Writing This Blog for Myself

 For you newbies, I do this on a rare occasion. I write on something most of you have absolutely no interest......Sorry. I can't always write on the same thing. 

Today is election day in the UK. 

Local elections in England. For what they would call councils. 

In Scotland, election for the Scottish Parliament, known as Holyrood.  

And in Wales, an election for the Welsh Parliament.  

The people in the UK are upset with the Prime Minister, Kier Starmer and the House of Commons, which is controlled by the Labour Party which is the party of the left in the UK. 

Since the National Election in 2024 in the UK, people almost immediately became upset with the Labour Government controlling especially the economy and immigration policy. Labour had been put into power because the Conservative Party, known as the Tory Party, had done a bad job on both economics and immigration. And had controlled Parliament for 10+ years. 

In Scotland, there is a movement for Scottish Independence. And there is a party in Scotland that basically is as we talked about in government class, a " One Issue" party. To gain independence from the UK. 

That of course is the Scottish Nationalist Party. Or SNP. 

Odd group and while many members are Center-Left in their political leanings, there are conservatives within the SNP> An example of that was the first movie James Bond himself, Sean Connery, who was a SNP elected member of the Scottish Parliament, and was at one time a Tory.  

If they win today, one of the first things I look for them to call for is an election calling for the independence of Scotland from the UK. This will be the second independence referendum, the first one failed in 2014. 

Trouble is, I do not know, if the economics in Scotland is strong enough for they to keep from going broke....

I visited a political " center" for the SNP when we visited our 3rd time to the UK and picked up some " goodies" while there. If I had been still teaching government, they would have " appeared" in Room 22. 

In Wales, the party of Welsh Nationalism is the Plaid Cymru....Which simply translates to the " Party of Wales." 

They too are seeking Welsh independence.  The national legislature in Wales is called the Senedd. 

 Plaid Cymru  is leading in the polls as I write this blog. 

Not to confuse things and to keep this somewhat simple, there are relatively new parties in the UK that have really increased in popularity over the last couple of years.....If they win, we will write on them later this week, but to avoid too much confusion, we will only discuss the  Plaid Cymru and the SNP today. 

I know I will be listening, watching the British media this evening watching for result.....We'll let you know....  

  

 

Getting Rich in Buna ISD?

 It has been a while since I have received as many links either from emails, texts, private messages, etc. 

And this one was the link to the story on KFDM Channel 6's website concerning the pay of local Supt. of Schools. 

Of course, you work for a government entity, then you are subject to the taxpayer knowing how much you earn in a year.  

And to honest, that is the way it should be. 

So, I got to thinking....Who in government makes less than the Buna ISD Supt. of Schools? This according the US Government and the State of Texas....

Who makes less?

All salaries are per year.  

Your 2 US Senators at a salary of $174,000.....

Your Member of the US House, also at $174,000...

Gov. Greg Abbott $153, 750....But he does get a nice house to live in.....

All 31 members of the Texas Senate- $7200

All 150 members of the Texas House- $7200

But the members of the Texas House and Texas Senate only work 140 days every 2 years.  And they get a per diem every day they are in Austin.....But it is still less than $20,000.....And that is generally only in one year. 

I know a District Attorney in charge of 4 counties, one of which has about double the population of Jasper County, has a large staff he is in charge of, and most of his employees must have law degrees, must be a member of the Texas Bar..... He makes less. 

And he can put you, and has put people on " Death Row." ( "You can't think too much about it, other than remember what horrible crime the person committed to be sent there.")

( By The Way, little known fact, District Attorneys are paid by the State of Texas, not the counties they represent.) 

Now I know MOST Supt. of Schools now have Doctors of Education,  but don't get me started on the number of school administrators places like Lamar University or East Texas State( East Texas A&M now) "churn out like cord wood" now.....Don't get me started on the value of any degree today, and the British are saying the exact same thing about receiving degrees from Oxbridge....( That's Oxford and Cambridge)( I'll get mail on this paragraph....)

