The Minneapolis Star Tribune had an insightful editorial a couple days ago about the reauthorization of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). IDEA guarantees a free and appropriate public education for students with disabilities across the country. In 1975, when the law was originally passed, it stated that Congress would fund its share of special education costs (40%) by 1982. That date has been pushed backed–again–to 2011. In the meantime, states are expected to fully fund the difference. While the new version of IDEA improves certain regulatory aspects of special education, like finding students with disabilities and delivering services to them at an earlier age, it fails at the most critical level–funding. I expect we’re going to see a lot of this sort of thing thing from this administration and this Congress over the coming years. They will pat themselves on the back for giving superficial support to this social program or that one, but the states will be expected to bear the financial burden of keeping those programs running. It will be the Reagan years all over again, with defense and debt maintenance taking a big bite out of our national budget, leaving everyone else to fight over the scraps.
I’m still trying to figure out whether to go to Mexico this winter. One thing I’m uncertain about is how to get from the airport to the resort. I don’t want to get down there and find out my only transportation option is to be strapped on the back of a burro. Maybe I should check out New Orleans at Mardi Gras instead. Hmm, beads and bare breasts vs. sun and surf. Thoughts?

I’ve been watching some of the episodes of Lost that I’ve downloaded over the last few weeks and I’m quite impressed with it so far. The writers manage not to telegraph a lot of the twists in the plot. Their presentation of one character’s background story was almost ingenious in its execution because of how the writers play with the assumptions of the audience. However, I have doubts about how long a show like this can stay fresh, given the premise of everyone being stranded on a remote island. It’s not like they can bring in a different guest star each week, at least not without turning it into Gilligan’s Island.
I downloaded U2’s new album off of iTunes earlier tonight. My initial reaction is that it’s pretty good, but I wish the band would return to some of the experimentalism they showed in Achtung Baby and especially Zooropa. Zooropa remains my favorite album of theirs. It had a noirish, urban tone that wasn’t necessarily cynical, but it kind of felt like something you would put on while you were reading William Gibson. Listening to it, I could almost imagine myself walking the nighttime streets of Berlin or Paris.

Do you think we Americans would ever get off our fat asses to protest a stolen election? I look at the faces in the crowds of Kiev and I wonder if we are still capable of exhibiting mass displays of righteous indignation. The long decades of peace and frivolity we’ve had in this country may have robbed us of our capacity to feel passionate about much of anything anymore. Oh, I know we were supposed to be really tuned into the last election, that this was the first time lots of people voted. But I’m feeling cynical right now. I think that more people are thinking about how much they can afford to charge on their credit card this Xmas than they’re thinking about the big issues.
You know, big issues–like the potential collapse of our debt-ridden economy. And then last night I was watching Charlie Rose and he was interviewing some former Microsoft exec who now dabbles in policymaking. He was forcefully making the point that the technological barriers to creating bioweapons are very low and could be surmounted by a small, determined group of zealots. Nothing like some apocalyptic foreshadowing before bed.

The shooting rampage that occurred in western Wisconsin (maybe 75-100 miles east of Minneapolis) has received a lot of coverage in the local media over the last day. I’m as mystified as everyone else about the shooter’s motive. Deer hunting is a big deal in these parts. A lot of families will take their kids out of school for extended periods during hunting season. But I have no idea if these murders really had anything to do with hunting. Neighbors of the suspect describe him as a quiet man who kept to himself. Is it ever the loud, gregarious types who snap and go on shooting sprees? Just once, I want to hear about a mass murderer who is the office clown or who always threw the best block parties.
Managed to smash my foot into an elevator door today. I can’t seem to go more than a few months without brutalizing one of my feet. If it wasn’t for the ascetics and my aversion to surgery, I’d have the damn things chopped off. Besides being the raison d’etre for my shoes and socks, they aren’t really doing anyone much good.
Why do I still have my VCR? I think it’s been a year since I last used it. If I want to capture something off television, I’ll either use my TiVo or bittorrent it. All the VHS movies I have could easily be replaced with DVDs. I suppose I want to be prepared for some kind of analog emergency, but one of these days I should consign it to the dustbin of irrelevant technology.

Holy crap! Target is selling anal massages for only $35.96! That’s a steal, trust me. My last anal massage set me back at least fifty bucks. But do I have to actually go to the store to get my massage, or will they deliver it to my home? And who actually does the massage? A matronly-looking Swedish woman or some sweaty ex-con named Buck?
I predict that someone in the Target IT department is going to get a pink slip in five…four…three…