Visiting The Thoughts Of Yet One More Person

> I
> just can't see myself 20 years from now wishing I'd
> held on to all them britney spears and ashley
> simpson albums. Gag!

Or even 2 hours from now. . .

> Now that your buddy GW is making us
> believe that $2.50/gallon gas is a bargin, the road
> trip doesn't seem that expensive.

LOL!!! Cracks me up that people think he's a saviour now. No one wants to believe gas prices will continue their upward climb after November. No one wants to believe the goverment controls energy prices. Why is it so few of us see through the games? Is it Lennon's fault? Did his preaching touch a tiny group of people? Did he open the eyes in our mind so far we can't shut them? Somewhere along the line I was able to see how we, as citizens of a free country, are manipulated day in and day out. But we refuse to believe that because we are "free". Die gedanken sind frei.

Living in Texas has opened my eyes to a few things. Teachers still teach about freedom and patriotism even though WalMart has closed down the small stores that used to be owned by their parents and friends in a little less than 5 years. We live in a ghost town with living ghosts wandering around looking bleaker and bleaker with each passing day knowing that it is impossible for the 120 kids graduating from school this year to find employment here.

> I see you added a few more posts since getting the
> sickness.

Added my first in quite awhile yesterday. May write some more may not. Thinking lately about the whole "faith" thing. My faith is secure - no one has been able to shake it from me. But I watch these guys blowing themselves up and I know that they can say exactly the same thing. And the more I think about faith, the more I realize the truth is 99% of people have unshakeable faith in something. The few that don't are either in asylums or leading churches out of fear of being discovered.

>Hope your
>weekend was a blast and you haven't been stricken
>down by them snot drippin grade schoolers yet.

I love them snot drippin grade schoolers. It's the adults I have problems with.

Saw one the other day talking to a kid. The kid was complaining about not wanting to do school work. The "adult" reamed into the poor 8 year old, "Do you think any of us want to work. You need to work because you're told to, not because you want to. No one wants to work, but we have to."

Imagine taking all your disappointments about life on a tiny kid. What kind of hope does a kid have when he hears stuff like that from a teacher? If the teacher hates herself that much, why is she teaching? Lord knows it's not because of the money. And how do you fix a kid who's just heard something like that? And why can't we just shoot adults that that and put them out of their misery. And And And...

Just had a thought - probably just gonna cut & paste this into my blog. Why not? Will save you the trouble of visiting the blog to see what I wrote. You get it all first hand. Only 2 or 3 others ever visit.

Nowhere. Realizing I simply don't belong in this century. It's not like anyone would listen to a lone voice. Not sure they ever did.

Read a bunch of philosophy books - descartes, nietzsche, hume, kant & re-read socrates, aristotle, thoreau & dewey. realized i really have nothing to say. everything not worth saying has been said already. everything worth saying, well, there's not much of that. neitzche at least has a sense of humor.

my frustration is my country - can i call it my country anymore? there's so so much that is wrong, but two things happened this week - congress allowed both the torture of prisoners - making it law now, and the building of a 700 mile long wall to keep people out of our country. obviously not the country i grew up in. see - that just shows how blind i was growing up. of course we tortured people in the past, but it was illegal. of course we hated foriegners, but we allowed them in. in the past it was all hidden and underground. now it's blatant and out in the open. we are a nation of haters.

my frustration is my religion - how can a person accept the title of christian? for exactly the same reasons as my frustration with my country - christianity is a religion of hate. and, knowing the history - it's always been that way. i guess i figured that once i joined in that i'd find people who loved christ and his teachings as much as i do. ha! mercy and grace are not part of the christian vocabulary these days. probably never was.

i'm siding more and more and more with bukowski. give me a drunkard any day. they will talk openly and honestly and spill their guts. pun intended. everything has multiple meanings.

my frustration is my profession - not the everyday part of it, and not the kid part - but the government interference part. people who don't live in the trenches, most of whom have never been in the trenches, are making up regulations that do not work in the trenches. they pretend it's for the benefit of the children, but have no idea that all children are individuals. they are lumping all children into this mindless mass of nothings who all have to learn exactly the same thing exactly the same way. the good news, and the thing the government will never understand, is that not all children are going to buy into their expectations of all american teenage bodies willing to die for oil.

