Tuesdays with Paulie 5/2/06

My Bi-Lingual Child

When I was in the 6th grade I took the required Spanish course at the Middle School I attended. Foreign language did not come easy to me, so I struggled to get a "C" in the class. Due to my average grade, the public school gave up continuing my Spanish education and that ended my foreign language curriculum with the exception of attending Hebrew School.
Since then my Spanish has been limited to a Taco Bell menu and "gracias" here or there. However, due to wonderful world of children's programming, my son Ethan at the early age of 3 knows more Spanish than I.
Her name is Dora and his name is Diego. Those are the names of characters and programs on the Nickelodeon (Nick Jr.) network. Both characters speak English and Spanish during each episode. When Spanish is spoken, the character translates the word into English. Ethan has began picking up the words and their meanings.
Ethan does not use the words in daily life, but when prompted with "how do you say open, close, up, down, jump or a few other words in Spanish, he can and with correct pronunciation.
Every parent should be concerned about how much television their children watch. In a day and age when childhood obesity is an epidemic in our country, children need to be more active and less sedentary. However just as important is when they watch television, it's important the programs are of an educational nature and not the mindless crap adults dummy their brain on.

Blagojevich the Hypocrite

When it comes to running a campaign, never accuse your opponent of something that you are also guilty of. Governor Blago is running an attack ad claiming that his opponent, Judy Baar Topinka, never attended any state pension board meetings, which she is a voting member of. The problem with Blago's allegation is that he is also a member of the same board and has never attended a meeting. In fact he is a member of a couple of boards that he has never been seen at.

Quick Note: Last Thursday was Yom Hashoah (Holocaust remembrance day). If you didn't catch any of the articles or photos from the event, it was not a fun day for Blago. Lets just say he appeared as comfortable as a fat man on 12 hour flight in a coach seat, when he attended a ceremony at the old state capitol building. "Hey Blago, you should of invited Claudette Muhammad to the event, oh I forget she was probably with Farrakhan researching new ways to hate Jews."

Stay tuned over the next few days for my take on immigration and why our political leaders on both sides of the aisle continue to fail the American public.

Paulie