My perception of the President's interview on Fox News over the health care package?
It was a lousy interview and I'd likely give it two stars at best. There's at least five questions that were never answered....and it became an obvious thing.
By the halfway point...I was think of turning it off. But I kept it going.
From the folks watching who are normal Fox News viewers....did it change anyone's perception? Yes....maybe twelve guys. The rest of the viewers? Pretty much concreted down now with an opposition to the bill.
Don't worry...this bill still passes. Even if food poisoning hit the house and only eight guys were capable of voting...those eight votes would be enough to pass the bill with some rule of standard that someone would pull out of the 1800's.
As for advice? I'd tell the President to avoid doing any interview with a real reporter ever again. Stick with the fake guys from MSNBC and CBS. And it would help if you had the questions a day ahead of time...to custom fit the answers to the questions.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Space and Onto the Final Frontier
Over the past two decades...my newly adopted county...Arlington county of Virginia....got to realize it had tons of cash and lots of people to tax...so they grew spending habits at a significant rate.
Now with recession at the front door....a number of issues are popping up. They've decided that the Arlington planetarium...has to now be targeted in school budget talks. It is an absolute horror....to a bunch of folks around here.
This 40-year old panetarium is actually owned by the county...and has steady cost more money from the school budget. Last year, some folks were chatting about a $500k check for modernizing the facility and upgrading it. That money is non-existent now.
So what's left is the $250k in staff and operations budget. Something on that is going to have to be whacked. Since you can't cut heat or electricity much...I'm guessing that one employee is going to go...but that was the one topic from the local paper today that never was mentioned.
Across the state of Bama today....from the sixty-seven counties...there's not a single one with a planetarium. You can find a couple of colleges with one....but not at the high school level.
So this brings me to ponder this question...am I better off in Arlington or better off in Bama?
It's a difficult question.
First...out of the 4600 high school students there...I'm guessing at best...maybe thirty of them are getting something out of a planetarium in their home county. From the middle school? Probably less than fifty.
Second, so $250k a year goes out to help around eighty kids who might have an interest.
Third....it's true that I knew barely anything of the solar system other than the names of the planets when I graduated from a high school in 1977. Is it important that 99 kids of a hundred are properly introduced and given 300 bits of knowledge from a planetarium "knowledge base"? I have doubts. In the end....a vast number of kids are putting this data on the 'forget' list and aiming to repopulate that area with knowledge over Lady Gaga or the Boston Celtics game tonight.
Fourth and final....after these four thousand-plus kids are given this planetarium introduction...then what? Two might be destined for a space-related job in ten years....but the rest will end up working at Wal-Mart, a bank, the Marines, or ComCast Cable. Was anything of a lasting effect gained?
Now with recession at the front door....a number of issues are popping up. They've decided that the Arlington planetarium...has to now be targeted in school budget talks. It is an absolute horror....to a bunch of folks around here.
This 40-year old panetarium is actually owned by the county...and has steady cost more money from the school budget. Last year, some folks were chatting about a $500k check for modernizing the facility and upgrading it. That money is non-existent now.
So what's left is the $250k in staff and operations budget. Something on that is going to have to be whacked. Since you can't cut heat or electricity much...I'm guessing that one employee is going to go...but that was the one topic from the local paper today that never was mentioned.
Across the state of Bama today....from the sixty-seven counties...there's not a single one with a planetarium. You can find a couple of colleges with one....but not at the high school level.
So this brings me to ponder this question...am I better off in Arlington or better off in Bama?
It's a difficult question.
First...out of the 4600 high school students there...I'm guessing at best...maybe thirty of them are getting something out of a planetarium in their home county. From the middle school? Probably less than fifty.
Second, so $250k a year goes out to help around eighty kids who might have an interest.
Third....it's true that I knew barely anything of the solar system other than the names of the planets when I graduated from a high school in 1977. Is it important that 99 kids of a hundred are properly introduced and given 300 bits of knowledge from a planetarium "knowledge base"? I have doubts. In the end....a vast number of kids are putting this data on the 'forget' list and aiming to repopulate that area with knowledge over Lady Gaga or the Boston Celtics game tonight.
Fourth and final....after these four thousand-plus kids are given this planetarium introduction...then what? Two might be destined for a space-related job in ten years....but the rest will end up working at Wal-Mart, a bank, the Marines, or ComCast Cable. Was anything of a lasting effect gained?
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