and the sad truth is the "pontificators" profit from their pontifications that lead to piss-poor policy.

in the 50's & 60's education was geared to make factory workers. well, since there are no more factories in the us we need soldiers to safeguard our factories overseas. so they want us to turn out mindless soldiers who know how to follow orders. that's the whole goal of the current educational trends.

i'm frustrated by the absolute truth that no one reading this will agree with anything i've said. everyone wants to believe their government is right - that it's important to build this 700 mile fence along a 2100 mile border. no one is going to stand up and admit that the true purpose of this fence is not to keep people out but to make some politician's family members and frends extremely rich by building this fence.

i'm frustrated by some of the cool things that happen that i can't talk about because of privacy reasons. a really really cool thing happened just after i last wrote, but i'm not alowed to talk about it because it happened during one of those state-mandated tests that are "top secret". the thing i wanted to talk about would "give away" an answer on the test. since i couldn't talk about that i shut myself down and haven't talked about anything.

just as well. if philosophers have nothing to say to people today, i'm sure i have nothing to say to people today. long live bukowski.

Today I was observing a second grade classroom. Looks to be my permanent job description - observer. Not my preference, but I'll live with it.

The teacher handed out papers the kids did yesterday. There was one boy without a paper, and there was one paper without a name, so obviously, the paper belonged to the boy. He took it, looked at it as if he had never seen it before, but accepted it. I nudged him & whispered - put your name on the top.

The teacher was having the kids correct their own papers as she gave them the answers. About 3/4 through, the child said out loud, "Mrs Ohlhausen, this can't be my paper". She explained patiently that it must be his paper, because everyone else had one, and he didn't, and that was the only paper without a name.

He was adamant. "Well, this can't be my paper". "Why do you say that, it sure looks like your handwriting." "It can't be mine because all the answers are right!"

I'm feeling better, so I'll be back at the boards again soon commenting on all the books I've read the past month. I haven't had the flu for many many years, but I'm betting I built up a great many anti-bodies this go-round! Still not 100%, but definitely better.

I'm back tonight mostly to gripe. The State of The Union speech has guaranteed a lot of new democratic faces in Congress this November. Poorest speech Bush has ever made. That intrigues me, but I'm guessing he's got his Supreme Court lined up with his different philosophy about leadership for our future so he's a happy camper.

The thing that will be interesting to watch is the great number of good leaders emerging who wear a sign that says Democrat. Very few Republicans coming up to bat. If they wait and put only one face forward next year against 10-12 Democrats, it could divide the voters so that the Republicans can win again. Can't think of anyone being as beurocratic and dogmatic as Bush emerging as a leader in any case, so America will win in either case I'm guessing.

Nuff rambling on politics. I kinda remember agreeing to quit politics awhile back. I'm fascinated that in our small town of 1500 folks there are some 8 people running for Justice of the Peace. Politics is fun again =:-)

Happy New Year to myself.

Spent the last month reading 6 books by Jay Brandon - recommended to me by the local librarian. Still have a few more of his books to read - for the most part I'm enjoying the work - definitely page-turning type stuff. I'm taking a small break from his work & reading 1776 by David McCullough. About 1/2 way through.

Went to services again this morning & made me a bit sad - recall the powerful teaching of Don McClure & wonder why the heck I put myself through a pablum trial. Guess we all need baby food once in awhile. Shows me what I miss and why I miss it.

I received an interesting e-mail from P&W today - very cool article explaining that writers are no longer around with the quality to win national contests.

I guess I could comment on the qulaity of education, and how it's only getting worse with the imposition of the teach to the government test mentality that has erupted under NCLBA. But, that's been gone over so much that it bores me to even think about any more. What's the use when the government becomes anti-education?

Found out yesterday that Davide Rivera has started a blog & just yesterday he posted a wonderful 12-part poem: http://misterhaze.blogspot.com/

Marquetta, the webmistress at the Lone Star Webstation just let me know she's featuring a performance I did of "Old Guitars" on her webstation November 30, 2005. The song was written by Davide Rivera (Italy), and when I heard his songs I knew it would be a blast to play them. He's given me permisssion to wreck several of his songs.

The webstation's located at http://www.lonestarwebstation.com/mtmkfront.html - just click on the long guitar at the top of the page. Left clicking will play the song, right-clicking allows you to download it.

