Casey Anthony

So a jury of her peers found her not guilty and it set off a wave of dissent and anger. As I sat with my aunt, yesterday, watching the verdict and post trial punditry go on and on about how shocked they were and how they couldn't believe she got off, there was one thing mentioned that got brushed over. They all admitted that the public had more info than the jury. They admitted but didn't want to harp on the fact that the general public knew more that the jury. This was a very important fact. The jury ruled based on the evidence that was given to them. Obviously, the prosecution didn't present a good enough case to convince the jury of the defendant's guilt. I've heard a lot of people talk about how unemotional the lady was or how she was out partying while her child was missing, and how it took her so long to report the child missing. All of those things look bad, but they don't necessarily prove her guilt. That's what the public needs to be made aware of. We can't send people to jail based on the suspicious things they do. Our justice system has been criticized numerous times over the years, but sadly enough it's the one we have and in this case it worked just the way it was supposed to. The jury was selected, they were presented with evidence and they ruled based on that evidence. So if people want to look at someone to be upset with, then point your blame at the prosecution. Did Anthony commit the crime...we may never know, but the system worked the way it was supposed to. Feel free to comment. Let's talk about it.

Day 17

We got a chance to see more of London today. We went to the London school of economics to hear a former member of Parliament speak. He was very knowledgeable and interesting. After that, we went for a medieval banquet for lunch. Post lunch we made our way to the tower of London and got a chance to see the crown jewels and other royal emblems. The jewels were pretty amazing. Then we took a boat ride on the river Thames.
We ate at Ye olde cock tavern, where we had rewarmed hamburgers that weren't that great. We are then heading to the theater to see love never dies. I can't lie I'm sort of tired, I hope I can stay up through it. And stay up I did! That play was awesome! Love never dies was a down right marvelous way to end this trip.

Day 16

Headed to foggy London town today. She be a fun day. We get to see the changing of the guards, the tower of London, the London eye and whatever else London can throw at us.
We stopped at Harrod's to have a look around and that place is ridiculous! Nuff said.
We spent the day walking around London and our tour guide was a piece of work. A quite quaint old lady, but was very all over the place. She made for a great tour.
It was a long day. We had an interesting time with a couple of delegates who took some extra time shopping, but we handled the situation. All and all it was a long day.

Day 15

We're off to Warwick castle today. We get to see yet another medieval castle but today we get to have a medieval feast in the castle for dinner. Should be fun!
After a short trip from Wales to England we arrived in Chester to shop a little and eat lunch. Chester is a cool little town. I could live here.  Now on our way to the castle.

Warwick castle was fun and now we're back at the hotel yo get some rest before an early departure for London in the morning.

Day 14

<p>We had a full on day today in Wales. We did some board breaking and castle repelling and good times were had. Needless to say.....I rocked the repelling. I could probably be an instructor. Moving on......we finished the full on stuff and made our way back to the hotel to chill for the night. <br>
Now I'm really feeling like eating a steak or some Lamb chops (fact : there is a 4:1 sheep to person ratio in Wales) , they can spare a Lamb or two :). Now I'm hungry. We're heading back to the hotel. I hope dinner is good.

Day 13

We're leaving our home stay families today en route to Wales. After a 2 hour ferry ride, we'll arrive in Wales on the way to the hotel. Laundry needs to be done TODAY! I'm just about out of pants. Hopefully that can be done at the hotel. Irish vocabulary : fresh red - a light that just turned red therefore able to be run. Lol!
We made it to Wales. We'll be repelling down a castle wall tomorrow. Should be fun.

Day 12 - Dublin

Our first night at the hone stay was amazing. We had great food and even better conversation. Today was went to the Dublin town center and got a chance to see Trinity college, Temple bar area, and a host of other sights that Dublin had to offer. The kids got some free time to shop and see the sights and we got a chance to go off on our own in town. I had a great tike today. We came back to our home stay and we had shepherd's pie and ice cream and tea. It was a good day.

Day 11

Today we left end route to Dublin. We stopped at a restaurant in Kildaire for lunch and we had the beat waitress ever a little red haired elderly lady named Mary. She was very grandmotherly. After that we headed to another glacial park in Glendalough. It was an old church settlement in the valley founded by St. Kevin.  After leaving the park we continued on to Dublin to meet our home stay families.

