I hear people complain about the injustice and the difficulties caused by the beginning of daylight savings time. I, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier about it.

I mean I hate having an hour cruelly plucked away from me in the middle of the night as much as anyone. And I get irked by the whole ’spring forward, fall back’ thing.

“How am I supposed to change the time?”
“It’s spring so we SPRING forward!”
“That’s wonderful but it doesn’t help me. Sunday Morning at 2:00 AM what time will it become?”
“What do you mean?”
“Will it be One or Three?”
“Three.”
“Why couldn’t you just say so.”

I guess I’m just to literal, but it’s much easier for me to remember what exactly it is I’m supposed to do, instead of have to decipher some cutesy little phrase.

Still, it’s worth the minor inconveniences.

The Beginning of Daylight Savings Time marks the end of my annual battle with the cold dark days of winter. Sure there will still be some cold, maybe even some snow, but it won’t last. Today I walked out of the gym at seven o’clock and it was still light. It gives me hope that summer will be here soon.

And I’m not a big fan of the Congress, but moving it 3 weeks earlier was brilliant. Way to go guys! Now if you can just address this stupid war and the failing economy, you’d be on the right track.

From me longer days signal the coming of spring. And spring means being outdoors. Camping, hiking, boating and backpacking. A few of my favorite things.

And suddenly, I don’t feel so bad.

This concept of a two year build up to the Presidential elections needs to be rethought. There is no reason for it. Of course, whenever I say that some asshat speaks out and says, ‘but I love this stuff.’ That’s the whole problem. I can’t help but believe that the only reason this process has spread out like this is to give CNN and FOXNews programming. That’s not a real good reason. There is no upside. It makes campaign insanely expensive driving the candidates into the waiting arms of the special interest groups. Meanwhile they all just dig up dirt about each other. This is a stupid system.

You would think that I would do something fun while I have all this time to myself. At least, you would think that if you didn’t know me. For fun, I’m broadcasting make believe radio on the internet. I suck. But I do take requests.

Other than that, I’ve just worked and watched Star Trek on DVR. I know, you’re jealous. You wanna be just like me. I’m sorry, but not everyone can handle this level of dork cool.

Oh… for the record, Expert Level on Guitar Hero II is fucking stupid hard.

First and foremost, thank you again to each and everyone of you that sponsored me. It really means a lot to me. In theory, the blogathon people will send you an email asking you to fulfill your pledge, but I’ll let you in on a secret. You can go to your profile at blogathon.org and click on edit next to this blog under “Your Pledges.” On that page you can simply push the button that says, “Fulfill this pledge directly with Freedom from Hunger now” and then fill out the Online Donation form at Freedom from Hunger.

I don’t really like to acknowledge it when I’m sick, I always want to think that I can just will it away, mind over matter style. But it doesn’t work that way. I have a sinus infection. And I don’t feel good at all. This made this blogathon much harder for me than it otherwise would have been. The headache that I had during the whole thing tested my patience and made me even grumpier than usual.

There are some aspects to the blogathon that really do irk me. I feel it could be better organized and designed to be much more inclusive to all participants. It also steams me that BE and Lewis get all kinds of plugs when they don’t even raise a cent for charity (at least not that I could see.) There were at least 2 stations involved with this blogathon were playing music and supporting charity.

In the waning moments of the blogathon, I had an epiphany. I am a lousy blogger. Occasionally, people try to swell my head by telling me that I am a good writer. Who knows, maybe I am, but that doesn’t making me a great blogger. I don’t need to be a great blogger, but I had never made that distinction before. The one thing I could do to be a better blogger is to post much more regularly. I’ll try. I’ve had some issues with this blog and I’ve been real tempted to scrap it. But I think I should keep it. I mean it’s over 3 year old, I’d hate to start over.

Who knows, after a good night sleep all this may seem very different to me.

I come home for lunch each day. I only live a few miles from work and I find it to be the easiest way to go.

I am counting my calories these days. With great success, I might add. I have lost 15 or so pounds in the last month. I have twenty some odd to go to reach my goal. I have a ham and turkey on rye with cheese, every day. Heated the toaster oven. I prefer hot meals, for some reason. It is about a 400 calorie meal and it is quite filling.

It must be annoying to people around me when I start talking about calorie this and gym that, but when you are focused on that stuff you think about it a lot. You have to. It is too easy for me to start rationalizing why I can eat this or that. So I stay focused. I eat (give or take) 1000 calories a day. They tell me that I need to eat more. They tell me that my metabolism will slow down to much. I think that they are full of shit and more interested in selling me stuff than they are in me just losing the weight.

My metabolism is fine, thank you very much. I go to the gym nearly every weekday. I get on the treadmill, walk for five minutes to warm up, run for thirty minutes and then walk for five more to cool down. Then I go work some of the weigh machines. I doubt I’ll ever build any muscle worth noting, but I’m told that building muscle burns fat. So I do what I can.

I think about this stuff at lunchtime, because it is the best defense I know against just breaking down and eating out. I have a goal, and I am focused.

Next weekend will be the first big payoff for my efforts. By bringing my weight down, I should have a lot my more energy and stamina when hiking. And since my robot like friend will be coming, I’ll need all the energy I can get.

Other thoughts:

I don’t hate my job today, nearly as much as I did yesterday. But I still don’t like it. If anyone knows of a company hiring Network Engineers in Florida, let me know. Thanks.

I truly hate blogging. Why I do keep doing it? I can’t find a better system for expressing myself. I used to think that blogging would be a truly free and open way to express yourself. It isn’t. People react to what you post. Those reactions influence how you post in the future, whether or not you want them to. And don’t think it’s just me. We wouldn’t get this infighting among bloggers (I’m sure you’ve seen it somewhere) if people weren’t sensitive to how people react.

If you want to get a real feel for the news, turn the volume off and the closed captioning on. You’ll be able to see how they repeat certain concepts over and over again. I never watch the news if I can avoid it, but when I’m on the treadmill I watch whatever is in front of me, often it is Fox News. Last night I saw them report on one guys theory about Sandy Berger destroying National Archive documents. I know nothing about this and I really don’t care, but in read the closed captioning it became clear that what was on the TV wasn’t exactly news.

To paraphrase, the segement went a little like this:

FoxNews: Did Sandy Berger steal documents from the National Archives to hide handwritten notes written by Bill Clinton and high level cabinet members? That’s what one expert believes. Tell us, did Berger steal and destroy these notes?
Expert: I believe he did. If there were handwritten notes and he destroyed them, there may be a cover up.
FN: So Berger could have been destroying handwritten notes, written in the margins.
Expert: Yes, the copies at the national archinves have no notes so he must have destroyed the originals to cover them up.
FN: Has the National Archives seen these notes.
Expert: They are unaware of any notes

.

Meanwhile, there is a graphic that says “Sandy Burglar” in the background the entire time. I don’t know or care about this, maybe the dude stole and covered up a loads of stuff. But that interview provided no proof of it. What it did do is repeat the accusation over and over again.

I used to worry about the government lying to us. Now they don’t have to. The cable news networks are there to confuse the issues for them.

Lunchtime is over. Maybe we’ll do this again sometime.

Yes. I am going to say Brian Billick should be coach of the year. He won’t be. But he should be.

You should understand that I don’t say this simply because I’m a Ravens fan. Honestly, I was one of the ones who last year was calling for Billick to be fired. The team was a disaster. Ray Lewis was injured and not speaking to anyone. Jamal Lewis was mad at the terms of his new deal. The Defense was openly criticizing the Offense for not be able to stay in games. There was no discipline. And Billick instead of addressing it, made excuses for it.

By the end of the season, most people felt that he would (and should) be fired. But Biscotti did something rarely seen in pro sports. He held a press conference, with Billick in attendance, and announced to the media that Billick would not be fired, but he expected changes. He went on to list them. Billick would stop being so arrogant. He would stop condescending to the media. He would be more connected to the team. He would listen to players. He would stop being soft in practices and at training camp.

I think all of us have probably had, at some point or another, a conversation with a boss where that boss outlined how we could be a better employee. It’s not fun, especially, the points that we know are right. I cannot image how it would feel to have that conversation happen in front of the entire world, should they be inclined to watch.

