Rants @ MindSay

Well, hard not to notice the lack of traffic on the roads this holiday weekend. I decided to brave it a while and headed out on the town for some weekend festivities that I thought would be dead in the water. Just stuff that goes on every weekend.

No traffic on the highway, and when I got where I was going the place was slammed. I dare say more than usual.

And one really needs to think where the gas prices are taking our economy. This weekend alone, think about it. Not as many travelers which means a bad start to the season for businesses in travel destinations.

But let's look at the big picture, shall we?

Trucking companies are going to have issues turning a profit and may cut fleets and/or raise delivery prices. Businesses will then also have a tough time turning a profit due to the higher prices set by the trucking company, and our prices will go higher than usual (we're already seeing this). Remember a lot of businesses, retail included, use armored car services, and those are trucks, too. While they are smaller, it still costs around $500 to fill the tank. I have a buddy that works for one of these companies and he said the fleet in one part of Texas is 150 trucks. 150 trucks times $500 = $75000 a day. And some of them need to be refueled twice a day. So now they have to deal with their deliveries plus the armored car carriers.

Here's a scary thought. When costs need to get cut, the armored car service will be done away with by many companies since apparently most companies aren't sending out thousands of dollars a day and could take the stuff to the bank themselves. This means armored car companies won't have the income to keep the businesses running. So how does the money get to the banks without the armored car?! It is very likely since they pay the armored car company anywhere from $100 to $1000 per stop. If your average pick up is $300 (very common according to my buddy) what's the best way to cut costs?

Businesses, especially in the retail sector with employees being paid less than $9 an hour, will suffer due to employees seeking employment closer to home since it costs too much of their paychecks to get back and forth to work. Shoppers are also less inclined to go any distance to shop, especially if customer service starts lacking, so the customers for businesses are cut down to those in the immediate area.

I know people hate trucks and all, but in all honesty, they are the life blood of the USA. When gas prices go on the rise, so do their costs, which effects the businesses and ultimatly the citizens, because someone's got to pay for that gas. I'm even seeing prices go up at the local farmer's market which is all run by local farmers, because someone has to pay for them to run their machines and also for them to haul their stuff to the market.

You could say that there are two liquids running through the veins of America: fuel and ink.

And I see on the news last night that people are thrilled because with the Arctic melting away, it is opening up areas to drill for oil, because apparently there is plenty of oil there.

See, now, I think we're doing this wrong. We're focusing our attention on finding more oil, new ways and places of getting oil. And I personally think it is time we let the black gold go. I think it is time the world turns its attention from getting more oil to developing alternative fuels.

But, again, we need to worry about said alternative fuels. Someone has developed a small engine that runs on water. That's fantastic, but our great nation is still in drought conditions, so is a water powered engine going to work for us? Humans would plow through the water supply even harder than they are now. These are people who water grass! GRASS! I always thought, "Who does that?!" but apparently a lot of people are obsessed with having a green lawn. Personally, I say let it go brown. Brown grass doesn't need to be mowed. But to each their own.

I saw a TV show years ago about two kids from the future living in our world. One kid entered a science fair and built an engine that ran on milk, apparently something that was common in his day, but unheard of currently. Another interesting idea, but wouldn't we be milking the cows to death?

How about an engine fueled by trash? We all have plenty of that. And think about it, when you're done eating the Big Mac while driving 70 MPH, you can toss the wrapper in the tank. Of course, now you have to worry about smell and emissions. Which will have the hippies all in a tissy.

You know, someone developed a washing machine that ran on human waste. And that would make sense, since the methane in human waste is flammable (think about that the next time you toss a cigarette into the toilet! LOL! Yes, yes, I know the toilet helps stop it from exploding, don't get all smart on me) and could do the work. But now we're back to emissions and an ungodly odor.

So yeah, coming up with an alternative fuel source won't be easy. The time to start working on it is now. Well, it really should have begun back in the 70s, but now we really need to step into high gear.

I must be feeling better ... I have "rants" burning in my belly! 

• As I signed in today, I noticed the question concerning Sen. McCain's use of a familiar (once popular) racial slur.  Interestingly, what upset me wasn't his use of the term ... in reference to those who held him and his comrades captive in N. Viet Nam!  What upset me was that the question was even raised in the tone used ... to incite an onslaught of tongue lashings from ill-informed bloggers.  Good grief!  Is the man not permitted some remnant of humanity even though he seeks election to the highest office in the land?  To my knowledge, it is not something that is common to his everyday language and does not  refer to ALL Asians for ALL time.  We're willing to overlook Uncle Bill's oral activities but make an issue of this???  Oh please!

• Then ... dear sandyquill got me thinking about "inclusion" in Public schools.  Should ALL students be pushed through the same program?  I know when I was growing up ... in the dark ages, for sure, those with hearing impairment went to a different school (some still do!) and those with other physical challenges went to schools that specialized in treatment and development of children with these limitations.  There are not many of these "special" schools left.  Instead, as many as possible regardless of their ability levels are "herded" (word carefully chosen for my own reasons - later explained) through the curriculum.  (Hope you cannot see the steam emanating from my delicately exposed ears!) 

ALL children are NOT alike.  ALL children (or people) are NOT created equal!  (With equal RIGHTS, yes ... but we are not all equal!)  Some of us are great with words, some in speaking others in writing.  Some of us have "Idol" voices while others need the proverbial bucket to carry their tunes.  Some are driven to understand how things work and study the smallest things ... a door scraping across a carpet,  the way a single blue beta swims in his dish,  the difference between a spiny crab and a well worn snail shell.  Some of us see colors vibrant and true in constant motion while others see snapshots in black & white.  Some of us learn by watching those who know.  Some of us need to DO to learn ... to use our hands, our feet, our senses, even our whole body to absorb information.  When ... oh when did our esteemed educators determine that all children learned the same way?   

They did not, of course!  Yet ... public schools persist in their endeavors to purposefully herd every child through the same curriculum, without respect for the child's individuality or personal learning style.  And we let them!  When will educators once again admit ... with the support of administrations & budgets ... that each child is an individual and for a child to honestly learn, s/he must be given some room to explore, to follow their own star.  Curricula are intended as guidelines, not edicts or oracles of the gods.  One of the down sides of pigeon-holed learning is those who refuse to conform are tossed aside or socially shunned. 

Consider one 17-year-old boy who twice failed grade 10. This student's IQ score, at barely 100, allowed him to squeak into the public school's regular program, but his school's testing practice prevented the boy from rising past the bottom scores in his class. For a while, in spite of his difficulties to pass most tests, the student desperately tried to succeed at school. Life on a farm taught him the value of hard consistent work, and the boy's easy-going nature splashed color on classroom activities. His infectious laughter made him a sought-after friend to both peers and staff. The shop teacher told how he frequently hung around to help out after class, and how, when volunteers were requested, he was first to respond.  

Although the boy mastered few skills championed in traditional Western curricula, he clearly possessed his own unique array of talents. While he showed higher than average inter-communication ability, however, he withdrew and often grew noticeably quiet when tests were handed back...  

"One principal suggested that the boy came to school with the 'wrong abilities.' Other educators, like his science and music teachers, suggested that the school issued this student the 'wrong tests.' … Unfortunately, however, the boy failed grade 10. Already stung by two previous failures and rather than repeat again, eventually he simply dropped out of the high-school system."  

How have children like this been shoved aside over the years?  How has the public school system served their needs? Perhaps they were given some illustrious label like ... DYSLEXIC ... AUTISTIC ... AHAD ... or when in doubt ... VIRAL!

Yes ... there are those who legitimately suffer from these conditions, yet over the years they seem to be broadening in scope and diminishing in substance, if you understand what I mean.  In other words, these terms are becoming blanket conditions to cover many of those who simply don't fit in! Or do it differently!   

So I ask again ... why do we allow our schools to teach each child with identical methods, sometimes resorting to curriculum scripts, to keep things as sterile as possible!  uuuuuuggggggghhhh!  They're WHOSE children???   

Maybe tomorrow, I'll get to explain some of where this originated!  :) 

 

~ B

Pyuu~! Now, here I am, the kawaii little otaku, who will say ja ne to the Net, anime and vacations! Time really flies, desu ne? It was just like yeasterday when I strode into my first day of high school~ had my first high school quarterly exam~ had my first high school field trip~ my first high school vacation~ And the day after tomorrow will be my first high school third quarter! *Sigh.*

Now, here I go again with my rants, gushes, and usual fangirlish behavior. *grin* Anyway, let me blow off steam at this thing I saw at Wikipedia...

"Not everyone was a fan of the original stories. Dorothy Parker in particular was critical of what she considered A.A.Milne's 'dumbing down of English for children', a criticism she had for many other children's book authors as well. In her pseudonym as Constant Reader in the New Yorker magazine she made one of her most famous barbs when she, while reviewing one of the stories, wrote, 'and it is precisely at that word, 'hummy' that Tonstant Weader fwowed up.'"

Now I did research. She was a lovely person, it seems to be - I use was very carefully here, since she has long passed on. She was kind of sarcastic, which is probably why she may be misunderstood. But, sorry to say, I am an otaku, and otakus do not repress what they want to say. So I am saying this in a very polite tone - I have wanted to say urusai but, after knowing who she was, I have figured it is too harsh.

Leave the bear alone.

Sure, the story's full of grammar mistakes and all, but the bear's so lovable I'm admitting to have spent the last twelve years of my life liking him.

"An episode of the British SciFi/Comedy Red Dwarf saw several of history's most famous figures reincarnated as robots made of wax. Two vast opposing armies are formed, with history's most celebrated figures on the good side, and the most reviled on the bad. The bad side happens to take one of the good side prisoner; none other than Winnie the Pooh. Although we don't actually see it (the character 'Lister' views from a window), the honey loving bear is led out and tied to a stake (and refuses the blindfold), before being shot by a firing squad. Lister is left in shock, stating 'That is something no one should ever have to see!' "

Now this time I am NOT holding myself back, so I will apologize in advance to the guys over there at "Red Dwarf". *bows*

WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU DO?!?!?  DON'T SHOOT THE BEAR! OF ALL OF THE CREATURES YOU HAD TO TAKE A WELL-LOVED CHILDREN'S CHARACTER?!?!? AND THEN TIE HIM TO A STAKE AND KILL HIM?!?!? I SHOULDN'T GET WORKED UP 'COZ IT'S JUST A SHOW BUT WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!? WHAT DID THE BEAR DO, HUH? DID HE STEAL HONEY FROM THE BAD GUYS? AND IF HE DID, WHY KILL HIM?!? I KNOW IT'S JUST A SHOW, BUT I AM FUMING WITH ANGER!

Again, I ask for fogiveness. *bows* But since all people have a right to their own opinions, then there was mine. After all, life wouln't be fun if everyone thought the same, desu? I know not all people love yellow bears stuffed with fluff, but I do, and I have an obnoxiously big temper, and thus I say all these stuff.

Anyway, on a completely different note, my aunts have bought me a Cardcaptor Sakura: Master Of The Clow manga and the book Winnie-the-Pooh. I am ridiculously overjoyed. Sorry for bein'  grumpy the other day, 'k?