Northside Knows

I found - through a friend's Facebook page, of all things - this blogger who is a Mpls Northside activist. He's been writing about the student in my last post with some interesting information... check it out at Johnny Northside.

A particularly interesting thread is his 12/17 post & a slew of comments that follow it, including some that named the victim (& the likely suspect) long before the news did.

As always, the info is out there. Whether the community cooperates with police is another matter. Prayers.

More Dead Children

I've written about dead children a couple times before. I've come to believe it's an occupational hazard in education: I know a lot of children, so I guess I'm more likely to know one who dies.

Two died this month in Minneapolis that I didn't know, but I am still shaken. A 15-year-old girl was found dead, frozen, but likely beaten to death. She was a student at the school I worked at just two years ago. She was 7 months pregnant. (I have a goddaughter who was born 2 months early, so have to see this as two children.)

What kind of life was this girl living that it ended such?
What kind of person beats a visibly pregnant girl until she dies?
How did it happen that she had been missing from home for a month when her body was found, but she was not identified for two more weeks?
Where did her family, friends, teachers, etc think that she was?
What was it like to lose her life that way? (Don't be afraid of this question - be afraid if we DONT ask it.)

And just this morning I was researching black student achievement. Connection? We can guess what this child's test scores looked like.

Lord have mercy on us all.

2008

This year rocked. A few highlights:

* Met Mr Wonderful and got engaged
* Watched my daughter successfully navigate college life
* Finished my last doctoral class
* Turned 40 and went to Cabo with my best friends
* Drove cross-country with my daughter
* Saw Obama elected
* Continued to love my job, my neighborhood, and my family

Blessings to all as we head into 2009!

Post-Engagement, Pre-DC

So this isn't the Post from DC - but I've been bad about posting from the road recently, so thought I'd get one in early...

JP and I are heading out to DC on Friday so I can meet the rest of his family and we can show off the engagement ring. It will be a 2-day whirlwind of meeting people, and then I come home & he stays for a few days for a conference.

Gotta give him credit for a great proposal: at the table after Thanksgiving dinner, in front of my whole family! Creative and a good surprise, but not too over-the-top. Turns out they all knew before I did - it was almost like getting punked - but that's OK. It was beautiful.

I was amused to get an email from an ex (who saw our status on Facebook) asking if he should stop emailing me now... as if JP is worried about some random old flame. I said sheesh, we're 40 - we have too many exes running around to worry about any of them! :)

Oh, Yes

Still Interested...

Obama has a new website: www.change.gov - the Office of the President-Elect.

Since I'm not done being interested in what's happening at the Presidential level, this is a great website for tracking who's been appointed and what's just a rumor. Check it out!

First Day of the Rest of Our Lives

Yesterday: Feeling giddy that election day was finally here and Obama was probably going to win.

Last night: Incredibly excited when FOX news called the election for Obama at only 10pm! Thrilled!!!

This morning: Tired, but grinning like an idiot all morning. Still thrilled. Thinking about how our students are affected by this.

Tonight: Just happy. At peace. Ready for the future. Amen.

The crowd at the DFL party at the Crowne Plaza last night

Election Day Prayer

It's 5pm on Election Day... here's my prayer:

May everyone who wants to vote be able to. Bless the folks who have to endure hardships but still do it.

May the best of the spirit of America be revealed in the ways that folks help each other out today. Bless the election judges and election volunteers.

May everyone involved with voting approach the system with integrity. May the result reflect the truth. Bless those who respect the opposition enough to help them vote too.

May the result come by midnight. May the result be uncontested. Bless the folks who do all the work of tabulating so we don't have to wait too long.

May the best man win. (Since it has to be a man this year...) That's Obama. Bless him for stepping up to lead us at this time.

Amen!

Post from King of Prussia & Philly

I'm in Philly for "Parent Weekend" at U Penn - and today was all about shopping. We skipped all the official Penn events, jumped in the car with my daughter's roommate & roommate's mom, and headed to PA's version of the Mall of America: the King of Prussia Mall.

Ironically, being WITH my kid makes me miss her more - the fun of spending time with her makes me wish for more time!  Tonight Bonnie & I took the four roommates out for a nice dinner - they are all lovely girls & it's really fun to be with them.

This is one of those "count your blessings" trips - it's a blessing for her to be here at U Penn, and so great for me to be able to come across the country to spend time with her. 

Amen.

Other Options

Opportunity Cost of George W. Bush and 10 Trillion Dollars

From: wellington_grey, 1 day ago

Opportunity Cost of George W. Bush and 10 Trillion Dollars

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: olpc opportunitycost)

SlideShare Link

A Lawn Sign with Attitude

Gen X creativity in action:

JP has uploaded his designs to CafePress.com so you can now buy lawnsigns, buttons, etc with the designs from the entry "Partisan but Entertaining" below - and more!

This sign is in his yard right now...

"Decent family man" is to "Arab" as "Barack Obama" is to ________

A supporter says to John McCain at a rally that Barack Obama is an "Arab" and he replies "No, ma'am, he's a decent family man." (This happens in Minnesota, of course - aren't we proud.)

Hello? How is "decent" the opposite of "Arab"?!!?!?!

And then McCain's close advisor, Mark Salter, says that the campaign is not responsible for "the occasional nut who shows up and yells something about Barack Obama" - as if the climate of racial hate that those folks are acting from was NOT created by contemporary Republicans? Really?!

I have HAD IT with McCain. One word: PATHETIC.

Partisan but Entertaining

Compliments of Jonathan at Urban Superhero

Gen X Goes for McCain?