By the time you read this, Sean Payton of the Saints will have won the Coach of the Year honors. And what he has done as a rookie coach has been impressive. But he’s had some help. The other new arrivals in the Big Easy (Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, Marques Colston and Mark Simoneau) had a lot to do with the turn around season for the Saints.

The Ravens on the other hand haven’t changed much in the way of personnel. As a matter of fact the most significant change has been the addition of Steve McNair. But you have to understand that before signing McNair, Billick had to first admit he was wrong about Boller. Something he had been unwilling to do in the past.

Billick has done something most of could not have. He decided that he wanted to stay and he wanted to win, so he swallowed his pride (and in Billick’s case that is no small task) and made the changes demanded by Biscotti.

And the changes have paid off. The Ravens are the number two seed in the AFC and on top of the tough AFC North. They have an impressive 13-3 record, the best in team history. They swept the arch-rival Steelers and are favorites to make it to the AFC Championship Game.

Billick took a 6-10 team full of locker room divisions and sloppy play and turned them into a team that has every right to believe that they belong in the Super Bowl. He did it by putting his ego aside and doing what needed to be done. And for that he deserves Coach of the Year.

I’m in a shitty mood this morning. Of course, it is almost afternoon. This isn’t helping my mood out at all. But none of that matters.

From inside my skull:

I’ve been looking a bit at the new Vista OS. It’s pretty good, of course it ought to be after 5 years or so of development. I have been planning to make some changes to my ’supercomputer.’ Initially, I was thinking of putting some flavor of Ubuntu on it, but now I’m considering Vista. Linux or Vista? There are good reasons for both. I love the whole Open Source thing and the implied geekiness that goes with Linux, but Vista is new and shiny. Plus, sooner or later I’ll be supporting Vista at work, the more familiar I am with the better off I’ll be. At the moment, I’m totally undecided.

I can’t help thinking that we haven’t seen the worst of this Iraqi sitiuation yet.

There are all kinds of playoff implications in todays games. Not only in the NFL but in my Fantasy Football League. So in addition to the Ravens, I’ll be rooting for LT, Jerricho Cotchery and Eli Manning.

Monday Night Football presents me with a unique dilemma Assuming the Ravens win today. If Indy wins, the Ravens clinch the AFC North. If Cincy wins we clinch the Playoffs but not the AFCN. However we will move into Second Place in the overall standings in the AFC. I think I’ll just go with my gut here and root against Cincinattica.

I really need to go backpacking. This mild weather has only made this fact more obvious to me. Spring cannot get here fast enough.

The middle of next week will mark the shortest day of the year. I look forward to it, only so I can start seeing the days get longer again. All this darkness puts a hurting on my psyche.

I hurt my foot while running the other week. Nothing serious, but it does hurt when i put my weight on it. I kept running each day, hoping that it would work itself out. It did not. I believe that my sneakers were the culprit. So I switched shoes, but the pain is still there. And there is nothing more pathetic than seeing a middle aged guy hobbling along in a half run-half limp on the treadmill. I bought some new running shoes this weekend, which in the long run should help. My problem is what to do about the short term. I don’t run on the weekends, so it has had a chance to heal some, but if it still hurts tomorrow, I’ll have to make some choices. Either I just take a week off, I use the Elliptical Machines for a week (which will put less strain on my foot, but causes my knees problems,) or I just keep running. None of those are great options.

Every time I hear about Hilary Clinton getting ready to run for President, it makes me happy. Not for any particular reason, it just feels like a good thing.

I am sick of work. Luckily I’ll get the last week of the year off. Hopefully, I can come back re-charged.

Is privacy important?

The nature of this question keeps changing. Should we sacrifice a little privacy to make the world safer? To make it more convenient?

It seems that this question is no longer academic for me.

At work we got a new piece of equipment. A network analyzer to go with our firewall. Our Network Analyst, who is responsible for the firewall has been testing it out.

It seems that there is very little information that is hidden from him.

Oh. I know the information has always been there, for anyone with the right tools and enough time. But this has raised the stakes. He can read in near real time what you are saying on IM or what web page your are reading. Who you are logged in as.

If he were inclined, he could know just about anything I did on line, with no more effort than you are expending to read this blog.

He let our Network Engineers know about the capabilities of this device by reading verbatim an IM conversation between to of them.

The reaction in the room was unanimous: Fuck this.

Like I said, we know that nothing is safe or secret in the electronic world. We know that better than most people. We also know the pure volume of stuff happening on the network at any given moment should mean that whatever we do is just part of the noise.

Not anymore.

Of course, the argument always goes— if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

Like most old arguments, it’s dead wrong.

Typical Chat conversation:

jeckles:dude
shutter:what’s up!
jeckles:that meeting was lame!
shutter:oh yeah?
jeckles:fuck yeah. you should have heard the dumbass shit that so and so was saying.
shutter:hahahhaha. I know so and so is such a tool… why do they invite him to those meetings
jeckles:to make me nuts, I think

Harmless. Just a little venting between co-workers. I’m sure it happens all the time. But what if ’so and so’ got access to the logs of the analyzer? Yeah. That would be bad.

And even if I refrained from criticizing or insulting anyone on IM, would it still be OK?

No.

Imagine if your boss offered you overtime to work on a project. You declined because you had plans for the weekend. You don’t tell your boss that your plans are to watch all 12 hours of LotR, its none of her business. But when you tell your buddy about your plans and she sees the logs…

What if some one was planning to quit? That’s not illegal or immoral, yet you wouldn’t want anyone at work to no about it before you told them.

The scenarios are endless. The fact remains that recording personal conversations is wrong. It’s probably legal, but what’s legal and what’s right often don’t line up.

There is a need to monitor what happens on a network and to control the kinds of traffic that is on the network. But there has to be a way to do it without spying on your own employees. I’d rather have IM blocked than monitored.

So what happened at work?

We downloaded and install a tool to encrypt our IM. Our Network Analysts blocked our IM. Our CIO said, “You guys can encrypt it? Send me the link.” Our Analyst backed off.

But this isn’t going to go away.

What should you take out of this? Two things.

Protect your privacy. If you think you have nothing to hide, you underestimate the ill will people can possess.

And if you IM me while I’m at work, assume what ever you type is being read. Cause it probably is.

I think I’ve mentioned that before.
That was Sarcasm. We both know I’ve said it again and again.

Blogging frustrates the shit out of me.

I started reading blogs four or five years ago. I had a few that I enjoyed. Of course, with the exception of WWdN, they are all gone.

I don’t read blogs to make friends. I rarely comment. I’m not really looking to interact with the blogger. What I enjoy is a glimpse into a stranger’s life. It is voyeurism of a sort. But it is different than peeping through window and trying to catch a glimpse of someone’s life. When you read a blog, you a peeping into a person’s life, not through the window, but through their own eyes.

That is one of the oddest things about this whole blog as community concept. When you interact with people out there in the real world, you derive a perception of that person. You see their body language, you observe how they interact with different people, you hear other people comment on that person, and most of all, you have your own direct interaction with them. The sum of these experiences (and more) is your mental sketch of this person.

But here in the blogoshere, it is whole different ball of wax. Your first impression of any blogger is based on a combination of how they see themselves and how they want to be seen. By the nature of the medium, bloggers give a false picture of themselves. No matter how honest they may be in their blogging, the way that they see themselves is going to be radically different than how we perceive them.

But that’s not the part that frustrates me. That was just a tangent. Sorry about that.

I don’t want to try to read hundreds of blogs. What I want to do is find a few that resonate with me and read them. And that’s what I do. But… and this is the part that frustrates me… I find a dozen blogs or so I enjoy and go read them. And after a while some of them will stop posting. Some of will them will become less interesting to me as the blogger begins to focus on different things. Of course, I understand that they can blog about whatever they want and they should. I am not reading because I am friends with that person but because I want something interesting to read. If what you write doesn’t interest me, well you’ve got nothing for me to read. And before you know it, I have nothing to read. Then I have to go find more to read.

I am subscribed to 44 blogs in Bloglines. Yet most of those update very infrequently. And when I sit down at my computer and want to read a blog there is nothing there for me.

So I will go find more, but that is a painful process. I can’t stand most blogs. I’ll parse through the shit looking for something worth reading.

And when I find it, that blog I want to read, I’ll just have to hope that I have a little time before it one fades away.

In case you don’t know… I have been doing this dumbass ‘Internet Radio Show’ for the last year or so. The imaginary Internet Radio Station that it aired on is going off the ‘air.’ If you want more information go here.