And as my friend, Tommy Mayhood always said, "the farther away from kids you get in education, the more money you make. "

The thing is, I wanted to be with the kids. I literally loved being the Gov/Eco teacher at Buna. Even for " 30 pieces of silver" I wouldn't take an administrative job. It is how much I loved being in the classroom. I know this is odd, but I literally looked forward to going to school. ( And people always ask this, " So why did you retire ?" Two reasons, I felt myself not being as good as I once was in the classroom.....And I wanted to travel while my health allowed me.)

I know the Supt. of Schools in Texas can negotiate their pay. And I know it is often a difficult job.......Just something to think about today. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buna Let Me Remind You......Teachers, Parents....

 ¹ To all things there is an appointed time, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

² A time to be born, and a time to die: a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.

³ A time to slay, and a time to heal: a time to break down, and a time to build.

⁴ A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance.( Why did the Baptists hide this from us?)

⁵ A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones: a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embracing.

⁶ A time to seek, and a time to lose: a time to keep, and a time to cast away.

⁷ A time to rent, and a time to sow: a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.

⁸ A time to love, and a time to hate: a time of war, and a time of peace

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 1599 Geneva Bible( The Bible that the Pilgrims carried with them to the New World)

 -  I know I should not have used an entire Biblical passage to start my blog, but this well, it came up first thing this morning. 

- After prayers this morning, I decided to take a look at the positions that are now open at the Buna Independent School District, and while there are several, I look for more to occur between now and the start of the 26/27 school year. They always happen. 

 Let me remind you teacher, yes, you like what you do, yes, you like the kids, but, it is a job. It is how you pay the rent, your mortgage. 

If you are unhappy, don't think the Buna ISD is owed something by you....It is not. You were looking for a job when you found the one you have now. 

Any school district will discard you like an old sock with a hole in it. 

Sometimes, many times, you need to change school districts until you find the right fit....Or perhaps in 2026 you realized the education business is not for you. 

Sometimes you need to get out of a district for your mental health.  

I see an opening right now at the school in which they had a teacher and somehow politics gets involved and the position is now open...I will talk about this, during the summer break. 

I seriously wonder if Mr. Thomas was teaching in 2026 how hard they'd be trying to " get rid of me?" And don't think they wouldn't. There were more people than you know glad to see me gone when I retired.  

-  Parents likewise. You have kids, you have a responsibility to get them some form of education, and if the local school district is not providing it, once again, you need to step-up. 

Sometimes you need to move out of the district. 

Sometimes you may need to teach the kids at home. 

Sometimes you need to give the school district in which you reside absolute hell.  

While there are sometimes bright people in school districts, there are often people running the place who don't have sense "God gave a goose."  And never mind many just do not understand Politics 101. Never mind any of them having read Machiavelli's " The Prince."  ( And that might be a good thing.)

It is basically 3 months before the new school year starts again, if you need to make a move, now is the time to get it in gear and do something. Don't wait.  

 

Again, It Could Be Worse....Bad Kids? S*x?

 And the computer is confused this morning.......playing a combo of Billy Joe Shaver( Got to love "Ragged Old Truck") Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Renaissance composer Claudio Monteverde's music. 

It is May. 

It is perhaps the roughest month to teach school. The kids right now are worthless. They don't wanna do nuthin'.

STAAR Exams are done....( Is anyone wondering if the commotion that occurred during the exams will have sort sort of affect on the scores? You know the school is concerned, especially for the high schoolers taking tests.)  

The kids can see the end. Teachers can see the end. 

And I say this as a former teacher that classroom teacher is tired, there is no tired like the month of May for teachers. 

Senior teachers have been fighting Seniorities for weeks now.  

Teachers, you got less than 3 weeks. You got this.  

( If you are planning on leaving the district, heck, any district, now is the time to be looking. )

- There were several people who were concerned about " sexual reference" I was included within....

