So it's January 2nd and I think it's particularly apt that I have begun to read a book on the presidency of our forty third president. It's not, as far as I can tell, this partisan bullsh*t about how Bush was a great man whom we should all idolize like a f*cking God, becasue a book like that would sell almost no copies. No, it more describes the man, a tempermental person who likes to win. He is a man who loved education and how the much vilified "No Child Left Behind Act" was started with the best will in the world. It describes how stuff happened to him during his presidency, like Katrina, 9/11 and other stuff. It recalls how you loved him, America, right after 9/11, and he had an approval rating in the 90's, which allowed him to start a war that his analysts said would last for at least five years.
So what happened?
Well, Bush is no FDR. He's not Lincoln. He doesn't possess the type of charisma that those men had that enabled them to rally people behind them for immensely bloody wars. He didn't have FDR's allure, FDR's charm, that thing that allowed him to get the people to elect him for four terms. Don't misunderstand me, Bush is charismatic. He is one of those people that can walk into a room full of strangers for a party and walk out with every single one of them his friends. But that's in person. That type of charisma is walking up to person, saying, "Hello, my name is George W. Bush." It's fine if you have that type of charisma, in fact, many people wish they did. But FDR had something where he could look into a camera and start talking and people would agree with him. Bush doesn't have that. He only got us into Iraq and Afghanistan because we were feeling very patriotic after 9/11, and he used that patriotism, not in a malicious way, but he did use it. He felt as patriotic as the rest of us, but he saw an opportunity to use that patriotism to start a war with Afghanistan and Iraq. The former he knew was the base for Al Qaeda, but he wanted to attack the latter to get Saddam Hussein, whom he had a grudge against.
I haven't gotten up to Katrina yet, but when I do, I will keep you informed. So, I leave you with this: George Bush is human. He's a good person at heart trying to do the best he can. He just isn't very smart. Think about that. Now, let's hope the FBI doesn't get me like her.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Thursday, December 11, 2008
The Trouble with Boys
The title of this post also happens to be the title of a very good book by journalist Peg Tyre. To save all of you busy people out there the trouble of reading this book, I will write a comparatively short synopsis.
Essentially, the book describes how the women's rights movement has made it so that schools teach girl friendly curriculum. Before I go any further, let me just say that I have no problem with women's rights activists. Being a minority myself, I understand their struggle to get fair and equal education in school for their daughters.
Now that I'm through with that little sidebar, I will continue. I'm sure that all of my readers have seen the graphs detailing how girls are enrolling
more in college than boys. If not, here is a graph detailing this trend.
Please, feminists, hold up your attacks for a minute. Some of you out there must have sons in school and this must worry you at least a little bit. If it doesn't, then you're horrible f*cking parents and don't deserve to have little boys under your command. For those of you who are worried, you are worried with good cause, and you're not the only ones. Ms. Tyre is worried with you.
The main question of the book is, "How can we fix this problem without upsetting all of the feminists who worked so hard to get our dauthers equality in schools, who worked so hard to make sure that more than 50% of girls enrolled in college?"
The answer is not so simple. The book first of all points out that boys and girls learn differently. OK, we can live with that. Boys are usually more active and enjoy and get more out of hands-on learning. Girls, however, learn more with book-learning, and are less active. The book says that even if girls are bored with a particular lesson, they are more likely than a boy to just sit there and force themselves to absorb it. This is true.
And Ms. Tyre believes that schools send a negative message to boys about reading. "Boys predominantly choose books that are funny and vulgar. They think The Adventures of Captain Underpants is the funniest thing on earth. They don't want to read Little House on the Prairie! But if they bring Captain Underpants or Captain Marvel to school, many teachers will tell them those aren't classroom books. So they learn that what they like to read isn't acceptable at school. That's a negative message that sets a lot of boys back.The same goes for writing. Boys tend to write for other boys—things that are dark, funny, and gory—whereas girls tend to write for the teacher. Boys don't want to write personal narratives; they want to write about Star Wars, and teachers might not approve of that, so we're creating nonreaders and nonwriters."
About early education she says, "Over the last 10 years, parents have bought into this idea that children are receptive to academic learning at a very young age. But there's good research that says that's really bad for a lot of boys, who aren't developmentally ready yet—their fine motor skills and vocabulary develop later than girls', and they have a harder time sitting still. We think if we give them French and violin lessons early, we can plant the seeds of genius. But it doesn't work that way."
