Meanwhile, here in PA, a school district turns big technology into big brother.
Cato calls uses a very nice graph to show exactly what we have been saying all along: public schools really are just one big jobs program.
On the DailyPaul talk about student loans.
And finally Freeman talks about rethinking school.
Indian Village Saves $45,000 and Builds A Railway This strikes me as the way things SHOULD work. Though the fact tha tit took them 25 years to do it says something about attitudes, but still the fact that they, in 2 years, managed to save up and do it AND that the railway company is happy to oblige them is remarkable.
This post on The AnarchAngel answers a question Shamus and I have often discussed and debated. I am not nearly so good at breaking down the spending as Chris is. However, due to our different circumstances (forced employer healthcare plan– one way above what we want but discussions with Shamus’ employer trying to change the situation to one where everyone is putting out less money have been to no avail) we lose even more on the deal. A quick run down of our family health care without the exact numbers:
We tried to convince Shamus’ boss to let us go with major medical possibly with a medical savings account and pay us the difference but he refused, willing only to pay for another plan after we pay for it each month and taking the difference for the company. The sad thing is that recently they have cut everyone’s hours to 3 days a week and let at least one person go (in a small company like this 1 person is a big deal.) Even when Rach had her seizure, multiple trips to the hospital and doctors and my knee got messed up and I had to have physical therapy we STILL would have been better off if the company had let us take home that as salary instead of insisting on putting it into health insurance we seldom use. In fact, if they had allowed us to do that from the start we would be MUCH better off now, as would the company. And yes, we have lived completely without insurance (we just paid off our debt for Rachel and my hospital bills from when she was born last year. The hospital never even charged us interest. It was the easiest debt to pay that we have ever had.)
The upcoming mid-term elections are most likely going to be a bloodletting for the Democrats.
The good news: Many liberals are about to leave office.
The bad news: They will be replaced by conservatives.
Every two years we have to go through another Kobayashi Maru. Can’t wait to see how we get blown up this time.
It has come to my attention that you want my money and you would like me to send some of it your way, ostensibly for the purposes of doing the Lord’s Work.
Fine, fine.
I don’t tithe at a church. This is because I don’t go to a church. This is because I am filled with dismay at the entire church business, culture, and process. But this is not about that. The point is, I’ve got 10% of my income which is to be put to work, somewhere on this planet, either directly spreading the gospel or doing humanitarian work in His name. To my continual amazement, it is incredibly hard to find someone worthy of this money.
I have a “black list” of charities which I will never entrust with money. That list gets longer all the time. Here is how to get on the list:
1) Send out fancy mailings.
I just sent you (say) a hundred bucks last month, and you pissed away five of it mailing me back some envelope stuffed with expensive paper and full-color glossy photographs. You’re showing me fancy pictures and bragging about all you’re accomplishing with The Money. Except, now I see that an outrageous portion of it is being wasted on marketing.
If you need to share the joy, save some money and put that stuff on the web. If I care about what happens to The Money, then I’ll check the site.
If you need to reach people who aren’t into this whole “internet thing”, then it should be opt IN.
But deliberately spending money sending out color brochures is a grotesque misuse of The Money. Be faithful with what you’ve been given, and more will be given to you. If not, then even what you have will be taken away.
2) Call me at home
Do not do this, you beggars and whores. Aside from being incredibly rude to disturb a dozen people in search of the one you can guilt into giving you even more money, you should avoid this practice because this is how liars, cheaters, and low-lifes do business. Tele-marketing (and do not lie and pretend that’s not what you’re doing with unsolicited phone calls) is a hated practice and Christians should stay away from it for that reason alone. Not every person who picks up the phone will be a Christian. Some will be spouses or friends or relatives of the people who you’re calling.
Try to imagine Jesus doing this, telling his disciples to go out and annoy people into giving to His ministry. Ludicrous.
3) Put a picture of your president on your materials
Actually, a bit of this isn’t bad. It’s good to have a name and a face to hold accountable. But when month after month is a mailing with the grinning mug of PASTOR BOB Q. CLODPOLE and a personal message from PASTOR BOB Q. CLODPOLE and a vision statement about what PASTOR BOB Q. CLODPOLE wants to accomplish in the future, then I feel no need to send to any money. Because you have already been paid.
