99ers: Unemployment Revisited

Two years ago, I wrote a column about the growing number of unemployed and some of the things to watch out for if you knew someone who had lost their job.  Now two years on, there is a new club out there, a club no one wants to join but they may not really have a choice.  99ers are those people who have been unemployed for more than the state and federal unemployment benefits allow, that is, ninety-nine weeks.  After this point, there is nothing else.  Nowhere else to turn.  They simply slide off the government doles, perhaps producing a slight downward trend in unemployment because they are no longer considered.  Unfortunately, initial claims for unemployment have been on the rise again.  We seem to be stuck in the one step forward one and a half backward situation. more »

A Change to New English

English is becoming, if it isn’t already, the lingua franca of the world.  That term springs from the middle ages when French was the language of the many royal courts throughout Europe.  It was not the first language that had spread to cover a large geographical area crossing linguistic and cultural boundaries.  While English may not be the hardest language to learn as a second language (nor the easiest), there are some problems inherent within it due to the simple fact that English is the mutt language of Europe with influences coming from French, Latin, German, and Greek.  Because of its evolution, there are a number of problems with the language. more »

History and Patriotism

I thought I had posted this one in a timely manner but better late than never.

Memorial Day Weekend is one that many people look forward to as the official beginning of summer.  In addition, it is time to remember all those who have died in military service defending this country.  But today, Friday the twenty-eighth of May is another anniversary.  I’ll get to that in a moment.

First let me ask you a question:  what does it mean to be a patriot?  What is the difference between nationalism and patriotism?  All these car lots with American flags flying from their cars, does that mean they are patriotic, does it mean the people who buy them are?  What about the man putting up a flag against the HOA covenant?  With cookouts and beach-going, how many will truly take time this weekend to remember those who have died in the past.  But not just for the defense of the country.  Others have been killed by our government because it was considered in the best interest for the country. more »

What Good are Computers?

Even the most sophisticated super computer, at its very heart, is simply a calculator.  With all the videos, music and graphics that run across our screens, the only thing that the CPU looks at are ones and zeros—that’s it, nothing else.  The CPU then moves these binary strings of numbers around to different areas of control throughout the computer, producing everything we see and hear.

In addition, computers can only do what they are programmed to do.  If you were to look around, you could find software that could do just about anything you wanted.  Running simulations, meteorological, medical, astronomical or mechanical is one of the computer’s fortes.  Add to this the interweb and we have more information at our fingertips than at any other time in history.  In a matter of seconds I can find out about rainfall in Tajikistan or the number of high school graduates who don’t know who the first president is.  Anything you want to find out is at your fingertips. more »

What Kind of Education Do You Want?

What do you want from education?  What should be taught in school, how should it be taught?  It seems that there is a gold standard of education somewhere out there but we never really get any closer.  Do we know if we are getting farther away?  This is becoming an ever-more complicated world and to survive, no to live the way one should be able to live students have to learn more and more as time goes by. more »

The End of Politics

Politics is the art (I use that word hesitantly) of negotiation either through consensus or compromise.  Even if something on healthcare is passed, it won’t have anything to do with negotiation, nor, I imagine, will anything else even though neither party holds a supermajority in the Senate.  So what can we look forward to NOT happening this year?  There will be no new legislation on banking reform, which we need desperately.  There will be no energy legislation to help usher in renewable energies and limit greenhouse gases.  There will be no action on education or immigration.  How many other things don’t you want resolved this year?  Remember, there is no one else to blame for the growing gridlock in Washington than you the voter. more »

Sugar, Lemon or Milk

When I started my website, the first issue I tackled was the ever-growing deficit and debt accrued by the federal government.  During the first decade of this century, it grew by leaps and bounds.  Two years ago the economy started heading south and the money spent by the government really started mounting.  That was when the Tea Party started gaining attention and ground in the public arena.  Now it has started to affect elections.  They seem to be a very angry bunch of people, judging from what one sees of their demonstrations on television.  The Tea Party website states they are interested in “fiscal responsibility” and “constitutionally limited government.” more »

You’re Speaking What?

There is something about the English accent that is both delightful and authoritative.  Winston Churchill said that even though we share a great deal in common, “Britain and America [are] two great countries divided by a common language.”

Shakespeare either coined or is recorded as the first to notate over 1,700 words.  As a writer, and I am fairly sure other writers down through the ages have felt the same, I am quite envious of (and yes, daunted by) this number.  If he were around today, I am very sure that the Bard would be able to have a great deal of fun given the differences between the two languages. more »

Creativity Central

There is a well-spring of creativity right here in West Ashley in the form of Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary School.  This school was the first Creative Arts Magnate School established in South Carolina in 1984.  They are currently half way through a remodel to better serve the community’s children.  Principal Martha “Jayne” Ellicott has had to adapt to the ever changing surroundings.  This year they moved from the old part of the school into the newly constructed portion.  After they moved, the old part was torn down and the rest of the new building is currently under construction.  They are not waiting for things to be done, though. more »

Faith, the Bible and God-Part 1

I have been at turns an atheist and an agnostic and I am now a Christian, though as you will see, some of my views do not mirror the mainstream Christian doctrine.  But that is one of the things you will find over the next few posts:  Christians are not a monolithic group of people.  Given the title, and the fertile ground this implies for ideas, I will be breaking my thoughts up into a variety of posts.  I thought it important that I start with one of the biggest contentions between a wide variety of people, creationism.  This one topic sets people off against one another, Christian and non, educators, parents and teachers, but there are even, as we shall see, larger issues at stake, issues that I think many people are not paying attention to. more »