It's About The Candidate-Not the Party

Here we are, three days after election day and the airwaves and printing presses are still abuzz about the so-called Republican sweep. In some cases as in Newtown and other Connecticut communities there was indeed a Republican sweep. There was also a couple of cases where Republican governors unseated a sitting democrat. All of this is true but where it starts to go awry is the analysis of election day results and the conclusions drawn by a number of newspapers and cable news stations. To suggest that this happened because of wide-spread dissatisfaction with the Obama administration is ridiculous. Can you imagine someone electing a Republican First Selectman in a small town for that reason? Please! I am convinced that where it comes to local and by-and-large state elections, the voters consider the candidate, not his or her party. Granted, in national elections the political party probably plays a more prominent role. So stop gloating, jerks. It's not about your party. It's about the candidate.

Yet Another Great Day

Every day I get to spend with grand children is a great day and yesterday was no exception. Yesterday I got to spend the day with my 5 year old grand daughter at the Peabody Museum. We visit every exhibit with special emphasis on the infectious diseases section which holds special interest for Brooke. On the way home she treated me to lunch which she thought was the neatest thing! After reading about the amount of money spent on the recent elections (NYC Mayor Bloomberg spent $140 million of his own money), I was reminded that it really doesn't take a whole lot of money to have a good time. This is an ideal that seems to be lost in current American culture. Too bad. I'm sure people who haven't learned this lesson are finding these difficult economic times even more stressful.

A Grandparent's Dilemma

Very often when I'm baby sitting for my grand children, I'm transported back to the days when my own kids were their age. I often ask myself, 'what would I do?' Then I remember that they're not mine and I recast the question to 'what would their parents want me to do?' The answer to both questions is usually the same. Take for example a situation that occurred today. I was at the bus stop with my 3 year old grand daughter waiting for her sister to come home from kindergarten. With us was my daughter's neighbor and her two children-a little boy and girl about the same age as my two grand daughters. The neighbor's children kept playing in the road on the corner, throwing leaves at each other. Their mother kept telling them to move to a safer location, but they ignored her. Of course my granddaughter thought it would be OK for her to be there too but being the nervous Nelly I am, I told her to stay on the grass. She, like her little friends, ignored me so I picked her up and brought her back with me. That in turn led to a very loud outburst of tears and protests. Nevertheless, as uncomfortable as it was, I stuck to my guns and eventually she calmed down and accepted the fact that she wasn't going to play in the road. There are many times when parents (and grand parents) have to exercise common sense where others are not and do what they think is right. It reminds me of all those times when teenagers protest 'but everyone's parents let them do it!!' The lesson to be learned is stick to your guns. The kids will get over it and you will have done the right thing.

Who Blogs?

This morning I noticed that I hadn't written a blog piece in several days. I was trying to think of something I could blog about. There were the usual suspects like my grand children, my day subbing, national politics, some piece of local trivia that agitated me for some reason, general observations about the human condition, volunteering experiences, etc. But I wanted to do something fresh and I couldn't think of anything so I decided to check out other blogs to see what other people say. According to information from the Google Blogspot information page there are anywhere between ten to fifteen million bloggers out there. That's just on the Google blogspot! That doesn't count millions of others that blog on other kinds of websites. That's a LOT of people. So what are they saying that's so important? Well, after reading many of them (not millions but a lot) I discovered that most people blog about....their families, their jobs, national politics, local trivia, general observations about the human condition and volunteering experiences! So I guess I'm not all that unusual. I also discovered that out of most of the blogs I read, people blog infrequently-some as little as once every few weeks or even months. I write a blog piece every few days. In fact there are stretches of time when I write something every day. It seems the only people who blog every single day are those who have absolutely nothing to do or who get paid for it. So what's the point of all this? Nothing much. Sorry. No brilliant insights. I'll just keep writing my pieces because I feel good about it and maybe someone out there enjoys reading them. Soooo...goodbye, until my next blog.

The Logic of a Three Year Old Child

Do you remember sitting in a class somewhere, furiously taking notes, trying to keep up with what the teacher was saying? Well, those memories came back today as I was taking notes on my 3 year old grand daughter's assorted remarks. Here is a sample of random comments and questions:

Scenario 1:
Child: Grabs a banana, holds it to her ear and says, 'Grandpa, it's for you. It's your grand father.'
Me: Pretend to be talking to my grand father.
Child after conversation: Grampy, how long has your grand father been in the cemetery?

