In the blogpost, Big Brother is Asking, I told everyone that the Census Bureau selected me to complete the American Community Survey (ACS).  Even though my compliance is required under Section 221 of Title 13 of the United States Code, I have refused.  It is worthwhile to remember that we the people are bound together under a constitution.  This mutually agreed upon social contract defines the limits of government, not the limits of our individual freedom.  So, I ask, by what right does the government require me to divulge detailed personal information?
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One of the simple pleasures of childhood is gliding back and forth on a swing, but thanks to over protective government and a litigious society swing sets, high slides, seesaws and even merry-go-rounds are fading from elementary school playgrounds and public parks.  As reported by USA Today, Scott Burton, President of Safety Play Inc. states, “Everybody’s afraid of being litigated against. They just tear it out and don’t replace it.”
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Even though I regularly blog about public schools and education, I’ve resisted writing about this because of my mixed feeling.  However, now that Mick has been arrested, found guilty and the state has suspended his license, perhaps I should reveal my connection with him and summarize my somewhat conflicted thoughts. 

Five years ago, I taught across the hall from Michael “Mick” Moulton at Morton Junior-Senior High in Lewis County, Washington State. 
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          Recently I received a letter from the Census Bureau informing me that I would receive an important national survey.  The letter identified the forthcoming letter as the American Community Survey and asked that I fill it out promptly and mail it back.  Later in the letter I was warned that, “Your response…is required by U.S. law.”  I did a bit of checking and discovered that refusing or willfully neglecting to complete the American Community Survey (ACS) is a misdemeanor under Section 221 of Title 13 of the United States Code.  The fine is $5,000.  Let me make this clear.  I am not neglecting to fill out the American Community Survey—I am refusing.
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Book & Video Section
The media section has been renamed Book & Video.  It seems some people were confused and thought that Media referred to newspapers and television news.  In using the term media I was simply attempting to be inclusive of all the differing forms of communication available.  Check out the Book & Video section for book and movie reviews, cartoons and interesting videos. 

RuminationsBlog Updates  
New video from NewsBusted in the right side column of this page.

            Singing Happy Birthday might be offensive to some so it must be abolished. 

That was the conclusion of principal Dr. Jodi Davidson of Chesterfield Elementary School in the Rockwood School District of Missouri.  Fortunately, parents sent angry emails and phoned the school forcing this hypersensitive principal to back down—somewhat.  Now, the embedded local news reports states, as long as students who do not celebrate birthdays are gone, Happy Birthday may be sung in the classroom.        

I’m old enough to remember when flying was fun.  I recall uncrowded planes with legroom and seats that reclined.  I remember young stewardess.  The airlines sometimes lost your bags and the meals were awful, but considering all the rest, you could put up with it.  When I fly today, they still lose my bags, but now I’m crammed into a cattle car so packed that I can’t move.  Legroom?  Forget it.  I’m worried I’ll die of a thrombosis.  Sometimes the airline offers a meal, but now you pay dearly for school cafeteria food.  Sleeping would be my best option, if the seat would recline.  I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but it soon will.  By late September, Seattle-Tacoma Airport will have full-body scanners.  Using low-dose radiation, these scanners allow Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents sitting in dark rooms to conduct virtual strip searches. 
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Washington State governor, Christine Gregoire, has a problem with the truth.

As reported by Northwest Cable News, during an August 12^th press conference the Gregoire told the story of “a 62-year-old woman who was laid off” and another of “an unemployed man who is studying to become a nurse.”  However, when reporters asked for background information on the individuals the governor was unable to provide it.  Apparently, the governor’s staff was asked to find personal stories to flesh out her comments on the budget, but now no one seems able to verify that the stories are true.  The story, as favorably reported by KING TV, is embedded for your viewing.      

Officials of the Lower Merion School District, near Philadelphia, need to go back to school, not as administrators, but as students.  The school allegedly installed spyware on laptop computers issued to students without telling them or their parents.  The administrators activated the spyware nearly 150 times on different computers taking over 56,000 pictures day and night, at school and at home.  According to one school official, if you take their computers home you have, “no legitimate expectation of privacy.”
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Many of the readers of this blog know that I teach in Eek Alaska.  Right now I’m heading back for the start of the school year.  Last night I flew into Bethel on the Yukon/Kuskokwim Delta.  I’ll be spending a couple of days here meeting with other teachers and stocking up on supplies before heading on to the village.  This morning when I turned on the news I heard that a plane carrying former Alaska senator Ted Stevens had crashed.
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Anthony Graber broke the law.  In April of this year he zoomed down Interstate 95 in Maryland at 80 mph, weaving across lanes.  The police stopped him.   Later, his house was searched and his computers seized.  The felony that may land him in prison for the next 16 years is not reckless driving.  He has been charged with filming the police officer that stopped him.  It doesn’t happen often, but I agree with the ACLU.
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Just to stay informed I visit about a dozen news websites and blogs every day.  Sometimes I find a story that becomes a blog post, but most often it never makes it to RuminationsBlog.  It might be an interesting article or video, but if I can’t build a blog post around it, I normally can’t use it.   

Today I came across two interesting and persuasive videos by people I’ve known and followed for some time.  As I watched them, it occurred to me that they demonstrate how media is changing. The topics and formats are different, but they both show how new media is supplanting the old. 
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Without even meaning to do so, liberals sometimes say the most amazing things.  I remember fondly when then President Clinton was asked in 1999 why he didn’t support a tax cut.  He replied, “We could give it all back to you and hope you spend it right...”  Bill Clinton thought he knew how to spend my money better than me.  In the vein of liberals speaking without a teleprompter, we submit Congressman Pete Stark, Democrat, representing the 13^th district in California.
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The election season is upon us and candidate signs are spreading like spring flowers.  Don’t despair, the primary will soon cut the number of candidates to a more manageable level.     To assist you in weeding out some of the candidates here we have the RuminationsBlog endorsements for the Washington State August 17, 2010 primary election.  As you would expect, all my endorsements are on the right of the political spectrum, but people are conservative to varying degrees and in differing ways so, I include a brief explanation.  Finally, while I have voiced my support for several people in my local area I have not included them in this posting because their candidacy would be of no interest to the wider RuminationsBlog readership. 
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            Most people have no idea who to vote for when it comes to judges.  Judicial candidates seem to go out of their way to make it difficult to form an opinion.  They never say things like, “I favor executing murderers and rapists.”  In Washington State, judicial races are non-partisan, so you can’t even form an opinion based on their political party.  When I vote for a judge, I want them to recognize the traditional values that have made this country strong, but at the same time rule on the law and not legislate from the bench. If a judge wants to be an activist, they should get another job.  I want a judge to side with personal liberty.  If the law doesn’t say I can’t, then I should have the freedom to do.  It is often hard to find the facts on judges.  Few of us want to read through long (boring) legal opinions.  But what I’ve learned about two judges up for reelection to the Washington State Supreme Court makes me want to vote for them. 
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There are shower criminals lurking around plumbing supply stores and the federal Department of Energy intents to hunt them down.  According to the Wall Street Journal, “In May, the DOE stunned the plumbing-products industry when it said it would adopt a strict definition of the term ‘showerhead.’”  Bureaucrats in Washington D.C. are writing regulations on the kind of showerhead you can have in your bathroom.
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