In an attempt to encourage those who are prone to drop out of school, bad math is being used to promote good math. In a recent article from the Associated Press found here, a private firm is attempting to pay at-risk students to get good grades in math and science.

Forty students at Bear Creek Middle School and Creekside High School, both in the Atlanta suburb of Fairburn, began participating in the program Tuesday. The eighth- and 11th-graders chosen had to be underperforming in math and science, and many are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches.

The hope is that the bribes will boost students' motivation to learn, attend class and get better grades.

Aside from the hourly wage, eighth-graders will get a $75 bonus, and 11th-graders $125, if they improve their math and science grades to a B and achieve certain test scores. For the older kids, that adds up to $605 for a semester of studying.

Cushman said the initiative is aimed at math and science because many student struggle in those subjects even if they excel in others.

That would be an income of $1210 for the school year. The fear is these children may select a minimum wage job over studying. Hmmm, try selling this to kids who live on a farm. They have their farm duties and are expected to perform well in school. It is this silly thing called hard work.

Now let us do a tidbit of math. Working a part-time minimum wage job can net you around $140 a week when you factor in 20 hours of work at $7 an hour. The standard school year lasts 38 weeks with Winter and Spring breaks factored in. So 38 weeks times $140 equals $5320 just for during the school time. Feel free to adjust the hours and wage but it will still equal more than $1210. We are also not factoring in work done in the summer vacation months and the bonus of staying with a business for a few years in a row. Sounds like bad math to me.

How about we do something silly in the math and science areas? How about we remove the paradoxes, fuzzy math, and poor logic skills taught from the curriculum and see if that makes a difference? It did in my daughter and in a number of students I’ve tutored. Same positive effects are found in other nations that focus on the facts. What a concept that is.

Minor detail in these other countries too. When you get home from school, you work hard to carry your load of the duties around the house which you do not get monetary rewards for doing. It is your duty as a child to do them so your parents can focus on doing strange things such as earning money to put food on the table as there is no government assistance. As the phrase goes, hard work is its own reward. In many other countries, education is viewed as the pathway to greater financial gain but not like this.

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From the perspective of a husband, sometimes you may be led to believe your wife has a temporary bipolar condition when it is that time of the month. Well, that would not be a truthful assumption.

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as Manic depression, is quite a bit different than such a short time period. (pun intended) Currently, it is being heavily diagnosed almost to the level ADHD was diagnosed for the past few decades. Like all issues in life, caution has to be put into place to not misdiagnose because of a current fad.

So how can you the layperson know if you or your child is bipolar or not? The same answer applies to all issues and that is to get solid information that you know to be comprehensive and accurate.

From personal experience, I know 3-4 persons who truly have the bipolar disorder in my life. Dealing with them can be a roller coaster ride and it does cause a fair amount of strain on family ties and friendships. Also, as a former teacher of the Emotionally Disturbed, I’ve dealt with this directly with children. As with many issues, bipolar ranges in severity and in my opinion medication should be avoided if at all possible.

No matter the situation though information is crucial and the linked website carries a lot of it. So if you or someone you know may have the disorder, study to double check the accuracy and to be prepared. I grew up with a sibling with the bipolar disorder before it was diagnosed. Information would have gone a long ways in helping out.

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In some of my previous entries, I have made a statement of how opposed I am of semantics and how destructive they are in the education process and curriculum. I’m going to highlight a current example of just how messed up semantics can make a topic by using a recent buzz topic of immigration.

Now to make my stance on the topic very clear, my wife and I are in the final stages of her immigration to the United States as my wife. Since we live in Wisconsin, that puts us in the zone of the Nebraska Service Center which is considered one of the slowest if not the slowest immigration processing centers. The process is long and at time frustrating which I will specify in a bit. We are for the legal immigration process and for a few tweaks to streamline it. Are we for a complete overhaul and giving a free pass to those millions who are here illegally? Absolutely not.

In school, we teach the children “pro” means in support of and “anti” means you are opposed to a topic. Pro brings positive connotations and anti brings negative connotations. But the debate about becomes are you pro-immigration or anti-immigration. The catch is pro-immigration does not mean you are pro but anti. Anti-immigration does not mean you are anti-immigration but actually for it or pro.

One would conclude that my wife and I are pro-immigration as we are going through it right? Wrong, we would be labeled as anti-immigration. This logic is on display at this website. Those who are deemed “pro-immigration” are opposed to the current policies in place which we are going through. Instead they are for what has been labeled the “Amnesty Plan.” That would make them by the standard definitions anti-immigration as they are opposed to the current system.

