R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means...

I just want to say a few words about the booing of the First Lady and Dr. Biden.  I suspect that there is a lot more behind it than just booing someone.  The NASCAR fans didn't just boo anyone, it was the FIRST LADY.  Now, no matter what you think of the person, the "office" of 1st lady is something to be respected. Period.

I fully acknowledge and respect that people can have their own opinions.  But someone on the Right should have said, "I don't like them much, but we as a nation should respect the 'office' of First Lady. Booing was not appropriate.  Perhaps at a political event, but they were standing with veterans and their families who they have supported for many years.  Their kids were there and it was not our finest hour." I searched the internet for HOURS and found NO ONE!  Not one political commentator, not one pundit, not anyone in the public eye from the right said anything.  Below are the types of comments that were on Glenn Beck's website: Blaze.com.

I think this really points out that a group of people in this country have decided that in their rightful and righteous anger towards the government that they can just do anything.  On the Fox.com site ,  there was a poll.  The results were that they thought the booing was: (in this order) offensive - 133, inspiring - 333, and funny - 673. In my best Spock voice: "Astonishing!"

Another article talked about how other first ladies, Roosevelt, Johnson, and Clinton were also booed.  

In this picture, are there any republican first ladies? …crickets chirping…The democratic first ladies were all advocating for what certain people thought was above and beyond their "place".  The comments after the jump really show what people are angry at and how vitriolic it has gotten personally against this woman. I'm not saying there are not really foul mouthed democrats, but saying that Michelle Obama is, "the 1st linebacker…I mean lady?"  If Laura Bush had come to a black church to say something, people might have clapped politely, and might have even frowned a lot, but NO ONE would have booed.  If it had happened, we'd have been put under the jail, so to speak.

Kids become what they see...

Though this is an interesting article about how children are influencing makers of technology like iPads and such, it makes me think a lot more about the multi-tiered society that we are creating: those with technology and those without. I know this subject has been brought up a lot but as a person who works regularly with children who have little, and with young adults who have much, I see how it affects our society deeply. We have and are continuing to build an underclass in our society that barely has access to the things and even ideas necessary to be upwardly mobile.

Think about this: if your parents don't have books in the house, certain studies say that you as a child will probably not read as well or as much as a child who has many books in the house, EVEN IF THEY NEVER READ THEM IN FRONT OF THE CHILD. What is put in front of you lets you know what is possible. My children are very familiar with computers and phones and books because we have them. My mom bought a really crappy computer when we were teenagers because even though she had no experience with them whatsoever, she KNEW that we would need them at the moment and later on. BTW, (my brother is probably the only one who I can share this with and will remember) the phrase 3927(or some such number) to washington, 3927 to washington, was a phrase used by my father frequently in his car because….wait for it…he had a mobile phone IN HIS CAR…In 1976! My brother and I had a vision of what the world could be because our parents had the opportunity to show it. My husband and I have made it a point to show our children what the world can look like, to the best of our ability. It's time for us as a culture individually and politically to decide that we will work to make things available educationally and make parents understand that parenting actually does start at home. We can come together for a wide variety of issues, but class rears it head everywhere, even in our so-called "progressive" movements.

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OFFS (Occupy Frozen Food Section)!!

Ok, I don't have much to say but…this is just dumb. Pizza ain't a vegetable. A granola bar in the shape of a cookie is…a cookie dang it! French fries are literally, killing people because if you ingest them you are more likely to ingest all those other foods that are bad for you and cause diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and contribute greatly to arthritis and cancer. I see these kids and have some of them in my house. My kid has pizza all the time, but we eat LOTS of veggies, clean meats, and fruit. But there are many kids and families who don't, hence the obesity epidemic which I see all the time right in front of me.

If anyone wants to start talking about "crony capitalism" well, here it is. Tomato paste is nutritional but not slathered on a pizza crust made with white flour and a ton of fatty cheese on top. Anyone with a brain knows that. The potato and frozen food lobby wins over science and fricken common sense again. I'm gonna occupy the frozen food section at my local grocery store. Anyone with me?

R's fear Obama??

"Roger Simon at Politico posted an article about the republican presidential debates.  I find it both fascinating and horrifying that we have the group of candidates that we have.  Mr. Simon feels that all Obama has to do is to allow them to debate and then when making ads, play the candidate who wins verbatim.

You mean to tell me that we are allowing people who say "oops…", That vaccine made her daughter retarded"(add red neck southern accent for additional fun), and this great one down here:

"The more toppings a man has on his pizza, I believe the more manly he is...A manly man (doesn't) want it piled high with vegetables! He would call that a sissy pizza..." to run for leader of the free world?!

You gotta be kidding me. This is what the republican party has put up to vote on?  Actors from a Saturday Night Live skit?  And they actually have some popular support?  One thing it says to me is that the republicans think that Obama is more of a threat for re-election than they want to let on.  The only candidates that seem to have sense are Hunstman, Romney, Paul and Gingrich.  Gingrich looks like he's trying to sell books and two are actual contenders.  But just like musician's in the 90s thought about Babyface: He's talented, but place him in with the artist/producers of just 10-20 years ago, and he'd just be another talented producer, but perhaps not the top.  Romney is the same way.  There are many other Republicans who are weighty, have real ideas, and though I may not agree with them, have a real vision and experience to carry them out.  

