May 04, 2005

Some news

So, yesterday was the day to vote on the school levy. If I understand correctly, this is an emergency levy, it wouldn't increase our taxes, and is primarily for operating costs, such as textbooks, etc. We received not only a personal plea from Son's teacher, but a breakdown of costs parents may incur if this levy didn't pass. Well, this morning I tune into the local news and find that the levy failed. The provisional votes have yet to be counted, and the numbers are realclose, but it looks like since this levy failed, parents are going to have to pay for such things as textbooks, elective classes in the junior and hight school, etc.

From what little I was able to gather as far as info on the school board, (we've only lived in this area for about a year) there are some who feel certain members of the school board should retire. Whether this is because they are corrupt, I don't know, I can't get a read on anything.

I want my kids to get a good education, and so far I can't complain. I give Son some "extra" stuff here at home, though, to sort of boost what he learns in school. At any rate...

I read in my former hometown area newspaper that a frozen foods plant is going to close its doors after many buyouts and accounting scandals. It seems that at one point or another most of my in-laws worked there, but within the last couple of years they have either moved on to other jobs or retired. I wonder what will happen with the retirement packages for my in-laws though. Husband is going up to visit this weekend, I'll have him ask.

I was reading Brad's Blog yesterday, and my goodness, he certainly brought up a hot topic. Yes, I posted two comments, and someone actually agreed with me (!!!), and believe it or not, I wasn't snotty. But like any controversial issue these days, it brought some negative feedback. I have to say, as someone who was not only a Civil War reenactor but a history geek, the Confederate flag still hits a nerve. I see it as a symbol of heritage, of the "Old South." A-ha moment here, I just remembered that it wasn't even the official flag of the Confederacy, it was a battle flag! Oohhh, Groovy, you're hot this morning!

But, as I was saying, I'm sure the African Americans don't fly this flag on their front porch. But did you know that at one reenactment I actually saw an African American woman dressed in calico and head rags? I went back to work the following Monday and asked my African American friend who I worked with what she thought of that. Basically, she thought it was a stupid thing to do, at least for a person of color. Why perpetuate that? I agree.

But I'm not jumping on my soapbox about this. No, I back down. I will say that when Country music acts use it, it doesn't offend me. What offends me are the stereotypes thrown around about the South and Southerners.

For that matter, slavery was wrong, for sure, but what were the Northerners doing at that time? Exploiting the Welsh in coal mines, the Irish in everything, the Catholics at every turn, recruiting immigrant men right off the boats to fight in the war (hello, Grant's "Meat Grinder")...so we shouldn't be that quick to throw stones at the South...and hey, remember, our founding fathers had slaves too.

Aw crap, there I go again...

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