BFD

Classy Mr. Vice President oh so classy.

Union Vs Government

Education in the United States has be declining for the past 60 years is what some could say a known fact. As I look closer into the topic I see that even though there is an extreme lack of funding the system itself does need some reforming. I have this article from newsweek that had some experts on the debate of the teachers union vs the government education.

It's no wonder that people are looking for an entity to blame for school failures. But blaming unions for failing schools is like blaming the middle class for the recession. Our union's mantra is "what is good for kids and what is fair for teachers." If teachers' unions were to blame for failing schools, then places like Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, who have relatively few unionized teachers, would do much better than the states with the most densely unionized teachers—Massachusetts, New York, Maryland. But those are the states whose schools do best.

So there are problems to solve, one of which is poverty. And I would argue that having a strong union, an entity that will look at what is done right and what is wrong and solve things and change things, is the way to go. We need well-prepared and well-supported teachers, early-childhood education, and a focus on graduation. We find these elements in lots of different places, and the differences between the places that work and those that don't is good labor-management relations.

On this side of the argument it makes it sound like schools do better and do worst with teachers union. This seems to be a stupid way of arguing because all shes really saying is that unions don't make a difference in how schools perform. So I don't understand why they are rejecting government reform. The education system and unions are a very hostile place the more I dwell upon it.

Gallery is Up and Ready

So the past few weeks of me working on my community service has been really hectic due to a lot of let downs. At first I had spoken to the Lafayette library about doing a show there and I had gotten conformation that it would work out. I was told to wait for an e-mail from them so I could send them my proposition for what I needed. I waited for a long time and then I called them back and it turns out that the lady I had spoken to was really unorganized and no one knew who I was or who the lady I asked for was. Basically the library deal was off. So I called Fast Frames in down town Lafayette and asked if I could hang some stuff up and they were really cool and let me. As I was collecting everyone's art to go deliver it, one of the artist had a last second drop out. It was lame but I guess he had his reasons so I can't really hold a grudge. However I had someone to fill his place luckily. In the long run I feel like i went about it in an unprepared way but I never thought it would take that much energy to put together. I guess its a trial and error thing to do, I really wasn't happy about how rushed it ended up being, but I learned a lot about organizing people. Moral of the story is that you have to micro manage people from time to time.

Review: The Cove

I just recently saw the documentary called The Cove for a stretch mark for my psych class but I thought that it was so relevant that I should blog about it. The movie is based on the international whaling laws and how the Japanese government refuses to stop. It also informs you on the recent decline in marine life conservations both with whaling and the coral reefs. Its a really interesting and some what inspiring movie.

Tibet benifits from Chinses Involvement

I think that its funny that the more dependent we become on China for stabilizing our economy, the farther we go into debt, the more we villanize them. We loaned Europe money knowing that we would benefit from there post-war economy, China has done the same for us and we hate them for it. Now I don't agree with many of China's actions, but then again I don't agree with many of Americas either, but I found an article of China's brutal involvement with Tibet and felt that I needed to post it.

Since 2001, Beijing has spent $45.4 billion on development in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). (That's what the Chinese government calls Tibet, even though many Tibetans live in neighboring provinces, too). The effect: double-digit GDP growth for the past nine years. About a third of the money went to infrastructure investment, including the train connecting Beijing to Lhasa. "A clear benefit of the train was that it makes industrial goods cheaper for Tibetans, who, like everyone else in the world, like household conveniences, but normally had to pay very high prices," said Ben Hillman, a Tibet expert from the Australian National University's China Institute. The train also provides an opportunity for Tibetan goods to be sold outside of the region and for a massive increase in number of tourists, reaching more than 5.5 million in 2009—up from close to 2 million in 2005, the year before the train. The Chinese government's Tibet tourism bureau expects the numbers to keep climbing. While Tibetan independence groups like Free Tibet raise sustainability concerns about the increase in tourism, Hillman points out that "tourism is an important industry that can benefit local Tibetans."

I guess that China's involvement in Tibet had benificial after all to an extent. It shows the other side of things which is always an important angle to look at. I almost want to make a connection to China's involvement in Tibet to America's involvement in Iraq but I know that there would be too much of open broad comparison that I would be attacked. I just hope that even though both conflicts were violent that some good comes out of it.

Leprechaun Museum

Yeah this is actually real. Its opening tomorrow and I really want to go but I doubt I will because its in Ireland. I just wanted to spread the word, here is a article on the museum

Obama's Youtube Chat

This is one of the videos that Obama posts on youtube every week. Its his more modern version of Roosevelt's fire side chats. It's an introduction to him introducing his new education reform bill. I'm exited to hear how the American people think of the bill and how the congress will deal with it.