My Beauty Best Teacher

A DCPS special education teacher at Maury Elementary School calls it quits. 

Lately, I have received a number of emails and text messages from teachers and colleagues about how many DC public schools teachers are voluntarily calling it quits. Teachers that I have spoken to admit that some of their reasons for leaving are due to the IMPACT evaluation which was rolled out this year without it first being piloted. Many complain of inadequate training which is provided 'on the job' while teachers must digest an instrument that is complex and misinterpreted by principals, instructional coaches, program managers and master educators (who often aren't so master). Power points to supplement IMPACT are still being developed as we speak to help further explain rubrics that are not so specific. Teachers and service providers are rated in areas in which there has been limited training. Not to mention, the fact that it will take a total of three years for teachers to be graded on all of three of the IMPACT components. Teachers are complaining in some schools that they have lost their planning periods to more grade level meetings, extra duty, more paperwork and many other demands which result in lost time to plan. As a result many of our teachers come to work as early as 6:30 or 7 a.m. and stay until 6 or 7 p.m. and continue to work into the night. Yet they are still demonized in the press by Rhee and company. Time for family, friends and social activities is virtually non-existent.

Many teachers and service providers are receiving poor performance ratings on IMPACT evaluations with scores averaging in the minimally effective and ineffective range. Even I received a low impact score of course being marked down in the attendance area due to allegedly being seen at a protest rally while I was on scheduled leave. Could it be that Rhee's plan is to rate teachers low so that she can force out a significant share of our teaching workforce through terminations, lay-offs, resignations and retirement as revealed in her five year educational plan? 

I received an email from a teacher asking me to post the resignation of yet another certified DCPS teacher. Her email states - Hello Candi, "A certified special education teacher with a masters degree resigns from Maury Elementary School due to belittling by Principal Carolyne Albert-Garvey. Maury is located at 1250 Constitution Avenue NE. 20002. The principal heavily imposed special education coordinator (SEC) duties which is a full time job by the way and gave an unjust Impact rating. SEC duties "IMPACTed" no pun intended on this special education teacher's planning and instructional time. This special education teacher had a case load of 12 special education students in testing grades 3, 4 and 5. Go Figure... Now the school is left with a brand new uncertified teacher. Thanks." Signed, anonymous teacher

                                                                                   Posted by The Washington Teacher featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence and whistleblower.

S. D. Shibulal co-founder of Infosys:

"...shares his experience and wisdom on this issue with hopes of inspiring the next generation of leaders to not fear crises, but to embrace them and use them to learn and grow. He details three main themes for survival: accept reality, practice learned optimism, and lead by example..."

Last summer I decided to earn an extra few bucks by teaching a summer school class called Global Studies. Global Studies class is supposed to be a survey of the countries of the world, and touch on their geography, history, economic systems, and current political issues. It's a good class, and gives kids a nice introduction to world history, US history, comparative government, and geography. In my mind, I saw this class as an opportunity to teach kids about the history and issues facing every country in the world- oh, I know it would just be an overview, but it would still give me a real chance to teach kids. I was very excited to teach it at first. Then I met with the teacher who taught in full time during the year who showed me the way the class was supposed to be taught.

The first unit that was to be taught in the class was Africa. I'd already done some background research for this class and put together a binder of stuff that I wanted to talk about with Africa- the geography of the area, an overview of the history of the continent, talk about the types of governments found on the continent, and finally expose students to some of the modern issues facing Africa. I told the other teacher all about my ideas, the projects I'd planned, the lectures I was going to give, the articles students could read, and all the fun stuff we'd learn.

The other teacher listened to me talk about my plans for the class with a bored look on her face. At the end of my excited talk about my lessons, she looked at me and said "that’s nice work, but this is how we teach this unit.” She was around 40, and had been teaching this particular class full-time for almost 20 years- about 200 kids a year went through her class, which means that she'd had time to touch over 4000 kids so far. The way that she taught this unit was to give the students a textbook that they were to use and a worksheet packet to work on. That's how she wanted me to teach the unit.

"Okay, we'll use the book and the worksheets, but I'd also like to talk about other things too," I said, disgusted, but needing the paycheck from this job.

"Good," she said, "I also spice things up in the class. Our department has approved the following additional materials to be used in addition to the textbook." She handed me packets about racial issues, articles about the bad effects of colonialism, biographies of 'great' African leaders like Mandala and Mogube, a lecture on shamanism, a project on apartheid, and pictures of rain forests. "This is it," she said, "at the end of this unit, make sure that students understand that Africa is poor, starving, illiterate, black, and hopeless due to the oppression of white colonial powers."

Stunned by the one-sided nature of this unit, I sat in silence. Mistaking my silence for approval, she continued "If you want to do something really fun, in years past we've set up a charity in school to divert money from rich spoiled white kids to the poor people of Africa."

I found my breath again, and somehow managed to keep my anger in check as I hissed "Isn't this all just rather empty jargon? Where is the educating about the real history of Africa? Why is no time set aside to study the true nature of political and economic systems in Africa? Isn't this class just one that perpetuates stereotypes and promotes a shallow understanding of the issues that Africa faces?"

The other teacher looked at me in surprise, and then she frowned, and said "Just stick to the curriculum and don’t change it.” With that, I was dismissed.

I took whatever this teacher gave me, threw it in the garbage, and taught the class the way I wanted it taught. My 20 kids learned the history, geography, economic and political systems, and current issues facing Africa, and then Asia, and then Europe, South America, and every part of the world.