Those who are negatively labeled “anti-immigration” are actually for the current system of legal immigration. By the standard definitions that would make them pro-immigration. But individuals who are conservative such as American born Michelle Malkin, whose parents are legal immigrants from the Philippines, are called anti-immigration to attach a negative connotation as opposed to those deemed “immigration rights activists.”

If you needed to re-read that a few times, welcome to the club. That is the lesson on semantics and how confusing and messed up they make issues. Now if a college educated person has to pause to keep score, what chance do children have when they are exposed to such semantics in the curriculum?

Now back to what I said I would specify on the immigration process. When you follow the laws as they are written, you expect those processing the paperwork to know their jobs and the laws they are enforcing. This can be very frustrating as the local immigrations office is not following the same guidelines as the Service Center. Inside the Service Center, they are debating what rules to follow. Calling the national immigration line doesn’t help as the supervisors are less aware of the rules than their subordinates. We had to invoke the assistance of our US Representative to make all of them follow the same 2 pages.

Now on behalf of those who follow the law and subject ourselves to the arduous process and scrutiny, it is very insulting to be labeled “anti-immigration” when all we want is for everyone to follow the law with no short-cuts for anyone. What is needed is an overhaul of the training and oversight segment to make certain our public servants are all on the same page.

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Anyone who reads my blog knows I’ve got a disability that impacts my mobility. Add in a couple of sensitive elbows and a wife that is a hair over 5’ tall and just over 110 and furniture acquisitions become a challenge.

Do I have the power to haul that stuff into the home? Sure I do. I haven’t lost my raw power my frame gives me but too much weight or too many footsteps and my elbows and ankles are toast. That piece of furniture becomes many times more expensive as I acquire the chiropractic medical bills to reassemble me.

So what avenue do I take? Like most online tech heads, I do like to visit furniture stores from time to time. I like to see the choices up close and personal, sit on the chairs, lay on the beds then get the make and model number to hop online to order it.

Whether it is home entertainment furniture to spice up the living room, a new couch or bed to prevent those springs from popping and getting us in the back, I will always choose a primary option over the rest. Now why this site over others?

US Platinum White Glove Delivery Service is the reason why. Direct delivery combined with furniture assembly and placement along with box and debris removal makes for 5 celebrating joints and a happy spine.

Ah, the smell of new furniture without the smell of the joint pain cream.

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I’ve heard of having prepared or scripted answers to anticipated questions and that makes sense. But you don’t try to squish them all together to form an answer to an unrelated question. It just makes one sound…well… like a blonde teenager. Forgive me for using a stereotype but this one fits.

Okay, background on this one. At the Miss Teen USA contest one contestant was asked a fairly simple question.

“Recent polls have shown that a fifth of Americans cannot locate the USA on a
map. Why do you think this is?”

There are a number of potential answers to demonstrate wisdom and impress the judges. Here are but a few to choose from:

• We Americans have become too preoccupied with our personal lives an interests and need to remember we are part of a greater community. Being a part of the greater community would require solid geographic skills.
• Unfortunately, our public school system has had the wrong focus for a while. Instead on figuring out how children feel about or adding significant unproven information to the curriculum, we should focus on core skills such as geography.
• We need to embrace a thirst for factual knowledge in this nation as opposed to watching sports and other entertainment venues.
• We need to break out of the stereotypical arrogant and ignorant American role and strive to learn about the world we are in with humility.

But what did Lauren Caitlin Upton of South Carolina say? I can’t bring myself to type it. Just watch.

She could have just as easily said she didn’t know the answer as she can’t keep track of the bleach for her hair.

Physical attributes are one thing. But entrants should be screened to make certain the synapses are firing. These events are going to hit the Internet for the whole world to see. Americans have a bad reputation already, publicizing a teenager’s moment of babbling doesn’t help even if it was just a bad moment. Or do we call this a Britney moment?

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The tech bubble burst. The housing market is in a precipitous decline with much more on the horizon. Just wait until the Baby Boomers start downsizing, it will get really fun then.
Now that has rolled over to clock the banking industry on the chin as they take the reaping effect of what they unwisely sowed. The government is in a tizzy trying to find an answer while likely cooking up something else to make it worse. (How much have they gotten right in the last 60 years?)

The economy is now declared in a slowdown, recession or pre-depression depending on who you speak with. And your 401k retirement plan is closer to a 200.5f work for eternity.

Government, business and many individuals alike forgot that old piece of wisdom. Do not spend more than you make. Positive numbers are better than negative. Being in the black is better than in the red. Too much red and you’ll be financially dead. So now we reap what we have sown.

In this time of economic strife, there exists one group that is relatively unaffected by the economic ups and downs. They are the Amish. True, the economy does have an impact on their life but nowhere near the level compared to the rest of society.

I wonder if we can do a middle ground of the Amish lifestyle but still retain electricity and high speed Internet. Hmmm, if not then here is to the Amish as they keep on keeping on. May they keep reaping the crops sown on their fertile land.

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How did I meet my Filipino wife? That is one of the most frequently asked questions I get. Or it is better worded as “How did the two of you meet?”

Without boring you on the details, I got to know someone in the Philippines through one of the dating sites who knew somebody, etc. until the chain of people ended up saying we should talk. So we got to know each other and built a relationship via communication online, met up and now are happily married. Most of our friends found their spouses via online dating.

So which dating website will get you the results you are looking for? I have no idea. But if you are looking to meet singles and screen them, it makes sense to go to a website that details the best of the dating websites. Some of the popular ones are reviewed such as eHarmony and Friend Finder but plenty more are highlighted as well.

Things to look out for when you use one of the sites are to make certain the photo included is actually of the person you are talking too and current, someone isn’t doing the writing for them, and not trying to make a profile or photo become who you want them to be. Take them at face value and go from there. Caution is the key but at least the link included can help solve the first step of which dating site(s) to use.

That said it should be noted that it's absolutely possible to find the love of your life on dating sites. While you should use caution when trying out a dating site, they can prove to be an excellent way to meet new people and hopefully find someone special.

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If you do not live in an area where Amish live, let me explain something to you about them. The Amish or the Mennonites are devout Christians that mind their own business. They do not believe in using technology of the world as they feel it leads to temptations. So they work their land and do nearly all aspects of their life just as most did 500 years ago.

They eschew the trappings of the material world by not using cars, telephones, electricity, or any tech advancement that you can’t make by hand. Then end up being a very hard working people. They mind their own business and are very gentle and kind. They only wish to be left alone to follow their beliefs and go about doing their hard work. You couldn’t find a more peaceful person in America.

So of course, police in Mayfield, KY have decided to take them to task for not accepting the technology they forbid. The entire case that has gone to trial is best summarized in this paragraph:

“During the trial for Jacob Gingerich, Levi Zook and Emanuel Yoder, testimony and arguments boiled down to how to balance Kentucky's law requiring safety symbols on all buggies with religious beliefs that prohibit possessions that are too worldly.”

The DA’s office is taking the stance that it is the law and everyone must follow the law. I find this to be weak on numerous levels. First, as the Amish justly point out, it is a violation of their First Amendment rights. But let us go beyond the standard arguments. Let us use some basic logic.

Let us look at the Amish buggy from the view you would see coming from behind.

A few things pop out really quick and even more so when you are driving and come upon an Amish buggy. The first and foremost thing is it is not a car. It is a horse drawn buggy. It sticks out like a major sore thumb as it is so very different from your surroundings. Next, it has no lights so the color black will not be an issue. If you have no lights, you can’t see where you are going which is why they do not travel at night. Duh.

Now the standard arguments and complaints can be easily dealt with.

• If the other driver says they can’t see the buggy, then they really need to get their vision checked. If they still assert they cannot see the buggy, take their license as they are hazard on the road.
• If the driver says they are irritated because the buggies are slow, do not chastise the Amish. Send that driver for counseling before his / her road rage leads to a heart attack or stroke.
• If someone complains about the Amish buggies clogging up traffic or damaging the roads, send them on a driving tour of Manila or Mexico City. They will have a new found appreciation for the buggies.
• If they do not like an Amish buggy damaging the road, try adding up how much drunk drivers trash with cars, trucks and semi’s.

Lastly, all you would need to do is a very simple thing. Put up a sign. Then leave the peaceful people alone.

So for the police for making an issue out of nothing, I am hereby awarding them with an “Are You Thinking” award for wasting their time, tax payer dollars, and the time of the court for going after peaceful people. Try busting someone who is speeding with a car. They are far deadlier.

Lastly, do not cite that the Amish should follow the law and think a traffic code can trump the supreme law of the land – the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

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In 2001, I had what I called my “Year of Definition.” I really found out what I was made of as a person and as a man as it was one devil of an emotional drain.

No, I am not referring to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. I was emotionally spent when those happened. Instead, I am referring to when I lost my father to a massive cardiac arrest for 12 minutes. Only because my parents lived so close to where the EMT’s were stationed is why he was brought back and I still have my father today.

So I got a crash course on all issues to deal with a Heart Attack and strongly advise everyone else does as well. I strongly recommend checking out the link with the information on heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest.

