'Cuz You Had A Bad Day

I hate that American Idol exit song from last year, but it seems appropriate for this picture.

It's Spring Break, so I refuse to take anything too seriously.

Maybe Some of The Right-Wingers Can Explain This To Me

I've written numerous times about how the oil companies are screwing us consumers and in a post called Bend Over and Take It a right winger made the snide comment that I obviously hadn't learned any economics while I was in ed. school.

So maybe that right winger can come back and see how my grasp of it is.

Let's start with supply and demand shall we?

But oil slipped after the Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory report. EIA said crude stocks rose by 3.2 million barrels last week, higher than the 2.4 million barrel increase expected by analysts, according to a Dow Jones poll. Gasoline supplies, attracting more attention as traders anticipate the upcoming summer driving season, rose by 2.3 million barrels. Analysts were expecting a gain of 400,000 barrels. EIA said gas stocks are now above average for this time of year.

That was the 7th week in a row US crude and gasoline supplies have risen.

So apparently, supply and demand is not the answer.

How about the economics of it all? Let's see, it's now costing me $60 a month more to fill my vehicle up with gas. That's $60 I'm not spending anywhere else. But where does that $60 go? Into the bank accounts of Exxon, Shell and other companies, which are experiencing record profits and getting a nice tax break on it all, which their president has pledge to protect.

But the effects don't end there. Not only am I putting an additional $60 a month into oil company profits, I'm also having to pay more for everything I buy, since EVERYTHING we purchase has to be produced and transported using gasoline, oil and diesel.

I wonder what it is costing me total every month? $75? $100?

Is it any wonder the rest of our economy is going down the crapper into what may be the worst recession since the Great Depression?

Explain it for me some of you right wingers.

The Best Dilbert Strip Ever Written

You married guys know what he's talking about.

My Wii Quest Appears To Be Over

Like 50 million other people I've been trying to find a Wii. The local Wal-Mart seems to have them occasionly, but the problem for me is they get them in on a weekday in the morning when I can't go so I had to resort to using the internet.

If you're searching for one check out WiiTracker. It checks all the major sources, lists when they have them in stock, and has a timer that tells you how long its been that they've had them in stock.

I would watch out for the bundle deals. To me (an admitted old fart) they seem to come with games I'm not interested in.

Now to work on my Wii boxing skills.

Failing Charter Schools

The school choice is well funded and has the ear of the media. After all when Bill Gates and Eli Broad call reporters $60 million can buy you alot of attention, so its no big surprise that stories about how often charters fail don't get much attention.

This past week in Texas News 8 in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area obtained information with this telling statistic about charter schools:

According to the Texas Education Agency, one out of every six is a failure.

In another state with a long running charter program, Ohio, the charters are even worse, with traditional public schools outperformed charter schools on all 28 state achievement tests with an average difference in proficiency levels of nearly 26 percentage points.. In fact, 58% of all Ohio charter schools have been rated deficient, compared to only 10% of regular public schools.



But yet politicians, mostly Republican, continue to clamor for more charter schools. And as always, the evil teachers' unions are to blame.

Nose Hair Trimmer of the Gods

Sometimes, in the mornings before I've had my coffee, I have some REALLY weird thoughts. But as Dave Barry always says, "Wouldn't that be a great name for a band?"

We won't discuss what I was doing but all I want to know is, how come hair grows everywhere but the top of my head?

I've Been Flamingoed

A local religious school, that my neighbor's daughter attends, has figured out a unique way to raise money. First they load someone's yard up with pink flamingos, then charge them $25 to remove them and plant them in someone else's yard.

The money will go for a trip to Washington, D.C.

Just A Laugh For Today

Let's Take Care of What's Really Important

As teachers we've listened to years of political hacks telling us how important standardized tests were, how schools needed their feet held to the fire and how if it wasn't measured it wouldn't improved.