The next year, I wasn't asked back.

The aim of the Mars Group is:

...to create awareness and to generate an effective demand, by Kenyans, for accountability from Kenya's leadership and to encourage Kenyans to hold to account those who have committed improprieties.

via Bankelele

Reuters reports:

The head of Nigeria’s debt management office said he was hopeful of gaining parliamentary approval for its $500 million debut global bond now that conditions in the world economy had improved.Parliamentary approval for the planned naira-denominated bond is one of the last major hurdles for launching the offer, which the government hopes will establish a sovereign benchmark in the international capital market.

via Loomnie

The National Republican Trust has created something called "The Pelosi Index." It measures how closely each Democratic Representative in the House of Representatives is sticking to Pelosi's agenda by looking at where these Representatives voted on 10 key pieces of legislation. A lot of Democrat talk about being bipartisan, about being independent, about being fiscally conservative, about crossing over the aisle, or about being a 'Blue Dog', but the proof about what sort of America they support is in their votes on the House floor.

Out of the 10 Key Votes used to determine the Pelosi Index, Michigan Congressman Gary Peters, a Democrat representing Michigan's 9th District, voted in support of Pelosi on 9 of those votes. 9 out of 10 votes were for key Democrat issues. Peters voted 9 out of 10 times for left wing liberal pieces of legislation. Peters is not a moderate, he is not bipartisan, he is not independent, and he is not conservative in any way- he is a 90% reliable left wing vote for California liberal Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

Gary Peters voted for the massive $787 billion “Stimulus Bill” that has been blown on pet projects of little value to society while soaking up valuable funding. There was no money for this bill, so your children will have to pay for it someday.

Gary Peters voted for a $33 billion increase in funding for the children's health insurance program, so that it can be expanded to provide insurance to non-children, rich children, and illegal immigrants. It also included a 61-cent tax increase on tobacco products, which disproportionately impacts poor working families and is declining source of revenue.

Gary Peters voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which creates a new litigious business model of trolling for decades old employee complaints, redefined “discrimination”, opens businesses up to lawsuits beyond outright discrimination, and opens business to lawsuits from decades ago over unintentional acts of pay discrimination. Trail lawyers love it, but it will lead to higher labor costs, lower wages and loss of jobs- thanks Gary for your vote!

Gary Peters signed on to the irresponsible 2009 omnibus budget bill, which was an unrestrained government spending spree that totals $410 billion and includes more than 9,000 earmarks. This bill represents an 8.3% increase in domestic spending, dwarfing the rate of inflation, and when combined with the recently passed stimulus bill (HR-1) which Peters also voted for, it results in an 80% total increase for discretionary programs this year.

Gary Peters voted in favor of the Cap and Trade bill, which would be the largest tax increase in the history of the world. The cap and trade scheme would place a cap on carbon emissions, which would ultimately drive up the cost of production of every item produced, transported and consumed in America. The whole point of this scheme is to significantly increase the price of electricity and gas so that Americans will use less. If implemented companies in his district would be crippled by regulation and unable to compete in the global marketplace.

Gary Peters voted against Michigan Congressman Stupak's Anti-Abortion Amendment. I'm not sure what Peters position was when he ran for office last year, but I doubt it was on supporting attempts to funnel your taxpayer money to run abortion clinics. This amendment, which bans the federal government from supporting abortion clinics with taxpayer money, passed with Democrat and Republican support- but Gary Peters was against it because he wants to take money from you to abort babies.

The Pelosi version of Obamacare represents a $1.3 trillion government takeover of the health care system that will raise insurance premiums, increase the overall cost of healthcare and raise taxes. Gary Peters supported it.

Gary Peters supported the “death tax” legislation that would permanently impose a 45 percent inheritance tax on estates larger than $3.5 million. Small businesses and family-owned farms are often hit the hardest by this tax, and this legislation is not adjusted for inflation, which means more and more American families will be subject to this tax every year. Gary Peters want to tax you and then tax you again when you die.

After supporting raising the US debt ceiling over and over, Gary Peters finally voted against Nancy Pelosi and voted against raising it by another $1.9 trillion to a record high $14.3 trillion. I guess he doesn't support raising the debt ceiling, but yet he supported all the spending that makes that necessary. If the debt ceiling would not have been raised, the US would have defaulted on loans and been faced with higher interest rates- so what was Peters thinking with this one? He supported the spending- at least be a consistent left-wing liberal and do the responsible thing, Peters, and vote for my children to pay for your schemes.

Ron Paul is an evolutionary dead end for the Republican Party, conservatives, and libertarians, and I don't care if this pisses off those fools at Lew Rockwell.

That's not to say that Congressman Ron Paul doesn't play a role in the evolution of conservatism and isn't someone to be admired. He does have his good points- he is a good loyal libertarian, he brings up solid points at times and maintains good arguments about issues that others have decided are already decided, and he is an important critic of our current government. Plus, unlike most libertarians who work hard to get communists and fascists elected by voting Libertarian, Ron Paul understands that it is important to be a Republican.

But Ron Paul is not the direction that the Republican Party should go, and young people, conservatives, and Tea Parties should be fully aware of why Ron Paul is not a serious candidate for anything beyond "Important Congressional Critic of Stuff."

Ron Paul engages in and encourages conspiracy theorists, his newsletters of the '80s and '90s were filled with anti-Semitic and racist rants, and he sometimes shoots at his allies in Congress more than he does his enemies. Sometimes I indulge in fantasies about returning to the gold standard, withdrawing all troops from abroad, and living in a libertarian fantasy world, and then I wake up and grow up and realize that a lot of that stuff that Paul preaches is childish and unrealistic, and that's okay except that he doesn't realize that it is childish and unrealistic.