Scenario 2:
Child, while looking a photo album with older sister, wants to know why she isn't in some of them.
Me: Because you weren't born yet.
Child: But where was I?
Me (again): Wellllll, you weren't born yet.
Child: I KNOW! But where was I.
Me (lying, sort of): You were still in mommy's tummy. That seemed to satisfy her-for the moment anyway.

Scenario 3:
A mess in the play room.
Me: Before we go on to something else, you need to clean up that mess.
Child: You clean it up.
Me: Excuse me??? You made the mess. Now clean it up please. I'll help.
Child (thinking): I don't think so. It was your idea.
She was technically correct. I suggested she put together a puzzle.

Scenario 4:
Continuation of Scenario 3
Child: Besides my mommy and daddy are the boss of me, not you.
Me: And what about when your mommy and daddy aren't here?
Child: Then Aiden's my boss. Aiden could be any one of her several dolls. Which leads to the next scenario.

Scenario 5:
We're playing circle time. Courtney's the teacher and I'm the usual, Keila, a student. I'm seated next to 3 dolls. They're all named Aiden.
Me: When I call Aiden, how are they going to know which one I'm calling?
Child: It doesn't matter. I know who they are.

Scenario 6:
Child wearing a play head-set of ear phones: I can't hear any music.
Me: Try turning it up.
Child: It won't help, grandpa. It doesn't even hold a CD!

Finally, in response to me trying to read the very small letters on a CD player without my glasses. You have to be more patient, grandpa. Similar to her sister once telling me I have to be a better listener!

These are just a few of the many exchanges I have every Monday with this very bright 3 year old.

Good Luck PC Users.

I'm sitting here watching Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer rant and rave about the release of Windows 7. According to everything I've read, it's a huge improvement over Vista so PC users should welcome it. The problem is there are 6 versions of the OS and if you don't pick the right one, you're going to have problems. Also, if you're one of the millions of people who understandably avoided Vista and stayed with XP, you're going to have one hell of a time upgrading to 7. Either that or you're going to have to hire someone to do it or spend some money on a piece of software that will make it somewhat easier. All of this is partly why I've been a Mac user for as long as I've owned a computer ( a long time). When I upgrade to a more recent OS, all I do is install the one version issued, put in the CD, click, click, done! Good luck, PC users. If you're upgrading, you'll need it.

More Adventures With A Grand Child

Today's adventure with my 5 year old grand daughter brought me back a few years to my teaching days. Instead of the usual routine of playing hospital after school, she decided we were going to dress her dolls in various outfits. Believe it or not, I know the names of the 5 or 6 dolls she keeps at our house but then there's another dozen or so in her room and the only one I know is Benny so we started off by her telling me the name of each doll. Then she handed me an outfit and told me to put it on Katie. The problem was that I almost immediately forgot the names of most of the dolls. That prompted Brooke to remark, "Grandpa, you need to work on your listening skills. I just told you their names. Now let's try it again." I felt like I was in a time warp back to the classroom except I was the student. Listening Skills. One of the most important skills there is yet there are times when it seems like no one is listening. Politicians don't listen to their constituents. Parents don't listen to their children. Spouses don't listen to each other. Teachers don't listen to students. And so on. The topic is even on report cards. I could hear myself telling students/parents that they either did have or did not have listening skills. But there is of course a difference between not listening and having so much information thrown at you that you need more time to assimilate it all. I attempted to explain to Brooke that in the case of learning names, it was the latter but she wasn't buying it. After a couple of times I finally learned the names. There's a lesson here. One should always try to tell the difference between not listening and assimilating large amounts of information. It makes learning easier and less frustrating.

The 'No News' News

There have been a flurry of Facebook posts about the 'balloon boy' fiasco. The authors of these posts have all been critical of the media for dwelling on this ridiculous story and by extension the viewing public for giving the media the audience they seek. My response to that is exactly what are we supposed to do? There is no escape from non-stories like this. They're on every TV station all the time. It doesn't matter what you choose to watch. There's simply no getting away from them. Plus the coverage extends beyond broadcast media. Print media is just as guilty and, as if that weren't enough, they're all over the Web. The only way to avoid this stuff and thereby not give the media the audience they crave is to crawl into a hole and eat worms! I'll pass on that, if you don't mind. I suppose I could stop buying the products advertised by those who constantly abuse us with this stuff, but then I'd have to start making all my own stuff. You see where this is going. Maybe a letter writing campaign is in order. We could do that. I'll start it all off with this blog which I'm sure you know is viewed by millions nation-wide. Now you do your part!

Message to John Boehner

Here's the text of a message I recently sent to House Minority Leader Representative John A. Boehner (R - OH).
"Being a retired Connecticut resident, I 'reside outside the beltway'. I'm am writing to tell you unequivocally that I absolutely support a public option to health care reform so stop misrepresenting millions of people across this country and stop playing the role of the obstructionist!

Odds & Ends

1. It's a grand conspiracy against my sanity. I tune into the Today show this morning and what do I see but an interview with the most obnoxious human being on earth: Rush Limbaugh. I immediately switch to Good Morning America. What do I see? Rush Limbaugh responding to Al Sharpton-the second most obnoxious human being on earth. I switch to Imus on Fox Business and what do I see? Glenn Beck! Off went the TV!!

2. Pres. Obama announced to the gay community the end of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. The idea is to make it clear that anyone who wants to serve their country in the armed forces may do so but as a veteran I confess to being uncomfortable with his plan to change what has previously worked. I would think any serviceman (woman), straight or gay, would find it very awkward to learn of another person's sexual preference. Why can't people just keep quiet about it? It's no one's business. I can't believe all those generals and admirals at the Pentagon are actually going for this. I think they're just 'yessing' the president.

3. Did you hear about the 1st grader who was suspended from school for bringing a camping utensil to school? Apparently the school has a 'zero tolerance' policy for bringing to school what they perceive to be weapons. It's official. The era of common sense is over. Let insanity rule!!

4. And finally, nearly all of the Nobel Prizes have been awarded and yet again I'm passed over. How can anyone find the Nobel committee credible??!!

Thus endeth my rant of the day.

Who Needs Enemies With Friends Like These?!

I confess to being just as surprised as pretty much everyone else when Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize but what really interested me was the reactions of various people. It wasn't just the conservative right who had their usual venom to offer. Oddly enough some far left liberals were there too. Now along comes Fidel Castro giving praise and support to the award. Great. Just what Obama needs. More ammo for the lunatic fringe-whatever side of the fringe they may be on! Hang in there, Barack. Like everything else, this too shall pass. As I've advised on numerous other occasions 'keep calm & carry on'.

She's Baaaaaaaaaack!!

Great. First it's Glenn Beck's ugly face staring out at me from the cover of a book store display. Now no sooner do you manage to get past that without hurling all over, you encounter this idiot! And to think, I spent two years defending everyone's right to freedom of speech. Well, there is one consolation. At least I don't have to read her mindless ramblings! Only thing to do is stay calm and carry on. This too shall pass.

The Age of Information

My last blog post about Glenn Beck drew a response from The Workbench Blogger on my website (http://georgeswebpage.com/gene) If you didn't click on the link and read it, the gist of the response was that contrary to my thesis, it was a very good thing we have folks like Glenn Beck to keep us 'informed'. I put informed in quotes because where one person regards what they say as 'informed' another might view it as a pile of crap. Anyway, my point here is not to debate the issue any further. Rather, I got to thinking about the so-called Age of Information which is what we're ostensibly in. We are bombarded by an almost infinite amount of stuff-from Radio & TV, print media, iPhones, Blackberrys, and last and probably most of all the Internet. Yet in spite of all of these sources of information, we humans continue to rely on the few sources of information we've come to admire or agree with. Let me be the first to admit I'm absolutely guilty of this along with everyone else. My sources of news are mostly certain TV newscasts, one or two internet websites, MSNBC, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal and finally our town and local newspapers. That's it. No Fox News in this house. No conservative radio stations. No National Review magazines will ever be found by my chair. Pretty much just the sources I cited above and I'm betting that even those are a lot more than those of most other people. First of all, who has time to read, listen or watch everything out there? Second, most of it is in complete disagreement to our own thinking so why bother? In most cases like everyone else, I'm not likely to change my mind on where I stand on most issues. So what conclusion can be drawn from all this? Basically, people believe what they believe and they're going to seek out sources of information to reinforce those beliefs. The rest gets ignored. So why do we need all that other stuff? To sell ads of course!