That one night on June 20, 2001 forever changed me and my life. Get your information so your loved ones will not have to experience losing you.

Knowing the signs of a heart attack, like chest pains and trouble breathing, could be paramount to saving a life. Finding a doctor nearby can be a relief, since they will be on hand for any medical questions about heart attacks and heart disease.

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Now let us turn to Science. Science is about provable facts, observation, experimentation and the scientific method right? Yes and no. Yes, true science is about provable facts, observation, experimentation and what can be demonstrated through the scientific method. You follow the data wherever it leads you. Data can only be acquired via observation and measurement. To paraphrase Michael Crichton, a hypothesis that can’t be tested is meaningless. Makes sense right? No data means it is just another guess. A curriculum based on following the data using logical deduction and induction skills would make sense.

There was a good televised example of this on the Discovery Channel. On Sunday January 13, 2008, there was a 2 part show called JFK: Beyond the Magic Bullet. In that show, they recreated to the absolute finest detail they could the events of the bullet that supposedly made 7 wounds in JFK and the Governor on that fateful day. They were able to recreate 6 of the wounds with a single bullet but the bullet was far more disfigured than the ‘magic bullet.’ They took a written report to a forensic doctor with some information changed to remove potential bias. The doctor’s conclusion was the wounds were made with two bullets. He was amazed when he saw the actual event on videotape. The lesson to be taken is direct observation is always more accurate than opinion.

When it is taught that you have to follow the data but also believe in unsubstantiated, unverifiable hypotheses at the same time in the name of Science, you now have a paradox. Remember that test question in Part I? All of the Origins of Life stories can be construed as myths. But only in the science curriculum is one of the myths purported to be science even though it is the opposite of the core curriculum. Evolution is pushed in the public school curriculum with the requirement that you have to accept that an unobserved, unverifiable chain of hypothetical events with no data to substantiate it is on the same level as observable, verifiable events with data to back them up and call all of it ‘science’.

It doesn’t matter how good a story is in any subject. It is still just a story until there is verifiable evidence to back it up. We can never test the past as we are not there to observe the actual results as the Discovery Channel show demonstrated so well. (Just like the curriculum though, the same channel will do the exact same paradox and attempt to say the unobserved is just as good as the observed on a different show after they get done saying it isn’t.)

What about Math? Of all of the subjects, math is the most logical and straight forward. Either you select and calculate the proper equation correctly or you are wrong. When you teach paradoxes in the rest of the curriculum, math is undone. When you press the fuzzy math, kids will be lost. I’ll detail this in another entry.

In summary, you cannot expect children to become sound logical thinkers when they are taught to believe contradictions and paradoxes. Furthermore, the children are not fully aware the blame for the faulty curriculum rests on the Federal and State Departments of Education as well as the textbook authors and local Curriculum Directors.

Who gets the blame?

The teacher is viewed as the liar and their authority is undermined. When the paradox is exposed in a subject, the most common result is the child will lose interest in the field. In doing so, we are managing to cripple the entire country one child at a time.

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Some may wonder what the heck that title means. Well, it means what it says but I will elaborate because that is what you do in an entry.

Most should know that a paradox is attempting to prove or say something is true and is not true at the same time. In Math Logic, you have managed to prove the argument is written poorly and it is false. 1 = -1 is the basic representation. In a court of law, trying to make such claims would make you a lawyer. Doing so while on the witness stand would get you charged with perjury. In daily life, we call people who knowingly make such claims liars, hypocrites and someone whose word should never be trusted. (Unfortunately, I’m related to 2 of them so I know this well.)

Does this happen in education though? It happens all the time, especially in the public schools. Remember those who dictate the curriculum are not always guided with the intent of teaching factual knowledge but often influencing children’s values. But to do so often forces them to change facts or insert assertions to pose as facts to accomplish their goal. Let us see some examples.

In the past few decades, it has been asserted that our Founding Fathers were atheists and deists. This has either been pushed as a concept or the facts are muted so much that the concept seems to carry weight. However, there are two large problems with this that I’ll point out. One is it is recorded in the Library of Congress that before the Founding Fathers started writing the Constitution, they opened the session with four hours of prayer. The second is found in the Declaration of Independence. The phrases “endowed by their Creator” and “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world” are the key ones. Note both are uppercase making them proper nouns. Also note both “Creator” and “Supreme Judge” is singular. There is only one set of religions that assert a monotheistic creator and judge – the Judeo-Christian faith. It rings hollow that atheists and deists would pray for four hours to a “Supreme Judge” and “Creator” of the Judeo-Christian faith.

That is what is commonly asserted in Social Studies along with the “wall of separation of church and state” taken out of context (also known as lying). If the Founding Fathers prayed to and cited the Creator, God, and Supreme Judge in one of our two most important government and historical documents, somehow it is hard to press the concept they meant for government to be silent on the topic.

Another example I will take straight out of my daughter’s History text book and a question on a test. As I detailed before in Inconsistent History Lessons in 1^st Grade, the curriculum asserts the speculations of ‘experts’ of how nomads traveled to the Fertile Crescent and founded the first city in Jericho and later on founded cities in India and China. Of course, this is clarified by saying they have no documentation to support any of it and are basing their opinions on some archaeological finds. They also make it clear that without documentation our knowledge is incomplete.

Translation: They made up a story to explain how things came to be.

Problem: The entire curriculum is undone in a Unit 5 test question. It reads:

“What do we call stories that explain how things came to be?”

Answer: Myths

This is why provable facts are so essential. Or any ‘myth’ can be asserted as fact. The defense of “the children won’t know” is a horrid argument. (Yes, that is the defense I got of the curriculum.) That is saying ‘Yes, we are misleading and lying to your kids but they are too young to know we are manipulating them.’ If that was said in a court regarding a business doing the exact same thing, the plaintiff would be awarded a massive lawsuit.

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Guten tag!! Wie geht’s! Sprechen Sie deutsch? Nein?

Well then, you need to brush up on your German then. Way back in high school, I took 4 years of German classes. Now there really is no substitute in learning a language by living in the culture where it is spoken. Especially when it is your only choice to find where the bathroom is or basic communication with people, but there are times when you need to know the phrases and pronunciation ahead of time.

So to that extent, you can study up on available websites as to what the words are. When you do English to German translations though, one of the more difficult aspects of the German language is the word “the. “ Here it is used for any given noun that isn’t a person’s name. However, in the German language you will need to learn which noun is feminine, masculine or gender neutral.

So study up and viel glück!

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Tra la, la la la la, la la la la. Need more hints? Think blue and white standing three apples high. Yes, I am dating myself but I just have to have some fun. I’m a kid of the 80’s and I’m having a blast with all of the things I grew up on going to the big screen.

I read the entire Chronicles of Narnia back then. Now we get the second installment of Prince Caspian.

On the ‘real’ side, Knight Rider is returning with a new KITT. I do miss my Airwolf. Street Hawk took the motorcycle category.

A-Team just can’t be duplicated. Quantum Leap was always cool. But Star Trek: The Next Generation dominated the TV Sci Fi. Dukes of Hazard was a fun country show. Greatest American Hero was a favorite of mine – I still want the red suit. MacGyver was my hero. But it was the cartoons that were the best.

Transformers and Optimus Prime were always far better than the Gobots and Leader-1. The movie beats the current cartoon versions. You don’t call out your attack and prep your opponent. Get better writers. Generation 1 will always be the best of the animated. Robotech Macross was cool just hard to find.

He-Man was just sad but I watched it. The Thunder Cats were cool. I must admit a guilty pleasure in watching Dungeons and Dragons. GI Joe had the clarion call of “Knowing is half the battle.” Saturday mornings were not complete without the Super Friends. With the best human cartoon being Battle of the Planets (Okay, that was in the late 70’s.)!

Can you name which show these lines from songs belonged too?

“Believe it or not, I’m walking on air”

“More than meets the eye.”

“Just the Good ole boys, never meaning any harm”

But what about “Tra la, la la la la, la la la la”? Stumped? Or did you figure it out? Yes, Papa Smurf, Smurfette and Brainy are coming to the big screen. Just where are they going to get all those other female Smurfs from? Get your Smurf Berry pie ready!!

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Nope, this isn’t some political commentary but about daily life. We all have pain in our lives. Sometimes it is emotional pain, sometimes it is mental (like trying to comprehend your in-laws), but most often it is physical pain.

There are a number of options available for pain relief and being a guy with a variety of body parts giving me reports of when they are not working right, I do look at my pain relief options.

Normally, I suck it up and just deal with it. But there are times when the body parts compound to the point of costing me my sleep. Some other times, I just do what I have to do around the house as situations so dictate and I feel it later.

Of the variety of options available, I try to avoid ingested or injected pain relievers and prefer the topical and non-invasive methods. Now my in-laws on my wife’s side are mostly good people with wisdom to share. My wife’s mom has suggested we use Salonpas Pain Relief and my wife stands by it. That is good enough for me.

I just wonder if I can use one of the Salonpas pain relief patches to slap it on the forehead of my brother’s soon to be ex-wife. It would be a big pain relief to many of us. But until studies show it can make my in-laws sane, I’ll stick to helping out my elbows, hips and ankles.

