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Daylight Saving Time Is America's Greatest Shame Daylight Saving Time is the greatest continuing fraud ever perpetuated on American people. And this weekend, the effects of this cruel monster will rear its ugly head again. http://m.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/11/…

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ABC News: Stupid in America

This kind of story is just too easy, isn't it? There certainly is a balance to keep, but isn't it a fundamental struggle to telling the truth in the "public square" the fact that inflammatory is easy? Or that anger is quick? Or that perfection in individuals and organizations non-existent?

I really am reminded of the Theodor Roosevelt quote:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points ... where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

I will spare the rest, because it is probably just a bit too sappy. But the sentiment is correct, I think.

Too often in our city, people imply that their participation in the public schools is ultimately dependent on some standard of perfection on the part of the district or others that is probably never really attainable in a non-ficticious school district.



Of course this leads them to ignore realities and accomplishments right before their eyes that are truly meaningful.

For example, I have just learned (reference coming shortly) that PUSD is the second highest performing school district within its size category. NUMBER 2!!!

I will stop there for today, or I might start getting preachy. (too late perhaps...)

crazy life right now

I have seen people write these kinds of posts, and they are probably self-indulgent, but today it feels like the right kind of post:

what is going on today:
possibly putting an offer down on a new house
telling my current employer that I might be leaving in the Spring
lecturing in 2 hours
packing for a big trip today
going to a community leaders' meeting
trying to visit the possible new house
a big laundry list of usual work stuff
launch a web forum for our comm. organization
next steps in launching newly formatted website.

Terry Schiavo

Nobody has put into words my feelings about the Terry Schiavo Tragedy better than Scott Rosenberg:

"The president himself -- who has, through international crises thick and thin, been unable to rouse himself from those long, long vacations at his Texas ranch, even when hundreds of thousands were killed by the Indian Ocean tsunami -- will fly back to Washington to sign the bill! Sanctity of life? The hypocrisy would be ludicrous if the case weren't so heart-rending."

really, read his whole post.

The thing is that I am not really sure what word describes this whole event. "Event" seems crass, "Tragedy" fails to capture the farcical nature, "Spectacle" ignores the fact that this is an awful private event for Terry's parents and husband. if anyone has any better words, let me know.

This is just so sad.

Fat

Sometimes I think that I am probably blowing some things that I get all worked up about out of proportion. An example of something that gets me worked up is obesity in America. It is an issue that is impacted by many (to me) non-sensical aspects of American choices. But perhaps it is something else less insidious, maybe.

But just the other day, a friend of ours from Denmark who has been in this country for ~10 months, came riding by on her bike. In the course of conversation with my wife she declared that she was out riding because she has gained so much weight since moving here. 10 months!!! That bothers me. Simply moving to my country, which I still think quite highly of, and simply living the way that one lives here has already made her noticeably (to her, I haven't seen her) heavier. To me, this is just symptomatic of the types of things that should change but won't.

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Things "Frustrating" me

Bankruptcy Bill's imminent passage - Burns me up b/c of the way those filing for bankruptcy are casually dismissed as irresponsible or cheats, when the reality is that very few are working the system. Particularly burns me up b/c the only person that I know who has filed for bankruptcy is a conservative who told me at the time, "you know I am really against people filing for Chapter 11, but we just have no other option." Exactly. Just like everyone else who files.

California Public School funding - 45th in America. Great job guys! Hey, let's cut the funding a little more, take it away, Arnold... Legislators, is that a deafening silence I hear from you...

Ok that's only two, but the rest seem too big to even begin to talk about: pathetic war planning in Iraq, budget deficits, increasing abortion rates under a Republican president and Congress, continued neglect of housing for urban poor...

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new kind of christian

I must say that when I listed faith as one of the things that I wanted to discuss on this blog, that may have been an overstatement. My faith has been an area whose depths I have not plumbed in my own life in some time. I have felt tremendous uncertainty and ambiguity with regards to the form of my faith. The object of my faith has always been uncertain, but I have perhaps been disenchanted with the form and culture of evangelical Christianity for some time. This scared the crap out of me, so I refused to completely acknowledge or explore this, afraid of where it might lead.

Thankfully, I have just started reading "A New Kind of Christian", by Brian McLaren, a recovering evangelical himself. He spoke recently at a luncheon that I attended, during which he spoke of justice and its centrality to our faith. I was really moved by him. I am very moved by his book, a topic I will discuss further. It is a breath of fresh air right now.