Now, can we change this uneven academic playing field, which, for the first time in hundreds of years, is slanted in the favor of girls? To quote Barack Obama, "Yes we can."
But how should we approach this problem without disenfranchising the millions of girls who have had their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins and sometimes male relatives, work so hard to get them to this spot? First of all, the book says that we can instill a love of learning in boys just by hiring male teachers, or having male role models come into school and show the boys the value of education. This doesn't hurt girls, and it will get boys to see education as a valuable tool to become a police officer or a fire fighter or whatever.
If this should fail, then Ms. Tyre also advocates single sex schools. She tells the story of an all boys school in New York, which, among other problems, had a crew of feminists attacking it for being sexually discriminatory. The school was assaulted with discrimination lawsuits and shut down within five years.
She then tells the story of an all-girls school where the principal, an ardent feminist, sued the City of New York and got a verdict that allowed the school to remain open as long as the facilities remained equal. This prompted a New York branch of the 100 Black Men organization to open an all boys school of their own. The boys at this school are well dressed, well spoken and getting a college preparatory education. However, these boys have problems that carry over from their elementary and middle schools. Many of them are averse to learning, believing that being educated is a sign of weakness. Due to this belief, many of them are below grade level in reading, but the organization will not give up on this school.
So, what shall we do, then? What is the proper course of action to make sure that our sons can go to college so that they will have a fighting chance in the corporate world? What steps can we take to ensure that our daughters do not fall behind in this mad rush to narrow the gender gap?
Because the last thing we need is to hinder the progress of our daughters to bring it to an equal level with our sons and call it "success."
Essentially, the book describes how the women's rights movement has made it so that schools teach girl friendly curriculum. Before I go any further, let me just say that I have no problem with women's rights activists. Being a minority myself, I understand their struggle to get fair and equal education in school for their daughters.
Now that I'm through with that little sidebar, I will continue. I'm sure that all of my readers have seen the graphs detailing how girls are enrolling
more in college than boys. If not, here is a graph detailing this trend.Please, feminists, hold up your attacks for a minute. Some of you out there must have sons in school and this must worry you at least a little bit. If it doesn't, then you're horrible f*cking parents and don't deserve to have little boys under your command. For those of you who are worried, you are worried with good cause, and you're not the only ones. Ms. Tyre is worried with you.
The main question of the book is, "How can we fix this problem without upsetting all of the feminists who worked so hard to get our dauthers equality in schools, who worked so hard to make sure that more than 50% of girls enrolled in college?"
The answer is not so simple. The book first of all points out that boys and girls learn differently. OK, we can live with that. Boys are usually more active and enjoy and get more out of hands-on learning. Girls, however, learn more with book-learning, and are less active. The book says that even if girls are bored with a particular lesson, they are more likely than a boy to just sit there and force themselves to absorb it. This is true.
And Ms. Tyre believes that schools send a negative message to boys about reading. "Boys predominantly choose books that are funny and vulgar. They think The Adventures of Captain Underpants is the funniest thing on earth. They don't want to read Little House on the Prairie! But if they bring Captain Underpants or Captain Marvel to school, many teachers will tell them those aren't classroom books. So they learn that what they like to read isn't acceptable at school. That's a negative message that sets a lot of boys back.The same goes for writing. Boys tend to write for other boys—things that are dark, funny, and gory—whereas girls tend to write for the teacher. Boys don't want to write personal narratives; they want to write about Star Wars, and teachers might not approve of that, so we're creating nonreaders and nonwriters."
About early education she says, "Over the last 10 years, parents have bought into this idea that children are receptive to academic learning at a very young age. But there's good research that says that's really bad for a lot of boys, who aren't developmentally ready yet—their fine motor skills and vocabulary develop later than girls', and they have a harder time sitting still. We think if we give them French and violin lessons early, we can plant the seeds of genius. But it doesn't work that way."
Now, can we change this uneven academic playing field, which, for the first time in hundreds of years, is slanted in the favor of girls? To quote Barack Obama, "Yes we can."
But how should we approach this problem without disenfranchising the millions of girls who have had their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins and sometimes male relatives, work so hard to get them to this spot? First of all, the book says that we can instill a love of learning in boys just by hiring male teachers, or having male role models come into school and show the boys the value of education. This doesn't hurt girls, and it will get boys to see education as a valuable tool to become a police officer or a fire fighter or whatever.