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In this installment of Are You Thinking, the new winners of this award go out to the Bush Administration, Brit Hume and many members of the Republican Presidential nominees. Normally, I will avoid politics in this blog but the media have really trumped up the stupidity level.

I am referring to the Iranian speedboat “threat” and the taped threats issued that is currently being used as more saber-rattling this time on the side of a few in the Pentagon and in the Bush Administration.

First, I must question if anyone involved has ever been in a speedboat or for that matter an open fishing boat. It seems like all involved went out to lunch on this one. Anyone who has even gone fishing on a lake can tell you it is noisy inside a boat going over the water with its motor running. The slap of the waves against the hull, the wind whistling in your face, the roar of the engine all drown out everything except the shouting back and forth. When you listen to the verbal “threats,” there is no background noise.

Furthermore, the “heavy accent” as purported by the media and the Administration has me questioning another crucial detail. Has any member of the media, the editors, journalists or any advisors to the President ever worked in a call center? The supposed “heavy accent” sounded more like a guy playing an “I’m gonna get you” game with his kid than a Middle Eastern accent. Now reports are out this may be a heckler.

Now, I’m not defending the often overblown statements of the Iranian leaders but please. Who in the Bush Admin thought this was a good idea to publish this information as something to use against the Iranians? It is quite lame and reminiscent of a certain info campaign a few years back regarding Iran’s neighbor and WMD’s.

Next part, who is going to accept five 2-man speedboats are a major threat to a US Destroyer class warship? The Iranians are not going to take the first shot and give the US justification to counter. They might be trying to bait the US into shooting at them to show US as the aggressor. But I would give 5 frogs a better chance at surviving a stampede of panicked elephants than 5 speedboats against a Destroyer and supporting vessels.

Let’s see….Note the two person boat on the right nearer to the camera for size comparison.

or

Now where to Brit Hume and the Republican Presidential candidates get the award? Cause they didn’t use their brains either and went for the easy cheap shots on Dr. Ron Paul.

He was one of few to not go for the easy sound bite of ‘sending the Iranians straight to Hell’ or ‘sending them to get their 40 virgins’. Instead he was the only one who pointed out what a ridiculous non-story this whole topic is.

Why was this non-story ever released by the Bush Admin? So Brit Hume, the rest of the Republican presidential nominees gets the Are You Thinking award for opening their mouth before using their grey matter. The Bush Admin gets the award for just pulling a lame bone-head attempt at causing issues. Give it a rest already.

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In this entry, I will dive further into why I am so passionate about keeping our education for our children to the facts and not opinions in any field.

Nineteen years ago, I did as many other high school kids did and sat in the office with the Guidance Counselor to try and determine which career path would be best for me. You sit in the office taking this test and that one and they try to guide you do the right career choice. (In hindsight, I now find that to be one of the most asinine methods of deciding your future but that’s a different entry.) I was directed down the path of being an Engineer. My mother wanted me to be an Accountant.

Note to all parents do not expect a child to hold your interest in jobs. Nothing against accountants, but it was just too dull of a job. Yes, I knew I needed to stay off of my feet but not that.

But I chose to become an Engineer and attend UW- Platteville. I lasted one year in the Engineering program and realized I wanted more interaction with people so I shifted to Education. In hindsight, that was a good choice as I learned while on a sales support job for engineering software.

What my Guidance Counselor did not know was the supposed ‘solid’ future for Engineers was about to evaporate. The advice I was given was based on charts and surface information at the time. I’m glad I did not travel that path.

What happened were the school systems in Jordan, India, Japan and a few other select Middle Eastern / Asian countries started to produce high amounts of highly skilled Engineers of all types and IT sector personnel. This combined with ERP software which enabled better reporting for large companies and the growth of the Product Lifecycle Management software on the engineering and software side started to relegate the location of engineers and IT staff to being irrelevant. Companies started to export engineering jobs as the Internet and specially designed software allowed projects to be worked on 24/7 and often for lower cost.

The result created a significant downturn in the number of available stateside engineering jobs. Now, the IT sector is often dominated by immigrants often from the same Middle Eastern / Asian countries. Why is it? I would contend they do not waste time on teaching feelings, trying to challenge parents for who should control value systems in children, and filling our children up with the bias of a few ‘experts’ over facts and solid logic.

How is education and economic stability tied together? The USA will only continue to improve its economic standard or dig out of debt if we can continue to compete for these now global jobs. We also have to create new industry subsets but that will only come from using facts and not semantics and programmed bias.

