A blog about Kern County and News.
Gender: female Member Since: June 30, 2006 Last Signed In: July 03, 2009 Profile Views: 8943 Blog Views: 27883 KIVA~ Loans that save lives~ Now in America It's good to be able to relate to others( For Audrey) Would You Slap Your Father? If So, You’re a Liberal The Fall~ the cure for the summer blahs GAO Report: Abuse of Special Needs Children in Schools Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film.... Sukiyaki Western Django RIP Jack Kemp We Shall Remain~ "The Trail of Tears" Christopher~ 1970- 2004 July 06 August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 February 09 March 09 April 09 May 09 June 09 July 09 "Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats." Diane Arbus My life seems to operate sideways~ backwards almost~ and I have come to see thats right for me. A rain of snakes,disruption that cause's growth ,the world split in two.Everyone has there own path,mine has been one of thought,mostly of things folks today seem to disregard. Truth, personal integrity,politeness,...not all eschew these things.For me its been the easiest way to be~ any other way leads me to more trouble..and a sense of humor,above all about myself. Laughter keeps a person sane,and I enjoy seeing the coyote in myself~ the eternal trickster 
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I have written about KIVA before, the micro-loan non-profit .organization. This group allows you to loan money, along with other individuals to entrepreneurs all over the world. The loan payback is at 90%, and as you loan in increments that are comfortable to you~ say $25.00~ your risk is little and the rewards knowing your money allows someone to grow out of poverty and grow a business, are great. By LEONARD PITTS JR.A few words about identity politics. That's the knock on Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated to the Supreme Court last week by President Obama. If confirmed, Sotomayor, who is Puerto Rican, will be the first Hispanic to sit on the nation's highest tribunal. That has traumatized some titans of the right. George Will, for instance, complains that ''she embraces identity politics, including the idea of categorical representation: A person is what his or her race, ethnicity, gender or sexual preference is, and members of a particular category can be represented, understood, empathized with only by persons of the same identity.'' Some go further, alleging that Sotomayor's ethnicity carried greater weight with Obama than her qualifications. That argument would be a lot more persuasive if the right (Will, to his credit, was the exception that proved the rule) had raised it when John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate on the basis of her chromosomal makeup. Sotomayor, at least, has the aforementioned qualifications. Palin, not so much. Point being, so-called ''identity politics'' are practiced at both ends of the political spectrum. And I'm not at all convinced that's a bad thing -- particularly where the high court is concerned. I intend no endorsement of Sotomayor. Let's wait and see how she does before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I'm particularly interested in hearing how she explains her quoted remark that ''a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience'' will usually have better judgment than ''a white man who hasn't lived that life.'' Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich have thundered with simulated indignation that the comment makes her a racist. It sounds more like attempted irreverence fallen flat, but she needs to address it. Assuming she ascends to the court, Sotomayor will be the 113th person to do so. Of her 112 predecessors, 108 have been white men. Folks who profess concern about identity politics would do well to keep those numbers in mind, illustrating as they do that race and gender have never previously been absent from decisions about who sits on the court. That a point so blazingly obvious even needs making speaks to the myopia afflicting many white people when the subject is race (and men when the subject is gender). It is a stark illustration of white and male privilege: in this case, the privilege of questioning the role someone's identity plays in their promotion only when that identity diverges from the perceived norm, i.e., yours. Contrary to what some would argue, it is a net good when the panel whose decisions shape the nation looks something like the nation. Contrary to what they'd have us believe, legal judgment is not simply a matter of quoting precedent and applying logic. It is also a matter of interpretation, and interpretation is shaped by who you are and what you've known. If precedent and logic alone were definitive, the court could not have decided, for instance, to endorse segregation in 1896 in clear violation of the 14th Amendment. But because of who they were and what they had known, that panel of white men somehow interpreted the amendment as allowing Jim Crow -- a tragic travesty that stood for 58 years. Would the court have been well-served in 1896 had someone likely to be affected by the ruling been there to offer a counterbalancing interpretation? If the court is debating an issue of importance to women, is not the quality of its deliberation improved if someone in the room is in possession of a uterus? Yes, emphatically, to both. Ensuring the presence of diverse people in the deliberation chamber betrays no American principles. Rather, it affirms a core American promise: Liberty and justice. For all.