Who The Hell Is Glenn Beck?

Just when I thought I had the lunatic fringe identified and safely tucked away into mental oblivion, along comes this jerk. A couple of days ago I was browsing a book store and who do I find staring out at me from a large display of books? You guessed it. Then while I was making my way through the morning paper, whose picture do I see in book ads? You guessed it. Finally, while driving along listening to Imus one morning, who do I hear being interviewed? Right again! Isn't it bad enough we have to put up with Limbaugh, Gingrich, Hannity, Palin, Coulter, Cheney, etc? Yeah, yeah. I know. Freedom of speech and all that. I get it. What we need to counter this wave of lunacy is a group of pundits who can be equally forceful without being pugnacious and obnoxious. Florida Representative Alan Grayson is beginning to show promise but he can't do it alone. Come on, gang. Let's rally around the cause for reason and sanity. Speak up!

Good math+wrong premise=flawed conclusion

This morning I received a forwarded email message from a friend of mine. This marks the 4th or 5th time I’ve received this message from different people. Without repeating the entire thing, the gist of the message was that the Cash for Clunkers program was a profound failure because it ended up costing the government much more than it saved. This forward is yet another misguided attempt to discredit Obama/government policies. However, that’s not the point. The interesting thing about the message is that while the math is impeccable, the premise upon which it is based is completely wrong. For the record, the Cash for Clunkers program was an environmental effort-not necessarily economic. This situation brings home a point I used to try to make to my math students but is clearly lost on many adults. I used to tell them I don’t care how good a mathematician you are. If you don’t identify or understand a problem or issue correctly you’re going to arrive at the completely wrong conclusion regardless of how good a ‘mathematician’ you are. It all reminds me of the old saw “liars, damn liars, and statistics!” The world of mathematics is the perfect universe-only if used correctly. Otherwise, as we’ve seen, it becomes a weapon.

William Safire

"Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight." Thus spoke William Safire who passed away this weekend. To most people I imagine the name is only vaguely familiar but if you are like me and enjoy reading about words and language, then you know who he is-especially if you've been reading the New York Times Magazine. His column, On Language, appeared there for many years and he was generally regarded as the ultimate authority on the topic of our language. If not handled right, a topic like that can be dry reading, indeed, but Safire was very witty and he had a great sense of humor so reading him was a pleasure. I learned a great deal from him-mostly about the mistakes I was making when writing or speaking. Safire began his career as a speech writer for conservative presidents like Nixon and Reagan. Later he turned to 'punditry'. I'll miss his weekly pieces. RIP, Bill. You done good (oops, I mean you 'did well').

Spare the Rod, Save the Child

Spanking is one of the oldest forms of discipline. There are still many people who regard it as a perfectly legitimate form of corporeal punishment & they forcefully defend their right to raise their children as they wish. However the research in recent years is pretty clear. The more kids are spanked, the more likely they’ll emerge as violent adults. The key here is ‘the more kids are spanked’ suggesting that if kids are spanked only a little, then they won’t be violent or at least not too violent. If you still don't buy this, here's something that might help. I recently heard a report that suggests spanking also leads to lowered IQ scores in kids. The immediate reason offered for this was that it stands to reason lower IQ people are the ones most likely to spank, therefore they’d be producing lower IQ kids, but that doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. There are plenty of very bright, intelligent people who believed in good old-fashioned spanking. My father was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known, so there goes that theory. What does hold up, however, is the emerging science of neurophysiology. It seems that when children are spanked or otherwise exposed to violence, their brains produce substances that have an adverse effect on cognitive development, i.e. intelligence. So here we have a case of ‘hard science’ supporting what was previously just a hunch. This is a very typical scenario. Given enough time, there’s no doubt in my mind that science will answer all questions. Yet there is still going to be a significant number of people who have nothing but contempt for science and therefore disregard these findings. Their children will be the ones to suffer.

