Mu-mon-kan

By becoming attached to names and forms, not realising that they have no more basis than the activities of the mind itself, error rises and the way to emancipation is blocked. -Buddha

If only possessions/obsessions were so easily dispelled . . .

Luckily, when you have entrepreneur friends that are voracious readers and they pay attention, you stay informed (somewhat, by proxy.)  I’m still really not sure why companies are still investing in ethanol (based on the original research, I thought it was ruled out as a relatively bad idea), but that’s one of the contributing factors for the price of wheat rising.

If you want to find out more, track this back to Ann’s blog and read more about it . . . buy some shortbread while you’re at it :)

Whoever said that technology makes life easier is now on my short-list.  My last Blackberry sync did a great job getting all of my computer’s info . . . though I really wish it hadn’t done any “Spring Cleaning,” specifically in the form of wiping all of my friends’ birthdays from iCal.

:: sigh ::

If any of my friends are reading this, could you let me know when, exactly, your birthday is?  That’s so I can do what I normally do when that fateful day arrives . . . you know . . . not much.

Well . . . I upgraded the blog to the newest Wordpress build. I’m currently using the fSpring theme as opposed to a custom theme . . . just to see how things go. NB: For those that don’t know, and for reasons unknown to me, my blog theme gets continually overwritten by the default theme, due to some hidden error (that I have been unable to find . . . mostly due to time constraints.)

We’ll see how things go.

Kelly Joe Phelps . . . just check this out:

Video of Kelly Playing Big Shaky

Enjoy.

I wrote this in response to an article on Wired’s website.

As with most fields, teaching is beginning to demand more. I believe that NY now requires elementary school teachers to have a Master’s degree and the starting pay hasn’t moved an inch (a friend of mine teaches at an public elementary school in NY and her co-worker is required to have her Master’s by year end, which is why I’m assuming they are now enforcing it.) Personally, I’m of Steve Jobs’ mindset, a complete overhaul of the current system. However, changing it to match a business model might not be an appropriate solution. He should probably defer to the group of people most effected the change: the teachers. Why not bring the most celebrated teachers into the discussion? Why should a businessman(men) decide what’s right or wrong in the schools? The saddest aspect of this whole story is the focus on the teacher. What role does the administrator play? If a school is full of competent teachers, 2 assistant principals, could a principal coast by doing nothing? Just some food for thought, the average salary for a teacher in NY is ~$50,000 (average, not starting). The average starting salary for an assistant principal in NY is ~$85,000. For a principal, ~$100,000+. I feel the balance of power should be pushed into the center. Allow teachers more leverage to oust an incompetant principal/assistant principal either by yearly surveys or some other metric. Not all the blame should be focused on the teachers. As I see it now, the administration has too much power. Sure, prior to being tenured, the administration can remove a poorly performing teacher and, after being tenured, the administration can make their life miserable. What if the teacher is purely victim of a personality clash and is, in fact, an excellent educator? Is a lifetime of misery the ethical way to remove people from a job? I feel these questions and issues need to be addressed before the discussion can move any further. I would love to hear teachers’ perspectives on their administration, especially people in NY/VT (the only 2 systems on which I have any knowledge.)

Really . . . if you have any thoughts, please comment.

This just depresses me.

Others can draw their own conclusions, but it seems to break scientific integrity to have the government so involved. How do they know how to best handle the information? Are they qualified? I’m guessing, no.

Currently Rocking Out To: Ballad of Nice & Easy – Gomez

I’m not sure how I feel about this. There’s something unsavory about it.

Currently Rocking Out To: Jah Work – Ben Harper

According to this press release from Creekstone Farms, the USDA denied them access to the necessary kits that test for BSE or Mad Cow Disease. Anyone want to speculate why?

. . . which isn’t the best news tonight since I’m slated to go to NY and visit my girlfriend. It does make me happy that I get to use the word inclement in a sentence, though. Such as:

My flight was delayed due to inclement weather.

Good word.

Currently Rocking Out To: Cornerman – St Thomas