Recent Comments

1. about 20 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   That’s the goal of capitalism the way it is being played today — $ucce$$ is when you have it all — you being a singular, not a collective. Unfortunately capitalism is just an economic system — a means of producing wealth [for the owners/investors]; not a form of governance, which is focused on the safety, security, and well-being of [all] its people.

2. about 21 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   Authentic what?

3. 1 day ago on Non Sequitur

   You’re right about the lower salary; however, the government does/did a lot that private companies don’t or can’t. The retirement, leave, and medical programs are quite good. And hiring practices strictly adhere to fair business practices — based entirely on work qualifications - Knowledge, Skills, Abilities [KSAs] - which are clearly spelled out for every job category and advancement level. So you know what additional KSAs are needed to advance to the next level and the government will often provide that additional training, on their dime, not yours. The government treats their employees like employees and not just work tools. They treat them as valuable assets. Not many workers in the private sector can say the same.

4. 2 days ago on Non Sequitur

   I am really tired of people misusing “fraud.” Fraud involves intentional deception to gain something of value, usually money. One commits fraud through false statements, misrepresentation, or dishonest conduct intended to mislead or deceive.

   Government employees are people who were hired to do work that was approved by Congress, funded by Congress, and overseen by Congress. They are doing the jobs they were hired to do, ultimately by Congress. They are not deceiving or misleading anyone, lying about anything, or gaining anything beyond their legally-designated salaries [the government is very strict about equal pay for equal work].

   If “fraud” is to be discovered, it should be looked for where fraud could exist — in Congress or upper, upper management — where programs are proposed, planned and approved and where moneys are appropriated. Are funds being used for unauthorized programs? Are Congressionally-approved programs not being carried out as approved by Congress? Have the results of any programs been distorted, faked, or otherwise presented in a way to mislead Congress? Have any moneys allotted to any program disappeared or been misapplied?

   If doge was really interested in locating fraud, they would have real auditors examining the books and they would have studied the missions, goals, and histories of every program — how else to tell if money has been misused except by knowing what it was supposed to be used for? And they would be mapping the goals to methodologies and results in order to evaluate the success of the methods employed. ["Fraud would be if the results claimed are bogus. If they just aren’t as successful as they should be, that would’t be fraud — that would be grounds to revise the methodology.]

   The real questions to be asked aren’t about “fraud” but whether Congress has approved programs and funding that are not in the best interest of the country. Are the reasons for the program legitimate? Is there a better way?

5. 3 days ago on Non Sequitur

   The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein, 1966. The moon is a penal colony and the plot is a ‘modernized’ reenactment of the US Revolutionary War [and probably others]. The Moon produces wheat which is catapulted down to earth. And, the Looneys use the same method to fight for their independence. Very good read, especially for high-schoolers studying American History.

6. 3 days ago on Non Sequitur

   Yes

7. 3 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   Magic markers are for writing your name and/or age on walls, doors, books, etc. “good” practice for making those tricky 2’s and 3’s.

8. 3 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   Don’t forget the wiggle room. If you wiggle the pencil around ‘to get it sharper’, [or if you aren’t holding the pencil exactly straight], you can shorten it quite easily. Been there, done that.

9. 3 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   For a child, a pencil draws in one color; crayons/Crayolas come in different colors. Young children start with 8 big, bright, basic crayons because they are easier to color with and harder to break [ and bright colors stimulate cognitive development]. When they get a bit older, they graduate to regular-sized crayons and more colors [boxes of 16, 24, 32, 64, . .]. Pencils are generally ignored until a child is old enough to “write” — pencils aren’t that interesting because they aren’t colorful. So it is quite reasonable for a child to see colored pencils and call them pencil crayons — they are built like a pencil but they provide color like crayons.

10. 4 days ago on Non Sequitur

    Ignorance was one of the reasons that we have had federal education offices/departments/agencies/etc. since 1867. The government realized that for a country to prosper, it has to have an educated public. Particularly since the Industrial Revolution and growth of multi-state companies and corporations, it was necessary to ensure a workforce that can adapt and handle all the changes.

    We were changing. We were no longer a country where 85% of the work is in agriculture [and agriculture itself became more mechanized]. Knowledge, Skills, Abilities [KSAs]. Companies need to know what workers actually know. A high school [and then a college/law school/medical school/] diploma needs to mean something specific. So national ‘graduation’ standards needed to be set — and revised as the labor requirements evolved.

    Because of all the changes in labor requirements, even the poor and minorities needed to have a ‘decent’ education. Which meant that schools needed to provide the same basic [but evolving] education to all. Which brings in the need to provide grants and scholarships to ensure that bright young people everywhere can get a good education and become contributing members of the economy.

    Today, we are now a country in which less than 10% jobs are in agriculture and only 32% of all jobs require only a high school diploma or less [most of which are ‘entry-level,’ requiring additional training or education for advancement].

    The mission of the Department of Education is to:

    Assure access to equal educational opportunity for every individual;

    Supplement and complement the efforts of state and local school systems, nonprofit educational research institutions, community-based organizations, parents, and students to improve the quality of education;

    Promote improvements in the quality and usefulness of education through Federally-supported research, evaluation, and sharing of information;

    Promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness.