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How does one go from being perfectly normal to occupying the fringe I find myself in? Credit my oldest daughter … though I may well have found another route here had that one not come along, but I remember the turning point she brought home. In primary school she and her best friend shared the scholastic top of their class. The friend’s dad struck it rich, and she went off to an exclusive private high school for ninth grade. My daughter’s Dad couldn’t afford that, so she went to government high school. The next year a full-ride scholarship was offered to my girl, so she rejoined her best friend where they resumed their academic excellence positions. * This school was […]
This a repeat of my previous announcement. There is one more day of online registration for Darby Adult Ed classes. We stand ONE STUDENT SHORT of having enough to make it happen. I am bringing another amateur radio operator licensing class to Darby, Montana via the Darby Adult Education program in its Spring 2020 schedule. I have not keept track, but think I have personally assisted 40 or 50 people to earning their FCC licenses through my study groups in the Darby library. The snide saying goes, “Those who CAN, DO. Those who cannot, TEACH”. I’m okay wearing that. Good instructors are as rare as good anything else. I did not choose this calling, blessing or curse. It chose me. […]
I am bringing another amateur radio operator licensing class to Darby, Montana via the Darby Adult Education program in its Spring 2020 schedule. I have not keept track, but think I have personally assisted 40 or 50 people to earning their FCC licenses through my study groups in the Darby library. The snide saying goes, “Those who CAN, DO. Those who cannot, TEACH”. I’m okay wearing that. Good instructors are as rare as good anything else. I did not choose this calling, blessing or curse. It chose me. Run with your talents. Every person who has come to all of the class sessions and studied two or more hours between sessions passed the FCC Technician License Exam at the end. […]
I have contributed numerous classes to the community, most through the Darby Adult Education program in southwestern Montana. An interesting array of people share their skills and passions with others in this nice little community. This Spring Semester is no exception. We have many nice choices in front of us for new experiences, knowledge, training, friendships and fun. I am bringing my first-level Amateur Radio class back by popular demand. I must be nearing 50 people I have helped earn their FCC Technician or General Class licenses. My guarantee: If you attend every class and study a few hours a week, you will pass the FCC Technician Exam at the end regardless of your technical background or lack thereof. I […]
Turnout for the Spring 2019 ham radio class first day was outstanding. Icing on the cake is that a highly-knowledgable, skilled, professional teacher is bringing his young son to every class. I could not ask for a better co-teacher. Sixteen students and two instructors filled the Darby Library meeting room. They came from all over Ravalli County most planning to earn their FCC Technician license, but a few will be testing for the next level, the General class. I’m studying double: their book to insure good mentoring every Saturday plus the Amateur Extra manual so I can take the third and final step up the amateur radio licensing ladder when we all test in May. My drafted co-teacher came from […]
Blues begat country. Rock came from blues. Swing, Dixieland and jazz also evolved from the blues. Blues is a familiar form of music to most of us, even if we don’t know it. The best part of music is making it; playing your own instrument. That is what we will be doing Saturday evenings this semester thanks to the Darby Adult Education program. Our foundation will be the blues, but we will drift into one or more of its offspring depending on desires of the participating musicians. Community? > ?Adult Ed? > Course Calendar We are excited to announce our Course Calendar! Please read below for course descriptions. You can register online TODAY. Course Registration Deadline is Friday, January 26th. […]
Seeing Ron Paul championing my main 2006 campaign theme a decade later inspired me to look for this video. I couldn’t find it at the PBS website, so I uploaded a copy I had saved years ago. Debating in front of television cameras live to a state-wide audience was a terrifying to do, but probably the best performance of my political career. My biggest campaign theme was liberal tax credits for scholarships to private schools equal to a maximum of half what taxpayers spend on government schools. We would save money while liberating education. It was a good idea then. It still is.
Thursdays 4:30-6:30pm Darby Library meeting room July 13th – September 7th Handy in many situations, radio communications can be life saving when phones and Internet are down or out of reach Ham radios start where walkie-talkies leave off, with licensed radio operators communicating around the corner and around the world. ARRL License Manual costs $29.95 includes chapters on every aspect of the licensing exam and numerous practice tests Darby Thursday study sessions are FREE YOU can be an amateur radio operator No electronics background required Click this link for a .pdf poster advertising the class:Ham-radio-class-poster-7-2017 Below is a .jpg image of the class advertisement. TESTING SESSION JULY 17th For those ready to test for Technician, General or Amateur Extra […]
In this age of converting everything to digital, bits, bytes and button pushing, my recent trip to a beginners’ long-range shooting school (see my first 1K) brought the power of slide rules back into my world. I am also [re-]discovering the beautiful metric system of measurements. The normal, average, mundane, commonplace answer to everything today is “I have a computer that does that”. Substitute “smart phone”, calculator or other electronic alternative to knowing how to actually do stuff and you have the answer to 99.9% of the computational questions asked today. I am not going to conjure up ways in which that dependence on electronics could fail us. Needless to say there are times, places and circumstances where it could. […]
Public Education Is Superior and Must Be Protected from Competition Opponents of School Choice Can’t Make Up Their Minds Kevin Currie-Knight from the Foundation for Economic Education Defenders of public education often point to data showing public schools to be as good as or better than private alternatives. A recent book celebrating such data is The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools. Public schools, according to the authors, tend to outperform private rivals on a variety of metrics. Such groups as the National Education Association teachers’ union have used this research to make a case against “privatization.” (The book’s research has been criticized in some quarters for using flawed research methods, and other data show that […]
I wrote, published and used the article below as part of my election campaign for Idaho Governor in 2006. Nine years later I’m looking smarter and smarter. But the electorate put their Xs next to the R … hmmm does “R” stand for “Rather not think about it”? Butch the R just signed a bill for $125,000,000 worth of public schooling. If I did that the first reaction would by hilarity. Most of us sign a bill expecting to pay it. But even Mr. Moneysponge, who actually could pay it, has absolutely no intention of contributing even a penny of it. Nope. He signed it FOR YOU. You, your friends and neighbors now owe that money. Lemmesee, Idaho housing starts […]
Put another way, when will you know as much as you are ever going to know? Are you smarter than average? Smarter than 90% of the rest? 99%? Is your generation significantly superior to the prior one? Did something amazing happen to 2,000-year-old genetics in the last 30 years? The obvious answer is that wisdom and knowledge can grow with age. The Elders are potentially a great resource and repository of lessons learned by generations, or centuries of human existence. I use the word “can” because the masses choose to not expand their knowledge. Mass media is owned by 6 corporations. Six CEOs agree on theme, content and objective. 99% of the information presented follows their guidance. The USofA education […]
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