Hey, it is the cost of writing blog. Doing so I have made myself a public figure( Even though I unless there is a trip to Houston, Lake Charles, England, Scotland in a trip, I hardly even leave the Compound here in Lemonville.) and I am subject to such. Probably more than you know. I get some humdingers I really should post. I really just go on because if I stopped every time I got insulted over the blog, well, there are not enough hours in the day. 

It is sort of why I have not started a podcast. I wonder what type of " Fresh Hell" that will bring? ( That said, looking at perhaps moving the parts of the blog to Substack....Monetize? Perhaps somethings? Or not?)

It is a concept that our political leaders and school officials especially local ones. do not understand. Lead a political organization , a taxing entity, you are subject to flak. Sorry, you just are, don't get mad, fix whatever you messed up. Don't get mad especially at your patrons paying for the district. They have a right to criticize you. That's what that Amendment 1 is all about. 

That said, thank you for worrying about my well being.  I need all the prayers and moral support I can get. 

- Okay, I had planned to take a few days off before the school situation(s). I am going to try and take off a few days that way, things will get stirred up and I will be writing every day.  

 

 

Day of Reckoning Coming-

 The computer decided this morning a part Coonass is listening, I better play some Coonass music....Wayne Toups, D.L. Menard, Jo-El Sonnier....And for some reason it is playing The Waterboys ( Scotch-Irish Band, often play folk music....)

Prepare yourself folks......

It is fixing to get bad. 

I know I have been saying this, but it is. 

Already in Southeast Asia the price of oil is $200-220 a barrel.  And the price of oil here could grow to that point. 

What would that mean here? $6-7 dollars a gallon for gasoline....and diesel? $10-11 a gallon. And that's here in the U.S. 

I can see demand for hybrids and Toyota Corollas,  Honda Civics, Subaru Crosstrex, well. a demand for those vehicles. No longer cool to drive a SUV.... 

And right now the oil market is being somewhat propped up by nation's reserves being released, and that is only temporary.  

Europe is going to run out of jet fuel within the next month. You would be amazed at what travels via air, and if it is Europe, it is going to hit the rest of the earth.  I already saw a fuel surcharge on a flight of $500.

The lack of fertilizer is going to cause starvation, especially in places like India, Southeast Asia, Pakistan, Africa, South America. And prices here are going to skyrocket, the old Supply and Demand. 

Australia is out of diesel. And they are a major producer of agriculture products, especially wheat. And most of their products go to China. Trust me, I have been in a grocery store ( Yes, they are just like our stores, then again, I was with some posh folks.) in China and about 40% of the products were from Australia and New Zealand. And what do combines, tractors, etc work on? That is right, diesel. 

They are conservatively talking about 50-250 million people starving to death... 

Then how many people just cannot find a job right now? I was watching a YouTube program in which there are now 50+ application for coffee barista positions in many areas. 

Ai is going to take 1/3 to 1/2 of the white collar jobs and CEOs are now saying that robotics is going to take a lot of the trades jobs.   

And I am not even talking about the natural gas disaster that is about to happen. Many of the electric generating power plants run on natural gas. How much will you electric bill be this summer? 

  Look for a mass migration north. And yes here, in desperate times, desperate people will do anything.  

Right now we are sitting pretty good, but from this chair, my economics " spidey sense " is me worried for the future. 

Okay, I have already had morning prayer, but I am so concerned, I think I will go and talk to the Divine again....  

 

 

I Know You Are Well Meaning Buna Ex-Students....But Please Stop....

 We have to do this every couple of years or so. 

I don't know, perhaps you don't understand the term, "Please Stop." Or perhaps, you got something started and cannot make it stop.  

I know some of you think I am going to Hell. I know some of you want to " save me from my wicked ways" but stop doing this. 

