These are the ramblings of a young married couple in the great City of Chicago.
I mark items with stars in Google Reader with the intention of making posts out of them. I rarely do. I have 190 item stared, most of them are things I wanted to watch ot listen to later. However, I am looking over them and compiling what remains of them as quick bites. Here is are 2 I have from August.
Before you participate in the discussions of health care and education below, you must watch this.
We are having a lively discussion spurred by Obama’s speech. I hope the same happens this week with Johnny Mac and if you want to talk about Bob Barr, I will be glad to talk about him.
From this discussion, Tyler said
I don’t want the government involved in everything, but there are certain things that I believe are inalienable rights to all citizens of a country - education and health care being the two main ones.
Which made me think about these questions. They can be answered by supporters of the rights as well as detractors and hope we get some really thought provoking ideas.
Have heath care and education always been rights?
If so, why were they were not mentioned at the founding, in the new deal, or great society?
If not, when and how did they become rights?
Why are they not treated as rights by most people today?
What level of health care and education should be provided to meet the right?
To me these seem to be different the other rights and peole might reject their services, is that OK?
Do we have other rights, which are more universally accepted, that require similar costs to be imposed on everyone?
Do we have any rights that government does not guarantee?
Per usual, Zach said what I meant about Obama better than I did. (Are you subscribed to In The Agora? You really should.)
Actually, I think Ross Douthat, who Zach quotes, has the best synopsis:
It was a historic evening, for Obama and for America, and there were moments that gave me shivers just watching on TV - but if you didn’t go in sold on the Democratic nominee, I think it was ultimately something of a letdown.
I understand that it is a big deal for historically bigoted political parties to nominate someone who is not a Old White Guy for president. Unless you really bought into NPR’s labeling of Obama as the Presumptive Democrat Nominee, it was not a surprise that he was nominated and he accepted. However, last night will stand as the historical marker when a barrier was broken.
Ignoring that, was that an inspirational speech? I really expected more from the great O. To me that sounded like your typical liberal policy speech. “Republicans want you to wallow in your own filth in the land of weeping and gnashing of teach while giving money to the rich. We, Democrats, care and will use the force of government to fix everything. Nothing bad will ever happen once I am elected.”
It sounded like McCain’s attacks of Obama not having any specifics have really hit home and have neutralized what is best about Obama. Obama makes you feel good with broad ideas, but when he, like all pols, talks specifics you have to know he is lying because government does not rest on a single man. (Praise be to the Founders.)
I also wonder if someone proofed that speech. Did anyone other than the Tomaws catch that he first said how he will not leave you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and then told a set of stories about how he and his family had pulled themselves up by their bootstraps?
My favorite part was when Obama said we should not think that McCain is acting maliciously in the policies he supports. I thought that was classy. Too often when talking to others about politics (or anything really) every counter is taken personally. Obama pointed out that we should not take it personally, but understand we all want what is best for America. Where I differ with him is that I usually do think that pols are lying. I think he is lying most of the time and McCain is too. I am not attacking their character, that is just the nature and incentive of politics.
Video Updated
This is probably going to ramble, but. . .
Via Zach’s shared items, I came across this post about the decline of “free play.” I’ve written about this before, but I’ve been thinking about our role in Jonah’s development a lot lately. Jonah and I attend a music class once a week and have consequently befriended a nice group of moms and babies. Many of these moms have their young children enrolled in two and three other “classes” of sorts and I’m told they still take their children’s development pretty lightly compared to others.
I spent a lot of time with my grandparents growing up, as did Jacob, and we both remember hearing them remark very matter-of-factly about so-and-so being “smart” or “not good in school” as if it were no different from saying your child is short or tall or has blond hair. Among the parents I know today, it seems that admitting that your child is unremarkable in intellect is admitting failure.
I think parents today see themselves as primarily responsible for educating their children whereas past generations placed more emphasis on providing for physical needs and shaping values and character and much less on academic achievement. I think there are a few possible reasons for this, and maybe they all contribute a little: 1. We live in a much more educated society now, probably over-educated. It’s just not as acceptable as it used to be to embark on a blue-collar career, so maybe parents feel pressured to push academics on their children to ensure that they attain some sort of social status. 2. This maybe links up well with the “specialness” discussion we’ve had on this blog. Everyone believes his or her child will display exceptional talent if only the time and money is invested to unlock it, so the more “educational” experiences the better. 3. I wonder if there’s something to the idea that today’s parents are less certain of what they believe and are unconvinced that “right” and “wrong” exist anyway and so they are less interested in providing that sort of foundation for their children. By comparison, intellectual development is almost a science; parenting books and magazines provide any number of expert opinions on how to encourage your child to learn new things.
I guess the fundamentally frustrating thing about parenting is that there is no way to ensure results. Jacob and I will be as thrilled as the next parent if Jonah turns out to be “gifted” but in order for us not to be swept away by the drive to “create” a high achieving child we must remember that first it is our job to love him and impress our family’s values upon him. Beyond that I think we can rest assured that doing what comes naturally, like reading and playing games together, will help him learn. And playing is learning too, even if we can’t see it.
“Unless the state of Texas violates their own election laws, Congressman Barr will be the only presidential candidate on the ballot,” says Russell Verney, campaign manager for the Barr Campaign and the former campaign manager for Ross Perot. “Texas law makes no exceptions for missing deadlines.”
The Texas Secretary of State Web site shows only Bob Barr as the official candidate for president in Texas.
“We know all about deadlines,” says Verney. “We are up against them constantly in our fight to get on the ballot across the nation. When we miss deadlines, we get no second chances. This is a great example of how unreasonable deadlines chill democracy.”
“Republicans and Democrats make certain that third party candidates are held to ballot access laws, no matter how absurd or unreasonable,” says Verney. “Therefore, Republicans and Democrats should be held to the same standards.”
More here
I think we all know how this is going to turn out.
Congratulations to Derek Tomaw.
Last night things were not looking well for the South Putnam Eagles football team. But then they forced a turn over and
On the ensuing drive, Derek Tomaw gave the Eagle offense some life, as his first three runs of the night went for 17, 14 and 10 yards, respectively. A Hunter Edwards pass to Frame for 27 yards set up Knight’s first score of the evening with 2:23 to go in the quarter.
He ended the game with 9 carries for 44 yards. South Putnam went on to beat Owen Valley 35-12.
(If you have a Tomaw you would like to nominate for “Good Job, Tomaw!”, please send us an email.)