I guess all of this has me thinking about the nature the Internet, as I know it, and the nature of blogging. Which has been an ongoing theme for me. Who knows, maybe I’ll write something about this soon.

The Family and I went on road trip to the Lehigh Gap in Pennsylvania. We climbed the mountain and I took a couple hundred pictures. Maybe someday, I’ll find the time to organize and do something with all of these pictures I keep taking.

I still like my truck. It isn’t very fuel efficient and I guess that makes me a bad person, but I don’t drive far on any given day and I’ll gladly pay more to drive the vehicle I want to drive.

On a related note, I passed an SUV with a bumper sticker that said “High Gas Prices Stink!” I hate them.

I think I will carve a few pumpkins this year. I’m not half bad at it. I was going to link to the photos of last year’s attempts. But it looks like they were lost when BlogCafe went down. I’m sure I have them on this computer somewhere, but… Anyhow. I’ll find ‘em and include them.

I had no idea I liked the Grateful Dead so much. I’ve recently got a bunch of Dead to listen to. I like it. I wish I would have realized that while Jerry Garcia was still alive.

I have a headache.

I used to think that maybe I could be a writer. I got over it.

I am still struggling to figure out how I am supposed to do all the things I want to to do, in the time that I have to do them.

I think that North Korea possessing Nuclear technology may be the single greatest threat to the stability of our world.

I am glad I discovered the Sleuth Channel. Miami Vice is better than anything that the networks are offering these days. Between that, M*A*S*H on Hallmark, and Star Trek on G4; I have all the TV I need.

And as they say on M*A*S*H…

That is all.

Have you ever been truly hungry?

I don’t mean feeling like a creme filled doughnut would hit the spot. I mean true hunger. Have you ever gone days with out a meal? Have you ever been so poor, that you could not afford the basic food items needed for survival.

I have. For a brief period in my life, I went with out food because I simply did not have the money. I was never in any danger. I had my family to fall back on.

This year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, 11 million children around the world will not be that lucky. They have no one to fall back on. They live in extreme poverty. They live in areas ravaged by civil war. They will die from diarrhea, acute respiratory illness, malaria and measles because their bodies are too weak to survive these common illnesses. They are not victims of famine, they are victims of poverty and war. Food exists, but they cannot afford or get access to enough of it.

The solution to this problem is not simple. Freedom from Hunger believes that the solution lies in providing these communities with the resources to care for themselves. Freedom from Hunger is not about a handout. It is about change.

With training and assistance from Freedom from Hunger, local organizations can implement high-quality programs and become permanent resources to the poorest citizens of their countries.¹

So what did you have for dinner last night?

In this year’s blogathon I am sponsoring Freedom from Hunger.

You can help by sponsoring me. All I’m asking for is a few bucks. (Maybe what you planning on spending on dessert.) If you cannot help me monetarily, I understand. But do me a favor, send some friends this way and lets see if we can raise some money for a very good cause.

Please Sponsor Me to help fight Hunger.
***If you do sponsor me… let me know. I am hearing reports of the Blogathon site not updating. Thanks***

Did I mention that I hate people.
Why yes I did.

It’s not their fault however, I’m just incompatible with most of them.
I know the problem lies with me. I see the shit that is popular on TV and the Internet, and I hate it too.
Most of the time it doesn’t matter. But sometimes I can’t avoid it.

I hate the Internet, too.

I know. I know. You’re shocked and appalled.

How could you hate the Internet? You spend so much time on the Internet. You love it, you know you do.

Nope. I hate it. It’s not as confusing as it seems.

I hate the Internet because it falls so short of its potential. The Internet could great. Hell, it should be great. But is is not.

Take, for example, political blogs. You just cringed, didn’t you. (Hold that thought it’s going to help me prove my point.) Political Blogs should be awesome. Blogging on the Internet is something that is unregulated, uncensored, and unpressured by the influences of large corporations, lobbies or the government. You can say what ever you want on your blog. If you want to talk about politics, you can tell us what you really think about this issue or that one.

You could, but you don’t.

The political blogs I’ve read, with only a few exceptions, don’t offer up any unique insights or thoughtful discourse. They simply parrot whatever talking points are being distributed that week. Thousands of blogs, all saying the same thing.

I could rail about this for hours but the point is this.

I hate the Internet because it doesn’t even come close to living up to its promise.

I hate people.

I don’t want to. I want to be a people person. I can imagine me talking and having fun with all of these people, but they aren’t real people. They are interesting people who want to talk about things not just pratter on about TV or the weather. People who have opinions and are willing to defed them, but who also are looking to expand their horizons and therefore are willing to listen to different points of view. Me and my imaginary people would have such a great time.

Too bad they are not real.

Take tonight for example. My wife is having some sort of stupid candle party. Whatever. I know it wasn’t designed for me, I just planned to lay low and stay out of the way.

Of course I didn’t get out of work until after 6. Then my wife asked me to stop by the grocery store to pick a few last minute items for the party. I didn’t get home till just before 7, which is when the part started. All I wanted to do was change, grab something to eat and retreat to the geek cave.

Well that’s not going to happen. The party ladies are already showing up. To hell with it, I think, who needs to change. I’ll just grab some food and take the kids and retreat. Too late.

Lady I barely know: This is Jeckles.
Lady I’ve never fucking seen before: You’re Jeckles! I though you were Mrs Jeckles’ brother you two look alike!
Lady I barely know: Well Married people start to like a like!
Lady I’ve never fucking seen before: he he he
Lady I barely know:Jeckles look at hard I’ve slaving to prepare for your wife’s party.

I guess anyone who reads this will think it is no big deal…

Who fucking cares right? I do. What gives you the right to walk into my house and start babbling at me. If you have nothing to say, Shut Up! Why do you feel the need to flap your jaws and joke with me like we’ve been friends for ages.

At some point I had the Audacity to try to leave the Geek Cave. I just wanted some coffee. The door to the Geek Cave was barricaded with Candles. Once they got those clear, some person I don’t know yells out, Jeckles, you can’t just barge in to a room of women with out knocking.

Oh yea, you stupid cow, it’s my house. I own it. An why the fuck are you talking to me.

I really wish I could have some coffee.

I’m a dork.

I admit this freely. My hobby is the Internet (and backpacking.) I read blogs. I play on stupid forums. I listen to podcasts and Internet radio. I even do a stupid radio show myself.

It’s a stupid hobby. I know this. But I figure that it is no worse than getting all wrapped up in Lost or Desperate Housewives or, kill-me-first, American Idol. I could be writing the great American novel… but then again, maybe I have nothing to write anyway.

None of that matters. Hell none of this matters either.

The point.

There is no point, there never is.

The Internet should be better than the real world. People of like thoughts should be able to find each other and communicate. People should be able to express themselves freely. Information should be exchanged… freely.

But that’s not how it works a lot of the time.

It becomes just like the real world. Full of petty bickering. And stupid politics. Not like Red State/Blue State politics, but like office politics… only as it relates to … blogs, forums, chatrooms, whatever.

Fuck That.

Says a lot about human nature… doesn’t it? And I don’t like what I’m hearing.

Occasionally, people will ask me why I celebrate Christmas.  They know that I am an atheist.  What use do I have for Christmas?  The short answer is, I do it for the kids.  No reason to deprive them of all the things that go with Christmas, just because of my ideological hang ups.

But I have a confession.  Just between you and me.

I like Christmas.

Sort of.

On my terms anyhow.

The Christian Celebration of the birth of Christ… I can take it or leave it.

The modern secular celebration that extends from Thanksgiving to New Years, on the other hand, I can get in to.

There are a lot of things I like about Christmas Time, or maybe I should call it Xmas.  First of all, there is an emphasis on family and caring that is nice.  The gift buying is great for the economy, and getting a few nice gifts, makes me happy too.

But I think the thing that really makes me happy is the lights.  This is the darkest time of year.  The shortest day of the year is coming.  What better way to deal with this than to light every thing up.  Extra lights hung on the streets.  On Houses.  On Trees.  Lights everywhere.

It makes me feel good.  Xmas is great.  

A time when instead of going to work, I can stay home with my family.   What a great idea.  I think everyone can get behind that.