The most cool thing is that of you scroll down to the very bottom of the page you'll be able to hear Davide's own version of the same song. Thanks Marquetta, for the honor.

Every time I finish a Stephanie Plum story (this is the 11th I've read), I think, "that's it - no more". But then, when a new installment comes out, I inevitably read it. And I'm not sad about the decision. Sure - it's fluff - no thoughts to ramble with. So what? I laughed many times while reading this, and sometimes reading should just be that - fun.

This definitely qualifies as a page-turner. The writing is theatrical, and close to being ready for the screen. The  story brings up lots of questions with no real good answers to any of them. Does it go without question that all children of fundamentalist Christians will grow up to become angry people who cannot make their way in the world? Is it moral to let two killers murder a rapist and then let them get away? Does the logic of a psychiatrist and a police officer properly circumvent the justice system in a satisfying way?

Having been a victim of the logical thinking of a police officer who was able to analyze a whole bunch of circumstantial evidence and arrest me only to have several years of my life left in limbo because of the slow progress of justice, I will never stand up for police being lone heroes. I'm positive I'm not the only one this has happened to, and I'm sure that's why our founding fathers insisted on a Bill of Rights. Of course, our President tried and convicted Saddam Hussein all by himself, and many people in our society applauded him for that. So, our society has accepted that the Bill of Rights is meaningless in the hands of someone people perceive as "righteous".

I know - it's not nice to dump 1/2 a story out, and not tell you what I was accused of by a police officer. There were many stories that were put together to come up with the "fact" that I was unworthy to live among civilized society and be put behind bars. The accusations lost me my job - even though I was fully supported by fellow teachers (every single teacher signed a petition asking the judge to drop charges). However, I was not supported even a little but by the administration. For the administration the accusation was the same as guilt, thus I was fired and that was that employement wise until the court, two years later, finally allowed the case to come to trial.

One of the "best" pieces of evidence was the true fact that my wife had called information at the police station and asked "What should my friend who was beat by her husband do?" That really did happen. The phone messenger told her to "tell your friend to call us". So, my wife passed on the information. It was filed under our address in the police department, and because many people - including police officers - assume victims speak in the third person, the assumption was made that I had beat my wife.

Well, the friend remained our friend, even after he went to jail and got out and got divorced and remarried, etc. So he was willing to come in and testify to the fact that his first wife had indeed asked my wife to call, that he had indeed hit his wife, and he had indeed done jail time, and the felony remained on his record and it was very difficult to be employed legitimately anymore, etc etc. What had happened, and why did the police keep the file under our address and not move it? Well, it turned out the victim called 911, and simply proceeded to report to another police officer the details, etc. The two departments never discussed the fact that two different women living across the street from each other were calling about the same event on the same day. It was "obvious" to the police that I had so victimized my wife that she had never called back. They never bothered to ask my wife, because with their belief that she possessed a victim mentality they assumed she would lie for me. At least both departments kept files, so it was easy to collarobate the truth.

Luckily I had a lawyer, and luckily my lawyer went for a jury trial*. The jury saw the truth right out, and I was aquitted within 20 minutes after the trial proper. The point of all this is - the police can paste together a picture without a shred of truth or evidence and make it sound good enough to a judge to bring a case to trial.

The trial process took two years in my case because the prosecutor kept asking for a continuance to gather evidence. Then, after the two years he used that in the examination of "witnesses" who couldn't remember anything he was talking about. He asked each and every witness: "Do you remember what you ate for breakfast two years ago on this date?" When they said no, he would ask "Then is it logical that you have forgotten other details from two years ago?"  And of course, they would have to answer yes.

The jury was able to see through the charade with no problem, but I was not hired back where I was fired from. Once accused, administrator type people simply believe you used the system or plea-bargained somehow to get an aquittal. They simply won't believe that the police sometimes use faulty logic to arrest people. The arrest itself is proof of guilt. Administrators don't live in the real world. But every person with a bit lower income than the administrator types has lived with police harrassment directly or indirectly and identifies with my story.

