Friday, December 09, 2005

Frank Corte Does Too Have An Education Plan! (Vouchers Lite)

Now, this is not a joke (well, it is, but the joke is on the people of The Great State of Texas): Frank Corte sponsored a bill to help pay for education. (Relevant sections underlined) It's a generous bill to really tackle the problem of school finance. It says that children in grades 6 and above (including college students) who play "Taps" with a bugle, trumpet, or cornet during military honors funerals will have $25.00 deducted from their tuition every time they do - and, as an added bonus, any student performing under this subsection, will not be penalized for this absence. Even better, because Frank knows how very important public school attendance is in calculating state and federal education program dollars, he specifies in this bill that absences so covered "shall be counted as if the student attended school for purposes of calculating the average daily attendance of students in the school district."

This bill also thinks of the student, struggling to pay for his or her education, by specifying that all students who do play "Taps" during school, should be given enough time to make up any work they may have missed in doing so. But Frank is watchful of our education dollars, generous as this program is. It is very clearly spelled out in the bill, just what constitutes a properly played "Taps". I guess no jazz renditions are allowed, huh?

Wow. Underwhelmed along with me?

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Happy St. Nick's Day And The New Phony War

Yes, Santa Claus really was the bishop of a Turkish town, and today is his very own day. Based on his generosity of spirit and generally jolly attitude, St. Nick is probably a Democrat. I suspect he is probably not too happy with the denizens of Fox News turning Christmas into a political opportunity. Ari, a texas kos friend of ours, wrote the following to his local paper which is to be published shortly:


To the Editor [of The Beaumont Enterprise]:

It seems that a group of people, who profess to be
Christians, are now complaining that a vast, left-wing
conspiracy is out to destroy Christmas. Nothing could
be further from the truth. First of all, there is NO
concerted effort by the big, bad Left, to destroy
Christmas. Indeed, what I do see is a phony culture
war, instigated by the likes of Bill O'Reilly and John
Gibson, who love to stoke the base instincts of
viewers for the sake of ratings.

When I was growing up, these self-appointed defenders
of the faith used to complain about the blatant
commercialism of the Christmas season. Now, there is a
hue and cry about being "persecuted" because some
stores, in an attempt to be inclusive, choose not to
use "Merry Christmas" in their advertisements. This is
ridiculous! Being shot, imprisoned or burnt at the
stake for professing your beliefs is persecution.
Target Stores using "Happy Holidays" in their ads is
not.

To those people complaining, please do us all a favor:
turn off the Fox News, enjoy the season and stop
looking for clouds in the silver lining of the
holidays. Merry Christmas to all.


Ariel A. Vitali, MD
Beaumont, Texas, USA
E-mail address: ari_mistral[AT]yahoo[DOT]com



This is what the Good Bishop left in our shoes last night:
Larry - a Snicker's bar
Diane - a tangerine
Molly - UNO card game and gingerbread train
Sam - Matchbox trucks and gingerbread train
Billy - Jelly Bellies