One of the main divides between left and right is the dependence on different moral values. For liberals, morality derives mostly from fairness and prevention of harm. For conservatives, morality also involves upholding authority and loyalty — and revulsion at disgust.”
We all reach our conclusions through that "intuative portal" in our brains,not through reasoning.
Occasionally, due to marketing, the whims of the public an exceptional film gets lost. The Fall, 2006,(released in 2008) is one such film. If a long summer of “blockbusters” is a dim prospect to you ~ off to the rental store! The screen lights up and suddenly you are transported to another world, another place…. Thankfully my son had,for the most part ,really good teachers who loved their job and more importantly the children. This GAO report shocked me,and every parent of a special needs child should read it. My "mothering " instinct,call it what you will, served me well. I spent most days in the classroom,helping with assorted things ,and that kept any rogue teachers and aides in line. Speak up when things do not "feel right",I was known as a "troublesome" parent. Meaning my child felt loved and protected by me. "Congressional auditors have uncovered widespread abuse of techniques use to restrain or discipline special-education students in U.S. schools, with some deaths linked to the practices, a top congressman says." Read the complete article here.
"The Centennial School at Lehigh University serves severely emotionally disturbed children that have been passed from school to school, and even from juvenile justice centers. When school director Michael George came to Centennial in 1999, the school had documented more than 1,000 cases of restraint and seclusion that year. After the school revamped its approach, no such incidents were reported. When they get to Centennial, students can be violent and aggressive. But instead of trying to force a chance in behavior, the school teaches the children new skills to get what they need. Children who might be violent because they are desperate to escape and uncomfortable task or environment learn to communicate their discomfort in nonviolent ways. Children who need to move frequently -- a common trait with conditions such as autism -- are permitted to do so, then re-directed to the task at hand. Staff are forbidden from saying anything negative about the children, parents or other teachers, even among themselves. And when a child acts violently, the staff is trained to step aside, rather than immediately attempt a potentially dangerous restraint. On a recent visit to the school, all students appeared to be calm and receptive to teachers. The school's philosophy can be summed up in a question George likes to ask teachers interviewing for jobs there: Which teacher you remember most from your own childhood? "No one ever mentions the person who yelled at them, who screamed at them, who told them to write a phrase a hundred times, who slammed them into closets, who was abrupt, who made them feel stupid. No one ever mentions those people," said George. "Our job is to teach. Sometimes the children we are teaching here present extraordinary challenges; it can be very, very difficult. But that's the job we chose to do." That's what we want in teachers, aides and other support staff~ especially for the most vulnerable. Classic western tale of blood, lust and greed, six shooters, two sets of “bad” guys, samurai swords and a lone stranger who rides into town one day seeking gold ….what’s not to like?
WASHINGTON – Jack Kemp, the ex-quarterback, congressman, one-time vice-presidential nominee and self-described "bleeding-heart conservative" died Saturday. More here Another plug for this great series~ I hope you have been able to watch the first two episodes. If not then there is always online. The site has much to explore,the personal stories keep coming in,and new features keep popping up.
(Monday,PBS 9:00p.m.)~ "The Trail of Tears" promises to be as eye opening as the first two. As we have a sizable population here that identifies with the Cherokee Nation this episode (sneak peak here) should be seen. The Cherokee would call it Nu-No-Du-Na-Tlo-Hi-Lu, “The Trail Where They Cried.”This film by Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals,A Thief of Time and Skinwalkers) portrays the strength of character of the Cherokee Nation as they fight to retain their lands by all possible means,assimilating,adopting European style government and legal systems,accepting Christianity and taking their case all the way to SCOTUS.They won tribal sovereignty in this landmark case. I was watching THE DEVILS BACKBONE and a character delivered this fragment of a poem~ if anyone knows the author,I would love to know. As most here know,my eldest died alone(seemingly at least) from a heart attack,crawling in the street looking for help. It was early,before his work day and thankfully someone saw and summoned help though they arrived to late. When I heard these beautiful words,the spirit so captured what we would have said to each other given the chance, I knew of no better memorial.
Stay by my side as my light grows dim Chris~ held in our memories,always loved...till soon son. Mom~~April 2009 I intend to take a break from the blogs for a bit~ so no worries any one, but I need to recharge and retro-fit my attitude. Play as nice ~~sage |