I guess when I was younger, I was a libertarian, but as I am getting older, I am becoming a solid conservative, and looking less and less at Ron Paul as someone who is a valid model to emulate. A lot of my students read his stuff and get enthusiastic about him, and they did about Obama too, and that bothers me, because both have visions of the world that don't match reality. It's okay, they'll grow up someday too and become conservatives.

Abhay Abhay (Advisor to the EFCC of Nigeria) on building local financial crime fighting resources:

“To investigate a case of inexplicable wealth, an investigator needs to know laws, rules and practices, not only when it comes to corruption and crime, but also in a number of other areas – the purchase and sale of property and vehicles, establishing and dissolving companies, dealing on the stock exchange, the code of conduct for public officials, income tax and so on.”...investigators must also learn cultural and social practices that affect consumption, spending, investment and the presentation of gifts.

More here

Nope, this is not some sort of jab at Obama- this is a real job that is available through Oakland County Michigan government. Funded through property taxes and stimulus money, Oakland County is looking for a candidate for a Summer Seasonal Program Specialist opening.

This candidate must have at least six (6) months experience in a supervisory or administrative capacity in a parks, recreation and/or program setting and have at least six (6) months experience in producing and performing in puppet shows and must have completed two shows. That doesn't narrow it down at all, now does it?

So, if you know someone already working in government who has performed two puppet shows, there yet another job opportunity available for them. Sadly, there are no jobs posted yet for existing Presidents who have only performed one puppet show, but I am sure that the stimulus has some money set aside somewhere for that.

Oh, and this puppet show job is a pretty good job too- it pays $13.51 an hour to put on puppet shows for children, with a supervisor on a nice salary to manage this person. And soon this government will be managing (or mismanaging) your health care decisions with your money (what's left of it).

So, if you are an existing parks employee who has put on more than 2 puppet shows and don't have any felonies, there is a job for you- contact Oakland County Human Resources for more information.

Ghana's Danquah institute calls for examination of e-voting Mac-Jordan writes in Global Voices:

...the Danquah Institute (DI), a policy think tank, research and analysis centre, is urging a national platform for stakeholders to lead the discussion on the possibility of facilitating the adoption of biometric voter registration, and subsequently the e-voting system in Ghana.

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• Ushahidi Ghana Meet up (ushahidi.com)

Painting portraits is considered to be the artist’s last frontier, but the beginner may make the mistake of paying insufficient attention to noses in favour of eyes and mouths because noses have the same skin colour as the rest of the face. Furthermore, the artist’s dilemma of dealing with the nose’s foreshortening effect may result in a nose that looks lopsided or having edges that don’t exist

Common Mistakes in Painting Noses

The most common error the beginner in portraiture and figure painting is delegating the nose as virtually invisible, in preference to the other facial features. When the portrait is finished, however, the artist may discover the importance of the nose, in that it holds the rest of the portrait together. The artist may make the mistake of thinking the eyes or the mouth is wrong, where in fact, the problem lies with the nose. The following practices should be avoided:

• Painting the nose as a tubular form with two nostrils at the bottom
• Illustrating the nose in a linear way and giving edges to the nose that don’t exist
• Painting the nose as pointing to the viewer, whereas the rest of the face is at an angle
• In an attempt to illustrate the nose’s extension when in foreshortening, illustrating the nose as side-on, despite the face facing the viewer, making the nose appear wonky
• Painting the nose as central to the face, even though the face is at an angle, making it appear to be off-centre
• Painting only the bottom of the nose, forgetting the bridge of the nose between the eyes

How to Paint Noses in Portraits

In order to get to grips with painting noses, the following exercises and practices will help:

• Practice painting or drawing long objects in foreshortening, which means pointing straight at the viewer. A finger, a clothes peg or spoon would be ideal. This exercise help the artist override the temptation to illustrate the length of the object, even though it cannot be seen
• Pay special attention to nostrils. Far from being two round holes, they can appear flattened, or tadpole-shaped. Nostrils are not always visible from certain angles.
• The contours of the nose should never be illustrated in a linear way. The nose is often merely a series of vague and subtle patches of light and shadow
• Take note of different nose shapes. They can be thin, tapered, conical or bulbous. An ideal nose doesn’t exist
• Some noses have a slightly different hue to the rest of the face, particularly at the base
• Pay special attention to the bridge of the nose between the eyes. Some artists make the mistake of thinking the eyes are wrong, where in fact the shadows around the bridge of the nose might need tweaking. Deep shadows often reside in this area if the light is oblique and can give the portrait expression
• Resist falling into the trap of painting the nose as full on, where the rest of the face is at an angle

Paint Tips and Techniques for Noses

If the artist wishes to produce a portrait from a photograph, a clear and good quality image is essential. The facial features must not be bleached out by a flash or bright light. In fact, side-lit will bring out the contours of the face, particularly the nose. Never use lines to illustrate the nose, but abstract shapes in tone and colour. If the portrait is not working quite right, turning the photograph upside down and completing the painting upside down too, will help reboot the brain and see the image in a new way. Remember to turn the image the right way up again now and then, to make sure the portrait is working as planned.

