Hello Yupette,
I am appalled by the lack of interest in renovating the Planetarium. Planetary Science has become a hot field at NASA over the past 15 years. Isn't the First Lady of Arlington, Mrs. Zimmerman, employed by NASA? You would think that NASA headquarters employees who live in Arlington would be delighted to take the lead in renovating the Planetarium.
But it's not just the Planetarium. Arlington County Government is anti-knowledge and anti-learning. There is always plenty of money for sports and recreation, but branch library hours are cut back and branch libraries are constantly threatened with closure. Moreover, about 80% of what's on branch library shelves is fiction.
There is little or no discussion about what's happening elsewhere - whether it's on-site solar or MAGLEV trains. Arlington is a knowledge and learning backwater. Anyone else notice that we seem to be stuck in 1985?
Kristine - 22206
33 comments:
The architecture is also terrible.
"Captain, sensors indicate the Arlingtonians worship a spherical object they call a soccer ball."
You would think the Chamber of Commerce would become involved in fund raising.
As for the branch libraries, Arlingtonians apparently love mystery and romance novels.
FYI, NASA and other space scientists have discovered more than 500 planets over the past 15 years.
As for on-site renewable energy in Arlington, that topic is censored by Big Business.
Ever notice there is always a reason or reasons why things can't change for the better in Arlington? Example - County can't end O'Leary's car tax decal program..because
We've been stuck with the same people running the County, often for decades. O'Leary is one of them.
Take a look at the School Board. Abby Raphael is running for re-election on her resume. What is her resume? I'm a lawyer.
Then there's the Civic Federation ;-{
Don't expect anything from the Zimmermans. Anytime Zimmy mentions his kids it's in realtion to team sports.
What do you expect from a school system where the superintendent has a Ph.D. in sports management?
No money to increase library hours. Plenty of money for e-books.
My parents who live in F.C. are retiring this year and we're buying their home. My 2-year old is not going to attend Arlington schools.
Then there's the Sun Gazette
Two incumbent County Board members up for re-election are a soccer fanatic and a person who watched while the school system deteriorated when she was on the School Board.
Sarasota Scotty admitted today that the Sun Gazette has done well financially - ranging from profitable to extraordinarily profitable. So, what have Scotty and the Sun Gazette ever done for Arlington? Kept the status quo the status quo - like the present situation with the Planetarium. How about a thread, Yupette?
Catering to the desire of two parochial schools to become sports powerhouses is a poor use of County resources, especially when South Arlington public schools are performing poorly.
About half the 'news' in the Sun Gazette relates to sports.
Arlington has, literally, become like a right-wing or left-wing dictatorship. No deviation from supporting the status quo is allowed. News is heavily censored by the news media, whether the Post or the Sun Gazette. Knowledge, learning, and information are suspect. Sports are heavily promoted and subsidized. Does it bother you that after 10 years of fighting wars in the third world there is no discussion whatsoever about how much longer America will be fighting wars in the third world? Sure bothers me.
Not surprising, then, that 80% of what's on the shelves in the local branch libraries is fiction, DVDs and books.
Look what happened to Miriam Gennari when she ran for School Board last year. She was attacked by the PTA parents of underperforming schools for not respecting their "culture". Their culture of mediocrity.
You would think, from reading the local newspapers, that we live in a Rust Belt city where 80 percent of the adult population never attended college. In fact, the reverse is true.
What else can you expect from 30 years of Yuppieism?
Post's, Sun Gazette's, City Paper's, etc., corporate owners won't allow anything that might offend any advertiser in any way. Also you have major-league conflicts of interest happening at the Post - Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet on the Post Corporation's board of directors.
Post is also racist and elitist, as the last elections proved.
Post's so-called "style" section is edited by hicks from the West Virginia sticks.
McCaffrey wouldn't interview Miriam Gennari last year for fear that would offend the soccer parents.
It has gotten so absurd when it comes to national security, homeland security, and the armed forces that any critical thinking has to come from within the Obama Administration, not from the media.
Yes, in the event you wondered why that aircraft carrier captain got away with acting like a total a-hole for years, it's because there is no media oversight.
Next step for the library system is to close branch libraries and issue e-books pre-loaded with romance and mystery novels.
Aircraft carriers make good love boats but the really awesome love boats are supply ships like the U.S.S Arlington.
The e-books will complement the pseudo-science on the Discovery Channel.
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