Derek Sivers' unique perspective

This is the coolest way of interrupting my thinking!

"There are doctors in China," [Sivers] says, "who believe it is their job to keep you healthy. So any month you are healthy, you pay them. Any month you are sick, you don't have to pay them because they failed at their job. They get rich when you are healthy, not sick."

Changes...

For the few of you who ever stumble across my thoughts, it seems appropriate to point out the changes that are happening on this blog. It started out as a space for my classes and for posts about education. Now I find that I'm posting more about the events and ideas I find most disturbing in today's world.

Recently had a student drop a class because of all the "liberal crap" I was teaching. Since when is teaching people how to read and write "crap"? It is dangerous, of course, to those who would prefer not to think or not to have their own ideas challenged, but that's tough. I'm proud to "live conservatively but think liberally".

So, who am I? I am a woman, wife, mother, Latter Day Saint, and an American. I am proud to be each of these things because they combine to inform my personal values. I value fairness and honesty and compassion, and much of what I find most disturbing in the world is because those characteristics are missing.

Worried about women

It's nearly impossible, especially for those of us who came through the battles to make birth control the province of women, to envision the vitriolic turn in the politics of womanhood. The double standard is alive and well and becoming sufficiently powerful to effect a return to oppressive regulation that should not even be a question on political radar. How dare a woman want control over her own life?! How dare a woman think birth control should be insured just as Viagra and other such drugs are for men?!

Cynthia Beard has done an exemplary job of articulating what I feel but have been unable to write. I hope that everyone will read and consider her thoughts carefully.

For goodness sake!

A friend posted this image:

I don't know where it came from, so I have no way of providing "credit" to the one who deserves it. Those who responded to the post were of the general opinion that President Obama is the worst president ever and is literally destroying our nation. One of them went so far as to remark that she and her husband "cried when we saw this the first time." Well, I'm finding that attitude less and less acceptable and felt the need to respond to the image and the posts. Here's what I wrote:

And I cry because this is yet another image attempting to divide our nation. Yes, the Constitution is under attack, but many of those on both sides of the artificial ideological divide in that image have had their hands in the effort to tear it apart. The problems we face today did not spring fully formed from the presidency of Mr. Obama; they were born and have been nurtured over decades.

I vividly recall the Civil Rights conflicts of the 60s. That was a time when most of the nation believed it was wrong to extend Constitutional protections to others for no reason but the color of their skin and fought the president vehemently for insisting on equal rights. Later thoughtfulness prevailed, and we understood the Constitution is supposed to protect all citizens.

I recall the scandals of Nixon and Clinton and the less publicized scandals involving so many of those chosen to lead this nation. We survived all of them. President Obama is a human being and will and has made errors, but so has every other president who has ever held the office. There is no need to extoll President Obama beyond merit, but neither is there a need to vilify him unnecessarily.

Our nation faces so many difficult challenges. We need to work together to find long-term solutions for those problems.

Something is terribly, terribly wrong...

So, the figures are in. It's more profitable for a large company to lobby than to pay its fair share of taxes. A study just out shows that 30 corporations paid more to lobbyists than they paid in taxes. Turns out it was money well spent, though. Not only did 29 of those companies pay no taxes at all, some of them received tax rebates. Maybe they were suffering. After all, the economy had tanked; many citizens were losing their jobs and homes; retirement savings were melting like butter on a hot summer day. Not so. The companies that managed to snag nearly $11 billion in Washington Welfare had a combined profit of about $164 billion (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/12/13/30-major-u-s-companies-spent-more-on-lobbying-than-taxes/).

The federal government spent $107.2 on welfare for family and children in 2011. But that cost is on its way down, thanks to recent cuts that will be phased in over the coming years. That's a lot to spend, but at least those people weren't making tons of money while getting Washington Welfare. Nope. Most of them were having a downright tough time keeping a roof over their heads and body and soul together (http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/welfare_budget_2012_4.html).

Frankly, I'd rather our taxes go to those who live at or below the poverty line than those who wallow in the 1% and above.

Student post

Love the creativity of this young man's blog post. It's an unusual and effective way to present information one has discovered. Thanks Alex. http://alexklibisz.net/blog_details.php?recordID=48

Gearing up

Two classes up and running for a week; two more starting today; two more starting next week. This is going to be one of those barely survivable semesters. Can't help but wonder why we take on more than can reasonably be handled from time to time. I know this time it was fear, fear of not having a class next semester, that caused me to accept an overload.

This is both an energizing and paralyzing time in any semester. I've spent weeks trying to revise courses and prep other courses so they will be relevant and timely. Now I will spend many hours just dealing with all the technical difficulties that happen in the first few weeks of any online class. It's surprising to me how many students don't really know how to use the technologies so essential to their success. It's frustrating that I must do most of the technical trouble-shooting because that takes away from time I could be concentrating on teaching or prepping or even grading.

Oh, well... This is the career I've chosen, and fortunately, there are always a number of delightful students in every class.