Essential Art Materials for Nose Painting

click to buy from Amazon

Basic skin colours can be achieved from burnt sienna, burnt umber, permanent rose, ultramarine and white. However, other colours will often be seen on flesh. Because the nose is often the most reflective surface, it may exhibit highlights or reflections from neighbouring objects, such as clothes. The shadow beneath the nose is not always merely black, but can be neutrals and even greens. Good quality artist brushes such as Kolinsky sable sizes 0, 3 and 6 will suffice for portrait painting, including the nose.

Links Relating to Portraiture

Oil painting books on portraiture
Flesh tones in portraits
How to paint children from a photo
How to paint figures

The Democrats are going to make another push for their healthcare bill. Let's not forget why we opposed this bill in the first place. As I wrote in Tyranny: Healthcare Reform Threat to Life, Liberty, and Property :

The Democrats healthcare plan is going to need my tax money to be put in place, and thus it does not increase the protection of my property from government, and recent reports and reviews by several groups in government and business have concluded that this healthcare plan will indeed end up costing most American’s more money in the end, further eroding my property.

The Democrat’s healthcare plan does not adequately address concerns for life either. The plan is going to create panels who will evaluate whether or not someone or something should be covered, and this may indeed put pressure on a government that wants to contain costs to not do everything in its power to protect the life of seniors in our society.

Nor does the plan adequately address concerns that taxpayer money and government support will not be used to support or encourage abortions. It is not hard to imagine that a government that is concerned with keeping down the costs of healthcare coverage may somehow with some policy push for the abortion of special needs children who will indeed be a great cost on a national healthcare system.

My objections to the Democrats healthcare plan are based on an understanding of what the proper role of government in our society should be, as written about by those great men who founded our nation. They wrote that the purpose of government is to protect my life, my liberty, and my property, and not to create vast bureaucracies of unelected officials who will control my life, my liberty, and my property.

Don't forget what is in this bill that the Democrats want to pass- Death Panels Are in the Healthcare Bill, and none of President Obama's proposed changes diminish any of the sweeping pro-abortion problems in the Senate bill and he actually proposes to increase the funds that would be available to directly subsidize abortion procedures (through Community Health Centers) and to subsidize private health insurance that covers abortion (through the premium-subsidy tax credits program).

I've tried to simplify this for you before- Simplifying the Healthcare Debate and Simplifying the Healthcare Debate Again. But all you really need to know about this healthcare bill you already know- that Obama's Health Care Plan Attacks Life, Liberty, and Property:

Obama's health care plan attacks life, by subsidizing abortion clinics at birth, by denying care and treatment (through rationing and bureaucratic delays) during life, and by denying care and treatment (through 'consoling and discussion') at the twilight of life.

Obama's heath care plan attacks choice, by replacing the patient-doctor relationship with one of patient-bureaucrat-doctor, where if you choose a procedure or drug, a government employee can tell you no. It removes responsibility to work hard and insure your own self, and gives up your freedom and liberty to government run and regulated faceless bureaucrats.

Obama's health care plan attacks property, because in order to pay for it, he needs to raise money. That money is either borrowed, which lessens the worth of all other money in the system, including mine, or the money is raised, by taking it from me. I worked for whatever money I earn- if the government did not exist, I would still work for whatever money I earn and it would be mine- therefor the government is not the creator of money nor the lawful taker of it. Obama's heath care plan will take my property in the form of higher taxes, fees, or borrowed funds.

Remember why you opposed this healthcare plan in the first place, and do not let your Congressman forget.

Painting eyes within a portrait may instil fear in the beginner, causing a diffident approach. Eyes may end up lacking colour or shading, except in the irises and the pupils, resulting in a blank look. The slightest inaccuracy around the eyes may result in a portrait that does not look quite like the subject. How does the beginner tackle painting eyes for the first time?

Problems with Eyes in Portrait Painting

The eyes are the focal point within any portrait, and are therefore the most crucial. Unless the eyes have been rendered accurately, the portrait may lose its likeness to the subject. Common problems with eye painting may be due to the following practices:

• Painting eyes with the simplistic belief that they should always be rendered as follows: they are almond shaped, are surrounded by eyelashes, have a circular pupil and part of a half-moon iris in view
• Dividing eyes into three main colours: blue, green or brown, and using one of these colours to paint irises
• Painting a round black pupil in the middle of the visible white eyeball
• Similarly, always painting the eyeball white
• Forgetting that eyes have contours and shadows around the eye itself, as well as on the eyeball, and painting the skin colour as merely beige or pink.
• Not rendering the ridge around the eye, but illustrating it as a simple line, making the eye appear two-dimensional
• Pointing every eyelash and brow hair in the same direction
• Illustrating contours around the eyes as linear
• Forgetting to look at the photograph when painting eyes, but subconsciously painting what the artist believes an eye should look like

How to Paint Eyes with Realism

By addressing the problems with painting eyes, the beginner could see improvements in portraits when addressing the following:

• Forget what eyes “should” look like, but view them as abstract areas of shadows and colours
• Forget the eye-colour labelled to the subject. A person with brown eyes may have irises that contain other colours, including gold, yellows and greens
• Never paint the whites of the eyes as simply white. Dark shadows can often be seen below the eyelid, and again could contain definite hues, such as blues and earth colours
• Eyelashes never point in the same direction. Depending upon the viewpoint, the hairs may appear to point in diverse directions. Similarly, illustrating each hair could result in a harsh representation of eyelashes. Hairs close together will appear as a dark area
• Reflections over the eyeball and the pupil are not always merely white, but can be many colours
• The shadows and contours around the eye are crucial. Dark shadows can often be seen below the eyebrows and beneath the eyes