According to the latest Minnesota Poll, the age group with the highest percentage going for McCain is... Gen X!

Whaa...?

Here's the chart:




That's the fact, Jack. Explanation? I got nothin'.

TRUTH (it's about time)

Richard Trumka lays it out there... and bless him for having the GUTS to say it!

History through Technology

I love it: The Smithsonian has "flickred" a ton of photos from the Scopes Trial in 1925 so they're on line for everyone to see.

How cool is that? :)

Here's John T. Scopes, the teacher who had the audacity to teach his students the theory of evolution in Tennessee. Would that we all had his chutzpah.

Something Non-Political, Please!

Lord have mercy, I think this election has taken over the public consciousness like a cancer! Yes, I think it's fabulous that folks are paying attention, and I hope everyone votes, but I am really looking forward to a dinner with friends tonight that I am reasonably sure will NOT be dominated by political topics.

(OK, I am also throwing a fund raising party for a friend on Wednesday who is running for local office, but hey, we get to talk about schools there, not lipstick or Russia or wall street.)

Surely something else of interest is going on in the world!

Today is the last day of Banned Books week - I'm bummed that I missed it! Time to celebrate To Kill a Mockingbird, Huckleberry Finn, and other great works that are too brain-stretching for conservative tastes.

Bless Sheila Variations for posting on Paul Newman's passing - the loss of a great man is truly worth a moment of reflection.

I just got a new credit card in the mail - which I found somewhat amusing given the craziness in the credit industry the last couple weeks because of the wall street meltdown. Maybe I should be thankful instead of amused... but somehow getting another zero-percent interest card just cracked me up.

Riverbend hasn't posted to Baghdad Burning in almost a year. It makes me sad to wonder what she's going through - still in Syria? Still safe? Too depressed to write? What must it be like to be a refugee watching your country get torn apart for five straight years? I mean dang - the American Civil War didn't even last that long. We weren't in WWII for that long either.

The Peace Foundation in Minneapolis is hosting the 5th annual Peace Ball next weekend, and yes, we will be there. Check out Melissa's pix from last year's bash at QueenMAB.

And if after all that you still need a fix, check out English Al-Jazeera's special section for US presidential election coverage. That'll keep it interesting!

Chris Rock Spells It Out

On 9/26, Chris Rock appeared on Larry King and gave his take on the election. Comedy with a point...

ROCK: I think Obama would be great. I mean, just look the big thing right now is the economy. And people are going broke. And here: The choice isn't Republican or Democrat. The choice is you got a guy that's worth $150 million with 12 houses against a guy who's worth a million dollars with one house.

KING: Well --

ROCK: The guy with one house really cares about losing a house, because he is homeless. The other guy can lose five houses and still got a bunch of houses. Does this make any sense? Am I the only one that sees this?

KING: It's unique way of ...

ROCK: I'm just saying, John McCain could lose half his houses.

KING: You got a point.

ROCK: And sleep well.

~~~

ROCK: You know, I hope Obama wins just because, you know, the country needs it. The country needs a change. We kind of seen what this whole McCain thing is. And I'll go with the guy with one house. The guy with one house is scared about losing his house.

KING: I never thought of it that way.

ROCK: It is that simple.

Five-Thirty-Eight

Interesting new website - extensively tracking the polls to predict the outcome of the Presidential election based on electoral votes. Not that polls tell us much of anything... but it's still good fun. Check it out at Five-Thirty-Eight

Read the Platform!

I get frustrated with friends who say they don't know exactly what a candidate stands for. Not only do the candidates have extensive policy ideas laid out - easy to access on campaign websites - but the political parties have platforms adopted at each convention.

Interestingly, the Republicans just adopted the following last month:

"We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself. We believe in the free market as the best tool to sustained prosperity and opportunity for all."

With the glaring exception of public education, I do generally believe in free markets. Although I think regulation is important to avoid monopoly and corruption, I do not think that huge companies that go broke need to be rescued - little ones never get that help! Who let AIG get so big that its demise would be "catastrophic for America" anyway???

What am I missing here? My great-grandfather owned three banks in MN the 1920's. They all closed during the depression (after his death) and my great-grandmother became a social pariah because her friends & neighbors didn't understand how it was possible that she didn't have all their money. She was suddenly broke too, but they didn't get it.

Today, our bank deposits are federally insured up to $100,000 - so that scenario will never happen again. That being the case, what's up with the bailouts? How is this good for you & me? I saw something that said my personal share of $700 billion is over $30,000 - sheesh!

It's starting to appear that the only folks in DC with integrity right now are the Republicans who are resisting a bailout. Gotta give 'em credit for walking their talk; not so McCain or Bush.

Obama's Advice from West Wing's Bartlett...

Maureen Dowd had the fabulous idea to ask Aaron Sorkin to write a scene in which Barack Obama asks Jed Bartlett for advice.. very funny and of course RIGHT ON. Check it out in Dowd's recent NYT column.

My favorite lines:

OBAMA I didn’t expect you to answer the door yourself.

BARTLET I didn’t expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story, so let’s call it even.

~~~

OBAMA They pivoted off the argument that I was inexperienced to the criticism that I’m — wait for it — the Messiah, who, by the way, was a community organizer. When I speak I try to lead with inspiration and aptitude. How is that a liability?

BARTLET Because the idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

OBAMA You’re saying race doesn’t have anything to do with it?

