Crossing the Tea

Tags

beverages, bone broth, broth, chicken bone broth, herbal teas, seizures

Typically, we serve a choice of caffeine-free teas or water during breaks. Depending on the season, one effect may be to slightly raise or slightly lower the student’s body temperature. In some cases, the primary purpose is re-hydration and in other cases one or more herbs (most often – so far – chamomile, lemon balm, passionflower and lavender) the intent is to lessen the frequency and severity of seizures. We were asked about serving a particular brand and flavor of bone broth – the student brings it and we warm or chill it. It is somewhat simpler for the student and his family to send a 24 serving carton once per week.

At least three flavors although apparently not always readily available: chicken ginger and turmeric (shown above); chicken lemon and rosemary and beef broth.

Note the sodium, calcium and potassium

Applied weapons accommodations – eating utensils – suggestions from readers

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arthritis, arthrogryposis, eating utensils, fork, knife, Parkinson's, spoon

Applied weapons accommodations – eating utensils

Tags

arthritis, arthrogryposis, eating utensils, fork, knife, Parkinsons, spoon

About $25 on Amazon

The connectors on the fork and two spoons (but not the knife) can bent with care

Possibly useful for people with arthritis, Parkinson’s, arthrogryposis, hand tremors …

available in gray and black is order to better match your kitchen or dining area

stainless steel, food-safe grade silicon handles, dishwasher safe

California’s Budget Shortfall and K-12 Education Funding (continued)

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budgets, California, education, revenue

Sometimes comparing the funding of other districts per student can indicate possible tactics to increase revenues. There should be attention paid to how long it will take before there is actually money available as well as how reliable and persistent the funding will be. Some care needs to be taken during analysis because students are not necessarily all equal. For example, one district might be all K-6 students while another district of similar size might also include a junior high school and a high school. https://www.silverwolfwushu.com/California_budget_02.html has links to five downloadable spreadsheets (.xls) files which may be of use:

/1/ the students spreadsheet gives the number of students in a district in descending sequence – this MIGHT be useful in finding districts of similar student population to the district of concern

/2/ the zeroes spreadsheet contains school districts with zero students in county and district sequence. Obviously dividing by zero will be awkward for the federal, state and local per student revenues so these districts were isolated. A school district may have zero students if data was not reported, the school district is closing, the school district has not opened yet or the school district is not an educational entity but rather a financial one such as a JPA (Joint Powers Authority) or ROP (Regional Occupational Program, a part of the State public education system that provides technical job training for high school juniors, seniors, and adults).

/3/ the local spreadsheet is in descending sequence by the quotient of local revenues divided by students. Analysis here might focus on comparable school districts that have obtained a higher ratio of local revenues per student compared to your district. If it is anticipated that your school district might have a future decrease or increase in local revenues it might be useful to compare districts with these levels. In the present situation in California higher local revenues per student are better.

/4/ the federal spreadsheet is in descending sequence by the quotient of federal revenues divided by students. Analysis here might focus on comparable school districts that have obtained a higher ratio of federal revenues per student compared to your district. Some leading contributors are meal programs, grants and funding for specific student populations. If it is anticipated that your school district might have a future decrease or increase in federal revenues it might be useful to compare districts with these levels. In the present situation in California higher federal revenues per student are better.

/5/ the state spreadsheet is in descending sequence by the quotient of state revenues divided by students. Analysis here might focus on comparable school districts that have obtained a LOWER ratio of state revenues per student compared to your district – that likely implies higher federal and local revenues. Since it is anticipated that your school district will have a future decrease in state revenues it might be useful to compare districts currently with those levels. In the present situation in California LOWER state revenues per student are better as the school district would likely be less vulnerable to state revenue reductions.

California’s Budget Shortfall and K-12 Education Funding

Tags

budgets, California, education, revenue

A state government budget for California might be $225 BILLION in ordinary times. But these are not ordinary times. For a variety of reasons – excuses would be a more precise word – it MAY be the case that the state will collect one third less revenue (so about $75 billion) than expected. That means expenses will have to be cut by about that amount. It is certainly possible that revenues will surge, that rainy day funds or surpluses will be found and that some ambitious projects will be deferred. Of interest is then whether state funding of K-12 education will be reduced. And, if so, by how much. California’s total state population is estimated per the California State Department of Finance to be 39,109,070 as of July 1, 2023. That would mean about one in eight Americans. California has 58 counties which range in population size from Los Angeles (9,825,708) to Alpine (1,165). The legal entity that is given revenues and incurs costs for K-12 education is a school district which may have one or more schools. California has 2,012 school districts which include 10,196 public and charter schools and which serve 5,803,271 students and employ 266,296 teachers and staff. Those four numbers change almost daily so shifts of one or two percent up or down are not alarming. State-wide, school districts collect over $15 BILLION in revenue from Federal sources, over $40 BILLION in revenue from local sources (usually counties) and almost $60 BILLION in revenue from state sources. At issue is what happens if the state revenue is reduced. Of particular concern are school districts where the majority of revenue is from the state. In the past, a school district whose expenses grossly exceeded its revenues would be taken over by the state. This meant: /1/ a loan would be arranged /2/ the superintendent would be fired /3/ the elected board of education would be relieved of its powers /4/ the state would appoint a new superintendent with just about complete authority to close or consolidate schools, reduce busing, eliminate programs like art, music and sports, fire teachers and so on. For example, the State of California took over Oakland Unified School District TWENTY YEARS ago. Enrollment has declined, academic achievement is not worth measuring, the district still owes money on its original $100,000,000 loan …

