A September ramble

I knew the Obama/Romney campaign would be a tough one.  I'm already sick of it. 

Have I ever mentioned here how much I hate robo calls?  There are some caller I.D. numbers I simply ignore.  I do answer them, sort of.  Those that show ( ), 800-Service, or some exchanges I've learned are political, I simply press the "talk" button then the "end" button on my phone.  I no longer care and am not interested in those calls.

What's worse is that a big majority of the calls come in just when we're sitting down for supper.  Yea, I still call that evening meal "supper."  I can't help but wonder if any of the calling services have researched on how much, if any, damage is done to their cause or candidate by such calls.  I don't think I've ever heard anyone say, "Wow!  Those political calls and surveys are terrific!  I can't wait to get them!"

There's another political item that has me doubting its validity: the poll.  Polls are also another part of the political season that I'd like to see go away.  It seems like there's a new poll released every couple of hours, or at least every day.  Of course a poll is designed to attempt to sway us toward a particular side of a cause or candidate.  Since all polls are highly selective and the polling item so worded so that a certain result is almost guaranteed, I don't pay any attention to them. 

I believe most people answer polling questions according to who's calling and not necessarily the way they really feel.  The only fun part of polls is after an election when we get to see just how wrong most of them are.

A couple of new issues from our state government have caught my attention.  One is a ruling by the state's attorney general that prescriptions cannot be bought through the mail from a certain Canadian pharmacy.  According to news reports, about 12-hundred Maine families will have to pay higher prescription costs as a result.  Since Maine workers and some municipal workers are covered by local insurance contracts, it could add more than 3-million dollars to budgets.

The problem, apparently, is that Canadian firm can't be registered in Maine due to state law.  The AG's job is not to create laws or procedures but is to interpret and enforced those made by the Legislature.  At least one legislator says a correction to the law is already being formulated but it'll be up to the next legislature to allow those Canadian services.

Meanwhile, Mainers who have gotten lower priced drugs via mail order from Canada will have to pay higher prices, including copays, to buy their prescriptions here.  I don't use mail order prescription services, but I know people who do.  It's going to hurt them.

The other item deals with new rules regarding restraining children in school.  I haven't studied this too hard yet, but it seems teachers, administrators, or any other school official cannot not use any type of force to restrain out-of-control students.  A youngster can literally be tearing a room apart, throwing chairs, etc., breaking furniture, expensive computer equipment, or just about anything else one can imagine and no one can do anything about it except call the police. 

Schools are also required to have at least one staff member trained to calm a student down.  All situations must be reported by incident reports to be discussed by a committee, sent to superintendents for more discussion, and then on to the Department of Education for consideration. 

Teachers no longer can simply take a student by the arm or hand and guide him or her to the principal's office for discipline. Reminds me of when I was a kid.  Being sent or taken to the principal's office was the second worst thing that could possible happen to a youngster.  The worst, of course, was having to face parents when we got home.  Unfortunately, parents today don't believe in discipline.  (A truly unfounded blanket statement.)

One item for all of us to face as a result of these new conditions:  Now we can look forward to higher property taxes for schools.

Dave