On the first day of my summer vacation...

I can't stand people who whine when they are faced with a challenge. There has been more whining in the news about the FCAT then there was about the hurricanes last year. I love the idea of the FCAT. We need to weed out the people who can't deal with the little blessings of stress that life presents. if I had to buckle down and pass the FCAT when I was in high school then maybe I wouldn't have taken a whole 5 years to breeze through my undergrad experience. Damn sissies...suck it up!!!!! I submitted the following, less bitter, rant to the Orlando Sentinel today. That trash rag better start printing more of my shit!!!!

Do you want to be protected by law enforcement officers who are able to perform well in stressful situations? Do you want to be sure that your surgeon won’t lose her cool if something goes wrong in the operating room? The rational answer is an unopposed “yes”. So why then do we have all of this negative hype regarding the FCAT? The FCAT is an excellent tool for testing a student’s ability to deal with a stressful situation. They must complete a difficult challenge with limited resources in a limited amount of time. That sure sounds like environment that nearly every person in this country deals with on a daily basis. Nearly every career that requires any kind of education will involve high stress situations. Students need to learn to deal with stress just as much as they need to know math, science, history, and English. If you can’t deal with stressful situations then maybe you are not ready to leave school. The FCAT is a step in the right direction.

I love Suze Orman, but she needs to stick with financial advising and stay away from economics and politics:

I just finished watching Suze Orman on PBS. I definitely enjoy watching her speak and I think that the advice that she dispenses is priceless. She is truly an amazing financial advisor. She did mention something in her program, however, that I strongly disagree with. When answering an audience member’s question regarding the future of Social Security, she delivered a rant about young people needing to get involved in politics and the government. The general gist of her rant was that if you don’t vote then you cannot criticize the system. This judgmental, self-righteous attitude fuels the “vote for the sake of voting” fire. Is voting the only political activity that gives you the right to criticize the government? Let’s examine the argument that people who vote are more involved in the election decisions than people who do not vote and are therefore “allowed” to criticize government activities. If we apply this logic to everyone, then the only people who should be able to criticize the government are the people who are most involved in the election process. That means that people who vote get shouldn’t say anything because there are people who vote AND volunteer their time. Those people shouldn’t say anything because there are also people who vote AND volunteer their time AND donate their money. Of course those people shouldn’t say anything because there are people who vote AND volunteer their time AND donate their money AND put stickers on their car. This logical reasoning now limits the amount of people who can criticize the government to a few individuals who have dedicated their lives, their fortunes, and their votes to the election process.
Voting is simply one of many activities that you can take part in that allows you to get involved with the election process. Why should that single activity be any different than any other activity? I have been eligible to vote for the past 12 years and I have never even bothered to register; yet I still take the time to educate myself on government activities. I also take the time to discuss these activities with my students inside and outside of the classroom so that they can make informed voting decisions if they choose to vote.
So the next time you decide to criticize someone for not voting, remember that there is someone out there who has done more than you yet has refrained from judging you for your lack of actions.

This was published in the March 6th copy of the Orlando Sentinel:

Do you congratulate yourself when your heart beats? Do you brag to others every time you breathe? Of course you don’t. Those actions would be considered self-righteous. Then why do you insist on placing that magnet on your back bumper that show the world that you support the troops? Of course you support the troops…EVERYONE supports the troops regardless of their stance on the war. This is no longer Vietnam; there is no question as to peoples’ feelings about the brave men and women who serve in our military. Supporting the troops is like breathing, it just happens. Your car magnet only shows that you support magnet companies the same way that an Abercrombie & Fitch shirt shows that the wearer supports (through their purchase) Abercrombie & Fitch. If you want to show support for the troops then show it through your actions, not through your self-righteous display of vehicle accent pieces. There are dozens of programs that allow you to donate time, money, and compassion to our troops. Find one that you like and I guarantee that your neighbors and your fellow drivers will be much more impressed.