The Best Laid Plans

My Top Ten List got knocked off track on Wednesday by a sick 6 year old. Little Lucy has been fighting something for a long time...she has been on one round of antibiotics but hasn't rebounded well. She started to go downhill fast on Wednesday and she ended up back in the docs office today. She is on a stronger medicine now and hopefully it will knock this thing out. She did rally enough to make it to a festival at our church tonight so Halloween wasn't a total bummer.

Approximately 100 hours until the election now - my nerves are already shot. I vacillate between confidence and panic. I'm finding myself so irritated by all of the propaganda and rhetoric...I feel like people are blind and it makes me so angry. I'm sure the other side feels the same way.

So tomorrow I will try and pick up with my 3 most important reasons for voting for Obama. Tune in and chime in!

The Final Countdown - #8 - The Irish Connection

Enough said. :)

The Final Countdown - #9 - Obama's Image Around the Globe

Let's be perfectly honest, America isn't well loved around the world these days. Immediately following 9/11 the vast majority of the world rallied around the USA. There were newspaper headlines saying "We are all Americans" and people the world over were praying for us and ready to join us in the battle against terrorism.

The current administration took that good will and squandered it on an ill-waged war in Iraq. Now before some of you call me a hater - let me be perfectly clear that I am grateful for our men and women in uniform. I am supportive of our troops, I am not supportive of the war or the administration that (mis) led us into it. I know several military folks personally who are supporting Obama because of how the current administration has handled Iraq and Afghanistan.

So here we are 7 years post 9/11 with much of the world thinking we see ourselves as the world's police, that we can and will have our way regardless of the validity of our reasons. The absence of WOMD in Iraq has compromised the integrity of our "intelligence" and the maverick/cowboy quality of GWB has compromised the true nature of America.

John McCain is more of the same.

Obama is loved around the world. His recent European trip gathered crowds that were reminiscent of Kennedy's from the 60's. We have a chance here to restore our standing in the world...at a time when I believe that is critical. America is still the most powerful nation in the world and if we wish to maintain that status then we have to have allies that like us for more than our money.

To the folks out there who believe that an Obama presidency opens us up for another terror attack I can only say that if there are those out to attack us they will do it regardless of who is in the White House. Hate is timeless and opportunistic. I happen to think that if America's standing in the world is restored that the evil that lurks in the hearts of terrorists may think twice before coming after us again.

The Final Countdown...#10 - An Inspirational Leader

Ten days from now is the presidential election. So from now until then I will list my top 10 reasons for voting for Barack Obama.

Number 10

Barack Obama is an inspirational Leader. He leads and people follow. He has the largest grass roots campaign in our nation's history. He has broken all kinds of records for fundraising, without taking a dime from PAC's, lobbyists, or the government. People from all different backgrounds believe that he is the man that can finally lead our country in a new, more stable direction after the failed domestic and foreign policies of the past 8 years. He has assembled a coalition that has broken down barriers - racial, economic, social, educational, ideological - all of them have come tumbling down.

People write Obama off as all fluff, a good speaker with nothing to back it up. But even the most casual perusal of his website (linked to the right) will dispel that falsehood in a moment. His policies are realistic and they reverse the trend of making the rich richer and forgetting about the poor. People talk about "spreading the wealth around" like it is a bad thing!!??!! For me, as a Christian, it's all about giving my neighbor my shirt when all they ask for is my coat and walking the extra mile with those in need. If I have it, I want to share it, I don't want to hoard it. I have no problem with people making over a quarter of a million dollars a year paying higher taxes. Did you read that? A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS. Yes it is a liberal economic policy, I'm good with that. In 1960 JFK said the following:

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then ... we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal." [September 14, 1960]

I'm proud too.

Clean Sheets

Thanks to simply chic blogs for my new duds!

Charter Schools and Education Reform

So the girls have been in a more traditional school setting for about 7 weeks now...I say more traditional because though it is definitely more structured than homeschooling it is a very progressive and exciting environment. It isn't at all like what I hear some parents or kids describe when they speak about school.

Annie and Lucy have truly enjoyed making new friends and taking the bus and jumping rope at recess. All of those thing sound a lot like what I did in school way too many years ago. But they have also enjoyed have Frick Park as an extension of their classroom. They go into the park on a regular basis for a wide variety of educational purposes. Lucy's class took a 1.5 mile hike to the Frick Nature Center for a class and both girls participated in a "stash the trash" project cleaning up the park and the neighborhood around the school. They have an Environmental Science class twice weekly in addition to their regular science class and they are doing several projects that specifically involve using materials that they already have rather than buying new things.

The Charter School movement was started not only to give parents greater choices for their children's education but also to push school districts to make necessary changes by upping the ante so to speak. When school districts lose students to Charter schools they also lost the funding that goes with those students. That money is given to the Charter school. In order to not lose students many districts are learning from charter schools how to better meet the needs of students and parents pertaining to education and making some changes. It is a slow process but it is a beginning.

Charter Schools are not wholeheartedly embraced by School Districts - which is unfortunate. For example, our school is a City of Pittsburgh Public School...we are subject to their testing guidelines and accountable to them on a variety of levels. BUT you will not find our school on their website, or any information that would lead you to our school or any of the other city charter schools. It seems to be another example of not really wanting the best for our children and their educational process.

It is obvious by national data that the USA's educational system is in need of reform. Locally the same is true in a big way. Charter Schools are just one way for reform to happen and changes to be made.