The more I think about it.  The American Celebration of Xmas is very secular.  And Commercial.  Santa Claus, as we picture him, has everything to do with the Coca Cola Corporation.  This doesn’t bother me at all.  It fits into our culture perfectly.

And when I see the occasional sign that says, “Don’t Forget The Reason for The Season.”  I smile to myself.  I think, maybe I have my own reasons…. and they aren’t half bad.

New Order - Republic I’ve got so many things bothering me right now; I don’t know which one to write about.

I guess I’ll start with the Scouts.

My son joined the Boy Scouts last spring.

Good for him. Of course, I have to go to the Meetings and hang out. I hate them.

A little background is probably in order. I was a Boy Scout when I was a kid. I loved it. It is one of the things from my childhood that I look back on and am happy with. It was great. We went camping. A lot. And when we did, the leaders let us kids be in charge of ourselves.

By that, I don’t mean that they let us do whatever we wanted to. Quite the opposite. They taught us what we supposed to do and how to do it. Then they expected us to take care of.

We camp with our patrols. The Patrols usually consist of 6 or so kids. One of those kids is designated as the Patrol Leader. The Patrol Leader would work with a patrol to come up with a menu and itinerary for the patrol that worked with the guidelines he had been given. He delegated responsibilities to the members of the patrol.

Everyone knew what he had to do and everyone did it because that was what had to happen. Not perfectly, not all the time, but the leaders guided us on how to work through the rough spots.

This is what turned me on to camping and backpacking. It was the first time in my life that I had been truly independent. Sometimes I think that it still is. It is quite an accomplishment for a group of teenage boys to go out in to the woods and manage to take care of themselves. It was a lot of work, but it was fun and we felt pride in our accomplishments.

When I was 15 we moved. The Troop in the area I had moved to was awful. When we went camping, the grown ups cooked our meals for us. They told us what to do and when to do it. We had a lot of time for goofing off. And I hated it. It wasn’t real camping. I knew how to take care of myself, maybe, in terms of camping, more than some of these leaders. I lost interest and stopped going to the meetings and working on merit badges. I was very close to Eagle, but I did not care. It did not seem like it would mean much to be an Eagle Scout from a Boy Scout Troop that actually cancelled a camping trip because of rain.

Anyhow. My son’s Troop.

The meetings have been disorganized. The kids are supposed to be in charge, but they obviously don’t know what they are supposed to be doing. I hate it. But I keep my mouth shut. They have more parent participation than any Troop I’ve ever heard of.

In time, the leaders of my son’s Troop figured out that I have a Scouting background. And that I go backpacking all the time. And they want me to be involved. At first, I resisted. It seemed like to much work. I didn’t want to help them run the Troop the way it is running now and I didn’t want to tell them that they had to change what they were doing.

As it turns out, not all of the parents are happy with the way things are going. They recruited me to be on ‘their’ side. They may regret it. Anyone who reads the shit I’ve written knows that I have strong opinions. My opinions on how a Scout Troop should work are very strong. It is going to be a mess.

This past weekend, I went on a campout with this Troop. The adults took care of everything. The Scouts threw snowballs at each other.

Jeckles, I told myself, you have to give them a chance. You can influence them. In time you can teach the leaders how to teach the kids.

So I stayed out of the way. I let things happen the way that they happen.

On Sunday, as it got close to time to go, I saw the adults working very hard to get everything stowed and put away. I saw Scout throwing snowballs. Then I noticed one Scout working on putting away some gear, it looked like he could use a hand. I went to the Scouts throwing snowballs and asked if a few of them could help the kid out.

They refused. And went back to throwing snowballs. I raised my voice, and used the inflection that I think of as my Dad voice. And demanded that they help. At that point, a few of them begrudgingly went to help. I was furious.

The Scouts have a Law. It states that a Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, and so on and so forth. And these Scouts refused to help. But I wasn’t mad at the kids so much as I was mad at the Troop. The kids reaction made it very clear to me that these kids had never been asked to help with anything during a campout.

I do not know how many trips like that I can go on.

What’s the point?

It is not polite to ask people to help you move.

I mean it is one thing if you are young and moving into your first apartment. Or your first apartment without roaches. Or even if you are moving into your first house.
But if you are moving into a bigger house, because you outgrew you other house.. again.
Hire movers.
And if there is a piano…

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s just my aching back speaking.

—–

Five days off from work was good. Of course, I had plans to get a bunch of stuff done. I did not. My free time mostly just slipped away from me while I diddled on the computer.

I did play with the Mango Radio.
I can now go ‘live’ at will.
I know that you don’t care. But I think it’s cool.

—–

Having gone back to work after essentially a week off, I have decided that I don’t like work. It’s not my job. It’s not bad as far as jobs go, but I don’t like it. I’d rather being doing something else. Making something. Creating something. Not just supporting systems that in turn make a larger system work. What the hell is that?

Being cranky and writing doesn’t go well together.

Be angry works, you pour your rage on to the paper, so to speak.

But being cranky…

It just doesn’t cut it.   You are over critical.  Nothing you write is good enough.  This shit isn’t good enough, but I am going to put up something today.  So this is it.

Maybe it’s the holidays.  Maybe it’s the time off work.  Not that I’d rather be at work, but time off work is that magical time that I would do all those things I can’t do because I’m busy working. But it doesn’t work out that way.

Maybe it’s this cold.

I don’t know.

But I am cranky.  And I can’t write.  This only makes me crankier.

There’s nothing like hitting that lace where everything just makes you more upset.

I could elaborate, but I don’t think I could get my meaning across.

Being cranky and writing doesn’t go well together.
    

Mango is fired up about Intelligent Design.  I’m not sure of it was the headlines from Dover or just right wing propaganda that has him fired up, but he is.  He asserts that Intelligent Design is not a theory and furthermore that making the case that Intelligent Design should be presented as an alternative theory to Evolution is akin to saying that Green Day should be offered up with Beethoven and Mozart in Music History class.

I’m not a scientist, hell I don’t even possess a college degree, but I won’t let that stop me from adding my take on this.  Let’s jump back a moment.  What is Intelligent Design or ID?  If you want a detailed answer, Mango and a-[e] can provide it.  I’ll state it simply.  ID is Creationism dressed in scientific trappings.  

Let me make a few statements before I continue.  I am an Atheist.  I’m sorry about that.  Some would tell you that my lack of belief makes me want to push that on others much the way the Faithful want to spread their faith.  I can only offer you my assurance that your faith or lack thereof is of no concern to me.  Having said that, I don’t think that Christianity and Evolution have to be at odds with one another.   The bible says God created man and the animals.  Evolution says that mutations occurred over time.  I know Christians who believe that those mutations may be the hand of God in the process. By pushing this small change or that one perhaps God did create us, they say.

It seems to me that evolution is not really a facet of biology, but a matter of math.  Applied probability.  Nothing is driving evolution.  It might be more appropriate to say that Evolution is demonstrated by Biology.  I point this out because I think Evolution is demonstrated in other places too, but I’ll get back to that later.

SC&A says, “There is ample scientific evidence that evolution is a fact of life. There is also ample evidence that there is much more. That evidence can be seen in the behavior of man. That behavior defies evolutionary ideals and principles” and Mango echoes the notion.  I contend that these statements are erroneous because there is no such thing as evolutionary ideals or behavior.  Man is successful as a species.  Largely due to his behavior.  I would say that man and his “counter-evolutionary behavior” are only more examples of evolution itself.

Evolution is not about behavior.  It is about patterns.  I may be the only person who sees it this way, but what the hell.  Like I said at the beginning I have no real expertise on the subject matter.

The question I find more interesting is this; why are people of faith so threatened by evolution?

They teach Earth Science in most schools systems.  And in those classes they teach that the Earth is much older than a literal view of the bible would allow for.  Yet, I’ve not heard much outrage about that.  What is about the Theory of Evolution that makes this Fundamentalist Christians want to take to the streets?

I’m too tired to dwell on the subject any long tonight so we’ll have to address that part later.

This notion of Class and Classism is still bouncing around my head.  Before I continue with this line of thought, I want to clarify a few things.  a-[e] wrote a piece that touched on some of these same notions.  He took exception to the way I broke out the classes.  I want to clarify that the classes that I am defining are social, not economic.  

To that end, although economically your average white collar middle manager is no where near the CEO of the corporation he works for; socially they follow the same mores and hold to the same basic values and beliefs.  We are not blind to the economics here, the economic status of individuals, will certainly have a lot to do with placement of an individual in the strata that exists within the Class.