Tips on Painting Eyes

It is advisable to paint eyes last in a portrait. Getting the colours and the shadows accurately on the face and around the eyes is crucial in making eyes work. This means sensitive observation on light and shadow. When painting eyes, the following tips will help:

• Eyeballs are rarely just white, but may have deep shadows. A little ultramarine and burnt sienna will kill the artificial white
• Look out for colours within reflections over the eyeball and the pupil
• Rather than illustrate each follicle, half close the eyes and simplify the area into tonal areas
• Look for a multitude of colours within the irises, not just white
• Take extra care over the shape of the eyelid, as too much either way could give the subject a sleepy or surprised look

Essential Art Materials Required for Painting Eyes

click to buy from Amazon

Good quality thin sable brushes are crucial. Size 0 or 1 for detail and highlights are ideal. Size 3 and 6 are good for applying small areas of light and shade around the eyes. Blending the colours will add softness to the eyes.

Satisfactory skin colours can be found in burnt sienna, permanent rose, burnt umber, cadmium red and white, although other colours will be seen. Avoid paint tubes exhibiting “flesh tint,” as the resultant flesh colour will look artificial. Lamp black is good for pupils, but use sparingly. To retain a smooth finish, a little linseed oil can be mixed into the colour mixture. Completing the portrait in layers will add depth to the colours of a portrait.

Links Related to Portrait Painting

• Oil painting books on portraiture
• Flesh tones in portraits
• How to paint figures
• Painting children from a photo

What do you do if you are a liberal Democrat in 2010 and are likely not going to get re-elected? Sit an election out, get Obama to appoint you to some government job, suck down benefits and pay, and re-evaluate in 2012. Oh, and sit on all that cash that was donated for you for your re-election bid.

Via Political Wire, Swing State Project has compiled a list of cash-on-hand figures for all members of congress who are not running for re-election or have resigned this cycle. While retirees regularly donate the bulk of their left-over cash to their party's House and Senate campaign arms, this cycles retiring Democrats are "sitting on an enormous $33 million stockpile," despite the fact that their colleagues are facing an incredibly tough election environment.

$33 million dollars would go far in putting out new advertisements trying to convince voters that Democrats are moderates who believe in transparency and tight budgets; after all, moronic voters all around our good nation were duped into supporting Obama has cycle. But these Democrats don't believe in the socialist cause- nope, they are only in it for themselves, displaying their true power hunger by sitting on these stockpiles of campaign cash rather than spending them this election cycle.

For example, Rahm Emanuel resigned from Congress to be the guy who whispers advice into the President's ear, and shoved $1,179,094 in the bank for when he wants to run for Congress again once his boss gets kicked out in 2012. Evan Bayh just stepped aside from his Senate seat, but I don't think we have heard the last of this liberal Democrat- he is sitting on $12,987,399 in the bank. That's 12 million, folks- that'll usually buy you a nice Senate seat in an environment that isn't filled with Tea Parties.

Ikhide R. Ikheloa writes in 234Next

Liberal orthodoxy is avuncular and patronising and it bestows upon the "helpless" African a benevolent but malignant label - subhuman. It is malignant because most days these days we spend our waking hours trying to convince the other that well, we are human, just like them. Why do they see us differently from how we see ourselves? Is racism alone the answer to that question?...[continue reading]

via Loomie

In politics, a mandate is the authority granted by a constituency to act as its representative. The concept of a government having a legitimate mandate to govern via the fair winning of a democratic election is a central idea of democracy. New governments who attempt to introduce policies that they did not make public during an election campaign are said to not have a legitimate mandate to implement such policies.

Barack Obama does not have a legitimate mandate to pass health care reform. After announcing this policy initiative, the polling data has revealed that America does not want it. The townhalls that were held to discuss his health care reform proposals turned into angry mobs. In almost every election held since Obama announced his desire to reform health care, his supporters have been shockingly destroyed. Tea parties are held in every district in every state in the nation, each month or week. President Obama does not have the just authority to pass health care reform, and because of this, he should not.

And yet, in spite of this evidence, President Barack Obama is upping the ante on health care. On the eve of sitting down with Republicans to discuss health care and how bipartisan compromises can be reached through discussion and deliberation, he dropped his new health care proposal on the nation, and it is even worse than anything that has come before it. Although it keeps with this administration's policy of not being transparent and having few details, what has been released by Obama is an even larger, more expensive, more insulting version of the Senate version that never was passed before.

More spending, more subsidies, and more taxes. That's not what the American people elected Obama for. Go back and watch his campaign commercials. Read the interviews from people who voted for Obama. Watch the debates again. Obama dodged and ducked and muddled, but people thought he was clear enough when he promised to cut spending, cut subsidies, cut corruption, cut earmarks, cut taxes, engage in bipartisanship, and be transparent with policy creation. Instead though, he has doubled down on everything bad and wrong about American politics- whatever voters didn't like about Bush, Obama has doubled down, and doubled down again, and when told by the American people to stop, he has doubled down again.

The central idea of a democracy and the basis of legitimacy to rule in a democracy is having politicians that listen to the voters and do what they want. But Obama does not like democracy, perhaps because he was not raised in a nation that values it, and Obama is losing his legitimacy to rule. Probably a better word for Obama is tyrannus, meaning illegitimate ruler- Obama increasingly displays the habits and methods of a harsh and cruel ruler who places his or her own interests ahead of those of the American people.