Please, stop sending me Opus Dei Prayer Cards with pictures of Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer or the Blessed Guadalupe,  or Pedro Ballester to me in the mail. 

At this point, I am not converting to the Church of Rome, the Church of England, the Church of Wales, and while my beliefs are more inline with the Church of Scotland, I am not converting to any of these even though I prefer a " High Church" service.And if we are in the UK, we are stopping and visiting a 700 year old church......So many of these churches, well, they are now too political and don't preach the Gospel like they should. 

I am not going to start going to a church that does the TLM( The Latin Mass), even though I took Latin when it was still offered at a Baptist seminary. ( In the 1980s, that was an oddity also.) 

For almost 70 years, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has tried to convert me.......And I have Mormon friends I have known for over 60 years, and well, other than I do have a taste for fruit drinks, I am not giving up coffee, tea, or an occasional snort....( I'll get in trouble for this, but I think Mormons are Christians too, and don't preach to me why they are not....I'll get messages on this....Please don't...)

Look, I am not faulting you for trying, but I am not converting at this point in my life.  

I am pretty happy with as Billy Graham would say, " My soul and its salvation."  

Arrest.....Administration...Future...Buna ISD

 I took the weekend off and well, mainly watched " The Rest is History" with the British Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook on YouTube. Mostly watched their new podcast of Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, and and their travels to Scotland in the 1700s. If you know, you know.....They even went to Loch Ness, before the "Monster" was a thing......I need to write a blog on how the " Monster" became thing....They followed the escape route of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Inverness to the Western Isles.....A trip I strongly suggest. We made the same trip and it made Deb and I fall in love with Scotland...

But, the ole Govteach digresses.....

So, an arrest has been made in the ai nekkid business. 

17 year old kid. You knew the arrest would be of 16-17-18 year old person.  

And trust me, it was a difficult, and necessary move by law enforcement in the county. 

He will be tried as an adult. 

I do not know, I have made decision, especially my last year keeping graduating seniors from walking, especially my last year of teaching for misconduct at Buna High......But, nothing like this.....

Already I have seen a couple of people make remarks about the kid's hair....Come on, have you seen my hair, when I had hair, at age 17? 

I am going to keep an eye on the outcome of the judicial in this case, and I have somewhat mixed emotions..... 

The real question is why it took 3 days for the Buna ISD to report the ai incident to law enforcement?  ( I have an opinion on this, but I am waiting to hear more info before I write on it....)

- Administration at Buna ISD is going to be a concern. 

Buna Elementary and Buna High are going to have a complete leadership change in the 26/27 school year, and trust me, it will be on concern, or should be of concern for everyone. 

Years ago, when I was teaching at Magnolia ISD, the district had a compete administrative overhaul, and well, it took years for the district to"get right."

Then the ISD is going to have how many new teachers in the district? 

They already are planning for 21, and trust me, after the past week, people will be looking for an exit. 

Retirement, new school, get out of teaching, go home and just raise your own kids rather than teach school.  

- The Future?

Man, I look for 26/27 school year to be really different to rough. 

New teachers, new admins, all probably in some form of a recession going on worldwide. 

I remember there was such a gas shortages back in the 1970s school buses had a hard time finding fuel and some didn't, and did not make their routes. If the fuel shortage hits us like I am afraid, I can see shortened school weeks, teaching going to home again being done via computer..... 

Already, I know of people pulling their children out of Buna ISD now, or for the next school year, after the events of the past week. Going to home-school, going to Evadale, Deweyville,  Vidor, whoever will take their kids.....As one parent told me...." Some other district has got to be better than what we got right now."

I also hear rumors of a majority of the board being displeased with leadership, while a minority is wanting to continue the course the Buna Schools are on...

I also hear that allegedly,  members are so fed up with the job, they cannot wait until their term is over. 

Buna ISD is in flux and I am afraid it is going to be that way for a while. 

As a parent, you have to look hard at what is needed for your kids and sometimes moving them is the best thing.