November 9, 2007

Why am I not a "Values Voter"? Since I am not as socially conservative as these family values, pro-life, evangelical groups, does that mean I do not have any values? Quite frankly, I take offense to the name "values voters." Just because my values are more liberal does not mean that I am "no good" or that I will ultimately be responsible for the destruction of western civilization. I would argue that I am just as much, if not more in support of the family than these so-called "family values" groups. Society has evolved and continues to evolve. What is the "traditional family" of today was a radical idea just over a century ago. In another century the traditional family of today will be seen as antiquated and backwards (what the "family" will look like in a hundred years, I have no idea, but follow the pattern of history).

In the United States, we proclaim ourselves to be an enlightened people. We are advanced technologically, economically, socially and politically. And yet there are striking deficiencies in all of these categories. Socially, we claim to have a society based on justice and equality. But in reality, the you are only equal if you have enough money and the same sexual preference, otherwise, you are inferior. Today, justice is better served to those with the money to buy it, that is to say, if you have enough money to buy a lawyer with more resources at his disposal than the state's prosecuting attorney then you have a better chance of receiving "justice" (in other words, you can better afford to buy an acquittal). In the battle over what is an "acceptable" family, money plays a large role. Lower income families must have at least two incomes to make ends meet, sometimes three. The third could be one parent having two jobs, or the oldest child working hours after school. This is all assuming that this family has two parents at all. But this situation is not a problem because the parents were obviously heterosexual and able to procreate with each other. Statistically speaking, a single-parent family is more likely to have children that find trouble because of the lack of guidance and supervision while the single-parent is working multiple jobs to make ends meet. The level of academic success tends to be lower in these families creating a cycle of poverty. But, this is an acceptable family according to the "values voters." Unacceptable, however, would be a married homosexual couple that wants to adopt a child. Although no one has been able to successfully explain to me why this would be unacceptable, I fully understand that portions of our evolved society would deem this type of family as undermining to marriage and family values. I argue, if a family is a place that exists a safe, loving, nurturing environment, then why can't the result of a same-sex marriage be considered a family? Wouldn't it be better for a child to have this type of arrangement in a family where both parents are of the same sex than to have a child grow up in a situation where the single parent is absent?

The "sanctity of life" is yet another important issue for "values voters." In their mind abortion is not an option. In this case I am not going to argue for or against abortion, but simply point out the hypocrisy of this philosophy. Too often do pro-life voters support the death penalty. Explain how supporting the death penalty protects the "sanctity of life?"

I am appalled at the ignorance of many members of this demographic. Listen to this excerpt from a special on NPR. I hope you are as afraid of the future as I am if these voters get their way in upcoming elections.

http://www.billiondollarpresident.org/2007/11/06/values-voters/

September 28, 2007

Interim report went out today. And, as promised, no lecture on how to improve grades. Overall, I was pleased with the results, although some students definitely have room for improvement. In Civics & Economics we began watching "The Ghosts of Mississippi." It is one of my favorite movies to show in the class because it demonstrates so many of the things the course is about. From civil liberties to the judicial process, as well how to be an active responsible citizen. It is jam packed with lessons for Civics. I highly recommend it to any teacher of Civics. I am planning on using it as a spring board for political involvement on the everyday, citizen level. And it will be the subject for the writing project they will begin next week. It is pretty exciting. I will also follow up later in the quarter with a webquest about the Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties. My goal is that the students will form their own opinion about these rights and be able to defend their position about them. It is an exciting topic for me, even if the students disagree with my opinion, which I do my best to with hold, but it is difficult to do even if I do not specifically say, "in my opinion...", because the students will be able to pick up on my tone or my language despite how objective I try to be. But, as long as they can form their own opinion and support it with historical facts, I will be thrilled!

Michelle left for Boston this afternoon. She is accompanying her dad to a wedding so that he doesn't have to go on his own. I miss her already, but she has to do what she has to do, her dad needs her, and I understand that. Evan and I have a relatively busy weekend anyway. Saturday Evan has a soccer game at noon, and Sunday he has a birthday party at 4pm. I am sure we will be able to fill the remainder of the time with fun things. I have also taken the day off Monday because Evan has begun track-out. So Michelle will be at work, and I will stay home with him. Maybe we will make plans with Katie and Chris both of whom are also tracked-out.