BARTLET I wouldn’t go that far. Brains made me look arrogant but they make you look uppity.

~~~

OBAMA The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who was angry?

BARTLET Well ... let me think. ...We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family’s less safe than it was eight years ago, we’ve lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know ... I’m a little angry.

OBAMA What would you do?

BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

~~~

LOVE IT! Attitude and truth are a powerful combination. :)

American Dream?

From Jonathan, at Urban Superhero:

Unbeknownst to me,
the world had changed.

Gone were the carefree days of my youth,
afternoons spent dreaming of young girls in sundresses,
plans for the future as a rock star or president of the u.s.

The mindset had changed;
the people didn’t feel the same;
the magic was gone.........

Never again would we bask in the sun,
unafraid of what the day would bring,
believing that in America, anything was possible.

Who was I to remind them of their forgotten ideals,
of the truth and principles that we supposedly fought so had for,
of the evils perpetuated in the name of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

Who would listen to a small voice which cried out from the pit of darkness,
ever encroaching in from the sides,
consuming the life from a once vibrant populace?

America, America, God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy Good, with Brotherhood......
But what happens when there is none to wear the crown?

Is it a Black thing? Is it a Hispanic thing? Is it a White thing?
Perhaps it is a Justice thing, a Righteous thing, a Good thing!
Supposedly, it was an American thing!

Rodney King, Auschwitz, Columbus, Egypt, Hong Kong.
How long do the lies and extermination have to last,
ingrained in the minds of our children before we wake up?

"We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal....."
Does someone not understand the definition of self? Of evident? Or is it equal?
Perhaps the confusion centers around the phrase “all men” and who defined it.

It is well and good to support our country, to have pride in our troops,
to celebrate the 4th of July, and Washington’s birthday;
but what happens when you find out you’ve been celebrating a lie?

I do not hate America.

I believe in American ideals.

I believe in the American people!

I believe that
when in the course of human events
it becomes necessary,
a nation must rise up
and defend itself
from tyranny,
injustice,
and oppression

but we can’t feed
and clothe
and heal
and protect
the very people
who comprise
this greatest of nations.

Where are the priorities,
where is the truth,
the righteousness?

Where is the country that
"four-score and seven years ago
our forefathers brought"?

Where is America,
land of the free,
home of the brave,
nation among nations?

Hopefully preparing for a rebirth
that will insure that
all PEOPLE are created equal

and are endowed
with the Rights
to Life,
to Liberty,
and to the Pursuit of Happiness....

from sea to shining sea...

Amen.

SNL: Palin & Clinton

Beautiful!

Just for a Smile

Too much to be crabby about today - saw this & had to share. It's silly - but it made me smile when I needed it.

Juno to Juneau

Creativity at its finest! Call it political satire or just making fun of hypocrisy when we see it - either way this is hilarious.

[Not following politics this week? GOP VP Candidate Sarah Palin's 17-yr old daughter is pregnant. Which we'd ignore if Palin wasn't adamantly anti-sex-ed and anti-abortion.]

I admit to a small amount of hypocrisy of my own here: in general, I believe we should leave the kids out of this election - it's not the girl's fault her mother is running for office. But this was just too spot-on not to share.

Amazing what photoshop (or whatever application was used) can do! (Look up Sarah Palin on Snopes.com to see a very funny fake picture of her in a flag-pattern bikini with a rifle.)

Again, hats off to folks who think of things I never would. Love it.

My "Lady Brain" Is Just Amused

I was amused when I heard that John McCain had chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate - all I could think was: BIGGEST PANDER EVER!

Leave it to John Stewart & Samantha Bee to articulate better than I ever could why this choice is so dumb - Friday's Daily Show has a great "analysis" of the choice. The skit is funny but also right on.

Some women are offended by his choice, and some are energized - I just think it's funny. If Obama wins in a landslide, I will NOT be surprised. The one good thing this choice will probably accomplish for McCain is getting conservatives who couldn't bear to vote for either candidate to independents who will say "are you kidding me???" is much larger.

I also remember how badly Mondale lost in '84... everyone always credits his straight talk about raising taxes, but I think having Ferraro on the ticket was relevant too. As the Democratic primary season revealed (to my surprise) sexism is worse than racism in the country right now. There are plenty of folks who are simply not comfortable with a woman in charge.

But to his credit: McCain just made this race even more interesting! :)

Post after the Road Trip

I've become a slacker with regard to posting from the road - we had pretty regular computer access, but were too entertained to think of posting!

I just returned from a 3-day cross-country road trip with my 19-year-old daughter. Apparently we have both matured a lot over the last year because we had a GREAT time! No car trouble (blessedly) and a couple fun stops with friends.

My trip actually took me from DC to Deep Creek, MD to Philly to Chicago (via suburban Cleveland) and then home. I picked up my kid in Philly so she was with me for most of it.

Deep Creek Lake in NW Maryland (see above photo) is one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced. My cousin has a lake place there, so we spent an afternoon on the boat - a lovely day.

But the revelation of the trip was not in the scenery, amazing though it was. The exciting part was spending 24 hours in a car with my kid and enjoying ourselves. Beautiful.

Homeland Security's Latest: Brilliant!

In the "Gotta Love It" category...

The StarTribune reported yesterday that in response to their "admitted blunder" of hiring ex-MNDOT official Sonia Pitt, (after she was fired for mishandling the 35W bridge collapse,) the US Dept of Homeland Security is instituting a new policy:

"From now on, more job candidates will have their backgrounds searched on Google."

Oh yeah, that'll fix that problem!

Perspective from Here

The view from my front door:



It reminds me: "If I am not happy in this place, in this time... I'm not paying attention."

