September?

Was that frost I saw on the roof (the northern exposure) of the house across the street as I headed out to run at 6:30 AM or so?  The temperature was 37 at that time, so maybe.  Several of the last AMs have been in the upper 30s.  Hey, isn't this early September?  These temperatures are more suited to October, aren't they?

I've worn long pants/Levis to the football games.  It seems to me that in the past, September ball games required shorts still.  And I had on a sweatshirt and jacket on Friday.  Maybe I'm just a big wimp.

I read an article in today's newspaper where a Michigan farmer from Charlotte has been banned from selling at the farmers' market in East Lansing.  His offense?  No, it's not bad produce or anything that serious.  He posted on Facebook that he opposes gay marriage because of his religious beliefs.  And he also stated he wouldn't host a gay wedding at his farm.  OK, right or wrong, this is an example of yet another time that Big Government has stepped on us.  I know many people think I'm paranoid of this, "Big Government."  But this isn't even the federal government; it's a local government, one that is supposedly in closer touch with the people.  This guy hasn't actually turned down anyone at his farm; he just wrote he wouldn't host a gay marriage ceremony.  He hasn't done anything.  I used to think that the First Amendment read, "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercises thereof or of speech or the press......"  Has the First Amendment been repealed or changed?  I think not.  (I know it reads "Congress shall make no law.....," but the rights have been applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment's "equal protection" clause, "...nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty......"  It's part of incorporation theory.)  Plus, the Michigan state constitution, I think Sections 4 and 5 (?), do the same, protect our rights of freedom of religion and speech, even more directly.  So, where is the state of Michigan on this?  That is, where is Michigan's attorney general in protecting this farmer's Constitutional rights?  Where is the outrage in East Lansing by citizens over this overreach of government authority?  Oh, it doesn't directly affect them.  I get it.

Here's another example.  Some law professor at one of the eastern schools (I don't remember which) wrote this, about parents:  ""The reason parent-child relationships exist is because the State confers legal parenthood on people through its paternity and maternity laws. That’s the State that is empowering parents to do anything with children—to take them home, to have custody, and to make any kind of decisions about that."  Isn't that the essence of statism?  Now the state, that is, the government, is saying parents are parents only because the government allows them to be.  It doesn't take long to find many examples of government overreach on this--home-schooling, vaccinations/immunizations, what can and can't be packed in kids' lunches, letting kids walk alone a couple of blocks to a local park, etc.  I know, I know......  I keep forgetting.  The arrogant elitists who operate the government are smarter than we are; they know what's best for us better than we do.

The Detroit News has dedicated a year in trying to get ideas on how to improve education in the state of Michigan.  Apparently, in comparative state test scores, Michigan students place in the bottom 20% or worse in reading/writing, math......  First, I almost always take these test scores with a grain of salt.  Maybe they are OK for a snapshot of the state of education.  Second, I am skeptical of tests written to accommodate students all over the country.  (Yes, I tested and still give tests in my classes.  They weigh heavily in student final grades.  But, my tests are tailored for each individual class.  I give no "standardized" tests.)  I could tell more horror stories, but I won't.  As usual, I digress.  The News claimed it would reach out for those ideas on how to improve education.  I am, also as usual, skeptical.  Who will the News ask?  The same old people/administrators who led Michigan education into the abyss?  Politicians who have no idea of what is required of teaching and learning?  So-called "teachers-of-the-year" who from my experiences are far more often picked, not for their quality, but their popularity?  (I do acknowledge some of the "TsOTY" are very deserving; they have my respect.)  Corporate-types who are looking for already trained employees or for ways to boost their bottom lines by selling more and more useless "tools," like standardized tests, to the schools?  Will the News listen to some very oddball ideas?  Will it recognize that most of the people who have been running our schools shouldn't be running our schools?  Will it accept that school administrators often do some really stupid things and that local school boards almost always merely "rubber stamp" what the administrators present?  Will it recognize the wasteful monopoly of the schools of education and the certification process?  Will it recognize that, yes Michigan spends more on education than most states, but that money isn't going to the single-most important and effective factor in quality education--teachers?  (Teacher pay in Michigan is pathetic!  I recognize that the many lousy teachers don't even deserve that, but why penalize the good ones?  How are good ones going to be attracted?)  Where is that money going?  Will the News listen to the difference between "good teachers" and "popular/favorite teachers," recognizing that in some instances these are not mutually exclusive?  Why do I think it won't listen at all, except to the people who created this mess of education in the first place?  (Yes, I have tried writing to the editors, but there's not real response other than a perfunctory, "Thanks for your ideas.")  Who's going to listen to some guy who writes, "Your schools are being operated by people who shouldn't be running them?"  I really doubt I'll send in any ideas.