Bits of Tid: July 17, 2009

• For Central students not covered by the CMU Promise guarantee, tuition is going up 4.8% this fall. Another reason for Michigan to keep the Promise Scholarship!
• Where is our stimulus money going? Check michigan.gov/recovery to find out!
• Guess who chairs the US Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Energy, Science, and Technology? None other than Debbie Stabenow!

  As Chair, Stabenow will work to ensure that agriculture and forestry play prominent roles in energy and climate policy that invests in new, clean technologies such as biofuels to create well-paying jobs. In addition to the Senate Agriculture Committee, Stabenow serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senate Finance Committee, and the Senate Budget Committee, all of which have jurisdiction over a wide range of issues important to Michigan. She also speaks as Michigan’s voice in Senate leadership as the Chair of the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee.

• This says a lot more about you than it does about her, Glenn:
  
• Jimmy Carter has had to make a very painful decision: he is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention after several decades. Why? They say women are meant to be subservient to men - which is contrary to Carter's beliefs. And mine too.
  
• Want a public option? Want to be on TV? Head on over here!
• Might I also remind you about Lake Superior State University's Banished Words List?
  

Bits of Tid: Pictures and Videos, July 16, 2009

Obama in Michigan: Betting on education

While many issues are facing America right now, education is not one that is discussed very often, even though our country's education system consistently ranks lower than most in the developed world.

Luckily, we have someone in the White House who understands the importance of building a stronger education system for this nation.

President Obama talked about education, with a focus on community colleges, in his first visit to the Great Lakes State as President today. He spoke at Macomb Community College, located in Warren. Due to the pain Metro Detroit has suffered with automotive layoffs, MCC was a prime place for him to discuss his American Graduation Initiative and the issue of education as a means of ensuring our long-term prosperity.

As the President said:

Time and again, when we placed our bet for the future on education, we have prospered as a result -- by tapping the incredible innovative and generative potential of a skilled American workforce.

Indeed, almost nobody who reads this blog will doubt that an educated workforce is necessary for our economy to prosper. Companies only create skilled jobs where talent resides, and education is supposed to foster that talent. Which is why a strong education system is a must - especially in today's economy.

So why the focus on community colleges? From CNN:

Obama called the investment in community colleges crucial because "jobs requiring at least an associate degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience" in coming years.

"We will not fill those jobs, or keep those jobs on our shores, without the training offered by community colleges," he said.

To improve our community college system, the President discussed his American Graduation Initiative. According to CNN, the initiative includes such key areas as:

• Community college challenge grants, to help underfunded colleges that are dealing with limited capacity and to build partnerships with schools and businesses.

• The Access and Completion Fund, to provide performance-based scholarships and give colleges the tools to design more programs around work schedules.

• Modernization of community-college facilities, with $2.5 billion to help renovate facilities and keep up with maintenance costs. The renovations will create jobs, Obama said.

• Open online courses, to create options online as a tool that some think can be more effective than classroom instruction alone.

As Obama said, the American Graduation Initiative

will reform and strengthen community colleges like this one from coast to coast so they get the resources that students and schools need -- and the results workers and businesses demand. Through this plan, we seek to help an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates in the next decade -- 5 million.

But at what cost? He says the plan will be paid for

by ending the wasteful subsidies we currently provide to banks and private lenders for student loans. (Applause.) That will save tens of billions of dollars over the next 10 years. Instead of lining the pockets of special interests, it's time this money went towards the interests of higher education in America

Of course, as some have said, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

When it comes to higher education, the Obama Administration has certainly gotten off to a good start. In addition to this initiative, the Administration has already eased rules on repaying student loans and is working to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

While Obama is right to note the important yet understated role community colleges play in this country, my hope is that he will also work to ensure that four-year colleges and other schools have the tools necessary to educate students who, like me, choose to earn an education at those institutions. While access to affordable, quality health care is critical for our short-term economic health, our long-term prosperity may very well hinge on access to affordable, quality education.

Bits of Tid: July 14, 2009

• On the one hand, it's sick that some are going after Malia Obama, Age 11, for the way she dresses. On the other hand, what it tells me is how little they have to say about her dad that's actually substantive, legitimate criticism. What does it tell you that instead of talking about his policies, they'd rather obsess over his daughter?
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to Sonia Sotomayor: "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're gonna get confirmed."
• From Daily Kos: Things I Learned Watching the News.
• When someone's in pain, it's not a good time to tell them what the f%$# they can or cannot say.
• Here's another cool website: Ta-Da Lists. It lets you set up several to-do lists at once. Trust me, it can make your life less chaotic than it sounds.
  
• I hope you don't live in Blanding, UT! LOL!
• Tigers' magic number at the Break: 72.