And that's basically the story of "Rage". Kellerman gets real sloppy and makes it "feel" like the police officer made a good decision to let two killers go without apprehension, because in the officers mind a rapist was worse dirt than a murderer. The hard truth is that a good part of me agees with that assessment. But that doesn't make one crime right and the other wrong. Neither should be left standing. The killer, after all, will kill again given the proper dose of "rage". And next time the victim might not be a rapist. Because of this plot-line and super-generalized characters (christians are evil - homosexuals are not) - the police and the therapist are judge and jury - I cannot recommend this book as good reading. I do believe there are evil people who call themselves "Christian" - you've seen me rant and rave about George Bush right here on this blog. I also believe that there are homosexuals that are going to heaven. So, it's not that I think Kellerman is way off base by having characters like this, it's just that he doesn't really develop the characters very much beyond that super-generalized way. The guy did not become an evil person because his parents were fundamentalist. However, that's the 'truth" we're simply asked to believe without any deep analysis.

On the other hand, as a vehicle to start asking tough questions, sure - I'd recommend reading this book for that reason. It's not often though, that people start asking tough questions with a dime-store novel. No one would confuse this book with Dante. But I think it would be great to have a group of people in a room who read the book and start getting discussions going about all these issues. Could be very educational.

*My gut had told me to not use a lawyer, and not ask for a jury trial - to trust the judge to see that I was not guilty. As the lawyer pointed out to me later - that would have been stupid because a judge is just like an administrative type, and sees no one as innocent - he would not allow a case to be brought before the court if he felt the charged person was innocent. He has to hear the evidence before deciding whether or not to allow a court proceeding to even happen, and if he feels there is not enough evidence he will not allow the arrest to happen. Thus, he is already predisposed toward guilty. He is, noticeably, an administrative type - having to make administrative decisions on a daily basis.

It was one of those life-affirming moments. Sometimes I go through my day and am never in the right place to see excellence, but this day I was in the right place at the right time. A wonderful 2nd grade teacher was reading to her class from Shel Silverstein's post-humous collection, Runny Babbit. As the title implies, the nouns all have their first sound reversed - a great listening and phonics tool. Annie has been teaching a few years, and has honed her skills to a level of excellence. She has been reading to kids for many years, and has learned to sight read with no preparation at all. I was privileged to be present when she was reading Killy the Bid to her classroom, and, well, you have to listen in to hear what happened:

Listen in - about 15 seconds

Admittedly, the sound file is a recreation for other teachers. The point of the recreation was to teach the other teachers that no matter how much experience one has, it is necessary to pre-read the material =:-)

My main thought however has to do with the event in the classroom. Annie read the material and did not skip a beat. I had to turn my back and take a deep breath so I wouldn't burst out laughing, but Annie kept going through the rest of the poem like a master. The faux pas went right over the head of the kids. After reading the poem, she went through her regular excercise of having the kids say the words in the proper way. When she got to that particular line, she simply said that one herself and moved on. The kids were fantastic and simply went with the flow, trusting their teacher completely.

Annie kept a straight face the entire time, and it wasn't till later when the kids had left the class that she burst out laughing. Excellent teaching, IMHO. Others might say excellent acting. Well, in many ways teaching is acting. Teachers are human, and have bad days like the rest of humanity - but the kids must see you upbeat and enthusiastic to get the learning goals across. So yes, there's lots of acting involved with teaching.

That moment will be a source of joy for me for a long time. I have moments of joy from students quite often, but I have to admit it's seldom I've experienced one from a teacher this year. Last year I had the privilege of being in Annie's class quite often and learned to love her teaching and the natural humor she uses to help kids learn. This year I am not in her class very often, but I'm glad I was on that day =:-)

Received a small email from Robert Nixon about the Soduko Craze! Thanks. I don't know how much energy it takes to create this puzzles, but to have an endless supply at no cost is fantastic. Thanks for letting me know, Mr Nixon. I'll post his link here:

Fiendish Soduko

I'm so sad I'm really close to crying. Seems that the Senate feels that whoever "leaked" the truth about secret US torture chambers throughout the world is a worse criminal than the ones running the torture show. Guess the Senate is afraid their secret line of torture videos will get cut off if the truth of their perversions was ever let out.

I did get a giggle, despite my depression for the sad state of our national character. I heard the President of Jordan raving about how he was going to hunt down the suicide bombers and kill them till they were dead. Sounds about as swift as Bush when he's angry.

Where do we get world leaders from nowadays? Were they always this dense? Could be. Look how we were "invited" into WWI.

