Some Texas conservatives are looking to rewrite textbooks for elementary, middle school, and high school students in order to push their political agenda. The State Board of Education is holding hearings on proposed changes, and will take a preliminary vote this week. There are seven conservative members on the fifteen-member board, and they hope to change textbooks to, “portray conservatives in a more positive light, emphasize the role of Christianity in American history and include Republican political philosophies.”

Here is a proposed change:

There have also been efforts among conservatives on the board to tweak the history of the civil rights movement. One amendment states that the movement created “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among minorities. Another proposed change removes any reference to race, sex or religion in talking about how different groups have contributed to the national identity.

“Unrealistic expectations?” Oh, Texas. Please come to your senses and don’t rewrite history with your crazy theories.

But, wait! There’s more:

References to Ralph Nader and Ross Perot are proposed to be removed, while Stonewall Jackson, the Confederate general, is to be listed as a role model for effective leadership, and the ideas in Jefferson Davis’s inaugural address are to be laid side by side with Abraham Lincoln’s speeches.

I guess Texas wants to make sure the kids learn racism and never find out about independent political candidates.

How about just sticking to the facts? The unbiased, neutral, mostly historical facts?

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A couple in California had a new baby on the way and they needed to find ways to save money. So, in 2008, they removed their front lawn and replaced the grass with wood chips. This saved the city thousands of gallons of water and slashed the homeowner’s water bill. Sounds like a win-win, right?

Wrong. Cities want you to keep your lawn for aesthetic reasons. The green looks pretty, even though it takes a whole lot more maintenance and resources than other options. Lawns help to keep property values up. In this particular case, the couple lives in a town that requires homeowners to have at least 40% live landscaping in their front yards. So, they are being taken to court for not having enough green. (And, this is in Southern California, where some cities fine overzealous lawn waterers.)

A neighbor of the couple says,

“It’s their yard, it’s not overgrown with weeds, it’s not an eyesore,” said Cleek, whose own yard boasts fruit and avocado trees. “We should be able to have our yards look the way we want them to.”

Even more disturbing than the draconian landscaping rules is the way this has played out. The couple has made several changes to the front lawn in order to comply with the 40% rule. And, in an example of local government efficiency, the homeowners heard nothing from the city in return until the misdemeanor charge. Way to work together on a compromise, Orange County.

“It’s just funny that we pay our taxes to the city and the city is now prosecuting us with our own money,” Quan Ha said. “Doesn’t it waste funds to go back and fourth in court, rather than sending pictures, e-mails and having phone conversations?”

Sounds like common sense to me.

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CNN is doing a week-long series on surprising ways your stimulus dollars are being spent. Not hard to imagine that most of what will be uncovered won’t make the taxpayers happy.

For example, in Ohio, $1 million of their stimulus dollars (that you gave them) is being spent just to tell you that they are spending stimulus dollars.

Ohio was given nearly $1 billion of stimulus money for roadwork. The money used for the signs is only about one-tenth of 1 percent of that money.

But critics argue that stimulus money — all of it — was designed to finance projects, not advertise them.

It’s crazy. And, Ohio isn’t the only state creating signs to let citizens know that stimulus money is being used for certain projects. It’s estimated that $3.8 million will be spent on signs nationwide. (Guess we should all be in the sign business.)

There are some 16 states, however, who are doing it right and skipping the signs. Vermont, for example, allows taxpayers to track their state’s stimulus funds via a Web site.

Some of these politicians don’t get it. Who needs signs? We want jobs and a strong economy. Stop wasting our money!

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[Via Consumerist.com]

The U.S. Post Office is in trouble. In 2009, the Post Office expects to run a record $7 billion deficit in 2009. Clearly, there needs to be an overhaul of the system. No one expects them to make money, but to be SEVEN BILLION dollars in debt is mind-boggling. And, raising the price of stamps again and again isn’t the answer–especially since they expect to handle 27 billion fewer pieces of mail this year.

One of the suggestions to cut costs is to drop down to a five-day delivery schedule. It is estimated this could save between $2 billion and $3 billion a year. Makes sense to me. Do you really need to get your junk mail, magazines, and bills on Saturday, too? Admit it: How often do you really get snail mail that matters? Twice or three times a week, maybe? Cutting down a delivery day wouldn’t solve the USPS’ problems, but it sure would take a dent out of their operating expenses.

In a move consistent with the bureaucracy that so burdens our country, many members of Congress are not on board with the five-day plan until further study is done. Clearly, the politicians are worried about an uprising from their constituents if there are service changes.

But desperate times call for desperate measures. The Post Office has been removing little-used neighborhood post boxes and is discussing a broad consolidation of mail carriers and branches. They are also under a hiring freeze, and are offering early retirement to many workers.

We just moved to New Jersey, and we were surprised to see our mail carrier drive up in our driveway. He drives all the way up the drive to the side door to deliver the mail. We love it, but how can this possibly be cost efficient? Even if all the mailboxes were just moved to the curb, that would take less time and gas. Or, how about putting mail carriers on bicycles or Vespas?

But, I suspect the way the mail is delivered isn’t the problem. The Post Office has become a balloon of bloated bureaucracy and needs to deflate a bit. Let’s hope they examine their business model and get it back on track. Otherwise, who knows how much a first-class stamp is going to cost you.