Frog In North Georgia

Gingrich wants to end adolescence.  I just want to end the tired cycle of American women on the male professional track.  Really, now that we know the way women’s bodies work who thinks it is a good idea to graduate high school at eighteen, undergraduate education at twenty-two, grad school around twenty-four or maybe twenty-six, work for say four years and then think about having children if they desire careers?

Not me.  I graduated college at twenty-seven, wondering how many years I should spend working before children, and how many years until biology caught up with me.  I don’t wish that kind of mental and emotional ping-pong on anybody.

Do I think women should get pregnant at sixteen, become dependent on men and stay barefoot?  No, let’s not go there either.

I do think there should be respected vocational and collegiate school tracks available in high schools.  And that Gingrich has a real point about expecting young people to work and be responsible.  But it isn’t going to happen overnight.  Our laws don’t allow work until the age of sixteen, and that is restricted.  And the law doesn’t recognize individuals as adults until the age of eighteen, making it impossible for warehouses and many other types of business to hire younger teens.

And what insurance companies are going to cover younger employees and their families?

And families need to have access to good, affordable childcare prior to their children reaching school age. Otherwise, who will be minding their children while they work?  Entering the professional world at sixteen, rather than twenty-six would mean younger parents.  Would these younger graduates earn enough to support themselves, and possibly a young family?

Nothing can stop the natural occurrence of raging teen hormones that marks adolescence.  But why compound the problem with idleness?

I’m not a grandparent.  And I’m not going to go off on a tangent about how our grandparents or even parents may have married young, had children young, and still worked and may have gone to school.  I don’t think the American social model of the 50s, 60s, or 70s was better than what exists today.  Except maybe conscription - but that’s another blog post.

I agree that our present educational system needs improvement and the social model isn’t working.

Newt Gingrich: Let’s End Adolescence - BusinessWeek

The solution is dramatic and unavoidable: We have to end adolescence as a social experiment. We tried it. It failed. It’s time to move on. Returning to an earlier, more successful model of children rapidly assuming the roles and responsibilities of adults would yield enormous benefit to society.

Prior to the 19th century, it’s fair to say that adolescence did not exist. Instead, there was virtually universal acceptance that puberty marked the transition from childhood to young adulthood. Whether with the Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah ceremony of the Jewish faith or confirmation in the Catholic Church or any hundreds of rites of passage in societies around the planet, it was understood you were either a child or a young adult.

Tags: adolescence, biology, BusinessWeek, education, Gingrich.

This will be an historic election.  Either a black man will be president of the United States, or a woman will be vice president.  And I may have voted for Barack Obama.

Yes, me, a registered Republican and supporter of McCain since before I was old enough to vote.  Once a card carrying Republican who knew every local politician personally and the policies of every lawmaker that might impact my life, my views have changed.

Or not.

I have never been a one issue voter.  In college while my girlfriends were rallying around pro-choice Clinton, I was “wasting” my support on Perot, because I like the idea of running your country like a business.  And I wasn’t as impressed with George H. W. as I would have liked.

Circa 1999, at a GOP function we (the attendees) took a quiz for fun. My quiz result read:  You are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. You are a libertarian.

I was stunned.

My fellow Republicans, though slightly horrified, suggested that though I am completely immoral on issues of abortion and gay marriage, I made good points and conversation and of course voted for the GOP candidate most of the time, so they’d continue to invite me.

I supported Libby Dole in the primaries.

I like the underdog.  Though it has made me no less a conservative voter. But something else was happening:  the Republicans and the Democrats began to sound alike.  And here we are in 2008 with both candidates accepting lobbyist money (in different forms at different levels), claiming to support the death penalty and trade with Cuba.

Calvin Woodward, of AP, sums up the candidates positions well.  And for me, the place where the candidates are different is health care.

The Associated Press: Where McCain, Obama stand on the issues

HEALTH CARE

McCain: $2,500 refundable tax credit for individuals, $5,000 for families, to make health insurance more affordable. No mandate for universal coverage. Would no longer shield from income taxes those payments that businesses and their workers make toward employer-sponsored health insurance. Tax Policy Center estimates overall plan’s cost at $1.3 trillion over 10 years.

Obama: Mandatory coverage for children, no mandate for adults. Aim for universal coverage by requiring employers to share costs of insuring workers and by offering coverage similar to that in plan for federal employees. Says package would cost up to $65 billion a year after unspecified savings from making system more efficient. Raise taxes on wealthier families to pay the cost. Tax Policy Center estimates overall plan’s cost at $1.6 trillion over 10 years.

No matter who wins, I expect Uncle Sam to stick it to me with taxes.  I’m ok with taxes, if I’m getting something for my money.  I am not ok with taxing employer sponsored health benefits.

And I’m not ok with Sarah Palin as Vice President.  McCain is old.  If he drops dead I don’t want the person who becomes president to be a person who can’t even manage her teenage daughter.

Yes, yes, I know that statement is going to piss people off.  But that is how I feel.  I know a very nice family who raised two children.  One is an outstanding business woman.  The other child is a criminal.  It isn’t their fault.  I still don’t want them running the country.  Call me crazy. But when nuclear weapons are involved, I don’t think we should take any chances.

Tags: barack obama, election, health insurance, income taxes, issue, mccain, Republican.

While cruising along reading about the usual social issues, matches and political nonsense I run into the quote of the day:

La Marseillaise - Accueil

Allez au diable, yankees de merde.

What?  Have my linguistic abilities failed me?  Does that actually say, “Go home Yankee devil and eat shit?” 

