tambourine Man”!
Where was I… Oh yes. As my birthday approached, I’ve been reflecting on my life, and those things that have helped me become a better, more confident person. As a kid, I had absolutely no confidence in myself at all. Learning to dive in high school was a good start, and i still remember throwing that one “Perfect Dive” that will stay with me for as long as the brain cells are still firing. But, becoming a bass player, and musician, has probably made the more tremendous difference in my life.
Don’t get me wrong, the Sonic-Mate soars above all else, but that is a topic for a different post. i want to talk about music on this one.
I’ve been thinking about the various bands that I’ve been a member of that have been a great influences on my life.
Here are a few.
Tribe Called Mike – My first band in college. OK… We were horrible musicians… I take that back. We weren’t horrible…. But we weren’t that good either. But we had a great time, and I was forced to sing and play bass in that band. That set the stage for my next misadventures.
RareForm – My long-time San Diego band. These quality musicians chose to have me play bass with them. Though looking back I should have, I didn’t have any confidence at all as a bass player, and these guys helped me recognize I was better than my low self image would allow me to admit.
Chris Plays Guitar – What a great creative experience. I got to write my own bass lines, record two great albums in a professional studio setting (thanks Pete Wolf), and, most of all, got to watch a group of younger musicians grow to become excellent musicians and songwriters in their own right. Patrick Reetz is one of the most creating songwriters I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with… And Chris… Er Tweed… You’ve become so much more than I could have imagined when we first started out.
Acoustic Highway – I love doing harmonies and have always been very good at it, but i never really got a chance to open up and let my talent fly until I became a member of this band. It’s a dream come true really. I used to HATE doing falsetto, but, in no small part, thanks to the prodding of the master Steve Kuykendhal, now I am very comfortable reaching for the sky. You should hear us do “Seven Bridges Road”!
Taylor Martin – That you so much Jim Rust for helping me fulfill the desire to do a Simon and Garfunkel type band, and teaching me how to play acoustic guitar!
Oh yeah… Cliff…. I now have a 12 string! Can already play “Tambourine Man”!!!! 🙂
Mar
5
2012
While the two parties do have their differences, and no one in Congress is willing to compromise in order to fix the budget and stuff, they are very much in lock-step where it counts…. Destroying the Constitution and eroding our freedoms!
As part of this legislation, Congress expressly forbids trespass onto the grounds of the White House. Many likely believe that such a law already existed and they are right. The controversial aspect of this bill’s restatement of that statute is that it expands the scope of the federal government’s authority to bring charges against those deemed trespassers at any location placed provisionally under the jurisdiction of the Secret Service.
The present state of the law prosecutes White House trespassers under a local Washington, D.C. ordinance. Prior to this latest federal action, violation of this ordinance was a misdemeanor.
Under HR 347, however, the Congress endows itself with the unbounded power to impose federal criminal charges on not only those who enter the White House grounds without prior permission, but on anyone who participates in protests at or near a location falling within the greatly enlarged scope of this new prohibited zone.
Another article notes:
It’s not just the president who would be spared from protesters, either.
Covered under the bill is any person protected by the Secret Service. Although such protection isn’t extended to just everybody, making it a federal offense to even accidentally disrupt an event attended by a person with such status essentially crushes whatever currently remains of the right to assemble and peacefully protest.
Gee, a politician actually having to hear or see someone protesting that people don’t really like what they are doing… How Inconvenient!
And you wonder why I won’t vote for anyone from either party anymore!
Mar
2
2012
There is a lot of conversation about how some are handling and writing about the death of Andrew Breitbart. Here are my thoughts.
Being a student of mass media (BA in Telecommunication, specializing in Radio Video Film production – note – video editing) and also having family in the news business, I have more than a few legitimate gripe with Andrew Breitbart and some of his stories. But I also appreciated his zeal and willingness to put his ass on the line for the things he believed in. It’s the same reason I also like Matt Tiabbi on the left, and Pat Buchanan… wherever he happens to be at any given time. I have disagreements with them too, and when I believe they are wrong, I say so. But hell, at least they are trying to get beyond the stale robot template that dominates what is now the main stream media.
The most glaring stain on Breitbart’s record was his Sharon Sherrod video. Here is what I wrote about the Sherrod thing at the time. Even though only a few audience members mumbled and one or two said “yeah” in the hall, a big deal was made that the audience applauded at the admission of “racism” by Sherrod, as if the whole audience stood up in some sort of rapture over the remark, which was the intent. The vid was edited for that exact effect.
* Note, the original selectively version of the video has been scrubbed from the Big Government site. *
Breitbarts diversion that he was really criticizing the NAACP isn’t supported by his original comments when the edited video first broke. He screwed up, in a big way.
It’s the same slimy use of editing that was done last year when a few audience members cheered after Ron Paul answered a question about the choice that Americans make to forgo purchasing health insurance. If the whole video is presented, it clearly shows the bulk of the audience actually shouting down the few who cheered at Blitzers “are you saying that society should just let him die?” question, yet the left wing hacks went with the meme that the whole audience cheered with gusto and only showed the video that supported that meme.
And yes, I excoriated them on that too!
Looking at Breitbarts tumultuous career as a n internet pamphleteer, I was wondering, will Breitbart go down in history as our version of one-time anti-federalist James Callender? I don’t think so, because unlike, Callender, who changed sides at the flip of a coin, or in this case, after being cut off from Thomas Jefferson’s gravy train, Breitbart was not only committed to his cause, but was also a true innovator, and helped place more than a few brick in the information highway.
Getting back to Breitbarts death and some of the reactions to it by the various partisans. Here is the way I look at it. There are going to be people out there who do not surprise me in the least when they go after someone who has just died. And I’m not talking about criticism of career or personal chioces – Breitbart’s Sherrod video, Whitney Houston’s drug and alcohol abuse, Davey jones played a horrible tambourine and wasn’t a real musician…. yes, I did run into one of those. I’m talking about those who do the “good riddance to evil scum” or whatever. That’s always going to be out there. Hell, even when Queen Liz II, who is I’m convinced clinging on to life for dear life as long as she can to keep idiot Prince Charles from taking the thrown, finally kicks the bucket, there will no doubt a few who will write some horrible things about her, probably for dying and letting the idiot Prince Charles ascend to the thrown.
That kind of thing doesn’t surprise me.
What does is when you have a foe of the recently deceased handle the unfortunate event of someones death with class. Case in point – Andrew Sullivan on Breitbart. He could do some of the same things that some of the other media talking keyboard have been doing, but nope. He’s been reflecting on Breitbart in fine form, with reflections and interesting commentary that reminds me of why I still go to his corner of the web. As long as he’s not writing about his man-crush, he’s still a very good writer, and his reflections on Breitbart are the kind of thoughtful observations I wish more would produce when someone of Breitbarts notoriety passes away.
PS. Here is something that really bothers me about Breitbarts death…. The guy was younger than me. I can’t say I don’t have a little discomfort when a contemporary my age or a little older dies, but when it’s someone who is younger than me…. Eek! Memo to life – I really don’t need any reminders of my pending mortality, thank you very much!
Mar
2
2012
That’s the nick-name of the newest version of the Fedora Linux operating system.
“Beefy Miracle”????
Sounds like a bad gay porno… Or a good one!
Note to fedora _ Stop trying to imitate Ubuntu with the goofy names, and just get back to being a great distro.