Well, Texas politicians and school officials have proven that tests are not really that important. Seems there was a little problem in scheduling. Texas primaries were scheduled on the same day as TAKS testing in the schools, and since a large number of polling places are in schools school officials and the governor decided to reschedule the mostly pointless primaries.

Just kidding of course. Instead they moved the all important, schools have to be accountable through standardized test, TAKS test to a day later.


Via the Corsicana Daily Sun.

Teacher Loses Award For Refusing To Miss 2 Days of School

It sounds like something from a cheesy Hollywood movie or TV show, but an East Texas teacher is missing out on a prestigious award because he refuses to miss 2 days of school to attend a mandatory "conference".

Via the Lufkin Daily News comes this story about high school Math instructor Bill Newell. Mr. Newell was, in effect, selected as one of the 10 best teachers in the state of Texas by the University of Texas.

The award came with a catch:

Newell learned that, in order to receive the award, he had to attend the conference.

"They didn't say anything about that in their application," he said. "I thought it was a no-win situation. If I didn't go, I wouldn't get the award. If I did go, I didn't think it would be fair to my students. My students depend on me to be here every day. They always say to me, 'What will we do if you're not here?' I get that all the time, because they're so used to seeing me all the time."

Not wanting to miss his classes, Newell explained the situation to award administrators to no avail.

Mr. Newell will also have to forfeit a $2250 cash award for his refusal to miss 2 days of work.

It sounds like some people at the University of Texas has their priorities a little messed up, doesn't it?

More Holiday Laughs

Merry Christmas To All

Here's a few classic moments from my favorite Christmas movie.

A Sign Your Computer Is REALLY Messed Up

Another Big-Hearted Corporate Policy We Can All Look Forward To

Say you're injured in a crash that is not your fault. Luckily, you have health insurance provided in part through your employer, and although you're permanently injured you're fortunate enough to receive a settlement from the other driver's insurance company that will pay for your longterm care.

Unfortunately for you, your employer's deal with the health insurance provider allows them to sue you to recover the cost of your medical care after the insurance, and the so called "conservative" federal judges, who are just as pro-corporation as the rest of the Republicans, have backed them up with rulings allowing them to do so.

Think it couldn't happen to you? Well, it happened to this woman, courtesy of everyone's favorite mega-discounter.

A collision with a tractor-trailer seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved.

After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Deborah Shank's care.

Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Deborah's former employer, Wal-Mart Stores.

Two years ago, the retail giant's health plan sued the Shanks for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care. A federal judge ruled last year in Wal-Mart's favor, backed by an appeals-court decision in August. Now, Deborah's family has to rely on Medicaid and her Social Security payments to keep up her round-the-clock care.

To add a little salt to your wounds, you'll also be responsible for all legal fees incurred getting the settlement.

It's a wonderful world. Remember, this is also the country where Bush's Supreme Court ruled cities can seize your property for the sole purpose of turning it over to some corporations.

For My Frozen Colleagues To The North

Ice storms seem to have taken control of some parts of the country, even reaching into Oklahoma just north of us and home to Ms. Cornelius of A Shrewdness of Apes. Here in Texas its been hot, some days reaching 80 degrees.

So here's a little song and video for all you frozen Yankees.

Thanks For The Memories, And The Toxic Poisons In Our Children's Toy

A big Xmas thank you to all those corporations with hearts of gold. Turns out they've been flooding the US with toys containing dangerous levels of lead and other toxic chemicals. In a recent study:

Only 20 percent of the toys and other products had no trace of lead or harmful chemicals, according to the results being released Wednesday by the Michigan-based Ecology Center along with the national Center for Health, Environment and Justice and groups in eight other states.

For more information you can visit the The Consumer Action Guide to Toxic Chemicals in Toys.

Looks like many of these companies are interested in being "green", just not in the right way.

My 50, 000th Visitor

Sometime today I officially passed the 50, 000 visitor mark, according to my sitemeter stats. This may not be a big number for some of the big name sites, but I feel like it is significant.

Checking back through my visits I found my 50, 000 visitor was from all places, the offical Government of Ireland website.

