Gov. Perry Supports States' Rights

The Houston Chronicle sure picked a nasty, opinated title for this article:

Perry won't let Texas compete for federal school money
By ERICKA MELLON

The federal government is hanging a $700 million dollar carrot in front of needy school districts this year.  All the Texas government has to do is totally cede all local and state control of their schools and change to federal ideals.  The Governor laid out a number of valid reasons Texas in his speech and press release why we should not join the "Race to the Top" that the Chronicle just glossed over in their reporting.  Here are some quotes for you to read yourself.

I am here to announce that Texas will not apply for federal “Race to the Top” funding because our state and our communities must reserve the right to decide how we educate our children and not surrender control to the federal bureaucracy.  This program is not a “Race to the Top,” but a sprint to the middle where soaring costs and one-size-fits-all approaches will leave our children ill-equipped to compete in the global economy.

Texas’ curriculum standards, which determine what students are taught in Texas classrooms, are set by the elected State Board of Education (SBOE). The SBOE recently adopted one of the nation’s first college- and career-ready curriculum standards in core subjects after receiving widespread input from Texas education and business leaders.

...“Race to the Top” was slipped into the so-called stimulus bill.  This legislative sleight-of-hand was a cynical attempt to sidestep state protections included in the federal “No Child Left Behind” legislation passed in 2002 that prohibited the use of federal funds for the creation of national standards and tests “Race to the Top” is clearly an effort to entice states into abdicating responsibility and surrendering their legal rights in exchange for short-term, immediate funding.

While Texas could be eligible for up to $750 million in Race to the Top funding, it would cost Texas taxpayers upwards of $3 billion to realign our education system to conform to the U.S. Department of Education’s uniform vision for public education.

I totally agree with Gov. Perry that Texas should not jump onto this eternal federal mandate for a tiny one-time payment.  It's shameful that only Texas and Alaska didn't sell their soul for a couple more pennies.  I think it speaks poorly of our country.  Remember, if somebody is hanging a carrot, it means they're riding you like an ...

Birthday Fun

Yesterday, my husband and kids woke me up by serving me breakfast in bed and singing me Happy Birthday.  A couple minutes later I asked my husband what the date was.  :)

I had a wonderful birthday and got lots of presents.  The kids got me a new four slice toaster as the old one was not toasting correctly.  I love useful gifts.  My neighbor asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I replied,"Well, I could really use some new kitchen towels."  She very sternly replied that she was not going to buy me dish rags as a present.  Instead she got me Bon Jovi's new CD, something that hubby would never buy me.  My friends and I went to Chili's and pigged out.  Even I'm shocked at how much food I ate. 

Hubby got me a new laptop, again.  I originally recieved it as a Christmas gift but when we started it up, all it said was "Windows:  Error".  The new one came the day before my birthday.  :)  Now I just need a ton of stuff for it! 

Holiday Sale

At the store the other day, I found Christmas clearance, Valentine chocolates, and this....

And yes, I bought it.

In other news, Cadbury is under attack from a hostile bid takeover by Kraft.

Just Laws

I didn't have to study any of Martin Luther King's writings in high school until my senior year. When my teacher put in on the syllabus, I was sure it was the same ol' "I Have a Dream" that's been done even more than Elvis impersonations. Ms. August picked Letter From a Birmingham Jail and, to my surprise, I really enjoyed it.  We studied the definition of a just law and examples laid out in the letter. I'm surprised to find myself needing that information today.

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.

...

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.

The same problems with law that MLK saw are not new in governments around the world. As a young adult, I just thought that those problems would never occur here. We studied the corruption in the national government under President Grant, but that was just a blip on the screen of our history. Civil rights movement was up against the abuse of law but was more of a cultural change than a corruption of our government.

The midnight vote for health-care "reform" was quite creepy to me. It felt dirty, hidden. Then the bribery in the bill started breaking across the Internet news sites. Have you seen them? The general public is so against the bill that the senators had to secure extra goodies for their vote. They needed to be able to tell their constituents that they're been taken care in an extra special way. The senator will wave his seniority flag and proclaim that such needed details wouldn't have happened without his expertise. This keeps the voters lax and fills the election coffers by those that were helped directly.

