Mr T's rants and ravings

I was thinking this morning and wondered to myself “what if taking math were not required?” Would students take it on their own? Would parents make them? Of course math is important but a lot of people hate it. Same with English or history or geography. What subjects would students take if they were not required to take the “hard” ones? If school were not required would they even go?

Many would of course. Educated parents would especially make sure their children were educated. But could they keep pushing them there as they got older? Teens are notoriously poor decision makers. I think some would see the value and would continue but given how many students drop out in high school now I suspect even fewer would make it into high school if they were allowed to drop out earlier. This would be a societal disaster I think.

I’m thinking this would make an interesting book. Fiction I hope.

Normally I don’t think it is a good idea to blog while depressed, angry or in pain. But in pain may be the safest so I’m going to be careful and try it. I have a toothache. A painful one. In fact I am almost looking forward to the start of root canal procedures later this afternoon because it will mean the pain mostly goes away- check this link for more options. I am also planning to go to pain management doctors naples. Since yesterday I have been kept going by Advil – a great product –  but my doctor gave me a prescription for high dose Ibuprofen. It should help with the pain better, faster and without leaving me worried that I am over doing it with too many pills. He also gave me a script for an antibiotic which should help reduce some inflammation.

The pharmacy had a backup and I waited for close to a half hour. Normally I don’t mind. They are busy and everyone is waiting equally. But honestly I was sitting there thinking “shouldn’t people waiting for pain pills get moved up higher on the queue?”

Selfish? I’m not so sure. If I were waiting for something else and they said “you’ll have to wait a few minutes more because we have to fill a pain prescription” I think I’d understand. I think I’d say “do it” without hesitation.

In general it probably doesn’t matter if people wait a few more minutes or an hour extra. If time was that important the doctor would have given samples or sent them to a hospital. That’s true of pain as well but really I think pain relief should be a high priority.

Of course that is me in pain waiting for my Ibuprofen to kick in speaking. What do you think?

Roughly “axe for arts sake.” What? Well following a Twitter link I arrived at the Best Made Company web site. They make axes. hand made and hand painted axes that are really works of art. Expensive of course. I’m not sure that I would use one if I had one. One can get a very reasonable axe for under $50 and these axes start at $200 and go up in price quickly. But they sure are pretty.

I wonder if they are really making a go of this as a business. I hope so actually. I like the idea of custom items that are appreciated as much for their beauty as their functionality. It’s actually the sort of business I’d like to be in. To me making things is the best sort of work. Not that their is anything wrong with other sorts of work like services for example. It’s all good. But there is something basic about making things that strikes me as right for me.

Custom work – art if you will – is especially interesting because it looks so easy but we know it is not. There is a talent for design and for creativity. Not just everyone could make a custom axe that people would want to buy and display. We need more of that sort of thing I think because without it we’d be too focused on need and not enough on want. The pursuit of happiness begins when people have what they need and can start working on what they want.

Back a few years ago there was a Republican governor in Massachusetts and it looked for a while like he would be able to appoint a replacement US Senator. A man by the name of Ted Kennedy and his supporters got the law changed to prevent that from happening. They argued that the voters should have that choice not the governor.

Recently that same Ted Kennedy, shortly before his death opened a vacancy in the US Senate, argued that the governor should be able to appoint a replacement Senator so that the office would not remain vacant for months. His supporters are calling for that to happen. Apparently Democratic governors can be trusted but Republican governors can not. Frankly I’m getting more and more upset about this all the time. It is hypocrisy. It is pure politics. It is just plain dishonest.

I’ve never been a big fan of Ted Kennedy but normally I would keep quiet about it because he’s gone and it is so soon after his death. But this deathbed political move should be seen as something that tarnishes his final days and be condemned.

And it is not about how to choose a replacement. Some states have special elections. Some have governors appoint replacements. I imagine some combine the two. How is is done is not what upsets me about this. I just want to hear one Democrat denounce this move and demand that no changes be made until there is an other US Senator selected under the current system. That is the only right, ethical, moral thing to do.

Now if the people who fought the move to take the appointment away from the governor push for it and it passed without support from those who pushed the present system I could accept that as fair and honest. It’s unlikely which is sort of a shame. The whole thing highlights how much party has become more important than principle and what is best for the people is secondary. If it ranks that high at all.