Early Interest In Presidents and a Quiz

On this Presidents Day, I think back to when I was 9 and my parents bought a set of World Book Encyclopedia. With the set came a special book on the Presidents of the United States. That book of U. S. Presidents caught my interest. I was not into the politics aspect back then. What most interested me were the First Ladies, presidential children and how long the Presidents and First Ladies lived and what they did after they left the White house. It was an early learning interest outside of the required school mandates.

In the 5th grade, I had to write an essay on what I did at home when there was nothing to do. I wrote about reading up on the Presidents. I wowed my teacher with a few facts, such as Frances Folsom Cleveland being the youngest First Lady and not the widely reported Jacqueline Kennedy. Also, John Kennedy was not the youngest President. Theodore Roosevelt gets that title. My teacher told me I had her seeking validation on those facts and it astonished her that I was correct.

In honor of President’s Day, here are a few presidential quiz questions.

What president had been a hero in the Spanish-American War?

a. Ulysses S. Grant     b. Grover Cleveland     c. Theodore Roosevelt

What president signed the Indian Removal Act, thus forcing Native Americans from their homelands?

a. James Madison     b. Andrew Jackson     c. Franklin Pierce

Who is considered the author of the Declaration of Independence?

a. George Washington     b. Thomas Jefferson     c. John Adams

Go here to take the beginner level 10 questions quiz to get the answers.

I Love the Lord and Amazing Grace

Psalm 116:1-2

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.

The Entire 116th Psalm

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Thoughts: Black History and Firsts

Black History Month does not get the buzz that it use to. Contribution from blacks in this country and all around the world now get acclaim that was not there when I was growing up. I continue to learn so much more since my school days when the only black person I learned about in history was Crispus Attucks who was the first casualty of the Revolutionary War.

I remember in late 2008. hearing Dennis Prager talk down firsts on his radio program in relation to Barack Obama being the first black to be elected President. I thought that was sour grapes, because a leftist Democrat won. Even though I did not vote for Pres. Obama, the first black aspect did not escape me. Black firsts are still very huge, even for me. I feel Mr. Prager was wrong to play down the significance of firsts for any race or ethnicity. I still wish my late father had lived long enough to see Barack Obama elected President. He passed during the primary debate season in 2007. My father kept his eye on Barack Obama during those very early Democratic presidential debates.

Now with all of that said, here is Fox News’ Harris Faulkner talking with Navy hero, Captain Gail Harris in celebration of Black History Month. Captain Harris is one of the first black women to serve in Naval intelligence.

$9.00 an Hour for an Ignored Buisness

I watched Fox News’ Bulls and Bears. one of the topics was the President request to raise the minimum wage to $9.00 an hour. All on the panel except for one liberal guest panelist was against it. One panelist pointed out that it was a wage for working teens. Well that is not really true.

In all the arguments, I hear about minimum wage jobs constantly from the fiscally conservative side, they make it sound like a person within a year is making far more. The business of child care where there are minimum wage paychecks or close to it abound, is completely ignored. I know Pres. Obama’s call to raise the minimum wage is not going well with child care business owners.

As a child care teacher, years ago, I was fortunate to worked for a non-profit well-known church organization that paid well and offered great benefits for some years. Being hired during the good times, my hourly pay grew into the early teens per hour before I moved on into center directing.  In the later years before they closed down most of their child care centers, new hires did not get health benefits and received the minimum wage or as close to it as possible.

As a child care director working for a for-profit business chain. I had to learn quickly how my decisions on pay for new hires affected the profit/loss on my center. I wanted experience classroom teachers also called assistant group supervisors to make at least $8.00 an hour. I wanted to pay Lead teachers, also called group supervisors, with experience at least around $11.00 an hour. My profit/loss statements had me bringing that hourly pay down to $10.00.

When I moved on to another for-profit center around 2006, the corporate head took me to task for starting an experienced classroom teacher/assistant group supervisor at $8.15 an hour. The highest she wanted me to start a classroom teacher was $7.50 an hour. If that $900 an hour becomes law, child care businesses will be cutting teacher hours and/or raising child care fees for parents to much higher levels.

Bizarre Support

Can you believe it? I am talking about all this support and reverence for deranged killer, Christopher Dorner. I know police abuse exist. I know the abuse problem it is not racial. It is an authority abuse problem. I also know employees can be jerked around by people higher in the personnel chain. Dorner is not the champion for authority and personnel abuse causes, since he turned murderer.  My heart goes out to the widow of the police officer, Michael Crain murdered by Dorner. No way is Dorner a hero of any sort.

I cannot believe what I am reading and hearing! This is so bizarre I visited a support page with over 24,000 likes for this murderer on Facebook. The sympathetic, support and love comments are sickening. I posted 2 pro deranged murderer comments without liking the page. So, I am now blocked and the administrators of that page deleted my comments within 30 minutes of their posting. This just more evidence of the declining state of the culture.

Here is Columbia University professor, Dr. Mark Lamont Hill giving credence to this man that seriously injured and killed innocent people.

Hear Dr. Hill defend his comments and then Bill O’Reilly telling him were he is wrong.