Life is good. :)

Points for Creativity!

Nothing makes me feel old like seeing a really fun, creative idea executed by people 20 years younger than me! Whether or not you think this is silly, we have to give these kids points for creativity.

The New York Times reports a new movement of Barack Obama supporters who are "expressing solidarity with him" by adopting the middle name "Hussein" on Facebook pages and in daily life.

A cursory look at the results for a search of "Hussein" on Facebook today netted: Tonya Hussein Van Tol, John Hussein Hartman, Dustin Hussein Hamari, and Kyle Hussein Randall, all in the first 2 pages.

There are lots of ways to make a point, but at least this one is entertaining. I like it!

I Hope I'm Wrong

I was genuinely surprised at the headline on today's Start Tribune - "Franco Guilty in Crash" - though I probably shouldn't be. I'm been making Minnesota red-state jokes for a couple years now, so I know that anti-immigrant negativity is alive & well here. But seeing that Olga Franco was found guilty in that bus crash was jarring: I still don't expect that from Minnesotans.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope there was compelling evidence that she did it, and somehow it just didn't make it into the newspaper. All I know about the case is what I've read in the StarTribune, so I realize that may leave much to be desired. But there is so much reasonable doubt in my mind that I can't help but wonder what role anti-immigrant sentiment - read racism - played in the verdict.

For the first time this year, I can envision McCain winning the presidency. I hope I'm wrong.

Events

Events in my personal life are actually more interesting than the rest of the world right now... my excuse for not writing for almost a month. Life is good - both joyful and heartbreaking, but never boring.

It's a Small World pt. 2

I haven't done this in a while, but I started clicking the "next blog" link at the top of the page just to see what's out there. The first FIVE blogs to pop up were in other languages - and then the sixth was English, but about a family moving from Ottawa to Switzerland.

I don't even recognize all the languages I come across.

LOVE IT!

World View on Zimbabwe

A friend forwarded these political cartoons from around the world that she received from a friend of hers in South Africa. Small planet. Big issue.

No shock to find that folks in leadership in Zimbabwe are not interested in what we think about it! In a recent article on allAfrica.com that appears to be from a newspaper in Zimbabwe, a senior aid to Mugabe, Secretary for Information and Publicity Cde George Charamba, is quoted as saying the West can "go hang a thousand times" for criticising Zimbabwe's presidential election run-off.

Alrighty then.

Friedman: Wake Up Call

This man is pretty much always right, as far as I can tell, and right now he's becoming a serious doomsday prophet!
In Thomas Friedman's latest NYTimes column, "Anxious in America", he makes the case that rebuilding Iraq will not be the big issue in the next election - it will be rebuilding America. He's been writing a lot recently about our pathetic oil dependence and need for alternative energy development, including a recent column "Mr. Bush: Lead or Leave" that really lays it out.

His latest column details many ways in which America is on the wrong track right now: low savings rates, high consumer debt, food prices soaring... and then one paragraph jumped out at me:

"My fellow Americans: We are a country in debt and in decline — not terminal, not irreversible, but in decline. Our political system seems incapable of producing long-range answers to big problems or big opportunities. We are the ones who need a better-functioning democracy — more than the Iraqis and Afghans. We are the ones in need of nation-building. It is our political system that is not working."

He gives lots of concrete, specific examples to back up his assertions, and concludes with:

"If the old saying — that “as General Motors goes, so goes America” — is true, then folks, we’re in a lot of trouble. General Motors’s stock-market value now stands at just $6.47 billion, compared with Toyota’s $162.6 billion. On top of it, G.M. shares sank to a 34-year low last week.

That’s us. We’re at a 34-year low. And digging out of this hole is what the next election has to be about and is going to be about — even if it is interrupted by a terrorist attack or an outbreak of war or peace in Iraq. We need nation-building at home, and we cannot wait another year to get started. Vote for the candidate who you think will do that best. Nothing else matters."

Scary, but quite possibly true. As prophets go, this is a man that I listen to.

Dance with Matt

This video is the ultimate in beautiful randomness - placing it squarely into my favorite category of things in life: "Who thinks of these things?!" Gotta give this guy some credit - 42 countries in 14 months. (Be sure to move the cursor off the picture after you hit play so you can see the bottom of the screen.) Enjoy!


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Memories

Reading The Sheila Variations usually leads to me finding something she wrote that I want to copy, and today is no exception! In "You Can't Take it With You" she lists favorite memories that she'd like to take with her when she dies.

Here are a few of mine. I would love to hear other people's too...

* Long weekend in Newport RI in '94 with my friend Rachael and a bunch of people we had never met & never saw again, but who adopted us because one was a friend of a friend and we were coming through town

* Playing yard games with the neighborhood kids on summer nights when we were young - something I didn't consciously appreciate until some girls from school who lived a few blocks away wandered down one night & commented on how cool it was that our block all hung out & played together

* Halloween parties my senior year ('85) dressed as the Robert Palmer back-up band with my 3 best friends

* Graduation day the first year I taught seniors ('05) at Patrick Henry HS - seeing the blessing in each one who made it to the finish line

* Visiting U Penn and Columbia last spring with my daughter who was trying to choose between them after being accepted to both - being so incredibly proud of her every day

* Watching my 3-year-old nephew climb on my dad's tombstone & knowing the God holds us all and life goes on...

Wombat Wisdom

I couldn't find the code to embed this here so you'll have to trust me and click on the link:

"All is One" Wombat

Just do it.