4) Send out DVDs
Great. Yeah. Hire a professional to design a multimedia presentation, make some artwork, put it on a disc, burn ten thousand copies, and mail them out to everyone who have ever given you money.
I know why you do this. You do this because it maximizes revenue. Lots of people will give. The problem is, you have not been tasked with maximizing revenue. Your job is to do what you can, with what you get. If you want money so bad then just abandon this charity stuff and go into business.
Oh. I see. That’s what you’re doing.
5) Ask for money in public
The televangelist way: Tell people about Jesus, then put your hand out.
You should never, ever ask a non-believer for anything. You should not do anything to impose, guilt, or offend them in any way. If you need money, come to your fellow believers. If you can’t get us to pony up, then maybe there’s something wrong with your ministry.
Jesus never went broke and was unable to continue his ministry. Yet there is no record of Jesus and His followers begging for cash or stopping to work for it. If you’re doing His work, the money will come. Spread your message through the churches and through the internet, and fire your marketing department. Come on guys. This is basic-level stuff, the ABC’s of the Christian life.
For the record, Adventures in Missions has never done wrong by my account. I’m always looking out for other good organizations, but so many are just top-heavy donation mills, where there are ten men to claim credit for every deed done by a single missionary.
Alas.
10 Reasons I Am A Libertarian Christian This has been sitting open in my tabs since it was first posted, and lots of other Christian libertarians have linked to it but I still, having read it again, think it is brilliant and true.
Three Myths about Trash Recycling <--- This is a link, go read it then please come back, maybe, possibly, well, not necessarily.
Frankly this is something that Shamus and I have discussed at length in the past and come to the same conclusions, preferring instead to recycle via actually reusing the useful stuff we find. For instance we reuse old computer parts for all sorts of things (The kids have a very vintage tower sans internal bits upstairs as a side table/magnetic board and yes, we actually use jelly jars as glasses and most of our clothing and other items come from the thrift shop, as did most of the kids toys until CPSIA.) My brother and daughter are tearing apart old electronics as I type, learning as they go AND salvaging useful bits for use with the forge we built from repurposed firebricks, in which we smelt aluminum cans for reuse, reuse old bits of iron, steel, copper, and brass– almost never buying new. If something REALLY is useful and worthwhile then it will be reused. And just because you live in an area where everyone is crowded in and space is at a premium doesn’t mean that everyone else does!
I would also mentioned that Christianity includes good stewardship but absolutely positively NOT the worship of the earth.
Microchip Implant to Link Your Health Records, Credit History, Social Security And you thought Facebook was a problem.
Perhaps you read the rumor in the title of this post: FTC to Regulate Blogging. We’re supposed to reveal any conflicts of interest about the stuff we write about, or face a $11,000 fine.
Sure, it might be a grotesque violation of free speech, an unconstitutional power-grab, a usurpation of state’s rights, a vaguely-worded attempt to regulate free expression of ideas, and a new vector for abuse and harassment of every single American who writes, but hey: At least we’ll be protected from being slightly misled by product endorsements on blogs, which I’m sure is something that’s really been keeping everyone up at night. I know I always get a little skittish when I have to think for myself.
The FTC’s proposal made many bloggers anxious. They said the scrutiny would make them nervous about posting even innocent comments.
To placate such fears, Cleland said the FTC will more likely go after an advertiser instead of a blogger for violations. The exception would be a blogger who runs a “substantial” operation that violates FTC rules and already received a warning, he said.
“We’re only going after ‘bad people’. As long as you’re not a bad person you have nothing to worry about. And you’re not a bad person… are you?”
I feel safer already.
Pot smokers in (where else?) Keene are gathering in the town center to do their thing in public. If I lived there, I’d show up and not smoke pot alongside them as a show of solidarity. I plan to live my whole life without ever tasting the stuff, but I would never dream of forcing that choice onto anyone else. (Well, my kids, as long as they live under my roof.)
If it was discovered that I kidnapped a man and kept him prisoner in my basement for three years, civilized people would recognize me as a monster and a menace. If I said I was doing it to keep him from smoking pot, people would conclude that I was bonkers. But somehow the state can do this – round up people who are not doing anything threatening to anyone around them – and cage them for years and nobody will bat an eye.
Keep living your lives, guys. Not that you need my blessing on what you do, but you’ve got it.