True Colors

The more I hear about George Romney, the more I think I would have liked him. But I was too young to vote in 1968, so I didn’t pay any attention to politics. What little I know about George Romney is the bits of information I’ve learned from comments made during his son’s current candidacy for President.

When George was a candidate, he released a dozen years of tax returns. He wasn’t required to release that much, but he did it. To me, that says he wanted people to know he had nothing to hide, and was willing to go beyond what was required. A man of enthusiasm.

I don’t see those qualities in his son. I understand his father’s example of releasing a dozen years of taxes has become standard practice with presidential candidates. Surely Mitt knew that, but now that he is a candidate, he has released only 1 years’ tax form, and promised to release 2011’s “as soon as it’s done”.

Wait. It’s July and he hasn’t done last year’s taxes yet? Surely his bookkeeper knows these have to be done every year, right? You would think any bookkeeper working for someone as rich and important as a presidential candidate like Mitt Romney would have everything organized and streamlined so they could get his taxes filed on time.

“You don’t have any need to see any more tax forms,” the Romneys say. How about the need to know as much as possible about the person who may be elected the next president? Aren’t the American people entitled to that?

And now I hear that a group of people who had collected a few thousand signatures on a petition asking that Mr Romney release more tax forms did not find him in his political headquarters. No one in that office would accept the petition on Mr Romney’s behalf, and the people with the petition were escorted from the premises. Yeah, Mitt Romney sure does understand the American people.

There’s a saying that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But I think Mitt is a whole different kind of apple than his father was.

History Fails Us

No, I think that title is incorrect. I think it’s the History classes that have failed us. They have certainly failed me. All the recent Presidential election craziness got me thinking about past Presidents and what they did or did not accomplish during their tenure in the White House. And I’ve discovered I know very little in that field.

That got me thinking back to all the history classes I had to take in school; Colorado history, Missouri history, US History (in more than 1 grade) and World history. In all of those classes, ‘learning’ consisted of memorizing names, dates and places. I promptly forgot all of those things as soon as the last test was done – they held no interest or perceived value to me.

Another thing I remembered about these classes is that they slogged through the 1600s, 1700s and first half of the 1800s. By the time they got done with the Civil War, we had about 3 or 4 weeks left in the school year, and we raced to get through to 1950. Even as a kid, I figured those years that (almost) reached my birth date might have more bearing on my immediate life than stuff that was 300 years old. But we raced through it so quickly, I can’t say that with any certainty.

Personally, I don’t think making kids memorize names, dates and places really teaches them anything. What do I remember of history? The tiny bits and pieces of humanity that they accidentally let slip into their lectures. Bits like the suffering of Washington’s troops, camped for the winter in Valley Forge, freezing and without supplies.

I have always wanted some information that would help me identify with people in history. What did the average family eat, wear, do for entertainment, and how did this super-important event you want me to remember change or influence their lives? Maybe then I would remember that event; it might mean something to me.

Some teachers have been modifying their math classes to make the problems more personal for individual students. Why can’t history classes be more personal?

Airflight Technology

Okay, so Trudy flew home from vacation in Orlando, and almost as soon as she got home, she came down with “airflight crud.” It’s to be expected, right? Everybody knows that when you’re stuck in a confined space with 100+ other people, you are exposed to all types of germs, greatly increasing the chance that something will get past your body’s defenses and settle in for a visit.

This connection is so well known, there are even ‘medications’ that were developed to help you avoid catching other people’s illness. The most common kinds are a combination of vitamins, zinc and maybe some herbs. Such remedies might help, if your body is low on these ingredients. But it’s kind of like that old question about prunes as a laxative; Is 6 enough? Is 12 too many?

Are airliners equipped with air scrubbers? Even if they are, I’m not sure that would help prevent the spread of sickness. I’m thinking air scrubbers remove things like dust and CO0, but that squirmy little germs find a way through. Does anybody know A) do airliners have air scrubbers, and B) do air air scrubbers stop germs?

If nothing else, the flight crew could spritz the cabin with antibacterial air freshener between flights. Maybe that would help confine the available illnesses to catch to those brought aboard for this flight, and not something from 3 flights ago.