Lunacy Unleashed

I've been making a half-hearted attempt to follow what's been going on at the UN this week. I read a little about Obama's speech and I've seen a little about the various issues being discussed but the thing that really stands out is the unbelievable lunacy of Libya's Muammar Ghadafi (I looked it up. Amazing at how many ways there are to spell this) and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (all sources I checked have this spelling). These guys are genuinely certifiable, and worse than that, dangerous. But what to do about them? That's the question. I think most people agree that Ghadafi is much less of a threat than the other. So it seems the world is content to just yell back at him. As for the other, his effort to gain nuclear power is pretty scary. Scary because if Israel receives credible evidence that Iran plans to use those nukes against it, they'll strike first. Then we have a(another) protracted war that is sure to involve the US. Never mind health care reform. This is the issue that's going to test the Obama administration. But not to worry. As past practice has shown, the Republicans will be right there offering all sorts of viable suggestions. And if you believe that, I've got some land in Florida I'd like to sell you.

More Adventures With My Two Grand Daughters

Well, it was another great day with my two little grand daughters. After Courtney and I saw Brooke off to school at about 8:40, we walked back to the house to start our morning adventures. It began with bubbles on the deck. Then Courtney found Brooke's little treasure bag and spread its contents all over the kitchen floor. I began to feel a little uneasy about this since Brooke is a tad possessive but I figured what could possibly go wrong. When Courtney's done, I'll put everything back and Brooke will be none the worse for it, right? The rest of the morning was spent playing school, watching two episodes of Caillou, the theme song of which continues to play itself over and over in my head. At about noon we went to the bus stop to greet Brooke. When Brooke got off the bus she had a very distressed look on her face. I asked her how her day was and she said she had a lot of homework. I reminded her that it was due on Friday, a whole 5 days away. That seemed to cheer her up a little. When we got in the house and Brooke spotted her little treasure bag. You guessed it. EVERYTHING was out of place. She asked me if I was the one who let Courtney get into it. Being the only other living thing around except the family dog, I admitted I let her play with it. After she managed to get everything back where it belonged we proceeded to do a science experiment. We mixed yeast with sugar and water in a test tube with a balloon over it. The idea was to collect the carbon dioxide that the mixture would produce. It was a success. Finally, as usual, we played doctor. I was the hapless patient who received several chicken pox vaccinations and several allergy test shots. Then Brooke got a band aid and a piece of cotton, pretended she was getting blood work and put it on her arm to fool her mother who of course played along. All in all it was another great day with my two best little girls. Soon there will be more adventures with the boys. Stay tuned.

Hello, Charter? Is This Customer Service?

Are you one of the unlucky few who are forced to use Charter Communications for cable/phone/internet? Yeah, yeah. I know. There's always ATT DSL or Direct TV or some other phone but I don't like DSL (too slow), and I don't have access to a satellite in my yard, so I'm left with Charter. Here's a short history of my adventure with Charter Customer Service:
1. August 1st-date of 2 year lock-in period.
2. Mid August-bill arrives NOT reflecting lock-in rate.
3. Next day-Trip to local Charter office. Bill is adjusted. Told to pay X amount.
4. Mid September-bill arrives NOT reflecting lock-in rate.
5. Next day trip to local Charter office. Lady who I spoke with before doesn't understand what happened. Sits me down with her boss to go over whole thing.
6. Two hours later-boss hasn't a clue what's going on but insists bill is correct!!! Un-freaking-believable! After a few well chosen words, I return home.
7. Two days later call Customer Service. Get some young gal in the Phillipines (honest). She sees almost immediately what happened and makes appropriate adjustments.

So there you have it. Maybe outsourcing customer service isn't such a bad idea. OK, so I had to ask her to repeat herself several times due to a very heavy accent but it was worth it. Word of advice, American companies. It's commendable that you're trying to keep jobs in the US, but the other side of this is the people you hire have to have brains. Just a thought.

Forty Two Years and Counting

Today marks the 42nd anniversary of Sandy and me. It also marks the 3rd anniversary of my son Peter and his wife Jennifer. If anyone wants to know the single most important factor accounting for 42 years of marriage-besides the obvious things like love, loyalty, shared values, children, etc-I would say it's the willingness to compromise and be flexible. Without that, in spite of the other stuff, a marriage is doomed. Obviously failures in the 'other stuff' can also doom a marriage-but not as quickly as one's inability to bend and compromise. So there you have it. My words of wisdom for the day. Tomorrow I'll be back to my normal self, ranting about something or other!

