I do not want a gun

There have been many times in my life when people have looked at me in disbelief.  That look has often been followed up with the question, "What kind of American are you?"

What have I done in my life to deserve harsh questioning of my citizen's credentials? Usually, I have revealed  (to both non-Americans and Americans) something that flies in the face of American stereotypes.  For example, I don't put ketchup on my fries (I like mayo).  I also don't drink any type of carbonated soft drink - never have.  Okay, I have one can of ginger ale in my fridge for when I suffer the occasional upset tummy. I have never sued anyone (though with winter upon us, I am looking for an icy patch on which to slip). I don't own a television.  I don't drink coffee. I hate "Black Friday."  I hate football. I am, at best, agnostic. All organized religions give me the creeps.  Bud Light makes me want to vomit.  I'm vegetarian, thus no hamburgers for me. Finally, I have never ever held a gun in my hand.  I have seen guns, but I want nothing to do with them.

I am completely exasperated at the current call for teachers to have guns.  The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary was horrifying.  I have wept uncontrollably at every gut-wrenching story I have read. This shooting, however, nor any of the mass shootings that have come before this make me want to have a gun. I love listening to every wanna-be Dirty Harry talk about how he (in general) would take down the "bad guy." These machismo-heavy pronouncements remind me the power of fiction.

Think about it.  One minute,  we have a guy who has spent his entire adult life teaching teenagers manners and some academic skill (let's say accounting), the next minute we have Rambo, saving innocent lives. He's Bruce Willis, he's Charles Bronson, he's John fucking Wayne, feted by a ticker-tape parade and a trip to Disney. Who knew that Americans lived such vivid fantasy lives?  All this time, I thought we were the most concrete operational people who had ever ruled the planet. I thought Americans saw the world as black or white, with us or against us. I had us pegged as people who lacked nuance and tact.  Such wild fantasies debunk all my beliefs.

Perhaps this is our ultimate problem - we believe our own headline and refuse to read between the lines.  Down deep, we all believe that we, through excessive violence, can save the day. You know, like Jesus did. Or Gandhi. Or Dr. King. Or Sheriff Bull Connor.  Wait, he doesn't belong on that list.  You get my point.

I like the way guns and violence are portrayed in this short clip.  It also contains one of my favorite quotes of all time.

We'll fight them in the Senate!

Today, workers in the state of Michigan suffered a considerable set back when the state house vote to pass "Right to Work" legislation. If you remember my entreaty to vote yes on Proposal 2, there are many problems with "right to work" states. Well, here we are Michigan.

The Senate will take up the bill next week.  According to the AFT, there are a number of state senators who are on the fence about this legislation.  We must put the pressure on now to help them decide which side of the fence to choose.  Call the following senators and please call them often.

District 15 - Mike Kowall  517-373-1758
District 16 - Bruce Caswell  517-373-5932
District 17 - Randy Richardville  517-373-3543
District 20 - Tonya Schuitmaker  517-373-0793
District 22 - Joe Hune  517-373-2420
District 24 - Rick Jones  517-373-3447
District 26 - Phil Pavlov (don't get me started on this guy)  517-373-7708
District 29 - Dave Hildenbrand   517-373-1801
District 31- Mike Green  517-373-1777
District 32 - Roger Kahn   517-373-1760
District 33 - Geoff Hansen   517-373-1635


It doesn't matter where you live, just call these senators to let them know that "right to work" for less legislation is bad for Michigan.

Here is the phone list for all senators.  Heck call as many as you can and keep them on their toes.  If you want to know about your specific senator, take a peek at this map to find your senator.

While you're at it, look at what's coming down the road for public education in Michigan - a parent trigger bill. 

I wonder, once public education is fully in the hand of private, for-profit companies, how long will it be before parents are nickled and dimed on everything except tuition.  Uniforms, you know because we fear children expressing themselves through fashion choices.  Books. Extra-curricular activities.  Locker rentals. I mean, the Steinbeck says, the monster "breathe (sic) profits"

The Wild West and Mrs. Robinson

I am a very busy woman.  My job requires that I do an excessive amount of work and home.  Paper grading has essentially destroyed my social life.