But there's a darker explanation at work here this time. A lot of time, the pork gifting has absolutely nothing to do with the bill. But in this case, the "reform" in this bill is so bad that senators were securing additional funds for their state to ensure they weren't hurt by the reforms. They don't want the health care bill to apply to them. They don't want the people and hospitals of their states to have to pay. They know it's bad, they know it's bad for hospitals and doctors, but they're going to secure goodies for their state to help alleviate the distress the bill will inflict. The rest of the country can rot as long as their state is taken care of.

And so with this bill, I'm seeing a new low. A bill that applies to thee but not to me. An unjust law that isn't applied to the whole country. A law that some people will pay for, but not others. A law that exempts some hospitals but won't exempt those hospitals that are built later.

I'm not going to be a sissy moderate and settle for order rather than justice. I sure hope other folks in other states don't look the other way. They need to ask themselves if their senator really represents what they think a senator should be. A bribe here or there, a lie here or there, bring home the bacon and I won't ask where you got from kinda guy? When you vote, I hope you're voting for somebody that you'd introduce to your mother. Somebody that you have no qualms about your teenage son spending time with. Somebody who actually represents you, a person you're willing to be associated with.

Welfare History

I just started reading A Christmas Carol today. It doesn't even belong to me, but my 13 yr old daughter. I don't know where she got it but she sure didn't buy it with her own money. She's written her name inside the front cover or I wouldn't even have known where it came from. I had forgotten that it was even a book, not a movie, and that it was written by Charles Dickens. I once started reading his book Hard Times and found it extremely boring. That being said, I remember the beginning with the evil teacher refusing to address little girl by Sissy, saying it wasn't a real name. It's strange that a small section of a book that I quit reading should be so burned in my memory.

I was only through a couple of pages in the first stave (he calls them staves, not chapters, keeping with the "carol" theme of the title) but something caught my eye: "Poor Laws". And yes, he capitalized them, making me think these were government laws about the poor. "Welfare laws in the 1800s England? Nah," I thought. I kept reading the book but, in the middle of the rising action, as Marley's ghost haunts poor Scrooge, bells ringing, chains banging, all I could think about was those dang Poor Laws.

I'm such a boring person that I looked them up to tell you about them.

It seems the Poor Laws were in fact, welfare laws. Charles Dickens wrote his book in the 1840s and they were already well established. The first Poor Laws were passed as far back as the 1500s.

From The Victorian Web:

1563 — Justices of the Peace were authorised and empowered to raise compulsory funds for the relief of the poor and, for the first time, the poor were put into different categories

those who would work but could not: these were the able-bodied or deserving poor. They were to be given help either through outdoor relief or by being given work in return for a wage.

those who could work but would not: these were the idle poor. They were to be whipped through the streets, publicly, until they learned the error of their ways.

those who were too old/ill/young to work: these were the impotent or deserving poor. They were to be looked after in almshouses, hospitals, orphanages or poor houses. Orphans and children of the poor were to be given a trade apprenticeship so that they would have a trade to pursue when they grew up.

I can't help but laugh at the relief given to the idle poor.

A flurry of laws passed in the 1500s were consolidated into the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601. The Law authorized the raising of funds, opened alms houses and orphanages, and gave relief to people out of work. The idle poor weren't whipped though the streets anymore, but sent to workhouses. It also put responsibility on families.

Part of the 1601 Law said that poor parents and children were responsible for each other, so elderly parents were expected to live with their children for example.

I'm glad to say that my family still holds to this. It is an aberration of our society that children don't want to take care of their parents and that seniors think that they can get by on their own.

But the history of welfare goes back even further than the 1500s. In False Economy, I read about the grain welfare distributed by the Roman Empire. The grain was bought cheaply from the Egyptians, sailed across the Mediterranean to Rome, and distributed to poor Roman citizens. The cost of transporting the grain overland was astronomical and welfare was restricted only to those in the city. This, of course, led to the city suddenly surging with population of poor folks from the country. I can't remember exactly but I believe that the statistic presented was that at one time 300,000 of a city population of 1,000,000 were on grain welfare. It's simply astonishing how the Roman Senate failured to recognize the ramifications of their law.