Not understanding how this could have escaped newsworthiness in American newspapers, I ran it through a translator program, then googled the news (in English and Spanish).  Yep, that’s what it says.  Here is APs very polite translation.

The Associated Press: Analysis: US relations with leftists leaders sour

Simmering ideological tensions between President Bush and the populist presidents of Bolivia and Venezuela boiled over this week in twin diplomatic spats that threaten U.S. counternarcotics operations in the region and possibly American energy supplies.

The administration says it wants to get along with the growing number of leftist leaders in the Western Hemisphere, but Bolivian President Evo Morales and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are having none of it, essentially responding with the time-honored insult: “Yankee, go home.”

I do know that the United States offends other nations with policy regularly. But why doesn’t Yankee go home with an expletive make the news here?  Seriously, my living under a rock persona only exists for celebrity gossip and doesn’t extend to international news.

As a side under a rock note, I have opened myself to ridicule this week with my inability to pronounce “Ellen” a very common name, and “scuppanong.”

Tags: news, politics, World.

A friend sent this to me.  I think it is another inspiring story of how somebody can face down a health problem. 

And it’s a little handy that the wife of a presidential candidate took a course called Executive Protect, don’t you think?

Go Cindy.

ESPN - Cindy McCain takes the wheel in her own race

Six weeks later, McCain was still limited physically and, she said, mired in depression. Jack knew exactly what type of therapy was needed. As a 50th-birthday gift, he bought her a four-day course to the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Chandler, Ariz.

Tags: news, politics, Sports.

This is my laugh out loud article for the day.  It made me laugh out loud anyway.

Who runs for office in the United States when she lives in Italy?  That is just insulting to voters.  My first thought is beat her with the ballots Al - and I’m not a Democrat or from Minnesota, and know nothing about the platform.

Comedian Al Franken wins Senate primary in Minnesota | ajc.com

Franken, who gained fame as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member, easily beat six other candidates chasing the Democratic nod. Coleman trounced his only opponent, an expatriate living in Italy.

Tags: al franken, coleman, Comedian, Democrat, living in italy, Minnesota, opponent, saturday night live.

I was going to leave this alone. But I just can’t.

Do people actually think a sixteen year old can hide a pregnancy? Or that a sixteen year old is likely to have a baby with Downs Syndrome?

You’re kidding me right? Have you ever met a sixteen year old girl? You know, a person who can cry at the drop of a hat. Who would think a teen capable of keeping a secret? A gigantic one like a baby with Downs Syndrome?

Few words make me feel more ill than “teen pregnancy.” But these rumors do. Teen age girls can’t keep secrets. People can’t keep secrets.

Does anybody remember the Saturday Night Live skit that mocked Chelsea Clinton? That was uncalled for right? People were pissed off?

Right. This girl is 17 years old and pregnant. Her life already sucks. Leave her alone already.

FACTBOX: Facts about McCain VP pick Sarah Palin | Reuters

* Palin, 44, announced on Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, is pregnant and will keep the baby and marry the father.

* The disclosure was made as a way to rebut rumors circulating on liberal blog sites that Gov. Palin herself had faked a pregnancy in order to cover up Bristol’s pregnancy.

Tags: Bristol, downs syndrome, mccain, sarah palin, teen pregnancy, unmarried daughter.

I am very pleased with the VP selections of both Obama and McCain. I think they each took calculated risks and made thoughtful decisions.

Wouldn’t Hilary have been the “safe” choice for Obama?

As a one-time resident of Arizona, I have come to like McCain.

This can only get more interesting.

McCain picks Alaska Gov. Palin as running mate | ajc.com

“Governor Palin is a proven reformer who is a wise steward of taxpayer dollars and champion for accountability in government,” a presidential statement said. “By selecting a working mother with a track record of getting things done, Senator McCain has once again demonstrated his commitment to reforming Washington.”

“It’s an absolutely brilliant choice,” said Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law. “This will absolutely energize McCain’s campaign and energize conservatives,” he predicted.

Tags: news, politics, World.

I must take this doll to Christmas dinner with me.

We had the most fun one year when somebody gave DH a golf doll as a joke. He loves it. He doesn’t think it is funny at all. We all get a huge kick out of that and played with it all day.

Talking Presidents | Action Figure - Ronald W. Reagan

Below are only a few of the 11 different phrases that the Ronald Reagan Action figure says when you press his button.
Batteries Included

Tags: humor, politics.

This so silly. She wants her money back? This comment makes me laugh. Did she really say, hmm, should I fund a political campaign, or my children’s education?

Georgia backers livid over Edwards’ affair | ajc.com

“That’s money I could have put in my children’s college fund,” state Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Atlanta) said of her contributions to Edwards.

Tags: news, politics.

I’m sorry for the children of politicians who lie and cheat. I think it stinks for them more than it does for other children because they can’t pretend it isn’t happening when it is on the front page of the local paper. I don’t suggest that ignoring a family problem is a good idea, only that it is difficult to set your own timeline for healing when the news media is involved.

Life must stink for the spouses as well. But I feel less sorry for them. This is due to personal experience. I have met very few people with lying cheating spouses who didn’t know about it, which means staying in the relationship was a choice already made. No, I don’t think that means you deserve it, only that you chose to put up with it for whatever reason. The kids don’t get a choice.

ELIZABETH EDWARDS’ STATEMENT: ‘I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame’ | ajc.com

But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007. This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well.

Tags: politics, society, World.