That is same reason that I separate the Urban Poor from the Rural Working class.  They may find themselves in the same tax bracket, but they do not have much in common in regards to mores and values.  I label them as Urban and Rural, but these labels do not necessarily point to where the members of this Class Live.  These labels describe where the values these classes embrace came from.  There are people who are members of the Rural Working class who live in Suburban and Urban areas, but their values and mores would fit in rural Ohio or Texas.

Commenter, tantric siren, observes that I didn’t address the role education plays in promoting the class structure and by extension Classism.  I did not mention in that post, but I certainly will address it here.  The way we run our schools in this day and age has everything to do with the perpetuation of Classism in America.

The Public Schools serve to sort children into the proper class and keep them there.  I’m not talking about a teacher who believes that blacks are lazy.  I’m sure that happens, but what I’m talking about is actually built into the system.  Good teachers as well as bad teacher are promoting it.  It starts with the separating the ’smart’ kids from the ‘average’ kids.  This is done at a very young age.  The ’smart’ kids are separated from the others and get a more rigorous and challenging curriculum.

How are the smart kids picked out?  Some fancy testing?  No it is left to the teacher’s judgment.   I have all the respect in the world for those who choose to teach.  But neither that choice, nor the subsequent training, makes them qualified judges of intelligence.  I’m sure there are plenty who would argue this point with me.  But I feel strongly about this one.  How are the teachers making these assessments?  They are identifying the ’smart’ kids as though who are the better readers, have better math skills and those who are generally better prepared and follow instructions best.

One might think at first glance that this is a perfectly reasonable criterion for picking out the ’smart’ kids.  But let’s look a little deeper.  In grades 2, 3 and 4; can we really tell who has an aptitude for Math or English?  No, we cannot.  What we can see is performance.  I assert that what we are really measuring in this process is not aptitude or intelligence, but the  social  background of the child.  The schools ask that children come to kindergarten familiar with the alphabet and able to count and a couple of other basic things like that.  Children of Middle Class families will, in all likelihood, come very prepared.  On the other hand children from the Rural Working Class are much less likely to come to school with this background.  And children from families that are Urban Poor almost certainly will not be prepared at all.

As the children progress through school, the differences in Class continue to be emphasized.  The Children of the Middle Class will most likely get the most support and help at home with their school work.  Those parents are the most likely to go to Teacher Conferences and communicate with the teachers in a way that the teacher’s are comfortable with.  Even Johnny Middle Class is struggling with math, his parents will help the teacher to see what the problem is.  At the same time, Suzy Working Class may be having the same problem, but her parents, who know that they were never very ’smart’ at math, assume that there is no problem, Suzy just doesn’t get it.  Freddy Urban Poor’s parents on the other hand resent the schools system and ignore communication from the teachers.  

The result of all of this is that the Middle Class kids are filtered into the ’smart classes.’  The names change depending on time and place, but the concept is constant.  These students then receive the best recourses, the best teachers and the encouragement to go to college.  Why the ’smart’ kids get more while everyone else gets less, is also symptomatic of the role that class plays I education.  Common sense would tell us, that the ‘average’ and ‘dumb’ kids need more help and therefore more resources.  Unfortunately, schools are run by common sense, they are run by the Board of Education.  The Board members are elected officials, who have to publicly answer to the tax-payers.  And guess which class is most mobilized in local politics: the Middle Class, of course.  So the decisions of the Board reflect time and again the notion that the kids of the most influential members of community need to be taken care of.

Don’t think that this possible?  I assure you it is.  A local school system came up with a proposal to eliminate leveling, to mix the kids together and assure that they all received good instruction.  When the proposal was put in front of the Board of Education, parent after parent stood up to say that they did not want their kids, the ’smart’ kids, to have to be in the class room with those others.  The sentiment was, if we share the resources equally amongst all the children, it would cut into the ’smart’ kids’ chances at going to their chosen University.

In other words, they felt that it was fine to educate these other children, but not at the expense of their child receiving the finest education the system could provide.  The result of this, over time, has been that we have a system that has schools inside of schools; a school for the children of the Middle Class and a school for everyone else.  

Of course, there are exceptions.  There are children from the other classes who are bright and push themselves who end up in the top classes.  And there are Middle Class children who are unmotivated and maybe not so bright who drop down in to the ‘average’ classes.  But as a rule, this how it works for most.

Can this be fixed?  In theory, it would not be hard to implement.  All we need to do is give all children the same level of education.  But the reality is much more complicated.  The Middle Class controls the School Board, and they want to see this system perpetuated.  And even if some liberal minded members of the Middle Class could push through these reforms, it wouldn’t matter.  The Middle Class would pull their children from public education, and either home school or send them to private schools.  They would then demand Vouchers or fewer taxes spent on the schools, since they did not use them.  ”Why should we support these schools?” They would ask.  We have already seen this happen in the inner cities.  Without the support of the Middle Class, the schools fail.

I wish I had better answers.  I do not.  But it seems to me that many of us have been participating blindly in this system of Classism.  It is my hope that through awareness, some changes can be made.

There is something going on this country.  It has been flicking around the edges of my consciousness for a few years, I think.  But it is starting coming in to focus for me.

I have tossed this notion around with some people whose intelligence and opinions I respect .  It is slippery.  I want to present, but I don’t want to get bogged down in old arguments.  That’s part of the problem.  We are used to looking at this issue and that issue till we can’t see the big picture.  To be cliche, we can’t see the forest for the trees.

This problem that I see, I haven’t heard anyone address before. (Although I am sure they have, I simply just haven’t heard it.  Therefore I need to define my own terms, since I haven’t heard them defined before.)  

How to present this?  We’ll start here, but I think this is a large concept and will have be addressed in more than one post.  We’ll start with the notion of racism in America.  How would you feel if I told you that there was no institutional racism in America?  That except for a few bitter and under-educated individuals there is no racism? Hear me out.  If you have a list of example of racism, hold on to them for a second.  Let’s look at this from another angle.  I recently heard a quote that said something about Bush hating black people, in describing his response (or lack thereof) to the disaster in New Orleans.  As a matter of fact, it wouldn’t be too hard to put together a case that said that the Bush administration had presented policies that have harmed African-Americans.  But there would be a gaping hole in that argument.

Bush made Colin Powell the first black Secretary of  State, then he made Condi Rice the first black woman Secretary of State.  It is widely reported that Dr. Rice was one of Bush’s closest advisors during his first term.  If Bush has it in for the African American community, why has held these two individuals in such high regard?  Or more simply put, if we call Bush a racist he will not only deny it, but will go on to tell us about his friends that are black.

We see this kind of discrepancy all over the place.  How to explain it?  Perhaps were are looking at the problem all wrong.  Maybe it’s not about race, not about skin color.  What if we assert that it is about class?  If we say that the Bush administration has consistently implemented policies that are harmful to the lower classes in this country, does this ring truer? It’s getting closer.

How about if we don’t define our classes by economic terms?  If you took Macroeconomics you have heard about the classes in America.  Lower, Middle and the Upper.  Forget about them, for the purposes of this discussion, they are useless.  There are factory workers, Tool and Dye makers who make more money than most teachers.  Are they in the same class?  I wouldn’t say so.

Let’s define the classes in the United States as follows.  There are three classes.  I’ll name them like this, although I acknowledge the names aren’t perfectly representative of their members; the Elite Middle Class, the Urban Poor and the Rural Working Class.

The Elite Middle Class is the class who run this country.  It is composed of home owning, college educated, white-collar workers.  They are held together by a common set of core values.  Values that could described as White Anglo-Saxon Protestant  values.  But don’t be confused, this class is not about being white, Anglo-Saxon or Protestant. It’s about living with values and mores that the WASPs have traditionally held. What are the mores of the Elite Middle Class?  I could probably write a book to answer that question, but I won’t because I think that all of us understand them. They include the nuclear family, the notion of education as a means to better oneself, a work ethic that dictates that one must work himself to the bone to get a head (the so-called American Dream,) a whole bunch of implicitly understood rules of behavior that are referred to as manners, and countless others.  If you are having trouble picturing these mores, picture the Huxtables from the Cosby Show.  It doesn’t matter if you’re Black, Hispanic-Catholic, or a Russian Jew, as long as you act correctly.  Nearly all of our political and corporate leaders come from this group.  Liberal Democrats and Conservative Christian Republicans both come from this group.   They agree or more than they think, it just some of the details that they differ on.