The beginner’s floral artwork may portray flowers as having bright colours such as pinks, oranges and reds. The flower heads look flat and idealistic, the same flower head shapes echoing throughout the painting. In an attempt to give the flowers form, the artist may introduce black or dark brown into the colour mix, resulting in dirty colours.

Troubleshooting Floral Art

The culprit of an unsatisfactory oil painting of flowers will often result from the following practices:

• Painting flowers with the preconception that flower heads always contain bright colours
• Representing the foliage around the flowers with one green pigment, or a mixture of one blue and yellow throughout
• Trying to darken a bright colour with black
• Painting flowers with preconceptions about the shapes of the flower heads, resulting in an idealised flower shape
• A profusion of too many bright colours may rob the painting of any focal points
• A cheap artist’s selection box that does not contain the true primary colours is often insufficient to create all the colours required for flower painting, resulting in inferior colour mixes
• Trying to paint flowers from memory, if the resource at hand is insufficient

The Secret to Painting Flowers with Realism

Dispelling beginner’s mistakes as described, will take the floral artist a long way towards painting more satisfactory botanical art.

• Never try to darken a bright colour with black. It is better to darken a colour with its complimentary colour, which is the opposing colour on the colour wheel to a given colour. The complimentary colour of red, for instance, is green; the complimentary colour of yellow is violet.
• Flower heads often contain sombre colours, such as dark earth colours and neutrals which can be seen if the flower heads are in shade
• Fluorescent colours often seen when sun shines through petals can be emphasised if the background around the bright colour is dark
• Applying a neutral-coloured wash of diluted acrylic paint prior to painting flowers will help the artist measure the tonal values of flowers, as opposed to applying bright colours straight onto a white painting surface.
• Observing flowers out of their normal context, such as next to rusty tools or from an unusual viewpoint, such as from above, will help the artist get a fresh view of flowers.
• Sensitive observation of the shape of flowers will often surprise. The robust shapes found in a painting of sunflowers, or the graceful loops found in the clematis deserves exploration

Oil Painting Mediums for Painting Flowers

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Experimenting with different artist painting mediums will provide a multilayered feel to a painting of flowers. Mixing linseed oil into a colour mix and applying it over a dry area of paint will provide an effect like tinted glass. This oil painting technique is known as “glazing.” To emphasise texture, impasto medium can be mixed with the oil paint and applied onto the flower heads to make them appear to stand out of the painting.

Essential Art Materials for Floral Art

The primary colours must be included within the artist’s palette when painting flowers. These are labelled differently according to the paint manufacturers. Some include the word “process” or “permanent” with the hue name. In oil paint, permanent rose, cadmium yellow (pale) and pthalo blue will provide clean colour mixes.

White with a hint of burnt sienna will provide brilliant creams often seen in bedding plants. Viridian green, a garish green on its own, will provide beautiful greens if muted with burnt sienna, burnt umber or permanent rose. However, keen observation will reveal that any colour can be found in flowers, some of which will surprise.

Links on Painting Flowers

• Advice on floral artwork
• How to photograph flowers
• Mixing green paint
• How to paint sunflowers
• How to paint petunias
• How to paint clematis
• Painting flowers wet into wet
• Books on painting flowers

The background to a painting is often a forgotten element when a composition is set up. An empty and featureless area could be a problem unforeseen until the completion of the painting. This could ruin the artwork, regardless of how well the objects have been painted. How does the beginner overcome the problem of empty backgrounds in a painting?

How a Background can Ruin a Painting

The following practices are often the causes of unsatisfactory backgrounds in painting.

• Giving sole consideration to the objects within a composition, without thinking about the background shapes, for exmple when composing a still life setting.
• Viewing non-solid objects, such as clouds, reflections and shadows as incidental
• Using a neutral or pale colour for backgrounds. Similarly using one colour to represent a background within a painting, such as green for landscapes or blue for the sky
• Having too much going on in the background, causing loss of focal points within a painting
• Painting the background from memory, resulting in an idealised background which will fail to convince.

Background Colours to Painting

A good composition in painting can be achieved if the background is given equal importance as the foreground. These two elements to a composition are known as “negative” and “positive” shapes. Positive shapes are the objects themselves. Negative shapes are the spaces in between. The following suggestions on what to do with negative shapes may help solve the problem of what to do about the backgrounds in paintings.

• As well as looking at the shapes of the objects within a painting, give equal consideration to the shapes of the spaces between the objects. Look out for an imbalance in distribution. For instance, is there a large area of negative space within one area of the composition? If so, rearrange the objects or shift the viewpoint.
• Look out for any linear echoes which may jar the painting, such as too many vertical lines which may remain unnoticed in the background until the painting is completed.
• Simple elements make effective backgrounds, such as a pebbledash wall or crazy paving. Rustic wood, brick, climbing ivy, particularly under oblique lighting, add a textural element to a painting, which can be achieved by a painting technique known as Sgraffito.
• Use backgrounds to create contrast in hues, as well as texture. A background containing a cool palette adds interest to a foreground consisting of warm colours
• Juxtaposing complimentary colours such as violet and yellow, or blue and green will create a shimmering effect and add focal points to a painting. Introducing neutral colours will tone down a background that might be too garish

To heighten awareness of backgrounds, examine photographic snapshots and look for background elements which the photographer may not have been aware of. Use the same practice when deciding on a background for a painting.

What Makes a Good Background in Painting?

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Non solid elements within a painting could create effective backgrounds if given equal consideration to solid objects. Textures in clouds, reflections in water and dappled shadows could provide a focal point. Further ideas for backgrounds for paintings could be clouds formations, such as a mackerel sky, a silhouette on a curtain or a foliage cascade.

