I found this on Pharyngula when I was trying to catch up with my (too many) news feeds, so I apologize if it's late and you've already seen it: [caption id="attachment_650" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Electricity, how *does* it work?"] [/caption] This is a scanned page from a "science" textbook published by Bob Jones University. I'm assuming it's for the homeschool crowd. Is this really what people are teaching their children? It makes me weep for the future of humanity. I love the first part, "Electricity is a mystery. No one has ever observed it or heard it or felt it." I have an experiment for anyone who believes this (18 and over, please): Go into your kitchen drawer, take out two knives. Find an electrical socket. Stick one knife into each slot. Now come back and tell me you can't feel electricity. Seriously. I'll wait.

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• Frickin' electricity, how does it work? (scienceblogs.com)

This is one of the saddest things I have ever read. It makes me sad, angry, and helpless all at the same time. It tears me up that there are people in the world that are so heartless that they would separate two people who love each other in their final days together.

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place—wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold’s care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes. Ignoring Clay’s significant role in Harold’s life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold’s “roommate.” The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold’s bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling: without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold’s possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home andconfined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold's lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.

Three months after he was hospitalized, Harold died in the nursing home. Because of the county’s actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years. Compounding this tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property.

Please see the following pages for information: [4/20] A new post from the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), which is providing legal assistance in this case: [4/19] A prior post from the NCLR, which explains the case: [4/17] The original Bilerico Project article: The NCLR case docket (text is identical to Bilerico article): PDF of legal complaint/court documents: Here is the Facebook page... please join if you're on Facebook. How could anyone let this happen? What kind of people could just stand by and let it happen? I swear, my faith in humanity is slowly being eroded by stories like this.

*Sigh* Well, I knew it was going to be a challenge, but the first day of school has brought a couple of setbacks.  Apparently I am supposed to purchase a graphing calculator of a specific model, but the boy failed to write down the actual model that I have to buy.  He also has an assignment that needs to be completed, but has no idea when it is due. On the plus side, he's already made a few new friends, and is looking forward to going back tomorrow.  I think we need to get some scheduling worked out, and then we'll be doing better. Now to get him to read the book that's in his backpack (with an associated worksheet) that he says, "We don't need to read it yet!" Ummmm.. then why do you have a worksheet that needs you to read the book to answer? *headdesk*

Ok, I normally don't comment on world events or politics or anything like that here, but damn. I just had to vent about this news story I just came across. Apparently, someone in Florida has opened a rift to the dark ages. News coming out of there gets sillier all the time. First they want to teach kids that evolution is an "unproven theory" (never mind the mountains of evidence and some people redefining the meaning of "scientific theory"). Now, a substitute teacher loses his job because he's been accused of wizardry. Yes, that's right, wizardry. From the article:

A substitute teacher in Pasco County has lost his job after being accused of wizardry. Teacher Jim Piculas does a magic trick where a toothpick disappears and then reappears. Piculas recently did the 30-second trick in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes. Piculas said he then got a call from the supervisor of teachers, saying he'd been accused of wizardry. "I get a call the middle of the day from head of supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, 'Jim, we have a huge issue, you can't take any more assignments you need to come in right away,'" he said. Piculas said he did not know f any other accusations that would have led to the action. The teacher said he is concerned that the incident may prevent him from getting future jobs.

Come on, people, wizardry? It makes me want to go to Florida and start smacking people upside the head. Ok, rant over. Sorry about that. Back to your regularly scheduled blog postings.