Today's Headlines:

Democrats: Unprepared Blackwater Team Provoked Fallujah Bbattle (Newsobserver.com)
Blackwater Eyes Domestic Contracts in U.S. (NPR.org)
Blackwater makes my top headline again today. I have BIG problems with the idea of a private security company providing security in proclaimed domestic disaster areas. I have read a little too much Roman history to feel comfortable with mercenaries as providing peace. Especially when the company is run by an individual with very slanted, one-sided point of view (it would be hard to find anyone, really, who could be totally objective). Isn't it bad enough that they have created problems in Iraq that our military has had to clean up and our government has to take responsibility for? What would happen if this praetorian guard was given the authority to walk the streets in a domestic disaster area? The way I see it, is this is only one step away from becoming death squads or secret police that are accountable only to the chief executive and with little oversight since their actions would be clandestine. In other words, all that would be missing is some insignia, much like the SS in Nazi Germany, China's Red Guard, Stalin's NKVD (Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del), and so on. I do not like it one bit, nor do I like to potential for the Orwellian control they will try to have over citizens. I feel that this would be another step, combined with FRT (facial recognition technology), warrantless wiretapping, and "sneak and peek" searches of of computers with out a warrant, down a very slippery slope that would eventually lead to self-censorship in speech and press, as well as assembly, out of fear from what will become an American death squad. We, as citizens of the United States must be vigilant to protect our freedoms and rights. If we cannot then the terrorists have one a major victory over the United States, perhaps without ever attacking us again. And perhaps one day, speech, such as this blog today, will result in my disappearance and "re-education."

The Price of Freedom is eternal vigilance.

-MC

September 11, 2007

My morning began with a parent making an unannounced visit to meet me. She did not attend Open House last night, but what she wanted to talk about was more specific to her son, not about a general overview of the course. The family has very recently moved here from Puerto Rico. That is, they moved here just last week due to the father's job. The student is a senior and is now taking the courses that, we believe, will allow him to graduate in June. The major concern is that most of the courses he has to take are required EOC (End-of-Course) subjects. These courses are those where the state makes the final exam and uses the data it collects from the results to determine school performance. The big concern here is that these are high pressure courses at Leesville. The stakes are pretty high and the student is afraid that he will not do well. And of course, his extra obstacle to success is a language barrier. From speaking with the ESL teacher, this student reads and writes English very well, but seems to have a difficult time comprehending spoken English. This is very concerning because i want him to succeed. The mother told me today that her son wants to go back to Puerto Rico in order to complete the 12th grade. The mother was on the verge of tears and I felt very badly for her. I wish there was more I could do to help, but I do not speak Spanish so I can't explain things more plainly to him. What is more, the nature of the course, Civics & Economics, is current events. All of the concepts and theories that are read and taught are followed up with real time examples as the make headlines day-to-day. My explaining these examples, I fear, will be lost on him. I only hope that his hard work (which is already evident) will be rewarded in the long run.

The rest of the day was business as usual. The classes cooperated very well. We seem to get a long very well and so I anticipate great progress this year. I did have a student ask me a personal question during class today about my political views. That is a bit of a slippery slope because as a teacher and an authority figure, I have to be careful not to portray my opinion as fact. So I did my best to explain that from time to time, when asked, I will give my opinion and that the students should understand that by no means is my opinion the rule or the fact and that the students should make sure to form their own opinions after gathering as much information on a subject as possible.

In the Civics & Economics class I showed a short video about the Declaration of Independence. It is a very well done video featuring many popular movie personalities reading the Declaration of Independence, but not after an inspiring introduction by Morgan Freeman (what a great name for the person introducing the Declaration of Independence). I was hoping to add it here to this blog today because I believe everyone should see it, but I do not have it saved on my computer. I will try to remember to bring it home tomorrow and add it. It is very moving and inspiring, and was made even more so, today, Patriot Day, September 11.