Gross Anatomy

I received an important anatomy lesson today from my 5 yr old grand daughter. It seems she was having considerable difficulty finishing her lunch but kept asking for a package of those little yogurt candies. I told her what I had heard millions of times as a kid and what I told my kids and what you've all heard many, many times, to wit: "If you have room for candy, you can finish your lunch." Now comes the lesson. I'll bet you didn't know that your stomach is divided into food group compartments. When one area was filled up, it means there's still room for other stuff in another spot. Hence, that's why she had no more room for the main part of the lunch but the dessert part was still empty. Bet you didn't know that. Listen and learn!

More About A WWII Hero

Some time ago I wrote about a man who I see every week at Masonicare (June 24, 2009). His name is Vern and he's 91 years old. He is a WWII veteran. While serving as a waist gunner on a B17 during his 4th mission, his plane was shot down by 3 German fighter planes called Focke-Wulf FW190s. The picture you see here is Vern standing in front of a plane exactly like the one that shot him down. Seven of the ten crew parachuted to safety. Three men were killed-one because he didn't have time to put on his parachute! The survivors were captured immediately. Vern avoided starvation by bribing guards. He traded cigarettes for bread and eggs. Today, Vern and I, among others, went to Waterbury-Oxford Airport to tour the vintage WWII planes there. I have posted on my web site a photo gallery of those planes. Yesterday Vern got to ride in the plane he flew in (B17). He was deeply moved by the memories it brought back. Take a look at these photos. They're worth the time. It would be good on this anniversary of a terrorist attack to reflect on how much so many people are going through for us. Here's the link:
http://georgeswebpage.com/vern

Never Forget

September 11, 2001
There aren't many days when you can remember exactly what you were doing. Not even when my kids were born do I remember everything. One day though was the assassination of John Kennedy. The other is 9/11. I was on my way to school when I heard on the radio that my particular school had closed because a delivery truck took down the power lines in front of it. I was instructed to report to central office where I would be calling parents to explain what happened. On my way there, I heard the initial radio reports of planes crashing into the World Trade Center. More was learned as events unfolded and information came in. The school thing very quickly became unimportant. It was indeed a very sad day.

Not My Usual Rant

Surprise, surprise! This isn't my usual rant about stuff like the moron who interrupted the president's speech, Republicans who don't get it or gas bags like Patrick Buchanan on Imus this morning. No, this is about my day yesterday with my two grand daughters. After the 5 yr old got on the bus, the 3 yr old and I returned to the house. The first thing we did was play school. She was the teacher, of course, and I was a student. After I was told where to sit, we had story hour. She grabbed a book and while holding it upside down and turning the pages backward, she started telling me a story. It had nothing to do with the book she was holding but it was a great story-one she had heard before but recited very accurately. It's amazing what kids remember. That went on for a while until she got tired of it. After that we played doctor. She was the doctor and I the patient. I got several shots of course. After that she played on her own for quite a while with some of her dolls. After her lunch, we went to the bus stop to get her big sister. The after noon, the little one was taking her nap, the 5 yr old first did a project for her great grand mother. Then we played doctor. Both girls love to play doctor and I'm always impressed at how much they know. For example, the 5 yr old decided I needed several treatments with a nebulizer machine. While I was breathing that (a real one absent the asthma inhaler cartridge), she started me on an IV-actually calling it an IV. I asked her what that was and she told me it was a drip that would give me medicine. Then she instructed me to stop talking since she had just given me a shot that would put me to sleep while she treated my eye. This took place for quite a while until her mother got home. All in all it was a great day with two bright, happy little girls who never cease to take my mind off the aforementioned topics. However, stay tuned. While I've been painting I've been listening to MSNBC, getting more and more aggravated. I feel another blog coming on!!

My First Letter to the Editor

Herewith the text of my very first "Letter to the Editor":
To the Editor,
My admiration & congratulations to those teachers and administrators in the Newtown Schools who had the courage to show their students the president’s speech. To those of you in Newtown or anywhere else who didn’t, shame on you. You either chose to make a political statement by insulting the President of the United States or, at the very least, you caved in to the hysterical rants of the lunatic fringe-and make no mistake about it, ladies and gentlemen, that is exactly what they are. It may not be appropriate to silence them but surely we can ignore them.