I did ask myself "Where is the Church in all this? Wasn't the church the one that took care of the poor?" I've never really studied the transition of the care of the poor from the church to the government. Historically, the church has been in charge of the poor and The Victorian Web points out this change:

Before the Reformation, it was considered to be a religious duty for all Christians to undertake the seven corporal works of mercy. These were deeds aimed at relieving bodily distress: in accordance with the teaching of Jesus (Matthew 25 vv. 32-46) people were to

feed the hungry
give drink to the thirsty
welcome the stranger
clothe the naked
visit the sick
visit the prisoner
bury the dead

After the Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England, many of the old values and moral expectations disappeared so it became necessary to regulate the relief of poverty by law.

A change in morals, values disappearing brought about new laws and taxes to take care of the poor? That sounds strangely familiar. The great Roman Empire setting laws that cause a flood of immigrants to the city? Hmm, I've heard this song before. The fact is the Bible treats this very simply: "Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" 1 Corinthians 1:20. All our wise programs fail to the simplicity that God asked of us.

In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge and his unnamed clerk receive two visitors in his business before heading home: his overly happy nephew and two gentlemen collecting donations for the poor. The nephew is the family, still taking care of, still loving his crotchety old family. The two men represent charity. The nephew puts up a great defense,

"And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my
pocket, I believe it has done be good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless
it!"

When confronted by the gentlemen asking for charity, Scrooge hides behind the law saying:

"Are there no prisons? ... "And the Union workhouses, are they still in
operation? ... The Treadmill and Poor Law are in full vigor, then?"

As we all know the ending already, Scrooge learns to love again. He learns to love his family, both his nephew and the lowly unnamed clerk, Bob Cratchit. He learns to give charitably, the giving of ourselves above and beyond the call of the law. We need to take care of our family, no matter how hard, and yes, good things will come of the work. We can't hide behind our social security and fica taxes, saying that we already give to charity. It seems we all have a bit of Scrooge in us and so this small book becomes a great lesson to us even today.

Pencils

These are my son's pencils. The boy mentioned in passing tonight that he needed new pencils, that the only one he had had gotten kinda short and hard to write with. He also mentioned that he'd found a second short one on the ground today. Of course, I had no idea what he really meant. I'm sure the other boy is really missing his pencil right now, if you can still call it that.

As punishment, I gave him a Disney Princess pencil to do his homework with.

Self Defense

When the boys come over, the girls have to be prepared for all possibilities.

New Technology

This past year we got a really nice big screen LCD television (it was a gift). Then hubby surprised me with a Blu-Ray player to go with it a couple of months later. (Considering his penchancy for showing up with expensive items that I won't say yes to, I really wasn't that surprised. ) And this Christmas we finally got our first Blu-Ray disc: The Dark Knight. Again, a gift. All the other discs we've watched were rentals. Just the other day we decided that we'll pick up Snow White and Sleeping Beauty on Blu-Ray since been so highly rated on their re-do. That'll bring our total discs to a measly three.

I guess since we're finally getting into Blu-Rays, I guess I'm not surprised to read this report on the newest and latest television equipment.

From Fox News:

New HDTVs May Soon Be Obsolete? Thanks a Lot, 3D

Just bought a new flat-panel HDTV for Christmas? Enjoying that new Blu-ray disc player? Guess what? They're already obsolete. Everything may be going 3D.

Later this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a slew of companies will be pushing what they hope will be the next big thing in TV: 3D movies and games — even new 3D HDTV broadcasts.

Well, I can definitely see this being a fun invention. After all, we can't watch the current crop of 3D hit movies in our homes without it. This is every gamer's dream come true. If 3D takes hold, Playstation 5 will be something truly out of Star Trek.

Breakfast Muffins

This is what I made my kids for breakfast this morning. I don't know what posessed me to buy this product, much less actually make it. I've seen the more expensive brands offer chocolate chip muffins for a while now but have resisted the temptation with no sweat. Suddenly my favorite thrify brand offers a muffin with even more chocolately goodness, and I fall all over myself to stock up.

I'm sure Bill Cosby's wife is serving them to her grandkids.