Links on Oil Painting Advice

• Oil Painting Demonstrations
• Oil Painting books
• Art materials

The Causes of Poorly Painted Shadows

• Using black or dark brown on its own, or mixed with another colour to represent shadows
• Darkening a colour with black
• Using one colour for all the shadows within a painting
• Illustrating shadows as having a definite shape with harsh outlines
• Assuming that all shadows point the same way from a particular viewpoint, making shadows appear to “sprout” from objects at the same direction throughout the painting
• Forgetting to take shadows into account within a composition, resulting in a painting with shadows spilling off the edge of a painting
• Trying to paint shadows from memory
• Using shadows as a gap filler within an empty area of painting

How to Paint Shadows

More realistic shadows can be achieved with the following tips on painting shadows:

• Put the black paint in the bin
• Darken a colour by introducing its complimentary colour. Green for instance, can be darkened with any colour containing red, such as red itself, violet, burnt sienna, Indian red or permanent rose
• But shadows also contain a host of different colours, depending upon reflections and lighting conditions. Unlikely colours, such as greens, earth colours and violets can often be seen in shadows
• Shadows contain varying tones, from pale to dark. Part of a shadow, for instance, may reflect a summer sky, making part of it appear a pale blue. Another part of the same shadow will appear darker
• Shadows have different types of outlines. Shadows cast from far objects will appear diffuse; shadows cast by nearby objects will have sharper outlines. A shadow from a tree, for instance, will have different outlines depending upon the height from which the shadow was cast
• Shadows will appear to point in different directions if the viewer is facing the source of light. Similarly, shadows spilling over a wall will change direction according to the contour of the surface

Make Shadows Interesting in Painting



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 There are lots of opportunities for making shadows more interesting in a painting. A shadow spilling over different contours, such as a brick wall will create a focal point. Dappled shadows on a bright day or lengthening shadows over a lawn in the evening cannot fail to draw the eye. Viewing shadows from unusual angles, such as pointing directly at the viewer will make shadows the focal point within a painting.

Essential Art Materials Required for Painting Shadows

The following pigments will prove invaluable when painting shadows and can be used as a base colour: burnt sienna, burnt umber, ultramarine blue, permanent rose and white, although other colours will be seen within shadows. A good photographic resource or still life setting with shadows is also invaluable. Keeping it simple is the key for the beginner.

But great satisfaction can be sought from painting shadows outdoors from life, in which case, the changing lighting conditions will need to be taken into account. It is advisable to paint the shadow element of a painting simultaneously, before they shift direction too much.
Related Articles on Painting Shadows

• How to paint light and shadow
• Primary colours in art
• How to mix oil paint
• How to paint shadows in Buttermere
• Books on landscape painting

The Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation intends to establish a:

Neuroscience Centre of Excellence for Ghana and the people of West Africa. This would be the West African education and teaching centre for clinical neuroscience, training nationals on the continent and providing high quality neuroscience care for the region.

The colour green in landscape painting often poses big problems for the artist, because it is found in abundance within trees, grass and foliage. The beginner may fall into the trap of using just one green to express what should be an abundant variety of greens in nature. The resultant painting may fail to convince the viewer.

How To Mix Greens for Landscape Painting and Botanical Art

The problem with green is that is it often viewed as a colour of convenience for backgrounds, or for when the artist runs out of ideas of what to do with a particular area. The following practices are the culprit of unconvincing greens:

• Using only one green to paint foliage within a painting, merely lightening the colour with white, and darkening green with black or a dark brown
• Again, using only one blue and one yellow to mix green and using it throughout the painting
• Failing to observe the subtle varieties of green which may contain reds, violets and earth colours, resulting in a harsh representation of chlorophyll on flower paintings and landscapes
• Using a thin brush to illustrate every leaf and twig within a painting, resulting in highly illustrated and harsh feel to foliage
• Forgetting to look at greens of real life, painting what is imagined rather than what is real

Tips on Mixing Greens for Painting

The following tips will help improve green mixing when painting nature

• Natural greens are surprisingly muted, containing other colours such as earth colours, crimsons, pinks and violets. Viridian green, for example, is a harsh colour on its own, and will spoil a landscape painting, but when mixed with another colour, beautiful greens will result
• Including blues and yellows with different colour temperatures within the palette – warm and cool, will add variety to greens in painting
• Greens also have varying tonal values as well as variations in hue. Green can be darkened by mixing green’s complimentary colour, red, or any colour containing red, such as crimson, violet or an earth colour, which is better than using black. Greens are surprisingly pale in the distance, often muted by an earth colour and white
• Observe greens in real life. Autumn leaves contain cadmium yellow and burnt sienna; unripe apples contain lemon yellow and pthalo blue, both greens contrasting sharply. Greens can differ as much as the colour spectrum if observed closely, and will raise awareness of how greens actually look.
• Begin a painting with the green aspect, to avoid falling into the trap of rushing the painting at the end, and not giving proper thought to greens

Essential Art Materials for Painting Greens

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Painting natural looking greens can be achieved by widending the green palette. This can be achieved by including two yellows, two blues, viridian and white within the colour selection. Ultramarine blue is a warm blue, and can often be seen on shadows on lawns. Pthalo blue is a cool blue, and can be seen in pine trees. Cadmium yellow is a warm yellow, which can be seen on autumn leaves. Lemon yellow is a cool yellow and can be seen on young willow trees. Viridian adds punchiness to a green mixture, but in nature, green is often surprisingly muted.