The Urban Poor are largely African American, but not exclusively.  They are not a cohesive class like the Elite Middle class.  What they have in common is what they do not have.  They are poor, they do not own homes, they are uneducated, and they do not subscribe the mores of the Elite Middle Class.  Paternity is practically undefined in this class.  This is class that has evolved from centuries of communal living.  They have a very different notions about privacy and personal space.  

The Rural Working Class  are not necessary rural nor do they necessarily work.  Once again this group is defined by a certain set of values and mores.  The Rural Working Class holds many values in common with the Elite Middle Class but they lack much of what the Middle class has.  Home ownership is not as common.  Many of them own trailers or other properties that do not have the same investment potential as true home ownership, although they likely believe that it is the same.  Many of them hold jobs that do not require any formal education, custodial positions, manufacturing jobs.  Some of them will develop skills, but only skills that they can employ in their jobs, auto mechanics and tool and dye makers for example.  They view money as something to be dealt with immediately and most of them don’t trust banks for even the simplest of investments, Savings Accounts.  They are a group that is largely ignorant and gets much of its information on the rest of the world from what they are told at work, at church, the bar.  They are the NASCAR nation and the Bible Belt.  They are the voters who consistently put Republicans in office.

Interesting observations, you may be thinking, but so what?

Back to my original question, about Racism.  What if what we are seeing isn’t racism.  What if it is classism.  I know it’s not a real word.  But it will have to do.  What if I assert that the Bush administration has consistently pursued policies that are harmful to the Urban Poor.  What if I further more assert that while the Administration’s policies do not benefit the Rural Working Class much they are presented in such a way that the Rural Working Class believes that they have benefited, tax cuts for example.  Do these assertion ring more true than the assertion that the Bush Administration is racist?  I think that they do.  It is no longer a paradox that Bush has placed African Americans high in his cabinet.  It doesn’t matter that they are African American, because regardless of how they got there, both Condaleeza Rice and Colin Powell are members of the Elite Middle Class.

So what does all this have to do with anything?  It had to do with this.  For the last few decades, certain members of the Elite Middle Class have been acting to elevate and isolate the Elite Middle Class, but keeping the Urban Poor impoverished, ignorant and at war with each other, while at the manipulating the fears and ignorance of the Rural Working Class to achieve their aims.

Why should I care?  I’m a member of the Elite Middle Class (although there are many who are more elite than I am.)  I benefit from these policies.  Why should I rock the boat?  For two reasons: First I do not want to be the beneficiary of another’s suffering.  I don’t want to see people get swept aside ignored just because there are different.  Second, it won’t work long term.  History shows that time and again, when the gulf between haves and the have-nots gets too large the have-nots will topple the haves.  Just ask Tsar Nicholas II or Louis XVI.  

This is problem that needs to be addressed and the time is now.  The first step will be to remove those from power who support policies of Classism.  As I said a thousand or so words ago, this is a big concept and will take more than one post to fully realize it.  So I leave you with these thoughts for now, with the  promise that we will continue this conversation.

    

I’m not having a very good week.  

It has been busy.  Stupid Busy.

My wife was out of town Saturday till Wednesday.  This made me a Single dad for a few days.  It was fun in some ways. But mostly it just wore me out.  And Tuesday after a shitty day at work, I really missed not having my best friend around to tell all about it.

Work.  Work has been … stressful.  I am in the business of Tech Support.  And there are times when it is a very thankless job.  Times like this month.  I do onsite support.  If your computer stops working, and you call the help desk, and the help desk can’t resolve your issue over the phone; I’m the guy who will show up and fix it.  

Most of the time it’s great.  I show up, do my thing and everyone’s happy.  People are so happy to get this stuff fixed.  It makes me feel good.  When I’m not closing calls, I’m working on projects: setting up servers, trying new technology, and brainstorming with the other engineers.  For me it is the perfect job.  I get to plenty of interesting and smart work, but I also have an excuse to get out of the office and avoiding the politics.

But sometimes, like now, the call volume gets high.  People wait times go up.  Then it’s harder.  I try to make the best of it.  I challenge myself to get the calls closed.  I work longer hours.  But the users… the users can make the job hell.

The users, who can’t be bothered to use the helpdesk, yet want you to take a look at their problem.  They have no appreciation for how badly that sets me back and for how much it screws things up for people who actually follow procedure and use the Help Desk.  I have calls that are almost a month old, but you want me to drop everything at look at your new problem ‘while I’m here.’  

The users, who have an axe to grind with their boss, because the boss hasn’t given them the computer or software they want.  Or because they Hate the IT department.  They are angry because when they started their career they didn’t use computers but computers have been thrust on them.  And they are sure that every time the computer doesn’t do what they expect it to it’s because we did something to mess with it.

The users, who did something stupid to their computer and expect you to fix it, ‘I     know we’re no supposed to download games from the Internet but… can you get all the spyware off of my PC with out removing my games?’

The thing that brings me down is the rudeness.  I’ve been yelled out, accused of preventing people from doing their jobs, and treated just generally like shit.  Just for showing up to fix the problem.

I could tell you tales of the crap I have had to endure, but I don’t really feel like it.  I will tell you this: If your computer gives you a hard time and someone comes to fix it, say ‘thank you’ to him (or her!)  Even if the last tech that came, screwed things up worse.  Even if you think you should get a better computer or that the computer has just made your job harder.  Even if you had to wait too long for them to show up.  Even if the help desk was terrible and the people you spoke to on the phone were idiots.  When the onsite tech shows up and fixes it; smile, be glad they came at all, be glad it’s now fixed, and say thank you.  It makes a difference.  Trust me, on this one.    

Should I make a bunch of excuses for my lacking of posting?  I didn’t think so either.  It doesn’t make for good reading, and it’s nothing you haven’t heard before.

I am very hooked on wiki.  If you’ve never heard of it, learn more here.  Mango has set up a wiki in conjunction with Mango Radio.  I’ve had a lot of fun writing articles for it.  I hope people start editing it; I think that would be wild.  And speaking of Mango Radio, it’s true; I do have a show on there.  Yes, the geek is recording a radio show.  It ‘airs’ Thursday Mornings.  Should you check it out?  Well, ask yourself this question: Do you want to listen to thoughtful commentary and quality music?  If the answer is yes, I recommend NPR.  If the answer is no, you might enjoy my show.  Especially, if four letter words and nonsensical diatribes sound like a good time to you.  If you want to learn more go here and here.  If not, that’s ok too.

Everyone and her brother are whining about gas prices.  Which makes me want to scream—”Shut Up!”  Yes, they have gone up a lot.  No, it’s not a crisis.  Are you old enough to remember gas lines?  Signs saying “No Gas Today.”  If you are, then you should see that this isn’t a crisis at all.  How can be so sure?  Three things spring to mind.

First, until the last month or so, gas prices have not increased at anywhere near the rate of inflation.  This is what I would call a correction.  Gas prices weren’t going to stay artificially low forever.  Just be happy, that it lasted as long as it did.

Secondly, I know this isn’t an emergency, because if it were, you wouldn’t still be driving an SUV.  And if you’re not, I bet you know 10 people who are.  Here are the rules.  If you drive an SUV, stop whining about gas prices.  You knew it wasn’t fuel-efficient when you bought it.  Suck it up.  I think you can afford it.  You might not want to, but life’s not fair.  If you own a Hummer, shut up.  You were begging for this to happen, you know you were.  It’s been over a quarter century since the “Energy Crisis” of the 70’s.  We have known with out any doubt, that oil is a resource that is limited.  That alternatives and efficiency were necessary.  We’ve know that, but said ‘I like driving an SUV, so I’ll ignore what should be common sense.’  As I was driving yesterday, i saw plenty of motorcycles out riding for fun.  If gas prices were really too high; I think they would have chose to stay in.

Lastly, let’s ask ourselves, what is really going on here?  Why did the price start rise now?  I’m sure that economists and political scientist can (and probably are on the cable new channels) offer many and conflicting opinions on this.  The other day, the answer hit me like a ton of bricks.  Bush, W to his friends, has been trying to get Congress to allow the oil companies to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, since he took office.  So far he has been unsuccessful.  I bet that if a bill proposing that, with the promise of lower gas prices, is introduced now…  To a Republican Congress…  With pressure from the Airlines and the Manufacturing industries (who are getting hit by this much harder than you and your SUV are…) I bet it passes.