10 Reasons to Believe in a God Who Allows Suffering

10 Reasons to Believe in a God who Allows Suffering
from Mandilakhe Dabula
via Auntie Mo and Melissa Borgmann:

1. Suffering comes with the freedom to choose.

2. Pain can warn us of danger.

3. Suffering reveals what is inside our hearts.

4. Suffering takes us to the edge of eternity.

5. Suffering loosens our grip on this world & life.

6. Suffering gives us opportunity to trust God.

7. In suffering, God suffers with us.

8. Suffering is lesser than God's comfort.

9. In times of suffering, we find one another.

10. God can turn suffering around for our own good.

From my own experience:
- It is true that pain serves a purpose in life! It warns us to pull hands away from hot stoves and hearts away from bad relationships.
- It is true that sometimes we hold negativity in our hearts, which causes suffering - but that suffering reveals what we need to let go of.
- It's true that pain helps us focus on what matters - not things of the earth, but trust in God.
- And it's absolutely true that God can use our suffering to make us stronger, healthier, and better able to do God's will on earth.

I do not know what suffering this South African young man has endured, or where he found these words, or why he sent them on. It doesn't matter. I am blessed to read and ponder them today.

The More Things Change...

Mitch Pearlstein has a hilarious little quiz in the Strib today: eleven quotes by presidential candidates about change. From Bush to Obama to Nixon to Kennedy, you can't tell them apart.

Examples:
2. "My fellow Americans, something new, something different has happened. It is the end of an era and the beginning of a new day."

8. "This nation is daring and decent and ready for change... My fellow citizens, we can begin again."

Same message? The first is from Hubert Humphrey in 1968 - the second is GW Bush in 2000.

The more things change...

Right Living

Wise words from Henri Nouwen:

Right Living and Right Speaking

To be a witness for God is to be a living sign of God's presence in the world. What we live is more important than what we say, because the right way of living always leads to the right way of speaking. When we forgive our neighbors from our hearts, our hearts will speak forgiving words. When we are grateful, we will speak grateful words, and when we are hopeful and joyful, we will speak hopeful and joyful words.

When our words come too soon and we are not yet living what we are saying, we easily give double messages. Giving double messages - one with our words and another with our actions - makes us hypocrites. May our lives give us the right words and may our words lead us to the right life.

I really try to live by "do the right thing" - but sometimes a reminder is nice! Nouwen's words help me focus on what's important: consistency of thought and action. Living my beliefs.

All good. :)

Prayers Needed

With all the flooding in the Midwest right now, we are clearly doing a better job taking care of people this time than we did with Hurricane Katrina. I'm not sure why yet - I suspect it's a state issue (high-tax, high-service blue state) but who knows. The StarTribune article today reported one FEMA official saying there was much less need for temporary shelters because of people sheltering others in their homes: "It's evidence of that neighborly Midwestern grit out there." Interesting!

25,000 people left homeless in Cedar Rapids by the flooding...

Somewhere between 2 million & 5 million acres of crops destroyed...

20 levees breached already, with 30 more at risk...

The entire town of Winfield, MS was flooded out...

Prayers needed!

What's up with the Question Marks????

I don't think of myself as someone who is generally confused or unsure - more people would probably call me confident & opinionated - but as I was scanning back, I noticed three entries in a row with question marks in the title. What's up with that????

Am I carelessly being like those women who can't make a statement without raising the pitch of their voice at the end of the sentence for approval? I hope not!!!

Classroom of the Future?!

How's this for cool? An economical use of resources - the Classroom of the Future brings a tech-advanced space to the school via flatbed truck. So a district might invest in one and share it among schools - or share with other districts.

It has:
* a stage and a small-cinema-sized screen for presentations and performances
* work space for 15 students to explore music and filmmaking
* adaptability for additional needs as technology improves!

Bravo, future thinkers!

"Nerd Girls" - a Step Forward?

It sounds stupid, but according to Newsweek, "Nerd Girls" is actually a group of female engineering students at Tufts University who are trying to break down the stereotypes and claim both science brains and femininity at the same time.

Apparently it's working - junior Christina Sanchez says being a computer whiz and a sexy girl is no big deal: "Just because I get dressed up Saturday night, that doesn't mean I won't do better [than a guy] on a test on Monday."

Amen, sister!

I was stunned, though, that the older woman in the article quoted saying "I hid my passion for all things scientific and focused on pursuits that were allowable" is only 38! Younger than me! When did Gen X become the prior generation???

Still, gotta give credit to the young ones coming up - if they do it better than we did, that's as it should be! :)

Race No Longer a Political Tool?

Paul Krugman has written a great column, "It's a Different Country," about the use of race as a tool of political division. He makes the case that without it, much of the right-wing agenda makes no sense.

Example: fear of "Big Government" which of course was a Reagan staple & has been used to divide and conquer ever since. The reality: Americans support the biggest domestic programs: Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Reagan used to imply that the problem with big government was money wasted on "them" - welfare queens, etc. But Clinton's reform of the welfare system blunts that argument significantly.

Krugman's basic argument is that if Obama wins in November, it won't "transform America" so much as it will show that American has already been transformed.

Given the recent racism I've seen from Fox media surrounding the Obama campaign I'm not so sure... but we'll see!

"I'm Voting Republican..."

OK, this is certainly superficial - and maybe even mean - but it's also worth seeing and thinking about...!

It's Come to This...

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but apparently since they can't attack his platform or positions, folks are just attacking Obama with lies. The campaign has created an official "Fight the Smears" page on its website to debunk the lies as they circulate.

