What Am I Supposed To Do Without You?
After a break that, in some aspects, feels twice as long as it actually was, the kids return to school today. Yes, even in the snow. Their school, as is all of IPS, is on a two-hour delay, but everyone with any sense knows that roads won’t be any different in two hours than they are now. Making matters all the more challenging, temps are only going down. By Thursday morning, temps are expected to be at or below 0 Fahrenheit. Friday, we’ll see another round of fresh snow. Kat is driving the kids to school today, hoping that the continued efforts of DPW’s ‘Snow Force’ will lead to some improvement in roads by this afternoon. The question is whether any true progress can be made with temps staying well below freezing.
By the end of the week, pretty much all of the US, except for some West Coast areas, will be dealing with uncharacteristic snow and cold. Even Florida’s perennial beach playgrounds are likely to see temps drop close to the freezing mark. There will be snow on the ground in DC for President Carter’s funeral on Thursday, and the potential for snow and freezing temperatures are just a few of the security challenges facing the inauguration on the 20th.
Most state legislatures started their work yesterday, making attempts to prove that they still have some relevance in how their states are governed. One rural Indiana lawmaker introduced legislation that could bring about an end to the Indianapolis Public School system as it currently exists. The bill’s author, Republican Rep. Jake Teshka, who represents District 7 in a rural area south of South Bend and Mishawaka in northern Indiana, stated “I authored this legislation to ensure school corporations are giving our children the best education possible and to find solutions in districts where the current governance is failing its students. This bill would only apply to school districts where more than half of the students and families living within the school district’s boundaries are choosing to attend other schools, meaning their property taxes are funding a school system they don’t attend. This is an important conversation to have, and I look forward to hearing from parents, educators, administrators, and other stakeholders on the best path forward to ensure every Hoosier student receives a quality education.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah, is anyone buying this bullshit? House Bill 1136 would re-organize any school district where 50% or more of the students are enrolled in charter schools. All of the public schools in the district would then be converted to charter schools. This amounts to the privatization of public schools. Indianapolis students would be disproportionately affected. 80 percent of students impacted by the bill are Indianapolis students. NONE of the schools in the author’s district would be affected at all.
This pisses me off for more than one reason. First, I have an issue with some hair-brained jackass from a stinking backwater sloop of a district proposing legislation that does not and will not affect the under-educated peabrains whose parents voted for him. Second, I absolutely DESPISE any attempt to take the voice away from thousands of parents who don’t send their children to charter schools. Charter school companies are notoriously bad about swallowing up school funds for administrative costs while spending less on teachers and classrooms. Charter schools are also predominantly (there are some exceptions) closed off to parents seeking any kind of change.
Full disclosure: our kids attend a charter school that is part of the IPS system. They always have. And while we are pleased with the schools they are in now, that has not always been the case. They started kindergarten in a charter school that was horribly mismanaged, underfunded its classrooms, provided no student support, and looked for any reason to expel disruptive students. G was suspended multiple times while in first grade! Kat was quick to change schools, but the fact that this terrible charter is still in operation is highly disturbing.
I know there are a lot of people who feel that government should be completely out of the education business. The problem with that nonsense is that the only way to ensure that all children, regardless of economic status, race, religion, or disability, receive an appropriate education is to maintain a well-funded and PUBLIC education system. While some charter schools are fantastic, others are only in it for the money grab. Over the past ten years, the Indiana Department of Education has had to revoke the charters of multiple schools that were paying teachers below state minimums, hiring uncredited teachers, and mishandling school funds. Charter schools can, in theory, reject any students they want, make unreasonable demands of parents, and avoid equality oversights. This bill is a foolish idea and all Indiana parents do well to oppose it loudly.
In case you were looking for yet another reason to avoid eating at McDonalds, the fast-food chain announced yesterday that it is ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The decision comes as dozens of other companies have done exactly the same thing, making the world a more difficult and less comfortable place for anyone who is not a privileged white male. I fail to understand why there is not more noise coming in opposition to this kind of move. These are public companies whose stock prices should be hitting rock bottom because of such foolishness. Where are the boycotts? Where are the marches? I know I’ve changed my shopping/buying habits in the past year, but why isn’t everyone? I don’t get it.
One of the few pieces of good news I’m seeing this morning is that the Biden administration banned unpaid medical bills from appearing on credit reports. While this doesn’t come close to addressing the real problems of the American healthcare system, it does provide a small amount of relief for those who are already struggling with insane amounts of medical debt. Something is better than the nothing we’re going to get over the next four years, but again, why are we not bringing the entire country to a screeching halt over healthcare costs?
