Misrepresentation

This trailer is almost 9 minutes long but worth the time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8__GFHYkdZo

The Boss of Me

So, one of the "perks" of my job is that I spend a lot of time networking at events that usually include some of the heavy hitters in our local communities. Particularly, of late, we have had a lot of engagements and office visits with the local sheriff, who is currently running for the first ever County Executive office in our county. He is, without a doubt, one of the most recognizable faces in the area. Regardless of what you think about his policies or his platform, you cannot argue that this man exudes public office.

I've listened to many political and public figures go on about how they were ordained to do what they were doing, even as they were being prosecuted for some awful betrayal of their position, and always I've thought to myself, "How in the world could they have believed that?" But just a few encounters with this sheriff and you know, he was meant to sit behind a mahogany desk and pen his name to policy.

And it doesn't hurt that he's a very good looking man, either. He's got a pearly white smile and a metro feel about him. He's always very well put together. His personality is the frosting that keeps you coming back for more. He seems genuinely concerned and considerate of those he meets. If he is at n event and "the people" want pictures of him, he never tires of it. He smiles, and puts his arm around the squirming, squealing girl, the star-struck woman, the admiring man, no one seems to be out of the demographic that he attracts.

So, tonight, I am tooting around the local festival taking my friend's girls on some rides when we encounter the rock-star himself. He winks at me and inquires as to how I am and reaches his arms around to give me a proper hug, not one of those wimpy photo-opp ones, and squeezes me and plants one on my cheek and turns to the girls and engages them in conversation. I introduce him and tell the girls what and who he is. They seem a little awestruck. (I totally get that!) And eventually he gives me a parting hug, and off we go.

Later, as we are standing in line for a ride, one of the girls turns to me and asks me if I knew him? I asked her if she thought he seemed like the kind of guy that just goes around hugging random people? She turns to me with the most honestly naive face and says, "Well isn't he the Boss of all of You?"

"All of Who?" I inquired.

"All of You grown-ups!" she exclaimed.

I smiled and nodded and assured her that yes, yes he was in fact the Boss of Me!


My lol moment for the day

Peer Proofing Our Essays on Banning Offensive Language In Public Spaces

So, last Wednesday, my English Comp class was divided into groups of 4 students each and we were tasked with reading one another's essays and "proofing" them. We were asked to evaluate the essays based on 7 criteria the instructor posted on the board for us to review. Not too difficult, I should think. Then I read the first one.

All I can say is...Oy to the Vay! (insert face palm here) I was once again reminded in painful detail just how inadequately secondary educators are preparing students for successful college careers. The first essay was technically correct in appearance. It consisted of 5 paragraphs, the first of which was an intro, followed by 3 evidential, or supporting, paragraphs, followed by a concluding paragraph. Each paragraph consisted of the minimum standard 3 sentences. For all intents and purposes, the paper had the look of an essay.

Then there's the content. To begin with, the student never took a position. It is her belief that since there is no real way to prevent people from saying offensive things, we should all "just get over it." That's all I'm going to say about that essay.

The next poor child was under the impression that "free speech" is someone standing at a podium and speaking, for which the listener is not required to pay a fee to hear! AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!! Once I got my blood pressure back to a livable level, I wrote a few quick notes and passed her paper back. I couldn't really begin to give her advice on how to fix the technical aspects of her paper when she obviously slept thru the past 10 years of her education!

The last young lady in my group wrote an eloquent thesis on the importance of protecting the rights of all, including bigots and nut-jobs (or are those titles inter-changeable? lol) rights to express themselves. She went on to discuss how although freedom of speech gives one the right to express one's ideas, it does not mean one should haphazardly exercise that right. She discussed the moral obligation each one of us has in censoring our own selves and impressed upon the importance of considering how our expressions may effect others.

I was thoroughly impressed that she was able to articulate her thoughts and backed them with a few references, although she failed to site them in her rough draft. I was able to leave a few notes for her on places where the technical aspects of her essay needed to be tended to, as well as leaving a few devil's advocate gems for her to think about when doing the final draft.

Then I received my own paper back from the team. Other than two spots where they noticed (as I had already discussed with the BFF) that the content wandered a bit off topic, they didn't have anything critical to say. They jotted down a few encouraging comments about how much they liked my essay and that was it. Well, except for one comment. I nearly fell over with laughter when I realized what she was trying to say. She was commenting on a line in my essay where I describe how campus restrictions on language would make for a "kinder, gentler learning environment" and my "peer" wrote down a suggested alternative as "could be 'more gentle learning environment'" - okay, I had to remind myself that anyone under 35 years of age would not be apt to get the George H. W. Bush reference there. So, there's that! lol

I will post up my essay as soon as I get the graded on back from the instructor and have had an opportunity to correct any major failures.

Thanks for listening!