Shut off the news. Time to go do some more Sudoku. My skills are improving - did a "fiendish" one in 20 minutes last night, and did an easy one in 10. The "hard" ones take just as long as the "easy", so I can't figure out what makes one hard and the other not. "Fiendish" is a title rightly earned, tho. Really gotta focus on those.

Well, I decided to find out what the craze was about. Good old fashioned logic games! I love it!

The directions said an average person can do an easy puzzle in about 10 minutes, a moderate puzzle in 20 and a difficult puzzle in 30. Well, I did the easy one in 30 minutes. Will wait awhile before I tackle a difficult one =:-) The rules are simple - so simple I'm thinking of putting together a few to have my 2nd graders work with. Get the brain cells working, anyway.

Mindless entertainment, but I can see why the craze is sweeping the nation. How long it's been going on, I have no way of telling, being up here in the hills away from the mainstream; but I'm happy enough to become adicted to something new. Got tired of the books.

I read 4 of the books that my mom left me: China Card by John Ehrlichman (interesting because of who he was, otherwise too hollywood); Tangent Objectibe by Lawrence Sanders - very interesting look at how the oil barons "run" their worlds, Topaz by Leon Uris - an interesting take on the James Bond craze in the early 60s - more intellectual, and some good lines thrown in making fun of the bond genre - an oldie but goodie - one interest for current readers was a throw-away line about how the Americans don't use torture, and while that may make them seem weak in the eyes of the world, it is actually what makes them strong - cool line, but I doubt if we were ever that noble - I know we haven't been for many years; Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton -the plot has been so overused - even though I know this is an early book of his, it was still a cummy read because every move has been done again and again - could be I read this book before - not worth a re-read; City of Gold by Len Deighton - well, what can I say? Not the best book ever written; and, yes, I finally gave up on Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz - I have decided to make a bold statement. I think this would make a much better movie than a book. Anyone who knows me knows I have never met a movie better than a book - but done right, I think this would make a fascinating movie, but I have decided to stop trying to finish it as a book. The first chapter is a classic, by the way; but it goes downhill real fast.

So, till I get some new books, I'll be working on Sudoku.

I've finished my personal work on the book of Genesis, tho as a group we're still on Chapter 30, with 20 chapters to go. We decided long ago to tackle Revelation next, so I am starting to re-organize my teaching notes, and have started digging in and seeking for more gems to share. Since I am so far ahead of the group, I may put my take on Chapters 1-3 into prose. If I do I'll post it here. My main philosophy is that the 7 letters the Jesus wrote were written personally to me. Taking that viewpoint, of course, that means they were written to every single human being, and worth exploring from that perspective.

May have dug up an investor for my CD "Fiddling Around In Sabinal" Should have final word soon. Now if I can dig up someone willing to gamble on "Insecurities", a bolder statement - tho the tunes are already over a year old. Sheesh, time goes fast. I know folks who hear these for the first time won't know how long ago the tunes were written, but it's weird trying to re-learn them all so I can play them live. Guess everything turns out to be a logic/mind game =:-)

Just got back from work. Been busy reading rather than complaining the past few weeks, but todays news has me elated. 4 years too late, but better late than never. Hope some leadership in congress gets this bus off the poorly paved road it's been on. The war is not a democrat-republican issue. It's a United States Citizens against Bush issue. He lied from day one, and many many of us believe he knew he was lying. There were no Iraquis attacking the US on Set 11, nor were there any Afghani men or women. The use Bush made of the military was purely a personal agenda. The fact that the military went along with it is another issue altogether - I believe that needs to be investigated also. We all know about the pipeline being built in Afghanistan, and we all know about the profits being made in Iraq by members of the administration. It's all old news, but I'm glad it's starting to hit the front pages and some Americans are finally waking up to how deeply they've been duped. Horray for some good news at last. Let's hope it doesn't fade away.

Edit: Found out my hero of the day has a name: Harry Reid. Need to learn somemore about him. May need to send some presidential support $$$ his way.

The propaganda machines musta been working overtime in Iraq - too bad they can't access news from Washington.

I heard two people interviewed coming out of the booths today. One said they voted "No" because they won't vote for anything the US wants. The other said they voted "Yes" because they hope that will get the US to leave. Both of those people wanted the same thing - the US out. But the propagandandic pressure will not allow either voice to ring out as a majority.

It's obvious that the Iraquis are not free to listen to Bush - I bet his speeches are not broadcast in Iraq. Either way he plans to stay forever, simply because there are too many Iraquis willing to fight and die for their own country.

Doesn't matter which version is read, they all seem to say the same thing - God was either inspiring or telling Bush to attack his enemies. My main man, Jesus, has a much different message from God to share with the world. If you don't know what it is, holler at me & I'll be happy to remind you. Here's the latest that purports to contradict the report I read yesterday in the foreign press, this one from the Washington Post:

An Arabic speaker at The Washington Post, however, translated the words differently after receiving the original Arabic from Haaretz. Instead of "God told me," The Post's translation had Bush saying he was inspired by God.

"God inspired me to hit al Qaeda, and so I hit it," Bush said, according to The Post account. "And I had the inspiration to hit Saddam [Hussein], and so I hit him. Now I am determined to solve the Middle East problem if you help. Otherwise the elections will come, and I will be wrapped up with them."

Bush frequently speaks of his faith and trust in God. The translation from Bush's words in English into Arabic for the Palestinians, and then back to English again appears to have distorted the tenor of his words.

In fact, Abbas, now president of the Palestinian Authority, gave the BBC a different version of Bush's words. Abbas recalled that Bush said: " 'I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state.' "

What follows is a quote from a BBC special about a summit behind closed doors about peace in the Middle East which shows my long-held conviction that Bush is listening to a different God than Jesus Christ, who I believe in:

"God would tell me, George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did, and then God would tell me, George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... And I did.

Man, oh man. If only, if only. Guess we can't change the past, but I know my world would be different if I had have heard this album in 1965. It is both inspiring and exciting. This is true punk music 10 years ahead of it's time. Now, of course, I can see more of the roots of punk than ever before - but man, oh man, I sure coulda used this album.

This is my first time hearing it, and already I know it's part of my heart. I don't know how I missed it. My mom, at least, could put up with Tiny Tim, but I am sure the Shaggs would have drove both my parents mad.

dunno. guess I'm too old for this crap.

The US couldn't find the WMD anywhere. So they went house too house collecting rifles and guns from citizens of Iraq, declaring possessions of firearms illegal*. Then they piled them up and took pictures showing how many weapons Iraquis had.

Well, that game didn't fool us, we knew about the house to house searches for weapons. So they pulled out a story about Saddam having his military attack a military unit that had worked alongside the US in the first Gulf War. That's the last excuse they gave for the current conflict.

Well, the news this week is filled with stories of the US attacking civilian towns for the purpose of destroying the political enemies of the US-backed government in Iraq. In other words, democracy be damned - if you don't want the US here, you're dead meat.

I can't read this stuff anymore - sickens me how hypocritical we are as a nation; and even more sickened by the young people of the US who are willing to follow orders like they are being given.
So I read a book this week. Tried to escape reality. Pretty good escape book by Sarah Paretski: Fire Sale. Too unbelieveable to be completely satisfying, but as far as being a page turner - it works. Kept my mind off the sad state of our mingling with international affairs - sort of. The book, fortunately or not, points out the reason for our governemnt mingling with the affairs of other countries - it's a funny word - profit, which many Americans who back the Bush Administration read as prophet. So, try to escape and you can't.

I gave up on the "Year's Best Science Fiction". Got to the point where it was all pointless, so why finish it?

So I picked up Odd Thomas again last night after finishing Paretski's new one. Arrghh. The story may be good eventually, but this is the third time I picked it up, and the third time I feel like putting it down. I'm one who loves a good turn of phrase on a page - a good metaphor or simile always makes my heart leap a bit. But not one in every paragraph!!! Too much. I forced myself through Chapter 9 last night because some of the similes were good. But there's just too dang many of them to keep the story moving.

Shows the difference - Paretski had some good similes and metaphors, but they were spread thoughout the book. I'll stick with Odd Thomas a bit more. I'm over the Elvis siting earlier in the book, and I'm willing to give it a little more chance. I'm hoping the character just has to get over himself early in the book - it's first person, so Koontz may simply still be defining the character 9 chapters in. Only one way to find out.

*It still bothers me that we are doing this. Seems like if the citizens of Iraq truly wanted to overthrow their government, the fact that they were allowed to bear arms pre-US takeover shows they had the ability. Now that we're taking their arms forcibly they have no recourse but to accept the US version of Iraq. Wanna bet they aren't that stupid? I'm betting they'll continue fighting for their rights as long as there are still people breathing there who do not want to be forced into capitalism as defined by the United States.

View Cartoon

Bob Englehart, of the Hartford Courant has a cartoon reprinted in Time magazine this week that's a pure joy because it's so honest, plus it goes well with a question I've been asking my students this week.

There are two students walking home from school talking, and the quip under the cartoon is: "So far, all we're learning is how to take a math test, how to take a science test, and how to take a reading test."

The question I've asked students at my school is: "Do you think you learn more when you are taking a test, or when your teacher is teaching you?" Unanimous - not one child said they learned more taking a test. The kids are in school some 9 months a year, and at least two months of that time are taking up testing. In 12 years of school, that's 24 months spent testing. 2 years wasted of a child's life - because in the long run the test means nothing for the child as an adult. However, the lack of schooling will display itself dramatically as an adult.

I keep asking the same question to teachers and administrators - "When you went to the doctor or the dentist last, did you ask him what his/her grades were?" No one knows, nor apparently does anyone care. Grades only matter in school, not in real life. So, what purpose these tests the government keeps insisting we give? It is impossible for a test to educate anyone.

Who woulda thought research on music would lead to a new world of research? I'm not sure these guys are all totally sane - after all, one needs to research the researchers to know what's really going on; but I can't deny there's some fascinating reading.

I started this journey because Bernd from Germany told me about the Tupper Saussy Museum - he's one of the motivating forces behind The Moth Confesses, having written the wonderful music. Well, the site lead me to Tupper Saussy's blog called Honest Things.

Digging around, there was also an article called Sympathy for Dick Cheney in the museum. Well, I've always considered Dick Cheney a theif and a liar, so I was interested in seeing another viewpoint on him. Have to say, the article definitely added a few things to my knowledge - a lot actually. Some things you just feel by listening to a man - but these folks have actually done research beyond the voice. Of course, I again say, I haven't had time to research the researchers, but I'm still having fun reading their ramblings.

The Dick Cheney article lead me to a 9-11 research site, which is a virtual museum in itself. I haven't fully absorbed everything there, but I plan to take a lot of time there to develop an understanding of where the folks maintaing the site are truly coming from. A side trip from the Dick Cheney article led me to fromthewilderness.com - a suspect site, because the first page I read seems to blame the government and global warming for hurricane Katrina. I'm old enough and wise enough to know that's pure silliness; but there is other research on the site pertaining to oil and how it's being piped that seem honest enough to peek into. So, I plan to spend a few hours there.

I've spent the past few weeks listening to the media blame the government for everything that went wrong because of the Hurricane. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a big Bush fan. But, this was a natural event that could not be stopped at any point by anyone. A catastrophe of this magnitude could be seen afterwards as predictable; but anyone with knowledge of history knows we have never been able to properly prepare for these things as humans. We have always been taught to react to catastrophe, not prepare for it. This is going to sound cold - but I'm going to say it anyway. The small numbers of death that happened as a direct result of this tremendous force called Katrina is a glowing and praiseworthy testiment to our local, state and federal government. Would it have been better if not one life were lost? Of course. But that's where we get into dreamland. There's always people who will stay behind.

I lived on Oahu when a Tsunami hit the North Shore. Several people refused to leave their houses, and one nut case decided to surf the Tsunami. If I lived in New Orleans, I probably would have been one of the nutcases that tried to tough it out. That's one of my quirks, and I figure there's others with similar quirks. One of the leaders in New Orleans said just before Katrina hit: The Die-hards who stay will simply die hard". Perfect analysis. I don't believe in forcing people to leave their homes.

Could things have been managed better? I'm sure. Hopefully wise heads will prevail and learn how things could have been managed better and utilize this knowledge in future catastophes instead of blaming people and governments for this one. It irks me that people are angry about the aftermath of Katrina - an event that could not be prevented, but not angry about our government attacking Iraq without cause - an event that could have been prevented.

All this blabber comes from trying to analyze the mind of a brilliant musician. I did find a hint into that, by the way - the web site said he was "imbibing large quantities of 'Penny Lane' and 'Good Vibrations' " =:-)