Or maybe I’ve got it all wrong.  What do you think?

Why do you blog? Why do I blog? These are questions, for me at least, are not as simple as they seem. I would like to say I blog because it gives me an opportunity to express myself and it helps me to organize my thoughts.

But that’s not quite right. A notebook would satisfy that. Blogging has the added bonus of readers and feedback. And we’re all desperate for the feedback. We want people to comment. We want people to read what are writing.

But here’s the part that makes the whole thing a little odd. Most people don’t read blogs. Most of the people who do read blogs are people who keep blogs. It becomes a bit of a mutual admiration society. You read my blog and I’ll read yours.

One day, I stumble on to this blog. And this guy is trashing some other blog. And I think to myself, how juvenile. But I kept reading. It was really funny. And kept going back. He made fun of all kinds of stuff. But mostly he made fun of himself. As I kept reading, I saw that this Mango wasn’t just a class clown. He had another side to him. He saw things around him, at work, on the news, on the street; and he found himself outraged. So he vented about it on the blog. With his usual humor.

Mango quit blogging today. And I’m a bit sad about it. But the truth is this. I’m sad and you may be sad too, but “trust me the next day you (and everyone else) would be fine. Trust me, blogs are not all that. We all have bigger things to blog about than to read about.” The quote, of course, is from Mango (from an interview Mango did on one HG’s sites.)

And he’s right. I’ve looked forward to his new posts for a while now, but my life won’t change in any real way. I’ll find something else to read. I always do. Some of favorite bloggers are gone or very inactive. Cleo Love, Surly Snobby, Reaz, and Robyn have all moved on. But I have found Ruksak and Hermes to read.

I do consider Mango a friend of sorts. Which is odd, because I wouldn’t know him if he walked past me on the street. But I’d recognize his humor and intelligence in a heartbeat. Our relationship has grown beyond simple reading each other’s blogs. (One of the biggest compliments I ever got in this blogging business was to learn that not only had I been reading Mango’s blog, he was reading mine.) I’ve listened to Mango Radio, there are a group of songs that I will always consider Mango songs. He’s contributed to the SBC. I’ve contributed to The Mangozine. And I imagine we’ll stay in touch, with or with out a Mango blog.

As a matter of fact. I’ll make a standing invitation right now. Mango next time you are in the greater Baltimore area, look me up.

Thanks for the stories, Mango! (That Minnie Mouse one maybe the single funniest thing I’ve ever read.)

I know that I am supposed to like the 4th of July. It’s one of those holiday, like Thanksgiving, that everyone likes. And I do enjoy myself, but as I look around I find that I am disturbed by what I see.

The first thing I see is the excessive jingoism. I know, I know. It’s independence day, there is supposed to be jingoism. It’s just that the Republican Party has adopted flag waving as it’s platform. As a result, being surrounded by people waving flags and chanting ‘USA,USA!’ makes me feel like I’m at the Republican National Convention. But if that was the only thing, I’d be Ok.

It’s the rest of it. Americans celebrate the Birth of their Nation by eating too much, drinking too much, and then setting off pyrotechnics, that are in most cases, highly illegal in their respective states. Let’s look at this a little closer.

We eat, we drink, we eat some more. OK. I’ll admit it. I over-eat on holidays too. So we’ll get to the part that really bugs me. The drinking. I confess, I don’t drink. I think it is a very bad idea. And trust me, I speak from experience here. This is a day set aside to mark the courage of our founding fathers. They saw inequity in British rule. And they did something about it. The put their lives at risk. They put their way of life at risk. They didn’t sit around and whine. They didn’t sue. They acted. Not just protesting what the British were doing, but saying, “Hey! Here’s a better way.” That I can be proud of. When I see some one slurring their way through Proud to be an American, I find myself feeling not so proud.

And don’t even get me started on those people who need drink, while in the company of children. I’m sure that most people who read this will simply dismiss my discomfort with that. “Hey Geek, go to a Meeting if it bothers you.” But it burns me up. If you and your friends want to drink yourselves silly, I suppose it okay with me. Promise you won’t be driving and I’ll deal with it. But if you are going to have a Family event, why bring the booze? Do you really want your kids to see you slurring and stumbling? I know I don’t want my kids to see you doing it.

And the fireworks. I’ve got nothing against fireworks per se, but the last few days, I’ve story after story about people shooting off their own illegal fireworks. And how they managed to keep the cops from catching them. I find it odd, that this seems to be universally okay with everyone. If I announced that I was going to knock over a bank for the 4th, it would raise some eyebrows. You’re right, that’s not a good comparison. The fireworks represent a victimless crime. They also represents the ‘me’ attitude that has made Americans so popular abroad. Well, it’s against the law, but I really want to shoot them off. ‘Proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free!’

And now that I’ve thought this out some more, I suppose that this is an appropriate way to celebrate America. I just wish it wasn’t.

OK. I’m a little early for the Fourth. I just wanted a chance to get in a thought I had. Probably a very un-original one.

For the Fourth this year, I think that everyone should burn a flag. Yes sir, an American Flag. Why? Do I hate America? No! I love America (although, there are days I can leave the Americans behind.) These idiots in Congress have passed a bill proposing that a Flag Burning Ban Amendment to the Constitution. I think Flag Burning is a pretty disrespectful thing to do, personally. If you are planning to burn a flag, I hope you are ready for the uproar it will cause.

But don’t ban it. If you or I or anyone else is so upset with this country, or the current administration, or whatever; that they want to burn a flag. Let them. Yes, it’s desecration. It’s also a protest. And this country is all about protest. We celebrate the fact that some of our founding fathers broke into a ship and destroyed who knows how much perfectly good tea. Breaking and entering? Destruction of property? No. Protest.

If burning a flag is the way you feel the need to protest. Go for it. I will promptly assume you are a looney and will avoid contact with you, but I don’t want to see you in jail over it.

The Congress has spent its time crafting this inane amendment proposal. Amazing. They can’t get a handle on gasoline prices. They can’t control this little disaster in Iraq. But thank goodness they have the time to worry about lunatics burning flags. Just what we need, another reason to throw people in jail.

I am told that bills like this are passed all the time. I am told it is nothing to worry about because it will never become a Constitutional Amendment, even if it gets past the Senate. But I am worried about it. The Congress has better things to work on. I’m sure of it.

So maybe it’s time to send a message. A protest perhaps. Maybe we should light our flags on fire to celebrate the Fourth of July. Personally, I can’t think of a more American celebration.

It’s like a slap in the face. I over-slept. I jumped out of bed and got myself together and ran out the door. I started the car and turned on the radio.

And Mike Greenberg told me not about baseball, basketball or football. He told me that there had been attack on London. The London Underground. ESPN Radio wasn’t going to cut it this morning. As I changed the station to NPR, my mind raced and my emotions vacillated. How bad is it? Are we in danger? How can this still be happening.

NPR had made way for the BBC. Tony Blair was speaking. He announced that he would leave the G8 conference to deal with situation. But he would return tonight. He spoke eloquently. He seemed in control of the situation.

My mind is still racing. My emotions are still all over the place. I feel compassion those whose lives have been turned upside down for this. I feel a sense of responsibility. The Brits have been the most supportive of the U.S. even when we’ve been off the mark. They are paying for that support now.

I am angry. Al Queda should be destroyed by now. The full force of the United States should be enough to capture its leaders, to freeze its assets, to find their bases and destroy them. But these things have not happened. They have not happened because we can not bring down the full force of the United States on Al Queda. We are all wrapped up in Iraq. A place we were supposed to make better, bring democracy to. A place that just signed a Pact with Iran. A country that we have declared an Axis of Evil. A country that may have nuclear weapons.

There are real problems out there. There are real threats. Threats that are bigger than WMDs that don’t exist. Bigger than flag burning and gay marriage. Bigger than abortion. Bigger than screwing up Social Security worse than it already is. This country needs to start dealing with those problems. I heard dozens of analysts say that we would look back and say that 9/11 was the day that everything changed. I’m looking back now and everything seems the same.

How many times must disaster strike before things really do change? 9/11. 3/11. 7/7. We need a solid plan to deal with terrorists. We need to leave the “wedge” issues and simply deal with the real issues.

Tonight my thoughts and my heart is with those in England.

OK. I think I have made clear my thoughts on morals as opposed to religion. But the second part of this is the idea of what the schools should be responsible for. Not only that, but what they are capable of. a-[e] covers this very nicely. Mango has also put his two cents in. I encourage to read their posts as well.

Several commenters on the last post put forth the idea that some children have no resource outside of the schools to teach them morals. This is true and it is tragic. But I am troubled by this notion that because you have a hard time at home, the schools are responsible to make up for all of those shortcomings. It would be nice, but the schools cannot give these kids what there are truly lacking, because the schools are incapable of love. I know… I’ve seen … situation where a teacher can make a huge impact a child. Unfortunately there is know way to create a formula for these kinds of things.

I have the opportunity to be in classrooms upon occasion. I am not a teacher. I am not there because of my kid. I am there to work on a computer or a printer or that kind of thing. The point is I end up being a kind of neutral observer. As I wait for a computer to reboot (or re-image for that matter,) I really don’t have anything better to do but to observe what is going on in the classroom around me. These are pretty normal classrooms, there are no dramatics here with guns or gangs. Nonetheless, I see often enough situations that make me wonder about the effectiveness of what we are teaching.

My observations have led to the conclusion that the schools in general are incapable of teaching morals or values or anything like that. There are two points to be made here. The schools are teaching too much as it is. Adding morals to the list is not going to help the situation. Secondly, after much reflection, I am not sure that morals can be taught.

Of course, you know I will elaborate.

I am not a secularist. I do not wish to spread my secular ideas to others. I do not agree with all secular ideas. There has been a liberal/secular movement in education for the last few decades. The schools teach all kinds of liberal/secular junk. Sex education is just the beginning. They teach kids about their emotions how to be empathetic. They teach kids about the environment. They teach all kinds of things. Yet, kids still graduate from high school and go on to be insensitive, to be polluters, to accidentally get pregnant.

The schools are trying to hard. We try teach algebra to everyone. If you are going to go to school, graduate and go out in to the world as a salesmen, a respectable career, you do not need algebra. Solid arithmetic is what you need. The ability to budget and the to write a check. Algebra? We need to simplify. Especially before high school. Let’s focus on three “R’s” as they say. Let’s focus on the basics. I know, that’s not fun. That’s not interesting. But, who said school should be fun? For all the effort they put into trying to make learning fun, my kid still finds school to be, well, boring. Let’s face it. School will never compete with video games.

I don’t know what anyone else thinks, but the way I say it the school has one basic responsibility: to give everyone a base set of knowledge before they go out into the world. The ability to read. The ability to express your thoughts in writing. The ability to perform arithmetic. A basic understanding of our history. A basic understanding of the literature that has come before. That’s all.

Many of you will disagree with me about this. That’s Ok. It doesn’t change anything. You still shouldn’t morals values in school, because you can’t teach morals. This is because lack of moral behavior does not usually come from a lack of understanding of what is right and what is wrong. It comes from a disregard of what is right and what is wrong.

You can tell some one, again and again and again that something is wrong. This will not prevent them from doing that. Trust me on this, there is a middle school kid living in my house. These kids that come from these tragic backgrounds will have no motivation to follow any moral instruction that is given to them. Hell, even kids from middle class homes will challenge moral instruction as the enter puberty and adolescence.

I maintain, as I said in my last post, that if the schools are going to get kids to behave morally, the need set standards and hold them to them. PB commented:

Although, I believe that setting expectations for students, and holding them to those expectations, will at the same time, teach “character.” I’m assuming, of course, the expectations you are referring to would be along the lines of: do your own work, respect the property of others, come prepared and on time, be respectful of teachers and administrators, etc. All of these expectations seem to be reflective of the underlying moral/ethical code of conduct that has been adopted by our society.

That is exactly what I mean. Unfortunately, at this time in history, the schools are unable to hold children accountable for much of anything. Ironically, it’s the parents who won’t stand for it.

Upon occasion, when I want to read something well thought out and well written, I go to Sigmund, Carl and Alfred. Yesterday, he wrote about religion and schools. A lot of people got exciting because he pondered, “What exactly is the harm in teaching Creationism?” He made some good points about the state of schools today, but by the time I got done reading it, I wanted to shout at my monitor,”Religion is NOT the same as Moral!”

This is going to be full of MY opinions. If you find them distasteful. Go away. Right now. Go read a mommy blog. I’m willing to hear what you think, if you’ve read what I’ve written and have a thought about it please leave a comment. If you just want to tell me that I’m wrong. Don’t.

Let’s clear the air. I’m an atheist. Sometimes, I soften that statement by saying that I’m agnostic, but the truth is I don’t believe. Sorry. I really am. I’ve looked hard and long at the concept of god and at various religions. I just don’t see it. SC&A implied that secularism/atheism is a religion in its own right. I could not disagree more. If you believe in God, I not only have no problem with that. I envy you. I really do. I know people whose faith is deep and that seems to make them very happy. I do not wish sway anyone from their beliefs. Believe what you want.

I do not see myself as a secularist. I am a moral person. I take my morals very seriously. I know what is right and I do my best to live my life that way. It is possible that I will burn in hell because I do not believe, but it will not be because I have acted poorly. As a matter of fact, that is the point about religion that does me in every time.

The last time I went to church was Easter Sunday, 2001. I went to make my Mom happy. I brought the Wife and Kids. It was very nice. Pretty Flowers. Beautiful hymns. And then Pastor Dave went in to his Sermon. Usually Methodists are ridiculed for being safe, boring, and have Church services that end promptly after 60 minutes. But Pastor Dave was inspired. He went on about how this time of year, Easter Time, is the best time of year for Christians. It’s not to be a good person. It’s about believing. It’s about Christ, Pastor Dave extolled. I just sat there steaming. Why isn’t it enough just to be a good person?

I never went to church again. It is likely that I never will. But I am a moral person. I’ve read large portions of the Bible. Especially the Gospels. I think that the example that Jesus gave is very good place to start. Turn the other cheek, Judge not, Love all men. Good stuff. That Jesus was a pretty good guy. Why is it so important that I believe that he died and that rose from the dead?

And of course, if Pastor Dave is correct, that must mean that Gandhi is in Hell. And I refuse to believe that a God who would sacrifice his own flesh in order to forgive our sins, would ignore the noble deeds of a man, just because he did not happen to believe. That doesn’t sit well with at all.

Morals and Religion are not the same. We can all agree on that I think. Why then do morals and religion get all tied together. It is because Morals are not black and white. Oh sure, don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie — those must be universal morals. I think not. I see plenty of killing being done in the name of God or Allah theses days. Is it moral to steal to feed your family. If you knew your mother had one year to live, but she would feel no pain during that time and would die in he sleep. Would you hide that truth from her? Would it be moral?

No, my friends, morality is not black and white. But if we agreed on Christian Morals, then we could look to the bible, the pastor, the Pope for clarification on these issues. I teach my children morals. My morals. Sometimes I use Jesus as an example. Sometimes the Buddha. Other times I use Cal Ripken or Miguel Tejada.

I do not want to see morality taught in school. First of all, is the morality that you would teach, the morals I would have my children learn. Is the morality I would teach, the moral your children should learn? Secondly, even if we could all agree on the curriculum, they’d screw it up. Remember the New Math? My brother was taught the New Math. Poor guy is thirty years old and cannot do long division.

The schools would be well served to focus on teaching kids Math, English, History. Teach them. Set expectations. Hold them to those expectations. You don’t need to teach them about character. You need to demand it. You do not need to teach morality. You do not need to teach Creationism. Hell, you don’t need to teach evolution. I have all kinds of thoughts on education, but I’ll spare you… for now.

That’s the way I see it. If you have a thoughtful comment, I would love to hear it.

I was driving down the road this weekend, minding my own business. Of course, you never hear of some one who was driving along nosing in to everyone else’s business. Regardless, I saw a bumper sticker. It proudly announced “BOYCOTT FRANCE.” I began to think about that. Why would I boycott France. I’m not crazy about the French. They seem kind of snooty and pretentious. Their history leaves some thing to be desired. But what have they done to me? Nothing.

Oh, I think I know why that guy wanted me to