Many Varied Topics

I have not been blogging consistently, because my life seems to have taken off without me.  I spend more time than any sane person would driving back and forth to Tae Kwon Do, sitting, watching, and kicking (that last one makes it all worth while!).  I've been organizing an art appreciation unit for our co-op.  We've been going to Lego League for Dominic and Xavier.  And, yesterday, we started school.  Can I just say that I was very happy as a STAY AT HOME MOM?  All this running around wears me out.

At any rate, I have all these blog topics bouncing around in my head.  They're also saved to my bookmarks bar, which makes for a messy bar.  My brain can't handle all that.  So, I'm going to start the clearance right now.  There are a few topics that require longer posts, but this one will cover at least a few of them, and get them off my bar.  Then, maybe, I can have a drink, without running into some blog post idea.

In Valley Falls, NY, they have decided to reinstate the idea of public shaming, although you'll notice that the state police have "no record of the event."  hee hee  This happened in Virginia recently, when a man stood outside a busy mall with the sign, "I'm a cheater."  Now, personally, I believe that this kid was given, perhaps, the very best punishment he could have been given.  We do not allow for pillory in most laws as a punishment, but I bet it would deter a lot of people from repeat crimes, if they knew that everyone was going to know exactly what they did.  Bring on the pillories and rotten tomatoes.

EPA Moves to Regulate Smokestack Greenhouse Gases:

The EPA's announcement came hours after Senate Democrats unveiled legislation that would set limits on the amount of greenhouse gases from large industrial sources. The Senate bill, unlike the House-passed version, preserves the EPA's authority to regulate under the Clean Air Act.

Environmentalists said Wednesday the two efforts go hand-in-hand.

"You can't have one without the other if we're going to be successful in moving America to clean energy," said Emily Figdor, director of the global warming program at Environment America, an advocacy group.

I guess that Foxnews didn't get the memo. It's no longer 'global warming', it's 'climate change'.  How can they suddenly change it from global warming is killing the planet, to global cooling is killing the planet?  Well, they've done the opposite.  Remember that in the '70s it was all about global cooling.  Now, they seem to have gotten smart.  If they just talk about climate change, we can't throw back at them that 30 years ago, they were claiming the same cataclysmic events due to cooling.  Now, we'll never actually know what they're talking about.  Oh wait, I never knew in the first place.

Why didn't anyone else do something about this?  It seems that there were lots of people who witnessed this, but only one man took action?  What is wrong in America?  And, GOOD JOB to Cameron Aulner!

Organic Baby Farm has the best idea I've seen in a long time on how to get legislators to read legislation before signing it.  Too bad there's no way we'd get anyone to sign onto said idea.

Finally, we've got another hopeful book banning.  Now, you know how I feel about books.  And, I have read some pretty mean sh*t over the years.  And, these books would not have been available when I was in highschool.  AND, there is no way I would allow my 12 year old to read something like this (but that's who these books are really marketed to, no matter the section says 'teen').  On the other hand, I probably wouldn't stop my 16 year old from reading it.  Quite frankly, by the age of 16, they are men, whether they have left home, or not.  However, it was not the content of this book that made me go off the deep end.  It was the comment made by the librarian.

Carrie Gardner, assistant professor of library science at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, defended the coming-of-age novel, saying it may be helpful in providing "coping strategies" to teenagers.

"Our young people are living in a world full of both fiction and nonfiction situations that deal with drug use and sexuality," Gardner told FOXNews.com. "Fiction books that contain that type of information can provide young people with coping strategies."

She also said that reading disturbing material does not necessarily lead to unsocial behavior.

"People often overestimate the power of a fiction book," she continued. "People can read fiction stories and not have those stories impact us, just like many of us watch horrific stories on television news and not have a reaction."

First of all, the very fact that you are so inured to horrific stories on television shows that you are being effected by them.  If you do not watch the news on a regular basis, as we do not, you will suddenly start having a reaction again.  Try it sometime.

Secondly, how can she actually say that stories don't impact us?  Stories impact us daily.  Things we've read years ago, will sometimes come back to us at opportune times.  That is why it is important to read good literature.  And, if she actually thinks that it won't impact teens, why does she say that it can provide coping strategies?  If it's not going to impact them, why read it?  Even if the impact is only to provide comic relief, that is still an impact.

Well, that's all for tonight.  Thanks for sticking around.  I can clear a few things out of my brain, and off my bar.  It's time for a drink and bed.  Maybe I'll get around to posting tomorrow night, too.  Don't get your hopes up.