If there were dramatic cuts in state revenues hundreds of school districts would be in dire financial straits. The key cells for each district are in the columns to the far right: “Loan” is how much the district MIGHT have to borrow to make up for the decline in state revenues and the percentage is the share this is of the new budget. High percentages, meaning bigger than 10 or 20%, are signals of danger.

It is very unclear /1/ where several hundred first-rate superintendents could be found /2/ whether any banks would loan money /3/ what would happen next year

https://www.silverwolfwushu.com/California_budget_01.html has revenues by school district within a county. There is a downloadable spreadsheet (.xls file) for each county as well as a summary spreadsheet with one row for each county. For hardy souls there is also a combined spreadsheet with 2011 rows – one for each district.

I will adjust the impacts as soon as more information is known about how much money the state will be able to pay this year.

Watches That Monitor Blood Glucose

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blood glucose, blood sugar, diabetes, smart watch

Thirty models available at https://koalarhealth.com/collections

Kama bags and cases (continued)

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bags, chain, kama, kusarigama, Tiger Claws

Above are two Tiger Claw kama bags. They now contain two kusarigama. Note that the chains fit in. It is likely that most pair of kamas would both fit in just one bag. Some care would have to be taken that the blades, if sharpened, did not nick each other or the other kama’s handle. I chose in this case to pack one kusarigama in each bag. Note that the blades are still wrapped in order to prevent tearing the bag or someone’s fingers. There does not appear to be a simple way to wrap the kusarigama’s chains. It seems like too much bother to detach the chain and put it in an old sock.

Kama bags and cases

Tags

arm sleeves, carborundum, gloves, kama

I have a pair of kamas (shown above) that are nearly fifty years old. Although they have never been used to harvest rice (or anything else) whoever built them obviously knew what he or she was doing. The style at that time featured an all-wooden handle and twin pins to hold the blade on. I would have to admit that the contemporary designs using synthetic or metal handles are almost certainly stronger and might even be lighter (hence, faster). A challenge with these older kamas is that the handles were about 19″ – this was to extend reach in a fight and to ease bending when harvesting a crop. Unfortunately that means that these kamas are too long for contemporary L-shaped kama bags. I am not persuaded that these kamas are very effective on defense in terms of covering the forearm should one reverse the grip and have the thumb nearest the butt end of the handle and the blade near the elbow (and with the blade presumably pointed outward). To be fair, modern kamas with shorter handles would be leaving the elbow and a decent chunk of forearm unprotected. Perhaps loops should be added to this case to attach gloves, sleeves or a tasteful carborundum sharpening stone.

Nunchaku bags and cases

Tags

American Nunchaku Company, Charles Tauber, Lee Barden, nunchaku, nunchaku case

The late Lee Barden, long-time advocate of ProChux in particular and performance nunchaku in general, once spent the better part of an email explaining to me why proper storage in a lined bag was critical for specialty nunchaku. This was well before California had finally relented and allowed un-padded nunchaku. I had actually asked him if anyone made a bag with four vertical compartments suitable for storing the four sticks that make up a pair of nunchaku. He had never heard of such a bag or case, but reckoned it was a very good idea, and suggested that someone known as the Hakama Lady might be willing to help. I never did get an answer from her. In the meantime, I have ordered several nunchaku from the American Nunchaku Company of Lemoyne Pennsylvania. Their website is https:/www.usanunchaku.com. We’ll see how they do. I am primarily interested in comparing round versus octagonal cross-sections and chains versus paracord. At this time, no particular interest is testing tapered versus straight. However, I am also interested in whether all woods are more or less created equally in terms of power delivered during a strike and the ability of the wood not to crack or ship. It looks like copper plumbing pipe caps may be used to protect the ends. At the same time, the tireless and patient Charles Tauber of Toronto has graciously consented to make some nunchuku with more than 8 sides in the cross section. Four cases have been ordered from Century. It is very likely I will pack multiple cases into an 18″ long bag. Stand by for evaluations

Some exotic nunchaku (continued)

Tags

nunchaku, yonsetsukon