We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

NOTE: Cell phones are not on the list.

Racism seems to be the reason some aspiring teachers aren’t making the grade. Once again… idiots to the rescue!

In an Associated Press article, written by Karen Matthews,  the state Board of Regents in New York is considering no longer requiring prospective teachers to take and pass the so-called Academic Literacy Skills Test because minorities are not scoring as well as whites on the exam. Therefore, it must be a racist test. Right?

In 2015, a federal judge struck down the Liberal Arts and Science Test used to vet wannabe teachers in New York City for the same reason.

Follow their logic. If fewer minority (mostly Black and Hispanic) teacher candidates do well on these tests than do Whites, there will be a resultant preponderance of whites being hired to teach. Schools in New York City would not employ minorities in teaching positions in the same racial ratio as the student populations.

Question: Is this actually true? Answer: Of course! Do the math. Oh, sorry. That’s racist.

Question: Is the testing racist? Answer: Yes. Everything is racist.

Question: Should this problematic fact be addressed by scrapping the idea that teachers prove they actually know something before getting up in front of a class full of students? Answer:  Why not?

But don’t ask future children of any race to read these thoughts because they won’t be able. They will have been “educated” by today’s NYC students.

Here’s a thought out of left field: Why not teach minorities how to pass the tests? I know. That would require educated teachers and that would be racist.

There are people who are astounded by the obvious. For example:

I just read a story about a forest service cop, in Montana, who accidentally slammed his bicycle into grizzly bear as he rounded a blind curve in the woods. The biker was traveling at full speed (20-25 mph) when the unfortunate encounter occurred.  The bear attacked and killed the cyclist.

The article took the time to explain that the evidence suggests the bear’s attack was not predatory in nature.

Gee. How did they come to that conclusion?

The biker’s friend, who came upon the incident as it was occurring, didn’t know what to do. He apparently felt ill-at-ease attempting to thwart the bear’s attack, instead carrying his own bike a mile through the woods to the nearest road to get help.

Just a thought:

Compare that fellow to the South Carolina fisherman who recently dove into the water to rescue two women he’d never met  from their submerging vehicle, claiming that he intended to save them or die trying.

It’s wrong to judge another when you weren’t in their shoes, but I still know which one’s hand I’d prefer to shake.

My apologies to the two of you who read this blog. I have been preoccupied with some trying family and business issues that had rendered me less than communicative and certainly uninspired. Sorry.

So, to continue…

My ass continues to stalk me. Every time I turn around, there it is. Just like a shadow. The district attorney has refused to take the case, stating that I should put this affair behind me and, “Go home.”

Apparently I’m still uninspired. I’ll try again later.

Truth is distinguishable from fact. Truths are subjective whereas facts can be enjoyed by everyone.

There are many who believe God created Heaven and Earth. To them, that concept is a fact. It may be fact. It may not. It cannot be proven, so, for now, it can only be demonstrated as truth. Therein lies the concept of FAITH.

Whether it be a religious belief or something else, we humans must rely on faith to get along in our daily lives. We have faith the bridge we are crossing in our car will bear the burden. We have faith our spouse won’t stab us to death while we sleep. We have faith the surgeon will succeed in removing our child’s tonsils without killing the little bastard. We merely hope we won’t accidentally fart too loudly during moments of memorial silence. Yet, sometimes things don’t turn out the way we trust and we are disappointed and asked to leave the chapel. Facts don’t disappoint. They are constant.

While faith may not always be 100% dependable, think how awful life would be without it.

Take one thought from my faithless, agnostic mind; faith can make life much more livable. That is a fact.

Trump has been President for just over a week and his approval ratings have dropped into the dumpster. Major protests and marches have occurred. The media are in an uproar (something they love). Chaos abounds. The question is: Why is all this happening?

When you look at this phenomenon, isn’t everyone so upset because Trump is simply doing exactly what he promised to do? So, why is there such surprise; such dismay?

The answer is: We didn’t really believe his words. U.S. citizens are not used to elected officials doing what they promise to do. And, why not? Because so few do. It is a sad state of affairs for which we are to blame.

Protests of all sorts, from social media to marches are everywhere since Trump’s election and even more since his inauguration. This is an interesting phenomenon. The size and scope of these occurrences is probably, in part, due to social media. The women’s march was organized in hours.

I wonder: If some folks discovered a poison ivy bush had been planted right in the center of their local park, and they were legally thwarted from simply ripping the damned thing out, what should they do? How should they approach the dilemma?

Question #1: Why is it there? Answer #1 : There was a vote. You lost. Your neighbors agreed to plant it there.

Question #2: Is it damaging anything? Answer #2: No. Not yet. It has dangerous potential, but no harm has been done so far.

Question #3: Will yelling and breaking windows or setting fires get rid of it? Answer #3: You’re kidding. Right?

Question #4: Shouldn’t all this wrath against the poison ivy really be focused on why the bush was planted in the first place? Answer #4: How dare I confront angry people with reason and logic?!  THEY HAVE RIGHTS!

A multitude of women marched into Washington D.C. today to protest Trump’s inauguration. This appeared to be a show of not only solidarity, but of power. Many of them carried signs or wore clothing proclaiming them to be “Nasty ” women.

The feminists’ desire to display power is nothing new. The Austrailian-American artist Helen Reddy released her song, “I Am Woman”, back in 1971. The lyrics include, “I am woman, hear me roar”. This never Impressed me.

Had Ms. Reddy written the song as, “I Am Woman, Hear Me Belch And Fart”, that would have been impressive. I don’t know if it would have displayed any power, but it certainly would have been nasty.

President Barack Obama “surprised” an emotional and teary eyed Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony yesterday.

Why? For doing his job?

(I will give Obama credit for not exposing children watching the ceremony to the words “This is a big f**king deal!” as Biden did when Obamacare was forced through Congress.)

Maybe Obama thought Biden (a government official) should be awarded our nation’s highest “civilian” award for similar (yet confusing) reasons Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and Al Gore was awarded the same Nobel prize for producing a film. I’m still at a loss to the reasoning. Maybe when Gerald Ford was president he should have been awarded a Nobel Prize for every day he didn’t fall down or hit somebody in the head with a golf ball.

I do understand why people like Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin were awarded. Both  put themselves way out on a limb, jeopardizing themselves politically and personally and, in Sadat’s case, ultimately being assassinated, in order to promote peace and save a multitude of lives. To put these other guys on the same level as Sadat and Begin is a joke.

Apparently these awards no longer rise above cheap politics.

Having the name, Dick, is cool. It’s short for Richard. That’s no problem unless you find yourself in situations where you might be singled out by name amongst a group. For example, someone might say “My  friends include two really smart Williams, one athletic Joseph, three short Henrys, and a big Dick.” I think that might have been one of the reasons the singer, “Little Richard” (Richard Wayne Penniman), chose to stick with the full pronunciation of his first name.

None of my siblings ever tried to embarrass me, as immature kids often do,  by referring to me by that moniker in public because I am an only child and my name is Ragina.