I think it says a lot about the state of the electorate.  We have been so let down and so entrenched in entertainment that panders to our most mind numbing feelings, we think it's ok to have  a "straight talking" person run for president.  That would be fine if the straight talk made sense.  It makes me remember Sarah Palin and how she was made fun of on SNL by re-doing one of her interviews VERBATIM as a skit!  They didn't alter it at all!  This is where we've come to.  It just makes us look bad as a country that these people actually have support.  As I say in one of my rants, "WHAT THE HELL?!!!"

Mississippi FAIL

I know this Mississippi law did not pass, but the mere fact that it was even brought up is disturbing. As a mom, I feel that as soon as you know you're pregnant, you have a little person in there. And if you want that child, you'll do anything to protect it.  However, as I've been saying in some tweets lately, turning a woman's womb into a crime scene because we want to have a "culture of life" to take over?!  Uh Uh…nope.  I can't roll with you.

The strongest reason I have for believe that woman should have the right to have an abortion came from my Christian conservative mom.  This woman was very anti-abortion (she wouldn't read Harry potter books because they have witches in them.  Satan is real…she has the series about the second coming of Christ.  She has them ALL)  She worked in Walter Reade Hospital when abortion was illegal. Her mind changed when she saw woman after woman after woman after woman (not exaggerating here, this is what she told me first hand) who bled out and died because of botched abortions done with all manner of coat hangers, herbs, etc…She just couldn't take the death and destruction she saw so often.  So if having a safe abortion provided by medical professionals would stop the death, she was for having it available.

Turning a fetus into a person has all sorts of issues associated with it that just can't be squared.  I wouldn't want anything to happen to my children when they were in-utero.  But should I make that choice for someone who was raped or who is 14 or who has other real and pertinent reasons for making the awful choice of ending a pregnancy?

No news story today....

... just thoughts.  As I work with kids of various ages I see many of the issues of our culture up close and personal.    I see all levels of parenting, all levels of behavior, all levels of discipline and perseverance, frustration and fascination.  I also see as a parent that what I thought was cool when I was a kid, I have second thoughts about now.  I'm talking about our culture.  I bring it up as a education discussion because I've been seeing so many people and news outlets saying how bad our education system is in comparison to other countries; when 20-30 years ago, we were number 1.  I think part of this has to do with culture.  

This is not an attack on just hip hop or Jerry Springer type entertainment.  But, if Tipper Gore was still doing what she did 30 years ago with hip hop and other music that has lot violence in it, I'd kiss her on the mouth, while my younger self wanted to smack her.  What I have a problem with is not with music of young people today (I sound like my grandfather,"you play that jazz music that all them younguns play…").  What I have a problem with is all media: movies, TV, Cable, internet, music, magazines billboards…EVERYTHING.  There are so many mixed messages out there as to what makes a human being feel good, that we don't put enough on about what makes a good human being.  Say what you like about "father knows best" from the 50s but it was clear, whether you liked it or not.  The problem then was  that was all there was.  No shades of gray, no people that have problems, no people with melanin, etc.  It is the same problem we have now except the opposite side of the coin.  When there is no balance, it's very difficult to have balance.  How can parents deal with showing their kids the right things to do when every media outlet shows how wonderful the wrong thing is!  Not just a little, but all the dang time!

This relates to education because when kids are trying to be cool, they do what they see. And what they see is not people who are doing well because of education.  When we have a presidential candidate saying he doesn't know the president of Uzbeki-eki-stany-stan, and people applaud him for that stance…that's a problem.

Remember "Goodtimes"? All the children and family may have had their issues, but they all were talented, did well in school, tried their best in difficult circumstances.  I have kids who literally walk out of class BECAUSE THEY FEEL LIKE IT, and teachers having nervous breakdowns because they just can't get through. We as a culture need to decide that enough is enough and just because you can make a dinosaur from extinct DNA doesn't mean it's a good thing to create a bloodthirsty wild tyrannosaurus rex.  Just because it feels good and makes money doesn't mean that it is good…let's take our responsibilities as a culture seriously for goodness sake...

Corporations are people? Then treat them like individuals...

Just saw this article about Corporations paying no taxes.  Of course, those corporations say that's untrue.  But besides what is being paid or not, there is a larger point to be made.  As usual, the comments section makes the points better than the article.  One person said essentially this:

A corporation's job is to make money.  Increase their bottom line by whatever means necessary--coporations are doing what they're meant to do by lobbying for more tax breaks and fewer responsibilities...Our government is failing to draw a line in the sand. Instead of saying,"Alright, you created this many jobs, so here's the amount of tax break you get this year" they hand our a blanket sum with the bewildering belief that by helping companies make more money, somehow that will "trickle down" into our economic system and magically create jobs.

It's not working.
-Natalie Slaughter (comment on Huffington Post)

She goes on to say something that I agree with.  You can do what you want to make your business work, but the government's job is to do what benefits the country, and can and should reward those companies that foster the good of America and it's citizens.  Those that create jobs, invest in American infrastructure, you know...the stuff we want and need.  But shipping jobs overseas to create a cheaper product...which btw, is not always the better option for a lot of reasons, should not be rewarded.  Tax breaks should be given to companies that are doing what we, Americans, need.