It's Ebertfest time here in Champaign-Urbana, and usually I spend the week watching movies and then typing about them as fast as I can afterward. I'm taking a break this year, because it is very exhausting and I decided to just enjoy the festival this year.
But I did agree to do one day of regurgitation for Smile Politely, which was yesterday's batch of movies. It's available here.
Now, back to the Virginia for more fun.
My 7th grade daughter is in an all-girls math class this year. She has struggled with math over the years, and 6th grade was especially tough for her.
But the school decided to do something different this year and segregate by gender. It's made a huge difference for her -- she has always said she's not very good at math, but this year, we've heard her say things like "I'm smart at math." Night and day difference.
Some researchers came to the different classes to see what the girls and boys thought about it. The girls were all highly enthusiastic, saying things like "It's great!", "No boys to distract us!" "Girls Rule! -- WonderSister Powers, Activate!!!"
And the 7th grade boys? At least one of them said "Oh. There aren't any girls in our class? Huh."
I’m back from spring break, where I spent some quality time on our fine socialist highway system. Also, since traveling internationally, I’ve been enjoying our socialist water quality standards and our socialist sewer systems. Of course, I’m using the term "socialist" the way it is commonly used these days, to mean anything that is in any way connected to the government.
What happened while I was away? Health insurance reform was passed. Death threats were issued. Glenn Beck went ballistic because John Lewis acted like a civil rights activist. He must have missed the history lesson where John Lewis got his head busted open for … being a civil rights activist.
So, I missed some history and also missed some more of the same.
But I’ve definitely not been feeling very bloggy lately. I’m about as down on our democracy as I was when we invaded Iraq. I’m depressed that it is so easy to spread so much fear and so many lies. And I’m depressed that it works so well. Yes, a weakened version of healthcare passed, but look at how much effort it took. When a plan that is more conservative than Richard Nixon’s is believed by so many people to be some kind Marxist plot, I just have to sigh.
At least Obama has a sense of humor about it. Watch him below make fun of the crazy that so many people have been peddling. Sometimes, I just love that guy.