Hmmm, I wondered if a government was monitoring my site. I just didn't think it was the government of Ireland.

Oh well, to my 50, 000th and all of my other visitors, thanks for stopping in and please leave a comment or two to let me know who you are.

An Absolutely Awesome Quote

I don't know who to credit it to but here it is:

"It's a shame stupidity isn't painful"

Bushwhacked

I've been reading the book Bushwhacked by the late Molly Ivins in which she chronicles the corruption in the Bush Administration. As a teacher her chapters on NCLB were especially interesting but I disagree with her take on how the law came to pass.

Ted Kennedy is portrayed as being duped by Bush, that all he wanted to do is help America's poor children get a good education. I say that's all BS.

Ted Kennedy is a rich and privileged. If he ever set foot in a public school it was for a photo op. By helping draft NCLB he was simply looking out for his other rich and privileged friends.

The rich and the privileged, the politically connected, look out for each other. None of them really give a damn about America's children when there's money for them and their friends to be made.

One need only read an account of Teddy's flight from Chappaquidik, like this one from Leo Damore, to see what an uncaring, spoiled jackass Ted Kennedy is. Of course, you also have to question the intelligence of the people who keep re-electing him.

Pearson and ETS Lobbyist Is Dissing Texas Schools . . .Now For The REST of The Story

ETS and Pearson lobbyist Sandy Kress has been getting alot of press regarding his sham study of Texas schools, claiming they are not preparing Texas students for college. Of course, I have to wonder why anyone would care what Sandy Kress has to say, especially when he's bad mouthing the public schools, since he helped turn them into what they are.

From his official ETS bio:

He has served on two statewide committees to recommend improvements to Texas public education. His practice focuses on public law and policy at the state and national levels.
Appointed in 1998 by Governor George W. Bush, Mr. Kress serves on the Education Commission of the States. He has also served as counsel to the Governor's Business Council and Texans for Education, and as a member of the Texas Business & Education Coalition and the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board, which will spend more than $1.5 billion over the next 10 years to bring technology to Texas schools.

Mr. Kress was appointed by Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock to the Educational Economic Policy Center. He was later asked to chair the Center's Accountability Committee. This committee produced the public school accountability system that was later adopted into Texas state law and recognized as one of the most advanced accountability systems in the nation. Mr. Kress was also appointed by Lieutenant Governor Bullock to serve on the Interim Committee to study the Texas Education Agency.

As a Texas parent and educator, I sure feel better that the man who has helped run the public schools into the ground is now coming out and saying they're no good.

Of course one of the Dallas Morning News' lazy reporters couldn't bother to do a little checking up on Mr. Kress before writing this story, giving Kress plenty of free press to bad mouth the schools without ever mentioning he's been doing his best to mess them up.

By the way, the lazy reporter's email is tstutz@dallasnews.com. I hope you'll take some time to drop him an email and tell him what you think about his story.

And if you want to read more about Sandy Kress, the man who crafted NCLB, there's this Texas Observer piece. Here's a lovely tidbit to show you just what a great guy he is:

However, black school board members saw accountability as an attempt to undermine the city’s 1974 desegregation order, which allotted extra money and resources to Dallas’s historically neglected black schools. Kress did torpedo several key components of the desegregation order, heading efforts that slashed more than $15 million from bond proposals for a magnet school in a mostly black part of town. He also sought to limit the money spent on “learning centers” meant to reverse the city’s busing policy by bringing black students back into their own neighborhoods. As board president, Kress brought a hardball style of politics to what had been a sleepy municipal body; black board members accused him of meeting in secret with favored board members and manipulating the board’s committee system to dilute the minority vote. Secretly taped conversations alleged to be between Kress and fellow board member and political ally Dan Peavy supported the accusations. Peavy used racial slurs when describing plans to curb the influence of black board members. Kress’s identity on the tapes was never confirmed, but soon after they came to light in 1995, he announced he would not run for another term as board president.

Now, doesn't that sound like just the kind of person we should be listening to?