Texas School Board Demonstrates Need for Guiding Principles in Education

This article was originally published by Technorati on 16 March 2010.

In a preliminary round of voting, a conservative majority of the Texas School Board voted on Friday to make decidedly right-leaning changes to requirements for social studies textbooks to be used state-wide over the next ten years, to the chagrin of the board's more liberal members. After a public comment period, the standards will be voted on by the full board in May.

As power-buying Texas goes, so go many smaller textbook markets across the country. This decision has repercussions for smaller states, regardless of their politics.

Proposed changes tentatively approved include discussion of the decline of the dollar and the abandonment of the gold standard; use of the term "free market" over the less friendly "capitalism"; highlighting of the founding fathers' Judeo-Christian beliefs; mention of country and western music as an important aspect of American culture (I'm not making this up); Newt Gingrich's Contract with America; and many other darlings of the right.

The Spiritual Implications of Fad Diets

This article was originally published by Technorati on 23 March 2010. To see all my Technorati articles, click Lifestyle in the Contents listing on the sidebar.

Lot's of weight-loss diets out there promise to "beat the street," so to speak, in terms of taking off the weight. Shine from Yahoo! has identified five diets that don't perform as advertised.

Fads like grapefruit, maple syrup, apple vinegar, juice and cabbage soup diets will always be around so long as people seek to defy the conventional wisdom, that weight loss results from eating less and exercising more.

Application of this conventional wisdom will yield time-honored results, but when we find ourselves with unwanted pounds, why not take the opportunity to explore the spiritual implications of the situation? It might just aid us in our efforts to turn back the dial on the scale and change our lives for the better at the same time.

Some would even argue that spiritual awakening is our body's soul function. Indeed, there's no better example of a "come to Jesus" moment than the struggle to lose weight.

Will Miley Succumb to the Child Actor Curse?

This article was originally published by Technorati on 20 March 2010. To see all my Technorati articles, click Lifestyle in the Contents listing on the sidebar.

Is Miley Cyrus the next great child star waiting to flame out? All signs point to no.

In a recent Parade interview, she gave some insight into her own spirituality as well as her spiritual heritage.

With over $1 billion in earnings and a net worth of $50 million, Miley, unlike many other children of Hollywood who seem to have no foundation in faith of any sort, has her feet well-planted on the ground of another world.