Notes for Today

---Heartfelt column by über-sportswriter Scoop Jackson over at ESPN.com arguing that Roberto Clemente and Satchel Paige should have been included in the recent Sports Illustrated "Baseball Dream Team of History." As much as I idolize Clemente, I am aware that he was not really one of the 25 best players in baseball history. But if you are picking an all-time baseball team of the best men the game has ever seen, then Clemente is a beyond the shadow of any doubt one of those men.

---Stupid Rosselló.

---An apparent wave of pedophiles/pederasts is causing alarm along the southern and western coasts of Our Island of Enchantment. This is certainly no laughing matter, and yet, based on the evidence, nothing or barely nothing has happened. It is one thing to be cautious, and above all, to protect Our children; it is another to sow false rumors, raise the already-high level of anxiety We live in and maybe create an opportunity or distraction to serve someone else's ulterior motives.

---Yes, I'm saying it's possible the whole "child kidnapping scare" is a set-up.

---There are 54 eligible States and territories in the "Reading First" program, funded by the Federal Department of Education since 2001. Guess--go ahead, guess--which is the ONLY motherfreakin' place in the whole U.S. of part of A. STILL trying to qualify for "Reading First"? Uh-huh. Our chances would improve if Our department of education actually knew how to read...

---We stand to lose some $15 million unless We qualify soon. The department's attitude is more along the lines of "Give the money back." Forget defeatist: that's the exact attitude of lazy and stupid people. (And lest My teacher-critic slams Me again for this attack, let Me ask you, Mrs. Teacher: Would an energetic and smart department take 5 years to qualify, when it is obvious everyone else already has?)

---On the other hand, My Thanks to The Information Soldier (good to have you back) for sending me a link about Wal-Mart's Teacher of the Year award. Amongst the 51 honorees, a Puerto Rican teacher was selected. From Puerto Rico. (I felt I needed to clarify...)

---The project to move the unicameral referendum result forward is--gasp--stalled in the senate. The bill has been weighed down so badly that in the words of a joke sent to Me yesterday by My lovely friend Laura Homar, it could be called "Walking Eagle": That's an eagle so full of shit it can't fly. Someone We both know and love (okay, I love Me) said the unicameral movement would die without ever seeing any true action. I'll repeat it here: Forget unicamerality. What The Fools want is a dictatorship and We're about 60,000 votes from giving it to them.

---According to the American Booksellers' Association, 58% of Americans in the U.S. do not buy a book after leaving high school (excluding textbooks.) Fifty. Eight. Percent. Because We have no true statistics research, all We can do is estimate a similar percentage of "book non-buyers" for Puerto Rico. My estimate: About 70-75% of Puerto Ricans do not buy a book after high school, including textbooks. What else can We expect from an educational system that "punishes" miscreants with reading assignments?

---Thinking about going back to a daily schedule.


The Jenius Has Spoken.