Bits of Tid: July 10, 2009

• GM is out of bankruptcy - leaner, meaner, and greener.
• According to a report I saw on CNN, there has been a "slide" in confidence in Obama. In February, 75% of Americans had confidence in him. Now, it has fallen to...
  
  wait for it...
  
  wait for it...
  
  72%!
  
  Three points in five months - talk about a freefall!
• Meanwhile on CNBC, I flipped through and noticed a story on "Moguls on Obama." See, we as a society have given way too much attention to the concerns of poor and middle-class people. It's about damn time people would listen to the downtrodden billionaires of the world!
• People who stare at other people's behinds.
• Speaking of The Onion, here's a headline: "Baseball Fans Delighted By New Between-Innings F***-Cams."
• And speaking of baseball, the Tigers' magic number has dwindled down to 74.
• Don't forget United We Serve!

A Video Celebration of America

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

EVERYBODY TAKE COVER! WARN YOUR FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, AND FAMILIES! CRANK UP THIS VIDEO TO FULL BLAST! THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE IS UNDER ATTACK AND LIBRULZ ARE MAKING OUR NATION SOCIALIST!!!!!

The Kalamazoo City Commission has unanimously passed a nondiscrimination ordinance for sexual orientation:

It will prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people when it comes to hiring, housing and other accommodations. The ordinance goes into effect in July.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!! THEY ARE OUT TO GET US AND DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE! NOW MY PARENTS' MARRIAGE OF 35 YEARS IS IN JEOPARDY BECAUSE MEMBERS OF THE K'ZOO COMMISSION HAVE DECIDED TO PUSH THE BALL FORWARD ON EQUALITY RATHER THAN DOING THE RIGHT THING AND CHEATING ON THEIR SPOUSES!!!

RUN FOR YOUR WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!

But that's not all. From The Atlantic:

Have you heard that the United States is headed toward socialism? Jonah Goldberg says it is. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby says it is. Phyllis Schlafly says it is. Richard Viguerie says it is. The Republican National Committee says it is. We must be getting pretty close.

How close? This is what socialism looks like:

0.21%!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! WE'RE BECOMING SOCIALIST THANKS TO B. HUSSEIN OSAMA!!

WILL WE EVER WAKE UP AND LEARN THAT LIBRULZ ARE ATTACKING OUR RIGHT TO HATE OTHERS AND MAKING AMERICA SOCIALIST?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(End sarcasm)

Some of my favorite quotes

• "Light tomorrow with today." -Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." - Louis Brandeis
• "Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren't any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn't be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life's challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person." - Buckminster Fuller
• "The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no" - they may not be smart enough to say "yes"." - Keith Olbermann


• "Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little." -- Edmund Burke
• "It always seems impossible until it's done." - Nelson Mandela
• "Do what you can with what you have, where you are." Teddy Roosevelt
• "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own." - Scoop Nisker
• "Do not ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
• "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." - Abraham Lincoln
• "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." -John Quincy Adams
• "Lead with your best self." - Dan Mulhern
• "Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy." - Norman Schwarzkopf
• "Let your life be a friction against the machine." - Henry David Thoreau
• "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth will find reserves of strength that will endure as life lasts." - Rachel Carson
• "One kind word can warm three winter months." -Japanese Proverb
• "We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom." - Dwight Eisenhower
• "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government." - Thomas Jefferson
• "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." - Thomas Jefferson
• "...public service must be more than doing a job efficiently and honestly. It must be a complete dedication to the people...with full recognition that every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration..." - Margaret Chase Smith
• "Tomorrow will be better for as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life." - Walt Disney

Bits of Tid: June 27, 2009

• The White House wants your input on health care reform. Gee, I can't remember when Dubya did anything like that.
• Speaking of which, have I mentioned that healthcare reform is good for business?
• Headline from WOOD TV8: Peacemakers work to stem violence in GR. Good for them.
• Kids. Protect them now, protect them later.
• Want the naked truth about a politician? Here you go.
• For those of you who want to improve your social skills, the Positivity Blog has lots of tips.

Bits of Tid: June 25, 2009

• Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. I've been in Argentina with my mistress.
• Some insurance companies "confuse their customers and dump the sick, all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors," said a former Cigna executive.
• Unemployed? Michigan Senate Republicans don't like you.
• While Michigan Republicans are attacking financial aid for students, the Obama Administration is making it easier to apply for aid.
  
• Wow! Obama's having a wonderful effect on US foreign policy! Under his leadership, Team USA beat Spain 2-0 in soccer, all while refusing to bow to the rest of the world by calling it "football." I'm impressed! (So it wasn't Obama's doing, but hey!)
• Tigers' magic number: 86.