Day 10

Leaving Limmerick and now on the way to the gap of Dunloe in Killarney for a horse and buggy ride and a float on a boat.
The horse carriage ride and the boat ride through the gap of Dunloe was absolutely gorgeous. Aside from the rain showers its a beautiful glacial valley with lush green scenery and numerous lakes. The granite peaks out of the green mountain side to give a glimpse of the pass' volcanic history. I'll post some pics soon.

Day 9

The first half of our day was spent traveling. We switched coaches about half way and then had lunch and we ate at Flanagan's in Kildaire. After that we made our way to another castle (Bunratty). We received a nice tour through the castle it's very old and surrounded by two rivers and the ocean. One of the smaller castles we've been to. Then to our hotel. We have some nice accommodations for the night. Folks seem to be pleased.

Day 8

Today we went to Coleraine Academic Institution. It's an all boys school in Coleraine, Ireland. It is a facility over 150 years old and a fine academic institution. We got a chance to meet some of the students and take a tour of the school. The girls loved it since it was an all boy school. The guys enjoyed talking to the guys at the school also. The vice principal was a nice guy and very knowledgeable. Now we're on the way to the causeway and the rope bridge. We also brought the sunshine with us so let's hope the day continues like this.

We've made it to the Giant's Causeway (built by Finn McCool)  and we're going to walk along the coast to an old rope bridge across some of Ireland's most beautiful scenery. The kids are in high gear right now and it's good to see them enjoying themselves. I would consider this day a home run.

We made it to and from the rope bridge. Today we definitely got our workouts in. We walked up and down a cliff face and to the end of Ireland. On the way now to the hotel to eat and then get ready for a lesson tonight about the Irish conflict. Oh oh oh....our new bus driver's name is Shamus and he looks like a wee leprechaun :).  Cheers!

Day 7

We said goodbye to Gordie (pronounced Jordie), our coach driver, and now we're on the way to Belfast in Northern Ireland. The ferry (just like a cruise) had some great food and one of the few places we've been with free wifi. That's been nice to be able to post a few messages, read an email or two and put up a couple of pics. I think I'm going to find a place to nestle in and take a nap. I'll let you know how the rest of the day goes. Cheers, for now. 
After our tour of Belfast we made it to our hotel for tthe night. A lovely holiday inn right outside of the city. The kids are excited and I think the other leaders are too. Belfast has a rich history. They've seen everything from civil war to the invention of the AC. Awesome place. Cheery-o for now.

Day 6

Today we spent the day in Edinburgh. It was a nice town. Very old and historic. We spent some time at the Edinburgh castle and on the Royal mile. We ended the day at another hostel. This one was much nicer than the last. It had private bathrooms and sinks in the room. Tomorrow we head out to Ireland and our coach driver warned us not to wear orange or green because of the potential of bodily harm in the torn town of Belfast. Like some real bloods and crips type stuff. Tomorrow should be interesting.

Day 5

We started the day off at a sheep farm. We got to help sheer the sheep and we also got a chance to talk to the farmer about how he trains his dogs, the state of agriculture in Scotland and a host of other topics. He was impressed with the kids and the questions they had for him.
We then went to Loch Ness. It's a beautiful place. We didn't get to see nessie but got some good "insider info" about her. We got a chance to go out on a boat in the loch and took some really good pictures of the area. We finished the day off with some free time for the kids at the shopping center down the street from our hostel. It seemed to be a pretty good day.

Day 4

We went white water rafting and the water was freezing but it was a good time. The kids seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Now we're on the way to Blair castle for some Haggis and a tour!

The haggis wasn't bad. Look it up if you don't know what it is. We then spent some time at Blair castle. It would've been nice if we could've gone in but oh well. We took a nice tractor rode around the grounds and got a chance to see the lovely countryside. Now we're heading to our hostel and get ready to do some shopping for our next few meals. This should be interesting.

The hostel is very basic. I've seen worse so I'm not complaining. We'll be here for a couple of days and then on to the next locale. Tomorrow we go to a farm and sheer sheep and watch a sheep herder and his dog do their thing.

I've included a pic of Blair castle for your viewing pleasure. Time for some rest.