I'm sad that it's even needed, but at least modern technology allows the truth to catch up! (What's the old phrase: "A lie makes it half way around the world while the truth is lacing up its shoes?!")

Check it out!

She's Many Things, but "Baby Mama" Is Not One of Them

Wow. I knew that the race would get ugly, but so quickly?!

Apparently, Fox News referred to Michelle Obama as " Obama's Baby Mama" - seriously. I got this from an Andy Ostroy post on Huffpost which, while opinionated, has always been accurate as far as I've seen.

Holy $%^&#!

America, we're about to get to know ourselves really well in the next 5 months...

18 Million Cracks in the Glass Ceiling

"18 million cracks in the glass ceiling..." a great metaphor for 18 million voters who were intentional about electing a woman to be Commander in Chief! I am sorry to see Hillary's campaign end, but I am proud of her, and of America.

We've come a long way, baby.

And on That Subject...

Ironic - I finished the post on Antoine's memorial, picked up my notes to see what I'd been thinking about writing next, and found it was MN graduation rates.

According to stats from 2004-06, black students in MN are currently graduating at a rate of 62%. Antoine did graduate, as did all the boys I knew who were at his memorial today.

What did that get him? Or the rest of them? Two had gone on to college, but neither is going back. The rest - not so much.

Overall, MN is down to an 85% graduation rate, though 91% of the state's current workforce has graduated from high school. Why the drop? Why are kids opting not to finish? What does the diploma offer them that they can't get without it? What does it guarantee?

I'm getting like Melissa - all questions, no answers!

Gun Violence in My Life

I attended a memorial today for Antoine, a former student who was killed this spring. In spite of the tragedy, I was glad to have the chance to see many former students - most graduates '06 or '07 - who I might otherwise have lost touch with. As I told the young man who organized it, sometimes bringing people together is the best we can do!

I was so proud of him: organizing any event when you're 19 isn't easy, especially a memorial service for a friend who shouldn't be dead! But it was lovely. We had a cook-out in the park, with a time for people to share their thoughts about Antoine, a prayer, and the release of a ton of balloons, each with a little message written & tied to it. Cool.

I remember vividly the moment I first heard about the shooting of a student of mine: fall of 1995. I was just starting my third year of teaching. We were in the copy room in the morning, and someone came in with the news, and I remember suddenly crying, and being embarrassed to be crying in front of colleagues. He was a 9th grader, shot while riding his bike - not an accident. I remember attending the funeral, and planning things at school to help our students process & grieve.

I don't remember where I was when I heard about the next student of mine who had been shot - it was after the fact so I couldn't attend the funeral, and it was a couple years after she'd moved on from our school, so not too many people were left who remembered her. But I did. She was killed because someone was playing with a gun in the next room and it accidentally went off & shot right through the door of the room she was in.

So this is the third student gun death - that I know of - of my kids. And, shockingly, pathetically, it actually does get easier. Maybe this is how we cope. If it didn't get easier, I guess at some point we would just stop functioning.

It's Equality, Stupid

The Hillary Clinton presidential campaign has me thinking about and noticing sexism is ways I haven't in recent years. And it's not just me: two newspaper commentaries today echo my concerns:

The New York Times Magazine has a piece by Peggy Orenstein called The Hillary Lesson ruminating about what our daughters are learning from her candidacy. Is it "We've come a long way, baby" or "We've got a long way yet to go?"

Her statistics point to the latter: Only 16% of governors and 16% of members of Congress are female, and only 24% of state legislators are female. Only 12 out of 500 of the top executives of Fortune 500 companies are female - less than 3%.

Sigh.

Lori Sturdevant, in a political commentary piece in the Strib today called "Dont Despair", takes the opposite tack with the same info - stats in MN are better than the national average, so we have much to be proud of. Our current legislature is 34% female, with a female house speaker. She also cites several significant legislative accomplishments that happened because a woman or women were in power.

Amen.

But interestingly, it's not just the women writing on this issue: George Will, who we can always count on to make the sexist position sound practical and reasonable, writes about Clinton's run in "The Prize Clinton Isn't Owed" (reprinted in the Strib as "The Other Part of Equality is Losing".) The second half of the article is boring Clinton-bashing, but the first part is interesting. He makes the point that you know you're equal when you're treated badly:

When, in 1975, Frank Robinson became major league baseball's first African American manager, with the Cleveland Indians, that was an important milestone. But an even more important one came two years later, when the Indians fired him. That was real equality: Losing one's job is part of the job description of major league managers, because sacking the manager is one of the few changes a floundering team can make immediately. So, in a sense, Robinson had not really arrived until he was told to leave. Then he was just like hundreds of managers before him.

Thus, he asserts, Clinton should take the calls to bow out of the race as a compliment. I don't agree, but I am always impressed by his ability to make sexism (or racism - or whatever he's peddaling at the moment) not only palatable, but even seem logical.

Gee thanks - not much there to advance the discourse. Orenstien, on the other hand, gives us genuine food for thought as she points out that framing gender as something to be "overcome" is not necessarily in a young girl's best interest:

Right now, my daughter doesn’t know about the obstacles she may face someday, and I’m not sure of the wisdom of girding her in advance. Even the supposedly “girl positive” picture books, designed to address this very issue, pose a dilemma. Take “Elenita,” a magical-realist tale, given to my daughter by a family friend, about a girl who wants to be a glass blower. Her father says she can’t do it: she’s too little, and besides, the trade is forbidden to women. The lesson, naturally, is that with a little ingenuity girls can be glass blowers or stevedores or [fill in the blank]. Nice. Still, I found myself hesitating over the “girls can’t” section. My daughter has never heard that “girls can’t be” or “girls can’t do.” Why should I plant the idea in her head only to knock it down?

Indeed, I think this relates to my concerns about how we kids teach about slavery in America - even telling the stories of overcoming, we are still laying out the paradigm of inequality as the base from which all else grows. What would happen if we quit framing our culture in those terms and just taught our kids what it takes to get ahead?

Food for thought!

Post from the East Coast

In 15 years in education, I have never taken more than a long weekend off, so 4 whole days is a radical thing for me! My kid has finished her freshman year & I'm going out to help her move out of the dorm, then we're going to hang out for a few days, then she'll come home with me for a couple weeks.

Whirlwind!

I leave tomorrow and won't post on the trip, but here's to the blessing of being mobile and able to go to her when she needs me. We are so blessed.

Cinco de What?

Racism pops up in funny ways. This year it's all about illegal immigration. In 14 years of working in public schools, I never heard anyone say anything negative about Cinco de Mayo. Folks may not know the history of what it's celebrating, but hey, a party's a party!

But this year, I actually heard two co-workers complain about celebrating it at school, even though 1/4 of our kids are Latino. The gist of the concern is that we should be teaching American history, not Mexican history.

And then I saw this cartoon, by Scott Stantis. Perfect!

Freedom Takes a Hit

I wrote a while back about the law in Indiana requiring government-issued ID in order to vote, and I am shocked to say that the Supreme Court upheld it.

From an editorial Tuesday in the New York Times:
"Democracy was the big loser in the Supreme Court on Monday. The court upheld Indiana's voter identification law, which solves a nearly nonexistent problem by putting major barriers between voters -- particularly minorities -- and the ballot box. Worse, the court set out a standard that clears the way for other states to adopt rules that discourage disadvantaged groups from voting. It is a sad reversal for a court that once saw itself as a champion of voting rights."

There is still no evidence that there has ever been voter fraud at the polls in Indiana - so this "solves" an imaginary problem. But it creates an important new one: preventing the poor from voting. Getting a government-issued ID is not free or easy; even when the fees are waived, it takes money to get required documents like birth certificates, and it also takes time and energy and knowledge about where to go and what to do. Not so simple.

A related milestone: I paid $41.53 to fill my gas tank today. I know folks with larger gas tanks passed that mark a while back, but it's a first for me. $3.52/gal.

I really think this is all part of the same system that caused Antoine's death... (see below). Things are going VERY well for a small group of the wealthy powerful, and not so hot for other folks.

Democracy could fix this - on all three counts - but the slow destruction of the public schools means average folks no longer understand their power.

What's the solution to THAT???

Perspective

Just as I finished the last post, Amy Grant began to sing...

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot,
Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Amen.

Dead Children

I have lost another student to murder by gun. I am ANGRY.

I didn't pay close attention to what the Rev Jeremiah Wright actually said that was offending folks, but my recollection is that it was generally negative about America. Right now, I'm feeling that America is on the road to hell, and I can relate to anyone who is ANGRY with the circumstances we find ourselves in today in this country.

I have been in education for 15 years. In that time I have had four students killed and three locked up for murder or other gun crimes. Plus one more just arrested last week for gun possession but apparently getting off. And those are just the ones I know about.

I am ANGRY that a student of mine who was smart, who graduated from high school with skills last year, is now dead after participating in an armed robbery. If the smart ones go down, what hope does that leave for the rest??? Antoine was a good kid by teacher standards - he didn't cause trouble and he learned what I tried to teach him. What on earth was he doing in an armed robbery???

I am ANGRY that kids with potential, who had lots of support while in school, graduate and suddenly have nothing. If a kid is not ready when they graduate, then what? One former student, who keeps telling me he is going to enroll in community college, was caught getting high with a gun in his car, sitting across the street from a school, waiting for his girlfriend. Is that really all he's got?

I am ANGRY that two of the brightest young black men I've sent off to college in recent years have returned - dropped out - in less than a year. As their English teacher, I know it wasn't simply a skill issue - they could think and write just fine. There's more to it. And again, those are just the ones I know about.

What exactly does America offer our poor black boys? Someone asked me this afternoon if Obama could make a difference on this issue, and I said maybe for the generation yet to come, but for these guys? I'll have to ask them, but I doubt it.

I am ANGRY.

25 Years After "A Nation at Risk"

I don't often agree with George Will - though he is an incredibly articulate writer and one often has to pay careful attention to avoid getting sucked into baloney with him. But his reflection on the state of education the other day is worth reading.

I disagree with much of his rhetoric, but he dares to go where good liberals (myself included) fear to tread, noting that a 1966 report concluded that "the qualities of the families from which students come to school matter much more than money as predictors of schools' effectiveness." (Note the work qualities, not quality. That's important.)

A cursory glance around any school community will confirm this. In general, when parents insist that students do well academically, they do well. When parents do not push, students do not accomplish as much. Occasionally, a student fails or succeeds in spite of their parents, and that's the nature of America. But educators know that, as a group, in general, students will meet our expectations.

(This is why I tell my friends with small children to stop using "or else" - it signals that you don't really expect them to do what you've asked.)

Soo... Will blames schools for focusing on teaching and funding (the things they CAN control) rather than the percent of students born to single parents or poverty - which is not only unfair but pointless. It's unfair because the family is not the purview of the schools. It's pointless because the family is not the purview of the schools. Blaming families is handy, but accomplishes nothing.

