Entries from August 2005 ↓

Why is Intelligent Design becoming an issue as we gear up for the 2006 elections? Up until a year ago, the only ones that heard of Intelligent Design were the folks holed up in Kansas somewhere preparing the attack. The concept has been around for a long time, but it was dropped in favor of creationism. Its re-emergence as a way to get creationism in the public schools is very suspect, but never-the-less some people will try very hard to make this the diversion issue. The funny thing is that evolution isn’t really in conflict with Intelligent Design.

Evolution is fact. It is observable and testable. We can cross-breed. We can genetically engineer through our breedings, we can do a lot that supports evolution as fact. Now, whether or not we came from apes or whether men simply looked more ape-like is insignificant. Evolution is observable.

But evolution doesn’t explain how the Earth got here. Okay, so then we have the Big Bang theory where something exploded and from it the sun and the planets were formed along with the rest of the known and unknown universe.. But  what was there before the universe? We don’t have those answers – at least not in a scientific way. Some believe that God created it. Some don’t ever think about it. And, I’m sure there are hundreds of other theories in other religions and cultures. The bottom line is we won’t know until we meet our maker – unless we have faith.

The problem exists with that. Just because you believe doesn’t make it fact. At one time people believed the world was flat and that you would fall off or get eaten by dragons if you went too far - and that was disproven by fact. Beliefs, as diverse as they are, are not the public schools responsibility to teach. It is the church’s responsibility, and the parent’s responsibility. Public schools are not the end all for everything. This country was founded on people fleeing England because they didn’t want the Church of England’s beliefs forced on them. Their decendants shouldn’t have to fight against the same thing. We are privileged in this country to have the freedom to believe whatever we want – and to insure that we maintain a separation between church and state. We can’t expect schools to pretend one religions principles are fact and impose it on all. For those that feel others should be exposed to their beliefs, may I respectfully recommend creating an elective class in world religions or beliefs?

I didn’t agree with vouchers or even charter schools when they were first proposed. I still believe they only exist because it’s the extreme right’s way of trying to destroy public schools - weaken the base, take away the dollars and move the young minds into schools they can control. However, they are missing a very unique opportunity.

If their intention was to provide a better education, how come you have never heard once how they can do it better? Have they offered up any new ideas, new ways to deliver information or help kids learn skills? No. They do it the same old, tired ways the rest of us do it. They lecture in classrooms full of rows of desks and test kids on rote information.

Charter schools and private schools could win over everybody, if they were only willing to be adventurous. Set up a new school that uses proven application techniques. Overthrow the current curriculum for one that better prepares kids to be successful in the real world - less talk and theory and a whole lot more of doing. There are examples around. Some outstanding academies have been set up based on occupation interests. These could be used as a spring board.

It is hard to justify the current charter and voucher schools when they don’t have to meet any real standards - including FCAT. Now if they were doing something experimental, maybe we could forgive them that scrutiny - or at least measure their success differently.
What a wonderful opportunity to reinvent education, but it’s been wasted

Many people long to know why a former Republican would switch sides and run for office as a Democrat. I doubt my story is really that unique. Like many people, I was forced to make an honest appraisal of today’s Republican Party.

Gone is the Republican party that stands for fiscal responsibility. Nationally, this administration has far outdone any accusation of the Democrats being the wasteful spenders. What happened to the enormous surplus built up under Clinton? Before you say it was spent on a necessary battle against the terrorists that perpetrated the attacks of 9-11 (and we all know the lies behind that) let me raise one single question: Did you know that The Carlyle Group (the investment group of George H.W. Bush, the Royal Saudi family and other powerful people) had profits last year over a hundred billion dollars? In an interview a representative from the Carlyle Group asked: “Do you know how hard it is to find enough companies to buy with a hundred billion dollars?”

Gone, too is the party of less government - unless you consider breaking up government services and giving the contracts to your rich friends which they call “privitization” becasue it sounds smarter. Funny, as I always believed less government meant less interference in individual lives.

Gone is the party of moral values. Strange that the party of the elite - and, come on, we all have to agree this Republican party represents the elite - claims moral values. Yet, the Democrats, the party of the people, the party that represents working people and fights to protect our constitutional rights, gets accused of having less moral fabric. Is it because Democrats also support the rights of individuals that many Republicans consider to be undesirables? This brings me to intolerance. Never has it been so obvious that this Republican Party is intolerant of an awful lot. Sorry, I just can’t sit back and tolerate that.

However, the most compelling reason for my change is two-fold. The first is the take-over by the extreme religious right wing. This fringe group has always been a presence in the Republican party, but they have organized locally and nationally to impose their beliefs on the rest of us. We can all feel the impact of this attack, but it is probably most disturbing to those of us that were moderates in the Republican Party because we saw it first and recognized the danger. The second compelling reason are the lies. Somewhere along the way, maybe it’s with Rove, maybe from Cheney, maybe it’s just part of the neo-conservative philosophy, it became okay to lie through your teeth. There seems to be an active strategy that the end will justify the means. I worked in advertising in New York for ten years and the motto was “we don’t care about reality. We care about perceived reality,” this is what is employed day in and day out by those currently in control of the government.

Well, I do care about truth. I didn’t like that attitude in advertising and I despise it from my government. I am very glad I’m a Democrat.