The First Amendment

Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

So, I am in the car with my BFF (best friend forever) and we are on our way to her middle son's first football game of the season. As we turn the corner to get into the parking lot, we realize there is some kind of protest going on. The protesters are brandishing yellow ribbons, parade-sized versions of Old Glory, and signs bemoaning our president and the new health care plan. They even have a sound system amplifying patriot melodies. Whatever group this is, they have a statement, and they want to be heard.


So, bff huffs and gets disgruntled about them being in her way. Understand that she is 110% a football mom (and that topic is for another post) and these people are in the way of her getting to THE GAME! Her 7 y/o daughter asks what those people are doing. Again, bff huffs, and makes some snarky comment about them being stupid and wanting to spread their stupidness or something to that effect. At this, I had to interject and explain to her daughter that those people were exersizing their first amendment rights. To which bff replies, "Listen, my children are entitled to my opinion, and my opinion only."

Now, under any other circumstances, I would have jumped at the opportunity to jump on my soap box and let her have it with both barrels. Instead I laughed it off, because I know her well enough to know that even though she encourages her children to share her political views, I also know that she is the kind of person that would never prevent her children from developing their own political views. But she isn't alone in her agitation of people exersizing their rights to peacable assembly and free speech.

The current topic of discussion in my English Comp class is "Do you think there is some language that is so patently offensive that it should be banned from public discourse despite our Fisrt Amendment guarantee of free speech?" We read an article today about how Mob Rule has taken over liberal college campuses across the nation, allowing certain political groups to harass and even cause to cancel certain invited speakers if the group doesn't agree with the point of view of the speaker.

What will happen to us as a people when only the politically correct views are allowed to be expressed? Or when only those ideals that are popularly held are allowed to be expressed? Don't forget, slavery and nazism were popular views during their respective times in history. This is not a good direction to be going in. The irony is, that the campuses were this is running rampant have always been known as liberal institutions, once the basteons of open discource on controversial ideas and topics.

This topic hits right to the core of who I am and what I have always tried to stand for. I'm not going to get into it all right now. I have to save some for class. Our first writing assignment is going to be based on this topic. I'll post the finished product here. Come back in a few weeks and check it out.

Thanks for listening...

Dear President Obama #60: I fought the law…and the lawyers won

Are you as disgusted with Geithner's reasoning for alowing the AIG bonuses as I am? I am mad as hell. I lost my flippin job because of those a-holes' greed and ambition. And to boot, I get to pay my portion of the bill for their increases!

Anyway, here's an article from Tom Foreman, he's a regular contributor to AC360. He is on a mission to write a letter a day to Pres Obama. This is letter # 60 and it is very poignant.

Check it out:

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/20/dear-president-obama-60-i-fought-the-lawand-the-lawyers-won/

Absent Fathers

I am getting so sick of all the talk and debate and studies about how kids are more likely to grow up to be successful if they are being raised in home where the father is present vs being raised by a single mom.

At no time in these discussions/debates/studies do they address a. the quality of the parenting or 2. the desire of the child to succeed.

These are two VERY important factors in formulating a child's chance for success in life.

I don't think a child is going to benefit in a home where the father is a drunk, or a workaholic, or a cold, withholding bastard! And the same stands for single moms.

This morning on NPR they went on and on ad nauseum about how Barrack (famously) dreamt of his father. Okay, can we just say for the record, Barrack is THE perfect example of just how frikken successful a child can be when raised without a father in the home? And he's mixed race! We can crush two stigmas with one White House!

Puuuuleeeease! There are more than a few people out there that I am more than certain have benefited from not knowing their fathers!

I by no means set out to be a single mom. I'm sure there were times when my son could have benefited from having a man around. But that wasn't going to be just any man. As it happens, I never found a suitable partner. For what it's worth, most of the men in my young life weren't worth the testosterone they were full of, among other things!

It's quality over quantity when it comes to the ideal # of parents required to raise a child properly. And I will still come right back and point out to you all of the highly dysfunctional adults I know who grew up in "ideal" homes with a present, participating father and (oh, shock!) a stay at home mom...this is not the "winning formula" most people ascribe to. I think our world has changed, and with it the family unit. I think rather that lamenting about how we've gone wrong, lets embrace the "it takes a village" precept and start looking around our community for opportunities to help make every child's circumstances better.

Be a mentor, a foster parent, a foster-grand parent, or a friend. If you know a single mom, see if there is any thing you can do to help her give her children the most rounded childhood possible. Volunteer you help kids with homework, or coach a little league team. Children who have strong role models and adults they can turn to when they need advice are more likely to grow up to be successful.

Don't sit and judge just because someone constructed their family "out of order". Get with the times, there is no order!

Tues Primary

GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

If you are in the Metro Detroit Tricounty Area, please vote yes to approve the Zoo millage.

Also, if you happen to be a resident of Mt. Clemens, vote for Alisha Baker for charter commisioner.

http://www.myspace.com/electalishabaker

http://www.electalishabaker.com/