Ten Years Ago

My Dad-in-law posted this up on facebook:

As the day draws to a close, I read my journal entry from 10 years ago. I worked all night as part of a Y2K support team on call for ExxonMobil's retail systems that may have a problem with the date conversion. Make a journal entry for tonight that records your transition to the 2nd decade of the 21st century.

Oh, I laughed when I read it! I remember going to the grocery store New Year's Eve '99 and watching people check out with huge cart-loads of groceries. One lady must have had ten dozen eggs under the cart. Another had TWO cart loads of groceries. As insane as the fear was, it was even worse to see these people buying cart loads of perishable items (milk, meat, etc.,) with the belief that there won't be any more electricity to refrigerate them.

If your interested though, you can get some great deals from amazon on Y2K books including:

The Y2K Personal Survival Guide by Michael S. Hyatt, or

The Y2K Survival Guide and Cook Book by Dorothy and Albert Bates,

or my personal favorite Y2K - It's Already Too Late by Jason Kelly.

But now there's a new reason that the present world system is going to be destroyed! So get your survival books now before it's too late. Your life can be safe for the mere cost of 33 cents (plus S&H).


Global Warming: Can Civilization Survive? by Paul Brown

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Here's a great version of O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

Each of the verses has a deep meaning, tracing the life of Christ here on Earth. Lutherant has some great blog posts on the individual verses and the scriptures behind them all.

Two weeks ago

Over here at Onlythreesofar, we're stimulating the economy in our own special way. Hubby lost his sunglasses and celphone two weeks ago today. Seems he left the pocket on his riding suit open and they fell out on the way to work. They were lost along the first three miles riding to work and we searched the area diligently. I even walked along the entrance ramp to the highway, hoping to find them unscathed. It was weird walking along there on that cold and wet blustery day and I was sure glad no cops came and asked if I was planning on committing suicide.

We never found a single trace of either item, not even crumbs in the road. We've replaced the cel phone already at the steep price of $350. I had to buy those annoying accessories plus pay extra for everybody else to get their cel phone for free. Bleh!

I could really care less about the cel phone. What I really wanted was those glasses! It may sound expensive for the phone but it's a drop in the bucket compared to what replacing his glasses is going to cost us. First, we have to get him an eye appointment, then frames and lens, and I'll have to replace the lens in his other two pairs of glasses. That'll probably run in the $500 to $700 range for all of that.

But if it's good for the economy, maybe we should all throw our cel phones out the window onto the highway. Maybe Obama and the Democrats should just offer to pay for the first $200 down on a new cel phone. Poor people could get theirs for free. But because there are so many plans that take advantage of poor folks, and so many poor folks that can't afford one, the government should come up with new, historical legislation to guarantee everybody coverage. If I'm elected to the Senate, I promise to fight for the highest bribe for my vote- for my state, you know. It's all for my state.

My BiL says the best way to stimulate the economy is to have a baby. Fast results with long lasting effects? Check. Consumer? Check. New tax-payer? Check! I think we have a winner people.

Christmas Tree Legends

I just got a little curious as to where our Christmas trees come from and tracked down some neat webpages that talk about it. I know that evergreen has always been special to peoples of all nations, even to Indians on this continent. There definitely are quite a few tales that originate from Germany, even one involving Martin Luther.

The Story of the Christmas Tree

Legends of the First Christmas Tree

Handheld Water Sanitizer

The Strategy Page has an article up about a pencil size water sanitizer that can be carried around. This has great implications for the military, backpackers, and those who travel to Central America. I know my Dad would have appreciated having one of these rather than brushing his teeth in Diet Coke.

Light The Little Suckers Up And Watch Them Die

Yes, that's really the title of the article! You gotta love it.

Star of Bethlehem

Professor Rick Larson is holding his Star of Bethlehem presentations again for the public. I took the kids last year and was floored by it. Using modern astronomy computer programs, he opens the ancient skies for all of us to see what those who walked the grounds also saw. If you have the opportunity, you really need to see this! Take all your friends.

College Stations:
Dec 3 & Dec 17, 7pm

Houston:
Dec 11



There are many other shows in different towns. Click here to see a listing of his presentations this season.

This year, my son's school-issued laptop computer has the same sky program on it that Rick Larson uses in his presentation. I look forward to being able to look all the dates and sky scenes over and over.