Also, unlike many of my age peers, I became a mom quite late in life (age 37) and still have a young son, not anywhere close to high school graduation.  He's autistic, which requires a lot of time.

Those two factors led me to sign up at a couple of on-line "dating" sites. I have to say, I am not impressed.  One site is a paid site and I have not gotten one date from it.  I am going to cancel my subscription to it and save a few bucks a month. The other site is a freebie and it's like the Wild West.

I had no idea how many young (by young, I mean 25-30) men harbored older women/teacher fantasies. I have received more than a dozen messages from men in that age range. I am charmed and flattered.  Sadly, these gentlemen have no idea how to actually communicate with women.

First on all, they are pretty quick to want to text message.  I feel like texting is the new first base. That's because getting a woman to text a picture is clearly the new second base. Not that the picture sharing is a one way street.  I have received one too many pictures of half naked (and very muscular) torsos - taken in the bathroom mirror. Of course, they want a picture, equally naked, in return.  This is when our conversations come to a crashing halt.  I won't send that kind of picture.  Perhaps if we had been dating for a while and I wanted to get him worked up a bit, I could see myself willing to send a raunchy picture.

I don't want to make any hasty generalizations, but I find this race to raunch disheartening.  I like sex, but the men who are trying to contact me seem to be missing out on the beautiful dance involved in human intimacy. They seem to want porn at their finger tips and to make no intellectual connection.  Why not agree to meet for coffee and then see if there's a spark?  I don't get it. Is this a generational issue?  I cannot compare because very few men my age have contacted me.

Who are you?

I don't have anything particularly interesting to say on this rather mundane Friday night.  I do have, however, a curious question - who are you?

I was checking my little map to the right and I see all sorts of places and no comments left.  That's okay, I guess.  I just would like to know who you are.  I'm pretty sure I know many of my three or four loyal readers.  But the rest, I haven't a clue. Please leave a comment here and introduce yourself. If you feel comfortable, tell me what part of the map you claim as your own. I won't bite, I promise.

What's next?

Proposal 2 did not pass last night.  I spent the early part of the day, freezing my toes numb, talking to voters outside the precinct.  I worked from seven until about 2:30, when my back could no longer handle it.  I'm glad I did it, though; that type of work makes me feel alive.

Now that collective bargaining is not constitutionally protected (but anti-gay marriage is) in Michigan, what does it mean?  I don't know, but I don't have a good feeling about the future of education in the state.  I am worried that "right-to-work" legislation will pass in a heartbeat. A bill like that will financially choke the unions, as many teachers in a variety of districts, mine in particular, have taken pay cuts. We still have the threat of a charter school over our heads heads at my school and I am quite certain the for-profit company that were to take over would fire anyone for organizing activity.  Maybe I should go down a rebel. The idea is appealing.

Or, I can start to formulate Plan B - a career change at the age of 45. This is a scary prospect, but one I cannot dismiss.  Perhaps the universe is sending me a sign to take a chance on something new.  I have to gather my wits and figure out my qualifications for anything.  I am certain I must have marketable skills.

In the meantime, I will continue to try and impress some agent with my book. And, of course, I will continue to teach to the best of my ability.

Proposal 2

In the week leading up to the election, I want to review some of the proposals that are on Michigan's ballot.  The first I want to discuss is the one that is most vitally important in my world: Proposal 2. On the ballot, Michigan voters will see

PROPOSAL 12-2
A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION REGARDING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

This proposal would:

• Grant public and private employees the constitutional right to organize and bargain collectively through labor unions.
  

• Invalidate existing or future state or local laws that limit the ability to join unions and bargain collectively, and to negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements, including employees’ financial support of their labor unions. Laws may be enacted to prohibit public employees from striking.
  

• Override state laws that regulate hours and conditions of employment to the extent that those laws conflict with collective bargaining agreements.
  

• Define “employer” as a person or entity employing one or more employees.
  
  

Should this proposal be approved?
YES __
NO ____

I want to urge all of you to vote YES on this proposal.  The seventeen years I have spent in education have proven to me just how important the right to collectively bargain is, on many levels.

