Milton Friedman

I've been hearing a lot about Milton Friedman lately, from columnists whose opinions resonates with me. Here's another good article about Friedman.

honest energy discussion

A friend posted this, and I thought I'd share. It's 10 pages long, so be prepared.

funny

I was perusing Centennial High School's newspaper, trying to find news of some of my former violin students--fully expecting to learn that they are blazing through high school, earning myriads of accomplishments and accolades. And they are!

But I found this in an editorial, and it made me smile ironically:

"Music is a time-consuming activity. When it is dropped from school programs, students have to spend more time at home practicing, which takes away from other activities such as academics."

First of all: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAA I'm laughing so hard, I'm crying.

Secondly: If dropping music from school programs makes kids practice MORE, why haven't we advocated doing this sooner?!?! As a former private instructor, I would do about anything to get my kids to practice more! Seriously--school orchestra has little to no benefit for kids who REALLY want to be musicians. I mean it--unless you count the extracurricular activities which require enrollment in school music in order to participate. (And from experience, I have learned that those requirements are usually set up to mollify over-paid public school music teachers who are afraid no one will take their class if there is a BETTER opportunity elsewhere.)

Finally: Dropping school music from course offerings may well allow students to spend more time at school working on academics, instead of at home, when they should be practicing, or going to their private lessons!

This is an interesting article about the effect of the Recession on women and mothers, and the media/government's attempts to further this trend.

Now, I'm all for less discrimination--but when you put programs into place like Affirmative action, or use TARP money for "Office of Minority and Women Inclusion," I think we've gone too far. If a woman, or a member of a minority group applies for a job, they should be given consideration on the basis of their qualifications, just like any white man would. I think it's misguided at best to create artificial parameters in the work place--or in the home, or on a college campus, or what have you.

Unfortunately for husbands and children AND women, many in society are paradoxically demeaning wives and mothers while at the same time trying to promote Feminism. When we believe rhetoric that says our kids will benefit from daycare as much as their mothers, or that men are equal to women in the ability to love and nurture, bad stuff happens. Men become increasingly lazy and unable to support a family. Women are increasingly UNnuturing. Children are increasingly left behind.

Music, by Anne Porter

When I was a child
I once sat sobbing on the floor
Beside my mother's piano
As she played and sang
For there was in her singing
A shy yet solemn glory
My smallness could not hold

And when I was asked
Why I was crying
I had no words for it
I only shook my head
And went on crying

Why is it that music
At its most beautiful
Opens a wound in us
An ache a desolation
Deep as a homesickness
For some far-off
And half-forgotten country

I've never understood
Why this is so

Bur there's an ancient legend
From the other side of the world
That gives away the secret
Of this mysterious sorrow

For centuries on centuries
We have been wandering
But we were made for Paradise
As deer for the forest

And when music comes to us
With its heavenly beauty
It brings us desolation
For when we hear it
We half remember
That lost native country

We dimly remember the fields
Their fragrant windswept clover
The birdsongs in the orchards
The wild white violets in the moss
By the transparent streams

And shining at the heart of it
Is the longed-for beauty
Of the One who waits for us
Who will always wait for us
In those radiant meadows

Yet also came to live with us
And wanders where we wander.

another "just for fun"

Newsweek made some comparisons between current politicians and Star Wars/Trek characters, in which all of the good guys were Democrats, and the bad guys were made up of the previous administration. http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/04/29/newsweek/ Unfortunately, I cannot find the original Newsweek article.

Anyway, I find it ironic, because had I been doing the list, The Emperor would be played by Henry Paulson, and then the role would have been passed down to Tim Geithner. Dick Cheney? Because he's angry? The Emperor is never angry.

So...who do you think fits which parts?

The Emperor
Anakin/Darth Vader
Darth Maul
Jabba the Hut
Obi-Won Kenobi
Luke
Leia
Han Solo

Or from Star Trek:
Captain Kirk
Spock
Scotty

Or the Next Generation:
Captain Picard (my favorite!)
Data
the Clingon guy (you can tell I'm not really a treky)

Or Batman characters?...

I'm intrigued about the number of Hollywood hero comparisons there have been in my reading material lately.

Is it because we are looking for a hero? If one appears, will we recognize him or her? Or will they be squashed by the mainstream media the way Sarah Palin was? Not that I'm discounting her--I still have hope that she'll rise from the ashes.

teach for america program

Interesting article about Teach For America.

oh, and can I just say...

That the Miss USA "scandal" is absolutely ridiculous.

First of all, that anyone should take this degrading practice of parading women around a stage in bikinis seriously baffles me. In fact, from what I understand, this popularity contest has been losing popularity over the years, rarely getting the publicity it used to.

I wonder if the pageant officials who are so enraged by Miss California's "bigoted" answer are putting up a false front because they're getting a lot more publicity now, even more than when Miss Tara whatshername was discovered to be a binge-drinking party girl, or when nude photos turned up of Vanessa Williams.

Some snivel-y journalists are "defending" her by criticizing her grammar. (Because they've always expected perfectly well-turned phrases in this battle of brains--snort.) They are pretending to believe in free speech, but discrediting her all the same.

I've already given more space to this issue than it deserves. So has everyone else. But it demonstrates the extremes to which people will go to further the "cause" of gay marriage, and they undermine their own "quest" for tolerance.

WHAT?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/21/geithner-defends-bank-rescue-program-amid-warnings/

From the article: "Geithner, in prepared testimony, said the new plan 'strikes the right balance' by letting taxpayers share the risk with the private sector while at the same time letting private industry use competition to set market prices for the assets."

Someone please tell me how this is going to help taxpayers.

After the Ice Storm My Son Does Not Come Home

by Diane Lockward

Hours after he stormed out, wind knocks
ice off the roof, startles me awake.
2 AM—light under the door. Not home,
and I'd said no later than midnight.

I practice deep breathing, natural tranquilizer,
five counts in, hold it in the diaphragm,
let it out slowly, repeat five times, relax, and go back
to a sleep without dreams.

It's been so long since I've dreamed,
I'd be grateful now for even that old one
where I show up someplace important, take off my coat,
and I'm in panties and bra, or worse, naked.

And I'm still wondering if he'll be okay,
if he'll ever find his way home,
if maybe I'll be happy when I'm old,
and if I can wait that long.

Hours later I wake and see the first crocus
pushing purple through the sheen of ice.
A day of lifting towards the light,
the delicate petals unfolding.

I want it to be like that for him—
sunlight, the wind will stop blowing,
and he'll find his way home.

report on the Boise, Idaho Tea Party

According to some, I guess I took part in a Right-Wing Extremist activity when I took my three kids to the Boise Tax Day Tea Party, and protested big government spending.

This Idaho Statesman article gives a good summation.

Here's a little less informative one from KTVB.com. Maybe there will be more on the evening news, I did see Ysabel Bilbao there.

Here are some photos. I took some of them, but some of the best shots were by my son Jeff and his friend, Ethan. I used Kannie's idea for a protest sign for my kids.










Some took the opportunity to campaign. Rex Rammel spoke, accounting for his past work, and announcing his next candidacy. I saw Pro-Life there (if you don't know who he is, he ran for U.S. Senate against Risch, Rammel, and LaRocco) talking to people. There were a lot of Ron Paul signs. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I guess I'm not in the mood to listen to campaign promises, I want our leaders to listen to us.

Tea party update

A question from Kannie prompted more research, and I'm learning that the Tax Day Tea Party in Idaho has evolved from a single rally at the Capitol to a March from Ann Morrison Park to the Capitol, with different rally points along the way.

For a map and agenda, go to http://www.teapartyboise.com/page14.php

Tea PARTY!!!

April 15 is Dave's birthday, and he's actually looking forward to turning the big 4-0, because he will finally be DONE with another tax season. A lot of others will be celebrating Dave's birthday in the form of a National Protest! Tea parties are springing up in nearly every city, including the one in which I live. So, from noon to 2 p.m., I'm going to do something I've NEVER done before in my life--become a political activist! And I'm bringing my kids! Should I print off signs for them to carry?

Links about the Tea Party:

Rick Santelli's protest on you tube.

Move Over, Move On!

Freedom Works

Fox forum

Tax Day Tea Party

Tax Day Tea Party, Idaho

http://politicallogos.wordpress.com/national-tea-party/

Fox Forum

Lori Byrd