Beta Fish

Once upon a time, there was a Beta fish on a shelf in a pet store. In the store in his tiny bowl, he ferociously swam at the other male Betas nearby. He swam so vigorously, that his new owner called him “Spaz,” and took him home.
Spaz was the king of his new two-gallon bowl, and he was ready to protect it against any other male Betas who might try to invade his territory.

Spaz grew up into a large, purple fish, who sometimes showed more blue or more red; and even a hint of green depending on the light. His fins grew long, and he was a large and most impressive looking fish. When he flared his gill covers to warn others to stay away, he looked quite fearsome.

Then one day, Spaz saw another male Beta looking at him. Spaz approached cautiously, ready to defend his territory. When he got a good look at the other fish, he noticed that it was very large and had striking colors and long fins that looked like gauze skirts.

For the first time ever, Spaz was unsure about rushing into a fight with this fierce looking fish. This opponent was more spectacular than any Beta that Spaz had ever seen. Eventually, Spaz decided to swim off, and not try to chase the other fish away.

Later, seeing that Spaz was not interested in chasing his reflection in the mirror, Spaz’s owner put the mirror away.

80 Degrees and Snow

Yesterday I went hiking in the 8o degree Fahrenheit (26.67 degrees Celsius) heat. We got two feet of snow earlier in the month, and there was still a large patch of compressed snow at the edge of the woods near the swamp.

I was hot, and walked out onto the snow to cool off. I was still hot. The sun was strong, and though I was surrounded by snow, it was still hot. How weird is that?

Sad Day in Education

At the school district where I work, they are eliminating art from most of the elementary schools. How can you not have art for kids?

This is the result of budget cuts.

At a time when the USA should strive to become the economic superpower that it could/should be, employers are all cutting back and consumers are paying more than ever before for goods and services.

Instead of being the world’s police force, America should fix the economy. Foreign wars are draining our wealth; unless of course, your income is tied to oil profits…

The current administration is both funding a war and cutting taxes for the wealthy. That puts an extra burden on the local governments to tax more to make up for the shortage from the federal.

Meanwhile, “bright boy” in the White House talks about, the “No-Child-Left-Behind” program like it is a lofty accomplishment. While Special Education continues to require more money from school districts, the rest of the students are now losing out on such programs as art, music, science and physical education.

Cutris Makes Deal with Mexico

Cutris Makes Deal with Mexico
March 22, 2007
UnAssociated Press

It was reported today by inside sources who were found standing outside, that Cutris has just closed an important deal with Mexico. This deal would give Canada the right to buy oil from China, after it was pumped from wells in Brazil.

Not much more is known about the deal, or if Cutris himself will profit from the revenues gained by Portugal. Australian sources seemed to indicate that Cutris would not make any monetary gains by the deal, but rather, he was simply settling a bet between Russia and Iran, as a favor to Pakistan.

Cutris Learns to Fly!

After seeing an osprey while hiking last week, Cutris has taught himself to fly!


Over the weekend, Cutris was seen flying around the 7-county metro area.

When asked how he did it, Cutris denied that he had been flying, and said that he was just practicing his "Kung Fu" training.

Prince King

In the olden days, before there were nights, there lived a prince named King. King the prince was in love with a beautiful girl named Slumina, who worked in the local sewage treatment facility just outside of town.

King’s father, the Duke of Buttington did not approve of Slumina, and did all he could to discourage his son from romancing the girl. Unfortunately for the Duke, his son was smitten by Slumina and would not listen to reason.

Then that guy named Stu came to town and started up a strip club. Slumina got a job at the club, and soon made enough money to start her own dog-walking business. Prince King married Slumina and they had two children, their son Hector, and daughter, Fall-Guy. The Duke of Buttington became a regular at Stu’s club, and spent his entire fortune there.

Eventually, Stu became very rich and died of a drug overdose. The Duke of Buttington became a sorter at the sewage treatment facility outside of town. Slumina expanded her dog-walking business and became one of the richest people in town. Prince King gave up his title and became a stay-at-home-dad.

My how things can change!

KJC

The Real Question

I see a reoccurring and disturbing trend with the students at the school where I work. It is something that I dealt with when I worked for the county government as well. Minority students are more and more, blaming their poor behavior on the racism of others. In this case, it is their teachers who are being called racists.

The “race card,” as it has become known as, provides a certain amount of undeniable leverage in a dispute. Some minorities have learned this, and worse yet, they are now teaching it to their children. The seventh graders I work with would not know about such things if they hadn’t been taught about it.

Bad behavior is bad behavior. Race is not the issue. In fact, the question should not be, “why are we disciplining minority students so frequently,” but rather, “why are certain groups more prone to behavior problems?”

It should be noted that not all of the minority groups are overly represented in detention, and yes, there are more than one or two minority groups. So why is it, that children from a particular demographic are more likely to have behavior problems? Where do they get the idea that “no one can tell them what to do?”

Most Caucasians these days are too conscious of the backlash of anything that might be remotely construed as racist, to say anything off-color. My own personal experience is that this same level of respect is not universal, and some minorities have exhibited blatant racism directed at whites, that would never be tolerated otherwise.

With the children that I work with, they vocally demand a high degree of respect, while simultaneously exhibiting behavior that is abusive, insubordinate and often threatening. Essentially, they demand respect, but are completely unwilling to give respect to others.

We have not seen the last of this problem. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. Despite the huge gains society has seen in equality, some people don’t really want it because it will relieve them of the leverage that they currently get by pointing a finger and shouting “racism.”