On a personal level, if the right to collectively bargain is effectively destroyed in the state of Michigan, I will no longer be able to afford to teach. In February 2011, Diane Ravitch explains that a starting teacher in Arizona makes only $26,000 a year.  I don't care how low the cost of living is any given area, a teacher could not afford to pay off student loans, pay rent, and pay for a large percentage of classroom supplies on that salary.  More than likely, a person making this salary is going to work two jobs, making him/her a less effective teacher. In my own district, due to pay cuts, we have teachers who are eligible for food stamps. Way to save the government money.

Did I mention classroom supplies? A teachers' union contract can address the issue of basic supplies, such as paper, pencils, etc. Teachers must have access to basic supplies; if not, the union will file a grievance on behalf of the teacher.  Just yesterday, I met an Ontario teacher who has not been given the supplies she needs to properly teach her class.  I saw her at an office supply story, buying paper for her classroom with her own money.  This widow could have been spending that money on her own daughters or saving it for the future.  Instead, her principal has refused to give her any resources.  I urged her to file a grievance, but like so many people, she is afraid of bucking authority.  Her contract and all teacher contracts, properly should protect people like her.

Let's look at class size.  I have sat on the negotiating team for my local.  I was stunned to listen as the administrative team suggested that we do away with class size caps.  It makes no sense.  As a teacher, I cannot effectively teach classes of 35 or more teenagers.  As a mother, I do not want my third grader sitting in a class of more than 20.  I find it deliciously ironic that Mitt Romney declares that class size doesn't matter. He attended a school that has, according  to a friend who currently works there, about 15 students per class. Given his philosophy, his own children must have attended crowded public schools. Before you ride my case, I get the security risks, but why is what is good for the golden elite never a good enough investment for the rest of us? Rhetorical question, never mind.

Lastly, I would bet good money that there is "Right to Work" legislation waiting on someone's desk in Lansing.  Of course, once teachers' unions are destroyed (along with all other unions) those all important test scores will soar where only eagles dare.  Well, not really and not really again.

Well, if in the US, we get to the point of actually have destroyed unions, we will be in great historical company.

This is an interesting map, I think.

VOTE YES ON PROPOSAL 2 and feel free to share this information with anyone who is interested. As American writer Will Durant once said, "We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last 24 hours; we are not the best informed as the events of the last 60 centuries."

Rape

In my wildest nightmares, I never thought I would write about this. Sadly, the issue keeps coming up in regards to reproductive rights for women, specifically the right to choose an abortion.

I am ardently pro-choice.  I don't begrudge someone for having qualms about the issue of abortion. For me, the line that many anti-choice people cross is a burning desire to ban contraception. That is until this recent election cycle.  The issue of pregnancy and rape has been a hot topic.  Hottest has been the notion by extremists on the right that abortion should not be allowed under any circumstance, including rape. There have even been comments that a pregnancy caused by a rape is a gift from God. I am a woman that has had to fight off a date in my lifetime.  I've never told anyone this because I was ashamed.  That is not the story I want to share.

That story starts at the age of five, when a family member began to act "odd" around me.  He would try to be alone with me; he was found alone with me in a closet. He would pull me onto his lap and tickle me.  Yes, I could feel his penis as I tried to squirm away.  This family member made comments and passes at me until I was in my early 20's. I can't fully remember what he did manage to do to me, but I feel quite certain that I was victimized. 

I had my first period when I was nine. That's pretty young. I was still playing with my dolls and stuffed animals at that age.  I remember being very confused and embarrassed. Now, as I hear and read these comments about rape and pregnancy, I feel physically ill.  I can only imagine what would have happened if that family member had managed to rape me when I was a child.  I know he desired me because he made an open pass at me when I was 22 or 23.  He tried to caress my hair and tell me how beautiful I was and had always been.

What if he had impregnated me when I was only nine or ten years old?  It was biologically possible. Is that really God's will? A gift? What sick bastard truly believes that?  Someone who is aiming to help shape policy for a nation of 330 million people?  These lunatics cannot be allowed to win.