The USA is being left behind in this dynamic global economy. We do not have time to teach opinions, irrational thinking and poor logic. So a fight for down to earth factual standards is necessary or the opinions of the ‘experts’ will take down the economic stability of the USA one generation at a time. The process is already 3 generations in. Scientific knowledge has been FUBARed in the public schools. Math skills are lacking as demonstrated with a country not knowing red numbers are bad, black numbers are good. History and social sciences have also been hijacked and the list goes on and on.

The time bomb is ticking for the USA as the timer was set off decades ago. When will it reach critical mass and go boom?

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In the presidential debates, there are a variety of candidates and many, many more opinions about them. One candidate is using a term “blowback” which it seems many of the other candidates, lots of talking heads and individuals just do not seem to understand. Due to this misunderstanding, some describe the candidate Ron Paul as a nutjob.

I’m a skeptic of anything said online and especially on the TV. Instead, I like to get my info straight from the source and dig into it for greater understanding. Before passing judgment on a candidate, do so being informed of their stances on issues and check for consistency in their statements and voting record. Whether or not you like Dr. Paul’s stance on issues, he is remarkably consistent. But what is a “blowback”?

Roughly you can define a “blowback” to mean an unintended result of an action taken with a specific result in mind normally controlling some other person, country or entity. Often, the unintended result is due to a lack of understanding of the situation, culture, or ignorance and arrogance resulting in a cause-effect scenario with the instigator getting more than they expected. Do these ever happen? In daily individual life, they happen a lot. I shall present a few examples.

Cause: A bully decided he was annoyed with my brother in Jr. High and decided to beat up my brother who was decidedly smaller than him. Additionally, due to his parents’ stature in the community the bully thought he could do as he wished.

Reality: Too provide my ADHD brother with control and focus, my parents provided him with lessons in Tae Kwon Do. He became attained the brown belt status.
Unintended ‘blowback’ result: The bully received a broken collar bone, suspended for 3 days, and got a royal lecture from his father.

Cause: My sister married into a rather controlling set of in-laws. The mother-in-law and sister-in-law would continually tell her how to be a parent, how to clean, what job she had to get, how long she would have to work, how to treat their son, etc. (He sat around the house barking out orders.)

Reality: My sister has a short fuse and is quick to fight verbally and other nasty non-physical ways. When she starts, she will not relent until years after the individual has retreated.

Unintended ‘blowback’ result: Family feud. It is my sister versus his family in a fight to the finish. Their marriage is in financial ruin and a divorce looming on the horizon.

Cause: A husband makes what he thinks is a funny albeit sarcastic joke.

Reality: His wife is 1 day removed from the start of her period.

Unintended ‘blowback’ result: He grabs a blanket and pillow as he’s sleeping on the couch for a week.

But does this ever happen in history? Are there any examples at all of blowback in real history on a large scale? Yes. History is replete with numerous examples but I shall give one most are familiar with.

Cause: A vast kingdom ruled from a distant nation has colonies on numerous continents and exerts military control as well as taxation, religious controls, and attempts to control daily life.
Reality: The populace in these colonies becomes increasingly agitated with the controls as many moved there to escape the control.

Unintended ‘blowback’ result: A document called the Declaration of Independence was created and the American Revolutionary War began. Eventually, the British Empire crumbled.
Are ‘blowbacks’ real? They definitely are.

Can the decisions of American Presidents and Congress create ‘blowbacks’? Of course, it would be arrogant and ignorant to think otherwise. How much have they gotten right versus gotten wrong?

Is there validity to Dr. Paul’s blowback claims? From a neutral standpoint, it is highly probable.

We have 2 ears and 2 eyes and only one mouth. Our information input should be 4 times than our verbal output. It is better to shut up, look and listen so you can understand than to blow out hot air and pick a fight. Blowhards get blowback.

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Have you ever seen a flying octopus? How about a flying squid or better yet a flying Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni? How can an octopus or a colossal squid fly? They fly just like paper for a homeschooled kid.

Confused yet? Paper for a homeschooled kid, octopus and a colossal squid all fly using an ink jet. For all of them, there is a limit and that is when the ink runs out. Usually by then, the octopus has scurried away to safety. The colossal squid has avoided being lunch for a sperm whale. But the homework still needs printing for your child.

So it is time get a new ink cartridge for your printer. Personally, I’ve got an HP PSC 1410 three in one that requires specific ink cartridges. You could shout out across the street “Hey Brother, do you have any refills for your Canon?” But then you might get the police called for saying the word Canon then you’ll have to experience their ink blotter. At least you could get your photo printed using laser toner at the station. But I digress from octopus, squid and homeschooled kids.

