John Erianne
Why Music Lessons Are Important
Published April 27th, 2012 | 
I always makes me angry when I hear about schools cutting funding for the arts. Especially music programs. It is short-sighted and detrimental to a child’s long-term educational progress. Do they not realize the far-reaching benefits of introducing children to music? Music lessons not only teach kids New to Music how to play and appreciate music, but it also helps kids develop other skills that will help them learn other subjects.
Did you know that early music education helps children develop reasoning and language skills? Studies have shown that music education is linked to increased spatial intelligence and creative reasoning. Children raised with music are more empathetic, learn good values and do better on tests than children without music education. According to the U.S. Department of Education survey on more than 25,000 secondary school students (NELS:88, National Education Longitudinal Survey), researchers found that students who report consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show "significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12."
Fat, Out-of-Shape, Lazy Writer
Published April 22nd, 2012 | I am fat. Seriously. I go to the gym at least 4 days a week. I take walks. Still cannot lose weight. When I’m not exercising, though, I basically sit on my ass in front of a computer. I might not feel so bad about that if I was doing some serious writing, but I’m not. Mostly I just stare into space and think about how fat my ass is and about all the writing I’m not doing. I don’t know. Maybe I should start taking myoripped or something. Maybe I should go to the gym 7 days a week. Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten that chocolate cake last night. Whatever . . . I know for a fact I should be writing more. A poem, short story. Another bad novel. Even a screenplay or an essay. Whatever. Not being able to write is a new problem for me. Makes me depressed.
The Fake Hilary Rosen Controversy Misses the Point
Published April 13th, 2012 | Hilary Rosen, Democratic mouthpiece, suffered a foot-in-mouth moment when she went after Ann Romney for being a “Stay-at-home” mom. Republicans are “outraged.” Stay-at-home moms are offended. Even the President has denounced her. Personally, I’m sick of hearing about it because, while Rosen didn’t do herself, the democratic party or President Obama any favors by expressing her point so badly, there are valid arguments to be made:
1. Whether you work outside the home or are a stay-at-home Mom, life is tough.
2. Ann Romney seems like a nice lady. In fact, she and her husband remind me of an aging Ken and Barbie. But the fact they are an attractive couple and may actually be “nice” people says nothing about whether or not the Romneys should occupy the White House. Rosen may not have expressed herself in the best way, but she did make a valid point: The Romneys are wealthy and have never struggled financially. They don’t understand what those of us among the 99 percent (both male and female) go through on a daily basis to survive in this country the way it is now.
3. Republicans around the country have been passing (or trying to pass) a number of laws assaulting Women’s hard-fought rights. These measures not only affect women personally, but also economically.
4. When Mitt Romney made the calculated, cynical decision to throw his wife out there as a surrogate for him on economic and woman’s issues, he made her a target. At least publicly, Mitt supports those anti-woman policies. To stick his wife out there as the face of those policies, and be shocked when a pundit on the opposing side takes a shot at her is incredibly disingenuous. Consider the hypocrisy of his claim that most of the jobs women have lost due to Obama’s policies. When Mitt or his wife makes this claim, it’s laughable. The fact is, a lot of those jobs were lost under the policies of Bush and most of the job losses among women during the Obama years were lost in the public sector, mostly due to budget cuts in the states led by Republican governors. Yet, according to Mitt and Ann Romney, there is no Republican war on women . . . Really?
Don’t get me wrong, I think when people like Hilary Rosen speak, they tend to add credibility to the Republican claims that Democrats are “elitist.” As such, the best thing Rosen can do for the President is to shut the hell up. But let’s not be fooled by Romney’s tactics of obfuscation. Let’s look beyond Rosen’s insult to see the truth: Neither Mitt or Ann Romney care about you.
* This post is sponsored by western handbags