If this should fail, then Ms. Tyre also advocates single sex schools. She tells the story of an all boys school in New York, which, among other problems, had a crew of feminists attacking it for being sexually discriminatory. The school was assaulted with discrimination lawsuits and shut down within five years.
She then tells the story of an all-girls school where the principal, an ardent feminist, sued the City of New York and got a verdict that allowed the school to remain open as long as the facilities remained equal. This prompted a New York branch of the 100 Black Men organization to open an all boys school of their own. The boys at this school are well dressed, well spoken and getting a college preparatory education. However, these boys have problems that carry over from their elementary and middle schools. Many of them are averse to learning, believing that being educated is a sign of weakness. Due to this belief, many of them are below grade level in reading, but the organization will not give up on this school.
So, what shall we do, then? What is the proper course of action to make sure that our sons can go to college so that they will have a fighting chance in the corporate world? What steps can we take to ensure that our daughters do not fall behind in this mad rush to narrow the gender gap?
Because the last thing we need is to hinder the progress of our daughters to bring it to an equal level with our sons and call it "success."
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Congratuations, Barack Obama
First things first.
Well, Barack, here is your belated congratuations from myself. I know that this race was hard for you and I am very glad that you've won. But now, everything will get harder. You are the President Elect of the United States of America, (as if you didn't know that already) and come January 20, the real work begins.
You are taking control of a country that has lost a lot. It has lost much of the respect of many other countries. It has lost many young lives in a pointless and seemingly endless war, and it has lost many jobs due to outsourcing by companies that only care about the bottom line. This country, while it still may be the "greatest country in the world," is for the first time in fifty years facing competion for that highly coveted position.
You ran on a platform of change, Change We Can Believe In, was your slogan. We have no doubt that you will change things. But is it drastic change or subtle change? Is it change for the better or change for the worse? We will soon find out.
You have won the highest office in the land, Mr. Obama. You are, as they say, the leader of the free world. So what how will you use your power? Will you be a great and memorable President, like FDR or Lincoln? Will you be a forgetable President, like Buchanon, or Taylor? Will you be a scapegoat President, like Hoover, or a truly horrible President, like Johnson. It's all up to you. You have a great legacy to live up to and very big shoes to fill. Let's hope you're up to the challenge.
Well, Barack, here is your belated congratuations from myself. I know that this race was hard for you and I am very glad that you've won. But now, everything will get harder. You are the President Elect of the United States of America, (as if you didn't know that already) and come January 20, the real work begins.
You are taking control of a country that has lost a lot. It has lost much of the respect of many other countries. It has lost many young lives in a pointless and seemingly endless war, and it has lost many jobs due to outsourcing by companies that only care about the bottom line. This country, while it still may be the "greatest country in the world," is for the first time in fifty years facing competion for that highly coveted position.
You ran on a platform of change, Change We Can Believe In, was your slogan. We have no doubt that you will change things. But is it drastic change or subtle change? Is it change for the better or change for the worse? We will soon find out.
You have won the highest office in the land, Mr. Obama. You are, as they say, the leader of the free world. So what how will you use your power? Will you be a great and memorable President, like FDR or Lincoln? Will you be a forgetable President, like Buchanon, or Taylor? Will you be a scapegoat President, like Hoover, or a truly horrible President, like Johnson. It's all up to you. You have a great legacy to live up to and very big shoes to fill. Let's hope you're up to the challenge.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
W: A Movie About Our 43rd President
On Saturday, I went to see the movie W. by Oliver Stone. Som2e people probably think that it's way too soon to make a movie about the possibly most, for lack of a better word, disliked man in modern times, but I think that it came out at the perfet time, with the elections coming up on Tuesday. (Does anybody else feel like just yesterday it was just Super Tuesday?) So, anyway, the movie was really good. It depicted Bush as a guy who was just trying to enjoy himself and live up to the expectations of his father. I mean, it really made you pity him. (And I pitied the bastard already, because during his administration, the world pretty much went to sh*t through no fault of his own. Then it got f*cked even harder because he made sh*tty decisions.)
So, anyway, all of you should go and see the movie. If you hate the *sshole, then go see it, because hate ain't good. If you love him, then go see it, because you were probably going to see it anyway. And if you care neither one way nor the other, then go see that sh*t right f*cking now. It gives you some insight into why the world is sh*t and why the issues that Obama and McCain are arguing over are important. And on Tuesday, the next four years will be decided, so you should give a damn about what's going on. See the movie. It can't hurt. And if it does, it's not my fault.
So, anyway, all of you should go and see the movie. If you hate the *sshole, then go see it, because hate ain't good. If you love him, then go see it, because you were probably going to see it anyway. And if you care neither one way nor the other, then go see that sh*t right f*cking now. It gives you some insight into why the world is sh*t and why the issues that Obama and McCain are arguing over are important. And on Tuesday, the next four years will be decided, so you should give a damn about what's going on. See the movie. It can't hurt. And if it does, it's not my fault.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Letter to the Presidential Candidates
Candidates;
First of all, congratulations to both of you for getting this far. I applaud your audacity and perseverance.
Now, you both market yourselves as agents of change, and yet, I have noticed a lot of old politic, such as fingerpointing and saying, "I will do such-and-such. Look at his record. He did this bad thing and earmarked and voted to raise taxes."
Look, you guys are saying pretty much the same thing. And I'm looking at your websites right now and they look almost exactly alike, although Barack's looks cooler with the lighter shade of blue. But that's not the point I wanted to make.
Your jobs are to help the American people, to represent their views and wants and needs. I watched the debate last night and you two talking about your policies. (by the way you should both apologize to Tom Brokaw. The poor man was just trying to do his job and you talked over him and ignored his cues to stop, just so you could press your own agendas, which I'll get back to. You spent at least five minutes on questions ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING ON THE PLANET could have answered in one.) Your views were so similar, just blame the other guy. Barack even took up John's free tax credit spiel. This campaign is no longer about the issues, it's about personality. Who is more likable, more cool, more electable.
I mean, yes, personality plays a part, as does reputation, but no one should want to have a reputation as the guy who slings mud until there is no more mud to sling, at which point, he slings rocks and trash. If someone tells the press that you have cheated on your wife, take a lesson from Grover Cleveland and David Paterson: Tell the truth. Mark Twain said it best:
"If you tell the truth, then you don't have to remember anything." Lies will catch up with you. They will trip you up and make you stumble and have you falling and getting your stories mixed up. Tell the truth about your records. If you voted a certain way, say, "Yes, I did vote for that bill," instead of lying or ignoring the question. The voters will respect you more in the long run.
Candidates, what I am saying here is common sense. It's not that hard to understand or comprehend. Try to take my advice. It will be better for the country, and for your reputations if you do.
-Solomon
First of all, congratulations to both of you for getting this far. I applaud your audacity and perseverance.
Now, you both market yourselves as agents of change, and yet, I have noticed a lot of old politic, such as fingerpointing and saying, "I will do such-and-such. Look at his record. He did this bad thing and earmarked and voted to raise taxes."
Look, you guys are saying pretty much the same thing. And I'm looking at your websites right now and they look almost exactly alike, although Barack's looks cooler with the lighter shade of blue. But that's not the point I wanted to make.
Your jobs are to help the American people, to represent their views and wants and needs. I watched the debate last night and you two talking about your policies. (by the way you should both apologize to Tom Brokaw. The poor man was just trying to do his job and you talked over him and ignored his cues to stop, just so you could press your own agendas, which I'll get back to. You spent at least five minutes on questions ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING ON THE PLANET could have answered in one.) Your views were so similar, just blame the other guy. Barack even took up John's free tax credit spiel. This campaign is no longer about the issues, it's about personality. Who is more likable, more cool, more electable.
I mean, yes, personality plays a part, as does reputation, but no one should want to have a reputation as the guy who slings mud until there is no more mud to sling, at which point, he slings rocks and trash. If someone tells the press that you have cheated on your wife, take a lesson from Grover Cleveland and David Paterson: Tell the truth. Mark Twain said it best:
"If you tell the truth, then you don't have to remember anything." Lies will catch up with you. They will trip you up and make you stumble and have you falling and getting your stories mixed up. Tell the truth about your records. If you voted a certain way, say, "Yes, I did vote for that bill," instead of lying or ignoring the question. The voters will respect you more in the long run.
Candidates, what I am saying here is common sense. It's not that hard to understand or comprehend. Try to take my advice. It will be better for the country, and for your reputations if you do.
-Solomon
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