Now since homeschooled kids have the greatest flexibility in scheduling, just think of how bummed you will be when you can’t print out that picture of your son or daughter catching a colossal squid in the Antarctic Ocean just because of low printer toner cartridges. It is best to have a good source to keep the cost down and the ink handy. Somehow, I don’t think the octopus or squid will help you there.

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Depending on your take regarding the recall abilities of people, you can find beliefs range from “Nobody” has a photographic memory to various psychologist babblings and on and on. Anyone so presumptuous who wants to claim anything all inclusive such as all, everyone or nobody has a major uphill argument to prove. Just 1 example is enough to make the statement false. Also, have they tested all 6.6 billion living people on the planet in a neutral non-cultural biased manner? Have they tested all of those who have passed away? What about the millions and millions who do not want to subject themselves to tests?

So those grandiose statements can be discarded quickly. Most psychological babbling and therapist ‘expertise’ has long been found wanting by me. I am not impressed with the majority of it. A 6 month survival trip to the Philippines or a third world country of your choice without your money would be more than sufficient to teach people to suck it up. Shrinks and therapists would not be needed.

But back to the topic at hand, total recall. I’ll let the talking heads debate. But I know what I can do and have done. When I am paying attention, I mentally videotape (burn to mental Blue-Ray?) the activity I am in. I have used this skill in classes recreating the answer I needed on a test by calming down, focusing on what the teacher said and wrote on the board. I got a 100% on a test no one else did of the couple hundred who took it and the years of students before. I’ve also found out that I am much better at sitting in the front row of a college class all semester, not taking notes and just paying complete attention to the professor. At the end of the class, I duplicated all of his lectures word for word on the essay exam. It annoyed the hell out of my classmates and dorm buddies. I never studied once for that class.

If you are able to remember everything you learn, your test taking skills must be above par for most students. You may even be able to get an online education and retain what you read. Online college courses are a great way to learn in your spare time!

So is it a blessing? Yes, it is a blessing to remember all the way back to when I was 3 in detail. I draw upon those memories and lessons to project myself back into my own childhood to best answer issues of the day. I haven’t forgotten life as a child. I can see things from the viewpoint of a child because of this skill. It is very helpful on trivial answers and remembering all of those small lines that inspired me that people never knew were important and so on.

Is it a curse too? I can also remember in vivid detail coming home from college to see my grandfather’s corpse. I remember every detail of my dog slowly dying, of watching my father die, be brought back by the paramedics and his coma, every bit of torture my siblings put me through. So yes, it is a curse too.

So is it good or bad? I think it is good to have such recall. Memories are a reflection of events that have made us who we are today. What you do with them is based on your attitude. There is nothing more harmful than a negative attitude. Positive is always better. And no, there are no meds for a lousy attitude. Except maybe a survival trip to a third world country. Humility gained from the butt whooping of life there helps you cherish what you have here – provided you remember it.

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This time, we travel not too far from where I live to award the latest “Are You Thinking” award. Located up in Sheboygan, WI an example of nearly unfathomable stupidity took place. A 30 year old guy broke into a home with a mother and 2yr old daughter at home to steal money from the 2 yr olds piggy bank.

“SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - A man has been charged with sneaking into a toddler's bedroom and stealing $20 from a piggy bank while the 2-year-old girl slept. Authorities say DNA evidence linked Ryan A. Mueller, 30, of Sheboygan Falls to the crime that occurred Aug. 10 in Wilson.

Authorities say the girl's mother was in another room with another child when she saw a light turn on in her 2-year-old daughter's room. She walked into the girl's bedroom and saw a man shaking the piggy bank as the girl slept.

The man fled before police arrived, stealing the money but leaving the piggy bank. Authorities say blood was found on a window blind where the burglar had forced his way into the home.

Mueller was charged Thursday with felony burglary, which carries a
penalty of up to 9 1/2 years in prison. His bond was set at $10,000, and a preliminary hearing was set for next Wednesday. Messages left Friday for his defense attorney, the prosecutor in the case and for Mueller at the jail were not immediately returned.”

A 2 yr olds piggybank!!! We can only hope this guy was on drugs that led him to think he could get any kind of substantial amount of money from a 2 yr olds piggybank. Otherwise, he has to rank as one of the dumbest criminals to date. Then again, looking at his AP wire photo he might not have been on drugs. Are his synapses firing?

For trying to take money from a baby, he deserves the “Are You Thinking?” award. Now, do I need to acquire safety measures for my 6 yr old daughter’s “Incredibles bank?” She likes Violet so maybe we can install a force field projector inside of it.

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