Burnt sienna, burnt umber, permanent rose and violet are ideal for muting greens to express misty weather or to darken green. Using good quality bristle brushes such as ox hair will help retain an Impressionist representation of green. For detail on foliage, a thin sable brush can be used.

Articles on Mixing Greens

• How to mix green paint
• Demonstration on painting a green landscape
• Primary colours in art
• Books on floral art

"Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an ailment without which it instantly expires… As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed... …The absolute rights of all free men, in or out of Civil society, are principally personal security, personal liberty and private property… The Legislature has no right to absolute arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes of the people.” James Madison

What our founding fathers knew is that in order for a free society to form and prosper, one based on treating everyone equally and treating each other decently, we would need to tolerate and support different factions of people fighting one another. These factions, whether they be political parties, interest groups, or other groups in society, are free to argue about the nature of government and government's role as much as they want, as long as they respect people's right to life, liberty, and property, since the government never has any power over these. But all other partisanship is okay, and indeed, even to be encouraged.

While some in our government, mainly Obama and the Democrats, argue that partisanship is bad and that we need to rely on their vision of selfless disinterested fighting for the people, what they really mean is that they want people to give up their struggle for their life, liberty, and property and to roll over and give in to the tyrannical vision the Democrats would subject on the people if they were not continually blocked and opposed by the most bitterly partisan of Republicans.

The White House is trying to end 'partisanship', its latest ploy being a health-care summit on Thursday. The President claims that this will restore everything to normal again, and we'll have two parties talking things out, bipartisanship flowering, order restored.

This is a vision of tyranny, and a romantic vision at that- never in our history has there been anything like this, except when one party dominated, and that was always to detriment of the nation. Bipartisanship and order restored sounds to me like a rubber stamping of skyrocketing debt and increased statist control of our lives, and in no way should that be supported.

And besides, Obama doesn't want these, any more than my Congressman, Gary Peters, wants bipartisanship, conversation, communication, openness, or any of the other stuff that they were elected to do. Obama wants to use this chance to browbeat Republicans, as he understands bipartisanship to mean the end of all opposition to his rule. Gary Peters used his townhall to only meet with imported healthcare supporters and has continually locked out any of his constituents from meeting with him, all while claiming to be open and accessible.

Partisanship is good, as long as it opposes tyranny and fights tooth and nail for life, liberty, and property rights for all.

Update: Principal Patrick Pope wrote the following email to me:

Trees that resemble green-headed lollipops are often the result of a painter with preconceptions about how a tree should look. The greens look garish and uniform; the trunks and branches illustrated by thin brown lines. A green splodge serving merely to fill an empty area within a landscape painting is sure to spoil the effect. How can the artist paint trees effectively?

Causes of an Unrealistic Painting of Trees

The following practices are often the culprit of common mistakes when painting trees:

• Having preconceptions about how a tree should look, for example, tree trunks are brown and leaves are green
• Using only one green, or even worse, a garish green, to illustrate the foliage in trees
• Not observing the tree sufficiently to make it look realistic
• Using trees merely to fill an empty area of painting
• Trying to illustrate trees within an impressionist painting, by drawing each branch and leaf, for example
• A painting with too many trees ending up as a solid block of green
• Using black to darken the colour of leaves

How to Paint a Tree Effectively

The following tips on painting trees will help improve any landscape painting containing a copse, wood or forest:

• Foliage contains lots of different greens, which can be achieved not only by one green pigment, but by including different blues, yellows, earth colours and even reds
• Try darkening green with its complimentary colour, red. Any reddish hue such as crimson or violet can be used.
• Apply an under wash of red acrylic paint if the painting is to feature lots of green. Allowing some of the under wash to poke through the green paint will make the painting shimmer with contrasting colours.
• Tree trunks often contain unlikely colours such as blues and crimsons, as well as interesting textures. Using impasto medium or Sgraffito will emphasise the texture of wood
• Avoid trying to illustrate every leaf or twig. Viewing trees through half-closed eyes will cut out irrelevant detail and reveal the true essence of trees
• Observe different trees in different lighting conditions and times of the year. Horse chestnut in late summer contains golden hues, which is starkly different to the fluorescent sapling leaves in spring
• Similarly, observe the different shapes of trees, a gnarled oak has different feel to a supple willow, or the stately cypress.

How to Paint Realistic Trees

A good photograph of trees will help the artist observe trees in their own right and become more aware of their varying colours and shapes. Trees appear more interesting in bright sunny weather, which adds contrasts in colour. Trees can also be made into a focal point in a painting, as opposed to a gap-filler, by placing it just off-centre of a painting composition. Adding an interesting quality such as one struck by lightning, or placed next to a ruin will encourage the artist to observe trees in a new light.

Essential Art Materials for Painting Trees

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Trees contain many different greens, which can be achieved by the inclusion of just two yellows, two blues and a green. These are: cadmium yellow, lemon yellow, pthalo blue, ultramarine blue and viridian green. Although viridian is often maligned for its garishness, beautiful greens will often result if it is mixed with other colours. Varying amounts of earth colours or complimentary colours such as burnt sienna or violet serves to tone down bright greens and give a muted feel, often seen in misty weather or in early winter. Good quality hog hair bristle brushes will add an impressionist feel to a painting of trees.

Articles on Painting Trees

• How to paint trees
• How to paint a wooded village
• Mixing green paint
• Books on landscape painting