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In the News

Looking for Love In All the Wrong Places…

Courtesy of the Houston Chronicle, the latest craziness in our area schools? It seems that a teacher took 22 days off back in February, 10 of them unpaid, to tape “The Bachelor”. Now? Because two parents complained, they are reassigning the Principal for letting her take the time off. The parents complained that the teacher being out was disruptive to the classroom; isn’t it more disruptive to the school as a whole to have to readjust to a new principal? And if the thought is that what she did was so wrong you have to move her, then isn’t it wrong for the people at the other school to end up with her there? I mean, they didn’t do anything to deserve a switch.

My favorite quote of the whole article might just be the last one: “Parent Raquel Flores said it “was very disruptive” to have Alchalabi gone while her students were preparing to take a TAKS test.”

You are not supposed to PREPARE for the test. The whole point of the test is to test the students and see what they have learned, to assess if the school is teaching up to standards. The fact that they teach the test, and that parents expect them to do so, proves that the whole thing is very, very flawed. It all just leaves me shaking my head…

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In the News Knittastic!

Make a Change…

There will be no knitting photos tonight. I forgot when I wrote that that I still needed to go and vote. I got to the polls late, so the line was long. Of course, I had a sock to knit in my bag, and I worked almost a whole repeat while I stood in line. When I was called to turn in my ticket so I could go to a voting machine, I made the last stitch on the needle as I walked forward. The nice gentleman that was assisting me asked what I was knitting, and commented that the yarn was a beautiful color.

It is always nice when someone unexpected notices your work and comments on it. It brought a smile to my face as I cast my ballot.

I considered photographing the sock with the ballot machine, but I was afraid that someone would wig out over it and decided it probably wasn’t a good idea. My phone makes a lovely chiming noise whenever you snap a photo, so you can not possibly be stealth with it. Pretend there is a photo of a sock with the ballot machine here.

Unfortunately, it appears that my fears have come true and the two independent governor candidates have pulled enough votes away from Chris Bell that Gov. Good Hair will be in office for a few more years. He doesn’t have a clear majority, but it still doesn’t look good. We will see what the morning brings. From my limited understanding of Texas government, I don’t know that the governor has a lot of power. What I am more curious about is the outcome of the national elections, and the change that it may have on our future.

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In the News

The Crocodile Hunter…

I missed the news yesterday: Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin killed by stingray. How sad. I always enjoyed watching his shows, and I think he did a lot to teach about the importance of conservation.

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In the News

DeLay Announces Resignation From House…

DeLay Announces Resignation From House

Succumbing to scandal, former Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Tuesday he is resigning from Congress, a move that closes out a career that blended unflinching conservatism with a bare-knuckled political style.

I’m stunned. Speechless. Overjoyed? Is that too strong? Nah, probably not. Every time I see Tom DeLay on TV, I shout “Spawn of Satan!” at him. I’m so glad I don’t live on the south side of Houston, and he was not my representative in the government. But to see him out of there makes me just giddy with glee. Sad, but so true. [via Mac who has a lot more to say about it.]

I can’t wait to see the fall-out of this. Here is the Houston Chronicle’s article about his upcoming resignation and the scandal he is facing. I can’t wait to see what Chuck has to say about this. Oh, it is going to be gooooooood…

[This now concludes my semi-annual political blogging content. Regular content will resume shortly. Thank you.]

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Amuse Me In the News

Oops! There go centuries-old vases

Just how terrible would you feel if you tripped on your shoelace and broke centuries-old vases? And why were they on the windowsill?

[via Cluttered Loft’s Geeknotes.]