Respectfully submitted,

George Stockwell

Oh, sure. That should clear things up!

Heard on the Today show this morning: Newt Gingrich calling for the defeat of Obama's health care proposal-whatever it may end up looking like. Instead he suggests rather than having one bill to handle the whole issue, have 8 or 10 smaller pieces of legislation that handle particular aspects of the thing, i.e. one for drugs, one for insurance companies, one for tort reform, etc. Great idea, Newtie. Let's make it even more confusing and complicated than it already is. And this from a guy who pretends to be the head of the conservative movement-the very people who cherish simplicity. What an idiot! But watch out for him. He's going to be a player in next presidential election.

IDIOCY!

Leaping off the front page of my morning newspaper is the following headline: "Obama speech causes ire" The cause of this 'ire', it seems, is a message President Obama would like to video tape and have delivered to the nation's schools. The crux of the message is that students should take their education seriously, study hard and be responsible. The gas bag nay-sayers who are opposed to this are saying he's preaching socialism. Can you believe it? These people have officially stepped over the line of sanity. It's bad enough they've been filling the airways with unbelievable hypocrisy on deficit spending, national health care, the stimulus package, you name it. Now they have a problem with Obama suggesting students work hard and take ownership for their lives. Isn't that awful? But wait a minute-isn't that what our conservative friends have been saying all along? Isn't that what the Republican party is all about? Of course it is, but that's not the point. It doesn't matter what Obama or his administration says or does. They're going to be opposed because that's what they do best. These people are idiots! They need to open their ears and close their mouths. Spineless school officials across the region have bowed to their blathering by giving some schools the 'option' of showing Obama's address. What morons. Parents have far more to fear from these ignoramuses than they do from the President of the United States. Unbelievable!

Kids & Technology

I was watching with great admiration my 5 yr old grand daughter play on my computer this morning. She didn't have school today (teacher in-service) so she stayed overnight. When she got up this morning, we played school (her favorite game) for a while and then she decided to play Kid Pix on my computer. It's amazing how quickly she picked up the skills she needed to use that application. Her 3 year old sister is right behind her in terms of skill development too. I've taught all ages of people on computers-preschoolers to senior citizens- and there's no question the kids have the edge. The seniors, bless their soles, have the most difficult time. The mouse is what causes their problems-along with trying to remember the differences between buttons, icons and folders. Added to that is the fact that PCs, unlike Macs, have TWO buttons on the mouse. Then there's the hand/eye coordination problem. It's very tough for them. On the other hand (no pun intended) Kids very quickly pick up on all of that stuff. As I mentioned, my grand daughter was using an application called Kid Pix. It can be confusing because the more an application can do, the more complicated it is and Kid Pix can do a ton of stuff. But none of it was a problem for my grand daughter. She quickly mastered it and started creating some really neat stuff (which can be seen on my website, http//georgeswebpage.com/kidswork. Sorry, couldn't resist the plug). The corollary to this story is the amount of learning that was going on while she was 'playing'. Some folks who don't know any better tend to believe that nothing can possibly be learned if it's so much fun. That, of course, is ridiculous. But rather than launch into a discussion of this misunderstanding here, I'll leave it for another blog piece. In the mean time it really doesn't matter how old you are. Keep trying and keep learning. Like me, it won't be easy but eventually you'll get it!

An Agenda

There's a popular video circulating on YouTube which originated on a piece John Stossel did on the ABC news program 20/20. The main idea is that if Obama gets his way with national health care reform, the health care system as we know it today will be destroyed. Research will grind to a halt, appointments and procedures will be delayed or even disallowed, all manner of consequences. This is yet another outrageous example of biased reporting. All the people who make these claims have yet to explain the following:
I get appointments & schedule procedures & tests whenever and where ever I want-and in a timely fashion. I choose my doctors, hospitals, medicines (with my doctor), and what ever treatment regimen I want. Who is my insurance company? Medicare, that's who. Wait, isn't Medicare run by the government? How's that possible? You mean you don't have to worry about all of those dire warnings with HMOs? Yeah, Right!! Get with it, people. You're being hoodwinked by the nay sayers. Turn John Stossel and others of his ilk off and watch a good movie on some cable channel instead, or, better still, read a good book!