Higher calling?

The President ended his speech this week, saying that "there is no higher calling than service to your country", ie, serving in the armed forces. Hmmmmmm. I thought the highest calling was serving God.

Teachers motivations

Much has been said in the press, and letters to the editor, regarding Educators, Administrators, and Teachers Unions.

Here is a nice story about a retired teacher.

Houston Chronicle, June 20th

HOUSTON - A retired public school teacher who was so frugal that he bought expired meat and secondhand clothing left $2.1 million for his alma mater, Prairie View A&M — the school's largest gift from a single donor.
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Whitlowe R. Green, 88, died of cancer in 2002. He retired in 1983 from the Houston Independent School District, where he was making $28,000 a year as an economics teacher.
His donation shocked family members and friends alike.
"He was a very meager person. I didn't think he had a million," said Beatrice Green, a cousin by marriage. "He'd buy the cheapest things."
Sharon Green Mitchell, another cousin, said Green and her father stopped talking for a couple of years when Green denied owing her dad $6.76. On road trips, Green would equally divide the gas bill among the adults.
"Now it's funny, but years ago you would sometimes get annoyed," Mitchell said.
Green's frugality was matched by his belief in education and dedication to young people, she said.
He often talked about leaving money to Prairie View, a historically black university. Green graduated in 1936.
"He sacrificed for this. He would always tell us to make your money work for you, and he did," Mitchell said. "I remember him saying, 'I'm going to help black children get an education.' He did it."
Green's donation will be used to establish a scholarship fund.

Schiavo case

Let it go please! The Politicians should never have gotten involved to begin with.

Bill Frist:

LAUER: "But when you stood on the floor and you said, 'She does respond', are you at all worried that you led some senators…"FRIST: "No, I never said, she responded."- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in an interview on the Today Show with Matt Lauer, 6/16/05

VERSUS"I have looked at the video footage. Based on the footage provided to me, which was part of the facts of the case, she does respond."-- Sen. Bill Frist on the Senate floor, 3/17/05

Jeb Bush now wants to launch an investigation into events 15 years ago surrounding the time it too for Michaeil Schiavo to call 911 when his wife collapsed. All of this political maneuvering after the autopsy results supported the original findings of all of the medical experts that she was in a "persistent vegetative state". The parents can pursue all legal means they so desire, get the damn politics out of it Jeb!

Common Ground?

Instead of focusing on areas of disagreement, where do we as citizens agree?

Education. All Americans think this is very important. We disagree about the root cause problems though, and many of the solutions, ignore problem areas. In general, most Teachers I have had the benefit of interacting with, are hard working, make huge sacrifices, are very dedicated and are committed to making a difference in childrens lives. Remember I said "most"
teachers. Any discussion of them being overpaid is ludicrous. Also, I'm not talking about the Teachers Union. In general I approve of Unions. Where we have problems is when where a Union, or Management, or a Company gains too much power, or selfishly looks at their own interests. An example is General Motors and the UAW. The UAW has to understand that the American Auto industry is uncompetitive for a cost of labor standpoint (mostly benefits). When Unions or Management put blinders on then that is when problems arise and the common good is not being served.

Social Security. I also believe most Americans believe we should protect this. We have to develop plans to make this solvent. I understand why the Democrats are being silent about this, but that is just playing Politics. Pushing the retirement age even farther out is plain dumb. Developing a plan to scale back benefits for higher income folks make sense. No way Tiger Woods, when he retires, should he or his equivalents be getting $50,000 dollar a month checks.
We need a common sense solution.

National Security. Another no-brainer. I understand we live in difficult times. We can't however sacrifice our Civil liberties. We have to find the right answer here.

A strong military. Another no-brainer. Priority number one is to protect our nation, our public, our way of life.

The Devil though is in the details isn't it?

The Draft vs National Service

We continue to see articles in the newspaper about our the Military missing it's recruiting goals. Personally, I think the Reserves, and National Guard have given a lot, and the repeated tours are wearing on them. The post is not about the War in Iraq. I raising the question about the concept of a draft to provide enough man/women power in the military vs making it a requirement for all Americans to serve some type of National Service, with maybe a maximum of a 2 year commitment. Maybe to entice the Military as an option the Military service might last 18 months, whereas the National Service might last 2 years.

Personally, I like the concept of Mandatory National Service, with very few exceptions or exclusions. Whether you are rich or poor, we all have a responsibility to look after our nation, and make it a better place for all of us.

just set it up

testing out the blog o sphere