Today's Headlines:

Kanye: MTV Exploited Britney for Ratings
Kanye West seems a bit fed up with MTV, and I can't blame him, I have been up with the network ever since they took the "music" out of MTV and filled it with reality shows that are clearly not any person's reality (the "Real World," for one!) His gripe is that MTV exploited Britney Spears Sunday having her perform during the music awards knowing she was not ready and was not up to it. Although I did take my shots at Britney yesterday, I have to say, I do agree with Kanye, the network must have known that she was in no condition, physically and mentally, to perform, but signed her on anyway. That is just despicable. If you haven't seen the performance, just look to my blog from yesterday.

Frustration Evident as Officials Grilled on Iraq
Six years ago today terrorist attacks were engaged on the United States that were largely successful. Today (and yesterday), in the Senate, General Patraeus and Ambassador Crocker presented their report on the current condition in Iraq. They were asked some serious questions today and responded admirably. Although I personally am skeptical, I agree with Senator Leiberman who gave these two men much credit for their candor, truthfulness, and clarity. Having heard information from the General who is one of the best positions to understand and respond to the conditions in Iraq, I am confident in what he is doing there. That being said, I still do not remain confident in the plan as portrayed but this "administration." We are however at a critical point in Iraq (every point from no on will be a critical point). Despite my disagreement with the motivations for invading Iraq, our forces are there and cannot just up and leave with making sure that a stable and secure government exists. As a result, our troops must remain in Iraq until that job is done because it is in the best interest of the region, the United States, and the world. Iran has already said that any political or power vacuum that exists in Iraq after American forces leave will be filled by Iran. So, despite the fact that our government created this problem in Iraq, we must stay there until it is fixed.

To hear part of the Senate hearing:
listen at NPR.org

July 31, 2007

I was listening to The Story on my local NPR station today when they aired a story about bullying. It was actually a follow-up story to one that focused on a 12 year old who was subject to daily bullying by his schoolmates. It didn't seem to be the type of bullying where the big kid beats up the little kid for his lunch money, but more of the typical type of bullying - a kid being picked on relentlessly by numerous students because they are different. The original and the follow-up stories really hit home with me. I was picked on for quite sometime during my childhood. It isn't easy growing up as "Fat Matt." How convenient, my name even rhymes. I wasn't morbidly obese, but definitely overweight. I remained physically active, played ball with kids on the block - kickball, touch football, street hockey, running bases. But when it came to being included at school, I remained an outcast. Even to this day I have a hard time forgiving the people that hurt my feelings repeatedly so long ago. But while listening to the program I started thinking about what impact that had on me and who I am. Don't get me wrong, I would never have wanted to go through all that, but as I was growing up and even to this day, it became an important aspect of who I am. For example, when I was in Cub Scouts, there was another kid my age who was picked on even worse than I was. During an event, he chose to sit and hide in a teepee instead of interact with the other members of our troop. I chose to sit with him for a little while in that teepee and just talk and hang out. I asked myself, if I had never been picked on myself, would I have been that compassionate or would I have ridiculed him as well? School is supposed to be a safe place. We figure that as long as nobody has "beat up" our kids then school is safe. But abuse can cut even deeper when it is psychological abuse. When kids hear repeatedly from their peers, the people they look to most for acceptance, that they are not good enough, they begin to internalize it. It becomes part of their persona - "maybe I'm not cool," "maybe I am ugly," etc. This is baggage that a person can carry their entire life and never recognize it. I was fortunate to find a small group of friends growing up who didn't care if I was "fat Matt" or cool, or ugly, or whatever. And to this day they are still my friends. A few of them have moved and live right up the road from me, while other, though distant, will still visit from time to time. Sure, I can see where I may have developed some insecurities from my treatment growing up, but I continue to reflect on it to help make me a better person. Our past is part of who we are, we can not deny that, so we must accept it and build on it. But now, as adults, we get to build it the way we want it. We have more power to control than we did when we were kids. The Dalai Lama says that we should not only love those who are close and friendly to us, but we should also love our enemies because it is they who put challenges before us that help us to grow stronger.