I thought about discussing the dangers of Getty Images buying Shutterstock or all the cool things that NVIDIA announced at CES yesterday, but Meta, the parent company of Facebook, upstaged everyone this morning by announcing that it’s eliminating fact-checking. In its place will be a program similar to the user-written Community Notes on X, which is a complete disaster. We have plenty of replacements for X. What we need is a replacement for Facebook. Now.
Sigh. I’m beginning to think that I’m too old for this damn world. We’re ignoring everything that is important to human civilization and electing the most ignorant people we can possibly find, not just in the US but around the world. I don’t feel as though I fit in anywhere. Is it too late in the treatment process to just let cancer consume me?
Thursday, January 09, 2025
Hot & Cold.
When I logged in this morning, Grammarly, the browser extension I use to check my spelling and grammar, popped up a notice saying they had reviewed my writing style for 2024 and that I am best described as ‘The Sage.’ I’m not sure I agree with that assessment. ‘Caffeine addict’ is probably more appropriate. I can’t imagine how jumbled my words would be if I didn’t have a pot of coffee sitting on my desk each morning. I stifled a laugh because Kat’s still asleep. Grammarly doesn’t like that last sentence because I changed the tense halfway through. Queen Bit, who is sitting on my laptop acting as editor this morning, doesn’t seem to mind.
The kids are headed back to school this morning. Primary city streets are well-plowed now, so buses are running pretty close to on time. Sidewalks are still a mess as plows piled snow on them, though. Pedestrians can’t catch a fucking break in this city. The safer option in weather like this, and sometimes the only option, is to walk along the edge of the street. I’ve done that more times than I care to count and I know the dangers. Legally, homeowners and businesses are required to clear the sidewalks in front of their homes and businesses. However, at least in our neighborhood, few people are healthy enough to be outside pushing around shovels full of snow. I know it’s not an activity I dare attempt.
I watched with interest as school closing announcements in Oklahoma and Kansas came across my monitor last night. They have a new weather system hitting them this morning. The accumulation totals appear laughable to people living in places where snow is measured in feet, not inches. The challenges the center states face are unique, though. For Kansas, snow on the flatland means blizzard conditions. Ranchers have to find ways to protect cattle herds that are too large and too scattered to move into a barn. For Eastern Oklahoma, the terrain is an issue. The rolling hills that are so beautiful in Spring are treacherous with the smallest amounts of snow. Municipal governments there don’t have the funding for armies of snow plows or tons of salt. Driving is immediately hazardous as the slightest slip of a tire can send one plummeting over the edge of a cliff.
The cold winter weather of the central and eastern states lies in stark contrast to the ‘worst-ever’ wildfires in and around Los Angeles. While it’s still too early to begin making lists, be sure that a large number of landmarks are gone. Alerts this morning show that the fire has spread into the Hollywood Hills, putting the famed sign in danger. I know that area. The scrub brush in between the homes primarily constructed in the 1940s and 50s, puts the entire place in danger of going up like a tinder box. Lives are upended as the only safe option is to leave, not knowing if anything will remain when they return.
If this seems to be out of season for wildfires, you are correct. This fire is unusual and unexpected. While celebrities and movie stars are quick to hop aboard their private jets and whine about the loss of their million-dollar homes, millions of other people struggle to find a ride of any kind. Freeways are more jammed than normal. Residents are forced to make the painful decision to leave behind pets as they flee. Many have no place to go. Traveling very far is not financially possible for hundreds of thousands of people. As the fires grow, some could still become victims even as they’ve already lost their homes.
Against the backdrop of national tragedy, the prospect of a multi-million dollar inauguration funded by gesticulating tech bros demonstrates how completely out of touch the incoming administration is with the realities of living in America. The Felonious President-elect and his billionaire cronies live in a fantasy world where a new Imperialism sounds like a fun thing to start. They have no concept of how rough winters tend to give way to tornado-ridden springs followed by a devastating mix of drought in the West and hurricanes in the East. Millions of lives will be tragically disrupted over the next twelve months. If you think anyone in DC gives a shit, you are sadly mistaken.
If I don’t seem hopeful, I’m not. World leaders are repeating the sins of the 16th and 17th centuries with no clue how wrong their actions are for everyone on the planet. The end results this time will be exactly the same as before. There will be revolutions and uprisings, assassinations, and mass casualty events. Disease will become rampant. Human civilization takes a hard step backward.
I wish I could foresee a better future, but the data doesn’t support that. What may bother me most is that there are groups of religious zealots who will celebrate this chaos because, in their addled minds, these wars must certainly herald the return of a Savior who, once again, fails to show up. They’re willing to not only sacrifice their own lives but those of everyone else in pursuit of a fake prophecy that is never coming true.
Now might be a good time to invest in the funeral business. We’re going to need a lot of caskets.
Go ahead. Prove me wrong. Please.
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