Monday Links

Another Monday, so some more links to the best/most interesting stories I read in the past week...

1. Teachers Shouldn't Have to Beg - an editorial from the Indy Star, using the current issues at our Statehouse over the Superintendent of Education and the State Board of Education, and who's in charge. Its a very messy situation between a Republican Governor and Legislature, and the only statewide Democratic elected official in state government in the Superintendent of Public Education. The sad part, as the editorial makes clear, is that none of this will help teachers help kids, and we already demand so much from teachers without giving them much support in return.

2. Bernie Sanders wonders where the outrage is - Bernie Sanders is easily my favorite Senator, and this story touches on his outrage, and his concern over the lack of outrage by people, over the increasing inequality in our country. Anyone who has followed Sanders knows he has harped on this for several years. I share his concerns, and also wonder where the outrage is.

3. The "To Kill A Mockingbird" Sequel - Two stories (here and here) about Harper Lee publishing a sequel to her famed work, 50 years after the fact. The second link shows some concern over the manner of the work being published, which I think bears watching. "To Kill A Mockingbird" is, in my opinion, one of the greatest novels in the last century, so any sequel will be interesting, and hopefully the book will be more interesting than the publishing of it.

4. The philosophical case against sleeping in - I think about how my time is spent constantly, so this article was interesting to me. Its not recommending not getting healthy and appropriate amounts of sleep, but highlights how much time can be lost when pressing that snooze button.

5. Confessions of a Congressman - Kind of a sad thing to read in all honesty, but I think it gets to the some of the causes of the stagnation and dysfunction in our federal government. Similar to the article involving Bernie Sanders, I wonder if and when people will get upset enough at how money has corrupted so much of how politics and elections work to do something about it. But this article is really depressing.

6. Wait, I'm a Millenial? - Short read, but I relate to it. Being born in 1981, I'm classified as part of the millennial generation. But based on their defining characteristics, it never seems to fit; similar to the article, I came of age during the Clinton presidency, was in college for 9/11, and had a job and a house before the 2008 Recession hit. Thus, being a millennial doesn't really fit, but neither does being a Generation Xer. Don't know where that places me (or that it really matters), but I find the discussion interesting nonetheless.

7. Measles and the Secret Knowledge - Kind of an editorial touching on the uproar over the past week with measles and vaccines. I agree with the author's take, there is no arguing with people who don't accept facts, make up their own, and claim it as secret knowledge. Its like arguing with those that deny climate change or evolution, there's nothing you can do to change their mind, because they have reached their conclusion without respect to any facts or data.