It's not a matter of helping parents understand that their kid needs a desk with a light in a quiet place, and needs to sit there for an hour a day, in order to get homework done. That we can do. It's a matter of finding housing for the friends & relatives who are staying in the home and giving kids no privacy. Of keeping the electricity turned on. Of providing a meal - even without the family gathered around one table for dinner. Of convincing folks that Dr King's dream did not die with him, much as it appears to have when viewed through the lens of poverty.

So while Will brings up a point that is relevant to discussions of academic achievement, it is not helpful in terms of improving schools. The spin-master strikes again.

Misusing statistics to push an agenda is not a conservative thing - people from all points of view do that. I was joking with a friend in my stats class today that we can use statistics to prove just about anything. Correlations don't necessarily even show relationship - they certainly don't show cause.

For example, Will implies that the unionization of teaching is the cause of a decline in the average SAT score. That's crap. The first teachers union was created in 1962 and America's highest average SAT scores were posted in 1964. Cause? Of course not. Correlation? Hardly. Relationship? Maybe - both were reactions to the fact that America was asking its schools to do something never before attempted: educate everyone.

Schools do what they can with what they have. Some are racist places that create barriers for kids who don't have well-educated parents. Can't deny this. But the system is a reflection of America - and the many people who think like George Will. We who are working in schools know that we have much work yet to do to accomplish the goal of educating everyone. But unlike the pundits, we're in there fighting the good fight.

Getting Easier...

Still struggling with this crazy stats class, but getting better! Here's a question on the current assignment that I actually know the answer to:

For Analysis #2, what are the null hypotheses associated with each of the three linear contrasts for the post hoc tests?

I'm finally to the point where I know answers like that without having to check notes. I'm learning! ;)

Peacemakers

A seminar is not usually my first choice for a Saturday, but I attended a great one yesterday! Peacemaker Ministries teaches conflict resolution using biblical principles - very interesting.

A few highlights:

There are three categories of responses to conflict: flight, attack, or conciliation. Of course the first two are much easier than the third!

The "four promises of forgiveness" are really just sensible ways to ensure that a conflict, once resolved, stays that way - definitely something I can use with students with different language!
- I will not dwell on the incident
- I will not bring it up later & use it against you
- I will not talk to others about it
- I will not all it to stand between us
If my 6th graders would commit to these promises, we'd have a lot less drama in the middle school! :)

Conflict can provide opportunities - sometimes to hep others, or serve others, or for us to grow! And sometimes even the chance to glorify God. So conflict is not - as "Minnesota Nice" would have us believe - something always to be avoided. Ha - radical concept.

I was glad to have the time to think about how to bring positivity into situations where it is needed - it was powerful. God is so good!

This is What 40 Looks Like!

I've been having a "this is what 40 looks like" attitude this month as the milestone birthday hit. I refuse to be bummed out about anything to do with this age. My life rocks! The idea that we should want to be younger is crap. Here's a bunch of my friends at another friend's 40th birthday party last month - all but two of the women in the picture are 40 or 41. I think we're doing just d*** fine. :)

Female Creativity

This came via email so who knows about it's real origin, but it is attributed to a company called Edge which is apparently female-run. This photo is of a space that they supposedly created for another female-owned and run company... true or not, it's still pretty funny. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Saw a very interesting one-man show at the Walker last night - Marc Bamuthi Joseph in a performance called "The Break/s" combining spoken word, dance, acting, and more. Born in '75 he is a Gen Xer in full flower - finding his powers, naming and using them to speak truth to the world and try to make it better. Like the social justice movement rising from the spoken word scene, he has the beautiful faith of the young that he can and even will make his mark.

I took some notes - although there was so much that was rich and interesting I couldn't possibly capture it all. I hated to pull out my TREO because the light form the screen can be distracting, but I covered it up as best I could because there were a few lines I just had to get down:

"If you lose your mind, what jumps in to take its place?" Before the show, the MC was moving through the crowd, asking questions designed to get the audience thinking about the big themes in the show, and he asked "Have you ever lost your mind?" to several people. My friends & I laughed - of course! Every day! In education, how can you avoid it? Ha ha. But Bamuthi took it to the next level: If you lose your mind, what jumps in to take its place? Fascinating question.

About his white girlfriend and the complexities of identity politics: "She is the woman I want to come home to, but not always the woman I want to leave the house with." Ouch. Honest! He talked about how the black mother of his black child challenged him about the extent to which a white stepmother might not be good for his son... when did love get so complex? Was it always so?

"The more I am accepted by others, the less I accept myself." He didn't imply so much that he was seeking approval from others, but he found that as he moved through the world and received approval & acceptance, he lost some sense of self. I can relate. I know I am much more interested in acceptance by others than I should be.... It's a hard habit to break.

His experience of being black in America: "I have not experienced oppression. That is just some shit I see on TV." Oppression is so much bigger around the world than we realize in America. He talked about going to Senegal & learning from a woman who was teaching the elders in very rural areas to stop genital mutilation. So much larger than our problems here. He does see that being descended from slaves is a relevant part of some black Americans' self-identity, but he does not name it as defining for himself.

About the extent to which artists can actually make a difference in the world: "Like Basquiat tagging Bush's yacht..." What am image! I love it! No one talks about Jean-Michel Basquiat anymore, but as a rebel artist I think it makes sense to evoke his name, as it stands in such contrast to George W. Bush, who is no rebel and no artist...

And maybe most important: "How you love is what you do, not what you say. Action is truth." Oh, I believe this.

BRAVO, Bamuthi!

Here's a video to give you a little idea of the experience: