There was an advertisement for the XQ Super School Project. I'd never heard of this outfit before. I went to the website and looked around but only briefly. Looks to be a project to create the high schools of the future. STEM seems to be the main focus and they appear to have some serious funding behind them. I need to talk to my buddy Kevin about this next time I see him. I think he's been involved with one of the schools that has partnered up with XQ. While I certainly agree there needs to be changes to the high school model, I'm a bit wary of buying in to any outside group with a lot of cash without knowing where the money is coming from and what the agenda is.
The second item was an advertisement from the Open The Books organization. This was a two page ad that had an open letter to President Trump on one page and a list of 100 examples of government waste on the second page. The examples are quite interesting: Mistakes and Improper Payments Distributed By 20 Federal Agencies - $1.2 Trillion for fiscal years 2004 - 2017, 35,212 Federal Lawyers - $4.8 Billion for fiscal year 2017, and my favorite, Payments To Gay Mexican Prostitutes For Safe Sex - $53,419 for fiscal year 2015. That right there is why we have the 10th amendment to the Constitution. I really don't think that's the type of thing the Federal Government should be involved with - especially when they have to put their hand in my pocket to pay for it. Hit the link and check out the list for yourself and then look at your pay stub. Imagine how much better it could be if your contribution to the Fed hadn't been wasted.
On a note closer to home, I got out into the shop yesterday and worked a bit on the trials bike. Surly had taken a look-see while I was in Alaska and made some suggestions. He's thinking the photo above is the right look. We're pretty much in agreement as to what needs to be done, so I started changing some things around. I now have the bike set up for a large battery. If I get a smaller battery I can change the width of the battery box and move it up a couple of inches which will allow me to move the fender forward. I found the specs for a small one on line that is 3/4" narrower and 7/8" shorter. That should make a big difference in the fender placement so I'll see about buying one in the next couple of days, cut the old battery box out, make a new one up and get it tacked in. Once I've got that, finish mounting the rear fender.
1 comment:
Yeah, we'll need to talk about that school who is taking XQ money... what an outfit!
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