Day 3

We spent the day at St. Andrew's. We saw the ruins of the old cathedral, the university and of course the golf course. It was a beautiful course right on the water. After we left we went to the hotel and got a chance to talk to a real Highlander (there can be only one!). I got a chance to wear a kilt and weild some weapons. Good times.

Day 2

After the overnight flight, everyone was tired. We went to an abbey, an old jail, and got a chance to see the Irish countryside. It's ridiculously green over here but very rainy. Most of the time on the bus today, the kids slept. The jetlag was getting the best of just about everyone. Our hotel is right next to a beautiful loch nestled in between some mountains. It looks like something off of lord of the rings. That's all for now.

Day 1

I'm waiting in the Newark airport to board the plane. Seems like I have a good group of students. Seems like there are some very interesting personalities in our delegation.

Yes we got him, but now what?

I would like to say thanks to all of the troops who have so unselfishly put their lives on the line to protect our country. I would also like to say thanks and condolences to the families of those who lost their lives on 9/11. As many know by now, Osama Bin Laden has been killed. The country has been in a very upbeat mood and it seems to be as unified as when the attacks first happened, which is a good thing. The thing that concerns me is the growing number of people actually cheering that Bin Laden was killed. I don't think it's our place to cheer another person's death. He definitely did some horrible things, but how much better are we to cheer or wish for his death. Justice, in a way, has been served, but how does this right the wrongs that he has committed or the machine that he has put in place? Yes, it deals a crushing blow to terrorist everywhere that we will hunt you down, but do we really need to celebrate this man's death? I'm not anti-celebration but let's celebrate some more positive things like the effort of the troops, the leadership of the White House, the closure the victim's families can now feel and hopefully an end to the useless wars we're in. Maybe now we can reel in some of that money and put it towards paying the soldiers better wages, domestic issues, education, the economy, and things on this side of the pond. I just encourage everyone to keep a focus on what is important and let's not get wrapped up in the emotion of the moment and make sure we make out celebrations respectful and meaningful.

NYT: The High Cost of Low Teacher S

Doing the most good

Today I got a chance to hang out with a great group of people. The delegation of kids that I'm traveling with for people to people this year had a service project today and we made sandwiches for the soup mobile. When all was said and done we had made over 3,000 sandwiches that will go to feed the needy in the Dallas community. Acts like this is what makes this country better and we need to see more events like this if we're going to continue to help make the world a better place. I would like to say "Great job!" to the ambassadors for making a difference on the home front and I look forward to seeing you make a difference abroad. Thanks for allowing me to be a part of your delegation.

Jobs and jobless numbers

Why don't we actually see the 2 go hand in hand? The jobless rate is going down, but it's still hard for folks to find employment. I know people with advanced degrees and they aren't getting picked up for the job force. I know people that have been sending out resumes for months and not even a call back or they hear the best line ever "We love your talents, but right now we don't have the budget for it.". When are we going to see the local turn around in the economy? I listened to a report yesterday that talked about the uptick in productivity among American workers and the profits that businesses are seeing from that productivity. That is a bad sign for the people looking for work. The businesses still don't have the incentive to hire. So my take on the downturn of jobless claims is that people are simply not filing for unemployment or they're already out of unemployment benefits. Just like the price of gas spiking when the price of a barrel of oil goes up, when the two have little to do with each other. Society has built itself up on a culture of fear and has allowed all of us to fall in line and take what's being dished out. It's a sad time. I'll end this on a good note. For those of you that are still out there looking for work, I'm rooting for you and if it brings any consolation...the numbers are looking better. As always, feel free to comment. Have a HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Gas and jobs

It would be really nice if my paycheck went up when gas prices did. It's ridiculous that we're up to over 3 dollars a gallon based on speculation alone. Can we have an actual shortage or something before shooting prices through the roof? Supposedly, gas has gotten to its current level because of instability in the middle east. Funny thing is that we still have the same amount of oil being pumped out and even more in reserves. I hope someone gets us off this oil dependency real soon. The oil companies have run the world long enough. This is ridiculous. I'm out!

School Districts Offering Teacher Buyouts

School Districts Offering Teacher Buyouts

Long reaching consequences of the education debacle

Operation Education: Future teachers preparing for troubled job market | wfaa.com | Dallas - Fort Worth Local News

Operation education

Operation Education: What about that Rainy Day Fund? | wfaa.com | Dallas - Fort Worth Local News

Edutainment and the modern education system

I was listening to a program today and they were talking about some more gimmicks to get kids to learn. I've seen everything from rap songs to videos to teachers dressing up in full on costume. That's nice to try to mix it up every now and then, but I think that these gimmicks actually hinder true long term learning. What I mean is that when a teacher goes the route of props and costumes it becomes the expectation that this is the only time we need to learn. The day the teacher has to give the students notes or general information about a topic the students are no longer interested because there are no dancing bears and fire hoops. We have gotten away from actually having students use their brains to think, instead we are teaching them that unless a topic is so fun and interesting that they just want to burst then they don't have to care about it. This is a tragic turn of events. When was the last time you went to work and had a day where the boss pepped up the weekly meeting or the foreman at a construction site came with a clown suit on to boost morale. The simple truth is that outside of the classroom real life doesn't cater to your likes and dislikes. The way we are trying to "encourage" students to learn does not prepare them to take on what life is going to really throw at them. I'm not saying learning should be boring or dull, but I do suggest letting the edutainment be an accessory to real learning rather than the blueprint. Suggestions - 1.) Get student input on how they learn, but then critically questions them on the choices they make. Why do you want your teacher to look like a fool so you can learn? Why don't you study? How will one effect your learning over the other, etc. 2.) Learning should be more individualized. Students are assessed and put on learning programs based on their strengths and weaknesses. This currently seems to be reserved for special education and private schools. I think it should be extended out into public school. With that, comes an overhaul to the school system itself.

The conversation not being had is the fact that we’re using a WW2 educational system to educate a 21st century student. We can no longer expect students to come out of high school and be able to find a job that could eventually land them in the middle class. Years ago that was feasible. Now we must train students to use their talents and prepare them for a more uncertain yet competitive job market. Students need to be able to recognize what they are good at and find ways to utilize those skills. We also need to prepare today’s student for the reality that they may stay in a job for 5-7 years and then may need more training. They need to realize that we are no longer in a time where your career is a 20-25 year guarantee. These are the life skills that need to be included in the modern education system. The school system is in need of a complete tear down and rebuild. That rebuild should be lead by people in the class room and should end with the lawmakers and not the other way around. When that day will come no one knows, but the sooner we start tackling these issues, the sooner we can see our education system turn around.

Cuts are hitting close to home

Is Townview Magnet Center being targeted for cuts?

Why job growth is slow

I'm not going to make this long I just want to give a real plain and common sense view as to why the economy isn't growing the way people would like it to. It's a very simple reason. Businesses are making the same or even greater profits with their current workforces. They are meeting and beating their numbers from the economic boom times. From a business perspective they have no real incentive to hire anyone else. Why pick up an 11th person when you have 10 doing the job just fine. All that an extra person adds is another benefits package to manage and what company wants to do that? NONE. People need to realize that businesses are in the business of making money, not being altruistic. They are not out to better society, they're there to sell a product and to keep the shareholders happy. With that focus in mind it's for the rest of society to realize that no matter what happens, until businesses have a compelling incentive to hire they will continue with business as usual. Any thoughts? Feel free to comment.

Self worth...for what it's worth

Tonight I sat down with the tribal counsel (Nadia,Raven and Sakina) and we talked about careers. Nothing too earth shattering, but it made me start to wonder. Why can't what you want to do be what pays the bills? Let me unpack this a little. What I mean is not everyone wants to be a doctor, lawyer, businessman, or engineer. Unfortunately, today's lucrative world sort of ends with those professions. If you're not on the track to being one of those you're on the track, to being broke. Now I know some people look at this and say "You're never broke when you love what you do." or "Money doesn't buy happiness." or "I'd rather be happy than be rich." These sentiments are all nice IF you have no debt, you're from means, or you have a guaranteed path set before you and that's where the schism lies.

Many people come out of high school knowing what they want to do. They go to college to pursue that career and at some point they realize that their lofty idealistic goal bears a very sparse and low paying fruit. It may be a noble goal that you're reaching for, maybe starting a rec center for under-privileged kids or an animal shelter, but you soon find out that neither of those will pay your bills. You'll find a whole community, city, or even a state official that may commend you on your work, but they will also drive off in a car that is worth more than your salary for the year, but at least you can say you go home happy. Well, that's if you can afford a home to go to. Maybe you'll take the bus back to your one bedroom apartment on a sketchy side of town, and then once you get there you can open up a can of tuna and enjoy your days work. You can have that happy feeling of doing something. I guess that's something that can keep a person going. I just think it's unfortunate that the more you try to do the right (noble) thing, the bigger gap you find yourself facing from living comfortably. Why must a person "suffer" through a job that they hate for a number of years in order to pursue something they really "want" to do? I don't think it's right or fair that society today puts its value on things that don't allow people to truly pursue their passions. When was the last time you saw an artist go to college and come out as a well to do member of society? Who was the last trombone player you saw come out of college and win a Grammy? Who was the last teacher that you knew that was able to go to a car dealership and put down 20% on a new car? These questions are ones that America doesn't want to answer or deal with because that would then start paying people for their passions and more people would end up wealthy, but that can't be. Those in power already have their friends and they're not looking for any company at the top.

In the end, you have to choose. Do you want to be happy or to be paid? In the rare occasion you can have both. Either love what you do or be happy where you are. I don't see this problem being solved anytime soon, so I wish you well in your endeavors and many years of happiness.

It's getting heavy

Days after writing a post about education cuts in the state, I now see pockets of deep educational regress and distress around the country. The most notable is in Wisconsin. The teachers are about to have sick outs. The governor is about to cut off unions all together and it looks like states across the nation are watching this play out ready to pounce at their chance to do the same. My problem with all of this is that the real issue at hand constantly gets lost in the shuffle. Why aren't the kids learning. Some say because of teacher tenure,some point the finger at unions,some say it's laziness. Whichever camp you're in the fact remains we need to fix education.

I think the current system is in shambles and needs to be reconstructed, not reformed. We should allow students to leave high school with marketable skills that they can use that will give them skills to get work experience as well as career guidance. Schools nowadays are setup identically to the system we had during World War 1. Are we still living in a ww1 society? Last time I checked I would have to say no. So why shouldn't our education system advance?  In order to do this we need to realize primary and secondary education is the foundation of our society. Second we need to realize if we want a society that can fix and avoid future problems it must have an educated populous. Finally, we need to stop politicizing education. It shouldn't be something that someone runs on. It should be something that we all look to in order to better ourselves and in turn our society. As I've stated before this situation will get worse before it gets better. It's up to us to fix it.

What you get and what you miss with the cr48

After having a few days with the Cr 48 notebook from google (cr 48 ), I have an initial thoughts post that I’m going to do. It’s not going to be a review. There have been enough of those done and a google/youtube search will yield you numerous results. What I would like to do is give a little insight in to what you get and don’t get with the cr 48. My unit is stock and not in developer mode so this review pertains to stock cr 48 users. Disclaimer: This is a pilot program to help work out any issues. Lets get to it.

We’ll start with what it’s lacking and move on from there.

1. No local storage - This would probably be the most recognizable shortcoming of this unit at this time. You can’t save anything “on” the computer. Any saving is done directly to the cloud (your Google account). This is fine for things created in the cloud, but if you want to save your friend’s pictures from the latest meet up on your unit that may be a problem. That leads me to the second thing missing.

2. Can’t read external media - As of right now, external media can’t be easily read. So even if you just want to upload some pictures to your Picasa account from a jump drive right now you may have some difficulties. The file manager on the cr48 is very bare bones and doesn’t yet seem to be able to read files and manage or organize them for use from an external device. This is something that may or may not be addressed in production models, but for now it’s pretty much unusable.

3. No offline mode - You can not operate in an offline mode that will allow you to still work on docs, spreadsheets, etc. I’ve heard some people say they can, but in my testing I wasn’t able to get it to work. The unit does come with 100 Mb of free data per month for 2 years from Verizon, but I didn’t see how to make it work without data. Supposedly the google apps are supposed to have an offline function and the apps in the Chrome OS web store give devs the ability to allow their apps to run offline, so this may be something coming in the future.

Those are the most notable downfalls to this unit. They may seem big but when it comes to day to day use, these things are not that big of a deal for basic browsing and functionality. I use the cr 48 for Internet browsing, watching Youtube, blogging, checking email and listening to podcast and so far it has performed beautifully, outside of the occasional flash player crash. So what do you get with this machine?

1. Awesome battery - For starters the battery life on this thing is epic. 7-8 hours on average with heavy use (videos, streaming, email, sleep mode, etc.). I’ve enjoyed being able to use this machine for 3-4 hours and not having to worry about looking for the charger. What makes it even better is the fact you can come back a day later open it up and continue using it for another few hours before having to find the charger. Bottom line is that it has great battery life.

2, Great security - Allows your usage to be protected by a password and you can also allow guests to use your computer in guest mode. Guess mode allows other users to work without having to worry about them reading your email or having access to any of your account information. When they log off it clears their data, so they can also be assured that their information is safe.

3. Sleek design and ultra-portability - The size and feel of the unit is very sleek and lightweight. It would be very easy to carry around with you to work, class, on a trip and not have to worry about carrying the charger. You can easily make it through a day with this unit.

4. Webcam and microphone - You can enjoy video chatting on the go using the gtalk app and the integrated web cam and mic. The quality seems to be pretty good and both are very usable. Note: There is no Skype app for it right now. Right now you may be limited to gtalk, ustream and a few other apps in the web store in order to do video chatting.

So there you have an insider look at the cr 48. As stated earlier, this was not meant to be a review. Just an overview of what I’ve seen in my first few days using this awesome little machine. If you have questions or if there’s something you would like be to check out for you let me know. Until next time....take care.

CR48 better than a tablet

I just received a CR 48 notebook from Google a few days ago and I must say I’m quite impressed with this little machine. The more I use it the more useful it becomes. It is quite handy for normal Internet use, streaming music, listening to podcast, and doing a host of other normal laptop functions. Granted, it does have it’s limitations, but I would think the actual production models would have those issues worked out. With that being said I think depending on the price point you would be better served getting one of these more so than a tablet. I’m sure a lot of people would disagree and they have bought all in to the tablet culture, but why spend upwards of $600 or more on something with very limited functionality other than for the novelty of it. Either way you’re spending money on something that can’t do everything you want it to do. Where let’s say these “internet books” come out at the $150 price point. You would not only be able to get your media content, you could actually use it to get something done. It has a very usable keyboard, wi-fi and 3g connectivity, light and portable, webcam and mic, and awesome battery life to boot. If Google can get the bugs worked out I think these netbook alternatives could really cut into tablet sales. I’d buy one....wait....I already have one. What say you?

Should we be worried?

I just wrote an article for the examiner.com and it really got me thinking. Should all teachers be worried about their jobs. Supposedly, the government is making this big educational push, but I'm seeing something totally different in my neck of the woods. Many districts are cutting jobs or not hiring at all. They're trying to find every possible way to balance the budget and teachers seem to be on the chopping block. So to all my educators out there, I'm going to give you a line from The Social Network, "A Harvard man doesn't try to find a job where he can work for someone else and be happy.....he makes his own job." Might this be an option that you can take advantage of? If so go for it. If you're in the classroom now, get ready to buckle down and hold on for the bumpy road ahead. Good luck to us all.

Write as much as I can

Alright world it's about that time. About to ramp up my editorial skills and get some writing done. I have a few different outlets that I'll be publishing for so it should keep me pretty busy and focused. I'm going to get a writing schedule set up to aid me in the creative process. This should be fun. I'll be writing for the examiner.com, some android sites and who knows what else. We'll see. Take care!

Time to get back to work

After 4 days off from work, tomorrow is time to get back to it. I've enjoyed my days off and half heartedly look forward to going back. I'll be glad to see my students and coworkers but I don't look forward to the politics of being a teacher. The administration, the paperwork and all of the other red tape that goes along with it. I'm not going to complain though. I'm happy to have a job and will keep looking forward to the next step in life. Until then, I'll try to have a positive influence on as many as possible and make the best of the situation I'm in. Take care all. Good night. 

Snow day

After days of sitting around the house I've had ample time to sit and think. I think I'm ready for a change, ready to accept the gifts and blessings laid out before me, ready to help those I can, ready move on, ready to do my best. The more I think about life the more i appreciate the things I've been blessed with. As the snow comes down I get to ponder all of the opportunities that I've seized and the ones I've let slip away. The plan is to make the most of each day. With my plan set I'm ready for whatever life brings. Take care.