A Man of the People (His People)

It's Hard to Understand?

I continually tell people that I remember very few mass shootings when I was a kid. The only one I remembered was the Texas Tower massacre. Few people believe me when I say it but now I just looked up the stats. Here they are. It is mind boggling to see the acceleration of these kinds of incidents. It is even more mind boggling trying to figure out why??

Mass shootings in America
By decade:
1900's:0
1910's:2
1920's:2
1930's:9
1940's:8
1950's:1
1960's:6
1970's:13
1980's:32
1990's:42
2000's:28
2010-2013:14 (PS - If we extrapolate there should be 47 in the 2010s)

Just Wondering??

After the put down of the pension issue by the NJ Supreme Court I  looked up the following:

"Lawmakers still have never succeeded in overriding a Christie veto. The governor has issued 350 vetoes since he took office in 2010, with lawmakers failing in all 48 attempts to override him."

"While Democrats have majorities in both the Assembly and Senate, it would take a two-thirds majority in both houses to override Christie. Republicans, including on some bills they originally supported, have not provided enough votes for the overrides."

Then I looked up this:

"By 2002, Christie had campaigned for Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him as United States Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption."

Now I am sure that the Governor's continued success cannot be attributed to his charming personality so what could it be? Could it be a reincarnation of J Edgar ? Please keep in mind that I am certainly not accusing anyone I am merely musing!

A Hot Topic

I noticed a link to this article on my local message board and I was immediately reminded of the many May, June, September and October sweltering days spent in the second floor chem lab of my high school. After reading the piece I looked at some of the comments that were made about it. Here are some of them!

"How did we live in the 60's? I'll answer my own question. We opened the freakin windows.

 We're raising pussies these days who can't cope with the slightest adversity "

"There's no need for the added expense to do this. The kids aren't in school in the hottest part of the summer. If they had to go to school year round then yes, it might be a consideration. The kids can withstand a little heat till the end of JUNE!!"

"i'm not coming down on either side of the air conditioned classrooms debate. But it makes me wonder about what we're doing to our kids. I got my first air conditioner when I was in my early thirties. Somehow, before that, we managed to be productive, to learn, to work, to sleep, to have fun, ... People managed to win Nobel Prizes, even though they had no air conditioning.

I was in Tokyo a couple of times last summer, and there were still power-grid issues hanging over from the Fukashima incident, so a lot of places were either not running their air conditioning, or setting their thermostats very high. People managed to come to work, do their jobs, even enjoy life.

I remember enjoying my life before I had air conditioning in my car, my house, my office... I wonder if we're making our kids a bunch of bubble-babies, intolerant of any inconvenience whatsoever."

Here is my response on that board to these stupid, callous comments - 

"I grew up with no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no running water, no central heat, living at the end of a three quarter mile long dirt lane and I don't remember it being a lot fun! (BTW this is all true). Does that mean I should have subjected my children to the same circumstances to 'toughen them up'?

Reading many of your posts on this board I always assumed you to be intelligent people and therefore I must also assume that with these post you are actually joking."

Additionally, I constantly hear that education should be run like a business and should have only the benefits which are bestowed on the private sector. When is the last time you entered an office building that wasn't air conditioned? 

A Lotta of Pencils & Paper

Why do BOEs spend vast sums on legal fees. Shouldn't the 'Law of Supply and Demand' apply? Does every legal matter have to be handled by a Johnny Cochran priced lawyer ? 

Why do they continually hire law firms at $250 per hour and up and then cry poverty when it comes to salary increases for teachers and staff?  

Do you think politics might have something to do with it? Politics in education - Nah couldn't be!   

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"Oh To See Ourselves As Others See Us" - R. Burns

Christie's Curse